“But the real tragedy,” she said, “Is when you can’t save someone at all. The real tragedy is when you love someone more than life itself, and they love you back. You would do anything to be with each other, and no one deserves a happy ending more than you do.

But fairytales are make-believe and happy endings don’t exist. Sometimes you find true love after all, but the prince can’t always save the princess, and the worst kind of story is when the princess has to watch her prince die in agony, and she is powerless to do anything to stop it.”

She leans back, her yellow pupils fixed on you from where you sit in front of her. “Yes, you’ve found love. Congratulations. But nothing can save you from fate, and one day you will be forced on your knees, and you will stare in horror as the light fades from their eyes.”

“How?” You choke out.

The woman shrugs, her eyes unblinking. “There are many variations. You will live a million different lives, but in each one, you’ll lose them. Maybe you’ll have them for years, maybe you’ll have them for days. But you will be forced to watch over and over as a sword rips through their chest, as their skin melts off in flames, as their head falls from an executioner’s block.

Sometimes you’ll even get to say goodbye. You have a couple of lifelines that promise you a mostly happy life. But fate is unrelenting, and it doesn’t matter how many roads you take, or what you try and do to save them, they will die in front of you in every life you live, and that is your curse.”

The woman stands from her crumbling throne, a forgotten deity’s home. “I could tell you every life you will live, I can tell you the happiest one and the one that will haunt you forever. I could also tell you about the lives you’ve already lived, but you’re not here for those, are you?”

You lick your lips. Your throat feels like it’s lined with gravel, and your tongue feels heavier than stone. “What-,” You pause. There’s no going back after this. “What’s the life that will haunt me forever?”

The woman smiles. She knew you would say that. After all, you have been to her temple in several other lifetimes, and mortals never do change.

“You are a prince, and they are part of your guard. Cliche, I know.” The woman’s grin widens. The best part is next. “Your father finds out about your activities behind his back. He captures them, and tells them you gave them away.”

Your hands are shaking, and your eyes are filled with horror.

“They’re tortured, of course, and eventually, when they are nothing but a shell, a shell,” The woman adds,” who believes you never loved them at all, your father stages a public execution.”

Maybe it’s just you, but the woman seems taller than before, and her eyes a little brighter.

“You are forced to swing the ax, and their last words are ‘I love you’.” The woman stops. Her job is done now. You have the knowledge you came for, and your soul is blackened with the information.

“Do we- do we ever have a happy ending?” You look at the woman who knows all, who can see the past, present, and future.

And she only fades from view, her voice lingering behind as it whispers. “There is no such thing as a happy ending.”