Wow, this chapter is long. But it definitely all fits together and shouldn't have been split up so I'm standing by that decision. Besides, it means more for you guys! Thanks so much for all your reviews and support! (I'm quite relieved that so many of you are worried and protective over Aliya, so hopefully this will end the suspense!)
WARNING: As the last chapter implies, this chapter will deal with sexual themes and reasonably frank (though not explicit) discussions of things such as consent (and lack thereof). If that's going to be triggering, and I imagine to some it definitely could be, best to go straight to the end of the chapter, or skip this one altogether.
I will break down the gates of heaven
A thousand angels stand waiting for me,
Oh, take my heart and I'll lay down my weapons
Break my shackles to set me free
I'll run, I'll run, I'll run, run to you
Run To You - Pentatonix
Aliya was shoved into the coach out the back of the House of Law. Once inside, the guard gripped her tighter so that Fall could put the gag back in place and tighten it before tying her hands for good measure.
If she hadn't been gagged, she might have asked questions about their destination. But it wasn't particularly necessary.
Concubine house. Virgin. Ten percent of what he sells her for...
Pure, unadulterated fear chilled Aliya's hearts. She started yelling and screaming at them again, a spout of verbal profanity that due to the gag came out as mere shrill noise. It was useless and she knew it, but she couldn't just sit there like the idle property they were treating her as.
"You can scream all you like," Fall said, smirking faintly from where he was seated opposite her. He was gripping a long decorate cane that he had picked up from inside the carriage. She fixed him with her worst glare, and for a moment it looked like it had unsettled him, but then the smugness returned. "You do have a tremendous spirit, don't you? I personally don't care for that in a woman, but I hear that some seek it out. One man told me that he needed concubines with some fight in them, because otherwise they couldn't be broken."
Aliya felt nausea rise in her, made more potent by her panic. It must have shown on her face because satisfaction bloomed in Fall's eyes.
"Yes, I think that's exactly what you need," he murmured, taking her chin in one hand and analysing her, "I know a few collectors who would be only happy to oblige. I'll give them a call when we arrive, shall I?"
Because the guard was only restraining her arms, her legs were free to aim a kick at Fall's crotch. It was a near miss but he grabbed her knees with both hands and gripped them until it was painful.
"It usually hurts, the first time, though I don't doubt you've been told that all your life," he said, smiling coldly, "I personally will ensure that you are sold to someone who won't deprive you of that experience. Someone who knows that it's no fun being gentle with women. That it's so much better if they cry."
If she hadn't had the gag, she would have spat in his face (even if as a former Aristocrat it was far beneath her usual behavior). As it was, with the worst timing possible because it only rang his words home, tears of trepidation and hatred brimmed in her eyes and began to roll down her cheeks.
Fall released her knees only to touch her face fleetingly with the tip of his cane. "See? Beautiful."
Aliya twisted his head away from him and squeezed her eyes shut. For the remainder of the journey she stayed like that, silent and still, trying to do anything but speculate on what might happen to her upon leaving the coach.
All too soon they came to a stop. Aliya tuned out as she was wrenched from the carriage and into a building that she didn't have the will to see. It wasn't until she was thrown onto a concrete floor that she opened her eyes. She was in a cell, with the guard and Fall nearby as well as a very short man with doelike hazel eyes.
"Oh my," the latter remarked, "And she's pure? Truly?" He took out a device identical to the one Fall had used on her back in Mill's office. When it beeped twice after being pointed at Aliya, he began to smile widely, with an unnerving childlike excitement. "Yes, this will do very nicely."
"He wants ten percent."
"Quite right too. He'll have it."
"Do you need to do something about her clothes, Seb?"
"No, any buyers can ask for them to be removed for closer inspection if they wish but there's no need for that sort of thing now."
Aliya, who had sharply inhaled at the question, let out a long breath of relief. The small man (Seb?) knelt in front of her. There was a kindness in his eyes, but it was the way a human looked at a domestic animal.
"Now then, I'm Seb," he said in a voice that was overly gentle and a little patronising, "I'm assuming all your motor skills are intact, but to determine an exact price I'll need you to just tell me a few things, okay?" He lowered the gag so that it hung around her neck. Aliya had been waiting for her chance and gladly complied.
"I'll tell you a few things alright, you misogynist bastards!" She yelled. Seb yelped and physically scrambled back from her. "I am not something to be sold, and neither is any woman on any planet in a thousand galaxies!"
"Dear lord," Seb exclaimed, shooting the scowling Fall a bemused look, "What's wrong with her? Is she possessed?"
"Possessed by actual willpower and some delusion of social standing, I believe," Fall drawled. He snapped his fingers at the guard who had come with him. "Chain her to the floor, Beson, there's a good man."
Aliya continued to put every ounce of energy she had into fighting Beson's grip as he secured chains around her ankles and wrists so that she couldn't even sit up comfortably. All the while she screamed at the three of them, having descended into a torrent of rapid Gallifreyan abuse without even truly being aware of it.
"What language was that? Concubines aren't taught other tongues…"
"Who cares?"
Seb obviously didn't share Fall's apathy, but apparently couldn't be bothered arguing. "Well, there's no doubting she knows how to craft a sentence, so I suppose we can put this back in. What was her name again, Fall?" He took the gag and went to put it back across her mouth but she yanked her head out of the way.
"My name is Aliya, and if you sell me-"
The gag muffled the rest of her threat, and Seb took a thin length of white ribbon from his pocket before tying it gently around her neck.
"There, now-"
"Sir!" A young man, barely out of his teens, ran up from the other side of the cell bars. "Mr Landrun is here."
"He wasn't due until tomorrow!" Seb cursed. "I'll be right there." He scurried from the room in a blue of coat tails.
