For a moment, no one breathed.
Not the maids.
Not the guards.
Not even Auburn whose face slowly shifted into something far more dangerous than panic.
Recognition.
Triumph.
Accusation.
"There," she said, pointing at me with a trembling finger as if she’d spotted a rat. "Her. She cleaned my room this morning."
And then Auburn’s face squeezed up.
"Why was she even here in the first place?" Auburn demanded looking around. "She is not amongst any of my maids so why was she even here?"
Whispers rippled through the crowd like a wave crashing against stone. I
felt heat rise up my neck. Every pair of eyes pressed into my skin like needles.
How could I explain that due to the way the king had spoken to me about paying for every minute I stayed here, I was working as a maid.
Doing the one and only thing to do.
Queen Rose turned toward me, her expression unreadable too calm, too controlled, too quietly sharp.
"Jasmine," she said, her voice low. "Step inside."
My legs felt heavy, but they moved anyway obedient, slow, utterly exposed.
I stepped past the wall of bodies, past the murmuring maids who now watched me like I was some unfolding spectacle.
Cherry’s cold eyes tracked me.
Coral looked worried.
Auburn looked... satisfied.
"Tell us," Queen Rose said. "Were you in this room today?"
"Yes, Your Majesty," I answered softly. "I cleaned it in the morning."
There were more whispers amongst the crowd of women in the room.
Auburn folded her arms. "And the necklace was here. Right here." She tapped the spot where it had sparkled earlier. "I distinctly remember placing it there last night."
"I saw it too," I admitted, my voice trembling despite my attempt to steady it.
More whispers.
Auburn’s eyebrows shot up in mock surprise. "Oh? You saw it?"
I nodded. "Yes. But I didn’t touch it. I didn’t move it. I didn’t-
"Then where is it?" she snapped at me her eyes spitting vicious venom.
It all felt like De ja vu.
Happening over and over again.
Like how when I had lived in the moonlight pack, I had been accused times and times without number of stealing Auburn’s things.
Same in the crescent pack and now here again?
The worst part?
No one was going to believe me over the princess of the pack
I closed my eyes as I weakly whispered the truth that would still hold me guilt. "I... I don’t know."
Auburn scoffed loudly. "You don’t know? You were the last and only person who came to this very room and you tell me you don’t know? How convenient!"
Cherry stepped forward, her gown whispering over the marble floor. "Jasmine," she said, voice smooth as poisoned honey. "You say you saw the necklace, yet you left it on the table?"
"Yes," I whispered.
"And why," Cherry asked, tilting her head, "did you not place it in the drawer? Or inform a guard? Or alert anyone?"
My breath stilled.
How could I explain something I barely understood myself? That strange tug in my chest, that internal warning, that soft voice telling me to leave it alone. How could I say that without sounding suspicious?
"I... I just didn’t think it was my place, Princess. I didn’t think it was any of my concern I just came to do my work and go." I said.
"Your place," Auburn laughed bitterly, "was to keep your hands to yourself."
Coral frowned at her. "Auburn-
"No," Auburn snapped back. "This is theft. A royal necklace doesn’t simply disappear."
Queen Rose lifted a hand. Silence fell instantly.
Her eyes moved from the empty vanity... to Auburn... to me.
"Jasmine," she said slowly, "are you claiming you had no involvement in the disappearance of the necklace?"
"Yes, Your Majesty," I whispered. "I swear on my life, I didn’t take it."
Auburn let out a sharp, cruel laugh. "Who else would? No one else stepped inside. The guards would never my sister would never and yet you..." she pointed at me again, her voice cracking, "you’re the only outsider here. You’re not even from our pack."
My heart thudded painfully. The floor beneath me felt like it was tilting.
"I didn’t steal anything," I whispered.
But Auburn’s voice rose higher, trembling with outrage or the performance of it.
"Auburn." Queen Rose said her eyes closed gently in warning.
"I always knew there was something about you!" Auburn hissed in rage. "I always knew! You’re nothing but a conniving thief!"
"Auburn." The Queen said a bit louder now.
And yet Auburn barely paid any heed to the silent warning.
"GUARDS!" Auburn screamed in rage.
Two guards stepped forward immediately.
At that very moment the most shocking thing happened in the room.
Queen Rose whirled around and dealt Auburn a dirty slap.
It happened so fast if you didn’t see it, you most definitely would hear it.
The room went chill and just like everyone else, I felt a cold breeze down my back.
Even the guards who had been ordered in, froze in the place.
Cherry who barely showed any emotion had shock written on her face.
Coral looked like she was in disbelief.
Belle smirked in delight.
Auburn had her hand placed on her cheek.
"When I speak to you." Queen Rose said in a very dangerous tone. "You will heed me. Grandmother I may be, but Queen? I am."
Auburn’s face was red, you could tell how much she was shaking.
"Do you understand me?!" The Queen snapped further scaring everyone in the room.
I jumped and rubbed my arm.
"Y... y.... Yes grandm-
Auburn was about to say grandmother and wisely rephrased her words.
"Yes your majesty." Auburn said.
Queen Rose took in a deep breath and turned away to face me.
I took a subconscious step back now ferried of the king.
All this while, she wasn’t as weak as everyone believed her to.
The soft and sweet spoken Queen now looked like a fierce Goddess, her bosom rising with every breath she took.
The Queen was dangerous.