Thursday dinner, the week after the steeplechase, is held in honour of Dominik, whose name day falls that week. Rather than the usual collection of important people, Dominik invited whomsoever he desired without consideration of rank or wealth. His nursemaid and a gardener's son are among the guests, as are his sisters and even Lady Irena, though neither Konrad nor Florian are present. For reasons I fail to understand, Celina is one of Dominik's so favoured, though neither Valery nor Barany are. Throughout the dinner, which begins at six out of consideration for Dominik's bedtime, I watch Celina make faltering talk with Dominik's nursemaid and ignore Irena on her other side.

Svirepa suka, I repeat in my head. It feels like a prayer.

After dinner, we move to the salon where tea and a special cream cake is served. Dominik eats his fill of cake then starts playing a card game with the gardener's son. His nursemaid enters into earnest conversation with Dowager Duchess Maria. Lady Irena sits near them, listening in her pigeon-like manner, head turning from one to the other. Mariusz watches the boys play cards, every now and then saying something in a teasing tone that makes them giggle. Celina moves around the room, pretending to examine the pictures on the walls and darting glances at Mariusz, before eventually settling into conversation with two of Dominik's guests — two young women who I was earlier introduced to as Dominik's cousins on his mother's side. They are pretty young women, about my own age, and their conversation with Celina is lively.

"Is your cousins' company pleasant?" I ask Henryka.

"They are ten years older than me," Henryka says. "They are kind enough, but I rarely spend time with them."

"I have forgotten their names."

"Emilia and Edyta."

"Let us go talk with them."

Zofia and Henryka trail after me as I cross the room to where the three women sit talking.

"Good evening," I say in Selician.

Celina says nothing, but rolls her eyes contemptuously in my direction. The other two say good evening in return. I take that as invitation to sit down with them, and as I do, the smiles die on their faces. I do not think they are cruel, like Celina. Rather, they look anxious.

"Do you speak French?" I ask in the language. "I am afraid my Selician is very limited."

The older cousin — Emilia, I think — hesitates. "We do, yes. How do you find Selica, your highness?"

"I am growing accustomed to it." The uncertain silence that follows my polite response gives me time to really think about it. "It is not always comfortable, of course, being among so many strangers. Sometimes I feel quite lonely." But, then, I always felt lonely at home too, even before they put me in the tower. "Mariusz and his family have been very kind to me though."

That last bit is a polite lie, but it affords me the pleasure of seeing an irritated frown cross Celina's brow.

"My aunt is very gracious, and my cousins likewise," Emilia says. "I am sure Zofia and Henryka will make you feel most welcome here."

There is a sense of finality to that statement. She turns her head slightly towards Celina and speaks in Selician. I think she is asking how well I speak the language. Celina laughs and shakes her head as she replies. Edyta joins the conversation, and they chatter away, heedless of my presence.

"Perhaps you can suggest some entertainment for me," I interrupt in French.

The three women look at me.

"I am a little bored sometimes. I walk around the palace and gardens, I play billiards, and I read, but sometimes I find I want for things to do. Going out to see the steeplechase was exciting. Perhaps you can suggest some entertainments around the city that are suitable for a woman?"

"I know not what you like," Celina says. Her tone makes it obvious she also does not care.

"Nor do I, until I try it. What is it that you like to do, Lady Celina? Other than drinking, that is."

Two pink spots appear high on Celina's cheeks. "What do you mean by that?"

"It is not an entertainment for me."

Her eyes glitter. "It seems that your entertainment lies in casting stones at those beneath you, who cannot speak back against the crown. How very unfair."

"I don't know what you mean. I have cast no stones. If you feel bruised, it must be your own wounding." I turn to the younger cousin, Edyta. "What is it that you do for entertainment in the city?"

She looks nervous. "I attend dances and dinners."

To which I am not invited.

"There are many charming rides about the palace," Henryka says helpfully. "Perhaps we can go riding one day."

It is not a terrible suggestion, but I do not want it to come from Henryka. I want to talk to these two cousins, in their fine silk dresses, with their elegant makeup, not to a pimply-browed fifteen-year-old.

"I do not ride," Edyta says.

"We can ride together, Princess Alexandra," Henryka says. "Do you like riding?"

There would be little more pleasure in riding with Henryka and Zofia than there is in walking aimlessly with them about the gardens. I remain silent, knowing Henryka will not ask me again.

By my side, Zofia examines her pearl bracelet intently, looking painfully bored. She laughed under her breath when I insulted Celina, but she has very little patience for polite, adult conversations. I can tell she would rather not be here.

"Why don't you both go and play cards with Dominik," I suggest. "I do not need you now."

A look of hurt crosses Henryka's face, but she gets up and follows Zofia to where the boys are playing.

"I think..." Celina says slowly, "...I would like to watch them play cards too. Come with me, Edyta, Emilia."

