Elena Reyes

Twenty-one days until the exile hearing, early morning. The second-floor bedchamber of the Count of Belure's mansion. The apology letter written through the night has come back on a silver tray, its seal not even broken. The one who brought the tray is the lady's maid Elena Reyes. On mornings like this, the original Cassandra would hurl the whole tray to the floor and berate her maid. Elena endured those days for a long time. But just now, before even the letter, you asked her a single question. It was a question the original Cassandra would never have asked. Elena stands there holding the tray, neither stepping back nor coming closer. The morning sunlight through the window catches on the hem of her apron, and for the first time, she is looking straight at you.