Unfortunately for the Minister, the rest of the day did not go over as smoothly as he hoped: there were quarrels to be settled among townsfolk, wrongdoers to be arrested, and of course more paperwork to be done. Sadly, there was no time in Frollo's busy schedule to oversee any torture in the Palace's dungeons either.
The late winter snow had lightened a bit and the sun peaked through the white sky, much to his further dismay since it was the dark, gloomy days that ironically brightened the judge's mood. However, today was not one of those days.
Frollo was drained and grated with Jehan's disregard for keeping the story under wraps about his brother's new position. He wanted the teenager to suffer the consequences for such negligence.
For this, the Minister seemed more merciless than usual as he sentenced newly acquired criminals to their punishments, especially for gypsies who seemed to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. He looked on hatefully at a dark-skinned man who had been arrested for allegedly attempting to steal from one of his soldiers. "Two weeks in the dungeon!" he ordered without mercy, receiving a petrified look from the detainee.
"But Your Honor!" the man pleaded, manacles clanking around his trembling hands. "The crime for stealing is a day in the stocks, isn't it?"
Frollo's face twisted in annoyance at the man's challenge. "For that comment, an additional week is to be added." With that he waved the guards away to lead the man out as he scribbled over the piece of parchment in front of him.
From one of the sole windows of the court room, the judge could see that dusk was approaching and it would be best to call it a day. "Court dismissed." He gathered up the documents scattered around his judicial bench and put on his hat before exiting. All the while his blood boiled with absolute fury in anticipation for the choice words he had for his brother later.
X
Jehan breezily strolled up the steps to the Palace of Justice; a soldier had come to him earlier with a message saying that the Minister of Justice requested to see him that evening after the last court finished session. The boy figured that he was just going to be chided over another complaint from school, so there was no reason to fear his brother, the judge.
He sauntered through the sinister atmosphere of the Palace without an ounce of fear that most would have felt upon entering. Arriving at the Minister's study, Jehan pounded loudly on the door, easily announcing his presence.
"Enter," the low and unwelcoming voice from inside called.
"Good evening, Claude" Jehan greeted charmingly as he ambled into the study and found Frollo poring over a dozen pieces of parchment.
Frollo's study was an eerily dark room whose walls were aligned with careworn books and various maps. Behind the cluttered wooden desk was a bronze crucifix, whose downcast expression seemed to bore holes into the back of the Minister's skull. The few candles that illuminated the room increased the ever present feeling of the danger in the judge's lair.
"Close the door," Frollo ordered as he stood up from his desk. He walked to the center of the room, hands clasped behind his back and wearing an indifferent expression on his face. He was further vexed with the fact that Jehan had gone and spent his allowance on another new outfit.
"Come here," the Minister instructed coldly as he narrowed his eyes at his younger brother, his breathing now deep and enraged. Behind him, the rings on his right hand dug deep into his skin as his fists clenched tightly.
Trying to hide a smirk of amusement, Jehan shuffled towards him while attempting to weave an excuse for whatever complaint that his brother might have received from the University. "Claude, if this is about my little strife with Edmond Dufour, I swear to you that it wasn't-"
Jehan's explanation was cut short by his brother's hands gripping his collar and slamming him violently against the stone wall, his knuckles pushing into Jehan's throat.
"You think yourself amusing going around and heralding my personal affairs to the public?!" Frollo breathed furiously. "Does the concept of privacy mean anything to you?! Especially with the fact that I am the keeper of this city?"
With a violent fire in his eyes, Frollo bared his teeth and flared his nostrils like a mad dog. His knuckles turned white by his deadly grip on Jehan, which now making his frame tremble but not about to release this brat. He could kill the boy right then and there!
"Claude! I…" Jehan choked out while trying to release his brother's firm hold on him. His handsome young features into a grimace of terror. He suddenly feared that Claude might have indeed snapped this time.
"Do you understand the precariousness of this situation that you have put me in? What if the King hears about this?" He shook the boy with wrath, rattling his head furiously. He was fighting the ever-growing urge to simply toss the boy out the window–it would certainly help lighten his load anyway. "I could lose my position if he decides not to show clemency! No doubt that soon the whole aristocracy will hear of it, thanks to you!" Without another thought, Frollo tossed Jehan forcefully to the ground, leaving the young man sprawling and choking for air.
"Listen to me, Jehan," Frollo growled, pointing an warning finger towards his brother. "It would be in your best interest not to recount this story further to anyone else. Do you understand?"
Jehan looked at him with daunted blue eyes. "Claude, I'm sorry," he uttered meekly, now attempting to crawl away from his incensed brother. "I-I didn't know you would be so sensitive over something like this."
"'Sensitive'?!" the judge repeated, reaching out to seize him by his arm and eliciting a whimper from the boy. "I have enough matters to deal with without being publicly mortified by my younger brother. I need to keep this story as quiet as possible, and so do you."
Frollo lowered himself closer to Jehan who was still on the floor, afraid to get up. In a dangerous voice he said, "Remember: if the King discovers this news, I can only pray that he will understand. If you cause any more damage by continuing to spread this story, I will not be so forgiving. Are we clear?"
Jehan fearfully nodded his head and Claude reluctantly offered his hand to help him up. If it were not a matter of principle, he would have easily killed the boy. In the back of his mind, he feared that no matter how many warnings he gave, Jehan would do just as he pleased, as usual. He would continue to regale the story and all of Paris would know of the Minister's plight soon enough.
