Disclaimer: Doctor Who belongs to the BBC. I do not own anything, nor do I get paid for it.

A/N Thanks for the lovely reviews on the last chapter. This chapter is a bit short but I hope you like it just the same.

Link to Rose's dress is on my profile.

Happy Reading!

The Labyrinth: Treasure Waltz

"Don't you think this is a bit too much?" asked Rose, as the Gold Guardian did her hair.

"It is the most important night of your life," said the Gold Guardian, meeting her gaze in the mirror. "Nothing is excessive."

Rose ran her hand over the sequins of her gold dress and nodded. "Whatever you say," she said.

"You are almost ready," said the Gold Guardian, squeezing her shoulder gently. "There is just one more thing."

At her questioning glance, the Gold Guardian reached over to the vanity and picked up a red velvet case. She snapped it open and nestled amongst the ivory silk was a golden rose pin. The Gold Guardian picked it up delicately and held it up to Rose. "Handcrafted by me personally," she said.

Rose closed her eyes and bowed her head, in a gesture for her to go ahead. With a smile, the Gold Guardian finished doing her hair and used the pin to keep the complicated bun held up. "All done," she said.

Rose opened her eyes and looked at her reflection in the mirror. "What do you think?" she asked.

"Absolutely beautiful," said the Gold Guardian. "He will not be able to resist."

Rose went pink as she stood up. "Are you sure? He is a Time Lord," she felt necessary to point that out.

"You know he isn't like the others," said the Gold Guardian, before she narrowed her eyes. "If you are not ready…"

"No, I am," said Rose hastily. "I will be fine."

"Good," said the Gold Guardian with a smile. "Come then."

The Doctor jogged back to the main ballroom, looking for Rose. He had run through the entire ground level of the mansion twice and hadn't seen any sign of her. The ghosts around him were oblivious as ever of his presence, and the low strains of music were starting to grate on his nerves.

He finally left the ballroom and found the hallway with the grand staircase. He was about to head to the floors above to look for Rose when he realised that people were flocking to either side of the stairway and waiting eagerly for the person descending down the stairs. He maneuvered past them and was about to go upstairs when he saw Rose walking down the stairs. His instinct to call out to her froze on his lips and he felt his mouth go dry.

It was Rose, he knew it was Rose, but she looked no more real than the other people around him. The radiant golden colour of her gown (and he did have to wonder when she had changed her clothes) was muted and translucent like everyone else around him. She was smiling widely, but not at him, in fact it didn't seem like she could see him at all.

He walked up to her, but she breezed right past him without a second glance and he felt like his stomach had turned to lead. "Rose," he murmured but she didn't turn around. Without hesitating, he went after her and fell in step with her and her companion, an older woman whom the Doctor didn't recognise.

"A few more guests are yet to arrive," her companion was whispering and the Doctor had to strain his ears to hear her. "So there's no hurry yet."

"How will I know him?" asked Rose nervously.

The words sounded a little odd to the Doctor. Rose's accent had softened over the years they had travelled together but now there was a refinement to the tone that seemed a little too foreign to belong to Rose. His look of worry deepened and he kept up with them to eavesdrop on their conversation.

"Oh, you will know," said her companion with a knowing smile. "It will be a feeling like no other when you see him."

"But how will I know?" asked Rose insistently.

"Dance with every one of them until you feel a connection," she said.

They arrived at the entrance of the ballroom and the Doctor nearly growled in anger when he saw the admiring looks being directed at Rose. If he had to hazard a guess from the snippet of conversation he had caught, he would think they were talking about a betrothal. The mere idea of Rose being brainwashed by these beings into marrying someone that wasn't him had him seeing red. In his anger, he missed the name being announced for Rose and her companion and he brushed past the ghosts to walk into the ballroom after them.

He reached Rose just in time for her to walk into the middle of the ballroom and sink into a perfect curtsey as the guests all bowed to her. She straightened up and the Doctor couldn't help but notice as nearly every man and a few women approached her to claim her first dance. She bestowed her smile, the one that she reserved for the Doctor, on a tall, handsome man in a traditional Earth tuxedo and accepted his hand for a dance.

The Doctor's fists clenched as a flash of possessiveness went through him. The expression on Rose's dance partner's face was one of a man who couldn't believe his own good fortune. The Doctor knew it very well, he knew he wore it himself when he was in Rose's presence. He saw the expanse of Rose's back left bare by her gown and the way her dance partner's hand was resting there and all he could think of was ripping those hands off her.

He bumped into someone roughly and muttered out an apology, his eyes fixed on Rose and her partner who were swaying to the music. The music felt louder than ever and the Doctor's headache was getting worse. It took him a moment longer to realise that he had physically bumped into someone, and that was only just enough to draw his attention away from Rose.

"My lord," said the man who the Doctor had bumped into. "We didn't expect you to come."

"I promised Rassilon I would," said the Doctor, the words slipping out easily. His brow furrowed at the odd words but the loud music and the tinge of jealousy colouring his vision was making it hard to focus. "Who is she?" he asked, eyes trained on the woman in question.

"Lady Arkytior, my lord," he said. "An Eternal, as I understand it."

"I see," he said, his eyes narrowing slightly. "Excuse me."

Without even waiting to see if his abrupt departure had upset the person he'd been talking to, he brushed through the dancers just as the song came to an end. Dance partners bowed to each other and clapped politely for the orchestra. He ignored all of it, his attention fixed single-mindedly on her and before one of the other hopefuls even had a chance to approach her, he had snatched up her hand and drawn her against him.

