Chapter Thirty-Eight
January 30th 1763, Versailles
"Be careful not to drink so much." Queen Marie warned when Zoe reached for the decanter of wine for the fourth time, stilling her hand before she touched the crystal. "A drunk bride is a most ungodly of sights."
Zoe's hand fell back. "Speaking from experience, Marie?"
The queen looked at her with all the disdain that her remark warranted and returned her attention to battling with Zoe's hair. She wasn't used to working with hair that wasn't her daughters and Zoe's, with its wild curls and thicker nature, was hard for her to beat into submission. However, she was a clever, skilful woman and she was able to adapt her plans easily. Whilst she wanted to smooth the hair down and twist it up, without equipment from the 21st century it would be impossible, and so, instead, she decided to exaggerate Zoe's curls since Reinette liked them so much. She smoothed a small amount of oil through her hair to reduce the frizz and then teased them around her face.
"Do you normally wear it down where you are from?" Marie asked, hands in her hair, fingers pressing against her scalp pleasantly.
"Sometimes." Zoe answered, her mouth tacky from the wine she'd already consumed and she wanted some water but it was too far away, and she wasn't about to ask the Queen of France to fetch her a glass of water for even she had her limits. "Depends on my mood. I wear it in a ponytail, or a braid sometimes. I just haven't been able to here. Ribbons don't really hold it all in place."
"I think I may be able to do something." She said. "Do not move."
Zoe watched her in the mirror as she worked assiduously at pinning her hair up and she let her mind drift.
She was getting married today.
Excitement filled her at the thought of the small, intimate ceremony that Louis had put together. It wasn't legal but none of that mattered because both she and Reinette were getting married because they loved each other, and the fact that it wasn't permissible under French law meant nothing to them. Reinette was off with Louis getting ready, and Zoe was amused at the thought of the king helping his oldest friend, and favoured lover, getting ready for her wedding day when he had been the cause of the end of her first marriage, which had been annulled so she could take up the position of Chief Mistress. Even after five years in France, sometimes it could all be a little too French for her.
She was grateful that Marie was helping her prepare but she ached for her mother and sister.
She never once imagined getting married without them present. All of her imaginings, of which there were only a few, involved them being their usual loud selves that would drive her crazy but she wouldn't want to change.
Jackie would be loudly taking charge with curlers in her hair, dressed in her pink silk dressing gown, and Bev would be there as well to help with everything. Rose would run interference for Zoe so that she could have a moment's peace and quiet amongst all the chaos, exchanging knowing grins with each other when their mother got a little too emotional over everything. She would be helped by them into her wedding dress, probably something bought cheaply off the rack because that's all they could afford, and there would be pictures, and tears, and laughter.
She would have had a hen do with Shareen getting loudly drunk and Mickey and the boys crashing the party. It would have been awful and trashy and she would have loved every moment of it because they were her friends and were celebrating her happiness.
Jackie would walk her down the aisle and sniff loudly in the front row whilst Rose would stand at her side as her Maid of Honour.
She was impossibly sad that they weren't there with her and she hoped they wouldn't be too upset about missing out on her wedding day. She was sure that when they met Reinette though, and saw how wonderful she was and how happy she made Zoe, they would be happy for her.
Although the idea of her 18th century aristocratic wife in her mum's small grey flat in the middle of 21st century London was a thought so hilarious to her that she bit down on her knuckles to stop herself from dissolving into a fit of laughter. It was a ridiculous image but one that she couldn't wait to make a reality. Jackie would be taken aback, but perhaps not entirely surprised given the portrait in the Louvre. She would welcome Reinette with open arms though, of that Zoe was certain. The only thing she would have to do would be to keep Jack away from her as the two of them in the same room was a recipe for disaster in her opinion.
But she wasn't going to let her sad feelings ruin her wedding day because she was getting married and her excitement outweighed everything else.
"Et voilà." Marie said and Zoe brought her thoughts back to the present and looked at her reflection in the mirror, surprised that she had been able to pin it back so that it was lifted off her neck but kept some of its charming unruliness. "I think a few gems would be perfect."
"No jewels." Zoe said, tilting her chin up. "Flowers. Blue forget-me-nots."
Marie's eyes softened. "Reinette's favourite."
Zoe just smiled up at her, unembarrassed by the romantic gesture.
