The Doctor and Donna in King Henry's Court
This is in the Belle series as she's mentioned a bit, but it's more of just Ten and Donna. I am ridiculously nervous about posting this for some reason. Perhaps because it's at least three weeks in the making. My mother came over recently and subjected me to four hours of The Tudors, which I do like the show, but not four hours in a row with a woman who makes Sylvia look like a saint. Every time someone moved, sneezed, or made any noise of any kind she glared. Even the dog. Poor Betsi got yelled at for drinking water.
Anyhow, the point of that was that I thought I'd stick Ten and Donna in that time very briefly just because. I worked very hard to get the linguistics somewhat right, but not sure if it to people's liking. I like to have accuracy in the stories I write, and I don't like it when it doesn't pan out right. I'd like to thank bas_math_girl for the information on Chiswick, it was most appreciated.
The information I got on the surgery and recovery for cochlear implants was from several medical websites. I am not an audiologist, or a surgeon.
I also hate the end of this. Dunno why, but I do. =/
One more thing...this series does take place after JE and EoT, I've just chosen not to elaborate on that as I feel that's been done quite frequently already with some very good ideas. Just assume Donna's been fixed, and the Doctor didn't have to regenerate. Also, I'm not a fan of Rose, so short of mentioning her assume she's out of the picture and she did something stupid and Roseish to end up that way. =P
Any future oneshots in this series will be quite delayed as my husband and I are beginning the process to try to foster and eventually adopt our nephew's 19 month old daughter. But I will be continuing this series, just at a slower pace. I want to thank all of you for your comments and reviews. I really do appreciate them. =)
As always, I don't own Ten, Donna, or Doctor Who. I also don't own The Tudors, Henry the Eighth, Anne of Cleves, Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk, or Thomas Cromwell. On that note...please read and enjoy...
The guard stood resolute at his post near the back gardens of Hampton Court Palace. This was his third day at this post. He had been in the service of His Majesty King Henry the Eighth for most of his adult life (which hadn’t been all that long), and this was his first time at Hampton Court. He didn’t have a high position, just to patrol the gardens of His Majesty’s palaces, and really unless the King, or Queen were taking strolls through the gardens, nothing ever happened. He would move from post to post, rotating with the others who guarded the gardens. It was looking to be another long day, of nothing but walking and watching. Or so he thought, especially when two oddly dressed strangers appeared walking towards the palace.
~*~*~*~*~
Donna watched as the Doctor manipulated the controls, to send them to their next destination. They were taking a small trip to get away for a little while, leaving Belle with Sylvia and Wilf. The girl had had surgery for cochlear implants, and would be recovering for a while. Sylvia had insisted that she have her hearing and speech therapy in their current time, citing the need for some normalcy in Belle’s life. The Doctor had made the small (large) mistake of trying to argue with Sylvia by stating that normalcy for Belle was being raised in a time ship, returning with them every so often, to visit Donna’s family who lived 1200 years before she was actually born. Sylvia glared, the Doctor gave in, and thus they were staying in Chiswick with Sylvia and Wilf for her therapy.
The Doctor did insist that he, Donna and Belle stay in the TARDIS which he had parked in the Noble’s back garden. Sylvia grudgingly gave him that one. They had researched audiologists and surgeons, and with the help of one Dr. Martha Jones, had found ones they liked. Then since the doctors had said Belle was a qualified candidate for the surgery (she had complete loss of hearing, she had family who would be with her to help her through speech therapy, and the London area had plenty of auditory verbal specialists, and other therapists to help her), the surgery had been scheduled.
It had been done in a little over three hours, and owing to the fact that she was also sight impaired, and had an implant in her brain for the sensory web (which had taken the Doctor and Donna hours to convince them that it would be fine and it wouldn’t affect the cochlear implant), they’d kept her overnight for observation. It would be another three weeks recovery before the implant would be turned on, and therapy would begin.
A week into that three week wait, and the Doctor was getting restless. He didn’t like to be in one place for a long time. He had suggested a trip for all of them, including Sylvia and Wilf, but Sylvia had about come unglued at the idea of taking Belle somewhere so soon after surgery. Donna had agreed with her mother citing their time in an area of countryside on Earth, going nowhere while Belle had recovered from the surgery to put the sensory web implant in.
“Why don’t you and Donna go?” Wilf asked. “Just take a short little trip? Let Belle be here with Sylvia and I.”
“Oh we couldn’t leave her,” Donna said quickly. “No way.”
“Absolutely not,” the Doctor agreed. “She’s recovering from surgery. What kind of parents would we be if we just left her behind? Plus we’d worry too much.”
“What kind of parents would you be, taking her on a trip with you, while she’s recovering from surgery?” Sylvia asked, looking straight at the Doctor as he’d been the one who had come up with the idea in the first place. “From what I heard tell, it was quite a fight between you and Donna to stay in that farmish place for a while when Belle had the web implant put in.”
