That night, Glacia tossed and turned in bed. She was tired, but always had trouble falling asleep. Especially now that there was too much to contemplate on her mind. All she could think was of the enticing lights in the garden, the worrying information that she had gleaned about the King, and most of it all, the boy who had sat under the tree in the Night Garden...

Then, she heard something light slide across the smooth floor. It came to a fall not far from the bed, giving off a soft whirring sound. What's that? She rose a little, trying to see what made its entry.

It was an envelope that slipped through the bottom slit of her door. The whirring sound beckoned her to take it, like an alarm or something.

"Jeez, it's midnight. Can't y'all relax?" Glacia murmured against her pillow, too lazy to rise from her bed to look at it. What was it? A schedule or some sort of message about tomorrow? She buried her face deeper into the pillow.

Two firm knocks sounded on the door, making Glacia groan.

"What is it this time?"

"Gl—Glacia? Are you awake?" A familiar voice called from the outside.

She got up at the sound of that, put on some silver slippers and shuffled toward the door. "Luke?" She rubbed her eyes after opening the door to see him. "It's past midnight. What are you doing here?"

"Sorry for disturbing you. D--didn't you receive the message?"

Glacia turned back to the alarm-clock-message that lay on the ground. "You mean that?"

He asked with his eyes if he could come in, and of course she let him. She opened the door wider as he moved over to pick up the envelope for her, his face showing recognition and what it was.

"Well, the Insurgents sent this message to you. I know it is late but circumstances do not allow us to operate in the day. They are giving you directions to a place. I was afraid that you'll be scared of it all, so I decided to tag along just in case." He offered Glacia the letter, and she took it with a small gulp stuck in her throat.

"Must it really be now?" She groaned.

Luke's gaze softened. "If you don't come, they'll send someone to take you there anyway. Royalliers have no sense of patience or care for what some people think, sometimes." He frowned.

Glacia turned up the light, and now that he was close by, she was all to aware of this boy, an old friend of hers. Wrong, he was no longer a boy. He always had his charms when they were little, some that sent many whispers his way when we walked. But now he had grown up. He had grown fully into his features, he was now towering above her and was no longer the lanky boy that was just as small as her that she could squeeze when she hugged him goodbye. He had grown so much that she didn't even recognise him in the beginning. How could I not? She thought. Perhaps that sadness and grief from having to bid your best friend goodbye, and having him never return a call, made her want to forget him.

He ruffled his blonde hair a little, letting in glisten in the light. He was warm and comforting, she thought it made full sense that he was a Healing Regiis. With him, Glacia dared to face whatever was coming.

Her eyes glossed over the silver envelope. There were no words on it whatsoever, but the pristine envelope beckoned her to open. She broke the red seal and unfolded it gingerly.

The crisp envelope revealed in a single paper that read, "Open the bottom latch of your drawer when you are ready. Password: Livia", scrolled in gold lettering. As soon as Glacia finished reading the sentence, the envelope and letter exploded into flames.

She yelped a little in alarm, dropping them to the floor. And something even more alarming -- why was my mother's name there? Livia. Glacia's mind raced. Did my mother have something to do with this as well? Was she part of the Insurgents? She had spoke of change in the Royalliers' realm, that was why she wished for me to be here. But Glacia never found out if she had wanted her to do that supporting a specific side. However, it would make sense if she stood with the Insurgents...

If she stood with them, should she stand with them too?

Bottom latch — Glacia looked around to see what she thought it was. Her eyes settled on the wooden latch door on the cupboard that looked pretty unassuming. She hadn't thought to open it, but now that the letter mentioned it, the door looked a little out of place, as if it was torn apart and then screwed on again.

She looked at Luke, wondering if he knew the significance of that name. The Insurgents couldn't possibly know that she was Livia's daughter, for now. When the time was right, she had to seek an answer for the meaning behind that name. But she couldn't do it too fast and risk getting caught, her mother wanted Glacia's true identity hidden for a reason.

Luke took her uneasiness as a sign of fear of the unknown. He gave her a reassuring grin and nodded firmly. Luke was going to extend his hand and hold hers, as he did when they were littler and more familiar with each other's presence. Back then, Glacia had him memorised, and she knew of how he took touch as a gesture of comfort and care.
"Trust me, everything's going to be okay."

Glacia nodded, walking over to the latch where she was supposed to find her answers. She grabbed the golden knob and pull it open.

It was empty. Glacia was about to ask more, but then realised that the back of this segment seemed a little out of place. Like a false bottom in a drawer. Maybe that wasn't all to the small compartment.

She used two hands to push the back of the cupboard, to find it head deeper and deeper in. Feeling Luke's smile on her, she guided it further in. She kept pushing it until her hands could no longer reach for the ends. It clicked in place, and she contemplated what to do next.

The cupboard's bottom door was up to the hip level. Glacia got ready to crouch down, and saw that the top seemed to be a false ceiling as well. At least she wasn't claustrophobic, and luckily this door wasn't too small.

"Is this all really necessary?" She joked, throwing a sideways glance at Luke, who was following behind.

He replied, "We have rooms linked to our conference hall, and made sure there was a walkway like this installed in yours. Trust me, it'll come in handy someday."

The top flap revealed a much bigger opening. At least now, all she needed was to duck under. The envelope merely contained a sentence that had no explanation about all of this. It was like a mini test to see if she could put two and two together to find wherever they wanted me to go to. The girl ducked under the frame, thankful for her curved yet slender figure that enabled her to manoeuvre well, and stood up on the inside, which was lit up. With her sturdy arms, she could lift her body onto the platform forward smoothly, and it revealed a stone walkway with twinkling lights guiding the way forward.

