The Rugged Edge

Chapter 11: The Misunderstanding

So much grey surrounded me,
but green in hope I heeded.
I would make it green again,
greenest hue of loveliest tree.

. . . . .

For a week nothing happened that could be reported back to the rebellion and to Rufus. I went about my business with my ears tuned in to any conversation around me, searching for something interesting. But all I heard was the light conversation between the few servants or the dares within the guard's community. I waited as patiently as I could for something to report, but nothing came up.

Dinner with Collum was usually in strained silence. All one could hear was the tinkling of the silver against the china. So it came as a surprise to me when Collum spoke up one evening.

"Princess Eloise," he began, looking at me sternly. "The maid that cleans your room in the mornings, Nicole, told me that this morning when she entered you were not there. She says that this keeps recurring, especially since I put her on a new routine of getting up earlier to clean while you are still asleep. And you are not asleep. She says that usually you are not there at all. Can you please explain to me what this means?"

I only hesitated for a second. "Your Majesty, I enjoy the early morning very much, and I have gotten up early since I was young. I do not see why you believe this to be suspicious at all. I often get up early to watch the sunrise, which is one of Earth's most beautiful marvels; to brush my horse, as you have always instructed me that spending time with her is essential to building a bond with her; and to get an early start on my lessons for the day, refreshing my memory. Please understand that I value my time very much, and therefore the early hours are not to be wasted." Once, I had done these tasks early in the morning, but not anymore. So I resolved to let the maid find me doing them from time to time.

Collum looked at me with suspicion, but eventually seemed to decide that I was telling the truth, and that such early morning ventures were harmless. His flaw was that he really believed me to be weak, so anything more dangerous than riding a horse would seem to be too much for me. For another few minutes, silence reigned as usual.

And then I got an idea. An idea for finding information. Maybe it wasn't information worthy to be reported back to Rufus, but it was information, and I knew that whatever I heard, I would value it for my own purposes.

"Your Majesty," I said. "I was wondering about a celebration for my birthday. Should I order a new dress to be made? Or is there one that you think would serve?"

Collum looked at me blankly. "Celebration? Why would there be a celebration?"

I gave him a surprised look. "My birthday celebration, of course. For my fifteenth birthday. Do you not think that a celebration would be in order, or were you only planning a coronation?"

"Coronation? Whatever do you mean?" But Collum didn't look confused. He looked taken aback, and startled, and anger played behind his eyes, but he didn't look confused.

"As I am turning fifteen, I will become queen. I assume there will be a coronation? Or did you mean to hand the crown over quietly?" I knew that I was getting into dangerous territory, but I kept pushing. There was plenty of reason for caution, but though Collum may be a somewhat violent man, I knew he wouldn't hurt me. He wasn't aware of the entire kingdom already hating him, but he was aware that they were likely to hate him if he killed me. It would show that he was evil and that I had never been on his side. He wouldn't dare. So I risked it.

Collum looked at me, still with that bewildered look on his face, which gradually turned to hatred. "I'm afraid you will not be queen when you are fifteen. That is too young. You will be queen as soon as I die."

I raised my eyebrows. "Whatever do you mean? Act CXII clearly states that in the case of the heir to the throne being too young to rule when the last monarch dies, a regent will take the throne until the heir is of the age of fifteen, and at that time the heir will become king or queen. As I will be turning fifteen in three months, I will become queen then."

Collum smiled, with hate spreading to every feature of his face. The effect was chilling to the bone. "I am slightly confused, Your Highness. Primarily, I am not your regent; I am your king, and I am at a loss as to where you learned such a thing as this. I am also afraid that I'm not familiar with that law. Have you possibly mixed it up with another?"

"No, Sire, I know I haven't," I responded, hoping to sound confident, while really my heart was beating very fast under that glare. "My tutor has explained it to me in full, and I have understood it."

"I see that you have paid attention to your tutor," said Collum coldly, clearly angry with not only me, but with Professor Alastair, too - and with this I saw a problem. "But there must be some misunderstanding. I do not know of any Act CXII. In fact, there is none. Were you not told by your tutor that there is, in fact, a mistake in that Book of Records, and that Act CXI is immediately followed by Act CXIII? The scribe of that time must have accidentally skipped the number CXII."

For a moment I was speechless. Not only was Collum defying what I said, but he was making up a scenario from decades ago that could easily be proven otherwise. Did he not know that there was, of course, a rugged edge between Acts CXI and CXIII, proof of the document being torn out?

Yet I was nervous. I had also told a lie that could easily be proven otherwise: I had not learned any specific laws with my tutor at all. I realized now that it was likely that Professor Alastair had been told by Collum to be vague on this subject. I had only ever focused on academic studies, and had barely touched on Rokenmeine's laws. I didn't know exactly what Act CXII stated, since I had never seen it.

But I gathered myself promptly. I decided to submit to what Collum said and try to convince him that I had made a mistake. Maybe I could even get on his good side... although now that was very unlikely. So I looked up at Collum, giving him what I hoped was a confused look. "I see. But I swear I learned something of the sort. Maybe I did mix it up with another Act. I'm very sorry, Your Majesty. That does seem much more likely than what I had believed, and clearly misunderstood. I really do not feel ready to become queen, anyway." I paused, and tried to display a look of relief.

Collum had a strange reaction. First, his look continued betraying hate. But as I continued speaking, it turned to genuine confusion and then to relief. And then he smiled. It wasn't a pleasant smile, but it didn't display such hate anymore. "Now you understand that I am clearly your king, and not your regent?"

"Yes, Your Majesty. I do."

I knew that the whole situation was likely to seem suspicious. My attitude may have seemed genuine and I was reasonably sure that Collum believed everything I had said - I flattered myself to think that I had done well, since Collum seemed to be convinced that I really had misunderstood and that I didn't know anything important. Still, to be sure, I decided I should make a show of trusting in Collum. And I knew what to do.

But there were a few things I needed to deal with first - I knew I had made a mistake.