Quasimodo blearily focused his view a few feet from himself. He had hoped Esmeralda would be there when he awoke and quickly realized it was Madellaine. He felt a little guilty as she looked at him expectantly.
"When...when did you get here?"
Madellaine perked up, "Not very long ago, how are you feeling?"
"Weak, but better...thank you."
"Don't thank me, you should thank Sister Rosemary and Maria...Oh! And Brother Giovani-though he's a little strange…" She leaned in next to him, moving a little closer.
"...Does Minister Frollo like blondes?..."
Meeting a confused stare, she recoiled and reddened maddingly, "I-I shouldn't have said that! It's been such a long day-a-and Brother Giovanni..."
"-Uh, w-well it certainly has, though I don't think anyone has ever asked me that before." Quasimodo quirked his brow at her, managing a weary laugh. The bags under his eyes were prominent and he still appeared very pale. He soon met her gaze and smiled.
"Regardless, I appreciate you staying with me, that was very kind of you."
"It was the least I could do...Many people will be able to find refuge thanks to your hard work." she chirped.
Quasimodo chuckled, reddening. "I did what needed to be done..."
"You're very modest...you should give yourself a bit more credit. Not that I'm telling you what to do or anything-Here I am rambling again-I should go fetch Sister Rosemary, are you hungry?"
Quasimodo smiled warmly… "A little, yes t-thank you Madellaine."
Madellaine's eyes darted around before meeting his, "Don't mention it!", and she scurried off down the corridor.
Quasimodo was perplexed, but not enough to dwell on it, his body ached and he felt pretty miserable if he was telling the truth. Madellaine's mannerisms reminded him of himself whenever he was around Frollo on a bad day.
She was very kind, if truth be told, and quite pretty. Her strawberry blonde hair was cropped short just above her shoulders, framing her face in wisps and stray strands. A light smattering of freckles dusted her nose and her eyes reminded him of the blue sky after a fresh rain. She was petite compared to Esmeralda's statuesque height and he contemplated her laugh and awkward phrasing whenever she spoke her mind. She had only been inside the Cathedral for a few days and was already leaving an impression on him. He smiled sadly and pulled the blankets over himself tightly as he mulled over the situation with Esmeralda.
Apart of him wondered if she felt as lonely as he did. She was still a wonderful person, but he couldn't quite call her an angel anymore. What had transpired was careless, but he now knew she wasn't perfect. Esmeralda was just Esmeralda, in all her mysterious ways, and he appreciated just being able to call her a friend. That was good enough for him.
Claude Frollo lay bundled, unmoving until the sun set, left with his thoughts over the temptress. He sighed and hesitantly mulled over his actions and more importantly his reactions. He grimaced as his breath exhaled into a soft vapor in the cold cell. Being alone with his thoughts was more self destructive than the cat o' nine tails he kept in the closet of his chambers. Guilt crept in slowly and he leaned his head back against the cold stone wall. She was so kind and even playful before she left him and he was completely undeserving of it all. He kept trapping himself in this vicious cycle of being able to enjoy himself only for her to spark a rogue emotion and then lash out, starting back to the same tension since the day he forced her in the Cathedral.
A ragged sigh escaped and as he gazed into the water, his toes were no longer an angry red, but blistering and much darker than he recalled. It felt like hours since Esmeralda attempted to help him and make lively conversation despite their previous spat the night before. She was a mystery to him, and the treacherous ways he had viewed her were a bit moot to put it lightly. Removing his feet from the water he dried them as best he could, slipped on the brown monk habit and lay beneath the sheets staring up at the ceiling of the dank cloister cell. His feet were a mixture of numbness and nerve pain where his foot awakened from the dreadful cold, an intense burning sensation of pins and needles.
He recalled her glittering emerald eyes and how they seemed to change with her mood, a glowering dark forest when she was fuming-mad and a soft moss whenever tears formed at the corners of her eyes. He turned to face the wall roughly, knowing he was the cause to the majority of her misfortune. Lying there with that knowledge was worse than the longing he had for her. Having her so close was wonderful, the new aspects of Esmeralda he never knew slowly emerged before him and yet he hated himself for being so weak and unable to control himself in her presence. Before he could continue wallowing in self pity, he heard a soft rap at the door. He didn't realize how much time had passed when the light of the moon outside shone through the great glass windows, giving Esmeralda an ethereal glow as she gingerly stepped in with a tray.
"...Claude? Rosemary made a bit of stew, are you hungry?"
The way she said his first name so casually still baffled him and he didn't have the heart or energy to really comment on the fact.
"Anything sounds appetizing after what transpired out there. Mathias is an old fool. We should have waited. Has anyone even entered?"
Esmeralda sighed as she lit a few candles scattered around the room and took a seat next to him.
