Thanks to sillystring-roxs-the-earth, valeriefiction, livesinasong13, Erelah for following/faving my story.
NicoleR85: thanks!
Savethemadscientist: (The monarch and the big bad wolf part 2) I'm glad you like Mary. (The monarch and the big bad wolf part 3) Nope, she isn't afraid to hit him. Somebody has to put him in his place every now and again. You'll find out in this chapter whether they get banished or not.
"I'm sorry, Ma'am", Robert spoke up quietly "It's all my fault. I should have sent you away. I tried to suggest something was wrong. I…thought you might notice. Did you think there was nothing strange about my household staff?"
"Well, they were bald, athletic…your wife's away, I just thought you were happy", the Doctor said earning him another slap upside the head from Josie.
"What, exactly, I pray tell me, someone, please. What exactly is that creature?" Victoria demanded.
"It's a werewolf", Josie mumbled wiping away the last traces of tears from her face.
"Technically it's a more of a lupine wavelength haemovariform", the Doctor corrected.
"And should I trust you, sir?" the monarch asked "You who change your voice so easily? What happened to your accent?"
"Oh…right, sorry…" the Time Lord said, finally realising that he was no longer speaking with a Scottish accent.
"I'll not have it", Victoria said firmly "No, sir. Not you…not that thing…none of it. This is not my world".
"What I don't understand is, why did that thing leave? Why didn't it just batter down the door?" Mary questioned "its only made of wood".
"That's a very good question", the Doctor said and moved over to the door. He touched the woodwork, noting a particular carving on it. It was mistletoe.
"Mistletoe", the Time Lord murmured "Sir Robert, did you father put that there?" he asked.
Robert shrugged "I don't know. I suppose", he replied.
"On the other door, too. No, a carving wouldn't be enough. I wonder…" they all watch as the Doctor licked the wood "Viscum album, the oil of the mistletoe. It's been worked into the wood like a varnish. How clever was your dad? I love him! Powerful stuff, mistletoe. Bursting with lectins and viscotoxins", he explained.
"And somehow that's keeping the wolf out", Josie stated.
"Well, those monks need a way to control it. Having it trained to react to certain things like mistletoe is a good way", the Doctor said.
"Nevertheless, that creature won't give up, Doctor, and we still don't possess an actual weapon", Robert pointed out.
"Actually, we do", Josie said "books". They were in a library chockful of books and at least one of them had to be of use in their current situation.
"I fail to see how books will protect us against that creature", Robert told her.
"Then you're a little narrowminded, aren't you?" Josie commented. The Doctor grinned at the tone in her voice. That was his Earth Girl. Full of sass. The blackette strode over to the bookshelves and pulled out a book at random "books are the best weapons in the world. They give you knowledge. And knowledge is power".
"She's right. It is", the Doctor agreed "time to arm ourselves".
Several minutes later saw the Doctor, Josie, Mary and Robert flicking through various volumes. "Here's something", the Time Lord said hopping off of the ladder, book in hand "Look what your old dad found. Something fell to Earth". He set the book onto the table and the others gathered around it, except Victoria who was sitting patiently in a chair.
"Looks like a shooting star", Josie remarked as she studied the image on the open page.
"'In the year of our Lord 1540, under the reign of King James the Fifth, an almighty fire did burn in the pit'", Robert read aloud "That's the Glen of Saint Catherine just by the monastery".
Mary frowned "1540", she repeated "that's over three hundred years ago. What's it been waiting for?"
"Maybe just a single cell survived", the Doctor surmised "Adapting slowly down the generations, it survived through the humans, host after host after host".
"But why does it want the throne?" Robert asked.
"Because it wants to create the 'Empire of the Wolf'", Josie answered.
"Imagine it…the Victorian Age accelerated…starships and missiles fueled by coal and driven by steam…leaving history devastated in its wake…" the Doctor said, his voice taking on a serious tone.
Victoria stood up abruptly "Sir Robert. If I am to die here…." She started when Robert cut in with
"Don't say that, Your Majesty"
"I would destroy myself rather than let that creature infect me. But that's no matter. I ask only that you find some place of safekeeping for something far older and more precious than myself", Victoria declared and opened up her small bag.
"I hardly think this is the time to worry about your valuables", the Doctor commented, having looked up at that exact moment.
"Thank you for your opinion", the monarch said "but there is nothing more valuable than this". The group watched as she took out a beautiful white diamond. Josie's eyes widened as she recognised it from one of the history books she'd perused during her break at the bookstore.
"Is that the Koh-I-Noor?" the blackette asked.
"Oh, yes…the greatest diamond in the world", the Doctor replied. He and Josie moved forward to get a closer look, Robert and Mary joining them.
"It was given to me as the spoils of war", Victoria explained "Perhaps its legend is now coming true. It is said that whoever owns it must surely die".
"Well, that's true of anything if you own it long enough", the Doctor stated "Can I…?" he held his hand out for the diamond and Victoria handed it over. "That is so beautiful", the Time Lord said as he examined it.