“It wasn’t a fight,” the Doctor argued. “It was a discussion. And really if we all go, Belle isn’t in any danger. You and Wilf would be on the TARDIS along with us.”
“And Dad and I would be here with her as well, if you two went on your own,” Sylvia countered. “You’d think neither one of us had ever dealt with a child before.”
“You have. Lovely Donna here is proof of that,” the Doctor dropped a kiss to Donna’s temple. “But Donna didn’t have the same…restrictions that Belle does, you’ve never been alone with her before, and I’m not sure that leaving her here-“ he was cut off by an elbow to his ribs. “Ow. What was that for?”
“You’re coming close to getting smacked by mum, dumbo,” Donna gestured to Sylvia whose glare was, he thought a rival to the Oncoming Storm look he was told he’d achieved once a while ago, towards a certain blonde former companion and her actions. He wisely stopped talking.
“So. Will you be going then?” Wilf asked.
“I dunno,” Donna said, giving the Doctor a look. “I don’t think any more discussion should happen until we’ve spoken to Belle and she’s stated what she prefers.”
~*~*~*~*~
This led to where Donna and the Doctor were currently, in the TARDIS on what was hopefully just a short trip. They’d talked to Belle, and reassured her they weren’t leaving her permanently, and that she’d be safe staying in Chiswick. Belle had thought about it overnight and in the morning had said she was alright with staying with Wilf and Sylvia, she had plenty of new books to explore, and she would “see” them when they returned. Though she had hugged them extra long when they’d left. The Doctor and Donna would also admit to some nervousness in leaving her behind.
When the Doctor asked where she’d like to go, Donna had expressed a desire to see Hampton Court Palace, and so that’s where they were headed. Donna wanted to take the tour. They were only supposed to go back a few years.
When the TARDIS landed, they gathered their jackets and left, seeing they landed just outside of the gardens. Walking past the gates, they headed through the gardens to go to the front of the Palace where the tours usually started. “Oh! They’re in costume,” Donna said with a smile, as she saw some people walking by. The Doctor was puzzled by the strange looks they were getting from them though. He kept this to himself as they continued to the Palace front.
“You there!” they were halted in their progress by a man dressed in the garb of a guard. “You shouldn’t be here. These are His Majesty’s gardens, and you are trespassing.”
“Oh, sorry,” Donna said. “We’re just on our way to join the tour. Is it out front?”
“Tour? What tour? His Majesty allows no tours.”
“Why does he keep saying his majesty?” Donna quietly asked the Doctor. “Shouldn’t it be her majesty?”
The Doctor looked around, and saw people in sixteenth century clothes, and really nothing structural that resembled Donna’s time, or the time he’d aimed for. He took a closer look at the guard’s chest and his eyes opened a little wider. The man had a rose that was white on the inside and red on the outside on his chest. “Um…Donna? I think he does mean his majesty. And I don’t think they’re wearing period clothes, I think they’re the actual people.”
“What do you mean the actual people,” Donna asked back. “Oh, tell me we didn’t go back that far.”
“We did I think.”
“How do you know?”
“Wellll…this gentleman here, has the Tudor Rose on the chest of his uniform. This is Hampton Court Palace, he referred to it as His Majesty’s, and seeing that Hampton Court became a royal residence after Thomas Wolsey fell into disgrace, that means we’re in the time of Henry the Eighth. Unless Edward the Sixth used it, which I honestly can’t remember.”
Donna just stared at the Doctor. “Oh, you’re kidding me,” she finally grumbled.
“Nope,” he said popping the “p” at the end.
“Begging your pardon, but you cannot be here,” the guard inserted himself into the conversation. “You have trespassed, and will have to come with me now.”
“Oh, surely that’s not necessary,” the Doctor tried to talk their way out of it. “We’ll just go back the way we came, and be gone before you know it,” he groaned internally at the arrival of more guards each wearing the determined look on their faces that the first one had. “Or not…” he muttered. Donna glared at the Doctor as they were led towards the palace.
~*~*~*~*~
Donna and the Doctor stood with a gentleman in a room where on a raised dias, sat whom they’d been told was King Henry the Eighth himself. The gentleman who was standing with them, they were told was Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk. He had been the one the guards had brought them to, and he had been the one to bring them before the King. And now they stood silently, neither one knowing what would happen, while the king stared at them.
“Who are you, and why were you on my gardens?” the king finally asked.
“I am the Doctor,” the Doctor started. “This is Donna,” he gestured to Donna. “We were merely walking and strayed further than we thought. We are but travelers, and would happily be on our way-”
Henry cut him off. “You are the Doctor, or a doctor? Doctor is not a name, but a title. You travel with a woman, yet you give not her title. Do you lie to me? Have you names you wish me not to know?” the king’s eyes narrowed. “Choose your answers carefully, for I’ve no patience for liars.”
“Forgive me, Your Majesty. I am Doctor John Smith, and this is Lady Donna, my…wife,” he gave a small grunt when Donna elbowed him, and glared at him.
