Time stops for no-one. The girls in the ice caskets are dreaming…They have been dreaming for centuries. In their dreams, some are happily married, others are teachers, veteran surgeons; some sailing over ocean landscapes with invisible wings. Some chose not to be human, leading a simpler, less troubled existence. And others, like Marian Mayworth, chose to stay close by. Time is catching up with them. Though their mind and soul are somewhere unreachable, untouched by age, their bodies are not. One thing is true for them all; and what a price to pay-

When they realise the ice caskets, which were once their tomb, are the only thing keeping them alive.

“She will turn to dust right before your feet.” Alden remarks. Josie’s arms are steel trellises, as they struggle to shut her back in her casket. She carries the stench of decay, as the crumpled folds of skin smooths into the elasticity of youth. The caskets are losing their glow.

Dinah shivers. She has not stopped shivering since she entered the room. Nay, the castle. Eyes that swivel and follow her every move. There is something malignant, cruel. It is there, watching, waiting. Growing in power since she was last here. It whispers on the same air she breathes. Dinah cannot make sense of it. It is the air.

“My father will punish you for your deeds.” Josie hisses. ‘She is like a pit viper’, Dinah thinks. Flaring nostrils; one sign of weakness and her jaw will unhinge to accommodate its prey.

“Your father? Your father is dead. Mine too-” he adds as an afterthought. “So, what does that make me?” Alden is right, for centuries have passed; bloody battles fought for the throne, kingdoms conquered and raised from the ashes, successions for the true and rightful heir; nothing but ink in the history books. He had lived through them all, seen them all and would continue to do so. For he had the secret of living in dreams, and he could not be killed.

Alive through, what is it? Magic no, it is something more powerful than that. His faith. Does he not have an iron will? The truth is, Alden has many enemies. But the protection of his castle, his legacy, that is first and foremost his priority.

Now- they are waking.

“I have a message for you. The army will come.” Josie's eyes swivel like a ventriloquist’s dummy, “and you, will die.”

What had once started as a project, a statement of art and beauty, has now regretfully given him cause for unease. For Alden has created something far worse than the caskets made of ice. He has given them a second chance at life, and no fool will turn that down.