"I read somewhere that it was worth the entire wages of the planet for a whole week", Josie said "is that true?"
"Yep", the Doctor confirmed, popping the p.
"Where is the wolf?" Robert asked walking away a little, ears straining for any small noise to indicate where the wolf was "I don't trust this silence".
"Why do you travel with it?" the Doctor questioned, nodding to the diamond in his hands.
"My annual pilgrimage. I'm taking it to Helier and Carew, the Royal Jewellers at Hazelhead. The stone needs recutting", Victoria told him.
"It looks perfect to me", Mary remarked eyeing the stone.
"My late husband never thought so", Victoria said.
"That's right, he didn't", Josie agreed "Prince Albert kept on having the Koh-I-Noor cut down. From what I've read, it used to be far larger than it is now".
"He always said the shine was not quite right", Victoria said "But he died with it still unfinished", she added, her voice taking on a somber note.
"Unfinished…" the Doctor's eyes widened as he came to a realisation "…Oh, yes!" he tossed the diamond at Victoria, who barely was able to catch it "There's a lot of unfinished business in this house. His father's research, and your husband, Ma'am, he came here and he sought the perfect diamond, hold on, hold on", he ruffled his hair violently in his eagerness to work it out "All these separate things, they're not separate at all, they're connected! Oh, my head, my head. What if this house, it's a trap for you. Is that right, Ma'am?"
"Obviously", Victoria said.
"At least, that's what the wolf intended. But, what if there's a trap inside the trap?" the Doctor asked.
"Explain yourself, Doctor", the Queen demanded.
"What if his father and your husband weren't just telling each other stories", the Doctor said "They dared to imagine all this was true, and they planned against it, laying the real trap not for you…but for the wolf".
"You mean there's a place in this house where we can trap the wolf?" Josie asked hopeful that was the case.
The Doctor opened his mouth to answer her when a fine sprinkling falls from the ceiling making them all look up. The werewolf was above them walking over the domed skylight. "Well…we now know where the wolf is", Mary stated as it looked down at them and growled.
"Everyone out!" the Doctor shouted as the glass began to crack. All of them made a break for the door where the Time Lord and Robert quickly destroyed the barricade that they'd erected in order to keep the creature out.
The second everyone had left the room, the Doctor quickly slammed the door on the werewolf. He, Josie, Mary, Robert and Victoria sprinted down the corridor and around the corner, the werewolf pelting after them on all fours. But just as it was mere inches away, liquid was thrown over it causing the creature to howl with pain and quickly retreat.
"Good shot", the Doctor remarked with a grin.
"It was mistletoe", Flora stated.
"Isobel!" Robert cried, seeing his wife. He hurried over to her and embraced the woman, giving her a kiss as well. "Now, get back downstairs", he lightly ordered.
"Keep yourself safe", Isobel said wanting nothing more than to stay by her husband's side.
"I will", Robert kissed her again "Now go".
Isobel nodded "Girls, come with me", she said moving past her husband, Mary, the Doctor, Josie, Mary and the Queen "Down the back stairs, back to the kitchens. Quickly!"
Robert watches his wife leave, wondering if he'll ever see her again. "Come on! We gotta get to the Observatory", the Doctor said breaking through his thoughts.
"Right. it's this way", Robert said, pointing in the direction that his wife had disappeared down. He led them up a large staircase to the upper level where the Observatory was.
When they all reach the room, the Doctor was in the lead. "There's no mistletoe in this door", Josie stated noting the lack of the carving that was present on the library doors "The werewolf can get inside".
"That's exactly what we want him to do", the Doctor said "but not yet. I'll need a bit of time".
"Is it possible to barricade it temporarily?" Mary asked before she started to look for a way to do it.
"Just do your work and I'll defend it", Robert said stepping outside the room.
"Maybe we could bind them shut with rope or something", Mary mused aloud, seeming not to hear him.
"I said I'd find you time", Robert repeated. The Doctor looked at him for a second realising that he was going to sacrifice himself. Mary, the Queen and Josie stared at him aghast, all of them coming to the same realisation as well.
"Good man", the Doctor said and Robert closed the door behind him. The Time Lord ran over to the Queen. "Your Majesty, the diamond", he said holding his hand out for it.
"For what purpose?" Victoria asked reluctant to give it back over to him.
"The purpose it was designed for", the Doctor replied. Victoria looked at him for a moment before she handed it to him. The Time Lord rushed over to the telescope "Josie, Mary, give me a hand", he said. The two females joined him and together they started turning the wheel.
"You think this is the right time to stargaze?" Josie asked, straining against the wheel.
"Yes it is", the Doctor answered.
The blackette's head snapped toward the door when her ears picked up the screams of Robert being torn apart on the other side of the door. Victoria clutched a cross in her trembling hands as the wolf started battering on the door.
"I thought you said this didn't work!" Mary groaned against the weight of the wheel.
