Sunset Kisses

Prologue:

It was cause for celebration. The Duke and Duchess' daughter was finally on her way. The Duchess, Karina, was two hours into her labor when she felt it. A scream echoed throughout her room as the doctor rushed in. He quickly checked over her, confirming that she was indeed about to give birth. He motioned for the one nurse who'd followed himside to go and fetch the others, and the Duke before he focused once more on the Duchess.

"Deep breathes, Miss. You've been waiting nine months for this moment."

"Yes, doctor...! Oh! It hurts!"

A few minutes later, the Duke and a few nurses rushed into the room. The Duke, Richard, was at his wife's side in moments, taking hold of her hand and giving it a reasurring squeeze as he looked at the doctor.

"Alright, it's time to push, Miss. On the count of three...One...Two...Three...Push!"

"Ahhhh!!!"

Katrina pushed with all her might, tears streaming down her cheeks as she clung to her husbands hand.

"And again...One...Two...Three...Push!"

And once more, Katrina pushed. This process was repeated three more times, the pain growing worse and worse. She also wasn't liking the worried look that the nurses were giving each other. And then there was a heavenly sound.

The baby had been born, her cries filling the room as she took her first breath of air. The child was passed to a nurse, and it was then that Katrina knew something was wrong. The doctor was looking pale as he cleaned her lower body up, his brow furrowed.

"Miss...I can't stop the bleeding..."

The reality of the words took a few minutes to set in, but Katrina understood. She was going to die. She lifted her arms, wanting to hold her child at least once.

"Please...let me have my baby..."

The Duke took pity upon his wife, handing the child to her mother, making sure that his wife had a firm hold before he backed away.

Katrina smiled, rocking the baby weakly, speaking in hushed tones to the child.

"Well, dear one...This is as much a "hello" as it is a "farewell", isn't it? Your daddy's going to take good care of you though. You're lucky enough to be blessed with a kind man like him for a father... I do so wish that I could see you grow up. You're going to be a beautiful young woman when you're older. Richard will have to beat the boys away..."

The duchess' voice shook as she spoke, a sign that the fatigue was sinking in. The duke stepped forward, carefully taking his daughter from Katrina, not wanting the child to be dropped. With one hand he held the girl, and with the other, he held his dying wife's hand.

"Katrina, love...What's her name?"

Katrina whimpered softly, feeling herself getting even weaker, barily having the strenght to keep her eyes open. However, she forced herself to speak, voice bairly a whisper as she named their child.

"Ashlin...Ashlin Raye Benedict..."

The duchess' eyes fell closed after that, and moments later, her hand went limp.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ashlin's father had re-married not even two months later. For the first three years of her life, Ashlin was forced to be raised by nursemaids, her father too busy with his new wife to spend time raising his daughter. Instead, he made up for it by buying her gifts whenever he could. When she was four, she had finally cornered her new step-mother, looking at her with all the curiosity of an owl.

"Are you my mommy?"

The new duchess had been in such shock that she had called for a nursemaid, swearing that the child was never to set foot near her again, least she strike the child for her stupidity. Ashlin of course had not understood this, and had gone in search of her father. When she found him, she asked the same question, her bright emerald eyes shining.

The duke was at a loss. The child looked so much like his dead wife that he was unable to speak. Instead, he too, summoned a nursemaid to take care of the girl. After that, Ashlin never brought up the subject of her mother again.

At five, Ashlin had entered a private school. Since she'd always been given whatever she wanted, (Another one of her fathers idea's on how to make up for his absense), she didn't understand the concept of sharing. Thus, when she saw something that she wanted, she took it. This cause a lot of problems, as the girls would cry, and the boys would start chasing Ashlin, even beating her up to get their items back.

However, it was never the kids who beat her up that got punished. It was Ashlin. She would be yelled at and made to sit in the corner. This didn't work however. All through elementry school, and middle school, if Ashlin didn't get her way, she would throw a tantrum until she did.

This behavior made her little to know friends, and she was often shunned by the other students in her class. She was secretly teased, and some of the bolder girls and boys even picked on her right in front of the teachers. They were never punished, as the teachers would laugh along with the children. Deep inside, Ashling cried, but she never showed this to any of them.

Now, starting her first year of high school, Ashlin still has no concept of sharing. She has no friends. Her father has run off to Paris with the Duchess of a "vacation", and Ashlin has never felt so alone. There was no love for her. She wasn't even sure what love was. But none of that mattered as she walked through the front door of Gabriel High. She was in for the shock of her life. And even more, she was in for the best thing to ever happen to her.

TBC....

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