Henry picked up on that, and stood approaching the two. “Lady Donna, you do not agree?”
“We are newly married, she is unaccustomed to the title of wife,” the Doctor quickly explained.
“You will allow the lady to answer,” Henry said, then turned to Donna. “I ask you again, Lady Donna. Do you not agree with the gentleman that you are his wife?”
“I am his wife,” Donna said quickly. “I am.”
“Hmm,” Henry sniffed. “Doctor John Smith. This is a most unusual name. As is your wife’s name of Donna. It sounds Italian. Are you Italian?”
“No, your Majesty, we most assuredly are not.”
“Well then, where did you come from?” Henry turned his back on them, and moved back to his…well the Doctor assumed, his throne. He sat and leaned one forearm on his thigh.
“As I said, we are travelers. Where we come from is far away.”
“Do you presume I do not know the world?! Do you think to insult me?”
“No!” the Doctor quickly said. “I would never presume such things.”
“THEN TELL ME FROM WHENCE YOU CAME !” Henry roared.
“Gallifrey,” the Doctor said, wincing and ignoring Donna’s quick intake of breath, hoping she’d just go along with it. It was third place he’d thought of, the first two quite unusable. “We are from Gallifrey.”
“Is that French? Are you French then? Is this Gallifrey in France.”
“No, your Majesty, not French. Just…far away. Gallifrey is lost actually. Destroyed. I…er…we are the only ones left from it.”
“Destroyed? How do you destroy a land so that it is lost?” the king asked.
“There was a war,” the Doctor muttered.
But Henry didn’t seem to be inclined to continue on that topic. Instead he looked to Donna. “Your wife is a beautiful woman,” he commented, staring at her, making her shift uncomfortably and move closer to the Doctor.
“She is,” he agreed slipping his arm around her, and clasping one of her hands to keep her from slapping the king.
The king stood again, and moved towards them, stopping in front of Donna, and reached out, running his hand down her cheek, and over her lips. Donna clenched her jaw to hold back an indignant Oi!, and had her free hand balled in a fist to keep from slapping him. “Very beautiful indeed,” he leaned towards the Doctor. “I imagine she puts a fire in your bed,” he smirked.
“I…uh…”
“Speechless then?” Henry laughed and stepped back, slapping the Doctor on the shoulder. “Never underestimate the power and pleasure of a good woman,” he said turning away. He stopped again and pointed his finger at them. “Better still when she gives you a son.”
The Doctor didn’t have anything to say to that, and Donna didn’t dare unclench her jaw, or open her mouth as she knew it would get her and the Doctor in serious trouble. But in her mind she was cursing the king, and telling him where his thoughts of good women could go, as well as visualizing a red mark on his cheek where she’d love to slap him.
As Henry approached the dias, another man leaned forward and whispered in his ear. He seemed to agree and turn back to the visitors. “You amuse me, Doctor John Smith from Gallifrey. And precious few things do these days. You and your lady will join the court and dine with us this eve. I should like to know more about this Gallifrey you come from.”
“Your offer is generous, Your Majesty, but as I said, we’re merely travelers and…” he trailed off at the glare he was now receiving from the king.
“It would be most unwise of you to refuse the King’s hospitality, Doctor,” the Duke of Suffolk said lowly.
“Ah. Alright then,” the Doctor conceded. “Your Majesty, it would be a pleasure to dine with you in your court this eve.”
~*~*~*~*~
After leaving the king’s receiving chambers, the Doctor and Donna were shown chambers of their own to retire to until it was time to go to the great hall for the evening meal. Neither one had said much, and so chose to sit at the small table in the middle of the room in silence. They hoped they wouldn’t be expected to change into different attire, as their clothes were in the wardrobe in the TARDIS, and the TARDIS was well…unavailable at the moment. Meaning they couldn’t get to it. Though it seemed that except for the guards at the gardens, no one really pointed out their clothes. Donna guessed that it was a good thing that she’d chosen a long skirt and blouse when she dressed. The Doctor was in one of his pinstriped suits and duster as per usual.
“Gallifrey?” Donna chose to break the silence. “What made you say that?”
“I was in a hurry. He wanted to know where we were from, and I had to think quickly. Couldn’t very well use Chiswick could I, seeing that at this time, it’s a tiny little fishing village. I’d think the king would know where that is, and know that there’s no Doctor John Smith there.”
“Yeah, I get that. I’m not entirely clueless about the history of where I grew up, Spaceman. But why Gallifrey?”
“Unfortunately it was the second name that popped in my head after Chiswick. Well, third after the Oodsphere, but I’m not sure why I thought of that,” his eyes told how he regretted saying Gallifrey.
“The Oodsphere? Yeah, that would probably have raised a few eyebrows. Well then, whatever you say about Gallifrey tonight if he asks, I’ll go along with,” she patted his arm with her hand and they fell into silence again.