"It doesn't work as a telescope because that's not what it is. It's a light chamber. It magnifies the light rays like a weapon. We've just got to power it up", the Doctor explained.
"But how do we power it up?" Josie questioned "theres no electr-" she broke off when she realised it wasn't powered by electricity but by something else "Moonlight!"
Mary frowned "hold on, its powered by moonlight? But the wolf is made by moonlight!"
"We're 70% water but we can still drown", Josie pointed out, her arms shaking from the effort of moving the wheel. The light chamber is finally aligned with the moon and the trio step away as the moonlight streams down the chamber, bouncing off the prisms. Just as the wolf breaks through the door, the light spews out of the end of the chamber onto the floor, just short of the werewolf.
The Doctor dove across the floor and throws the Koh-I-Noor into the beam of light. It bounces off the diamond's surface, catching the werewolf . They all watch as the creature is lifted up into the air and before their eyes, the wolf slowly turns back into the young man.
"Make it brighter. Let me go", he pleaded. The Doctor flicked a switch on the light chamber and the young man flicked back into wolf form. He howled once before he vanished. Something wet ran down Josie's cheek and when she touched a finger to it, she realised that it was a tear. She blinked, a second tear rolling down her face at the loss of all those who'd been killed by the wolf and for the young man who'd been infected by it.
Victoria glanced down at a small scratch her wrist. "Your Majesty? Did it bite you?" the Doctor asked going over to her.
"No, it's…it's a cut, that's all", the Queen assured him.
"If that thing bit you…?" the Doctor started.
"It was a splinter of wood when the door came apart. It's nothing", Victoria said.
"Let me see", the Time Lord insisted.
"It is nothing!" Victoria snapped tugging her sleeve over the cut.
~Drawing room~
Josie and the Doctor were on their knees before the Queen who was now holding a sword. "By the power invested in me by the Church and the State, I dub thee: Sir Doctor of TARDIS", she said tapping the blade of the weapon on his shoulders. The monarch did the same with Josie, giving her the title of Dame. Mary grinned. Those two definitely deserved it.
"Thank you, Your Majesty", the blackette said as the pair stood up. Beth will never believe this she thought.
"Your Majesty, you said last night about receiving no message from the great beyond. I think your husband cut that diamond to save your life. He's protecting you even now, Ma'am, from beyond the grave", the Doctor told the Queen.
"Indeed", Victoria said "Then you may think on this also. That I am not amused". Josie blinked in surprise. She said the phrase! The young woman hadn't expected that. "Not remotely amused. And henceforth I banish you"
"I'm sorry?" the Doctor said, taken aback by this turn of events.
"I have rewarded you, Sir Doctor, and now you are exiled from this empire, never to return", Victoria said angrily "I don't know what you are, the two of you, or where you're from, but I know that you consort with stars and magic and think it fun. But your world is steeped in terror and blasphemy and death, and I will not allow it. You will leave these shores and you will reflect, I hope, on how you came to stray so far from all that is good, and how much longer you may survive this terrible life" she turned to Josie "As for you Dame Josie, you are always welcome in these lands. But I highly suggest you choose your friends more carefully in the future lest you be corrupted by bad influences". The monarch shot a disapproving look at the Time Lord before she walked off.
Mary walked over to them. "So where are you two gonna head off to next?" she asked.
"Not sure, yet", the Doctor replied "any ideas for our next destination Josie?"
The blackette shrugged "I don't know where to visit next but I do know that I need a hot shower and some sleep", she said.
"Well, wherever you end up. I hope you have a better time than you did here", Mary said "and who knows? Maybe we'll run into each other", she added giving Josie a wink.
"Why she wink at you?" the Doctor asked, a little bit confused by it.
"I dunno. Maybe she just felt like winking at me", Josie replied. She did feel a little bad for not telling the Doctor that Mary wasn't who she claimed to be, that she was a time traveller like them. Call her selfish but she kinda wanted to keep it to herself for a little bit. She'd tell him in a day or two.
~Highlands~
In order to get back to the TARDIS, the pair had to persuade a nice man named Dougal to give them a lift in his cart. Once they were near to the blue box, the Doctor and Josie hopped off and thanked the Scottish man.
"You know, Queen Victoria did actually suffer a mutation of the blood", the Doctor remarked as they walked "Its in the historical record. She was haemophiliac. They used to call it the Royal Disease. But it's always been a mystery because she didn't inherit it. Her mum didn't have it, her dad didn't have it. It came from nowhere".
"You think she got it from that little scratch the wolf gave her?" Josie asked.
"Possibly. After all haemophilia could be a Victorian euphemism for werewolf", the Doctor said.
"So the wolf got it's way after all. It wanted to infect the Queen and it did", Josie said "she's a werewolf now".
"Not necessarily. A single wolf cell could take a hundred years to mature. Might be ready by... oh...early 21st century?" The Doctor guessed.
"That would explain why the Royal Family is so private. And it would be very easy to schedule things around the full moon", Josie said.
"Exactly", the Doctor said.