Once he was gone, Fall ran his cane up the length of Aliya's spine, lifting her hair briefly when it reached the top. She forced herself not to react. With no way to attack him verbally or physically, the only thing she had left was the defense that ignoring him offered.
"You're almost tempting, you know," he said, rather scornfully, "If only because it would be worth it to see the look on your face when you were conquered. But you're not that comely, and I like demure redheads."
She just stared straight ahead of her and remained frozen even if her defensive instincts begged her to react with the rage that was still boiling inside her.
Finally, Fall walked out of the cell with Beson following him. Once he was out of sight she let out a short breath. I never thought I would consider Marion Narke an exemplary model of humanity, but the Other be damned if this isn't giving me some perspective, she thought with disgust.
For several minutes she sat there with only her thoughts for company. In order to keep them from speculating on her fate, she focused on the one thing she had left. The Doctor.
Please, Doctor. Get me out of here. I don't know if I've ever needed you more.
The Doctor wasn't reliable. Not for most things. But what Aliya knew she could always be sure of was his determination to keep her safe. Which meant, if she was right, he would currently be doing everything in his power to get to her. The city wasn't so huge that he would struggle to find her or even get to her. She just had to wait. He had the sonic, he could get her out.
"Yes, Mr Landrun, I think you've chosen very well." Seb's voice broke her from her thoughts and she opened her eyes to stare at the shadows on the walls of the corridor that were coming closer. "Sara has come with excellent recommendations."
"I look forward to being able to perhaps add one of my own, provided I don't wish to keep her permanently. Now-" The new voice cut short just as a face appeared to match it. A man in his thirties, sandy haired and with a face that looked like it was made for laughing, had halted outside her cell. Seb's considerably smaller figure popped out from behind him. "Oh. Seb, what have you got here?"
"She's new."
Landrun nodded towards the cell door, and Seb hurried to open it for him. Aliya watched with a guarded expression as he came to stand directly in front of her, his eyes absorbing every inch of her, while she quietly did the same. He was handsome, and his stubble enhanced his good looks without making him look scruffy.
"A virgin?" He asked, with a quiet disbelief.
"I know it seems unlikely, sir, but I can assure you-"
"No, I trust you," Landrun said to Seb, holding up a hand and chuckling a little, "She's...oddly charming, isn't she? And you know, I haven't indulged in a virgin in a while-"
"Pardon my saying so, Mr Landrun, but I would advise you against this particular purchase." Fall had returned, and Aliya turned to see him leaning on his cane and smirking at Landrun.
"Oh?" Landrun's previously amiable tone became tighter, and when Aliya glanced at him, she saw a dislike in his blue eyes for the other man that immediately would have endeared him to her in any other situation. "Why?"
"She's trouble. Insolent. Doesn't know or understand her place. Was found wandering the streets as if she had every right to be on them, and fought us all the way here like a rabid animal. Quite the mouth on her too."
Landrun frowned, and crouched down so that he and Aliya were face to face. His eyes were surprisingly kind, but when he reached out to touch her face she couldn't stop herself from flinching. He held her gaze for several moments before directing his back to Fall.
"She fought you? And cursed at you?"
"Yes. It was quite alarming," Seb admitted somewhat reluctantly. Fall just nodded smugly.
"I don't see insolence, gentlemen. I see fear. She's terrified," Landrun told them, and it sounded like a scolding. "So the question is whether the two of you are blind, or heartless? Not difficult to work out which you are, Fall."
Aliya watched Fall grit his teeth and storm off without another word, while Seb just turned bright red. Satisfied, Landrun brought his attention back to Aliya.
"My name is Gendry Landrun," he told her quietly, "What's your name?"
In the split second it took him to move the gag so that she could answer, she ran through her possible responses. She could start being difficult again and yell insults at him in the hope that he wouldn't want to buy her. But if that didn't deter him, that could turn the first nice person she had encountered against her, and he would possibly still own her.
So, that left one other option.
"Aliya," she said quietly, staring at him and frowning. He smiled at her.
"Are you scared, Aliya?"
Although she paused, she didn't second guess her next answer. "Yes."
"Of course you are. But you don't need to be. I won't hurt you. My women are all very well cared for. Seb, I'll buy her too."
Seb entered the cell and removed the shackles that held Aliya to the floor, but kept the ones binding her wrists intact. "I'll leave those on for now, sir. She's still a tricky one, afraid or no."
"Fair enough. My guards can keep an eye on her."
Aliya got to her feet, feeling more lost than ever. Panic flooded every corner of her brain as the realisation that she was being sold set in, due to the principle as much as the fact that it meant the Doctor would no longer know where she was.
But at the same time, surely if he arrived here he would be able to find out who she was sold to?
And given Fall's promise to find her a despicable owner, wasn't she better to for now go along with one who seemed to actually have a heart? Because as determined as she was to either be rescued or escape before she let anyone lay a finger on her, on the off chance that the thing she was avoiding thinking about happened, better it be someone like Landrun than someone who wanted to 'tame' her.
The specifics of the sale didn't interest her, and she let herself tune out again as she and a girl of roughly nineteen were taken by a set of guards to a coach different from most of the others. It was lavish with embroidered curtains that completely obscured them from outside view, which she supposed was intentional since they apparently didn't like women on their streets.
Once they were inside and alone, Aliya turned to her companion.
"Is your name Sara?"
The girl, who was dark skinned and more gorgeous than Aliya could ever even dream of being, nodded and regarded her with large dark eyes.
"How many…" Aliya had to fight back bile just to get the word she wanted out. "...owners have you had?"
"Four."
Four. She's so young, I hate to think how long she might have been doing this, Aliya thought, and the injustice of it all had her angry swiftly returning. Not that it had ever left, it had simply moved to the background while the fear had ruled her. But now, seeing what this girl had to have gone through, this girl who looked younger than Jenny did, it had her hands shaking.