Two ladies knocked, then entered the chamber with a flagon of wine and two goblets, “to hold them over until they were called to the hall” they were told. Donna’s eyebrows rose when the ladies left, curtseying as they did so, while the Doctor rolled his eyes. “Don’t like curtseys any more than salutes then?” she asked, the Doctor shaking his head in response. “So which queen do you suppose he has now?”
“What?”
“The king. Which queen do you suppose he has now?”
“Oh. I dunno. Is that important?”
“Not really. Just curious I guess. So which one?”
“I already said I don’t know. Don’t you?”
“Uh…no? I don’t even know what year this is. That’s your expertise Time Boy.”
“Weeellll, I’m actually not entirely sure which year this is. Fifteen-something though. That I know,” he fiddled with his sonic staring at it, and poking things on it.
“What’s that tell you?”
“What’s what tell me?”
“Your sonic,” she pointed at it. “What is it telling you?”
“Oh. Well nothing really. I mean, I’m not using it for that,” he prodded it once more then aimed it at the goblets on the table. Pressing a button, the sonic whirred and the goblets and flagon fell over spilling the wine inside.
“Oh that’s fantastic,” Donna muttered as she stood to avoid the dripping wine, rolling her eyes at the look of glee on the Doctor’s face. “Apparently to you it is.”
“It’s our distraction,” he said still with the grin.
“Our distraction. Oh I can’t wait for this one. What is it then?”
“Well, the sonic doesn’t work on wood, so I can’t use it on the chairs, and tables, but I can use it on the goblets and flagons. Perhaps the trenchers too, if they’re not wood.”
“Alright…” she was still confused.
“During the dinner, I’ll use it, and knock over the goblets and flagons in the hall, and while everyone is wondering about that, we’ll…leave.”
“You mean we’ll run.”
“Oh yes. We’ll definitely run.”
“I really shouldn’t be surprised by that,” she sat back down. “We always end up running.”
There wasn’t any more time for discussion, as a lady entered and said the Duke of Suffolk was waiting outside the chamber and it was time to go to the hall for the dinner.
~*~*~*~*~
The Doctor decided he had a new love for palace gardens in the sixteenth century, especially when one had to run through one in the dark. The tall sculpted bushes provided cover when guards got too close, and they were easy to duck around. As he and Donna had found out as they made their way across the gardens back to where the TARDIS was.
His distraction had worked nicely. Well quite nicely. Well a bit too nicely, actually. He hoped the noblemen who wore those metal collars wouldn’t have too bruised of faces.
They’d been presented to the court, and Queen, as it were before the dinner in the hall, and to the Doctor’s delight seated near the back of the hall close to the door. Donna had commented that really, Anne of Cleves wasn’t as unfortunate looking as the history books claimed she was. Thankfully the people near them were too engrossed in their wine and food to hear, or if they did, they chose to ignore it.
Roast pheasants, pig, and other foodstuffs had been placed on the tables, Donna picking at it a little, while the Doctor had been trying to get his sonic out and ready while looking like he was just enjoying his meal, when a gentleman had come over and introduced himself, speaking quietly. The Doctor winced upon hearing he was Thomas Cromwell, the Lord Great Chamberlain. Cromwell took no notice of this, though and asked him a few questions about Gallifrey, saying the king was most interested. But the Doctor didn’t answer any as Cromwell was beckoned to the king’s side. He watched the man walk away, knowing that soon he would face the wrong end of an executioner’s axe.
Once the king and Cromwell were thoroughly engaged in conversation, the Doctor aimed his sonic surreptitiously behind a flagon, checked the setting, then pressed a button. Flagons and goblets all over the hall tumbled and flew through the air, causing people to jump and move about. Then they noticed shouts of surprise and a little pain as the metal collars the noblemen wore lifted and smacked their owners in their faces. The Doctor grabbed Donna’s hand and they swiftly left the hall moving rapidly to the back of the palace to where the gardens were.
Once out in the gardens they broke into a run and dodged guards and the large bushes. One thing, one huge thing in their favor were the shouts and banging noises heard from the hall, that had most of the guards running inside, leaving a couple to give them chase. They ran past the gates, just as they heard more guards coming their way shouting for them to stop in the name of King Henry the Eighth. When they saw the TARDIS, the Doctor snapped his fingers repeatedly, and the doors swung open. Donna closed them while the Doctor got them on their way. She dropped to the jump seat, shaking her head. “Well,” she started when she got her breath back. “That’s the third British monarch you’ve managed to piss off so far.”
He turned to her, a wide grin on his face. “Eh. It’s what I do,” he joined her on the jump seat. “You wanted the tour. How was it?”
She rolled her eyes at him. “I don’t think that could be considered a tour.”
“Sure it could. We saw the gardens, and the great hall, and one of the small chambers.”
“True.”
“Plus, you met Anne of Cleves. How many people do you know, who can actually say they met one of Henry the Eighth’s wives?”
