(chapter 1)
by CassadinegirlSetting-
Cassadine Island many years ago
A young woman of about twenty-five sits in a wide window overlooking the sea. The sun is setting and the contrast between the light from the window and the darker interior outline a beautiful figure still slightly plump from recent childbirth. She is cooing at an infant when a second, younger woman enters carrying a baby bottle and towel on a rather overly ornate silver tray. It is a subtle insult that window woman ignores.
"Put the bottle there on the table. Let me test it first. You have a bad habit of making it far too warm for a baby." The woman in the window points to a heavy, wooden table.
The younger woman wordlessly obliges. She is slender and classically beautiful. Although her hair is nearly white blond in contrast the other's dark auburn, the family resemblance is obvious. But, where the elder sister's features are rounded by the genuine warmth she exudes, her own are made more angular by coldness and calculation.
Ekaterina, the window woman, rises from her perch and lays the baby down in a white, antique, bassinet. She then makes her way across the marble floor and picks up the baby bottle. Or rather, she starts to. It's immediately obvious that it is far too hot.
"Ouch, you have got to be more careful! I can hardly touch this thing."
"Forgive me,Katerina, I do try to keep an eye on things. But so often I'm ….distracted." She wielded the last word like a sword and it sliced through Ekaterina.
"Perhaps you'd like me to take it back and set it in a cool bath?" The younger woman asked.
"No, I'll have Alfred care of it. The milk is most likely scorched and a new one will need to be made." Ekaterina turned to ring the bell but before she could a sprightly young man of about twenty-two appeared, carrying a fresh baby bottle.
"I, er, anticipated madam." He said, looking at the blond.
"Thank you Alfred," Ekaterina replied.
She knew that she should always have the staff do things like this, but she was old-fashioned. It had long been a fantasy of hers to be surrounded by a loving family, her sister at her side. They would care for the baby, huddle together, laugh and share secrets. Her sister would be a refuge from the coldness of the Cassadine family. But, when she actually came to live with them, it was clear that this was not to be.
Her sister's voice interrupted, "Will that be all, Katerina? I'm…wanted elsewhere."
She wielded her sword perfectly, a precision stab to the heart.
"Yes," Ekaterina replied, then
"Actually, no. It's not." She drew a deep breath.
"You seem to think I'm a fool. But, then again, I imagine you think most people are fools. I am not. I know what you're up to, sleeping with my husband. But, you're wrong. I knew what Mikkos was like when I married him. You aren't the first and you won't be the last. Nor will that child you're carrying make any difference. We understand each other, Mikkos and I, we have an agreement. Nothing you do, Helena, nothing you say will change this. He's not going to marry you. I want you to pack your things and leave."
"You're throwing me out?" Helena produced an icy smile, "Are you absolutely certain Mikkos will go along with this? He is rather fond of me."
The sword was once again, expertly wielded. But, it missed its mark because Ekaterina was prepared.
"Yes, I want you to go. Mikkos will back me up. He doesn't love you Helena."
"Very well, Katerina," Helena replied, "But, night is falling and the weather is said to be turning stormy."
She turned to Alfred for confirmation. He nodded reluctantly.
"Surely you wouldn't throw out your dear sister at high tide in a storm, would you?"
Helena already knew the answer to this. Her sister was soft and mealy, too weak to truly do justice to a man of Mikkos' background and breeding. Even though they shared the same parents, Helena considered her elder sister to be poorly bred, totally unsuited for such an exalted family as the Cassadines
"No," Ekaterina replied, "I won't put you out in a storm. You may stay through the weekend. But, on Monday you need to leave with the first launch, no more excuses."
"Well, then that leaves me the weekend," Helena replied.
The smile she wore as she turned to leave, unexcused, never left her lips or entered her eyes. It was unnerving.
Ekaterina shivered for a moment before she realized her son was crying. She went over to the bassinet and pulled him to her chest.
"We're not going to let mean, old Helena frighten us are we, my little Valentin."