The Twilight Twenty-Five

thetwilight25 dot com

Prompt: 22

Pen Name: Glitterb1234

Pairing/Character(s): Bella, Carlisle

Rating: T

Word Count: 500

Photo prompts can be found here:

thetwilight25 dot com/round-eight/prompts

The carriage rolled lazily down the long tree lined drive. Just past the sentry-like rows of oaks, Isabella could see the sparse greenery and misty blanket of the Yorkshire moors, which seemed somehow especially barren and unforgiving on that wintry day. Frost clung to the grass, not yet melted by the sun, and the carriage was not as warm as one might hope; even in her warmest clothes, Isabella was shivering.

At last, the tall stone walls of her uncle's home came into view around a bend in the drive, and within a minute of first seeing it they had arrived. The coach driver pulled up as close to the door as he could, and a manservant hurried down the front steps, looking rather comical in his neat black and white uniform with a bright red scarf and navy gloves. He opened her door, letting in a blast of cold air, and helped her down to the ground, before leading her quickly into the warmth of the house while two servants in more casual attire scurried over to take care of her belongings.

The fire blazing in the hallway hearth gave the room a pleasantly homey feeling – entirely different than Isabella had been expecting from her Uncle Carlisle. She remembered him as a young, smiling man, as yet unmarried despite being very handsome and quite rich. That had been some time ago, it was true; her father had quarrelled with his wife's brother over some matter Isabella had been too young to understand, and they had ceased communication for almost 14 years.

Now though, Isabella's parents were not there to argue with him. They had both been killed in a tragic accident with a handsome cab while coming home from the theatre in London, and Isabella had been left an orphan at rather a critical stage in her life; at 19, she was already past due to be married. She would have liked to try living by herself, but her elderly grandmother – her only other family besides her uncle – had insisted she be with someone who could sufficiently provide for her. There was also the rather critical clause in her father's will which stated she would not receive her inheritance until she married.

So here she was, arriving in a new place to live with a man who was almost a stranger to her, still trying to adjust to the loss of her parents.

Footsteps approached her, and she looked up to see her uncle, looking rather more elderly than she remembered, but smiling in just the same way. Seeing him caused all she had lost to come crashing down on her at once, and without any thought she raced across the hall and embraced him, finally allowing her tears to flow freely as he held her and soothed her as best he could.

"There now," he murmured. "It's alright, my dear. You're safe here."

And for the first time in a long while, she felt it was true.