By the time that the hour of the ceremony arrived, Zoe was more sober than she'd been during her entire time in France to date, and had washed the taste of red wine from her mouth with enough water to make her uncomfortable enough that she had to use the chamberpot before she left her apartments with Marie. Life in the residential side of the palace, those rooms that were not taken up by official functions, came to a temporary halt at the sight of Zoe in her wedding dress. They were more than aware of her relationship with Reinette and seemed to accept it with the usual equanimity that servants generally displayed, and so they fell to one side as she walked slowly down the hall, burdened by the unfamiliar dress, on the queen's arm.
It was a dress of pale ivory that had been specially made for the occasion. A rush had been placed on it and since the order came from the Queen of France, the dressmaker had got it in ahead of schedule with plenty of time to alter it to fit Zoe's slender, toned frame. The bustle wasn't as large as those on Reinette's dresses and the bodice was tight, her shape held in place by structured material instead of the torturous devices of stays. The sleeves were fitted around her upper arms and then flowed out from her elbows. She wore no jewellery despite Reinette giving her free reign of her personal jewels and she accepted a bouquet of Morning Glories, the dark blue colour that reminded her of the TARDIS.
She stepped out of the palace and into the cold of late January. Snow still frosted the ground and there was a small carriage that would convey her and Marie across the grounds to Reinette's gardens where they were to marry in front of Apollo Fountain.
Reinette was already there, waiting under a large gazebo tent, shrouded from Zoe's eyes and Louis smiled widely as his wife and friend emerged from the carriage. He hurried forward and offered his hand to Zoe who took it, fingers already chilled in the cold weather but she hadn't wanted to wear gloves. He leaned in close and kissed one cheek and then the other, the scent of his familiar perfume filling her nose. He was dressed a little nicer than normal: not so fine that it would attract any unwanted attention from the people he had visiting, some members of the Spanish Royal family, but nice enough that he looked as though he'd made an effort.
For whilst many in the court simply accepted their relationship for what it was and turned a blind eye to it, they were French after all and it was hardly uncommon, it wouldn't do to advertise such a thing in front of the Spanish who were annoyingly Catholic and pious. The rumours of a woman marrying a woman with the king's permission might just be enough to potentially destabilise the French aristocracy, years before the people were meant to rise up against them and so the ceremony was, by necessity, to be short and private.
"You look beautiful." Louis whispered in her ear and she could only smile at him, too excited to find her words, her stomach alive with butterflies. "Are you ready?"
"Absolutely."
"Good." He smiled at her. "Then let's begin."
He had organised a small orchestra to play pieces of Jean-Baptiste Lully's work and he gave a small nod in their direction. They lifted their violins, violas, and cellos and began to play. Zoe turned the bouquet in her hands and watched as Reinette emerged from the gazebo in a dress nearly as beautiful as she was. Her blonde hair seemed to shine under the sun of the day and her neck glittered with diamonds as she made her way forward, the hem of her pale yellow gown brushing against the snow. Marie gave Zoe a little push and she started forward, the snow crunching beneath her feet; and as they walked towards each other Zoe's heart beat heavily in her chest at the enormity of what she was doing.
She was pledging her life and her love to this one woman for the rest of her days.
It was terrifying but exhilarating at the same time.
"Hi." Zoe whispered to Reinette when they met in front of the fountain.
Reinette's smile stretched across her face. "Hello. You look...you're so beautiful."
"So are you." She said softly and she freed one hand to reach for Reinette's, which was willingly given. "We're getting married today."
Reinette laughed. "I know. It's wonderful, isn't it?"
Louis cleared his throat and they both looked to him. He had an amused, fond expression on his face as he took his place between them, his back to the fountain, with Marie standing just before them as witness.
"Shall we begin?" He asked and Zoe nodded, squeezing Reinette's hand. They both handed their bouquets to the queen, who took them and held her against her chest.
Towards the end of her life, the memory of her wedding to Reinette would become blurred through old age and distorted through time, but the one thing that would stand out as clear as though she was seeing it for the first time was how beautiful Reinette looked in her wedding dress. It was the second wedding for her, yet she had approached the ceremony with more excitement and fluttering nerves than anything else in her life. Her enthusiasm as they discussed how they should marry and what they should wear had filled their days in the run up to the ceremony and now that they were there, Zoe could barely hear the words Louis was speaking as all she could think, on a repeating loop, was that she was getting married.
"With this ring," Reinette said with Zoe's slender hand in hers, "I thee wed."
