Page 16 of The Hunchback

“What was her name? And do you think you were related?” Esmeralda asked, her eyes sparkling with curiosity.

I shook my head. “I didn’t know her name. Not her real name, at least. I called her Nan, as per her request. People would come to the house, and I would hide in my room while she traded with them. They called her Old Nan. I didn’t think she was old but... What’s wrong?” I asked, suddenly noticing the troubled expression on her face.

“It’s just… Such an incredible coincidence,” Esmeralda said hesitantly. “A few days ago, I met a merchant in town who told me about a woman named Althea—but commonly referred to as Old Nan—who lived in the woods and made beautiful costumes for the Festival, but mostly traded for jams and preserves. I had no idea it was the woman who had raised you! What happened? How did you end up here?”

“I became sick,” I said glumly. “My condition started manifesting itself when I turned five; or rather, my hump did. Until then, I was a normal boy, running all over the place and being hyperactive. And then, the pain in my back grew more and more with the size of my hump. There were times I couldn’t walk or get up.”

“How terrible! I’m so sorry,” Esmeralda said with a commiserating look on her beautiful face.

“It got better with time, in a way,” I said with an ‘it’s okay’ smile. The ease with which I was sharing this with her stunned me. I’d expected to be more self-conscious and embarrassed. “Nan would force me to get up, stretch, and exercise. Although my hump grew bigger, I adapted to its burden and to the way it restricted my movements.”

“I can only imagine how you might have been permanently crippled without her foresight,” Esmeralda said, a slight frown marring her forehead. “And I’m guessing she couldn’t call a doctor for you?”

I shook my head. “It would have put both of our lives in jeopardy. For the next couple of years, things were somewhat manageable. However, a month before my eighth birthday, things worsened. I started…”

The words died in my throat, and I cast a wary look in her direction. I was still ‘pretty’ for now, and would remain so for the next four to ten days to come. This was how I wanted her to see me, always. Should I tell her how ugly I became so early in whatever bond this was forming between us?

“It’s okay, Kwazeem. You can tell me anything,” she said gently, as if reading my thoughts.

I swallowed hard and nodded sharply. Delaying the inevitable would only make matters worse. If Esmeralda was going to turn her back on me because of my illness, as much as it would break me, I preferred she did it now than after a week of me misleading her.

“When my condition acts up,” I said in a slightly shaky voice, “my face and my hands swell disproportionately, and purplish blotches appear on my skin, as if I’d been in a bad fight. The pain in my back becomes pure agony.”

“Oh, Kwazeem,” Esmeralda said, her delicate palm settling on the back of my hand and giving it a gentle squeeze.

The same electric coils wrapped over our hands, swirling around our wrists before fading away. Still, Esmeralda’s energy seeped into me, stirring that odd power deep within me. It felt like the Light of the gods themselves had been lit inside my chest. Glorious and mighty, I wanted more of it. And yet, the moment it appeared, a familiar dull throbbing at the base of my hump manifested itself.

“It’s okay,” I repeated, covering her hand with my other one, both to increase the feel of her and to make sure she wouldn’t pull away just yet. “It’s in the past now. But back then, Nan and I both thought my days were numbered. She didn’t say it, but I knew. For the next few weeks, she kept dosing me with poppy juice to keep me sedated so that I wouldn’t spend my days screaming in pain. And then Frollo came to the cabin.”

Esmeralda perked up, her stunning green eyes staring intently at me with burning curiosity. I hated that Frollo should have been the cause, but swallowed my jealousy.

“Most of that time is a blur to me. I was in too much pain and under too much sedation to truly understand what was going on,” I said, gently caressing the back of her hand with my thumb, more to soothe myself than her. “Nan told me a man was working on a solution to help me, but I was too ill to make sense of anything. And then, one day, the pain was gone. My hump was bigger than ever, but the pain was gone. When it started to come back a couple of weeks later, Frollo came back, and continued to do so for the next three months until it was clear my condition would forever be recurring. That’s when Nan said that I would be moving to the capital city to live with Frollo. I’ve been here ever since.”

I said the last sentence with a shrug to hide the sadness constricting my throat. But that didn’t fool my Esmeralda, who tightened her grip on my hand.

“Did you ever see Old Nan again?” she asked in a soft voice.

Not trusting my voice just yet, I shook my head and took in a couple of deep breaths. “The Godswood is too far if you aren’t flying by shuttle. Going there would require me to cross Fallen territory on foot, and busy hunting grounds that would make it impossible for me not to be noticed, even if I traveled at night.” I gazed upon Esmeralda’s beautiful face, her coppery skin glowing under the soft rays of the sun piercing through the leaves of the tree. “Thank you for letting me know she’s still well.”

“Of course, Kwazeem. I wish I could tell you more. I…” Esmeralda’s eyes suddenly widened as if she’d just remembered something. “Actually…”

To my chagrin, she pulled her hand from my grasp and reached for the bag which contained the gift she’d brought me. The loveliest pink crept up on Esmeralda’s cheeks as she held the bag timidly in front of her almost like a shield.

“I saw this in one of the stalls in the marketplace, and it made me think of you. The craftsmanship is so exquisite, I couldn’t help but buy it. Ellen—the merchant—told me Old Nan had made it. So, now it seems all the more predestined that I should have gotten it for you.”

With a nervous laugh, Esmeralda extended the bag to me. Excitement and worry warred within me. I couldn’t wait to see the gift, but her nervousness made me wonder at its nature. My blood froze at the sight of the life-like face of a Fallen staring back at me. A million thoughts pushed and shoved each other in my mind as I tried to make sense of that present.

“Is this how you see me?” I asked with tension in my voice. “As a Fallen?”

As a monster?

Esmeralda’s gaze lost all nervousness, and she held mine with conviction. “I see you as a stunningly handsome man who happens to be half-human and half-Fallen. I am incredibly drawn to you, and I would love for you to come see me dance and Chant at the Festival in two days. So, I thought this costume fitting because I like you just the way you are, which includes your Fallen genetics. I also happen to think that costume is beautiful. That’s all.”

Each of her words felt like a balm on a wound I hadn’t known plagued me. And yet, they caused something to snap deep within me; something wild, primal, and famished. Esmeralda’s eyes widening with both shock and a sliver of fear made me realize I’d moved. With a speed that left me dizzy, I grabbed her by the shoulders and yanked her off the ground. Next thing I knew, she was standing, her back pressed against the tree, and my lips were claiming hers with brutal possessiveness.

Esmeralda stiffened, her hands fisting my shirt on my chest with a slight initial pushback. It quickly faded, and she relaxed against me, her arms wrapping around my neck. Too many sensations were crashing upon me to be able to compartmentalize them; the plush warmth of her lips against mine, her sweet and spicy taste laced with the mulled wine she’d drunk, the silkiness of her hair falling over my arms pinning her to the tree, the firm yet soft feel of her body and her full breasts pressing against my chest, and her hands… her divine hands touching me like no one ever has before.

A deep moan rose from my throat as the searing heat of Esmeralda’s palms slipped under my flowy shirt to touch my skin directly. My abdominal muscles contracted almost painfully as her thumbs gently caressed the sides of my abs. But the exquisite torture didn’t end as her hands roamed up to my chest, until the pads of her thumbs made their way to my nipples. My cock jerked in reaction at the unexpected sensual feel of her fingers circling them.

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