“Alright. I’ll give you that, Spaceman,” she patted him on the shoulder, then rested her head there. “Now, I would like to get back to Belle.”
He grinned and stood up, resetting the controls for Chiswick. “Homeward bound! Allons-y!”
Anyhow, the point of that was that I thought I'd stick Ten and Donna in that time very briefly just because. I worked very hard to get the linguistics somewhat right, but not sure if it to people's liking. I like to have accuracy in the stories I write, and I don't like it when it doesn't pan out right. I'd like to thank bas_math_girl for the information on Chiswick, it was most appreciated.
The information I got on the surgery and recovery for cochlear implants was from several medical websites. I am not an audiologist, or a surgeon.
I also hate the end of this. Dunno why, but I do. =/
One more thing...this series does take place after JE and EoT, I've just chosen not to elaborate on that as I feel that's been done quite frequently already with some very good ideas. Just assume Donna's been fixed, and the Doctor didn't have to regenerate. Also, I'm not a fan of Rose, so short of mentioning her assume she's out of the picture and she did something stupid and Roseish to end up that way. =P
Any future oneshots in this series will be quite delayed as my husband and I are beginning the process to try to foster and eventually adopt our nephew's 19 month old daughter. But I will be continuing this series, just at a slower pace. I want to thank all of you for your comments and reviews. I really do appreciate them. =)
As always, I don't own Ten, Donna, or Doctor Who. I also don't own The Tudors, Henry the Eighth, Anne of Cleves, Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk, or Thomas Cromwell. On that note...please read and enjoy...
The guard stood resolute at his post near the back gardens of Hampton Court Palace. This was his third day at this post. He had been in the service of His Majesty King Henry the Eighth for most of his adult life (which hadn’t been all that long), and this was his first time at Hampton Court. He didn’t have a high position, just to patrol the gardens of His Majesty’s palaces, and really unless the King, or Queen were taking strolls through the gardens, nothing ever happened. He would move from post to post, rotating with the others who guarded the gardens. It was looking to be another long day, of nothing but walking and watching. Or so he thought, especially when two oddly dressed strangers appeared walking towards the palace.
~*~*~*~*~
Donna watched as the Doctor manipulated the controls, to send them to their next destination. They were taking a small trip to get away for a little while, leaving Belle with Sylvia and Wilf. The girl had had surgery for cochlear implants, and would be recovering for a while. Sylvia had insisted that she have her hearing and speech therapy in their current time, citing the need for some normalcy in Belle’s life. The Doctor had made the small (large) mistake of trying to argue with Sylvia by stating that normalcy for Belle was being raised in a time ship, returning with them every so often, to visit Donna’s family who lived 1200 years before she was actually born. Sylvia glared, the Doctor gave in, and thus they were staying in Chiswick with Sylvia and Wilf for her therapy.
The Doctor did insist that he, Donna and Belle stay in the TARDIS which he had parked in the Noble’s back garden. Sylvia grudgingly gave him that one. They had researched audiologists and surgeons, and with the help of one Dr. Martha Jones, had found ones they liked. Then since the doctors had said Belle was a qualified candidate for the surgery (she had complete loss of hearing, she had family who would be with her to help her through speech therapy, and the London area had plenty of auditory verbal specialists, and other therapists to help her), the surgery had been scheduled.
It had been done in a little over three hours, and owing to the fact that she was also sight impaired, and had an implant in her brain for the sensory web (which had taken the Doctor and Donna hours to convince them that it would be fine and it wouldn’t affect the cochlear implant), they’d kept her overnight for observation. It would be another three weeks recovery before the implant would be turned on, and therapy would begin.
A week into that three week wait, and the Doctor was getting restless. He didn’t like to be in one place for a long time. He had suggested a trip for all of them, including Sylvia and Wilf, but Sylvia had about come unglued at the idea of taking Belle somewhere so soon after surgery. Donna had agreed with her mother citing their time in an area of countryside on Earth, going nowhere while Belle had recovered from the surgery to put the sensory web implant in.
“Why don’t you and Donna go?” Wilf asked. “Just take a short little trip? Let Belle be here with Sylvia and I.”
“Oh we couldn’t leave her,” Donna said quickly. “No way.”
“Absolutely not,” the Doctor agreed. “She’s recovering from surgery. What kind of parents would we be if we just left her behind? Plus we’d worry too much.”
“What kind of parents would you be, taking her on a trip with you, while she’s recovering from surgery?” Sylvia asked, looking straight at the Doctor as he’d been the one who had come up with the idea in the first place. “From what I heard tell, it was quite a fight between you and Donna to stay in that farmish place for a while when Belle had the web implant put in.”
“It wasn’t a fight,” the Doctor argued. “It was a discussion. And really if we all go, Belle isn’t in any danger. You and Wilf would be on the TARDIS along with us.”
“And Dad and I would be here with her as well, if you two went on your own,” Sylvia countered. “You’d think neither one of us had ever dealt with a child before.”
