Woohoo! I'd like to welcome and thank Yami no Eyes for pointing out that, because of poor medicine and easy illnesses, Lavender could lose her leg easily because of that knee!
And thanks again to Opaque Opal! For anyone who reviews, their name will be mentioned and such
I'd have to make up a very convincing lie that did not make him mad enough to kill.
…Well, I'm dead.
When I opened my abnormal eyes, I felt sick once more. The man standing before me held a very cold gaze, the kind that made you want to shrink and curl up under a rock. There was no way, I figured, that I'd be able to lie and get away with it. He was looking at me as though I was a sheep and he was a wolf!
"I…I had followed this man. I thought he was you because of the black robes, Claude." So far so good, I thought to myself quietly, start off easy then get to the hard stuff. "I ran after him to the North part of Paris and then I lost him. I guess now that I'm thinking of it…why would you run anyway? I was lost. It was getting dark and so I tried running around, trying to find people for directions."
This was growing into a really decent sounding lie. Of course that could backfire in a second, but still. The important thing was to keep my appearance, my reactions, calm. "I suppose since I'm a klutz…I tripped. I lost the cane you gave me when I did and I tried to crawl around to find it. I guess that's how my knee got so…" I shuddered at the memory.
"When I was trying to find it, I tried standing and walking…well, actually hopping. I stumbled over the bricks on the ground, those that signal there's a ditch near by, and rolled into the ditch. What with the rain we had lately, Claude, I guess that's how my bandages got so filthy."
I held my breath, hoping, nay praying that he would believe me and be done with it all. I sat there with my back propped up on pillows, watching the man before me. Instead of looking like a raging monster with fire coming out of his nose like before, he looked calm.
Almost…too calm. And sly too! What was he up to?
"I see…Well, while I am disappointed you lost the cane, I'm grateful you returned otherwise safe. Tell me though girl…I heard from an old man at the market that you ran after a puppet master…a gypsy. Why would you do such a thing?" Claude asked with venom spiked at the end.
He came closer and it took all my will power not to react. If I had said that I thought the gypsy was him…whoa, wrong answer! If I told him the gypsy man had beckoned me…he'd hunt him down.
Forcing myself not to look away, to look into his cold eyes, I answered with a surprisingly amount of confidence. "Claude, that old man must have been mistaken. I had ran after a man in black robes, not in a colorful skin tight outfit.I'm sure the old man's eyesight wasn't what it used to be. Claude, stop staring at me like that. Who are you going to believe, me or him?"
It took a moments hesitation, a moment of thinking for Claude. He suddenly gulped me down into a very warm embrace. I hadn't realized how chilly the room was until he held me close.
"Thank the Lord you're safe, my sweet Lavender!" He whispered softly into my hair. I felt so…so loved.
Wrapping my arms around him as well, I mumbled, "You're so warm in my hands…" (A/N Note: I had been listening to "My Friends" from Sweeney Todd when I wrote that!)
That's how we remained for the rest of the night; hugging and holding, almost clinging, to one another. I tucked the memory away in my heart. One day I'd need to look back on this…
The day passed by quite boring and uneventful. In the back of my mind, I remembered I had to meet Clopin at the market tomorrow at noon. But what was to happen? What would he do? What would we say?
Would he kidnap me? After all, he swore to my mother, his old best friend that he'd take care of me. Would Frollo leave us alone? Would he be watching like a hawk? If that was the case, then I'd have to tell Clopin I wasn't at a farm, but at Frollo's.
And the biggest question of all was…where was father?
Claude hadn't questioned or actually realized that I skinned my knee in the dungeons. I think he knows but he's in denial…An old saying I once heard, "The Nile is not just a river in Egypt." I smiled at that; my mother loved that saying.
When she would ask father if she looked beautiful, he'd scoff playfully. She would laugh and retort, "The Nile is not just a river in Egypt." I smiled at the memory, suddenly noticing how much I really missed my family.
With a heavy sigh, I pushed back all the memories about my mother back from my mind. I'd be doing this a lot for the next five or so years. I was locked up with an 'old man' who wasn't over 30 without a friend. Perhaps…I smiled; perhaps Clopin and I could be secret friends!
Claude walked in around the afternoon, bags and shadows under his eyes. It was clear that he hadn't slept a wink while I slept a few hours. "Claude…" I said without thinking as he sat on the chair next to me, "I wish you wouldn't work so much and just sleep and relax. Stress is causing your body to age."
The way he looked at me with surprise and shock in his eyes made me laugh softly. I drank some wine disguised as water from a goblet, left over from an early lunch. Just as I put it down, he snatched it away and smelt the alcohol. I looked away, a dark blush on my face.
Instead of snapping, however, he took my advice to relax a little. "With all the blood you lost last night, Lavender, I think it would be reasonable to believe that the wine you snuck in is what is coloring your face."
Laughter escaped from my lips, a smile on them. It was so rare to hear the great and horrible Judge Claude Frollo joke around. He sat next to me on my bed and lightly placed a hand on my knee. I didn't wince or anything, in fact, I didn't feel a thing.
"It would appear that you're getting better, my dear." He said with an approving smile. "I think, however, you should stay off it for the rest of the day. If you excuse me, I have some business to attend to."
Next chapter: The market, trying to convince Frollo to go there. Clopin's reaction; can Lav and him be secret friends? Review please.
