Thank you so much for comments! I know, I know, that last bit was mean of me. . . but I'm not sorry enough . . .
Chapter 29
All of her kicking and screaming was entirely useless, but still, it didn't deter her from trying to shake off the guards that were holding her and dragging her back to the President's mansion which Clara refused to call her home any longer. They could bring her back, but Clara knew that as soon as a chance presented itself, she would escape again. She was not going to be held prisoner any longer, not after everything that had happened.
Once they had pushed her into her father's office, one of the guards finally untied her hands and Clara used the moment and turned around to shove him like he had shoved her all the way back to the house. She wasn't quite sure what kind of reaction she had expected, but the guard merely stepped backwards and locked the door behind her.
Now that she was alone for the first time ever since she had been separated from the Doctor, Clara finally had a moment to think about everything that had happened tonight. The Doctor had been caught and she had no idea what they were going to do to him, but knowing her father, it wouldn't be pleasant and she had to find a way to prevent it somehow. She had to get out, she had to help him, catch him before his father was able to wipe his memory. Clara was determined not to suffer the same loss a second time. As for Malaya, Clara still didn't think she had wrapped her head around the recent discovery. Could it really be that her mother was alive, that her father had lied to her all her life? When the door opened, Clara thought that question would be answered soon.
The Lord President stormed into his office and slammed the door shut behind him, but when Clara had braced herself for an imminent lecture, she had been wrong to assume that he would start yelling at her. Instead, her father glared at her, looking at her so thoroughly for a long moment that she thought his gaze was going to burn holes in her body. Nevertheless, she met his eyes with as much determination and bravery as she could muster, reminding herself that she would no longer let him treat her like he had for so many decades. Eventually, when the silence became a little too unnerving, she dared to speak up.
"You won't harm the Doctor," she demanded in a calm voice. "You will not erase his memory."
Her father inhaled deeply, but the anger was still visible on his face. "Erasing his memory will not keep him from trying again, will it?" he spat. "It took several decades, but I can't keep you apart forever like this, can I? You and your tutor."
Clara swallowed hard when his words had sunk in, but she hadn't actually needed her father's confirmation any longer. It didn't matter whether the Doctor was her tutor or not. She loved him and nothing would ever be able to change that, but the tone of her father's voice made her wary about what he was going to do to keep them apart.
"The Doctor is on his way to the deepest, darkest cell beneath the citadel and as long as I'm Lord President, he will never see the light of day again," he growled, but still his voice was terrifyingly calm. Clara didn't doubt for a second that he meant it, but still, she tried to remain optimistic.
"The Doctor is too smart for you," she replied with a shrug. "He'll find a way out. I'll find a way out. You won't keep me locked up in here ever again!"
"That man has broken the law!" the Lord President's voice cut through the air and Clara flinched at the sudden increase of volume. "He has led the Shobogans into our city! He has defiled my daughter! If you really think I will leave that man with even the smallest chance to escape, then you're wrong!"
"He did nothing of that sort!" Clara argued loudly.
"So his friend has been lying to me about what he-" her father broke off and suddenly seemed to be unsure how exactly he should express that they had had sex. If her situation hadn't been so miserable, Clara would have laughed at her father who didn't even have a clue what he was talking about. "What he did to you."
"He didn't lead the Shobogans into the city!"
"Who did it, then?" her father demanded to know. "Because the guards saw one of their filthy women escape from the library!"
"That woman is my mother!" she shouted at him in return and for the first time since he had entered the room, her father's facade dropped at the mention of his wife. He remembered her. The Doctor had been right once again. Her mother was still alive and she had left him.
"Yes," Clara hissed. "I know the truth now, I know about my mother, I know that you lied to everyone about what happened to her just to have an excuse to prosecute the Shobogans! I've been out there, Father! I've seen it with my own eyes and I'm going to tell everyone who will listen to me!"
"You will tell no one!" the Lord President shouted at her in return. "Because you will spend the rest of your life in your room, I will post a guard at your door and you are never, ever getting out of here, is that understood?!"
"The Doctor will get me out of there!"
"The Doctor is as good as dead and you two have signed the Shobogan's death warrant tonight!"
"No!" Clara shouted at him in response. "You can't do that! They've done nothing wrong!"
"All I ever wanted was to protect you, Clara. And if I have to slaughter every one of their children to keep you safe, I will not hesitate for a second! You will not end up like your mother, no matter how alike you are and if she there's with them tonight, she will die as well."
"No!"
"Guards!"
The moment the door opened, Clara knew she had only one chance at escape and that was now, so she made a run for it and darted out of the room, past the guards that were too surprised to stop her. She ran down the stairs, the heavy footsteps of the guards immediately following after her while her father was still shouting order upstairs. There was more to lose than just her freedom now. It wasn't just about her, but also about the Doctor and all of the Shobogan tribes. They were going to die if she didn't stop it.
Clara was panting by the time she reached for the handle, but she wasn't going to give up now. If she made it into the streets, they would have a hard time tracking her, but before she could set a foot out of the door, a guard slung his arms around her and dragged her back inside. Clara screamed and kicked him, her fist hit his face so hard that she thought she heard his nose crack and finally, he released her and dropped her on the floor with a thud. She instantly scrambled back to her feet before the guard regained his posture, but then another set of hands grabbed her and the door closed in front of her nose.
"Let me go!" she screamed, but Clara soon realized that it was pointless to keep up the struggle. The guard that carried her upstairs was stronger than she was. "You can't lock me up forever, Father!"
Clara wound in his grip, she yelled, she kicked and tried every possible thing she could think of to escape, but it was no use at all. The guard only set her down once they were both in her room and when she made a run for the door, the man stopped her.
"Leave it be, girl," he told her calmly and then a key was turned in her lock from the outside. "There are more guards outside and two in front of your window."
"Leave me alone!" she barked at him, but the guard didn't move an inch.
Instead, he shook his head. "I have my orders."
"To wait in my room?"
He nodded.
Clara groaned in response and gave him another shove just for the hell of it, but she knew that it was no use. The guard wouldn't budge and neither would the ones stationed outside her door or her window. As she sank down on her bed, arms crossed in front of her chest, Clara tried her best not to start crying because for the first time she realized what had happened. Her father had caught them and she didn't even have the slightest chance to escape his mansion now and, no matter how much he would want to, the Doctor had no means of saving her this time. Clara took a deep breath and prayed that he would be alright, that her father's guards wouldn't hurt him. She prayed that he wouldn't try anything stupid just to rescue her. If he still remembered her at all.
There was a sudden pain in her chest and it felt as if her both her hearts were breaking when Clara realized that there was a good chance the man she loved had already been made to forget her. But maybe it would be for the best? If he didn't remember her name or her face, the Doctor wouldn't bring himself in danger just because of her. Maybe her father would even release him once he could be sure the Doctor no longer knew who she was.
Yes, even if it hurt her, the Doctor would be better off forgetting about her.
