Francesco was nervous. He was standing at the base of a beautiful, ornate staircase in the Archbishop's mansion outside of Cologne. He was wearing a borrowed suit, since the Archbishop had deemed his traveling clothes too shabby to wear when he met Alessandro and Katarina.
That was exactly why he was nervous. He was meeting his half-brother and half sister for the first time. He could deal with a half-sister, he'd dealt with 3 back home, but he wasn't sure how to handle a half-brother. He'd never exactly hung out with other boys back home, what with them all making fun of him for being a bastard child. He'd stayed home with his sisters instead.
He put his hands in his pockets very carefully. The pants were too big and he was afraid if he pushed too hard on the pockets, they might just come off. He snorted quietly. That would be awkward. After what felt like an eternity, but in reality was only a couple of minutes, he saw the Archbishop returning. Following him was a young woman, barely older than Maria, dressed in a maid's uniform. A young girl was striding confidently next to her, while a little boy tried to stay hidden behind their skirts.
The archbishop smiled and put his arm around Francesco's shoulders. He tried not to shrink away. He knew it was rude, but he'd only just met the man. The Archbishop said, "Here are Catarina and Alessandro."
Katarina stepped forward first. She tilted her head and studied him. She had an intense gaze, but he met her eye and didn't look away. He wasn't sure what to say, so he waited for her to speak first. She said, "You must be our half brother Francesco."
He nodded, "That would make you Katarina."
She nodded and held out her hand, palm down. He reached out and took it hesitantly. The Archbishop had told him that it was proper to kiss the hand when one met a lady of the court for the first time. He wasn't sure about trying it with his own sister, but clearly it was what she expected, so he bent is head down and kissed her hand.
He was surprised by her reaction. She simply accepted the kiss silently. He thought about his other sisters. Maria or Lucia or Giovanna would burst into fits of giggles if you tried to kiss one of their hands, and Vincenza would probably snort, then pull her hand away. He couldn't even fathom a guess as to how Damiana would react.
He straightened up and smirked slightly, and said, "It's good to finally meet you." He wasn't lying per say. His father had told him about Katarina and Alessandro when he'd come to visit, back when he was alive and Francesco had always been kind of curious about them. He'd seen them at the funeral, but they hadn't interacted at all, and they'd faded to the back of his mind in the face of more immediate concerns like his fights with Vincenza, confession, trouble with the other boys in the neighborhood etc. Now he was finally meeting them properly.
He looked on quizzically as Katarina tried to pull the young boy, who he presumed to be Alessandro out. The kid looked terrified and sighing impatiently he did the only thing he could think to do. He bent down on one knee so that he was one eye level with the boy and tried to smile disarmingly.
Katarina let go of her brother's shoulder as Alessandro stepped forward timidly and said, "I'm Alessandro."
Francesco replied, "Nice to meet you, I'm Francesco."
Alessandro looked at the ground, "How come we've never met if you're our brother?"
Francesco bit his lip and looked up at Katarina briefly. The boy was about the same age as Lucia and Giovanna. Katarina frowned ever so slightly. He looked back at Alessandro and shrugged, "I've wondered the same thing myself. It's just the way it is." That wasn't a complete lie. As he had gotten older, he had asked his father on several occasions why he couldn't meet Katarina and Alessandro. He was pretty sure he had understood more than Alessandro though.
He stood up and glanced back at Katarina. It seemed she approved of the way he handled the question because the frown had disappeared from her face. He smiled at her, then turned to the young woman who had come in with his brother and sister. She was extremely pretty, with long dark hair tied up in a bun, a few looses pieces framing her delicate face with down cast green eyes. He gulped nervously, but tried to hide it as he asked, "And you are?"
She looked startled at being addressed and stuttered, "M-M-Maria, Young Master," before curtsying.
He was startled at being addressed as Young Master and looked between the Archbishop and Katarina, both of whom were looking at him as if he were crazy. Before he could say anything, the Archbishop took charge of the situation and said, "Francesco, please come with me," before pulling him toward the stairs.
He looked back and caught Katarina's eyes, which were narrowed in confusion. He shrugged and followed the Archbishop up the stairs.