The gurgling surface of the cauldron was strangely soothing. Frollo watched the dense bubbles of dark liquid as they formed slowly, to eventually burst when they reached the air.
He was making sure his stash of antidotes was replenished after Esmeralda had forced the entire content of the last bottle down his throat. Not that he was planning on using them anytime soon. But better safe than sorry.
The smell of the detoxifying herbs, though bitter, was also pleasant. To be truthful, he found most medicinal smells pleasant, even if they weren't the most aromatic ones. They had some earthy quality to them, that made him evoke images of forest soils, rich with healing plants and mushrooms.
He considered himself a man of intellect, fond of mental and philosophical activities; however, the medical arts and the collection and preparation of natural remedies were the exception. He deeply enjoyed the down-to-earth disposition both required, and the fact that while practicing any of them, his mind went completely still for a while.
That's what he was trying to accomplish as he absently stirred the boiling mixture, arising from it another surge of foam. And it was working, for he had completely lost track of time until he heard the sound of the door opening violently.
- There you are! - Esmeralda yelled, sounding irritated but relieved. - What the hell are you doing? - she asked, throwing her hands in the air.
- Hello. - he greeted her, surprised by her irruption. - I'm just preparing some remedies. - he explained calmly.
Esmeralda looked at him stunned.
- Do you even know what time is it? It's almost midnight! - she exclaimed.
- Is it? - Frollo asked, equally surprised. - I didn't even realize the sun had set… the absence of windows, I suppose. - he said, pointing to the stone dungeon walls.
- Well, it did! A few hours ago! - Esmeralda replied, shaking her head. - You didn't show up at dinner so I decided to bring you something to eat, but you weren't in your chamber… I went up to the library, and when I didn't found you there either I got concerned. Then it occurred to me to get down here… I was worried! - she explained, throwing him a meaningful, accusatory glance.
- You should know I have used this room many times, and for many other uses before yesterday. - he clarified, and though his face was serious, Esmeralda got the impression that it was meant to be a humorous remark.
- I know that… - she responded, narrowing her eyes.
- I can't keep doing this if you're unable to trust me. - he stated, and this time Esmeralda was sure that he was teasing her, using her own words against her in a mocking way.
- Fine. - she yielded, pretending to be annoyed, but secretly relieved that he was in the mood for jokes.
She walked slowly towards him, still cautious and unsure of how he would react.
- So… are you feeling any better? - she asked, tentatively.
- Indeed. - Frollo answered, with a single nod.
- I'm glad to hear that. - she said with a timid smile, but she noticed that Frollo looked weirdly absent. He wasn't looking at her, but instead, he kept his eyes on the small cauldron. - So… - she began, clearing her throat and trying to get his attention. - do you mind telling me what got into you earlier? Did I say anything that upset you?
- Oh, no. - Frollo replied, discarding that thought with a hand gesture. - It wasn't you. - he explained. - It was your ring.
- My ring? - she asked, confused, taking another look at her hand. Her father's silver ring looked apparently normal and perfectly harmless. - What about it?
- Take a better look at it. - Frollo instructed, turning to look at her. His expression was indecipherable, as his tone became enigmatic. - Right under the sapphire.
Esmeralda frowned, throwing him an inquiring look. He nodded, inviting her to proceed. So she obeyed, taking off the ring so she would be able to look at the inner part, wondering how the judge had been able to see it earlier while she was still wearing it.
- I don't see anything. - she said, confused.
- Look closer. - Frollo insisted.
She took a few steps towards the fire, so the light from the flames would help her see better.
- Here. Is this what you mean? - she asked, narrowing her eyes. - There's something here… carved under the sapphire.
- What is it?- Frollo inquired, though he already knew the answer.
- It looks like letters… I'm not sure. Maybe two "E"s?
- It's an E and an F. - the judge corrected her.
- Yes, that's right. But how did you know? - Esmeralda asked, raising her eyes to look at him, who was nowhere near being able to see the ring from his position.
- Because I've seen them before. - Frollo revealed, lowering his tone.- The two letters stand for Elizabeth Frollo. They are my mother's initials.
It took Esmeralda a while to grasp the implicit meaning of the words he had just pronounced.
Why would her father's ring be inscripted with Frollo's mother's initials? Had they known each other? But that made no sense. The timeline didn't match. By the time Elizabeth had died, her father must have been barely twenty years old. And he had always tell her that he arrived at Paris around that age, so the chances that they had met were very, very slim.
But then… why did he carved her initials on his ring?
She looked at Frollo, puzzled. The expression on his face revealed that he was waiting for her to arrive at some obvious conclusion.
She looked down on the ring again. Maybe Frollo was wrong? Maybe the two letters didn't stand for his mother's name, and it was just a weird coincidence?
But it wasn't the fact that he thought the letters were her initials what intrigued her. It was the fact that he had known they were there, even when he hadn't possibly been able to see them when he took her hand earlier. Which meant it wasn't just the letters what he had seen before. It was the ring itself.
With a small gasp, she understood. The ring had been his mother's.
Then, the realizations followed one another, falling upon her like dominoes.
If the ring had belonged to Frollo's mother, that meant it was stolen. It should have never been on her father's hands to begin with.
And the only way it could have ended there if he hadn't met Elizabeth, was if it had been one of the family heirlooms that a desperate child had thrown into a bag of coins intended to buy the only cure for his parent's illness.
The bag that had been taken from him by the force of three gypsy men.
- Oh my God. - Esmeralda muttered, looking at Frollo horrified. - Oh my God!
- I see you arrived to the same conclusion as I. - Frollo pointed out darkly.
- Oh my God. - she kept saying, looking alternately at the judge and the ring, which suddenly felt incandescent in her hand.
