I looked at the woman seated before me, peeling potatoes. Was she really a seer? She didn’t look like a witch, that was for sure. That evil hag hopefully still lying on the floor of the cave could only ever hope to look like Lily. But were witches always ugly? I thought back to the fairy tales I’d read while stuck in my own exile, up in my tower. Most of the witches in those stories were ugly and old. They were all evil.

I decided, witch or not, Lily wasn’t evil. She couldn’t be. It wasn’t just that she was lovely and young. It was the kindness in her honey eyes, the sweetness in her voice.

“So you can see the future?” I asked her

Lily nodded. “Yes, though it’s not always beneficial to know what will happen tomorrow, or the day after that.”

“But what if you know something bad will happen tomorrow – wouldn’t knowing about it help you prevent it?”

She looked across the table at me, her eyes wise beyond her years. “Nothing can prevent fate. Not even knowing.”

“I want to know my future. Please tell me.”