The seer did not answer her immediately.

Silence stretched between them, thick and deliberate, pressing against Mabel’s skin. His eyes remained locked on hers, unmoving, and unblinking... as he looked through her.

Mabel held his gaze.

She did not shift nor look away.

His eyes darkened, and it happened immediately, without warning. "One more lie..." he said quietly. "...and I’ll have you rotting from your inside."

Mabel’s breath caught. That involuntary hitch betrayed her before she could stop it.

The air in the room shifted. It thickened.

Fear coiled around her ribs, tightening slowly, and deliberately.

He paused. Then, almost casually, he added, "Do not forget..." his head tilted slightly, his gaze sharpening, "I am a witch."

Mabel’s fingers twitched at her side.

She did not move her feet, but her body betrayed her in smaller ways. Her throat tightened. Her shoulders drew back just a fraction too stiffly.

She couldn’t say what she was thinking an ilegal seer would be while coming to visit him. The possibility of him being a witch was the kast thing on her mind.

A slight tremor passed through her knees.

The seer saw her fear. His lips curved—not into the acknowledgment of what he had just uncovered.

"Sit." He ordered.

Mabel did not hesitate.

Her legs welcmed the command, and she moved to the small wooden chair opposite him.

The moment she lowered herself, her fingers pressed slightly against the edge of the seat, grounding herself.

Her pulse beat harder than she liked, and louder than she liked. Yet her face had already smoothed over.

She returned her expression to controlled, and polite.

The seer watched her settle. He leaned back slightly, his gaze never leaving her. "Now..." he said again, slower this time. "Who are you?"

She inhaled once, then lifted her chin. "I am Mabel Rowanfall."

The truth fell between them.

The seer’s eyes flickered, just once in recognition and a thought.

"I expected only Adele Blackfen and her father," he said slowly, his voice thoughtful now. "Not before the next moon." His gaze sharpened again. "And certainly not... you."

Mabel did not respond.

She let the words pass, as she let him see her soul.

"I see darkness in you." The seer said.

Mabel did not flinch. Her fingers simply curled slightly against her lap, even if she hadn’t expected such a direct reading.

The seer continued.

"Not the kind of darkness that lives in every man," he said calmly. "Or the kind born of anger, or pain, or survival."

His eyes held hers tighter now.

"This one..." he tilted his head slightly, studying her like she was under glass, "...this one festers. It grows."

Mabel’s breathing remained even.

"It is the kind that should be caged," he added. Then, he paused. "Or better still..." His voice dropped, quieter now, and colder. "...the carrier should be killed."

The words should have shaken her. They should have unsettled her. They should have done something yet Mabel only blinked.

She leaned back slightly into her seat, unbothered.

"I came for personal answers," she said.

Her voice was calm, as if he had not just spoken of her death like it was a reasonable solution.

The seer watched her for a long second. He looked like he had something more to say but finally, he nodded.

"Go on."

Mabel did not waste the opening. She did not hesitate. "Will I ever be queen?" she questioned sharply, and straight to the point.

The seer went still.

For the first time since she had entered, he went still. His gaze drifted through her. He looked beyond the room, and into more things than her soul.

Mabel’s fingers tightened slightly against her gown as she waited. Her heartbeat picked up from anticipation.

The silence stretched, then he nodded.

Mabel’s breath caught again. Her eyes lit from ambition and success.

"I will—"

"You will be Queen." He confirmed.

Her lips parted in delight. Her spine straightened. The confirmation settled into her with all the assurance in the world.

This was something real, and an affirmation she could build upon. This was her future. Her power, and her crown.

The seer spoke again. "But not of the Alphas."

The words fell like a stone into still water. Ripples spread around Mabel’s heart. She stilled immediately.

Her mind adjusted. She recalculated, and her gaze sharpened. Her thoughts moved quickly, faster than her breath.

She realised the Alphas might not be the only way forward. Her fingers relaxed at that realization.

Her shoulders settled.

She nodded in acceptance. To her, the title mattered more than the path. As long as she became queen, the rest could be rewritten.

"Understood," she said simply.

The seer watched her carefully. There was no disappointment in her expression, nor confession. Even inside her.

She accepted it wholeheartedly, and that alone said more about her than anything else she had ever spoken.

The seer reached beside him.

His fingers brushed against a small wooden box, worn with age.

He opened it without looking, then reached inside. When his hand emerged, it held a necklace. 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

Mabel’s gaze dropped immediately.

The chain was thin, and delicate. Almost unremarkable. But the pendant held a clear stone.

The seer extended it toward her. "Take this."

Mabel did not hesitate. She received it, and her fingers closed around it immediately.

The metal was cool against her skin yet the stone was colder.

It sent a faint shiver up her wrist.

"This necklace," the seer said, his voice steady, "will change colour in the presence of poison."

Mabel’s brows drew together slightly.

She turned the pendant between her fingers, examining it, and understanding its value.

Her gaze lifted back to him. "Why would I need it?" she questioned.

The seer did not answer immediately.

He watched her longer this time. He weighed how much to say, and how much she deserved to know because of her ambitions.

He leaned forward slightly. His eyes locked onto hers. "Because," he said quietly, "when the time comes..." he paused just enough to make her really listen. "...the hand that offers you a drink..." His gaze did not waver. "...will not come as an enemy."

Silence fell between them.

Mabel’s fingers tightened around the necklace.

The seer leaned back again. Just like that, he was done.