They were sitting at the kitchen table, Maria, Vincenza, Damiana, Giovanna, Lucia and Francesco. Their mother had to work late again, so they were having dinner without her. There was three fourths of a loaf of bread, one fourth of it having been set aside for their mother, sitting in the middle of the table, and Maria had made a thin soup, a bowl of which had also been set aside. They were eating quietly when they heard a knock at the door. They looked at each other. Francesco stood up and made his way to the door. He always answered the door when their mother wasn't home. It was the unspoken agreement, since he was man of the house. A widow people were willing to deal with, but not her daughters.

Francesco set down his spoon and made his way to the door. He took a deep breath to steady his nerves. His mother wasn't due to be home for another hour at least, and the landlord never came by this late, and he hated dealing with strangers. He then pulled open the door. His eye widened with surprise as he saw who was standing there. It was a man dressed in priest's robes. The only priest he knew was Padre De Luca, and the man before him was defiantly not Padre De Luca. He didn't want to rude to a priest though, so after a few seconds of shocked silence he said, "Good evening, Padre."

The priest shrugged and said, "You are Francesco De Medici I presume?"

He nodded mutely. The priest said, "Take the 9:30 train tomorrow from Napoli Centrale going to Cologne. The Archbishop will meet you at the station when you arrive."

Francesco frowned, "What does the Archbishop of Cologne want with me?"

The priest thrust an envelope into his hands, "There is a letter explaining everything enclosed along with your ticket." And with that he turned and walked away.

Francesco closed the door shakily and headed back into the kitchen. Maria looked up, "Who was there?"

Francesco sat down and tried to gather his thoughts, "A priest," he finally answered, "Didn't say his name."

Vincenza frowned, "What did he want?"

Francesco held up the letters, "I've been summoned."

Vincenza raised her eyebrows, "By…"

Francesco lay crossed his arms on the table and slumped forward, resting his chin on his wrist, "The Archbishop of Cologne."

Maria frowned, "What does the Archbishop of Cologne want with you?"

Francesco shrugged, "All I got was this letter." He held it out.

Marie reached forward and took the letter, unfolding it. As she did so a ticket fell out. Vincenza grabbed the ticket and looked at it. She frowned, "It's one way."

Damiana murmured, "A path of no return."

Lucia heard this and said, "You're going to come back, aren't you?"

Francesco frowned, "I'm sure he was just being cheep, only buying me a one way ticket."

Giovanna looked worried, "Then how are you going to get home?"

Francesco bit his lip, "I'm sure I'll…"

Maria cut him off, "You might want to listen to this." He fell silent and she began to read, "Dear Francesco, I am aware that you are the illegitimate son of my late brother in law, Pope Gregorio XXX. Due to your heritage you are put in a compromising position. Now that you about to reach a critical age of twelve years, it is my prerogative to make sure that you live up to your responsibilities. Therefore I think it best that you come live with me in Cologne, where I can make sure you receive a descent education and upbringing. If you fail to come to Cologne, the consequences will be unpleasant, but please know that I have nothing but your best interests at heart. Sincerely, Alfonso D'Este, Archbishop of Cologne."

There was stunned silence for a moment, before Vincenza said, "Whatever the hell the consequences are, we'll deal with them."

Francesco said, "No."

Vincenza slammed her fist on the table, "You're not seriously thinking of going, are you?"

Francesco glared at her, "What choice do I have?"

Vincenza glared at him, "You could ignore the letter and stay here with us. Just because some random guy…"

"He's a fucking Archbishop!" Francesco cut her off angrily.

She said, "You just like him 'cause he's getting you out of this hellhole."

He yelled, "That's not true. He said there'd be consequences for ignoring him. You think I want to bring that down on Mama and you?"

She yelled, "Leave her out of this. This is your own fucking decision to leave us."

She stormed out of the kitchen and he called after her, "Is that what you think?" She ignored him and a crunch was heard as she punched the wall of the bedroom she shared with Maria and Damiana. He stood up and grabbed the chair he had been sitting in and lifted it above his head before flinging it onto the floor with an animal roar. Lucia and Giovanna clung to each other. Damiana covered her ears with her hands and squeezed her eyes shut. "It's not fair," she said to nobody in particular.

Maria sighed and said, "I know, Piccolo Fratello, I know."

A/N-In Italian Piccolo Fratello means little brother, although it is not my native tongue, nor do I speak it fluently, so I'm not 100% sure.