"What's your name?"
"I'm Aliya."
"How are you a virgin, at your age?"
"It's...a long story." And I'm really, really not. The idea of a virgin is ridiculous anyway.
"You'll be okay," Sara said, clasping one of her bound hands with her free ones, "From what I can tell, this Mr Landrun is a good sort."
The most bizarre bubble of laughter rose in Aliya's throat and escaped, making Sara blink at her with confusion. The girl she had just been wishing she could protect was now trying to comfort her.
"Let's hope he is," she said eventually, and Sara nodded. Privately, though, as charming as Landrun might seem, it didn't change the fact he had concubines just as so many other men apparently did. No matter how well he might treat them, that didn't make the practice right. It was still slave trade.
After a coach ride of complete silence excluding their initial exchange, Aliya and Sara were led in out to stand in front of a house that put every other one in the city to shame, at least from what Aliya had seen. It was at four stories high, and perched on a large hill that looked over a great deal of Greywall.
"Oh, wow," Aliya found herself saying as she took in the huge round windows and the front doors decorated with stained glass.
Sara remained silent at her side. Aliya supposed she had seen sights like it before, and when she remembered why that was, the grandeur of the house abruptly faded into the background of her mind as the bleakness of their situation replaced it at the front.
Please don't have trouble finding this place, Doctor, she wished fervently.
They were escorted inside by the guards and led through a huge entrance hall and up the grand staircase. It didn't take long to reach a door at the end of a corridor. When it was opened, it revealed a huge room with a mass of women who had to be the other concubines. Eighteen, if Aliya's count from a single glance was correct. They ranged from around Sarra's age to an age similar to Landrun himself, though Aliya spotted one who had to be a little older, with a mature and sultry beauty about her that made it clear why she was still appreciated.
The guard didn't bother to say another word. He simply removed Aliya's wrist restraints, shut the door, and left them in the room with their new counterparts.
Sara was dressed in a thin tunic that clung in a way that left very little about her torso to imagination, and tight leggings. Aliya had assumed that it was standard for concubines to be dressed as such, given the nature of their circumstances. She was wrong.
All the women were dressed in fine gowns, similar but not identical and in a variation of colours. Most were downright modest, or at the very least not particularly revealing, with either long sleeves or sheer ones, and ankle length skirts.
Landrun had said that all of his women were very well cared for. Was this an example of what he had meant, or was this standard attire for all concubines? She didn't think she would ever know but then didn't particularly want to.
"What are your names?" One of the women asked as she stepped toward them. Her hair was dark red and so curly that it vaguely reminded Aliya of River Song. Probably the second oldest or close to it, she had a kind sparkle in her eye, and Aliya could observe just from how the others in the room silently deferred to her that she was the mother figure of the group.
"Aliya."
"Sara."
The woman smiled. "I am Danna." When she properly took in Aliya's appearance her eyes lingered on the white ribbon at her neck as well as the Time Lady's clothing. "What on earth are you wearing?"
"Uh-"
"No matter, we'll get you both changed. But first, washed. Follow me." She led them through to an adjoining bathroom with a bath large enough to comfortably fit four people. As soon as the bath was running, she glanced back up at them. "Come on then!"
Sara immediately pulled her tunic over her head and got to work on her leggings. The sudden and unabashed nudity had Aliya blushing (rather like the virgin they thought she was). Coming from a prudish society, undressing around other people wasn't something she was accustomed to. Especially strangers.
"Do I leave this on?" Aliya asked Danna, touching her neck decoration. She simply shook her head and removed the ribbon for her.
"You must have done all this before, virgin or no," the older human said, and Aliya shook her head.
"I come from a...unconventional background."
"I'm seeing that," Danna muttered, again glancing at her clothing. A moment later she brightened again. Her warm smile was back. "Still, no point in fussing. Off with all that."
Aliya sighed and pushed down the protesting aristocrat inside her to instead draw on her third self's dominant trait of not caring what anyone, let alone humans, thought of her. She whipped her shirt off and was about to start on her jeans when she noticed Danna and Sara staring at her bra. With a glance at the latter, who was wearing nothing but pure curiosity, Aliya rolled her eyes and removed the undergarment to toss it in her direction if she was so interested in it.
While Sara turned it over in her hands, Aliya got to work on her jeans just as another girl came in, a pale skinned beauty with the straightest brown hair Aliya had ever seen.
"Danna, he wants Sara in an hour," she said, not blinking at the nudity and retreating as fast as she had entered. Danna barely nodded and snapped her fingers at Sara and Aliya to get into the bath. Aliya had relaxed upon realising that neither human were interested in looking at her particularly closely, and that communal bathing and changing was probably a very normal part of their lives.
Sara, who was lifting her hair as she turned to get in the bath, had four circular seals coming down from the nape of her neck, each with a different design. Were those marks what Fall had been looking for on me back in Mill's office? Aliya wondered as she also got into the warm water. She said she had had four owners.
Considering she had been refusing to leave her room for a week, the chance to clean herself was rather welcome.
Danna sat cross legged behind where Sara was in the tub, so that she could comb the girl's hair. "An hour. He must be very taken with you, my dear."
To Aliya's intense surprise, Sara blushed a little. "Perhaps. Is there anything I should know about him?"
"No, child," Danna said with a chuckle and a glance at her neck, probably at the marks Aliya had noticed, "You know everything you need to."
Sara smiled, with what looked to be a quiet relief and...excitement? "That's good to hear. He's...very handsome."
Is she happy about all this?! Aliya had to use all her self-control to keep a neutral expression. Then again, if this is the only life she knows, being sold to a kind man who happens to also be good looking would be exciting. She wanted to scowl but repressed it. But that doesn't make it right.
