It was cold. So cold all her skin was trembling with goosebumps. The dampness in the air condensed on the stone walls of the cell, making it impossible to lay against them without getting colder.
Not that Esmeralda was in a laying mood anyway. She walked the cell anxiously, like a caged tiger, her mind racing as wildly as her heart.
They had placed her alone in a cell. She didn't know if this was meant to be a display of consideration or a punishment. But knowing her people, her friends and family were stacked up on the other side of those walls and she wasn't able to reach them, comfort them, and also be comforted by them… was definitely torture.
Even so, the isolation wasn't the worst part. They were all gonna die in a few hours, probably in the most horrid of ways, and there was no amount of comforting that would make up for that.
No. The worst part of being alone is that she wasn't. All her thoughts were with her, screaming in her ears, and the dull silence left her with no choice but to listen to them.
This was all her fault.
She had revealed their secret location to her friends, which also happened to be Frollo's protegee and his captain of the guard. Of course she knew they wouldn't betray her… but it had been an unforgivable carelessness to trust the judge wouldn't find a way to use them on his behalf.
When she had seen Frollo's soldiers storm the Court of Miracles she had felt many things, but to her dismay... Surprise wasn't one of them. It was as if she had knew all along what would go down, but hadn't wanted to look at it.
The secret their people had kept safe for years now, she had given away. And now they were all gonna die.
"But that's not on you" another inner, kinder voice intervened. "Frollo has always despised gypsies and he has been after their secret lair for longer than you've been in the city. He manipulated Quasimodo. He's the one ordering the executions. Not you".
But she shook her head, running her hands through her thick hair as her eyes started burning up with tears. Yeah, the man was mad for sure. His hate was piled up inside him like a gunpowder barrel, waiting to explode. But she knew the exact moment that madness had caught fire, for she had set the spark.
In the blackness of her cell, suddenly she saw the sunlight and the colourful tents and costumes from the Topsy Turvy day. Her imagination recalled every sight, sound and smell from that dreadful morning.
She remembered climbing into the stage while Clopin and the others started their cheerful music, and dancing on with her tambourine. Her red dress and golden ornaments made her feel so sensual and powerful, like a flame able to consume whatever got in front of her. The faces below the stage were filled with awe, admiration and desire. The sky could have fell in that moment, and she knew they wouldn't have moved their eyes from her.
This boosted her confidence and smile, but at the same time she felt a notch of something
unpleasant in the deepest part of her heart, something she couldn't name. She discarded it immediately, looking around in her twirling until suddenly she saw him.
He was sitting in the shadow of his garnet tent, staring at her dance like every other. Like every other? No. For the look on his face was one of pure despise. His lips were tighten together in a fine line and his scowl was at once icy cold and burning. His eyes held such an intensity her mind went blank, as if the music had suddenly stopped and time had slowed down drastically.
The notch on her heart grew and jumped onto her stomach and lower belly. She couldn't identify the feeling at all, but it was terrifying and all the same magnetic. She felt a strong urge to run and hide from him, like a small animal would from a deadly predator. But at the same time, she felt this pull, this absurd insane pull towards the man. She needed to get closer to him. She needed to understand why… Why did he hate her so much? And why did she care?
Before she could come to a rational decision, her body was acting on its own. She propelled herself with a graceful jump into his domains, and without hesitation, climbed onto his knees. Her legs felt the softness of his velvet robes and her hands impulsively went over his head, trapping him into her silk purple scarf, pulling him nearer.
In a matter of seconds they had gone from being meters to inches away. His look was of utter shock and that gave her a feeling of control that ran through her entire body.
This man was probably the most powerful and feared man in all Paris. And for the right reasons. He was known to despise the commoners, and the gypsies above all, and he had no mercy whatsoever when applying the law. His heart, that if he had one, was probably harder and colder than the stones of Notre Dame itself. He always held himself to the tightest, superior position, looking above his nose from his imposing horse, appearing to be something other than human and flesh… something unalterable.
And yet, here he was, crumbling down under her weight, his face contorting and his mouth dumbly opened, gasping for air.
She looked straightly into his eyes for an eternal instant, and her heart stopped at the depths she found there. Staring back was a dark man, for sure, but not a simple one. His soul folded into a million secret places, and she knew then that no one had the slightest clue what the cruel, impassive appearance hid.
Something awoke within her upon this realization, like a sleeping dragon raising its head at the smell of human flesh. The strength of the feeling scared her to death, and she tried to regain control by teasing him, planting a swift mocking kiss on the tip of his crooked nose. When he opened his eyes, something different had awoken in them as well. Something she didn't wanna look at. So she stamped his chaperon down into his face, and before he could do anything about it, she was gone into the stage, with a final mocking bow, dancing back like nothing had happened.
But everything had happened. What had transpired in mere seconds at the eyes of the city, had deeply changed both the course of their lives and souls, and it would end up affecting everyone within the range of their encounter.
Therefore, it was all, indeed, her fault.
She finally curled up against the wall and started crying hopelessly.
That was when she heard the key moving in the lock of her cell wooden door.