Chapter Three
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Chapter Three
The queen did not enter as silently as her king, but she made up for it with superior grace and majesty. That was how the Doctor immediately knew who she was, that and her ice-dagger-like stare.
“Don’t get me wrong,” he continued nonchalantly, “I know you have your good points, but honestly you scare me a bit.”
“You are not the first to say such a thing.” The queen cast her husband a fierce glare. “You didn’t tell me that we had a new matter to attend to.”
Eugenides shrugged. “I thought that at least one of us should get a good night’s rest.”
“Because I am so likely to be restful on the near-eve of our destruction?”
The Doctor’s eyebrows went up at this, but the king just shrugged again. “I would have called for you soon.”
“Liar,” hissed the queen.
“Always.”
As strange as it was Rose found that she was starting to blush. It felt as though she had stumbled upon an intimate lovers’ quarrel and that she really aught to go before they started angrily macking on each other.
Luckily she was saved by the Doctor gaily swinging a piece of wall back and forth. After a second glance Rose realized that it was actually a perfectly camouflaged door.
“So this is how you do it!” the Doctor said with a hint of laughter. “Good job here. I knew exactly where to look and I still had trouble finding the seam in the wall.”
Rose swiveled her head back to Eugenides and for an instant she could have sworn that the king was pouting.
“Alright,” he said, “they can be arrested now.”
“No, I don’t think so,” said the Doctor, his tone suddenly serious. “First you need to tell me why you’re on the ‘near-eve of your destruction’.”
Rose looked at the Doctor curiously. He had told her before that Eugenides would be in a war some time in the next few years, but it was generally his policy to not talk about major historical events. Why was he bringing this one up?
However the queen only continued to look at them coldly and imperiously. Her face was a mask that gave no hint as to her thoughts. “I think, perhaps, that my king and I shall retire for a time. I suspect that he has much to tell me at the moment.” She turned her icy stare toward her husband, who nodded back with an equally bland expression.
“Well, picture of marital bliss, that is,” the Doctor muttered under his breath.
Unfortunately for him his words carried. The queen opened the main door to the room and ordered the guards there to take Rose and the Doctor away. It was only by listening closely with his Time Lord ears that the Doctor also heard the part where Attolia told the guards to be a little rough with “the scrawny one with the smart mouth”.
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As soon as they were alone Eugenides told the full story of his late-night visitors and their strange blue box. When he was done the queen immediately spoke in a brisk, business-like tone. Eugenides got the impression that she was a little too used to strange things in her life these days.
“I heard you. You were testing them but you believe everything they say. Why? Why do you trust them? Who are they?”
“I’m not quite sure,” Eugenides looked thoughtful. “I have the impression that they’re genuinely honest people, but from what I’ve seen there is obviously much they have not told me yet. As for why I trust them…” He glanced at his queen, looking a bit sheepish. “I had to cheat a bit there.”
Attolia was puzzled, but just for a moment. “You spoke to your gods.”
He nodded. “I did. And for once it was actually helpful. The Powers that Be have apparently decided that they can step in a bit more than usual on this one.” He frowned. “In fact, Moira seems worried. She said that something is wrong right now.”
“My, she IS being direct now, isn’t she?” Attolia allowed herself to smile briefly. “But what did she have to say about our guests?”
“She said that the gods know of this Doctor, that we should be cautious with him, but also that he’s the best hope we have right now. She said we should accept his help.”
“Oh dear,” said the queen, “I suppose I shouldn’t have put them in the dungeon then.”
Eugenides laughed and the suppressed the urge to flinch. His laugh was a disturbing mixture of bitterness and mirth. “Don’t worry, Irene. If everyone you threw in a dungeon turned against you, then your kingdom would have fallen long ago.”
His eyes glinted with a decisive fire. Attolia could see that hope had re-emerged in her husband. It lightened the unbearable weight of doom that she’d felt all that evening.
“Come on,” said the king, taking his wife’s arm, “we have work to do.”
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The Doctor was nursing a bump on his head when the queen came into his cell, still looking as cold as ever.
“You know, there’s a reason I don’t usually hob-knob with royalty,” he said. “Sooner or later you always think that violence is the best way to solve all your problems. Are you here to let me out now?”
The queen took a deep breath and swallowed her pride. “I’m sorry that I had you imprisoned. I’ve come to understand that you may be able to help us, now that the Medes are on the verge of attacking.”
The Doctor kept his face carefully neutral. So it was the Medes that were making the monarchs of Attolia so anxious. But that couldn’t be right; the Medes weren’t due for several more years. Something in the Doctor’s gut twisted and somehow he just KNEW that something around here was wrong. The queen watched him closely, then handed him the very letter that she and the king had received the day before, the one detailing their enemies’ impossible movements.
The Doctor took it and read it over, his eyes widening as he did. Yes, something was definitely wrong. It looked like the Medes had somehow gotten access to technology that was far outside this time period. Something, somewhere was meddling with history.
“Well,” said the Doctor, “I wish you had a nicer way of asking, but I do think I’ll be able to help you out a bit with this problem of yours.” He looked at her a bit darkly. “But, of course, that depends on what you’ve done with Rose.”
Attolia let out a breath of relief. “Oh, don’t worry. She was put in a much nicer cell than this one. You should be able to see her shortly.”
“I’d rather see her now, if you don’t mind.”
The Doctor tried to move forward but the queen blocked his path. “I’m afraid you’ll have to wait. The king is busy with her right now.”
And for some reason these words made the Doctor a very nervous man.
