Page 32 of The Hunchback

They wouldn’t bother me if I were cloaked.

That settled it. Frollo had made it clear to the staff that they were to leave me alone. As I went to fetch my cloak in my bedroom, I cycled through a series of possible excuses for my presence in the temple if anyone should ask. But even as I turned around to exit my room, my imps came rushing in with a scared squeal and hid under my bed.

My blood instantly turned to ice in my veins. Only Frollo’s approach could have stirred such a violent reaction from them.

But he’s not supposed to be back until tomorrow!

Stuffing my cloak back into the dresser, I hastened into the living area of my cabin. The chiming sound of the bell resonated seconds before the door swished open, revealing a brooding Frollo. Judging by his attire, he’d just returned from one of the peripheral cities and hadn’t taken the time to change.

The Praetor’s blue gaze slowly roamed over me, his expression betraying a growing seething anger. The absence of surprise at seeing me up and about took me aback. He knew that I should normally be writhing in agony, half passed out from the debilitating pain. And then my stomach dropped with sudden fear. Had he intercepted Esmeralda on her way back here? Was that why she hadn’t returned? Had she seen him arrive and wisely decided to stay put?

But why wasn’t he surprised?

“I shortened my trip to come take care of you, thinking I’d given you sufficient time to contemplate the error of your ways. But here you are, looking as fresh and thriving as those plants you tend,” Frollo said in the iciest tone I’d ever heard from him. “Where is she?”

My heart skipped a beat. He could only be referring to Esmeralda. But why wouldn’t he know she was at the temple? Had he not checked her room? Had she not made it back to the temple? That made no sense, it was too short a walk. Had anything happened to her along the way, Frollo would have inevitably run into her while coming here.

“Where’s who?” I asked.

“Don’t play dumb with me,” Frollo hissed, advancing towards me with one menacing step. “You know damn well who I’m talking about.”

“There’s no one here but me, and now you,” I said, lifting my chin defiantly. “If you are referring to the Vestal, she’s likely in the temple.”

“You are going to pretend she didn’t help you with your condition?” Frollo challenged me, his hands fisting spasmodically.

“What makes you think I needed external help?” I argued.

“You couldn’t drag your sorry ass to the temple last night because you were too crippled by pain. How the fuck would you have made it back to the temple on your own to break into my lab and steal my syringe case,” Frollo yelled, finally losing any semblance of control.

I flinched, mentally kicking myself for having forgotten to return it to his quarters last night. It all made sense now. He’d come home early to relieve me of my pain only to find the case missing from his room. I didn’t quite know how to feel about that. I hated that he’d used my condition against me to torture me. But was it remorse, a sense of compassion, or some twisted affection towards me that had made him return sooner? As he should have been gone until morning, he naturally assumed Esmeralda would still be with me since she’d defied him to help me.

And she would have been had she not somehow been detained.

The need to go check up on her gnawed at me. Considering how tired she’d been, I wanted to believe she’d merely fallen asleep again. I wouldn’t be able to rest until I knew for sure.

“Since you’d chosen to let me suffer for days to make a point, she did come to my aid,” I snarled back.

“And whose fault was that?” he shouted, before pacing the room. “I was kind by letting you come back to the temple so that you wouldn’t miss out on the whole Festival, and this is how you thanked me?”

“You don’t own me!” I yelled back. “You are not my father, and I’m not a slave for you to order about. You do not dictate where I can and cannot go!”

Frollo stared at me disbelieving, as if he was seeing me for the first time. And maybe he was. I had never actually challenged any of his ‘orders’ before; it had never mattered. But now, his ‘protection’ chafed. I would not be kept on a leash.

“As long as you are inmycity, I most certainly do get to dictate where the fuck you’re allowed to go.” He leveled at me a look with something akin to contempt that had my hackles rising. “As for your father,thatI’m definitely not, and I have no use for a slave, you ungrateful little shit.”

“Could have fooled me,” I snapped back.

“Excuse me?” he said, outraged.

“Do you think I cannot guess the worth of the weapons I’ve made, and which you sell as your own?” I said in a hard tone. “Would you get as magnificent a garden as the one I’ve made for you without paying top wages?”

“And what would you do with credits, Kwazeem?” Frollo asked in a syrupy voice, saying my name with a certain dose of contempt. “I have provided you with everything you’ve ever needed, and anything you requested I bought. So, don’t you dare play the victim. You’d be dead without me.”

“Living by your rules, I might as well be,” I retorted.

“My rules are the only reason you’re still alive. The plaza was crawling with Elohim,” Frollo said between his teeth his voice gradually getting louder. “What the fuck do you think would have happened if they’d gotten to you before my guards did? If you have a death wish, go right ahead and strut your stuff in broad daylight. But you willnotbring me down with you and least of all her!”

I flinched, aching to shout back at the unfairness of it all, but he was right. My selfish desires could have caused our collective downfall. Fists and teeth clenched, I averted my eyes, breathing heavily to cool my temper.

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