Chapter One: The Ice Princess
Hollycelestamelindar was loomed in the New Blood House of Sanfaradyne in the Sanfaradyne forest. She had a fairly happy and normal childhood for a young Gallifreyan. She was an extremely bright girl and learned all of her lessons quickly. She had a reputation for being a good and studious pupil during brainbuffing, which made her an ideal candidate for a Time Lady. She got on pretty well with most of her cousins and her older cousin, Guilliamousabodred used to tell her stories about someone called, The Doctor, which she enjoyed more than anything else. She used to play the pianlaika and wrote music for it. She also owned several cats (though only one at a time, for that was all the housekeeper would permit her) and she was always fond of cats.
Holly made her family proud when she was accepted into the Prydonian Academy, where she concentrated in political science. She excelled in all of her classes and never failed anything even once. She proved to be one of the most talented students at the Academy, during her time there. Again, she always lived up to her reputation for being good and studious. As a Junior Time Lady, she used to have a part-time job selling advertising leaflets in House and TARDIS, which paradoxically was both the cause and funds for her shopping habit. After all, the pay was based partly on commission, which was received from selling advertising space to paying advertisers, who of course were advertising something she might want to spend money on.
Her Time Lord abilities developed extraordinarily well. She was clearly well gifted. She particularly excelled at TARDIS operations and her temporal abilities were the best in her class. Her powers and abilities were strong, even for a Time Lord. She graduated top of her class with a triple first. She was encouraged to continue her studies beyond the Academy, and she took a few more classes after graduation. She was fascinated by everything there was, although it was assumed that she would probably pursue a career in politics.
However, she was also extremely curious and interested in what life was like elsewhere in the universe. This led her to take a hiatus from her studies and apply for an observation post in the Andromeda Galaxy, which still had many unexplored territories. Being young, at least for a Gallifreyan, and being so well skilled at TARDIS operations, she was an ideal candidate for such a post. But her eagerness for it, also concerned the Time Lords, who recognized that she was perhaps a little too curious and open-minded. Generally, Time Lords were set in their ways and traditions, and although Holly followed all of them and had never rebelled, she always sought a deeper meaning and questioned some things. It seemed that not only was she gifted with power, but she also had the intelligence to know how to implement it. It was dangerous for a Time Lord not to be so dogmatic and set in their ways because their powers were so great, it was best not to think about them, but to bicker over pointless stuff instead. But on the other hand, she was young and uncorrupted. She had not yet lived for a few thousand years and developed the hunger and thirst for power that Time Lords who looked beyond their stagnated society usually developed. In the end, it was decided that she could take the observation post and she was assigned a Type 76 TARDIS and sent to the Seldati sector of the Andromeda Galaxy. The Time Lords never expressed their concerns to her, as it was felt that if she knew and worried about their concerns, it would only be more likely to make them true.
The Seldati were a powerful race in Andromeda, and although the Time Lords had never had any contact with them, they were curious and wanted to know more. The Seldati Empire spanned thirty-six worlds that existed in 20 star systems of Andromeda. All of the worlds were ruled by the Emperor on Seldati Prime. Her mission was simply to observe them and to learn more about them. This was not a high security mission and she was not a CIA agent (she had refused several CIA offers, saying she didn't want that kind of life), as the Time Lords were only curious about the Seldati and not yet concerned with their achievements. However, she was to tell them nothing about the Time Lords or show them her TARDIS. She was to go incognito and blend in with the surrounding culture. Most Time Lords (despite having the ability to communicate with nearly every life from) had trouble adjusting and adapting to other cultures. But the same characteristic that concerned them about her possible future also made her a good candidate for the mission; she would be able to adapt well to her surroundings and learn more than one who was too set in his ways.
However, there was one thing the Time Lords overlooked; Hollycelestamelindar was what most humanoids would consider beautiful. And her beauty, along with her charm and intelligence attracted the eye of the Seldati Emperor. Unfortunately, she was naive and inexperienced when it came to such matters and did not realize his intentions toward her. It was understandable really; the Time Lords were a much more reserved culture than the Seldati and it would never occur to her to think in those terms. It was not as if it were impossible for Gallifreyans to ever fall in love, but she was not just a Gallifreyan; she was a Time Lady. She had been sent to the Academy, received the Rassilon Imprimature, and trained so vigorously that it was more as if her priorities lay elsewhere. But even if she had returned the Emperor's affections, she still would have had to turn his proposal down. Becoming the next Seldati Empress would mean becoming involved and interfering in a big way, which was forbidden. But even if the Time Lords were to overlook such an egregious violation of the edict against interfering, the Emperor would never be able to overlook the fact that she would never be able to bear children. It was a given that children were more important to royalty than lovers were. After all, he had had four of his previous wives executed because they did not bear him sons within a year. But she only told him that she didn't share his feelings, which was true. She felt nothing.
The Seldati Emperor was insulted that she would dare take up so much of his time and efforts only to refuse his proposal that he ordered her executed. He had spent a great deal of energy and time with her, teaching her about his people, their customs, their history, and showing her the achievements of his civilization. And he found her not only beautiful, but exotic and intoxicating because she possessed depth and character he did not find in the hundreds of princesses who lined up to marry him. They were all so conditioned to follow the Emperor and do whatever he said, but Holly wasn't so submissive. In fact, she was more than just honest about what she thought of his opinions or ways, she was challenging and even somewhat condescending towards him. But to his mind, she only played so hard to get because she wanted him to pursue and conquer her. But when he saw that she could never be conquered and that she regarded him and his affections as nothing more than sweet and flattering gestures, he became so angry that he ordered her execution in a most bizarre way.
"I want her frozen in a block
of ice and placed in West Wing Art Gallery of the Palace," he insisted.
"It is only fitting that the woman who repaid my affections with such cold
and icy emotions should die a death of ice. I want her dressed in her most
beautiful white gown and wearing a diamond necklace and for her to have the
deepest, coldest stare on her face in that block of ice. And I want only one
inscription at the base of the sculpture: the ice princess, for that is what she
was to me." However, such an execution had never taken place before and it
was necessary for a chamber to be built. So the Emperor ordered that Holly be
taken to her chambers and that the doors be heavily guarded. "The Doors are
to be locked from the outside," he insisted. "And two guards must
always stand in the front, so as to make sure that she does not pick the lock
and slip out. And outside her window, there are to be guards as well, even
though it is at the top of the tower, for she is a clever girl and I do not put
it past her to try to get out through the window and climb down the tower. There
must be no way for her to leave in any direction. The roof above her head must
be guarded as well as the floor below her feet and the walls on all sides. All
three dimensions must be covered and if she escapes, I will execute all of the
guards."
The next morning forty of the Emperor's royal guards were executed, when the
Prince went to the Holly's chamber only to find that she had vanished, along
with her wardrobe. There was a note on her bed that said, "Luckily for me,
you couldn't guard the fourth dimension as well." So the irate Emperor
executed as many people as possible, as he was rather fond of executions.