She slid the simple gold ring onto Zoe's finger and brushed her thumb over it, elated.
"Zoe, you have your own vows for today?" Louis asked, looking to her and she tore her eyes away from Reinette, clearing her throat.
"Yes, I do." Zoe said and she kept hold of Reinette's hand. "Right, well, okay then. When – er – when I first came here, I never expected to be here longer than it took to take care of the clockwork androids that, for me, took place over a few hours. I never thought I'd be here long enough to know anyone beyond their names, but then I stepped through the time window after having made the decision to save you and, in an instant, my world was cut off to me."
Reinette listened attentively.
"I was so upset with myself," she continued, "and angry that I was cut off from the life that I loved, and I was awful the first few months."
"The first few years." Reinette corrected with a humorous twist of her mouth and Louis coughed to cover his laughter.
"We'll agree to disagree." Zoe said, eyes sparkling with amusement, and Reinette grinned at her. "I was horrible and blind to the fact that I'd been given a gift. I don't claim to fully understand how Time works, and I don't believe in fate or destiny, but I do believe that you and I are meant to be. Us being together is good and right and stepping through that time window, although it didn't feel like it at the time, was the best decision I've ever made in my life."
Reinette's eyes were glassy with unshed tears.
"And I know we're two different people." She continued. "You're an aristocrat and I'm the daughter of a single mother from a council estate in London, but together we make sense in a way that nothing else has in my life. You are my heart and my soul, and I love you more than I thought it was possible to ever love something."
The tears spilt over and slipped down Reinette's pale cheeks silently, glittering like her diamonds in the sun.
"So, Reinette, my vows to you are this." Zoe said, breathing in deeply. "I promise that whatever life I have, it's yours to share. I promise that I'll be your shield against the world, and the universe, so that you know you are always protected and safe at my side. I promise that I will honour you above all others. And I promise that I will be your safe harbour amidst storms. These are my promises to you, from now until my last breath."
Reinette raised a hand and swiped at her tears whilst Marie hid her face in the flowers, sniffling there. Louis cleared his throat of the tight emotion that was lodged within.
"How beautiful." He murmured, handkerchief pressing against his eyes. "Zoe, the ring."
"I give you this ring as a symbol of the words I've just spoken." Zoe said, holding the golden ring up between them. "I ask that you wear it so you don't forget that I pledge myself, wholly and without reservation, to you and your life."
She took Reinette's trembling hand in hers and her own hand was shaking. She struggled to get it on but, when she did, the ring slid smoothly down over her finger. She looked up and held Reinette's eyes, feeling calmer and more at peace with herself than ever before.
"With this ring, I thee wed."
July 3rd 1763, La Rochelle
The sun was so hot that Zoe felt as though she was going to melt into the pure white sand of the beach that she and Reinette were enjoying in La Rochelle. She had no sun cream to protect her skin and was only spared from burning by the fact that she had to wear clothing suitable for the time period, although her wife had expressed an avid interest in bikinis that she promised to introduced her to once the Doctor finally made his appearance. Next to her, Reinette seemed perfectly comfortable reclining on the blanket with her back supported by cushions and shaded by the large parasol that they both shared.
It was week seven of their honeymoon, delayed due to security reasons and finally approved near the end of April when they proceeded to hurry from the palace in case permission was revoked. They had taken a long, lazy route to La Rochelle and had only been in the port town for three weeks but neither of them were tired of it just yet. There was plenty to see and do, and Reinette enjoyed the obscurity that being away from the palace afforded her. She dressed more simply and relished the opportunity to speak with normal people in the street. Zoe often found herself having to tug her away whilst wondering how she had ended up married to someone as infuriatingly friendly as the Doctor.
To date, their marriage was a resounding success.
Neither of them had been as blissfully happy as they were over the last six months and they took joy in the simple every day things that they had done before but were now imbued with new meaning linked to the rings they both wore. Zoe was happy and relaxed, something that only increased once they left the confines of the palace where they both, by necessity, had to be discreet about their change in relationship. There was a freedom that came with being away from Versailles and they both basked in it.
"Have you ever met Shakespeare?" Reinette asked, breaking through the hazy thoughts of her wife as Zoe considered whether it was worth peeling herself up off the blanket to cool off in the warm sea.
"Shakespeare?" Zoe blinked opening her eyes. "No. Why?"
