- How will it work? - Esmeralda asked in a whisper, as they walked along the dungeon hallway towards the staircase.
- I… - the former captain cleared his throat. He was visibly upset. - The Captain… I mean, the new Minister… he intended you to go one after the other.
Frollo stopped walking so suddenly that Esmeralda crashed against his back.
- What? - he hissed furiously.
Apparently, Lefebvre's sadism knew no limits. Forcing one of them to witness the other's execution, whoever went first, was utterly twisted and sick.
- I tried to talk him out of it. - the soldier quickly explained. - I told him the King would be upset enough knowing he had proceeded with the … execution, without noticing him. And that the King is a kind man… he wouldn't approve such cruelty.
- Did you convince him? - Frollo asked, still refusing to move.
- I think so. - the soldier said nervously, knowing that they were already waiting for them outside and that Lefebvre would get restless if they took any longer.
- What if… - the judge pondered out loud. He threw a quick glance towards the soldier, as if he was evaluating how much they could trust him. But they had nothing left to lose. - What if we offered him to do it that way? And then, while he's focused on me, you somehow managed to escape?
- Claude, no. - Esmeralda refused, and she sounded surprisingly firm and calm. - We're not doing that. I'm not leaving you. You just said we would do this together.
- But if you could escape…
- I don't want to! - she protested. - Please. Let's get this over with. I can't take it anymore.
- We need to go. - the soldier rushed them.
- Damn it. - Frollo cursed, defeated, resuming his walking.
- You wouldn't have been able to escape anyway… - the soldier said after a few seconds of silence. - Lefebvre has all his soldiers in the square. And the place is crowded. I believe the entire city must be there.
- Really? - Esmeralda asked, disgusted. She would never understand the crowd's pleasure in witnessing such horrible events.
- Yes. - the soldier confirmed sadly. - He spread the word that he was punishing Judge Frollo for all the sins he had committed… I guess there were a few people holding a grudge and wanting to see you pay. - he explained, though instantly regretting his honesty.
But Frollo didn't seem surprised by this revelation. His face was stoic. He knew he had forever been misunderstood, and now that would be the remaining image of him for history to remember him by.
Once Esmeralda and himself were gone, there would be no one left to remember their true story, their true nature. Not even Quasimodo, who would forever think of him as the man who murdered his mother and lied about it his entire life. Frollo wondered if he would also be witnessing the pyre from his tower, and how would he feel about it. Would he pity him, or would he be glad that justice was being made?
When they finally reached the main square, Frollo looked up at Notre Dame. He narrowed his eyes, trying to discern his adoptive son's figure in the exterior corridors… but they were empty. And somehow, he realized, him not witnessing it was the worst option of all. It meant he didn't even cared enough to want revenge.
His gaze went down the cathedral to the wooden platform that the soldiers had built at her feet. The soldier had been right. The square was crowded, but, as he escorted them towards the ladder, and to Frollo's surprise, everyone remained awfully quiet. There were no insults, no yelling, no protests, nothing. Usually these public events brought out the worse in people, all the hate and the poison they bottled up inside on their daily lives was released with this perfect excuse. But that deadly silence was so grim and ominous, as if a thousand eyes were scrutinizing the depths of his soul.
Esmeralda had also ceased speaking. She was holding her head high, looking at the pile of branches and dry wood waiting for her, focusing just on her next step, and fighting the urge to look around trying to find familiar faces. What difference would that make? In the end, only Frollo would be beside her.
However, when they got to the platform, she couldn't help noticing something. Lefebvre was waiting for them beside it, sitting on a horse. But not any horse. It was Snowball. She cursed between her gritted teeth. She knew it wasn't accidental or random. He had chosen that particular horse to hurt Frollo. She could only see the judge's back as she walked behind him, but she noticed how his frame stiffened when he also realized that.
Once they climbed the ladder, the soldier carefully but firmly tied them to each stake. He was unable to look them in the eye as he tightened the knots on the ropes, and Esmeralda saw the way his jaw was clenching with his inner struggle.
One final desperate survival thought crossed Frollo's mind. What if he grabbed the soldier's sword and attacked Lefebvre? He wouldn't see it coming. But … it would only make things worse. He was just one man, against all his soldiers. And even if he managed to take Lefebvre's life, that would only add to the list of his crimes for whoever came next as a minister. He would only be postponing their execution. He looked at Esmeralda, and as she was able to read her mind, she shook her head. He remembered her words. "I can't take it any more. Let's get it over with."
So he didn't move, as the soldier finished tying him to the wood post.
Gérard Lefebvre descended his new horse, and handing the reins to one of his soldiers, he climbed up the ladder as well. A few soldiers were holding drums, tied with leather straps to their backs, and they did a drum roll to announce his speech and have everyone's attention.
- Citizens of Paris! - he called out loud. The stillness and silence of the people was deafening. - For years your city has belonged to this man standing in front of you today. A sinful man who has allowed sin to run rampant on your streets! Many of you have suffered the consequences of his actions! And today, you get to witness the King's justice being made!
He made a pause, obviously waiting for a round of applause or cheering. But there were only murmurs, quiet enough for him to be incapable of discerning if they were approving or complaining.
Esmeralda threw him a taunting smile. Granted, people in the city disliked Frollo, but at least they were smart enough to also dislike the cruel new Minister. He wouldn't get their respect or approval just by taking out the judge.
But Lefebvre didn't seem to care too much about their lack of enthusiasm, for unlike his dead brother, he never really sought people's admiration. He had other priorities. So he decided to cut straight to the chase, and get to the part that really interested him.
- Last night, Claude Frollo committed his final crime against the King and this city, when he cowardly murdered my beloved brother, and your beloved Minister of Justice, Gaspard Lefebvre.
Esmeralda snorted.
- Hypocrite! - she murmured.
Gérard threw her a cold hateful glance.
- With the help of this gypsy witch and accomplice. - he spat, and the despise in his tone was so evident that it surprised her that no one jeered. There had to be some gypsies present… right? Did they really not care at all about her death? Not even enough to attend the execution?
Apparently, not.
- So as the new Minister of Justice, my first ruling from this sadly acquired position, is to sentence them both to die on the pyre. Let justice be made, once and for all! - he yelled, as he reached for the torch his soldier was handing him.
- Claude! - she called, throwing the man she had loved most one last desperate glance.
- You're the love of my life. - Frollo exclaimed, loud enough that anyone could hear. This time, the multitude did make a sound, kind of a collective gasp of astonishment to hear such words coming from the judge's mouth.- I'll find you on the next one. - he said, as the flames began to consume the branches at his feet, and a thick column of smoke surrounded him.
- You better! - it was the last words he heard, before Lefebvre also set fire to the pile beneath Esmeralda.
The heat began getting dangerously close to the soles of his feet. He inhaled sharply, though the smoke immediately made him cough. He closed his eyes. He had probably only a few seconds of lucidity before the unbearable pain took his mind away. The most precious seconds of his life, the ones right at the end of it, were spent recalling one brief memory, from all the years of his life. The moment he had told Esmeralda what Snowball's name was. The image of her face red with laughter, her eyes filled with tears and her arm grasping for a post to hold herself as her body rocked back and forth with shrieks of laughter. If he got to keep one single memory from his entire existence, that would be it. That summed up all the beauty he had found upon this Earth.
Then, three things happened at once.
The fire reached his skin.
He heard Esmeralda stop coughing, which hopefully meant she had already passed out from the smoke, before the flames touched her feet.
And he heard another sound, a sharp, hissing sound, and then a dull crack, and then the loud, heavy fall of something right beside him.
After that, chaos unleashed.