The woman was frozen in time, sleeping in crystal. She had been that way since before Kek was born. He could not help but wonder if she was still alive in there; if the myths were true and she was just asleep. Was he to thaw the ice – to remove the crystal – would she wake up? She was, after all, his ancestor. He wanted to know so bad. It was something he had wondered since he found this room below the palace of Crita. The room of the Frozen ones.

The woman was millions of years old, according to the records. She would have been one of the first people to learn how to control the power of the darkness. The things he could learn from her would be amazing. She could help him further his dark power; shape it into something even stronger than that the Dark King was thought to have.

He did not know her real name. Instead, he gave her one. Aurelia. It meant 'the golden one'. Kek took it from her appearance. Her hair was golden. Her skin was bronze and covered with golden markings. Even her clothing was golden. He could not help but wonder if her eyes were also golden. It would mean the name he had given her was very appropriate.

Kek placed a hand on the glass covering the mixture of ice and crystal. It held the temperature inside the chamber she was resting in at below freezing. He would come into this room and speak to her when he could. He would tell her the fantastical stories of the Terpolite people. He would tell her stories of his own travels and adventures. He did not know why. Even when he was a child, when he first stumbled upon her, he would talk to her. It was . . . comforting.

He wondered if she could hear him. It was not impossible if she was only sleeping. He also wondered if there were times she would try to speak to him. Her form inhabited his nightly dreams, whispering to him in a strange language he could not understand. Was she trying to communicate with him? He wanted to know. He wanted to thaw her, to speak to her properly. There were times where we swore she moved slightly, times where her eyelids would flicker, or her fingers would twitch. Was it an affect of the cold? Was she awake?

He heard his name called from the level above. Back to work, then. He pressed his brow against the glass as he had so many times. "I will be back, Aurelia," he whispered.

There were others in the room far below the palace. They were the Frozen Ones, warriors from millions of years ago. At least, that was what legend suggested. Kek spoke to them as well, but no where near as often as his golden woman. Like Aurelia, there were other men and women sleeping in the frozen crystal. There were not many. Given enough time, Kek could count them all. No one knew why they were frozen or if it had been their choice. That was something the records did not say. No one knew why. What was even stranger was how no one had been able to replicate the technology or magic used to seal these people. It was one of Terpola's greatest mysteries, and one he was keen to solve.

He reached the top of the stone stairs and looked out over the room. The crystal glowing against the dark stone reminded him of the universes in the night sky. There were more chambers than there were people in the room. Those ones were dark, empty, and lifeless. It was almost as though those who were supposed to inhabit these chambers had been stopped before they could make it that far. More excavation had been done but proof was yet to be found that there had been some great tragedy.

His eyes drifted to the chamber where Aurelia slept. Did she know all the people in this room she had been kept in for so long? Did she even know she was frozen? Was she aware of how much time had passed? He wanted to know. He had to know.

Kek smacked has hands on the stone beside him and walked out, climbing the stairs to return to the first floor of the palace.

Liam was waiting, leaning against one of the walls. He jumped forward. "The slaves have escaped."

That caught his attention, bringing him back into reality "What? How?"

"They broke their chains. A woman, I'm guessing their leader – Xix, I think her name is – smashed through the wall. They all made a run for it."

Xix had been the one to help them escape. "That is interesting."

"Interesting," Liam repeated dumbfounded. "The woman let most of our slaves escape and killed a mass amount of the guards!"

"Which is a part of their job," Kek explained as he walked away with a wave of the hand.

"But –"

"They knew what they were getting into," he continued. "Xix is a very powerful woman and, let's be real here, it was only a mater of time before she and her people escaped. She was a leader on Ozialon. You know how powerful they are rumoured to be." He sighed. "We also mustn't forget that she is the daughter of our King which has made her even more powerful."

Liam stopped mid-step. "She is daughter of our King?"

A nod. "Had things gone the way they were supposed to, she would have become our new Queen and we would probably not be having the current issue we are faced with."

"I did not know," Liam murmured.

Not many people did. Kek only knew through a complete accident. He had overheard a conversation – not that he was eavesdropping – between one of the King's old servants and courtiers not too many years ago. He had considered keeping the information to himself. He did not want there to be a new Dark Ruler, especially one with any relation to that King. Even so, he had decided, she could have become a strong ally.

He ended up telling Tara about her. He was almost beaten for blasphemy. She had not believed the Dark King could have a family. It was just . . . wrong. Or, that was what Tara had said. Once Kek was able to prove the statement true, Tara had begun research into the matter. It was strange. There was only one record of Xix on Terpola, but there was no mention of her mother.

"What will Tara have us do?" he asked rather reluctantly.

"She wants us to send people after her."

Everyone we send will probably be killed. Kek raised to his head. "She will never learn, will she?"

The two men shook their heads in unison.

Liam went ahead leaving Kek to be alone with his thoughts. He had considered going after the would-be Queen, but after hearing about her show of power, he was against the idea. He would rather have Tara on the throne than the man she was trying to release or his daughter. So did most people he knew. Their power was too great, especially since one of them had control over the Silent Core.

There were people who would side with the Dark King without a second thought out of fear or greed. Kek had been like them a long time ago. He still wanted the power, that had not changed, but he now understood that there were better ways to actually gain the power he craved. Anyone who could control the power of the Silent Core was not one of them. He had no doubts that anything would turn him away from this mission. The mission to gain the power of both Cores.