Frollo cleared his throat as he regained his calm demeanor. "As for whatever quarrel you found yourself in, I have already ordered you to cease with such childish fights, Jehan. They are a waste of time that you could be using to actually study, as you should be doing. I went to great lengths to get you into the University, and I do not wish for you to squander such an advantage by getting expelled one day!"
Fear dissipated almost instantly at his brother's paternal tone. Jehan rolled his eyes at his words. "I know, I know. Is that all for today, Father?"
Frollo glared at the young man, resentful of his nonchalance. "Do not take my words lightly. If you choose to ignore them, you will indeed suffer the consequences."
"Don't worry, Claude. The University wouldn't dare expel the Minister of Justice's brother," he reassured as he approached the severe-faced man. "I'm virtually untouchable!" He clapped Frollo hard on the back, the elder brother hissing at the stinging tenderness.
Jehan could only laugh a little at his brother's pain, completely unaware of the wounds underneath. "Getting old are we? Can't take a friendly strike?"
Frollo glowered hatefully at the boy. "Just get out of my office," he commanded, his tone causing Jehan to back away, but not without a signature smirk.
"I must be on my way since my presence is required elsewhere," Frollo said, rolling his shoulders to dispel the pain. He crossed to the large window of the room and stared regretfully at the cathedral looming in the distance.
"Big plans for tonight?" Jehan asked mischievously with his hand on the door handle.
"Strictly official matters that I must attend to, none of which is any of your business."
Jehan shrugged. "If you say so. Now before you send me away, would you at least send me along with some money for dinner, lest you want your brother to starve?" He pulled an innocent smile for extra measure.
"Fine." Frollo pinched the bridge of his nose before going to retrieve a coin purse from his desk and tossing it to his brother. "Now leave"
Jehan grinned. With feigned gratitude, he left with "Much obliged!"
After the boy left, Frollo circled his temples in annoyance. What am I going to do with that ungrateful leech? He thought as he rubbed the back of his neck. In that moment, Frollo knew that Quasimodo would never be like that good for nothing brother of his. Rather, he would raise him to be entirely grateful and loyal to his provider.
Frollo had considered different ideas of how to set his brother straight in the past. He had thought about disowning Jehan, but then again it might only cause more damage to their family name than there already was. Their name to which he as a student tried to reclaim some honor after a life of shame resulting from the unfavorable reputation his father held; shame that was reborn as soon as Jehan entered school and made it perfectly clear that he had no interest in higher education.
Placing his hat atop his head, Frollo made way for the door and down the Palace's grand staircase towards the entrance.
X
Augustin handed the candle over to the Minister who also held Quasimodo in the other arm, swaddled in traditional white baptism dress. Surprisingly, the boy remained very calm during the ceremony. The Archdeacon continued the rest of the rite. "Accipe lampadem ardentem, et irreprehensibilis custodi Baptismum tuum serva Dei mandata ut cum Dominus venerit ad nuptias…"
The nave of the church was almost completely empty had it not been for the presence of the Minister, Quasimodo, Father Augustin, and a handful of monks. But the judge was dead serious about the event being extremely private and without an audience. In fact, it was very reminiscent of his brother's own baptism in the quality of exclusiveness.
"Vade in pace et Dominus sit tecum. Amen."
"Amen," Frollo unemotionally repeated, praying the boy wouldn't start howling over the sacred oil on his little head.
Even though Quasimodo was now considered a follower and child of God, Frollo could still not bring himself to fully embrace him as such; in his eyes, the boy was still a grotesque monstrosity that he could not find in his heart to wholly adopt as his own. Quasimodo, however, seemed to completely accept the unwilling Minister as his new father.
Frollo brushed some of the boy's red hair away from his bad eye as he looked up at stern faced judge. He gasped in alarm when the baby wrapped his small hand around his finger, unnerved by such a gesture. A small pang of warmth swept through him as the child held onto him.
"In all the years I have known you, Claude, I would never have foreseen this image."
Frollo snatched his hand away from the tiny creature's grasp and faced Archdeacon. "What image?" Frollo asked, now stoic.
"I would never have thought that one day you would be here for the baptism of your own child."
"Nor would I," he monotonously replied. "If I had, I would have thought that at least the child would actually be my own, and legitimate." Guiltily, he looked away when Quasimodo's teal eyes met his, averting his gaze to some far side of the church.
A small smile touched the Archdeacon's face before asking, "You mean with her?"
The judge froze and shuddered as he fought back the distant memories that he had tried to keep buried for years. A sharp anger suddenly built up inside him.
"Do you ever think about her, Claude?" Augustin asked quietly. "Don't you ever miss Cele-"
"Never say that harlot's name!" Frollo snapped as he turned back around to the priest, his face intense with hateful ferocity. "Ever!"
His fierce response echoed throughout the massive church, causing some of the retreating monks to spin around in surprise. Even Quasimodo cried out in fear from Frollo's powerful voice, eliciting an irate growl from the Minister. Frollo glared icily at Augustin, whose expression was one of shock at such an outburst. True, Claude Frollo was known for a short temper, but even he was able to keep calm when challenged or angered.
Without another word, Frollo whipped around, abruptly leaving the nave and marching up the bell tower with the crying baby in his arms. After such a nerve-wracking day, the last thing the judge wanted to do was confront his inner demons.
x
*a/n: Okay, bear with me, this chapter was not the easiest to write; it was initially going to be a lot shorter. It may not be my best work, but right now it's what I can muster up since I've been in a lot of pain from anxiety.
Btw: I really want to do a flashback scene somewhere, but I'm not entirely sure how it can be done, so b on the lookout for that.
But anyway, R/R and if you have any questions, feel free to ask.