The Paper Crown

17. Making Trouble

We make another circuit of the lake in silence. From their secretive glances and worried expressions, I suspect that Zofia and Henryka are slightly frightened of me. Slightly more than they were before, anyway. My young cousins back in Rothalia were always afraid of me too. But back then, I used to lose my temper more often, to snap and shout when they were too bothersome or loud. And I enjoyed seeing them afraid of me. I enjoyed seeing Florian afraid of me.

But then, he deserved it.

The thought brings on an uncomfortable feeling, and I quicken my pace and cast memory aside to rid myself of it.

When we reach the palace side of the lake again, we find Dowager Duchess Maria's secretary waiting for us. The high arch of her brows is as contemptuous and unsurprised as ever. In her perfect French, she informs us that Duchess Maria wishes to speak with me. Zofia and Henryka are not required.

"I told you he would complain," Zofia says as I leave. "He always complains."

Despite her warning, until I enter Duchess Maria's sitting room, I believe I am being called for something else. Only when I see Florian weeping on Duchess Maria's lap with Mariusz standing behind her chair looking annoyed do I realize Zofia was right.

Lord Tarnuv is here also, a stack of newspapers and a cup of tea resting on the table beside him. Either he and Duchess Maria were involved in a tête-à-tête or she was hosting a tea party and sent her other guests away to speak to me. I scan the room but see no cups other than the two besides Duchess Maria and Tarnuv, not even a biscuit plate. A tête-à-tête then.

"My mother tells me you tried to throw Florian in the lake," Mariusz says in Rothalian. "I told them it wasn't true. Is it true?"

"I threatened to. I wasn't going to actually do it."

Mariusz sighs.

Tarnuv says something to the dowager in Selician, I think a translation of what Mariusz and I have just said. The thin line between her brows deepens, but she does not pat or cuddle Florian. He sits in her lap and cries against her chest, but her hands lie uncomforting by her thighs.

"Florian was being very naughty," I say in French. "Very bad. He drowned a mouse, which..." I struggle to come up with the correct French and switch to Rothalian. "...Which Dominik had found. He drowned the mouse because it amused him to see Dominik cry. He pushed Dominik to the ground and threw the mouse in the lake. The maid with them was useless. She dared not speak up. So I intervened."

Tarnuv begins to translate this for Duchess Maria, but Mariusz interrupts him to take over. She presses her lips tightly together and speaks to Florian. He answers her through tears, shaking his head. I know by the artistry with which his sobs punctuate his speech that he is lying.

"He says it was a dirty rat," Mariusz translates.

"It was a dormouse."

"He says he was afraid of it."

"It was afraid of him."

"He says Dominik fell over."

"He would not have fallen if he was not pushed."

"He says you hurt his ear."

"Maybe a little." It does look red. "But I would not have drowned him."

Mariusz looks at Tarnuv. "What do you think?"

He says it in Selician, and I am pleased that I understand that much, even if I cannot grasp a word of Tarnuv's reply. While they talk, Duchess Maria speaks firmly to Florian. She seems to be scolding him. Florian makes noises of assent between tears, but there is a smugness to the curve of his mouth which he cannot quite hide.