"Oh, do you have to be so rough?" Polly Wright protested as the armed guard hauled her along the hallway. The man did not even look at her, just kept his eyes fixed firmly ahead. And Polly was not the only captive; alongside her were the Doctor, the strange and remarkable little man who was the main reason she was here in the first place - wherever here was - and Ben Jackson, a young sailor. Both were likewise guarded.
"Don't waste your breath, Duchess," Ben said to her. "Somehow I doubt these geezers care much for the fairer sex!" In truth, they were both fast becoming used to this kind of treatment since unwittingly leaving London in 1966. And they had only followed the Doctor inside his police box to return a key he had given them earlier...
The company halted in front of a large wooden door, and at the lead guard rapping sharply on it, a voice on the other side called out "Enter!" The door swung open and the Doctor, Ben and Polly were ushered into a luxurious chamber decorated with tapestries and statues. Sitting on a cushioned chair in the middle of the room, a golden pitcher and goblet on a small table at his side, was a grey-haired man with a neatly trimmed beard and wearing a very finely embroidered toga. "What is this?" he demanded imperiously.
Saluting, the lead guard replied "Sire, forgive the interruption, but we just caught these three strangers in the palace gardens. They claim to be travellers, and to have no idea where they are."
The man in the chair looked at them and chuckled. "And I suppose you have no idea who I am, eh?" he said to the captive travellers.
The Doctor smiled casually, seemingly unafraid. "I don't believe we've had the pleasure. You must understand, we're rather far from home, my companions and I. Would it be improper of me to ask precisely where we are, and...precisely who you are?"
The man rose from his chair and stalked towards them, his eyes narrowed. "You will answer my questions," he growled. "Why are you here? Did my brother Numitor send you? To kill me, and take back the throne of Alba Longa?"
"Now we ain't here for nothing like that!" Ben exploded. "We're not assassins, mate! I ain't never even heard of this fella...Numitor, before now!"
"Ben, be quiet a moment!" the Doctor exclaimed, his eyes suddenly bright with dawning understanding as he faced their captor and said "You wouldn't be King Amulius of Alba Longa, would you?"
The man seemed to have temporarily forgotten that he was supposed to be asking questions, not answering them, as he replied haughtily "I am Amulius, sole ruler of the great city of Alba Longa and its' people." Then he stepped forward and violently slapped the Doctor in the face. "Now, why are you in my palace?!"
"Doctor!" Polly cried out at seeing her friend mistreated. "Please, we're not your enemies!" she said imploringly to Amulius. Now the king glared at her. Walking over to her, he grabbed her chin in his hand and brought her face closer to his as he searched her eyes. Polly strove not to let her fear show; she'd already faced far worse things in her travels.
But any further torments Amulius had in mind for them were postponed as another guard suddenly burst into the room, his face marked with worry. "My lord," he gasped. "There is word of a mob gathering in the city! They are armed, and may be heading for the palace! Their leaders are the twins, Romulus and Remus!"
Amulius' face was almost red with rage. "So, at last they make their move! And my brother is involved too, I know he is! Well they won't win! I'll have their heads set on spears and their bodies cast into the Tiber!"
"It's worse, sire," the guard continued nervously. "There are reports that some of your own men have joined the mob."
Hearing this, Amulius turned white and he began to tremble slightly. Wit hthe attention on the guard's news, no one noticed as the Doctor removed his recorder from his coat pocket and placed it to his lips. It was as he began playing a tune which Ben and Polly recognized as 'Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star' that Amulius switched his gaze back to him. "Lock these three in the dungeon for now," he ordered his men. "I will decide what to do with them later."