“You have. Lovely Donna here is proof of that,” the Doctor dropped a kiss to Donna’s temple. “But Donna didn’t have the same…restrictions that Belle does, you’ve never been alone with her before, and I’m not sure that leaving her here-“ he was cut off by an elbow to his ribs. “Ow. What was that for?”
“You’re coming close to getting smacked by mum, dumbo,” Donna gestured to Sylvia whose glare was, he thought a rival to the Oncoming Storm look he was told he’d achieved once a while ago, towards a certain blonde former companion and her actions. He wisely stopped talking.
“So. Will you be going then?” Wilf asked.
“I dunno,” Donna said, giving the Doctor a look. “I don’t think any more discussion should happen until we’ve spoken to Belle and she’s stated what she prefers.”
~*~*~*~*~
This led to where Donna and the Doctor were currently, in the TARDIS on what was hopefully just a short trip. They’d talked to Belle, and reassured her they weren’t leaving her permanently, and that she’d be safe staying in Chiswick. Belle had thought about it overnight and in the morning had said she was alright with staying with Wilf and Sylvia, she had plenty of new books to explore, and she would “see” them when they returned. Though she had hugged them extra long when they’d left. The Doctor and Donna would also admit to some nervousness in leaving her behind.
When the Doctor asked where she’d like to go, Donna had expressed a desire to see Hampton Court Palace, and so that’s where they were headed. Donna wanted to take the tour. They were only supposed to go back a few years.
When the TARDIS landed, they gathered their jackets and left, seeing they landed just outside of the gardens. Walking past the gates, they headed through the gardens to go to the front of the Palace where the tours usually started. “Oh! They’re in costume,” Donna said with a smile, as she saw some people walking by. The Doctor was puzzled by the strange looks they were getting from them though. He kept this to himself as they continued to the Palace front.
“You there!” they were halted in their progress by a man dressed in the garb of a guard. “You shouldn’t be here. These are His Majesty’s gardens, and you are trespassing.”
“Oh, sorry,” Donna said. “We’re just on our way to join the tour. Is it out front?”
“Tour? What tour? His Majesty allows no tours.”
“Why does he keep saying his majesty?” Donna quietly asked the Doctor. “Shouldn’t it be her majesty?”
The Doctor looked around, and saw people in sixteenth century clothes, and really nothing structural that resembled Donna’s time, or the time he’d aimed for. He took a closer look at the guard’s chest and his eyes opened a little wider. The man had a rose that was white on the inside and red on the outside on his chest. “Um…Donna? I think he does mean his majesty. And I don’t think they’re wearing period clothes, I think they’re the actual people.”
“What do you mean the actual people,” Donna asked back. “Oh, tell me we didn’t go back that far.”
“We did I think.”
“How do you know?”
“Wellll…this gentleman here, has the Tudor Rose on the chest of his uniform. This is Hampton Court Palace, he referred to it as His Majesty’s, and seeing that Hampton Court became a royal residence after Thomas Wolsey fell into disgrace, that means we’re in the time of Henry the Eighth. Unless Edward the Sixth used it, which I honestly can’t remember.”
Donna just stared at the Doctor. “Oh, you’re kidding me,” she finally grumbled.
“Nope,” he said popping the “p” at the end.
“Begging your pardon, but you cannot be here,” the guard inserted himself into the conversation. “You have trespassed, and will have to come with me now.”
“Oh, surely that’s not necessary,” the Doctor tried to talk their way out of it. “We’ll just go back the way we came, and be gone before you know it,” he groaned internally at the arrival of more guards each wearing the determined look on their faces that the first one had. “Or not…” he muttered. Donna glared at the Doctor as they were led towards the palace.
~*~*~*~*~
Donna and the Doctor stood with a gentleman in a room where on a raised dias, sat whom they’d been told was King Henry the Eighth himself. The gentleman who was standing with them, they were told was Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk. He had been the one the guards had brought them to, and he had been the one to bring them before the King. And now they stood silently, neither one knowing what would happen, while the king stared at them.
“Who are you, and why were you on my gardens?” the king finally asked.
“I am the Doctor,” the Doctor started. “This is Donna,” he gestured to Donna. “We were merely walking and strayed further than we thought. We are but travelers, and would happily be on our way-”
Henry cut him off. “You are the Doctor, or a doctor? Doctor is not a name, but a title. You travel with a woman, yet you give not her title. Do you lie to me? Have you names you wish me not to know?” the king’s eyes narrowed. “Choose your answers carefully, for I’ve no patience for liars.”
“Forgive me, Your Majesty. I am Doctor John Smith, and this is Lady Donna, my…wife,” he gave a small grunt when Donna elbowed him, and glared at him.
Henry picked up on that, and stood approaching the two. “Lady Donna, you do not agree?”
“We are newly married, she is unaccustomed to the title of wife,” the Doctor quickly explained.