"We'll make you look perfect for him," Danna promised, "Not that we'll have to work hard for achieve it."
Sara grinned. Her white teeth contrasted beautifully with her dark skin. "Thank you." She went back to her washing, which Aliya realised was actually quietly methodical, something she had probably been taught for years if it was as much of a second nature as it seemed. "Aliya, are you alright?"
"No, but I'm glad you are," Aliya said truthfully. She scrubbed at her arm roughly in an attempt to keep her temper in check.
"There's no need to worry, dear, Mr Landrun will not mistreat you unless you give him reason to," Danna told her. Something about the sentence didn't sit well with Aliya.
"So as long as I'm a good girl, he'll treat me like one," the blonde muttered, unable to keep the bitterness from her voice.
"Yes," Danna said, a little sharply, "And if you've got any brain on you, you'll realise that Gendry Landrun is a gift to any one of us, especially someone like you."
"Aliya, you cannot have known many men, and none in any close capacity," Sara added, her large eyes compassionate, "But I have. My first was not cruel, but he was not gentle by any means. And my second liked to hurt those he owned. My third owner was the head of a courtesan house, and I came to know a variation of men in my brief time there. Some were pleasant, but others…" The girl held Aliya's gaze with an iron strength. "I have spoken only a few words to Gendry Landrun and already I can see that he is likely to be the kindest I have known. So let go of whatever you have in your heart and realise your own luck."
Aliya was speechless, she was so livid. Livid at being patronised by a nineteen year old when she was over a thousand years old and wasn't the innocent they thought her to be. Livid that this girl had been through such horrors, and considered it just how life was.
Her entire body shook with the force of it and she tuned out the rest of their conversation. When they emerged from the tub, Danna handed her a golden gown with sheer sleeves to put on and some matching undergarments. Sara was led away to be assisted in dressing in a corset and robe combination with a very obvious purpose.
Aliya dressed as slowly as she possibly could, taking the time to look at herself in the mirror and consider that she looked rather beautiful. Never in her life had she wished to be ugly, but now she did.
When she reentered the main room, Aliya saw Sara in front of a vanity with several other concubines around her, brushing powder on her face and painting her lips a crimson that complimented her flawless dark skin perfectly.
It wasn't long before Sara was ready and being handed over to a guard to be escorted to Landrun. The other women gave her tiny pats on the arm as she went past. Whether they were of luck or pity or comradeship, Aliya couldn't be sure. The girl was smiling, albeit a little nervously. Despite being so young and so new, she already fit so well in her new home. And Aliya couldn't be sure if was that was an odd relief or completely horrific.
Once his blur of thunderous emotion faded enough for him to become again aware of his surroundings, the Doctor became aware of Mill's hand on his arm.
"If you ever want to see her again, stay calm and follow me," the shorter man whispered in his ear. It wasn't the threat of an authority figure. It was a - rather surprising - promise of help. Surprising enough that the Doctor found himself leaving the building with Mill.
"What-"
"Back in my driver," Mill commanded, with a furtive look around them before telling the coachman to take them back to his office. Once inside, Mill even went so far as to shut the curtains. "Gods, man, if I weren't sure that you would tear the city apart to get to her, I would never do this. I'm the chief upholder of law in this entire city!"
"What, what are you about to do?" The Doctor asked him urgently. "Are you going to help me get her back?"
"No!" Mill looked shocked at the very thought. "But I think know who can. You need the Railroad."
"Railroad? As a way to get her out, you mean?"
"No, the Underground Railroad." Mill frowned deeply, his blue eyes full of conflict. "The one I've been trying to destroy for several years now."
With a jolt of surprise, the Doctor realised where the human colonists of the planet had to have gotten the name. "One that smuggles people. Slaves."
"Concubines," Mill said with a nod, "Those within it, like you, believe them to be equal to us. Word is that there's a hidden colony somewhere that the rescued women are sent to."
"Now that's something I needed to hear," the Doctor said, allowing himself to smile proudly for a few seconds before the seriousness of the situation returned and a large hole in the story occurred to him. "But if you've been trying to destroy it for years, and presumably haven't been able to because you haven't found who's running it, how could you get me to them?"
The other man sighed. For the first time, he seemed ashamed, which was a little ironic under the circumstances. "Because for the last month I've been starting to help them, to prove that I can't and won't incriminate them, in case I need their help soon."
"Big change of heart. What brought that on?"
"The possibility that I might have a daughter in six months time," Mill muttered, "I realised that what was between that baby's legs would dictate whether they were treated as a person or a possession to be used or hurt. And that it was wrong."
The Doctor let out a noise of triumph and kissed the man fleetingly on the forehead. "Ha! There we go! Can I just say, you are a rather phenomenal actor."
"It's not all acting," Mill said uneasily, scratching his neck, "Women are still naturally less than us, always will be, and I do find it disgusting that you could love one when there are so many exemplary men in the world who are so much worthy of your time. But they don't deserve what they get."
There was little to say to that. That level of brainwashing was impossible to undo in a day. Sadly, it was impressive that Mill had progressed as far as he had.
"So if you have a daughter, you're going to get her smuggled out?"
"Yes. I can send any whore's child to the capital in her place without it ever being on record."
The Doctor frowned at that, and the man's vulgar word of choice brought back the urgency to his hearts (even if it was likely that the word 'whore' was not one applied to all concubines, his tone implied a cheaper sort).
"Tell me how to find the Railroad."
After having her nails buffed and cleaned and polished, all while being interrogated by her fellow concubines, Aliya was restless. But when she tried to sit down in the corner on her own, they insisted that they wanted to brush her hair and put makeup on her.
While they did the hair, Aliya did her best to dodge questions about why she was a virgin at her age, and about what she had been doing for her life if not catering to men's needs or being prepared to.