"Just curious." She replied, peeking over the top of her book that Zoe noticed was a play by Shakespeare though the name of the play was too small for her to read from where she was. "Have you met any interesting historical figures? I realise I've only ever asked you about the alien planets you've been to."
"I met Winston Churchill once." Zoe said. "That was fun."
"Who?"
"He's one of the most famous British Prime Ministers of all time." Zoe explained, lifting her legs up and pointing her toes towards the sea. "But not for another one hundred and eighty years or so. He saved Britain from annihilation at the hands of the Germans."
"I'm sorry, what?" Reinette asked, bewildered, and she lowered her book. "The Germans?"
"During World War Two." Zoe said around a yawn and she stretched her whole body, her vision swimming at the stretch. "The Germans were bombing the hell out of us and blocking off our trade routes so we couldn't get food stuff in from our allies. We nearly starved to death, but Churchill and the Allies helped to prevent that. Historians call it our finest hour."
"World War Two?"
"Not to be confused with World War One." She replied, rolling onto her stomach and propping her self up on her elbows, resting her chin in her hands. Her feet were out from beneath the shade of the parasol and immediately started to prickle from the heat. "Which only ended twenty years earlier. It was a bad first half of the 20th century, I won't lie to you."
"The more I hear about your time, the more terrifying it sounds." Reinette admitted.
"That's not my time." She corrected. "My time is about fifty, sixty years later. I'm from the 21st century but born in the 20th. You'll like my time. We have things like the Internet, fast food, cars: you're going to love cars."
Reinette laughed and Zoe, unable to resist, used her elbows to crawl up the blanket until she was lying at her wife's side and she kissed the laughter from her mouth. They were on a private beach but there was always the danger of being caught, something that concerned Reinette more than Zoe, and so she reluctantly kept the kiss fairly suitable for all audiences. When she pulled back, she kissed Reinette on the tip of her nose and opened her mouth to ask her if she'd like to have something to eat when an awful sound broke through the silent heat haze of the afternoon.
The sea screamed loudly as it drew away from the shore and was churned in a vicious circle creating a whirlpool that grew in strength, speed, and size. A large military ship that was moored off the coast of La Rochelle strained against its anchor and broke free under the grip of the sea. From the shore, tiny images of sailors ran back and forth across the deck as they tried to steady the ship: sails were cast down in an effort to carry them away from danger but to no avail. The current of the whirlpool was too strong and Zoe and Reinette, along with the citizens of La Rochelle who had spilled out of their homes, bars, and restaurants at the sound of the sea, watched in horror as the ship was crushed under the might of the whirlpool. Splinters of wood shot up into the air as it folded in half. Sailors tried to jump and swim to safety but they merely drowned slower than their brethren who stayed on board.
As abruptly as the whirlpool started, it finished.
The water rose up like a chest heaving with breath before it crashed back down and flew outwards. Zoe grabbed hold of Reinette under her arm and heaved her to her feet. They just made it off the beach and behind the safety of a low stone wall when the water rushed up through the where they had been sitting and carried their belongings away when it was pulled back out. Reinette's fingers were curled in the back of Zoe's dress and her face was painted with an expression of surprise.
"What was that?" Reinette asked breathlessly.
"I have no idea." Zoe replied, bewildered by the unexpectedness of everything. "Come on. Let's go."
"Where?"
"To the docks." She said, already moving and Reinette was forced to move with her as she wasn't willing to let go of her shirt just yet. "Come on!"
They ran barefoot along the hot, compressed mud that formed the streets of La Rochelle, their shoes having been washed out to sea, and Reinette was relieved when they reached the docks as the wood was much more forgiving on the soles of her feet. The large wooden pier was alive and buzzing with sailors and locals trying to see if there were any survivors from the strange phenomenon and Zoe elbowed her way to the front. Nothing, not even odd pieces of wood, washed up against the dock. The sea was as calm as it had been all day and it looked as though nothing was amiss.
"What was that?" Zoe asked the harbour master, who was looking stern and unapproachable amidst the chaos and who subsequently ignored her in favour of stalking off to yell something terse and sharp at one of the boys under his employ.
Fortunately, Reinette had more luck extracting information and she appeared at Zoe's shoulder to talk into her ear.
"A Charybdis." She said and there was a shiver of excitement in her tone: adrenaline junkie Zoe thought fondly. "The sailors say it's a Charybdis. Are they even real?"
