Threadbare Crown
fantasy◐ TeenMira pointed at the cloth and shouted to the guards, "Look! That girl has a scar. I don't!" They leaned in. The scar was clear as day. They traded an uneasy look, then lowered their hands. "This isn't right," the older one muttered. "Someone tampered with a royal tapestry." Whoever forged it had just made a dangerous mistake, and Mira meant to find them.
Guards reached for Mira, but they had seen the scar too, and they hesitated. "If this cloth is wrong," the older guard said slowly, "then someone tampered with it." Word spread fast through the workshop. Mira lifted her chin. "Let the Loom weave again, in front of everyone. Then we'll know the truth."
What happens next?
1 ways forwardThe court agreed. The Great Loom was brought out and worked its silver in front of everyone, untouched by any scheming hand. The true face appeared, and it was Mira's, scar-free, marked with the Loom's hidden stitch. The forger was exposed and thrown in the cells. Mira was crowned that very day, a seamstress's daughter who proved her own crown was real.