Page 40 of The Hunchback

He half turned to look at Esmeralda and gestured towards me. “So,thisis the mate you chose?”

“Yes!” she shouted proudly, lifting her chin with defiance. The crowd erupted in angry shouts, showering both her and me with insults. “It is MY choice!” Esmeralda yelled this time at the would-be mob. “I have filled your Well, as was my duty. That my performance exceeded your wildest hopes and dreams doesn’t make me your slave or some broodmare for you to dictate who is allowed to be my consort. I have FREELY chosen this man.Ipursuedhimwhen he tried to stay away for my sake. And now you are putting us on trial for exercising our most basic right of free choice?”

Pride and love filled my heart to thus be so unequivocally and publicly claimed by my mate. Her words seemed to shame a few among the crowd, but too many remained hung up on the cost to themselves of Esmeralda following her heart.

“You are not being tried for freely choosing your mate,” Phoebus said to Esmeralda in a stern voice. He turned to look at me and pointed an accusing finger towards me. “HE is here to face justice for ruining you. Snuffing out a Vestal’s Divine Light and destroying her ability to share it with the world is a crime punishable by death.”

“I have not snuffed out her Light,” I snapped, tiring of this discussion.

From the corner of my eye, I noticed Frollo skirting around the wall of Archangels to take position by the edge of the plaza. Tension plain to see on his face, his eyes flicked between Esmeralda, Phoebus, and me. But he had nothing to fear; I had no intention of betraying him.

“Yes, it is dimmed, but it isn’t gone,” I asserted with conviction.

“You would lie to save yourself?” Phoebus asked, his tone hardening, although he had spoken the words more as a statement. “None of us can find even the slightest spark within her. She’s empty, completely drained of Vesta’s blessing.”

“If you feel nothing, then maybe you’re not as in tune with the divine as you think,” I snarled.

“You dare?” Phoebus whispered, eyeing me with disbelief.

Frollo frowned and imperceptibly shook his head. I ignored him. I was done with these games. The High Seraph hadn’t summoned me here to have a pleasant chat, slap me on the wrist, and send me on my way. There was no point dragging this on.

“I dare and double-dare. I have come to face your justice. But, whatever the outcome, you will release my mate at once andneveragain hold her against her will, like an animal. As per your own laws,noneshall ever harm, coerce, or otherwise mistreat a Vestal.”

“Too badyoudidn’t remember that yourself,” Phoebus deadpanned. Lifting his staff, he gave it a spin, his gaze never wavering from mine. “Defeat me, and you get to walk away from here with your life. Fail, and you will face my justice.”

Blocking out Esmeralda’s distressed face, I focused on my opponent. Calling up on my years of training—although limited to holographic opponents—I braced for what was to come. I had no illusions that I could defeat the leader of the divine horde who had walked out victorious of countless battles over the past century, but I wouldn’t go down easy.

With dizzying speed, Phoebus rushed me. Our staves clashed with the deafening sound of thunder as I parried his attack. The crowd roared its approval. Like vultures, they wanted some bloodshed—myblood spilled for their amusement and revenge. Lightning erupted where our weapons collided. My arm muscles trembled from the force of the impact. But to my surprise—and his—I didn’t stumble back. Standing my ground, I retaliated with a quick flurry of blows which he easily parried, although it put him on the defensive.

Turning the tables on me, Phoebus performed a roundhouse kick that I avoided by stumbling back. However, flowing into the rotation, he slammed the end of his staff against the side of my ankle, knocking me off my feet. I fell on my back with a loud thump. My hump violently striking the reinforced glass dome covering the Well sent a sharp pain down my spine. Grinding my teeth through pain, I barely managed to raise my staff in front of me to block a savage blow he was bringing down on me.

The crowd erupted in feral shouts, encouraging the High Seraph to obliterate me and crush my bones. The bloodthirsty cry didn’t manage to bury Esmeralda’s fearful shout. But I tuned them all out. If I was to survive this day, I couldn’t afford any distractions.

After blocking a couple more of his attacks, I thrust the tip of my staff at him with all my strength, forcing him to back away. It gave me a small window to roll back onto my feet, spinning my weapon around me at the same time to keep him from knocking me back down before I’d regained my bearings.

We entered a battle dance, cycling through parry, offense, defense, feint, and dodge. Realizing that Phoebus wasn’t going for a quick kill knocked me for a loop. He was clearly trying to inflict pain, but no mortal wounds. Was he trying to punish me before going for the kill? Was he merely putting on a show for those in attendance? Was he testing my skills?

Too many questions without answers, not that they truly mattered. But the more we battled, and the more the power that had gone back to sleep within me once Esmeralda left came back to life. I couldn’t say if my mate’s presence was provoking it or the heat of combat, but I welcomed it. As it coursed through my body, my strength and speed grew steadily. Instead of shocking Phoebus, a feral glimmer sparked in his glowing eyes, and a vicious smile stretched his lips.

He’d been waiting for this. He had known this would happen.

Out of the blue, lightning formed around his left hand, and he launched it at me. Taken completely by surprise, I stumbled back, not knowing how to parry this. The bolt hit me square in the chest with brute force. The impact hurt like a physical blow, and made me slide a couple of meters backward. But to my shock, it didn’t knock me off my feet and didn’t electrocute me. The electric energy just glided over me like water on an oily surface.

An animalistic roar rose from my throat as something snapped inside of me. My power unleashed like a caged beast breaking free. Lightning erupted from my fingertips, and electric coils wrapped around my arms. The crowd gasped, and their heckling hushed. The bloody trouncing they had expected the Fallen hunchback to receive at the hands of their divine ruler now no longer seemed like an inevitable outcome.

Our surroundings blurred as I moved at dizzying speed, Phoebus meeting me blow for blow. It didn’t make sense, and yet it felt as if we were too well-matched for one to get an edge over the other. Well… as long as he didn’t use his wings. Just when hope began to blossom in my heart that maybe, just maybe, I would survive this day, the bond between Esmeralda and me reformed at last.

Timid at first, her Divine Light soared as mine rushed towards her core through our link. The joy that swept through my heart and soul distracted me for a split second. But it had been long enough for Phoebus’s staff to connect solidly with the side of my jaw, stunning me. Before I could react, a violent swipe at the back of my left shoulder sent me sprawling onto my stomach. The panicked sound of Esmeralda crying out my name drowned in the explosion of agony that nearly robbed me of consciousness. I all but tore my vocal chords to shreds screaming when Phoebus’s staff collided with the base of my hump. My eyes rolled to the back of my head, and spasms shook my legs as I fought the darkness attempting to engulf me.

Grabbing me by the nape, the High Seraph, yanked me back, forcing me onto my knees. My body having ceased to respond to my brain, I couldn’t fight back. He tore off my shirt in one powerful gesture, baring my hump back. Through the black dots dancing before my eyes, I watched the beautiful face of my mate drenched in tears as she screamed my name. The two generals held her back as she tried in vain to come to me.

An Archangel approached us, holding a gleaming sword in his hand, which he gave to Phoebus. I didn’t know what the High Seraph had done with his staff, not that it mattered. In a moment, I would be dead. I only wished Esmeralda didn’t have to witness it.

Forgive me, my love.

Chapter 16

Esmeralda

---