Thankfully, before she was forced to answer or have makeup put on her, a guard again knocked on the door. It had been a good hour and a half since Sara had left. Now it seemed that Landrun wished to talk with Aliya in his private study.
Aliya, with a new panic, turned to Danna. "Does that mean-"
"No, it does simply mean he wishes to speak with you, dear. Go on."
With a deep breath, Aliya followed the guard and allowed herself to be escorted to the other side of the house. Her feet felt strange walking the halls in new silk slippers that were the same pale gold as her dress, and her hands couldn't stop touching the glittery ornaments that had been put in her hair or the pearls around her neck.
The study she was led into was surprisingly small and cosy, with much less grandeur than the rest of the house in its panelled walls and full bookcases. Landrun was seated at the desk and an older woman in a plain black robe was serving him tea. Aliya was surprised to see her, only to realise that she hadn't considered what role older women in the society played once they were past the desirable age. If this was any indicator, they became household servants.
"Aliya, please, sit," Landrun said, smiling and gesturing to a stool by his desk. It seemed far too much like a perch for his pretty little 'birds'. She could only think of the countless women that he probably had sit there and dote on him.
"I'd prefer to stand," she replied, and his eyebrows went up.
"Diane, you may leave us," he told the old woman, and she nodded before exiting the room. Aliya threaded her fingers together in front of her while he silently surveyed her. His eyes lingered on the sheer and tight covering over her arms, as well as where the dress revealed the top of her breasts, and the flair of the skirt around her hips. It wasn't a particularly predatory glance, but one of blatant physical interest.
"Is there something you wished to discuss with me?" Aliya asked.
He regarded her for another couple of moments before merely saying, "You're not like the others."
No kidding. She blinked at him innocently. "In what way?"
Landrun leaned forward in his high-backed seat. "You apparently put up a struggle back at the concubine house, going so far as to curse at them. Fall said you had a 'delusion of social standing'. You carry yourself with a pride I have seen in no other, and you just defied a request from your master, which is very rare, and supports Fall's words. Do you want to explain yourself?"
At the word 'master' she couldn't stop herself cringing. "Would you believe me if I said that before I was brought to the concubine house today, I was a free woman?"
That threw him. His attractive features bore unparalleled shock. "No," he eventually said, frowning at her, "I'm not sure that I would, but I'm intrigued as to why you would claim that. You know as well as I that the law states a woman must belong to somebody."
A woman belongs to herself. No one else, she thought bitterly. With no confidence that she would be able to reply in a way that wouldn't make him angry, she remained silent. It seemed to please him.
"Your life here will be good," Landrun promised, smiling at her with a charm that she might have enjoyed had he been anyone else on any other planet. "I'll be the first to have you, which endears you to me. No doubt you have met Danna? She was the first woman I ever owned, and she has only ever known my touch. She is special to me. So will you be for being mine and mine alone."
"Sara is much prettier, and younger."
"Yes, but she is second-hand goods, known to several other men. More enjoyable perhaps, but not valuable in the way you are."
Aliya was unable to stop her hands from clenching into fists at his words. "If you men consider a woman worth less after you've touched her, perhaps you should look at your hands."
His eyes narrowed. "I'm going to forgive that. But it would be wise not to speak so carelessly again to someone you should be treating with respect." His features became pleasant once again when he smiled at her. "No doubt you have heard of the less than savoury ways men can treat the women in their possession. It is likely why you look at me with such accusation in your eyes. But I am a good man, Aliya. Tonight you will see that, when you give yourself to me."
Give yourself to me. She internally shuddered and clasped her hands behind her back so that he couldn't see how they shook even when they were in fists. Finally she met his eye, a fierce determination flooding through her veins.
"And if I don't?"
Landrun frowned at her. "You seem to be implying there is a choice. I'm not under any law to be kind to those I own, it is merely personal preference. I have had to be forceful with two concubines in the past, and I did not find it enjoyable, but it was the only way that they would learn."
"There's always a choice," Aliya snapped, "If you were really a good man, you would keep these women under your protection and only take them into your bed if they wanted to be there. You're charming and attractive, it probably wouldn't even be difficult for you! But instead you are forceful with those brave enough to resist. You're disgusting, believing yourself to be so noble and kind when you're as bad as the rest."
He stood up, and came around his desk so that he could stand a few feet in front of her. His expression was completely impossible to read but his eyes were intent on her. She couldn't help but think he had at least partially done it to establish his three inch height advantage over her. "I am a gracious man, but I do not have my authority defied. It is a failing on the part of their schooling that they do not submit."
He blames it on them, of course he does! It was all she could do to keep from punching him in the face and she only managed that by reminding herself just how stupid it would be to do so.
All the same, she steeled herself. "Well no one has authority over me, especially no one as tiny or pathetic as you," she said, spitting the words out and relishing the anger that she could finally see emerging in him, "I won't lie down and accept this as my fate. If you try to touch me, I will fight you every step of the way, I will kick and scream and do everything I can to mark you as the barbarian you are!" She had been a possession of a man once before, due to her own stupidity. Not this time.
Landrun's handsome features twisted into a scowl that did not suit him. "No one talks to me like that," he said, his voice so calm that it sent a chill down her spine, "I've never enjoyed forcefully breaking in a concubine, but perhaps you will be an exception. It could be quite a beautiful thing, to instruct you on authority."
"Do you think you'll be so pretty with a broken nose and scars all over your face?" Aliya challenged.
"Scars? You do your nails too much credit." Landrun shrugged. "Besides, it will be difficult to lay a hand on me when you're bound." She couldn't help it, she gulped just at the thought. "But not gagged. I think it would be good for you to hear how useless your words will be."
"You'll have to come near me to bind me, and then I'll have my chance."