- Fate has a cruel habit of mocking us mortals, doesn't it? - Frollo commented bitterly.
- God, Claude. - she whispered, shaking her head. - I can't believe this. I'm so sorry!
- You don't have to be.- Frollo said, calmly. - It wasn't your doing. And you didn't know.
- Of course I didn't! If I had known he was the one to…
- I know. - Frollo reassured her.
- But that doesn't make it right! - she quickly replied. - I can't believe he's gone, and I just found out about this. God, this is so unfair! - she yelled, furious at having lost any chance to confront her adoptive father. - And it's so unfair for you too! I can't imagine what you must be feeling. I don't know how you can even look at me right now. - she said, still shaking her head.
- Again, none of this is your fault. - Frollo repeated. - He wasn't even your biological father.
- But doesn't it bother you? - she asked in disbelief at his apparently composed attitude.
- I've had some time to think about it.- Frollo replied carefully, pointing at the cauldron with a meaningful glance.
Now she could perfectly understand why he had stormed out of the courtyard like that earlier. Considering the circumstances, she was surprised that's all he had done.
- Well… this belongs to you, then. - she said, walking to him and offering him the ring.- It should have never left your side. At least I'm glad you got it back somehow.
- Thank you. - Frollo nodded, taking the ring from her trembling fingers. - You're right. It should have never left my family.
- Yes. - she agreed, though a small part of her heart protested when she let go of the jewel, the only thing she had left from her adoptive father, however mad she was now at him by her recent discovery.
She watched Frollo as he raised the ring to his eyes to observe it carefully. The sapphire caught the reflection of the flames, turning their light to an intense blue, as he turned it slowly in his slender fingers.
He let out a sigh of relief, when he made sure the ring hadn't been damaged during all those years. His sad smile made her glad that she had chosen to return it to its rightful owner. Being able to gift him a memory of his mother back was worth much more than her childish whim.
However, his next move took her by surprised. He offered her the ring back.
- What are you doing? It's yours. - she said, refusing to take it.
- Yes, it is. - he agreed, with a smile of satisfaction. - And now I choose to give it to you.
- I can't take it. I don't deserve to have it. - she protested, shaking her head and taking a step back.
- I disagree. - Frollo replied calmly.- You deserve it more than anyone.
- How come? - she asked, baffled.
- Well… for starters, you've wanted it since you were a little girl, haven't you?
- Yes, but that doesn't matter now! - she explained convincingly.
- It matters to me. - Frollo refuted. - But that's not the main reason anyway. Your father wanted you to have it.
- But it was never his to give! - Esmeralda insisted.
- No, it wasn't, - Frollo agreed. - But that doesn't mean that his wish to give it to you wasn't genuine. And no one should be denied his last wish.
- That's really kind of you… - she said, moved. - But still…
- I'm not done yet. - Frollo interrupted her, lifting a finger to hush her. - If things had been different… If no one had stolen the ring from me in the first place – he said, fighting hard to keep his tone detached and free of resentment or accusation. - I would have kept it as a family heirloom, and cherish it the way I haven't been able to cherish anything from them.
Esmeralda shook her head, feeling sad and guilty about it all. But Frollo kept going.
- And then, when I met you… I would have been glad that I had something so valuable to give you. You know, the same way you keep that blanket of yours… I have always wished that I had something so precious to me, that I could share with you.
She nodded, deeply moved. He took a step closer, and gave her a warm smile.
- Now fortune has granted me my wish. I finally got this precious ring back, and nothing makes me happier than giving it to you. - he stated, offering her the ring again.
She took it carefully from his hand and held it on hers, still unable to wear it.
- Are you sure…? - she asked, hesitantly. - I mean… won't it be hard for you to see your mother's ring on a gypsy?
Frollo pondered her question, secretly amazed at the generosity she was displaying towards his conflicted feelings about her people.
- But you're not any gypsy, are you? - he said at last. - You're one of a kind. You were born and raised one of them, and still… you said it yourself. You never felt like you fitted among them. You were sensitive to their flaws, though loving to their virtues. And you also said once that you felt like you were made for more… and I believe you've found what you were missing here, with me.
- I have. - she confirmed, astonished by his words.
- But I also know that you don't feel quite at home here either. The life inside these stone walls isn't for you. So you don't fit here with me, and you don't fit there with them. Because you're unlike anyone else. You're a bridge.
- A bridge? - she repeated, confused.
- Yes. Someone with a foot in both worlds. That's why you don't fit in, but also why you're able to love both sides, to understand both sides. You've managed to make me question my most deeply rooted beliefs… and you're also the reason that Clopin believed me and chose to spare my life against his better instincts. Your adoptive father, the man who assaulted me and who for decades I've hated passionately… and myself, we couldn't be any more different. We're mortal enemies, and yet… we both loved you truthfully. You earned that love, just by being who you are. You're the bridge that connects two impossible ends. He wanted you to have the ring, and I also want you to have it. You united us in wanting the same thing, don't you see the miracle there? - he pointed out with a crooked smile.
Esmeralda was crying silently, her whole heart and soul expanding with gratitude and love.
- And also, - Frollo added, lightening his tone. - it already has your initials on it.
She frowned, not following.
- Well, the E stands for Esmeralda, of course. - he clarified. - And you've always said you didn't have a last name. I get the feeling that it bothers you, so I was thinking maybe you could take mine.
Esmeralda raised her eyebrows high with disbelief.
- Are you serious? - she asked, unsure whether or not he was teasing her again.
- Well, you seem to have taken everything else from me, gypsy. - Frollo whispered, getting closer. - So you might as well take that too. You were right about the ring belonging in my family. But the thing is, you're my family now too. That's, of course, if you desire so.
Her smile lighted up the whole room.