"I have no idea what one of those is." Zoe admitted. "What's a Charybdis?"
"It's from Ancient Greek mythology." Reinette said, her mouth lifting fondly. "I know how much you love that."
Zoe just rolled her eyes. She had tried studying mythology for a while but found the Ancient Greek stories the hardest to remember. The lesson that she took away from it all was not to trust Zeus with wives and babies.
"It's a sea monster that is said to eat water three times a day and return it back, creating whirlpools in the ocean." She explained. "The people here believe that there is one off the coast. Is such a thing likely?"
"I've seen stranger things." Zoe confessied, thinking of the Slitheen in people suits years ago. "And where there's smoke there's fire, so maybe. There's probably a much more logical explanation though. I wish I had the screwdriver with me."
She'd left it in their rented apartments in the city, no longer in the habit of carrying it with her wherever she went. She rocked back and forth on her heels as she thought about her next course of action. There was every likelihood that the whirlpool was a naturally occurring phenomenon but happening so close to the shore and with the reports of other instances around them to feed into the myth of the Charybdis made it less likely that it was a natural event. It was most likely that something else was at play: alien or otherwise. She looked over at Reinette who was watching her, waiting patiently.
"We should probably head back to the apartments." Zoe said and her wife's face fell just a little, which made delight swell in Zoe's chest. "You know, maybe stop along the way and talk to people about this thing. Find out what we know."
Reinette's smile was blinding. "We could do that, I suppose."
Zoe winked at her.
They made their way off the dock and back into the city, or at least what passed for a city in 18th century France: the size of it would only qualify it being a large town in the 21st century but, for the French, for now, it was a city. They dipped into cafés that were abuzz with the news and Reinette did most of the talking as she was more charming than Zoe and also white.
Racism was alive and well in the 18th century and Zoe had long since reached the end of her tether in dealing with racists so she was happy to hang back and let her wife take the lead, letting people assume that she was Reinette's close, personal servant. As much as she loved France, she would be grateful for a time when she could get a straight answer out of people without them giving her the runaround because she was black.
Night was beginning to fall when they got back to their palatial apartment, and Zoe started putting together dinner for them; Reinette couldn't cook to save her life but she enjoyed watching Zoe go about it. As Zoe put together a simple meal of cold chicken and a salad with the fresh bread that was picked up that morning, they discussed what they'd learned.
"Eight times in the last four months." Reinette said, enjoying the cool night's air as it brushed over her bare arms. "And they say it happens regularly. The next one is likely to be in two weeks."
"This sounds more and more like it's intentional." Zoe said, tossing the salad in a home made dressing. "Although it doesn't sound as though the whirlpool forms in the same place each time otherwise the ships would be able to avoid it."
"Is it alien?" She asked, setting two wine glasses down on the table and decanting the bottle of white wine into in.
"I want to say yes, but I can't for sure." Zoe replied. "It may very well be alien but there's all sorts of human things it could be as well. Even in my time, the bottom of the ocean is rarely explored. More people have been to the moon than have been on the ocean floor. So maybe it's something from there."
"Between you and me," Reinette said with a spark of mischief in her eyes, "I hope it's alien."
Zoe threw back her head and laughed. "I've corrupted you."
"In more ways than one, my darling." Reinette replied, sweeping forward to kiss her and dinner remained forgotten as they pursued other, more pleasurable, activities.
The next morning, Zoe armed herself with her screwdriver and an outfit that allowed her to wear trousers discreetly before she and Reinette set off for the docks again. She wanted to hire a boat to take them out onto the water so that she could scan it and she left Reinette to make the arrangements as she stared out across the sea that sparkled brightly beneath the summer sun. It was so peaceful and quiet. It was one thing that she'd really come to appreciate about the past and that was the silence of a world without technology and machinery. Life was more or less the same but it was more pleasant without the pollution dirtying the air or the noise of car horns or ship engines filling the world.
Reinette secured them a small fishing trawler with only the captain willing to go out onto the ocean with them and Zoe climbed aboard. Conscious that her motion sickness might end up with her breakfast going over the side, she held onto the rail tightly. Fortunately, the sea was calm and it was as easy as travelling by car so she felt nothing but trepidation at being over such deep water. Reinette leaned against her side, her hair flowing back against the breeze the journey created.
"Don't know what you think you'll find." Philippe, the captain, said as he lowered the sails and dropped anchor. "Others have been out having a look and they haven't found anything."
