Elena found the palace seer in the lower levels of the east tower, a space rarely visited by anyone beyond the oldest servants who remembered when such counsel had still been trusted openly at court.
"I need to ask you something," Elena said, "and I need you to answer honestly, regardless of how it might trouble either of us."
The old woman, Senna, looked up from the herbs she had been sorting, her clouded eyes studying Elena with the particular attentiveness of someone who had spent decades reading more than faces alone.
"You have come about a dream," Senna said, not a question.
Elena paused, unsettled despite having sought this woman out specifically for her reputation. "How did you know that?"
"Because your mother came to me once, years ago, carrying the exact same weight you carry
