Before Lauretta could find words, a sharp knock sounded at the door.
A servant rushed in, bowing low to Malachi, his face pale.
“Your Majesty, forgive the intrusion.
The Queen Mother is in great distress.
Her golden hairpin — the family heirloom with the emerald vine leaves — is missing from her private chambers.
She says it was there this morning.
The guards are searching the palace.
She claims it might be here.” At that moment, one of the guards near Lauretta narrowed his eyes.
“She’s hiding something behind her back, sire.
She’s been clutching it since we entered.” Lauretta’s heart slammed against her ribs.
She tried to step back, but the guard was faster.
He grabbed her wrist with rough fingers and yanked her arm forward.
The gold hairpin slipped from her grasp and clattered onto the marble floor.
At the same time, the bloody cloth fell from her other hand and unfolded, revealing the dark red smears.
The room fell into stunned silence for half a second.
Then one of the guards let out a short, incredulous laugh.
“Would you look at that”.
The second guard’s lip curled.
“Charming.” Lauretta’s face burned.
She dropped to her knees, reaching for the cloth, but her fingers only managed to brush it before the guard kicked it farther away.
“It’s my period blood,” she said, voice tight.
“Nothing more.” Her mother’s expression twisted with fury and shame.
“Lauretta.
Stop.
You’re making a making a spectacle of yourself — and of me.” she said her voice almost teary.
Malachi bent slowly and picked up the golden hairpin.
He turned it over in his large hand, the emerald leaves catching the light.
His grey eyes moved from the heirloom to the bloody cloth on the floor, then finally settled on her.
“This,” he said quietly, “is my mother’s most treasured possession.
It has been in our family for generations.
And somehow it ends up in your hands — on the very day you are brought to this chamber.” Lauretta looked up at him, tears slipping down her cheeks, but she forced her chin higher.
“I didn’t steal it, Your Majesty.
I found it in the bottom drawer of the dresser in this room.
I swear it.
The cloth is mine.
That’s all.” Her mother let out a bitter sigh and shook her head.
“She has always been like this.
Always taking what isn’t hers.
Always making excuses.
You were given a chance most girls like us could only dream of, and this is how you repay it.” Malachi studied her for a long moment, the golden hairpin still in his fingers.
The silence stretched, broken only by the soft scrape of a guard’s boot and her mother’s heavy breathing.
Finally, he slipped the hairpin into his tunic pocket.
His expression remained cold and unreadable.
“You were holding my mother’s most prized heirloom, and you expect me to believe it was simply… coincidence?” He took a step closer, towering over her kneeling form.
“My mother will want answers.” Her mother tightened her grip on Lauretta’s shoulder.
“Apologize.
Now.
Before you make this any worse.” Lauretta’s vision blurred, but she did not lower her eyes.
She kept her voice steady, even as it shook at the edges.
“I am not lying.” Malachi looked down at her, grey eyes hard as steel.
The corner of his mouth curved, cold and humorless.
“You wan to play games in my palace, little thief.
He leaned down slightly, his voice dropping to a dangerous whisper that only she could fully hear.
“I promise you this, Lauretta.
I will show you hell and high water.” He turned his back and left the room with the armed guards.