"I'm not other people." Zoe said before she leaned so far over the side that Reinette quickly grabbed hold of her in case she slipped head first into the water.
Zoe extended the sonic screwdriver out and, with her tongue between her teeth, she activated the scanner for the first time since the Alfasi incident two years earlier. She scanned the surface of the water and dipped her hand into it whilst she was waiting for the results. When it gave a soft ping, she looked at the readings and wiggled her behind so that Reinette could help pull her back up. She sat down heavily on the floor, the blood having rushed to her head, and she held the screwdriver up to Reinette: Philippe was leaning over the opposite side of the boat smoking.
"Alien." She said and if Reinette had known how to do so, she would have given a small fist pump of excitement.
"What next then?" Reinette asked. "How do we talk to them?"
"No idea." Zoe replied happily, picking herself up. "Don't even know what species they are, or even if they are capable of speech. Even if they are, it's unlikely they'll speak English or French, and the only alien words I know are swear words."
"Your friend Jack?" She asked, mouth lifting in amusement.
"My friend Jack." Zoe laughed. "I'm not sure what to do right now. The alien isn't down there right now. It's probably moved on but I might be able to track it with the concentration of its secretions in the water. Can you get Philippe onboard with going on a wild goose chase?"
"Leave that with me, darling."
Whatever Reinette said to the captain got him to agree on what he clearly thought was a waste exercise but they were paying him well and he would be able to keep all the coins for himself rather than share them amongst his crew so he was as happy as he could be. Still, he must have thought Zoe completely odd as she leaned over the side of the boat with the screwdriver extended and called directions to him as she did so. They got further and further out from shore until La Rochelle was a speck in the distance and Philippe was beginning to wonder if he should put a stop to it before he found himself in the middle of the Atlantic when Zoe cried out for him to stop. He dropped the sail and used the heavy wooden oars to slow their movements before dropping the anchor and the boat gave a lurch when it caught on the sea bed.
"It's coming from over there." She said, pointing off to the port side of the boat, showing Reinette the screwdriver. "About thirty feet. Whatever it is, it's there."
"So what do we do?"
"You can stay here." Zoe offered. "Definitely be safer."
"Where you go, I go, remember?" Reinette replied and Zoe looked away, pleased. "What do we do?"
"I don't think I've ever asked." She said, looking at her appraisingly. "But how's your swimming?"
Philippe agreed to stay and wait for them for the simple fact that he was curious as to what they were doing, certain he would have a story to tell at the pub that night that might earn him a few drinks. Zoe and Reinette stripped down to their under things and dove into the cold water. Leading the way, Zoe cut through the sea and remembered Thanatos and little Okana and how much easier swimming in the Atlantic was. She had left the screwdriver on the boat, uncertain as to whether it was waterproof or not and unwilling to risk it, and so she used her common sense to lead her and Reinette to the correct spot that she'd marked with her eye.
"We need to dive." Zoe told Reinette, who had kept up admirable and looked particularly fetching wet. "Deep, even breaths and, if you have to, exhale evenly on the way up."
Reinette nodded.
They both drew in slow, deep breaths and Zoe dove beneath the surface first. It hurt to open her eyes in the salt water but she squinted through them and kicked with her legs to take her deeper beneath the surface, Reinette following her. She knew they wouldn't be able to swim to the bottom but the readings from the screwdriver said the alien was close to the surface and she came upon it unexpectedly. It was so startling that she released the breath she was holding and bubbles flew from her mouth. She had to kick for the surface again and when she breached the top she sucked in a deep breath and tried to process what she saw.
"Oh my god." Reinette gasped, appearing next to her, her blonde hair slicked back against her head and neck. "What was that?"
"It looked like a leviathan." Zoe said, panting. "It was so big. It had to be the size of a football pitch, at least."
"Do you think it's dangerous?"
"I really, really hope not." She replied, treading water. "Because I don't want us to get eaten."
"I would prefer that not to happen as well." Reinette agreed, catching her breath. "Again?"
"Again."
They dove once more and now they knew what they were expecting, it didn't startle them as much but it was still difficult to find the head of the creature. They had to resurface twice before they figured out which way was up and which way was down. They swam to the front of its body and large, pale eyes watched them. It was unnerving but it made no move to attack them so it was either peaceful or they were so insignificant that they weren't worth the effort to eat.
