"Q.E.D." Part 16
"What is this?" he heard her yell. "What have you done to him?"
"I have delivered your present," the man said. "Would you prefer thatI had wrapped it?"
"Get him out of there this instant!" she cried. "If you have harmedhim in any way..."
He heard a key scraping the inside of the lock, and the lid raised.His dark-adapted eyes were assaulted by the room lights, momentarilyblinding him. He felt hands on his body, pulling him out of thewooden crate, and he recognized the smooth, cool, fingertips of hisgrandmother, stroking his face and hair.
"I'm so sorry, Nikky," she said. And he felt her caress stop at thecorner of the tape covering his mouth. In one swift motion, sheremoved the tape, and Nikolas gasped in pain.
He looked up at her and she was smiling. "Welcome home, my prince,"she said.
Despite the fact that every muscle in his body opposed the effort,Nikolas stood, drawing himself up to his full height, so that hecould look down on his grandmother. "Helena," he said, his smilebecoming simultaneous with her frown, "what is your game? What do youwant with me?"
Helena started pacing, circling Nikolas as a scavenger would acarrion feast. "I see your uncle has taught you to be insolent," shesaid, and paused, tapping at his handcuffs with a long fingernail."Fortunately, that can be unlearned." She completed the circuit, andstood before him with folded arms. "However, I am grateful thatStefan finally disclosed the family secret. It will save me thetrouble of having to rehash that bit of history for you."
"How did you know..."
Helena laughed. "How could I not? You come running back to Greeceshortly after Lila Morgan Quartermaine comes calling at Windemere."She spread her hands. "What else was I supposed to think?"
"You knew about that?"
"Of course I did! I've never stopped watching you, Nikky." Shesqueezed his arm gently, but her touch held little reassurance."You're my pride and joy." She turned to one of the men who hadbrought him in. "Take these cuffs off of him. He needs rest andfood."
When the handcuffs were removed, Helena took Nikolas by the hand."Come," she said, "I will show you your quarters. A meal will bewaiting for you there."
Nikolas tugged his hand away. "I remember where my room is."
"Oh no, Nikolas," replied Helena through lips stretched taut in asmile. "Your old quarters are completely unsuitable. Follow me." Shemotioned at the two guards to follow, and the four of them began toascend the staircase.
Nikolas watched as his grandmother lithely climbed the stairs,apparently fully recovered from her "illness". He glanced behind him,looking for a means of escape, but could see the light reflecting offof the guards' revolvers.
The walls adjacent to the stairs were lined with the portraits of hisfamily, staring back at him with expressions fixed by an artist'shand. He paused to look at the paintings of his father, Stavros, andhis grandfather, Mikkos, but their eyes seemed focused on a place faraway. Perhaps they looked toward Russia, to Ekaterinberg, where theirprogenitor died as a Romanov and was reborn as a Cassadine. Andperhaps, he thought, looking up at his grandmother waitingimpatiently at the top of the stairs, the opposite is about to happento me.
As he reached the third floor, he saw Helena tug on one of thesconces, and it opened like a small door. Behind the sconce was akeyhole, and Helena inserted a key into the lock. With a grindingnoise indicative of a geared mechanism, the wall opened up revealinganother staircase.
So, there is another floor to this place, Nikolas thought. He hadalways wondered why the geometry of the mansion never seemed quiteright. From the outside, the building looked dolichocephalic, withits unusually high roof. He assumed it was because of the existenceof a large attic. One which appeared to have no doors or windows.
A large metal door loomed uninvitingly at the top of the staircase,and Helena indicated a small room off to the side. "That is theguard's quarters," she said, nodding to the two men behind Nikolas,"you men will wait out here." Then, she produced another key,unlocking the massive door, and Nikolas felt a blast of staleair.
"This was your great-grandfather's suite," Helena announcedproudly.
Nikolas entered the room and looked around, feeling light-headed.Although the apartment was quite large, it had an oppressive qualityabout it that made Nikolas' palms break out in a claustrophobicsweat.
The floor was a wood parquet, smothered with lush Persian rugs. Thewalls were draped with tapestries depicting woodland scenes andglorious battles, which, although they were of the finest quality anddetail, were poor substitutes for windows. A large fireplace stooddormant, entombed in a mantle of black marble. And above them, threethick wooden beams pierced the top of the walls, holding the highdomed ceiling hostage behind dark mahogany bars.
One side of the room contained a desk and a small library, while theother side played host to a sitting and dining area. The table wasset and a meal lay hidden in covered trays seated on an adjacentserving table.
There were two rather unpromising looking doors, one of whichundoubtably led to a water closet, while the other opened into thebedroom.
"You'll find that the bed has no linens," Helena said. "Pastexperience dictates that they can be... troublesome."
Nikolas understood his grandmother's meaning immediately, as hefollowed her gaze upward, wondering which of the three ceiling beamsAlexie had hung himself from. He shivered, shaking off the image ofhis great-grandfather's demise, and walked inside the bedroom.
It was sparsely furnished, with a simple bed and a small chest ofdrawers. But above the headboard, standing sentry over the bed, was alarge painting housed in a massive gilded frame. Incongruous with itsaustere surroundings, the portrait commanded his attention, and hestared at the image of the woman who would be watching him as heslept.
She was dressed in finery, but her beauty outshone her trappings, andshe stood in a posture of suspended animation, as if prepared to stepfrom the canvas at any given moment. Her skin bore the fresh blush ofactivity, her lips were poised to speak, and her eyes were focused onthe path ahead of her. Her bearing was decidedly regal, yet sheexhibited an air of simple compassion so often absent from members ofroyalty. But to Nikolas, her greatest feature was that of a keenintellect, her look of knowing and of wanting to know.
"Do you recognize who that is?" Helena asked him, and he shook hishead. "That, my prince, is Sophie Fredricke Augusta, better known asCatherine the Great."