"...A few, Phoeb-the Captain of the Guard came looking for you, but I told him you were recovering… He gave me this, I think it's a death count by the looks of it. Many that tried getting to Notre Dame froze to death."
Esmeralda waited for a rant of some sort. Probably about reading his message or belittling her position as prisoner-witch-whore...but it never came. Frollo sighed through his long nose and took the scroll from her hand. It took a moment for him to compose himself.
"I am actually quite relieved you sent that dolt away, perhaps I misjudged you."
Esmeralda let out a loud huff crossing her arms across her chest as she looked up at him. "Oh, you think?" She furrowed her brows angrily, but they slowly relaxed when the stoic Judge gently grabbed her hands in his.
"I...I have never judged you fairly, nor have I treated you well and despite what I have said and done you still sit here and tend to me."
Esmeralda's eyes widened in shock as she looked down at their hands contemplatively.
"No...no you haven't," his sudden confession unnerved her, "and no, I didn't poison the stew if that's what you're trying to get at."
A deep laugh escaped him uncharacteristically and Esmeralda jumped at the unfamiliar noise.
"What I'm trying to tell you is that I am deeply-"
"Esmeralda! Have you checked the Minister's hurts?"
The gruff voice of Sister Ethel roused Esmeralda from her reverie as the Judge's trademark scowl returned. His eyes annoyedly glanced at the nun. He'd vow to spite her for ruining their intimate moment, as he quickly snatched his hands away.
"No sister, pardon me", Esmeralda wordlessly lifted the blankets by his feet to see a few of his toes had blackened. Frollo audibly grumbled to himself.
"Of course..."
The Gypsy girl tsked, "He has the black frost Sister."
The nun huffed, "Well, it does no good to keep dead appendages now does it? We will have to cut them off Minister."
"Obviously." He sneered. The Sister rolled her eyes, "Yes, well, I'll bring some shears, can you handle this Esmeralda?"
The Gypsy looked startled, "Me?"
"Yes, who else?!"
"But I've only ever stitched wounds! I don't think I can."
"Sister Rosemary and Maria are much too busy with the hunchback and we have just received more stragglers, there are not many of us to help and you don't want the rot to set in. He can't feel them, just don't cut too far down and stitch them up after."
Esmeralda blushed angrily, "Fine".
"That's more like it."
Sister Ethel's portly shape hobbled away only to return with a basket of scissors, needles, thread and a small pot of boiled wine.
"Shouldn't we have more wine so he won't be able to feel it? He should be drunk."
Ethel glanced over at Claude and sneered. "He'll fare, we're running low and need to conserve what we can."
Esmeralda grumbled as she ushered the gruff nun away and closed the door. Once she dreamed of slowly cutting away his fingers and limbs from all the trouble he's caused but, she couldn't bring herself to really hate him enough to enjoy it. He didn't change all that much but she could see in his demeanor that this time it was different and that perhaps he truly was trying to be a better person...or at least more tolerable.
Sitting on a small stool, she unsurely glanced up at Frollo's jasper eyes, a visible grimace plastered onto his gaunt face as she held a foot between her legs. As she picked up the pair of shears, she hesitated.
"...I'm sure you won't find it that difficult Esmeralda."
Esmeralda managed a lame smirk as she breathed out, disgusted in what she was about to do. Claude turned his head away.
"Please, just make it quick so I can get on with- JESUS CHRIST!"
Esmeralda flinched as he yelled at her. The tip was the only frostbitten area affected and she managed to cut the whole thing off. When she glanced up angry tears ran down his face as he glared at her, blood pouring down from where his toe once was. In a quivering breath he rasped.
"Fetch the wine...For-the-love-of-God, FETCH THE WINE!"
Esmeralda trembled beneath him disturbed as she disinfected the area with the boiled wine. Apart of her was shocked he didn't try and hit her, he instead clutched his face into his hands, the tips of his fingers going white from the pressure of trying to compose himself from the pain. His dismembered toe fell to the floor and she audibly gagged as she held a hand over her mouth.
This was going to be a long night.
Claude Frollo awoke after hours of trying to endure the throbbing pain in his feet. Sleep hardly came to him and he groaned, circles heavy underneath his bloodshot eyes. He wasn't sure which pain was worse: his existence or his lack of phalanges. Esmeralda did a decent job, though perhaps he should have sent her off to find some communion wine by the second toe. He knew sister Ethel was lying to him, he saw her take a swig out of a flask just the night before. In all, he lost 4 toes. The second and third on his left and the fourth and fifth and on his right. He wouldn't be able to stand properly for a while and his recuperation worried him. What of Snowball? What of the street patrols? Would he be able to walk normally again, or would he be the "duck-footed Minister of Justice"? His name already meant "weak" in Latin, and he didn't need anything to imply he was growing less capable of leading a city. He tried to rise and immediately regretted it as he yelped out in pain. Unbeknownst to him, Esmeralda had moved her things to the cloister just across from him. The sound of jingling and stomping met with his door nearly kicked open as a disheveled Esmeralda burst in.
