“You broke the crown?” Domh asked, incredulous.

Tirwyn pursed her lips. “I didn’t break it,” she told her fellow attendant. “One of the gemstones fell off that’s all.”

“What’s going on?” a severe voice asked from behind them. Hanag, the master servant of the hall, was the last person Tirwyn wanted getting involved.

Domh didn’t want to be involved at all. “Tirwyn broke the crown,” he said flatly.

Tirwyn fired a glare at Domh before turning penitently to her boss. “I didn’t break it,” she insisted

But Hanag’s face had gone white. “Why is a gemstone missing?”

Tirwyn held out an open hand. A small ruby glinted in her palm like a drop of blood. “It was already loose.”

“We can’t do a coronation with a broken crown,” Hanag said, her voice growing higher with every word. “The barons are already anxious, and the symbolism alone-

“What’s the problem?” a low voice asked from behind Hanag.

“I didn’t break it!” Tirwyn shouted. Her voice echoed off the vaulted stones of the suddenly silent chapel.

The king looked down at her. Amused and surprised, he said, “I need no crown to rule, especially one so showy. Why don’t you keep it?”

* * *

Story by Gregory M. Fox