The Bed You Make
Chapter 9
~ Out With the Old ~
On Nikolas Cassadine's second birthday, the antique crib in which he'd been sleeping was reverently dismantled and removed from his room. A bed roughly the equivalent of a queen-sized bed replaced it.
Nikolas' third birthday marked the beginning of his princely routine. The only concessions to his young age were the compressed half-hours given here and there for Nikolas to learn to be comfortable on his own, without entertainment or outside stimulus.
He was given a daily schedule that rivaled the most accomplished businessman. Each day began at seven in the morning when an unsmiling governess touched a sleeping Nikolas on the shoulder and instructed the young prince to rise. Three-year-old Nikolas was bathed, dressed, groomed and seated at the breakfast table thirty minutes later.
On his ninth birthday, Nikolas' uncle Stefan dismissed the governess and informed the young prince that he would now be responsible for rising at a timely hour each morning. That hour was set for 6:30 a.m. Nikolas quickly learned that it was not enough to be merely awake at that time. Stefan expected him to arise from the bed and begin his daily routine.
The first few months Stefan randomly entered unannounced into Nikolas' room five minutes after the alarm sounded. Several times the young prince had been caught still in bed. The subsequent loss of riding privileges was all it took to provide Nikolas with the motivation to rise promptly. Horseback riding was Nikolas' refuge from the grueling routine of learning to be Prince.
Today Nikolas was up a bit earlier than usual. The situation with the two fired bodyguards needed to be addressed. Nikolas did not require any authority beside his own to terminate the men's employment in the Cassadine household. But the men had requested an audience with his uncle; he would see that they got it. Beside, Nikolas knew that Stefan would not understand nor appreciate not being informed of the situation that had led to the two employees' dismissal.
A tiny part of him hoped that he would find his uncle still ensconced in his suite. It was, technically, Stefan and Dara's honeymoon. The previous night Nikolas had traveled to the opposite side of the family wing to check on his new aunt. He thought that Dara might appreciate being reminded of how very grateful Nikolas was that she had turned her life upside down in order to help him achieve the goals he'd set for the Cassadine family. To his mild surprise, Nikolas found Dara's suite totally deserted.
It made sense when he thought about it. Dara and his uncle had gone to great lengths to present a valid front for the trustees of the Cassadine Trust. Her sharing a suite with his uncle was just another part of the performance.
A spark of hopefulness filled Nikolas. Dara and Stefan's forced intimacy was ideal for his agenda. The attraction Nikolas witnessed between them was, in his opinion, the best thing that could have happened to Stefan. Nikolas intended to make sure that his uncle did not squander this opportunity.
