Chapter Twenty-one: Amy

Amy thought morning would never come. She barely slept during the night, consumed not only by worry for the Doctor but the fear that Grist would change his mind and refuse to lead the search party. She kept thinking about his reluctance to search for the queen. He'd said something about wanting to tell her his opinion of her to her face. Eckhart hadn't seemed surprised by Grist's response. What was it he'd said? Whatever your personal feelings for her are, she is still your queen. And there was something else, something about understanding Grist's anger with the "woman." She realized suddenly that she was pacing the tent again. Good Lord, I'm turning into the Doctor, she thought. What's next? Bow-ties? She nearly laughed at the idea, but she didn't want to wake Rory.

The sun had been up for some time when Rory stirred in his cot. They'd gone out into the camp to see if anyone was awake and found a group of men standing around a fire. They headed across the crater to join them. The young man who'd been with Grist the first night she met him spotted her coming and hurried away. Amy shrugged in response to Rory's questioning look.

"I think I saw him the night I met Grist."

"What did you do to him?" Rory asked, sounding amused.

"I didn't do anything to him."

"Good morning!" Amy looked back to the fire to see the man called Taylor waving at them.

"Good morning," answering Rory, waving back. Amy shivered in the chill air and quickened her steps, eager to reach the fire's warmth.

"Where is everyone else?" she asked. There were only a half-dozen men around the fire. Amy recognized some of them from Grist's party the day before, while others wore the black and grey uniforms of the royal guards.

"Lord Eckhart and his party left yesterday, shortly before the rain started. The rest of Her Majesty's party is still a-bed," Taylor replied.

"They're all still here? None of them went with Eckhart?" asked Rory.

Taylor shook his head, lowering his voice. "We don't know who's to be trusted. Lord Eckhart and Lord Grist decided the whole party should remain here, under guard."

"They are not to know they're under guard, Taylor. As far as they are concerned, you and your men are here to protect them." Grist strode up to the fire with the young man at his side.

"Of course. We will keep the whole lot safe, and no word of what's happened here will spread."

"Good." Grist turned toward Amy and Rory. "I suppose it's impossible to expect you to stay behind, Mistress Pond."

Amy folder her arms across her chest, trying to look stern. "Yep. Now stop stalling and let's get going." Grist's mouth lifted in a smile for a second before he shifted his eyes to Rory.

"You heard her," Rory told him. "Let's go." Grist grinned before turning to his men. He started to fire off a list of orders. Amy watched at the group started moving. Rory touched her arm, telling her he was going to get the med kit from their tent. She nodded, turning back to stare at the fire. One of the men was digging out cook-ware and she felt her stomach rumble.

By the time Rory returned, sandwiches had been prepared as well as some kind of hot beverage. Amy thought it tasted like a cross between coffee and tea. She passed one of the sandwiches and a mug to Rory. They ate in silence, watching the flames move. Activity continued around them. Men were saddling horses and heads were poking out of nearby tents as the rest of the camp began to wake up. Grist was nearby, conversing with Taylor. Amy watched him as she finished her sandwich. She tossed her crust into the fire and drained the last of her drink.

"He knows how to get things moving," she said, watching as Grist and Taylor moved away.

"I just hope his men were able to find some traces before the rain started," Rory replied. He reached out to take her empty mug and started around the fire toward a table. A blonde woman was there, washing dishes, and it was obvious that Rory recognized her. He seemed surprised by her presence. Amy started toward them slowly, watching as they spoke to each other. Suddenly the woman sprang forward, catching Rory's wrist. He gave a yelp of surprise and Amy quickened her steps. The woman said something, her expression earnest.

"Ye… yes.," Rory stuttered in reply. He turned at the sound of Amy's approach. He seemed relieved to see her. The woman tugged on his wrist and he turned his attention back to her.

"You must be careful," she said.

"I… I will. You can let go of me now," Rory replied, trying to pull away from her.

"I do not trust Lord Grist. He does not care for the queen," the woman told him, continuing to cling to him. Amy decided it was about time she put a stop to this.

"Oi! Let go of my husband."

"I'm sorry, Ma'am," the woman said, letting go of Rory. The woman turned back to her dishes and Amy waited for Rory to tell her what was going on. When he said nothing, she lost patience.

"What's this then?" she asked, looking between the two of them.

"Um, Amy, this is Nell," Rory said, gesturing toward the blonde. "She's one of Her Majesty's ladies. Nell, this is my wife, Amy."

Amy nodded toward the dishes. "Looks like you've been demoted," she told the blonde. When Rory didn't move, she tugged on his arm. "C'mon, Rory. Let's go." He turned and came with her. The woman called after them.

"Remember what I told you, Master Williams, and be careful."

"What's she talking about?"

"She warned me about Grist," Rory said. "She doesn't trust him."

"Why?"

"I didn't get to ask," he admitted, "but he was reluctant to go after the queen."

"Eckhart wasn't surprised by it either," Amy said. The conversation was starting to echo the thoughts she'd had that morning. "He said something before, about Grist having been away from court for a long time."