She gets up and the two women follow her, leaving me alone. I cannot follow them now. It would make me look silly. Instead, I relax back into my chair like its comfort was why I came to this lonely part of the room to begin with.

Svirepa suka.

After a few minutes, Irena gets up from where she is listening to the duchess's conversation and comes over to me.

"May I sit down?" she asks.

"Certainly."

She sits near me. For quite some time, we sit in absolute silence. It is not that we are enjoying each other's company, but we are enjoying in this dual solitude, the reprieve from others' company.

"You see that Celina is rude to me," I say abruptly, in undertone.

"I saw."

"At every turn, she tries to keep me from talking to people. The only reason she is not here now, trying to me from talking to you, is..." I hesitate, not wanting to insult Irena.

"...Is that she does not think me important," Irena says softly. "I know that. I used to wish to be friends with her. She never really had much to say to me, though. Perhaps because I rarely have much to say myself." She falls into silence again. "You're much easier to talk to than the other women here."

"No one has ever accused me of that before. Quite the opposite, in fact."

She flushes pink and says nothing.

"What do you do when you are bored?" I ask after a while. "What is your entertainment in the city?"

"I like to attend the theatre when I can. It is not often, but I like the opera, the ballet, anything musical with a story, really."

"What is your favourite opera?"

"Oh, it is Ruslan and Lyudmila," she says instantly. "I saw it four years ago, with my mother and father. It is so romantic."

"I have not heard of that one." I know little of opera at all. "Tell me about it."

"It's very fantastic. There are faeries and thunderstorms and demons, conspiring to get between the two lovers. And it has a happy ending." She laughs nervously. "I prefer a happy ending. I have no heart for tragedies. Which do you prefer?"

"I don't really know that I have a preference. I have not much experience with opera to decide. I did not know that any ended happily."

"Oh, the comedies do, but there are few really happy love stories that I have seen. That is why I liked Ruslan and Lyudmila so much."

"Tell me more about the opera," I say. "Is it popular here?"

Perhaps I will take up a new hobby. Even if I do not understand the words, I might enjoy the music, the costumes, the spectacle. It would certainly be preferable to riding with Henryka.

So Irena tells me about opera until the clock strikes nine and Dowager Duchess Maria chides Dominik to go to bed. He goes, protesting, and once he is gone our sober little party breaks up by twos and threes. I head upstairs to my apartment with Mariusz in silence.

When we are in our sitting room, I say, "Will you change first, or can I?"

"Wait a moment," he says. "I want to talk." He sounds displeased.

"What have I done now?" I ask. "Insult Celina? It was only by implication."

"You insulted her?" He looks annoyed but then shakes his head. "I suppose she provoked you. It is not that. You spent all evening in hushed conference with Lady Irena."

"We were talking about opera. What is wrong with that?"

"Nothing, but she is my cousin's wife, and I do not trust him. You know that. If you cannot a trust a man, you cannot trust his wife. I would much rather you make friends with Henryka than spend so much time with Lady Irena."

"Henryka is a child. I cannot be expected to make friends with children." I see by Mariusz's expression that he intends to defend his sister, and speak quickly before he can. "And for that matter, if we are objecting to friendships, I am not pleased with how close friends you are with Lady Celina. That stocking she gave you was an absolute insult. In front of me too."

"It was a joke!"

"On me! On your wife! Do not pretend you are blind to the implications! Your triumph at the steeplechase was my humiliation. And I think you enjoyed it. I think you enjoy when she plays jokes on me. As long as you enjoy that you have no right to tell me who I cannot be friends with because it remains very clear that I cannot count on friendship from you."

Mariusz gives me a dirty look. "I told you at the beginning that I have no wish to be friends."

"And now I am telling you that as long as you are not my friend, I will find my friends wherever else I please. That may be Irena. That may be Konrad. You have no right to complain as long as you are friends with Celina. I feel the same way about her as you do about Konrad."

"Celina can be trusted."

"By you. Not by me."

We fall into an uneasy silence. Mariusz shoots me petulant glares. I stare at him, determined not to look away and show weakness. He is in the wrong. He must know he in the wrong. I heard guilt in his laughter the day of the steeplechase. He would have to be an idiot to think there was nothing wrong with that joke.

Someone knocks at the door, interrupting our silence. We both jump.

"Enter," Mariusz says in Selician. "Who is it?"

It is a footman. I catch the name Lord Tarnuv in his message. Mariusz frowns and looks at the clock, then responds in Selician.

Lord Tarnuv comes directly into the room. He must have been waiting behind the footman. I wonder if they heard our argument. Were they were waiting for silence before they knocked? But we were not shouting, and at the very least the footman could have understood nothing.

Lord Tarnuv speaks to Mariusz briefly in rapid Selician. Mariusz looks worried.

"I am needed at Parliament," he says. "It is an emergency." He hesitates. "You should come too."

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2024-08-25: Alex hits back at both Celina and Mariusz. Not big hits, but she's not taking things lying down.