Chapter Three
The queen did not enter as silently as her king, but she made up for it with superior grace and majesty. That was how the Doctor immediately knew who she was, that and her ice-dagger-like stare.
“Don’t get me wrong,” he continued nonchalantly, “I know you have your good points, but honestly you scare me a bit.”
“You are not the first to say such a thing.” The queen cast her husband a fierce glare. “You didn’t tell me that we had a new matter to attend to.”
Eugenides shrugged. “I thought that at least one of us should get a good night’s rest.”
“Because I am so likely to be restful on the near-eve of our destruction?”
The Doctor’s eyebrows went up at this, but the king just shrugged again. “I would have called for you soon.”
“Liar,” hissed the queen.
“Always.”
As strange as it was Rose found that she was starting to blush. It felt as though she had stumbled upon an intimate lovers’ quarrel and that she really aught to go before they started angrily macking on each other.
Luckily she was saved by the Doctor gaily swinging a piece of wall back and forth. After a second glance Rose realized that it was actually a perfectly camouflaged door.
“So this is how you do it!” the Doctor said with a hint of laughter. “Good job here. I knew exactly where to look and I still had trouble finding the seam in the wall.”
Rose swiveled her head back to Eugenides and for an instant she could have sworn that the king was pouting.
“Alright,” he said, “they can be arrested now.”
“No, I don’t think so,” said the Doctor, his tone suddenly serious. “First you need to tell me why you’re on the ‘near-eve of your destruction’.”
Rose looked at the Doctor curiously. He had told her before that Eugenides would be in a war some time in the next few years, but it was generally his policy to not talk about major historical events. Why was he bringing this one up?
However the queen only continued to look at them coldly and imperiously. Her face was a mask that gave no hint as to her thoughts. “I think, perhaps, that my king and I shall retire for a time. I suspect that he has much to tell me at the moment.” She turned her icy stare toward her husband, who nodded back with an equally bland expression.
“Well, picture of marital bliss, that is,” the Doctor muttered under his breath.
Unfortunately for him his words carried. The queen opened the main door to the room and ordered the guards there to take Rose and the Doctor away. It was only by listening closely with his Time Lord ears that the Doctor also heard the part where Attolia told the guards to be a little rough with “the scrawny one with the smart mouth”.
0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0
As soon as they were alone Eugenides told the full story of his late-night visitors and their strange blue box. When he was done the queen immediately spoke in a brisk, business-like tone. Eugenides got the impression that she was a little too used to strange things in her life these days.
“I heard you. You were testing them but you believe everything they say. Why? Why do you trust them? Who are they?”
“I’m not quite sure,” Eugenides looked thoughtful. “I have the impression that they’re genuinely honest people, but from what I’ve seen there is obviously much they have not told me yet. As for why I trust them…” He glanced at his queen, looking a bit sheepish. “I had to cheat a bit there.”
Attolia was puzzled, but just for a moment. “You spoke to your gods.”
He nodded. “I did. And for once it was actually helpful. The Powers that Be have apparently decided that they can step in a bit more than usual on this one.” He frowned. “In fact, Moira seems worried. She said that something is wrong right now.”
“My, she IS being direct now, isn’t she?” Attolia allowed herself to smile briefly. “But what did she have to say about our guests?”
“She said that the gods know of this Doctor, that we should be cautious with him, but also that he’s the best hope we have right now. She said we should accept his help.”
“Oh dear,” said the queen, “I suppose I shouldn’t have put them in the dungeon then.”
Eugenides laughed and the suppressed the urge to flinch. His laugh was a disturbing mixture of bitterness and mirth. “Don’t worry, Irene. If everyone you threw in a dungeon turned against you, then your kingdom would have fallen long ago.”
His eyes glinted with a decisive fire. Attolia could see that hope had re-emerged in her husband. It lightened the unbearable weight of doom that she’d felt all that evening.
“Come on,” said the king, taking his wife’s arm, “we have work to do.”
0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0
The Doctor was nursing a bump on his head when the queen came into his cell, still looking as cold as ever.
“You know, there’s a reason I don’t usually hob-knob with royalty,” he said. “Sooner or later you always think that violence is the best way to solve all your problems. Are you here to let me out now?”
The queen took a deep breath and swallowed her pride. “I’m sorry that I had you imprisoned. I’ve come to understand that you may be able to help us, now that the Medes are on the verge of attacking.”
The Doctor kept his face carefully neutral. So it was the Medes that were making the monarchs of Attolia so anxious. But that couldn’t be right; the Medes weren’t due for several more years. Something in the Doctor’s gut twisted and somehow he just KNEW that something around here was wrong. The queen watched him closely, then handed him the very letter that she and the king had received the day before, the one detailing their enemies’ impossible movements.
The Doctor took it and read it over, his eyes widening as he did. Yes, something was definitely wrong. It looked like the Medes had somehow gotten access to technology that was far outside this time period. Something, somewhere was meddling with history.
“Well,” said the Doctor, “I wish you had a nicer way of asking, but I do think I’ll be able to help you out a bit with this problem of yours.” He looked at her a bit darkly. “But, of course, that depends on what you’ve done with Rose.”
Attolia let out a breath of relief. “Oh, don’t worry. She was put in a much nicer cell than this one. You should be able to see her shortly.”
“I’d rather see her now, if you don’t mind.”
The Doctor tried to move forward but the queen blocked his path. “I’m afraid you’ll have to wait. The king is busy with her right now.”
And for some reason these words made the Doctor a very nervous man.