Prologue
"Citizens of Paris," yells the archdeacon Claude Frollo. "In the name of God, it is our duty to do what is just and good in the world. These gypsies have disobeyed. They dance in the streets, they practice witchcraft, and they have no rules. It is evil such as this that prompts us to their execution."
His voice droned on and on, but I didn't pay attention. I was only sixteen, but I was now about to die, and I knew it. There was no way to get out of this now. Along side me stood my brothers and sisters, my best friends Henri, Marcel, and Anisa. There were several others among us as well, other gypsies we had been living with in the Court of Miracles, the gypsy safe haven here in Paris.
Things weren't always this way. In fact, they were NEVER this way. We were never criminals, and we were never thieves. Society has just always hated us for some reason, though I've never completely understood why. Gypsies have never hurt anybody, or at least not me and my friends.
My name is Julian, and the story of how we have gotten here is a long one. But I'll tell you anyway, because it is important that you understand the way we gypsies really are, and how bad we have it.
It all started long ago, far away from here…