Chapter 1

Her hesitant footsteps were silenced by the thick, soft grass that covered the ground like cool, glossy carpet under the radiant dying sun. Her satin shoes were swinging carelessly by their straps from her long and delicate fingers, and her bare feet dug into the ground. The sensation of the cool soil that sifted between her toes told her that she was not dreaming. She had not been sure a moment ago, when her surroundings had been almost eerily the same as they had been that night of so many years ago. She continued forward. Her keen senses heard the sounds of a diminishing party from the large house upon the hill that lay behind her. She turned and listened to the sounds of glasses and plates being gathered, no doubt by one of the many servants. She heard remnants of conversation and laughter that floated down to her from atop the hill. It had been a lovely party, or so she had been told by one of the many spirited guests. She had been distracted all night. Something in the air reminded her of another night, where there had been another party, another house full of guests inside another beautiful old house. She shivered. The wind was flowing gently through the willow trees and over her bare shoulders. Her long skirts rustled in the soft breeze, the sound and chill sending her the vivid memory of that night when their worlds had briefly, but surely, collided.

"You know, you’ll catch cold coming out here without a shawl," a voice had whispered amiably. A well dressed man had stepped out of the shadows of the trees, startling the young woman. Her gloved hands flew to her mouth to stifle a shriek. The man looked at her swollen eyes and red cheeks, his concern evident.

"Are you feeling well, Madame?" He had asked the pale girl in front of him, wondering if he had frightened her.

"I’m quite all right." She had said arrogantly, trying to regain her composure. She turned her head with defiance.

"Well then," he had said, smiling at her childish gesture, "I should be going then. Just came down to admire the view. It is lovely isn’t it?" He had asked her, gazing listlessly out at the sparkling water that held the reflection of the colorful sunset. The waves rose and fell gently across the sandy shore below them. The light dancing on the waves reflected in his dark eyes. She now remembered clearly. It was almost as if she was reliving the moment. She let the darkness envelope her with the memory.

"Yes, it is quite lovely," she answered slowly, her eyes carefully studying the man, trying to be inconspicuous. His dark brown hair spilled carelessly over his forehead and his prominent nose gave him the look of confidence and perhaps power.

" Are you referring to the sunset or me?" he asked her playfully, noticing her scrutiny.

"The sunset of course!" she said, flustered with embarrassment. He just stood there grinning at her, the corner of his expensive coat flapping in the breeze.

He thrust his hand forward and said, " My name is Christian. Christian Brant."

She let him take her hand and said, " I’m Gale DuBios, Mr. Brant. It’s very nice to meet you," Her politeness trying to make up for being rude before.

"Christian, please."

He kissed her hand, leaving her wide eyed and blushing. He tried to open up a conversation with her. "So, didn’t feel quite up to the party?" he asked.

"It can get so overwhelming. Do you frequent with this crowd?" she asked him, trying to change the subject as she gestured toward the house and the sounds of the party.

"I try not to," he said, grinning, " They begin to get dull after you’ve heard all of their irrelevant stories about their thieving help and how laborious it is shopping themselves." His strong voice had grown softer as he spoke. She looked at him curious as to why he had even come.

"Then what is the point of being here?" she inquired, her words breaking his trance.

" Hmm? Oh, I’m visiting my parents and they insisted that I attend with them."

"That’s strange. I don’t recall meeting any Brants at the party," she said, having thought that she knew every aristocratic name in the area.

" Oh, that would probably be because I’m not their actual son," he explained, as if he had done it a thousand times over. " I’m actually a nephew. My actual parents were killed on a trip to Europe many years ago. Shipwreck I was told."

"Oh, I’m very sorry," Gale said sympathetically.

"Don’t be. I don’t even remember what they looked like," he said, his eyes far away, in another time.

"Gale! Where have you been?" an shrill female voice shouted angrily. Gale’s face went ashen. She looked as if she were to be sick. Suddenly, anger filled her lovely face and she turned to face the woman charging down the hill towards them.

"Can’t you just leave me alone?" Gale hissed at the woman through clenched teeth.

The woman kept coming, stopping inches from Gales face. Her cold stare penetrating Gale’s pale blue eyes. "You embarrassed me in there, Gale," the woman, who was somewhere in her forties, quite plump, and floundering in a complex embroidered black lace and violet dress, said icily.

"You embarrassed yourself. If you’d stop gossiping long enough to notice someone other than yourself, perhaps you would know when to stop!" she spat out.

Christian had backed into the shadows once more, and was finding the conversation quite amusing until he saw the look of despair on Gale’s fair face. Her eyes flooded with tears as she continued to argue with the mysterious woman. He gazed out at the water, now black with night, and winced as he heard the sharp sound of a slap.

He turned back to hear the older woman shout at the fleeing girl, "Gale! You will never address your mother like that again!" she screamed after her. Giving up, she clambered back up the hill, her huge skirts getting in her way as she returned to the house upon the hill.

Unsure of what to do, he leaned against the sturdy trunk of a tree. He could hear Gale crying somewhere down on the beach. He threw his hands up in the air and sighed as he walked toward the beach, knowing only that this was the last party he would ever attend with his parents.

Chapter Two

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