Farewell
1649, London.
A door slammed, "Sarafina!"
"Maxwell, it's late, what is it?" The woman moaned groggily lighting a single candle. There was shouting outside, the sound of horses galloping in the distance. She got up and a small body next to her awoke. Her blue eyes piercing through the darkness just as her mother's did.
"Papa? Papa!" The girl reached for her father beaming so brightly that her teeth gleamed in the near darkness of the room lit only with a single candle. The man lifted her into his arms, her golden hair flowing over his arm.
"It's time to go. I cannot quell their anger any longer. They're coming right now for both of you!"
The woman sprang into action, gathering documents, a chest and jewelry and a small book with the symbol of a sparrow in the front. She mumbled something in Italian. "Where will we go? What- what will we do? Oh Lord, what about Ana?" The little girl clung to her father's neck, suddenly afraid after reading the energy of the room.
"Papa, what's wrong? Are we going somewhere?" She looked at her father who locked eyes with her mother.
"Everything is going to be fine, love," He hugged her to him, knowing that while she and Sara would be fine, he wouldn't be. "I promise nothing will happen to you." He would not lose another child.
"Sara, we must go the carriage is downstairs," He grabbed a suitcase that was in the closet.
The couple rushed down the steps, the girl clung to her father.
Outside, they loaded everything into a carriage, then Maxwell placed Ana down on the ground. "Get in, love quickly."
"But I wanna stay with Papa," She clung to her father's leg.
"Ana, sweetheart please—"
"No! I don't want to go!" The poor girl was confused and scared and didn't know what to do.
Max crouched down, "Ana, my sweet miracle child, listen to your mother okay?"
"You're not coming." It wasn't a question and it surprised both her parents, "The bad men are coming because of Mother and I right?" He smiled sadly at her nodding.
"You and your mother will be safe," He promised. She hugged him tears stinging her eyes. He wrapped his arms around her holding her for a few beats before finally letting go. "Be good."
"Okay," she sniffled.
"Miss Ana, come on," John, a young man who played with her often when her mother was writing and father was gone led her into the carriage, her small hand waving a sad goodbye to her father.
"I'm so sorry, Maxwell. This is my fault," Sara buried her head in her hands.
"Listen, while the circumstances may be different, I've always considered you and Ana family. She has my name because she's my child and I didn't plan to hide her."
"She's only five Charles, how can she move past this? You heard her she blames herself. I blame myself!"
He wrapped his arms around the young woman who was the mother of his child. "Don't. This is a result of the choices I've made in my life," He stroked her hair. "I refuse to lose another child because of my own selfishness. You go," He pulled out of the embrace. "Go and be happy."
She bit her lip, although their relationship was unexpected, she really was fond of him. She stepped into the carriage, watching him for a second longer before finally entering the carriage with her daughter.
"It was an honor serving you, sir," John shook his master's hand. "I'm sure your son would be proud of you," The aged man smiled at the mention of the boy he lost.
"That makes it more worth it, take care of them," He pulled out some documents from his coat, "These will get you to the place in France I've arranged, and there are more in case they follow you there."
The man tipped his hat, stepping onto the carriage and before he rode off Ana ran out and wrapped her small arms around her father. "Ana!" Sara called.
"Papa, you always say 'farewell' before leaving Mama and I," She choked out.
"Ana, go into the carriage darling," He pulled her off and squatted down to meet her tear-filled eyes.
"Just...one more, say it one more time, please?" She said her voice cracking.
"Farewell, my love. I promise if nothing else, you'll be safe." He ruffled her golden blonde hair, "May the Lord protect you." She smiled wiping away her tears before going back in the carriage with her mother. Her small hand waving again, now for the last time.
Maxwell, watched until he was no longer able to see them, in darkness. He sat on the steps, waiting for the mob to reach him.
"Maxwell!"
"You don't need to shout Joshua I'm right here," the whole church had gathered with the young man.
"Where are they?" He growled.
"Who are you referring to?"
"The whore witch and the demon you've spawned!" He shouted.
"I don't know what you're referring to––" Crack. Joshua had smacked him with a wooden stake.
The crowd shouted, two men, grabbed him and lifted him off the ground his head was bleeding.
"Maxwell Cullen, you stand trial for consorting with the Dark Arts and fathering a demon––"
"I've done nothing wrong," He smiled. "I'm a man of God, a man of the church!"
"A man who got with a witch, a common whore!" Someone shouted.
"Such a shame, the once proud and pure crusader, fallen to such a place," Joshua smirked.
"Joshua, I taught you everything you know!"
"And you betrayed us! You renounced God when you impregnated that filthy woman!"
"Such a shame looks like Carlisle died for nothing."
"Do not speak of my son!"
"Oh looks like you still have some fire left! What kind of spell did she cast on you?"
Maxwell stayed silent.
"Poor, Reverend Cullen. You'll die a disgrace. That demon and whore will soon join you and Carlisle, in hell." A dark figure approached with a sword. "Don't worry we won't burn you like we do the rest of the sinners. That honor will be reserved for your child and mistress."
"I have no regrets." The figure unsheathed his sword and pierced Maxwell Cullen's heart the mob left his body there letting him bleed out into the pavement.
Sarafina sat in the carriage with her daughter's head in her lap, she was fast asleep. She worried for Maxwell Cullen, hoping that his soul, at least could be saved despite his association with her.
Suddenly, Ana's eyes shot open the blue piercing the darkness that surrounded them.
"Papa is dead," she said. It wasn't a question, "Do you think he'll meet big brother?"
"I see," Sara replied. "Well, tesoro mio, I hope that he will," Ana stared at her mother.
"Do you think he'll tell him about me?"
"Definitely," Sara smiled, "Now get some sleep okay?"
Ana smiled softly back at her and said a little prayer for her father before going back to sleep in her mother's lap.
Their daughter was so pure and full of light. Sara knew that there was no way to preserve her innocence. She had learned that from her past. She learned that anyone who was different would always be condemned in the world she lived in. That envy can fester into something ugly and that there are hidden secrets to their world as well. She knew deep in her heart that one day she would come to know the beings that her father had spoken of in his journals, and when that day came she too would meet her downfall. She only hoped that her daughter Anastasia, who bared the lasting mark of Maxwell Cullen, could be exempt from this fate and find a place of warmth, with people who kept her safe, just as she and her father did.
Maxwell. She pictured the blonde haired man who looked healthy for his age, the one who had once looked so sad after losing his only son. He was older than her, yes, their meeting had been quite spontaneous. Had she met him before the passing of his son, she may have been persecuted just as he was. He was a different man then, one who only saw darkness. Carlisle's passing had made him see things differently. She smiled, he reminded her of her brother in that way. Both were quick to embrace the changes that she brought into their lives...and both, she thought, have suffered from them.
Despite his past, he loved Anastasia dearly, he told her stories about his crusades, about Carlisle––the son who he had lost and Anastasia's half-brother–– and always assured her that he would keep her safe. Ana was gifted in ways that some would call dark, but Maxwell saw it as a divination from God, one that meant she was destined for great things. "A bringer of life and light," he had said. Sara knew the truth of her gifts... she knew the blood that ran through her and her daughter's veins. Maxwell never asked questions. He only cared for them as if they were a family free from suspicion. Sadly, they weren't and here Sara was, once again running from those who would hunt her only now, she had something––or rather someone–– that she wanted to protect and she would with all her might.
As the carriage went off into the night, she said a prayer for Maxwell silently thanking him for all he had done for her and hoping that he was reunited with the son he missed so dearly. That somehow, he could live a happy afterlife.