"Q.E.D." Part 23
Luke took his sweet time digesting Stefan's story. He leaned upagainst the wall of the cave, crossed one leg over the other, andsummoned his most pensive-looking gaze. It was the"stare-off-into-the-distance-while-contemplating-your-navel" look heliked to use when pressed for a answer by an annoying interrogator.The friendly folks at the PCPD were all too familiar with that look.And naturally, it was no fun unless he could see the questioner inhis peripheral vision: fuming, fidgeting, impatiently waiting.
To his credit, Stefan Cassadine sat perfectly still, arms crossed,and quoted Byron at him in erudite tones: "History, with all hervolumes vast, hath but one page," he said, for no apparent reasonexcept perhaps to startle the quiet air around him.
Luke knew Byron because Laura knew Byron. And Laura knew Byronbecause...
"Y'know, I hear Disney's next cartoon is gonna be about Anastasia.Maybe you can sign on as a consultant," Luke said.
At last... a sigh, a smoldering look of irritation, a pair of eyesrolled skyward appealing to a higher power. Victory! Luke smiled.
"So you're expecting me to believe this wild story of yours, just onyour say-so?" he continued.
"Well, I had planted a rather crucial piece of evidence at your home,but you chose to throw it into a snowbank."
"The ring."
"Yes." He removed the gold band from his right hand and passed it toLuke. "I know you can't read Russian, but surely you can see thatthere's more than one word there."
Luke held the ring up and looked at the odd lettering again. Thereappeared to be five words circling the inside of the band.
"So what does it say?" he asked.
"It says 'Nicholas Alexandrovich and Alexandra Feodorovna'. It is thewedding band of Nicholas II, the last tsar."
"That's quite a mouthful for such a small ring. I gotta hand it tothe engraver." Luke said and flipped the ring back to Stefan.
Stefan looked back at the cave entrance. "We should move away fromhere," he said. "The tide will be in soon, and this chamber willflood." He sighed. "Helena is going to suspect something is afootwhen her guard doesn't report back. I know of a way to reach the mainhouse through the caves. Do you have a light in your back pack?"
"Yes." Luke opened his back pack and pulled out a flashlight. He alsohad a small candle lantern. He nodded at Stefan's leg. "Are you goingto be able to walk on that leg?"
"Well, it appears to have stopped bleeding," he replied."Fortunately, you didn't hit the artery." He cast around and spotteda piece of driftwood, suitable for a cane. He planted it in the sandyfloor and pulled himself upright. He tried a few experimental steps,and nodded. "I'll be fine," he said, and pointed into the darkness,"That way. Straight ahead."
Luke looked over at his hobbling companion. "You know why I shot you,don't you?"
"I have my theories..."
"I shot you because you weren't going to do it."
"What?"
"The guard. You weren't going to kill him."
"How do you know?"
"Because I saw you. I saw the look on your face. You were THINKINGabout it. Stuff like that you can't stop and think about. Youshould've already made your decision when you jumped the guy."
"I thought I had..."
"That's your problem, Cassadine, you think too much. You gottadissect every detail and examine every decision under a microscopebefore you act. Look, I was really aiming at the guard, but you wereall over the guy, so at least I shocked you into pulling thetrigger."
"And if you happened to kill me in the process, so be it. WeCassadines are disposable objects to you."
Illuminated by the flashlight, Luke's face was a mask of shadows, anappropriate mouthpiece for his ominous reply: "Yes, you are," hesaid, "and don't you ever forget it."
And for a long while, Stefan had no desire to disturb the silencebetween them.
The cave branched in a labrynthine fashion, creating a myriad ofpaths to follow, but, unlike the reluctant gunman Luke had seen hoursago, Stefan had no trouble deciding their route. He would pausebriefly, looking at two seemingly identical choices, and point withgreat certainty at one of them. "That way," he would say, as if theother option had ceased to exist.
How appropriate, thought Luke, to have to crawl through the thebowels of the earth, led by the "Lord of Darkness" himself, in orderto gain access to the Cassadine estate. But at this point, he wouldsell his soul to get his daughter back. Or perhaps, he alreadyhad.
Luke looked at the walls of the cave, alive with quirky shadows castby the uneven gait of his guide. Yet, there was a certain rhythm toStefan's step, as he forced a sense of order onto his damaged stride.It became almost hypnotic, this strange waltz, and Luke had to fighta sudden impulse to hum along with it. And that was how he knew, whenthe dance began to deteriorate into chaos, that Stefan's wound wasworse than he had led him to believe.
He could see the blood soaking through the bandage, and he could hearStefan's labored breathing. And for the first time, he started toworry about the possibility of losing his navigator.
"How much longer?" Luke asked.
Stefan stopped and leaned up against the cave wall, as if hearing thesound of Luke's voice had exhausted him. "At this rate, about eighthours..."
"We need to rest. You're never gonna make it otherwise."
Stefan slid to a sitting position in silent acquiescence.
Luke opened his backpack and retrieved a couple of candy bars,tossing one to his companion. "So where are we gonna end up here?" heasked.
"There is a passageway leading from the caves into the cellar of themain building. I am certain that is how Alexie smuggled his diary outof the house before he died."
"So they kept him locked in the cellar the whole time?"
"I don't think so," Stefan replied. "The outer appearance of thebuilding suggests an additional floor. I believe he was kept in asecret room in the attic. Several years ago, I discovered a keyholebehind one of the sconces on the third floor. But I have no idea howAlexie would have traveled from his room to the cellarundetected."
Luke sighed, suddenly tired of the story. "Why all the games,Cassadine?" he asked. "Why didn't you just show us the diary and tellus about this in the first place? It would have saved us all ahelluva lot of trouble."
"You're right, it would have," Stefan agreed. "Which setting wouldyou have preferred for my narrative: a quiet dinner at Windemere,with myself, you, Laura and Nikolas gathered around the dining roomtable, discussing the aberrant branch of the Romanov dynasty whiledebating the equitableness of primogeniture? Or perhaps you wouldhave had me and Nikolas as guests in your home. I'm sure that Nikolaswould have appreciated the Rockwellian flavor of a home-cooked mealprepared by his mother..."
"THAT'S IT!" Luke roared, "I've had ENOUGH of your sarcasm ..."
"That's right, Spencer! Both scenarios are preposterous because therecan be no direct exchange of ideas with you! You accept only onetruth --- YOUR truth. Until you discover a thing, it does not exist.Until you acknowledge its existence, it is not valid. Burdened withthis fact, I had to present this information in such a way that YOUwould own it. True, I made some ... miscalculations, but I was tryingto wrap my plan around your precious ego, and believe me," Stefan'stone shifted from anger to exhaustion as he slumped back against thecave wall, "it is an ENORMOUS circumference!"