"What happened?!"
Her hair was in a disarray, her blouse uneven and stained with blood from the night before. She looked exhausted and apart of him felt guilty for waking her...however the more sadistic side of him felt like teasing her a bit despite the pain.
"I tried to stand up to assess if I even could, I was not aware you cared so much to move your things so close by…"
Esmeralda puffed out her chest and glared at him. "In your dreams."
"Precisely right."
Esmeralda reddened. "...I see, well keep your delusions to yourself, you have yet to see me fight in case you've forgotten".
His breath came out in a quiver as he gingerly walked on his heels to the cluttered desk. Frollo plopped down with a grimace on a book-stacked chair as he carefully began rewrapping his feet. "Battling the Captain of the Guard is hardly a fight at all if you consider how much of a pompous bastard-"
"Bastard? Now that's some vocabulary I never thought I'd hear from you Minister Frollo".
"...There are many things you have not heard from my lips yet, and some things I'd still like to hear from yours…"
Esmeralda's blush deepened at his blatant flirting. She cocked her head to the side and took one step closer.
"Oh yeah, like what?" He was much too prudent to keep this up...or so she thought.
A deep sinister chuckle escaped his lips and he smoothly whispered. "What would be the fun in telling you?"
His voice was like a deep purr and she couldn't help but lean in entranced by the change in demeanor, she seemed to snap out of whatever she was thinking and stalked out of the room flustered.
"You're insane! Finish up so I can help you to the kitchens you perverted cripple!"
He could hear her yelling from her room and for once in a long while, he seemed a little more optimistic about their situation. Frollo would surely remedy her insults now that he knew she liked his voice in a certain octave. 'Seductive voice for a seductive woman…' he mused to himself.
The bleak walls of the small cloister dining room seemed to perk up with the grateful, hungry souls of the weary as they happily broke their fast. In total, 15 people managed to find refuge when the snow was removed from the doors of the great Cathedral. The nuns were busy bustling around the kitchens next door, finishing up the first meal and preparing the next.
The Archdeacon was in mid-conversation with Brother Eduard about the current housing situation when he heard the deep baritone and husky voice of the Gypsy girl echoing throughout the halls. Bickering.
"...If you lean into me any harder, we're both going to fall!"
"You didn't seem to mind being so close to me when you wanted to know about my... 'delusions'".
"You insufferable man! I did mind! I always mind."
"I beg to differ-AH-wait, stop…"
"...Are you alright?"
The two entered through the small doorway, met with the curious gazes of some common folk that had entered the night before. Some looked shocked to see him there, others perplexed and some mortified. A young ragged looking couple talked amongst themselves quietly as they took note of the bloodied bandages on his feet and of the recognizable beauty that was La Esmeralda. She was casually holding him against her for balance and her clothes were smattered with dry blood. It was a very peculiar scene and the Judge quickly scanned the crowd and took note. This was not good.
Esmeralda felt him stiffen and gently nudged him to take a seat. He reddened and grimaced as he gingerly lowered himself down, gripping the table until his knuckles turned white. She immediately noticed a change in his demeanor as he turned to face the prying eyes of the small folk. One hard look and they immediately looked down to their bowls of porridge. Satisfied, Claude took a spoonful as Esmeralda noted just how much power he held. In the softest and most terse voice he ever produced, she heard him whisper, "You should have changed your clothes."
He had a point, but she didn't want him to take it. "And you should have stayed in your cell!"
A/N:
Hello everyone! It's been quite awhile and I'm so very sorry you had to wait over half a year for an update! I recently transferred from a Community College to a University and it threw me for a loop. I wanted to get this out before Valentine's Day but it didn't work out like I had hoped. I had a lot of papers and an important scholarship application due that week so I had to hold it off. I hope this update meets all of your expectations and toe-less needs (That made no sense, I'm sorry).
Shout out to Ivory Holden for leaving such a touching guest review! I wish I could have PM'd you privately to get more in depth, but it meant the absolute world to me and I really appreciated your kindness and motivating words. I strive to try and keep them as close to the movie as possible and I'm so glad you think it's true to character!
I really appreciate any of you that still read this and still look forward to updates. I have the next chapter structured out. I am not going to give you a false promise on when I will be able to upload it but I do think it will be way sooner ( I know I say that each time, but you have to understand I am a typical procrastinating college student ). For those of you that still follow this, thank you so much for your support I really do love any feedback and hope you are all well :)