The Bed You Make
Chapter 20, continued

Absently Dara made her way to the conservatory. After just over two months of marriage to Stefan Cassadine, the passageways of Wyndemere had become quite familiar.

And that, Dara thought wryly, was the problem in a nutshell. Familiarity. Somewhere along the way she had forgotten her role in Stefan's well-orchestrated production. Thankfully his comments, however unintentional, had jolted her back to cold reality. She was no partner in this endeavor, Dara reminded herself. She was just an actor Stefan had cast in his play.

Dara took a seat and reflected on the two months of her ‘marriage'. Where along the way, she wondered, had she lost sight of the truth?

“I hope you didn't come here to escape conversation.”

Dara surveyed the simply furnished room. Whoever had done so had been wise enough to realize that it needed no elaborate embellishments; visitors to the room found their gazes drawn – and held – by the mesmerizing view of the waters outside the conservatory's windows. “I came here,” Dara replied, “because it's a good place to think.”

Nikolas smiled his understanding. “For me, it is the moments I ride Sheba about the island. For Uncle, it is Vivaldi in the music conservatory.” The young prince lowered himself onto the chaise lounge beside Dara's. “May I ask what you're thinking about?”

Dara turned and stared at Nikolas. “I don't,” she said after a while, “think that would be wise.”

“I hope you know by now that I am quite capable of separating my loyalty to my uncle from my beliefs of what is right and wrong.”

“Yes, I do. But this isn't really about right and wrong. It's about…me.”

“What about you?” Nikolas asked.

“Exactly.”

Dara took pity on the young man. The confusion on Nikolas' handsome face reflected perfectly the misgivings Dara felt about her current situation. “I have already gotten far too comfortable being one of you,” Dara explained. “Somewhere, somehow, I lost sight of the fact that this isn't reality for me.”

continued