“You will allow the lady to answer,” Henry said, then turned to Donna. “I ask you again, Lady Donna. Do you not agree with the gentleman that you are his wife?”
“I am his wife,” Donna said quickly. “I am.”
“Hmm,” Henry sniffed. “Doctor John Smith. This is a most unusual name. As is your wife’s name of Donna. It sounds Italian. Are you Italian?”
“No, your Majesty, we most assuredly are not.”
“Well then, where did you come from?” Henry turned his back on them, and moved back to his…well the Doctor assumed, his throne. He sat and leaned one forearm on his thigh.
“As I said, we are travelers. Where we come from is far away.”
“Do you presume I do not know the world?! Do you think to insult me?”
“No!” the Doctor quickly said. “I would never presume such things.”
“THEN TELL ME FROM WHENCE YOU CAME !” Henry roared.
“Gallifrey,” the Doctor said, wincing and ignoring Donna’s quick intake of breath, hoping she’d just go along with it. It was third place he’d thought of, the first two quite unusable. “We are from Gallifrey.”
“Is that French? Are you French then? Is this Gallifrey in France.”
“No, your Majesty, not French. Just…far away. Gallifrey is lost actually. Destroyed. I…er…we are the only ones left from it.”
“Destroyed? How do you destroy a land so that it is lost?” the king asked.
“There was a war,” the Doctor muttered.
But Henry didn’t seem to be inclined to continue on that topic. Instead he looked to Donna. “Your wife is a beautiful woman,” he commented, staring at her, making her shift uncomfortably and move closer to the Doctor.
“She is,” he agreed slipping his arm around her, and clasping one of her hands to keep her from slapping the king.
The king stood again, and moved towards them, stopping in front of Donna, and reached out, running his hand down her cheek, and over her lips. Donna clenched her jaw to hold back an indignant Oi!, and had her free hand balled in a fist to keep from slapping him. “Very beautiful indeed,” he leaned towards the Doctor. “I imagine she puts a fire in your bed,” he smirked.
“I…uh…”
“Speechless then?” Henry laughed and stepped back, slapping the Doctor on the shoulder. “Never underestimate the power and pleasure of a good woman,” he said turning away. He stopped again and pointed his finger at them. “Better still when she gives you a son.”
The Doctor didn’t have anything to say to that, and Donna didn’t dare unclench her jaw, or open her mouth as she knew it would get her and the Doctor in serious trouble. But in her mind she was cursing the king, and telling him where his thoughts of good women could go, as well as visualizing a red mark on his cheek where she’d love to slap him.
As Henry approached the dias, another man leaned forward and whispered in his ear. He seemed to agree and turn back to the visitors. “You amuse me, Doctor John Smith from Gallifrey. And precious few things do these days. You and your lady will join the court and dine with us this eve. I should like to know more about this Gallifrey you come from.”
“Your offer is generous, Your Majesty, but as I said, we’re merely travelers and…” he trailed off at the glare he was now receiving from the king.
“It would be most unwise of you to refuse the King’s hospitality, Doctor,” the Duke of Suffolk said lowly.
“Ah. Alright then,” the Doctor conceded. “Your Majesty, it would be a pleasure to dine with you in your court this eve.”
~*~*~*~*~
After leaving the king’s receiving chambers, the Doctor and Donna were shown chambers of their own to retire to until it was time to go to the great hall for the evening meal. Neither one had said much, and so chose to sit at the small table in the middle of the room in silence. They hoped they wouldn’t be expected to change into different attire, as their clothes were in the wardrobe in the TARDIS, and the TARDIS was well…unavailable at the moment. Meaning they couldn’t get to it. Though it seemed that except for the guards at the gardens, no one really pointed out their clothes. Donna guessed that it was a good thing that she’d chosen a long skirt and blouse when she dressed. The Doctor was in one of his pinstriped suits and duster as per usual.
“Gallifrey?” Donna chose to break the silence. “What made you say that?”
“I was in a hurry. He wanted to know where we were from, and I had to think quickly. Couldn’t very well use Chiswick could I, seeing that at this time, it’s a tiny little fishing village. I’d think the king would know where that is, and know that there’s no Doctor John Smith there.”
“Yeah, I get that. I’m not entirely clueless about the history of where I grew up, Spaceman. But why Gallifrey?”
“Unfortunately it was the second name that popped in my head after Chiswick. Well, third after the Oodsphere, but I’m not sure why I thought of that,” his eyes told how he regretted saying Gallifrey.
“The Oodsphere? Yeah, that would probably have raised a few eyebrows. Well then, whatever you say about Gallifrey tonight if he asks, I’ll go along with,” she patted his arm with her hand and they fell into silence again.
Two ladies knocked, then entered the chamber with a flagon of wine and two goblets, “to hold them over until they were called to the hall” they were told. Donna’s eyebrows rose when the ladies left, curtseying as they did so, while the Doctor rolled his eyes. “Don’t like curtseys any more than salutes then?” she asked, the Doctor shaking his head in response. “So which queen do you suppose he has now?”