This little walkway was quiet, but nonetheless still pleasing to the eye. She could hardly imagine the Royalliers would construct anything less than beautiful.

Glacia could feel the warmth behind her, reassuring me that someone she knew well was here with her. Luke followed behind, shutting the latch door behind him gently. He turned to the girl, "Let's go, shall we?"

They followed the red satin lining the path to a door at the end. There was a turnstile at the entryway, with a keypad at the side that lit up at the sense of someone around. Glacia proceeded forward without hesitating. She keyed in the letters of her mother's name one by one, those letters that were so dear to her. A deep green color flashed across the screen. She could enter, and Luke followed suit after entering his own code.

Past the gate was a hall very similar to the Grand Hall. There were at least fifty people in this room, looking up at the two as they entered. They had gathered around a sturdy podium that was as elevated as that of the halls, but dustier. This was an underground reflection of the palace above.

Standing at the front was someone in a dark blue cloak held his hand out, beckoning them over. His voice was smooth, but patronising. "Ah, Glacia. Welcome. Come join us."

"Who are you?" Glacia asked, but nonetheless abided. She walked forward slowly, her eyes transfixed on the cloaked man.

Glacia came closer to the centre of the room, which had a long marble table with plush seats surrounding the outsides. The figure put down the hood of his cloak, revealing a very scarred face. She didn't intend to do it, but instinctively sucked in her breath at the side. The gash was huge, it cut across his eyes and swelled one shut, down to his mouth so it nearly split his face into half. The scary-looking smile he wore made him all the more frightening. There was something mystifying and seemingly dangerous that kept her attention on him. "My name is Dante. I thank you for joining us today."

Luke continued to stand close behind, even as another Royallier seemed to want to usher him to take a seat. Everyone else took their seats, as Dante climbed up a small staircase to stand at a greater height, beginning to address the audience again.

"Glacia, we invited you today because we want to entrust you with a secret. A revolutionary one, one that could change up the entire Royallier landscape." He started, gesturing to the congregation of Royalliers around him that listened intently to his every word.

"For years and years, we have been fighting against the iron grip of the Comrades. Those Comrades have ignited little change, and we want to get rid of that. We are supposed to be the leaders of the world, beings of greater powers and gifts that mortals cannot have. Why are we confined to playing such pathetic games in a small arena like this? We should be out there, in the mortal world. The mortals have no care for us, they do not know of the pains we go through to keep their world going. It is time for them to pay attention to us."

Royalliers on each side nodded profusely in agreement, feeding his certainty. He continued,
"We, the Insurgents propose that we stop hiding in this Palace and start living among the mortals. And only when we emerge will the mortal world be bettered -- no more wars, destruction and the likes. They will revere us and fear pollution of the environment and themselves, and we need not chase that for them so tirelessly. All our Kings have been incapable to achieve that, they spent years of sitting on a golden throne, just waning away time. We have to act quickly, before the Crown Prince rises next..."

There was something so convincing and powerful about his voice. He was a different kind of leader from the one that Glacia had seen in Orion and in Asher. She believed that she would join them if her mother had, but she believed it wasn't so simple, and her mother had known that she would be able to guess that. Their aims seemed no more like a selfish deed to themselves, they desired power and twisted it to seem as if it was for the better of the mortals.

"Yet, we were always so unsuccessful in our plot. The Comrades know about our existence, but they couldn't care less because we lack enough power to impeach the leader. That is — until you came along. You are the only one who can get rid the leaders, and thus, we want to elect you as our rightful leader of the throne."

"Leader?" Glacia spoke disbelievingly. She had barely entered, and they're already entrusting me to such a title -- that was immensely suspicious. Surely Dante wanted the position for himself?

His words hung in the air. Glacia could feel so many pairs of eyes on me, waiting for her to accept the invitation. It seemed as though it would be second nature to say yes to something like that.

"Your mission sounds horribly like one intending to make mortals subservient to us?" She dared challenge him. "I was a 'mortal' not long ago. I lived a normal life, and even though I hadn't seen much of the Royalliers then, I don't think there was anything wrong with that."

He paused to contemplate, and shaped his words to sound as if it was more for the mortals than himself. "What about the problems that are compounding then? The suffering that you know people have been receiving. If we put ourselves out there, perhaps they would listen to us more and we can help them piece the world together again. And also... what about getting rid of the King first before he gets to you? We heard from Luke Aspen that he tried to kill you."

Glacia wanted to say yes in that moment. She was still shocked and confused that someone was hunting for her head. However, she knew that common sense had to appeal to her more.

"But are you not electing me to use me too?"

This challenge of hers made the crowd erupt into whispers and some protests. It was a crescendo of noise, but she only minded the cloaked figure in front of me that had his lips pressed into a thin line. She tilted her head up, keeping her figure straight to the bone.

Dante began to walk down from the steps. Even Luke -- someone who should be trusting of the leader he was following -- tensed, seeming ready to pounce should anything happen. "Tell me then, would you rather kill, or wait to be killed?

He glided away slowly, his words repeating in Glacia's ears.

"You don't have to make a decision now, of course. Spend some time to think about it, but never tell a soul. I trust you won't, Glacia."

"You have my word. But, if I do join you, what exactly do you all want me to do?"

Dante confirmed her initial assumptions, saying it plainly as if he had thought about this every day.

"The Royalliers have a rule — whoever kills the ruler can take the throne. The King is dying, so we have no need to care for that, but more importantly, Glacia, we need you to kill the Crown Prince, and assert your rightful position."