Or Else Let Her Be Mine And Mine Alone

Prologue

Henriet Cousin stopped with what he was dragging at the foot of the fatal ladder, and scarcely breathing, so deeply was he affected, he slipped the cord about the lovely neck of the girl. She opened her eyes and cried, in a loud and heart-rendering voice, 'No, no! I will not!' The mother, whose face was buried deep in her child's garments, uttered not a word; her whole body was seen to tremble, and she kissed her child with redoubled fervency.

CHAPTER 1

It was a sight that would have moved even the strongest of men, but Judge Claude Frollo was not one of them. He watched coldly as Henriet lifted Esmeralda, who was sobbing incessantly, on his shoulders and began to ascend the ladder.

Tristan the Hermit, though, was far from indifferent. In great emotional turmoil had he ignored the mother's pleas and ordered Henriet to take the girl. Due to the attack on Notre-Dame by the Romani, few officials took the trouble to be present at the execution. Whatever few had, Tristan made his way through them and whispered to Frollo-

'Minister, we- me and the soldiers were thinking if we could spare the girl.'

Frollo turned to him in amusement.

'We have captured many gypsies today. We can hang them- '

'Later, Tristan. Let's begin with her', Frollo responded. Tristan said, 'She is just a child, your honour. The soldiers are already losing their motivation to persecute more gypsies. Please consider it.'

Gudule, meanwhile, was refusing to let go of her daughter, whom she had met after fifteen years. Henriet pushed her aside, but she lashed at him like a lion and bit his hand. Frollo saw Henriet scream. He was confused as to why Gudule was acting so strange; she hated gypsies with a passion that probably even surpassed his own. But that could be seen later. Right now, he wanted to see the gypsy face repercussion for averting from God, and, (something that only both of them knew), himself.

'Put the hag in the dungeons', he ordered the guards. They obliged. Gudule screamed and kicked repeatedly on the way like only a mother would.

Esmeralda's eyes were red and she was breaking into new bursts of crying every minute. Henriet held his breath as he descended the ladder, leaving her at the scaffold. Tristan once again requested, 'Please sir. Look at her.'

Frollo took a deep breath, then raised his hand. 'Henriet, just a minute'.

It was as if Henriet was allowed to breathe easily again. Frollo slowly walked towards Esmeralda. She was looking down, her face a mess. He said,

'One last chance, gypsy girl. Will you concede yourself to me?'

She didn't look at him. He had taken everything from her, literally. She loathed the man and wished he had never existed. But she was broken. Seeing Phoebus leave her to the guards and being dragged away moments after she met her mother had destroyed any remaining desire for independence or justice she had.

'Will you?', he asked again.

Without looking up, she said,

 'Alright'.