Page 38 of The Hunchback

“There can only be a crime in the absence of consent,” I snapped back.

Phoebus recoiled, and stared at me looking both hurt and disappointed. “So, you confess.”

“I have nothing to confess. Love is not a crime. I am a free woman of the Nine Circles. I freely chose my mate and willingly accepted the consequences that might stem from it. I wasn’t trapped, tricked, or violated. If being with the man I love means being stripped of my Light, then so be it. It ismychoice. Not yours, and not anyone else’s. Even knowing the consequences, I would make the same choice. I will always choose him.”

The conviction in my words appeared to shake him. Until now, my heart had believed it, but my head had been clinging to what I had once been. But no more… I would always mourn the loss of my Light, but I could never regret finding the other half of me.

Phoebus leaned forward, his face inches from mine. “Let’s see how honorable your mate is,” he snarled. “Hewillstand before me and answer for this.”

Without giving a chance to respond, he spread his wings and, with a powerful flap, took flight towards the temple, followed by his companions.

Falling to my knees, head bowed, I ignored the stares and murmurs from the crowd. Feeling helpless and defeated, I could only pray that Kwazeem would stay away.

Chapter 15

Kwazeem

Iwatched the Praetor’s private shuttle leave with mixed emotions. Although he’d come to see me get onboard with his private guards, Frollo hadn’t traveled with us to the Godswood. It had felt odd parting with the only person that had come closest to being a friend or family. I hated that I couldn’t have personally given Esmeralda the staff I’d made for her. However, despite my somewhat tense relationship with Frollo, I trusted him to deliver it to her.

His meaning had been clear when he’d told me to keep it and give it to her myself. I almost agreed, too. But as much as I wanted a peaceful life with my woman, I didn’t want her to have lost her Light. Or rather, I didn’t want to have leached it out of her.

The last two days without seeing Esmeralda had been pure torture. I’d never thought missing someone could translate into literal physical pain. Even the power that had been buzzing through me had waned with each passing hour.

However, a different emotional trial awaited me now. Standing in the small clearing a short distance from Nan’s house, my throat felt too constricted to swallow as I began to approach the house of my youth with hesitant steps. The small hovercart carrying my most precious belongings followed me with a discreet keening sound. The familiar scenery and scent had a million memories and long forgotten feelings flooding through me.

I’d often asked Frollo to let me come to the Godswood by foot to visit Nan. Until today, I’d always believed his arguments that it was too far away had been nothing but a lie to keep me under his thumb. But flying in the shuttle, seeing both the distance and perilous terrain I would have had to cross to reach it made me ashamed for having doubted his word.

Pulse racing, I closed the distance to the backdoor of the house, proud to see how well I’d reproduced its design in my cabin by the temple. My heart skipped a beat when the door opened before I’d even reached it. I then remembered the motion detectors Nan had put in place to protect me from unexpected visitors dropping by.

But none of that mattered. The beautiful, wizened face that I’d grown to love in my youth was all I could see. Her lips quivered while her gaze slowly roamed over me. My chest tightened at the love and joy in her glistening eyes.

“My boy,” she whispered, opening her arms wide.

Tears threatening to choke me, I rushed to her and closed my arms around her frail body. Laughing and crying, she held me tightly, repeatedly calling meherbaby,herbeautiful little boy. I hadn’t known my biological mother. Whenever I thought of home and of maternal affection, Nan’s face always appeared to me. And in this instance, as she gently caressed my hair and kissed my forehead, I truly felt like the prodigal son returned home at long last. It worried me at first not to see my imps, but she quickly reassured me they had arrived earlier and were off hunting.

She ushered me into the house, and another wave of wonderful sensory overload assaulted me. Nothing had changed: the same layout, the same décor packed with too many mementos acquired over the years, and the same delicious scent of freshly baked bread and sweet jams. Even my old room had remained untouched, aside from the bed which had thankfully been replaced by a much bigger one to accommodate my significantly larger frame.

Nan immediately began to fuss over me, making me sit at the kitchen table and piling a mix of every food I’d ever loved. I argued feebly that it was all too much, but I gladly gorged on every delectable morsel. There was something truly powerful about sensory memory. A familiar taste, a scent, a texture, and even the sound of the wind outside, each one triggered an onslaught of long lost souvenirs.

We spent the next couple of hours catching up, or rather her grilling me about all that had happened in my life since Frollo had taken me away. Until now, if anyone had asked me about my life, I would have said it had been boring and uneventful, but as she further questioned me, I started seeing all that I had accomplished, learned, and experienced. My loft at the top of the temple’s spire had given me a unique window onto the busiest city of the Nine Circles, and the best seat to watch all the grand spectacles often held on the plaza. Through my computer and vidscreen, I’d had access to infinite knowledge. Everything I’d ever wanted to learn about, Frollo had provided me with the necessary tools. Even my combat and blacksmithing skills, he’d provided me with a top of the line virtual trainer. I’d hunted in the forest, went underwater fishing, and crafted the weapons of the City Guards.

“So, he kept his word,” Nan whispered to herself, before locking eyes with me. “Through all those years, he gave you the best possible life for your circumstances. I’d been so scared that letting you go had been a mistake.”

My throat tightened looking back at what my life had indeed been like. Remembering my last confrontation with the Praetor, a sliver of shame rose in the pit of my stomach. Frollo didn’t love me, and I didn’t love him. Yet, he had generally been good to me.

“He did,” I conceded. “I missed you terribly, but you made the right choice.” Judging by the immense relief on her face, she’d feared I’d resent her for ‘abandoning’ me all those years ago. “Frollo saved my life. We both know I would have died here had he not intervened when he did. Instead, he allowed me to grow into a man with the skills to care for a family.”

A strange spark lit up in her eyes at that last statement. I squirmed in my chair knowing what question would come next.

“Do you love her?” she asked with a soft voice.

“With every fiber of my being,” I said, my chest swelling with love at the thought of my woman.

“She seemed to have a great deal of affection for you when she came here,” Nan replied carefully.

“She does,” I confirmed. “We are… mated.”

Her eyes widened, first with shock, second with joy, and then worry descended over her features. “Kwazeem, Fallen can—”

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