Elena hurried down the length of the solar to the door of Lady Anne's bedchamber at the far end. She was praying that Athan had received her message. They wouldn't have long; she just hoped that it would be long enough. First, though, she had to retrieve the mandrake from where she had hidden it beneath the linen in her little chest. This might be her only chance to use it. And she had to do it this evening. She had to finish the dream. She couldn't face another night of hearing that infant's wails in her dream, that awful sick sensation of dread which made her heart race and her stomach turn sour. A fear that was nameless and faceless was a thousand times worse than the demons and beasts that leered from the tower of the church. If she could just see the end of her nightmare, then maybe it would cease to torment her. She grasped the iron ring on the door of the bedchamber and was just about to turn it, when she froze. Voices were coming from behind the wooden partition that separated the Lady Anne's bedchamber from the solar.