He curled a strand of her hair around his finger, and Aliya couldn't quite disguise her wince. "I will see you tonight. You will be sent for at seven. And you will regret that you didn't show respect for the man who could have given you everything you wanted."
Aliya just stared at him. Fear and fury had combined to temporarily paralyse her. "You have no idea what I'm capable of surviving." With that she left the room and walked at a brisk pace back towards the concubine bedroom, tears rolling down her cheeks. Once she reached it, she immediately headed for the bathroom (ignoring the inquiries from Danna and Sara about how the meeting with Landrun had gone) so that she could throw up into the toilet.
While she hugged the bowl of white porcelain, someone entered the room and shut the door.
"What happened?"
The voice, to Aliya's surprise, wasn't Sara's or Danna's. It belonged to a diminutive brunette with dark olive skin and cropped hair. Her green eyes were serious as she knelt by where Aliya was on the tiled floor.
"I ask you that because I know there's no point in asking if you are alright or what's wrong," the brunette added. Aliya blinked, unable to be sure how she felt about this woman who looked to be between Sara and her own physical age. "But I'm guessing that you found out that he is not the perfect master he pretends to be."
"There's no such thing as a perfect master," Aliya murmured, leaning away from the toilet and hugging her knees, "And he is horrid."
"What happened?"
"I made him angry. I told him what I thought of him and that I would fight him if he tried to lay a hand on me."
The other woman gave her a grimace of a smile. "Your name's Aliya, isn't it? I'm Trina. And I was the same, only I didn't tell him. I just did when he tried."
"He said that with two, he-"
"Yes. I was one. The other he sold several years ago, just after I arrived. He said she cried too much."
"So fighting him didn't work."
"It was never going to. But I didn't want to feel like I'd just given in. So I did everything in my power so I could look back and know I tried." Trina gripped her hand sympathetically. "And while I sometimes wonder if it was best, since his behaviour to me is drastically different because of it, I'd still advise you to do the same. I can tell just by looking at you that you'd regret not fighting."
Aliya wiped at her eyes. Tears would do her no good and she was almost out anyway. As much as she was loathe to admit it, she might require them later. "Why are all the others so cheerful?"
"They acted as they should, so he treats them like his obedient angels," Trina said, "But if you choose to do as I did, I'm here and I think we could be friends. Though I won't begrudge you if you pick the easy way out."
"There's no choice, I've angered him too much," Aliya whispered, thinking that she should regret her actions but knowing she would do the same over and over, "But I have a friend, outside of this house. I thought he would be coming for me, to get me out of here, but he's not, and I just-" Trina hugged her tightly and Aliya clung to her new acquaintance, shaking with silent and dry sobs. "I know he'll be trying but I don't know if he can get me out of this. I have four hours."
Trina just stroked her hair and rocked her a little. There were no words that could be of any comfort and they both knew it.
Aliya and Trina spent the next three hours together, talking about stupid little things as well as Trina's life in the capital city school before being sold to Landrun, and about how Aliya had been free. Trina wasn't sure whether to believe her, and Aliya omitted all talk of other planets and police boxes, but it all made for something to talk about and kept their minds off what was coming.
With an hour to go, Aliya was attended to by Danna and the others just as Sara had been. Trina helped, staying by her ear and murmuring sympathies and words of strength as Aliya had her lips painted red and her eyelashes darkened.
Her garments were somewhat different to Sara's. She wore a white corset with a very sheer skirt that fell from its waist, and matching underwear. Her feet were bare and she had a robe to go over the top of the ensemble.
She didn't recognise herself when she looked in the mirror. And she didn't know if it was the makeup or the clothes or the despair in her eyes.
Five minutes remained and she sat with Trina, gripping her hand and trembling from head to toe. Trina continued to give her advice, which was to find something in the room that could make for a potential weapon. Aliya tried to listen. But she was overwhelmed by the fact that the Doctor had failed to save her. The entire time she had despaired over her situation, she had always subconsciously expected him to swoop in at the eleventh hour. But he hadn't.
He had failed. She was going to be at Landrun's mercy. And she couldn't be sure which thought crushed her more.
"Aliya," a guard at the door called, and Aliya rose to her feet, with limbs so shaky it was a miracle she could stand. As she was taken to a suite just down the corridor, her mind tried to numb itself, but she needed all of her brain power if she was going to find something that would help her make good on her promise to Landrun.
The room was large and dominated by a king sized bed with pale linen. Once left alone, she began to scan the place for items of use. There were a number of fine decorations, but the one she immediately fixated on was the golden candlestick resting on a dresser some distance from the bed.
If I could knock him out, I could make a break for it out of the window. I don't care if it's three storeys up and I have to jump. Breaking my leg is going to Florana compared to the alternative. And if the window doesn't work then I'll at least have time to think of something else.
Footsteps approached the door and Aliya choked down all the trepidation and panic she could in order to prepare herself for what had to be done. She positioned herself at a distance from the door that was neither too close to raise instant suspicion or too far to prevent her from being able to get him before he wondered what she was concealing behind her back.
The door began to open and she gripped the candlestick with all she had, hoping her shaking arms didn't fail her because the consequence was too much to even consider. She kept her face as neutral and disdainful as he would expect from her, so as to not raise his suspicions by being suddenly amiable.
But it wasn't Landrun. The dark haired man who entered wore a guard uniform and shut the door behind him. Just as she prepared herself to talk fast to get him to leave before he could get suspicious of anything, he turned around and the candlestick clattered out of her hands.
"Doctor," she breathed, scarcely able to believe it.
His face - his beautiful wonderful stupid face - was the picture of pure relief. He took the few strides necessary to have her locked safely in his arms. "Aliya."
Aliya sobbed into his uniform, just once. "I thought you weren't coming."
