Justice is Swift But Vengeance is Sweeter (A Judge Frollo Fanfiction)

Meeting His Partner

  It had all started in a carriage, with one of Paris' most powerful men inside, Judge Claude Frollo. He was riding to the royal palace, his presence requested before the king. A busy man he'd wanted to refuse, having more important things to do compared to entertaining his highness. However an audience with his majesty was an order so grudgingly he'd cleaned himself up, wanting to look his best before getting into his carriage, and here he was now, quietly waiting until they would stop. The Judge wasn't completely sure why the king was calling upon him. Was it about his latest  gypsy burning? Recently he'd burned three women at the stake as witches, but then again the king never seemed to care about his burning. Could it possibly be praise for how well he'd been doing his job? This made Frollo's chest swell faintly with pride. It probably was the fact that there were fewer Parisian deaths due to those vicious little rats. Ugh, gypsies, the plague upon society and the world. If he was given one wish by the Lord, he'd use that wish to wipe out all the vermin in one clean swoop. Then again that would put him out of a job, it was his job to keep the plague under control and he felt he was doing it rather well. Yes there were a few deaths here and there but did it matter? No, those were gypsies, worth as much as a cat carcass, and in his opinion, the less of them the better. Maybe this was praise; maybe he'd earn a large sum of money as thanks? Or enjoy a perfect dinner with the king or some sort of expensive gift? It made him smirk faintly; straightening his judicial robes proudly. It had to be about his job, what else could it be about? Once the carriage came to a halt the door opened and he strode out, finding a shaking little servant before him. No doubt here to lead him to the king and receive his honor or gift of thanks. The servant bowed low. "Hello my lord, the king will be seeing you in the throne room. Follow me." He liked making servants quiver, showing his dominance. He followed the servant silently, gaze flitting over the stunning portraits all over the walls. Frollo disapproved of most of them, many of women dressed skimpily or men dancing with women, all heathen images. How dare the king let them decorate his walls! This was a sin in itself! But the king had a sort of addiction to the finer things in life, never showing self-control or reprimanding himself. Basically, he was everything Frollo was not. Once out of the glided marble hall they turned left to find a large room, the ceiling made entirely of glass, a rare symbol of wealth. Chandeliers shimmered and the king lounged in his throne, a grin spreading upon his pudgy face when he spotted Frollo. The king himself was fat, (not like anyone would say that to his face) with shining blue eyes and curly golden hair that was rather sticky from his constant sweating. Dressed in the finest silks and velvets he reeked of wealth and wine, frequently enjoying sweets from all over the world. Frollo gave a sweeping, graceful bow before the king, taking off his chaperon in the same movement.

"What can I do for you my king?" He inquired, baritone ringing off the flawless agate walls. The king smiled wider.

"Ah, Judge Frollo. I've brought you here to speak about your job, taking care of the gypsy and outsider population and keeping control over Paris, my favorite city." Frollo felt his lips twitch faintly, this was it, he was going to be praised and celebrated for his hard work! However he did his best to keep his face calm and collected. But the next few sentences the king spoke shattered the proud feeling in his chest. "You see, this job is getting out of hand, I've gotten reports of gypsies and immigrants flooding Paris, too many mouths to feed, too little income. I know you've handled it well for many years but with this sudden burst and winter approaching I've brought you help." Frollo felt himself go cold before hot and back again as he realized what this meant. Help? He was getting help? The man who had taken care of this sort of thing for years was getting help?! This was outrageous!!! He was completely speechless, how could the king doubt his ability? Yes there had been a few more gypsies but he'd been looking into it! Pride now injured and trying to lick its wounds he tried to speak, clearing his throat.

"Who exactly have you brought to, help me?" Frollo questioned icily, hissing the word 'help'. The king clapped his hands and in from behind the king came a young man, 25 from the looks of it. He had olive skin, much like gypsies and deep browns eyes and tousled hair that was around the same shade as his eyes. This made Frollo bristle, so he was being helped by a gypsy? What kind of sick joke was this?! He was bursting with fury, just ready to snarl there was no way on earth he was going to work with this dark skinned rat and that he'd manage the job perfectly well but taking a deep breath through his nose he managed to keep those words inside. He'd worked too hard to just explode on the spot at some silly partnership. The king gestured to the young man who smiled faintly.

"This is Nikolas, and he's here from Greece and returned to serve his kingdom. His mother was Greek yes but his father a pure Frenchman, and a trusted adviser of mine." Frollo felt the urge to wrinkle his nose as if hit by a foul odor. So he was part Greek. He certainly looked like something that crawled from that region. He'd never taken the time to learn Greek, instead focusing on Latin and Arabic since so many scriptures had been transferred into that language. But Greek language was practically dead, why learn it? Honestly he didn't care for anybody outside of France. Why? Because if they came here they were all considered one thing, immigrants. The king went on. "Nikolas was working to preserve a few statues for my court and when I found out he had experience with immigrants and handling large populations I thought two heads work better than one! You two shall work together to make sure Paris' economy does not go weak and as long as it takes to control the population of gypsies. Agreed?" Frollo glared daggers at the foreigner.

"Agreed" He hissed between clenched teeth, silver eyes greeting brown with cold hate. Nikolas gave a bow.

"Agreed my king, we shall not disappoint you." With that the king dismissed the two men and Frollo led his partner to the carriage, muttering to himself about how this was preposterous and he could handle this perfectly by himself. Nikolas on the other hand wanted to prove his loyalty to his king, he knew it didn't look as good with him being part Greek but he was an intelligent man, he could come up with something to lower the population of immigrants. Besides, the king trusted them, they couldn't let him down! And now that he was working with the infamous Judge Frollo they were bound to get an idea that would work! Once in the carriage and on the road Frollo wasted no time showing his dominance.

"Listen here Nikolas, I've lived in Paris for almost all of my life, the only reason I've left France was for studies but I am a purebred Frenchman. And I have been working at this job since I was 20 which means almost twenty more years hunting down gypsy rats and keeping their filthy population under control. I know the streets and the city better than you ever could and that means I have the upper hand in this project. Understand?" Nikolas was taken aback by his intense gaze, silver eyes staring into his soul, judging him for everything he was worth. Nikolas crossed his legs.

"I understand that you have the upper hand monsieur Frollo, but I will not stand for being a minion to what you want me to do. The king sees us as partners, not a master and a slave." Frollo felt his anger burn bright. This half-bred rat thought he could even the playing fields did he? Well, yes the king did see them as partners but without him Nikolas would complete nothing, he probably barely knew the city and with it so big he would probably be captured. However Nikolas spoke again, voice calm and leveled. "I am not here to feud with you monsieur, merely here to help Paris, and if you care as much as you say you do about your home we will work together to address the surging population." Frollo froze, before growling.

"How dare you say I do not care about Paris, no, I am not here to feud either but remember this and this very clearly. You may think this is a partnership and so may the king, but you are in my city and have come to work with me, not the other way around. Am I understood?" Nikolas knew he had pushed the judge far enough for now so he stared Frollo in the eye, challenging him.

"Very well, we shall not feud but that means we must treat each other with respect, no matter what we think of the other. Agreed?" Frollo raised his nose in the air.

"Very well Nikolas, we need to plan immediately if we want to get this over with. The faster it gets done, the less time we are stuck together." Nikolas couldn't help but smile.

"I wholeheartedly agree."