"And not knowing where his loyalties lie," Rory added.

She shook her head. "But Grist is loyal. He's only here because he was answering a summons from the queen. And he was worried about the prince being protected."

"He didn't want to go rescue Queen Anne though."

"Eckhart said something… about whatever his feelings for her as a woman were. Something happened between them." Amy sighed. She was back to where she'd been when Rory woke up. There was some history between Grist and the queen, but the conversations she'd heard didn't tell her enough to let her know what it was.

"Eckhart knew about it, and he still left Grist to see to her rescue. He obviously thinks he can trust him," Rory said. He looked to Amy, waiting for her to confirm his conclusion. A shout from Grist stopped her from replying.

"What's kept you? I thought you two were in a hurry!" he called. Amy turned to see that Grist was near the crater entrance. A cluster of men and horses were waiting with him, ready to ride out on the search. She looked back to Rory and nodded, reaching out to catch his hand. Trustworthy or not, Grist is our only chance of getting to the Doctor, she thought.

"We're coming!" Rory called as they jogged toward the group.

Within a few minutes the search party was on the move. Amy had her own horse this time, riding alongside Rory's. Before they'd left, Grist introduced the rest of the group to Amy and Rory. She learned that the young man she'd met her first night on this planet was called Landon. He was Grist's nephew. Along with Landon was another young man called Robbard, a grizzled man called Herrond, a bearded blonde named Blane, and two of the royal guard – a sallow-skinned man called Ortel and a hulking giant called Mortan.

Grist and Landon rode at the head of the party, with Amy and Rory just behind them. From time to time Landon rode out ahead, looking for signs from the advance riders Grist had dispatched the day before. Sometimes Blane or Robbard would move up to ride alongside Grist while Landon was out searching. Amy listened closely to their conversation, but it was focused on the task at hand and offered her no clues to Grist's history with the queen.

Ortel and Mortan rode together, a little removed from the rest of the group. Amy wasn't sure if they simply preferred each other's company or if there was friction between them and Grist's party. Ortel spoke when spoken to, but Mortan never said a word. They were riding behind Amy and slightly to her right; from time to time she glanced over her shoulder in that direction. The third time she found Mortan watching her, his big face expressionless. He didn't seem embarrassed or pleased to be caught; his pale blue eyes never wavered and Amy found herself flushing and looking away. The next time she dared look again, he was still watching. This time there was a half-smile on his face. She suppressed a shudder and the next time Landon rode ahead, she moved up beside Grist. He looked over at her and smiled.

"I expected you up here an hour ago, Mistress Pond," he said, sounding both amused and resigned.

"What made you so sure I'd come up here?" Amy asked.

"You have questions for me," Grist replied, and this time he sounded more resigned than amused. Amy stared at him, surprised by his answer. She'd expected resistance. She'd expected to have to push and pry. Instead, he seemed to be inviting her interrogation. She wasn't sure how to respond. Grist glanced over at her, arching his brows at her silence. "You don't have questions?"

"I do," Amy said quickly. "I just… how do I know I can trust you?"

"I am many things, Mistress Pond, but a liar is not one of them."

"Alright." Amy glanced back at Rory but he was talking with Robbard. She turned back to Grist. "Why are you helping us?"

"You remind me of someone I used to know."

"The queen?"

"She is a red-head too," Grist replied, shrugging. The movement was casual but Amy could see that his jaw was tight. She wanted to push on and ask how he'd known the queen, but that might make him clam up. She decided to switch directions.

"Is that why Mortan keeps staring at me? Do I… look like her?"

Grist chuckled. "Your hair is actually a deeper shade of red than Her Majesty's. Well, a deeper shade than it was when I saw her last. For all I know she's coloring it now."

"How long has it been since you've seen her?"

"Six years, three months, and seven days," he said promptly. Amy's eyes widened. He hadn't had to think about it at all. Again she resisted the impulse to pounce on his answer, switching the subject back to the fixated royal guard.

"So Mortan's just mesmerized by red hair?"

"Red heads aren't that common in Umbria." Grist glanced over at her, clearly about to say more, but there was a shout ahead of them. They both turned to see Landon galloping toward them.

"Hurry!" he called. "There's a man here, badly hurt. He knows something about Her Majesty." Amy looked back to Rory, thinking of the med kit, and found him lunging ahead. His horse dashed past hers.

"Show me!' he called to Landon, and the younger man turned his animal to lead the way. Amy nudged her horse after them and Grist followed suit, staying even with her.

Landon lead them toward a cave. He stopped his horse there and Rory followed suit, tugging the med kit out of his saddle-bag before following the young man past the cave's entrance and toward a cluster of shrubs. Grist leapt from his animal but instead of charging after the men, he turned to offer Amy a hand. She accepted and together they hurried toward the shrubs.

I was having quite a time finding the TARDIS in my head this week, but at last I got there. I'd like to stay hidden but performance evaluations at work beckon. I'll gladly trade you - you give me a Dalek to run from, I'll give you the appraisal to write?