"I will always come for you, even if it's through eleven squadrons of Sontarans," he whispered fervently, pressing his lips to her hair, "But right now we need to go. I'm with some people, they knew what room he takes his concubines to, so they're at the window." Sure enough, when they rushed to the window and opened it, a muscular older man was perched on a very tall ladder that was propped up against the sill and led all the way down to the garden below.
"Garner," the man greeted, smiling widely at her, "Let's get you down." Aliya took his offered hand, only to think of something vital.
"Doctor," she turned back to him in a whirl of silk, "Please, I know we can't save everyone but...there's one girl. I know we could take her too, all you need to do is go down to the room at the end of the hall on the right and ask for Trina. She'll follow because of your uniform." Seeing the Doctor's hesitation, likely due to their lack of time for such things, she added, "She's my friend, and Landrun treats her differently than the others. He hurts her. Please."
The Doctor nodded, and with a squeeze of her hand ran from the room with a purposeful stride. She watched him go before turning to Garner and making a start down the ladder. Her bare feet had just touched the grass when she looked up to see Trina climbing out of the window with the Doctor close behind her.
"Thank the gods," a man said from right beside her, and she jumped a mile before realising that of course someone would be holding the bottom of the ladder, "We thought we were only saving one."
"I couldn't leave her," Aliya said to him, even if in the shadows of the garden she couldn't make out his face.
"Quite right too." It sounded like he was smiling at her, but that was when Trina reached the ground and Aliya hugged her, laughing a little because she was so happy.
"Aliya," the other girl breathed, "I don't understand, but thank you, I think."
The Doctor hopped off the ladder, to be followed by Garner. "We've got to get going, since he's going to find you gone any second."
The group of five bolted through the darkness of the Landrun grounds. Their entire escape became a blur to Aliya who found that the only thing she could register was the flood of solace at the reality of being safe and having rescued Trina as well. She vaguely noted being on a horse behind the Doctor, her arms tight around his waist, and looked over to see Trina behind Garner on a different horse, but it wasn't until they entered a different house with dim lights and much smaller rooms than the Landrun mansion that she became fully aware of her surroundings again.
The first thing she saw was the Doctor standing across the sitting room talking to Garner in hushed and quick tones. Aliya approached them and put her hand on the Doctor's arm, noting that he'd changed back into his normal clothing. He immediately snapped his head towards her, his eyes so soft and warm when they looked at her that it made her want to cry. So she wrapped her arms around his neck and did exactly that.
The Doctor's body shook as much as her own while his hands rested on her back and held her to him as tightly as physically possible.
"Ali," he whispered, and she knew the cracked quality of his voice well enough to guess that he was teary too, "Oh, Aliya, I'm sorry-"
"Shut up," she told him, laughing into his neck rather giddily, "Say anything except I'm sorry."
"I don't know what I would have done if you-"
"But I didn't, because you saved me. And Trina."
"I told you, I'll always come for you, that's a promise, the most important one I'll ever make," he told her, his hands clutching her so tightly that it almost hurt. "I wouldn't be able to live with myself if anyone hurt you."
They pulled away far enough that they could just stare at each other, both needing to be sure that the other was truly there. Aliya's hands brushed over the Doctor's cheeks, her thumbs across the lines of his pronounced cheekbones, and she smiled at him. The Doctor simply bent to kiss her forehead, slowly and so gently that she could have half imagined it if he hadn't lingered so long.
"What did happen, while you were there? Will you tell me?"
The question threw her. She didn't want to recount any of it to him but was surprised to realise that she did want him to know, if only so she didn't have to carry the nauseating details of the world she'd experienced on her own.
All it took was a quick but forceful touch of the forehead to transfer every memory between being dragged from Mill's office to him coming through the door at Landrun's house.
He was left glassy eyed when she broke the connection, and she waited for him to process it all.
"Aliya?" Trina's voice made them both turn to look at the brunette girl. "Can you explain now? I assume that this is the Doctor, your friend, but the others?" There was so much uncertainty in her eyes that Aliya reluctantly left the Doctor's side to take her new friend's hands in hers.
"I don't know, but the Doctor can explain to the both of us," she promised, pulling her friend to sit by the fire and keeping her close.
The Doctor leaned on a nearby armchair and told of what had happened to him after Aliya had been taken away. About going to the concubine house and discovering that she had been sold, about Mill's surprising offer of help, of quietly going to Garner's house and explaining the situation and being relieved when Garner and his associates were all more than happy to help.
"So, what happens to me?" Trina asked, her face showing that she still wasn't quite sure how to take it all in.
"There's a safe haven for women like you, and we'll get you there," Garner said, speaking up from where he had been watching their conversation in relative silence, "No one will own or hurt you again."
Tears welled up in her eyes. "Thank you." Then, before Aliya knew what was happening, she found herself being kissed all over her face by Trina, who was laughing and crying with pure joy. "Thank you!"
Aliya laughed too, hugging her friend in an attempt to ward off the kisses. "I'm not the one who got you out."
"But you are. Your Doctor doesn't know me, you would have had to have told him, and you could have taken the safer option and just left."
"I couldn't leave you in there - stop kissing me you daft girl!" Aliya giggled, batting her away.
Trina giggled too. "But you're wonderful, and you still look so gorgeous." Aliya realised that she was still wearing the red lipstick along with the corset and robe, and turned bright pink.
"Oh," she said, thinking about how tightly she had been hugging the Doctor in the clothing and pulling the robe around herself. "Garner, do you have clothes I can change into?" The urge to rip off anything that had been put on her in the name of Gendry Landrun came swiftly but with full force. She got to her feet when he nodded. "Good, I want all of this filth off me right now."