“What?”
“The king. Which queen do you suppose he has now?”
“Oh. I dunno. Is that important?”
“Not really. Just curious I guess. So which one?”
“I already said I don’t know. Don’t you?”
“Uh…no? I don’t even know what year this is. That’s your expertise Time Boy.”
“Weeellll, I’m actually not entirely sure which year this is. Fifteen-something though. That I know,” he fiddled with his sonic staring at it, and poking things on it.
“What’s that tell you?”
“What’s what tell me?”
“Your sonic,” she pointed at it. “What is it telling you?”
“Oh. Well nothing really. I mean, I’m not using it for that,” he prodded it once more then aimed it at the goblets on the table. Pressing a button, the sonic whirred and the goblets and flagon fell over spilling the wine inside.
“Oh that’s fantastic,” Donna muttered as she stood to avoid the dripping wine, rolling her eyes at the look of glee on the Doctor’s face. “Apparently to you it is.”
“It’s our distraction,” he said still with the grin.
“Our distraction. Oh I can’t wait for this one. What is it then?”
“Well, the sonic doesn’t work on wood, so I can’t use it on the chairs, and tables, but I can use it on the goblets and flagons. Perhaps the trenchers too, if they’re not wood.”
“Alright…” she was still confused.
“During the dinner, I’ll use it, and knock over the goblets and flagons in the hall, and while everyone is wondering about that, we’ll…leave.”
“You mean we’ll run.”
“Oh yes. We’ll definitely run.”
“I really shouldn’t be surprised by that,” she sat back down. “We always end up running.”
There wasn’t any more time for discussion, as a lady entered and said the Duke of Suffolk was waiting outside the chamber and it was time to go to the hall for the dinner.
~*~*~*~*~
The Doctor decided he had a new love for palace gardens in the sixteenth century, especially when one had to run through one in the dark. The tall sculpted bushes provided cover when guards got too close, and they were easy to duck around. As he and Donna had found out as they made their way across the gardens back to where the TARDIS was.
His distraction had worked nicely. Well quite nicely. Well a bit too nicely, actually. He hoped the noblemen who wore those metal collars wouldn’t have too bruised of faces.
They’d been presented to the court, and Queen, as it were before the dinner in the hall, and to the Doctor’s delight seated near the back of the hall close to the door. Donna had commented that really, Anne of Cleves wasn’t as unfortunate looking as the history books claimed she was. Thankfully the people near them were too engrossed in their wine and food to hear, or if they did, they chose to ignore it.
Roast pheasants, pig, and other foodstuffs had been placed on the tables, Donna picking at it a little, while the Doctor had been trying to get his sonic out and ready while looking like he was just enjoying his meal, when a gentleman had come over and introduced himself, speaking quietly. The Doctor winced upon hearing he was Thomas Cromwell, the Lord Great Chamberlain. Cromwell took no notice of this, though and asked him a few questions about Gallifrey, saying the king was most interested. But the Doctor didn’t answer any as Cromwell was beckoned to the king’s side. He watched the man walk away, knowing that soon he would face the wrong end of an executioner’s axe.
Once the king and Cromwell were thoroughly engaged in conversation, the Doctor aimed his sonic surreptitiously behind a flagon, checked the setting, then pressed a button. Flagons and goblets all over the hall tumbled and flew through the air, causing people to jump and move about. Then they noticed shouts of surprise and a little pain as the metal collars the noblemen wore lifted and smacked their owners in their faces. The Doctor grabbed Donna’s hand and they swiftly left the hall moving rapidly to the back of the palace to where the gardens were.
Once out in the gardens they broke into a run and dodged guards and the large bushes. One thing, one huge thing in their favor were the shouts and banging noises heard from the hall, that had most of the guards running inside, leaving a couple to give them chase. They ran past the gates, just as they heard more guards coming their way shouting for them to stop in the name of King Henry the Eighth. When they saw the TARDIS, the Doctor snapped his fingers repeatedly, and the doors swung open. Donna closed them while the Doctor got them on their way. She dropped to the jump seat, shaking her head. “Well,” she started when she got her breath back. “That’s the third British monarch you’ve managed to piss off so far.”
He turned to her, a wide grin on his face. “Eh. It’s what I do,” he joined her on the jump seat. “You wanted the tour. How was it?”
She rolled her eyes at him. “I don’t think that could be considered a tour.”
“Sure it could. We saw the gardens, and the great hall, and one of the small chambers.”
“True.”
“Plus, you met Anne of Cleves. How many people do you know, who can actually say they met one of Henry the Eighth’s wives?”
“Alright. I’ll give you that, Spaceman,” she patted him on the shoulder, then rested her head there. “Now, I would like to get back to Belle.”
He grinned and stood up, resetting the controls for Chiswick. “Homeward bound! Allons-y!”