Twelve days before the crowning, the chancellor sends for Sabine Ives, the dead court lapidary's daughter, to certify the regalia stone by stone. By the second stone she knows the great sapphire is paste, and she knows the hand that cut it. And the Keeper of the Jewel House — a prince — sits down on her bench, watches her find it, and doesn't deny a word. Certify the glass and she has lied to a king. Refuse, and she hangs beside him. He keeps telling her the truth. That's the trouble.”

— Moonmark