Garner led her to a small closet of women's clothes in various sizes and left her in there. By the time she dressed in men's breeches and a small shirt, she had always spotted a dark cloak that would be helpful in getting out of the city. It had a twin and she grabbed it for the Doctor's sake.
After making a detour to the bathroom so that she could scrub her face red and near raw to get the colouring on her lips and lashes off, she finally returned to the sitting room.
"There she is," the Doctor said, grinning broadly at the sight of her, "Thought I lost her there for a while."
"Me too," Aliya said, smiling back at him minutely. "I'm assuming there's a plan for us to get back to the TARDIS?"
"Garner's told me about the tunnel systems, and how they have an exit out into the forest. We'll leave in about ten minutes."
"You aren't coming to the safe haven?" Trina asked, her face falling. Aliya shook her head. "So what? You'd rather go off with some man?"
The accusation in her voice made the blonde flinch but her hurt was understandable. This is a woman who has been hurt and used all her life by men. Now she makes a friend only to have a man take her away, Aliya thought with pity.
"Trina," she said simply, looking at her squarely until the brunette's shoulders slumped.
"Sorry," Trina breathed, crossing her arms when Aliya came closer to her. "That's not fair. I've never seen anyone look at someone the way he looks at you. It must be special."
Aliya smiled for a moment before everything that had happened to them before coming to Greywell came back to her. The memories made her laugh, albeit oddly. "Actually, you just reminded me. I'm supposed to be mad at him."
"And are you?" The Doctor asked, looking as amused as she was, and even more so when she crossed her arms and frowned at him.
"Yes." Aliya noticed Garner trying to hold in a chuckle, and rolled her eyes. "But we'll sort that out when we're back in the TARDIS." She hugged Trina. "You'll have a wonderful life at the safe haven. But I could never be happy there. I'm not like you. I just ended up here by mistake." When Trina pulled away to give her a sceptical look, Aliya sighed, grabbed the other woman's hands, placing them over her hearts. Trina's green eyes widened.
"By all the gods," she whispered, "I knew you were special, but never imagined-"
"Yeah, she's really something," the Doctor exclaimed loudly, moving to stand next to them and side-eyeing a suddenly very curious Garner, "But we should get going. It was nice to meet you, Trina. Glad we could help you."
"It was nice to meet you too," Trina said to him, still wide-eyed. The Doctor for a moment looked like he was about to hug her only to rethink it given everything she had experienced. Aliya reminded herself to commend and thank him for that later. Instead he chose to hold his hand out to Trina politely. She just stared, and the Time Lords shared a look when they realised that it was likely no man had ever offered her any such gesture of acknowledgement or equal standing before. "Uh…" Finally, the human shook his hand, and began to beam as she did so. "I am so glad I met the two of you. Thank you."
While the Doctor was briefed by Garner on their path out of the city, Trina helped Aliya into her cloak and gave her one last hug.
"Do something great, even if it's just being happy," Aliya told her.
"I don't think there's any just about being happy. I've heard it's the best thing there is."
Once the Doctor had his cloak on too (with no small amount of help from Aliya and Trina because he was so useless), the Time Lords bid the others goodbye and entered the basement of the house, where an entrance to the tunnels came in the form of a disguised trap door and ladder.
They walked in silence for at least half an hour until the Doctor broke it.
"About what you showed me-"
"Doctor, honestly, it's not something I want to discuss," Aliya said, glancing at him and barely being able to make out his frown in the gloomy light left by the lantern in his hand, "I'm glad you know what happened, but...it's all something I'd rather forget."
"Me too. Don't think I will, though."
"No. But I just want to get back and into a shower where I can wash until I can't smell a single whiff of the perfume they put on me." Aliya sighed and wrapped her cloak more tightly around her.
Neither of them spoke again, not even when they came out of the tunnel and found themselves in the forest that they could vaguely recognise as being the same one they had been in that morning.
"It's freezing," Aliya stammered, able to see her breath, "There's ice on the trees. This is so much more polarised than Earth. I'm too used to the climate there. Which is your fault, by the way."
"Oh, shut up!" He told her, but good-naturedly. "The TARDIS isn't close by. It's north of the city, and we're west. I think we need to find somewhere to shelter for the night."
The urge to argue with him - more reflex than founded by any particular disagreement - was only mildly difficult to choke down due to the below freezing temperature. "Sure. Anything that gets us out of this...baby blizzard."
It took them another ten minutes, and the start of numbness in their extremities, but eventually the Doctor let out a noise of triumph. He had found a cave, one the size of a bedroom, that would allow them both standing room if they wished it.
"If we can get this boulder over most of the entrance, that will block out most of the cold and keep out any unwanted visitors."
She wasn't sure exactly what he meant by 'unwanted visitors' but helped him anyway until they were settled in the cave and ready to do their best to last the night in there.
The Doctor sat down in the corner furthest from the 'door' and patted the spot next to him. After a glance at it, Aliya pursed her lips and moved so that she was standing as far away from him as it was possible to be. His sigh was so quiet that her ears almost missed it.
"Really?"
"It's a free cave."
"Aliya, we need to talk."
*collapses from the pure exhaustion of a 10,000 word chapter* Apologies to anyone who dislikes long chapters, but hopefully most of you are reasonably happy as to how that all went down. I could never actually do that to Aliya (not considering that it's more or less already happened to her, albeit a very long time ago).
What's interesting is that my initial plan for this arc was literally just 'something that has them end up in a cave nearly freezing so they can talk about their feelings'. Who knew I'd be struck by the lightning rod of inspiration for a highly screwed up emotional rollercoaster? (It occurs to me that maybe a lot of you would have guessed it would happen, since it seems to be my MO.) Ah well.
As always, constructive criticism/feedback is always very welcome!
Love you guys!
-MayFairy :)
p.s. make sure you're around for the next chapter, it's the one you've all been waiting for!