Nana had been old for as long as Lily could remember. Even when she was a baby, she remembered the old crone moving about the cottage slowly and complaining about her eyesight. Her mother told her that was what happened when a witch had The Sight. Their premonitions and visions become clearer as their physical sight fades away. This was why every year at The Fair, people of Birmingham lined up for a chance to have their fortune told by 'Old Nana'. The skeptics called her a fraud, but the believers said she was gifted by God. All the Cary women laughed at this notion. Her mother said The Sight didn't come from God nor was she a charlatan. She told Lily their gifts came from a long line of witches, starting in the medieval period when they hunted witches.

"That's how covens were formed," she said as she tucked Lily in bed. "Witches realized they couldn't be alone anymore. They needed to protect each other if they wanted to survive."

"Is that why we live out here?" Lily asked.

"Not entirely, but yes," she nodded.

However, Lily grew curious about it herself. Only nine-years-old, she waited until her mother left for the chicken coop and made for the workshop adjacent to the cabin. Smelling of incense and cluttered with books, bottles and other items, Nana was threading a pouch at the table when she suddenly stopped. Nana lost most of her vision by this time, but her other senses were sharper than knives. She smiled to herself, putting down her needle and the pouch.

"What's troubling you?" she asked Lily.

"Can I ask you something, Nana?" she took a seat at the table, toying with the end of her dress.

"Of course."

"Will you read my fortune?"

Nana laughed gleefully, "Oh dear girl, why would you want your fortune read for? You haven't even experienced the world yet. You're only a baby still."

"Doesn't mean I don't want to know my future," she held out her palm, "Please, Nana? Please?"

Nana sighed, sensing Lily's palm in front of her. "Alright," she said, "Just the one. Let's see what we can found out about Little Lily." She began massaging Lily's hand, her rough fingertips touching the delicate skin.

"Don't you need a knife, Nana?" she recalled her grandmother always making a small cut in the person's hand. "Doesn't that make it easier to see?"

"It does," she nodded, still feeling her hand, "But I won't cut you, precious. I don't need to." She stayed silent, her white eyes staring into nothing as she trailed her fingertips up and down Lily's hand. She stopped at certain points, and focused on others. She grinned widely. "Life has something special in mind for you."

"What? What is it?"

"A man…A man with a white horse…" she said, "He's…I can't see him, but he's there. A-A tortured soul he is, yes, but with the ambitions of a Prince. Yes, yes a Prince soon to be King."

"Mother, what are you doing?" Her mother asked from the other room. She held the headless chicken in her hand as she took a seat by the fire and began plucking.

"I'm reading her fortune," Nana said, "Now, hush." She continued touching Lily's hand, and then said, "He will co-come on his white horse and make you his Princess."

"I'm going to be a Princess?!" Lily beamed, "Mummy, did you hear that?! I'm going to be a Princess!"

Her mother laughed, auburn hair tucked into a bun behind her head and slender fingers plucking the chicken feathers, "Oh a Princess, huh? I hope it's soon. Then we don't have to kill our own chickens anymore."

"I said hush!" Nana repeated, still feeling Lily's hand. "You'll live in a palace and have a little prince-"

"-Mother, that's enough," Mummy said.

"I'm not finished."

"She needs to go to the well and get water," Her mother said. "Lily, love, would you go get water and put it in the pot for me, please?"

"But Nana was just telling me-"

"-She can tell you more another time," her mother interrupted again. "Go to the well, now."

"Gah! Your mother's no fun," Nana hissed and let go of Lily's hand. She picked up her thread and pouch again, "I suppose that's enough fortunes for one day. Go to the well, darling."

Lily smiled at her and slipped off the lounge. She skipped outside to the well, thinking of her prince on a white horse. He'd be tall and handsome, with eyes that made her insides twist and a smile that made her heart flutter. She wondered if he'd be gifted like her. Visions of rides in the forest and sitting by the water at night filled her head as she cranked the bucket back up the well, and then carefully took it back to the house. It'd only been on her way back that she heard them.

"You shouldn't have done that," she heard her mother say. "You'd just put ideas in her head."

"I see what I see, and I say what I see," Nana replied. "She can take what I tell her and do what she will. History isn't set in stone. Maybe she never meets this prince and you spend the rest of your days plucking your own chickens."

"Oh very funny," her mother said. "She's a little girl, Mother. She might be like us, but she's still only a child."

"Even children can dream for something better, Lydia. I recall you having a similar reading in your cards."

Her mother didn't speak. "It said nothing about a white horse or a prince. It only said she'd find a great love one day. I don't even know how accurate that can be. A great love can mean anything."

"I saw a white horse and a man of great standing," Nana said, "And that's what I said."

"You said 'prince', Mother. Don't tell me you lied to her."

"Of course not! I said 'prince' because people view him as one; even more so when he becomes a king amongst his people." She paused, "You know they call Albert Shelby a king, and he's not royalty."

"Far from it," her mother grumbled. "I'm-I'm not having this conversation anymore. Just keep stitching the pouch and let me pluck the chicken, okay?"

"Fine. Have it your way, but you know I'm right. I saw one of the Shelby boys. I know I did."

"You didn't see anyone, Mother."

"I know I did! I don't know which one, but if anybody's a damn prince it's them!"

"You saw nobody, Mother! Leave it at that."

The Shelby boys? Lily had no idea who they spoke of, but they must be important. Lily readjusted the bucket in her hand and reentered the cabin.