Her eyes were wide as coins at his audacious manner, but she relaxed almost immediately, her lips curving into a smile. "If it was a dance you wanted, you only had to ask," she said.

He ran a deliberate eye from the top of her golden head, down her gold dress and back to her sparkling eyes and shook his head. "I couldn't take the chance of losing you to one of your admirers," he said, inclining his head towards the crowd where more than one of the hopefuls were glaring daggers at him.

Her smile widened at that. "I had heard of Time Lords being possessive, but towards someone you have only just met? A bit unusual, is it not?" she asked, teasing evident in her tone.

The music started up and he started leading them perfectly, without ever moving his gaze from her eyes. "Unusual, yes, but hardly unheard of," he said. "A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Lady Arkytior."

"Hardly fair that you know my name but I don't know yours," she pointed out, raising her eyebrows.

"A name's unimportant from where I come from," he said. "Unless it is spoken in the most intimate of circumstances," he added in a voice dripping with innuendo.

She laughed joyfully at that. "You are unlike any Time Lord I have ever met," she said, her words tinged with wonder.

"I shall take that as a compliment," he said. "I would like nothing better than to assure you that it is merely your presence that has left me without my manners, but I have been told several times that rudeness is my natural state of being."

"Rudeness is quite refreshing," she said in a soft voice, a pink blush staining her cheeks. "But I do take some objection to the notion that my presence would ever make you lose your manners," she added, gaining her cheekiness back.

The song ended and someone cleared their throat, but neither of them moved their gaze from each others'. A new song started up and he smiled as he started leading them again. "You are an Eternal," he said. "You can take on the appearance of any creature in this universe. It is not your physical beauty that has drawn me in, although I do think you are quite beautiful."

She blushed red at that. "Definitely unlike any Time Lord I have ever known," she nodded firmly, biting her lip to stop her wide smile.

He drew her closer and ran his fingers over her spine in a touch that was lighter than any feather, making her shiver. "Time is precious, to a Time Lord most of all," he said, his voice going low and husky as his eyes moved between her eyes and lips. "Why waste it trivialising and dancing around the issue when it is quite clear that our minds have been clamouring to join from the moment our hands touched?"

She gasped at his bold words and lowered her gaze. "You know nothing about me," she said, but she sounded like she was trying to convince herself more than him.

"And you know nothing of me," he said. "Yet it's curious how little we both care, don't we? You, an Eternal and me, a Time Lord. Hardly beings you would consider to be slaves to their baser instincts."

She met his challenging gaze boldly. "If that is the matter then we should do the right thing and walk away from each other right this moment," she said. "Before those baser instincts overwhelm us and override our sense of judgment."

"Is that what you want, my Arkytior?" he asked, moving his lips to her ear to murmur those words quietly. "Do you want me to go?"

Her eyes fluttered shut, her breath catching in her chest at his words. "I do not appreciate being claimed," she said, but the impact of her words was ruined by the breathiness of her voice.

"I would not complain if you were to return the favour," he said roguishly, pulling back so he could look at her again. "Do you know what I think? I think you have always listened to what you have been told. Followed orders, served the Guardians loyally and never let yourself waver in your responsibilities. Am I wrong?"

She glared coldly at him. "And you think I should be more like you?" At his look of surprise, she smirked. "Your reputation precedes you. You are one of the founders of the Time Lord society but you have never followed an order in your life, and you don't think that any way other than yours is the right one."

"You're right, I don't," he said, smirking back. "But at least I am honest about what I want and who I want. What about you, Arkytior? Will you break your vows or is it your own heart you would rather break?"

"Do not presume to know my heart," she said coolly.

"I would never," he said, looking so sincere that she did a doubletake. "I am only asking you to know your own heart, my precious flower." He smiled and finally broke his gaze from hers to look around the ballroom. "I think I spotted a balcony just off the parlour on my way here. Fresh air will do me good."

The song ended just as he lifted her hand and placed a lingering kiss on the back of it. With a roguish wink at her, he dropped her hand and left towards the balcony with a definite swagger in his steps. She stood there and watched him go with a stunned expression on her face for a full minute, hardly noticing the group of hopefuls who had gathered near her for a dance.

"Excuse me, I need air," she said, without looking at any of them and left the ballroom hastily, hardly caring that she was probably being unquestionably rude.

He was waiting in the balcony, hands resting on the railing. She paused just outside the doors and fidgeted with her hands, her mind going around in circles. She finally steeled herself and opened the doors and stepped out onto the balcony, letting the doors fall close behind her.

He heard the doors close and he turned around with a tender smile on his face. "Have you made up your mind?" he asked.

She walked towards him and didn't stop until she was standing right in front of him. "Yes," she whispered and he was startled to see tears in her eyes.

"What's wrong, my Arkytior?" he asked, touching his fingers to her cheek tenderly.

"I have made my choice," she said and placed her hand on top of his where it was resting on her cheek. "And I am so sorry."

He only had a moment to look surprised before he felt a sharp pain in his abdomen. He looked down in shock and saw crimson blood seeping through his clothes. Arkytior pulled the dagger out of his body and let it fall to the ground.

"As I said," she said, her voice trembling. "I am sorry."

A/N Thank you for reading. Let me know what you thought.

Part 4 will be up next Tuesday. See you then!