Zoe floated in front of it and gave a small wave that the Doctor had taught her. It was a universally recognised greeting: the dominant limb raised and any extremities spread as far as they could go, moved back and forth four times before it was dropped back to the side.
With her lungs burning, she waited hopefully and the Leviathan blinked.
When she opened her eyes again, she was on the surface of the water and Philippe was pulling her back onto the boat. She looked at Reinette who was wet, pale, and worried above her, shivering in a scratchy blanket that smelt of fish.
"What happened?" Zoe asked groggily, touching her head that throbbed. "Did I pass out?"
"The creature spoke to us." Reinette said, helping her sit up. "You waved at it and its voice was clear and perfect. It's from a species called the Nereid and it became stranded here three months ago. It's been trying to get home. That's what the whirlpools are: a way to leave the ocean and return home to their own but it's not working."
"Nereid." She repeated, resting back against the side of the boat. "That's neat. Why don't I remember?"
"It said your memory will come back but it needed to give you information about how to help it." Reinette explained. "An information transfer along telepathic pathways."
She groaned. "That explains the headache."
"What did it mean?"
"Some species are able to communicate by touching each other's minds." Zoe explained, feeling a little sick as the information the Nereid had put in her mind like she was some sort of computer sorted itself out. "The Doctor...his species, the Gallifreyans, they're one such species: they were all linked on a low level telepathic pathway."
"Are you –?"
"No, just human, me." She replied with a faint smile. "Which is why this hurts so much, but I know what to do now. I'm going to have to MacGyver it but I can do it. Help me up, please."
Reinette threw off her fish-scented blanket and helped her wife to her feet, supporting her when she stumbled. Zoe abruptly pushed away from her and vomited over the side of the boat, ending with a groan.
"I'm okay." She said, wiping the back of her hand across her mouth. "I need the sonic screwdriver and something large and metal. The anchor will do."
Philippe went to pull the anchor up and Reinette helped Zoe dry off and dress in her trousers and shirt, leaving her over dress off, before she pulled on her own clothes. By the time the captain pulled the anchor onto the deck, Zoe was a whirlwind of activity.
"What are you doing?" Reinette asked, taking care to stay out of her way but curious to know exactly what was happening.
"I'm creating an electrical charge that will give just enough juice to the Nereid's attempt to create a dimensional portal that will allow it to travel from our ocean to its own like that." She clicked her fingers and Reinette opened her mouth to ask a question but Zoe anticipated it. "A dimensional portal is like a door between one place and another, but much, much further apart: think galaxies apart."
"What's a dimension?"
"A dimension is everything we see around us, it's the space that we live in." Zoe explained, drying the anchor off with the blanket so that she didn't accidentally create an electrical feedback that would bite at her. "In my time, there are four commonly accepted dimensions that make up our universe: three chosen from height, width, length, and depth, and then the fourth dimension of time. These are the dimensions in which we live in. However, there is a fifth dimension and that's space. All of these combined form the universe in which we live, and a thorough understanding of the fourth and fifth dimensions make time and space travel possible."
Reinette stared at her as she tried to understand. She knew the words spoken were French but she had never heard them put together in that order before and she was struck by how smart her wife was.
"So we will be opening a portal to the fifth dimension to allow the Nereid to travel home?"
"Exactly!"
"How?"
"By creating an electrical charge." Zoe explained. "See, salt water is basically a conductive solution. It carries an electrical charge really, really well because it's got both positively and negatively charged ions in it, which the Nereid is trying to use. However, our oceans aren't as salty as the oceans back on its home world so it needs a little kick up the bum to help it, which is where we come in."
"And we're going to run this electrical current through the water and then what?"
"And then we watch as the ions in the water accelerate at a greater rate in the presence of Time Lord technology and human ingenuity." Zoe said, melting a piece of the anchor so she could stick the screwdriver to it, giving it a small pat of thanks even as she felt a brush of grief through her as it was her only connection to the Doctor. "Although this does mean the end of the sonic screwdriver. When we see the Doctor again, you're going to have to back me up that sacrificing it was for a good cause."
"Of course." Reinette said. "But are you sure?"
"As sure as I always am." She replied. "Which isn't a lot, but let's try it anyway because it's always important to try. Philippe! Take us port, I'll tell you when to stop. Darling, help me with this anchor and toss it overboard when I say so."
"Will the Nereid know when to start its whirlpool?" She asked, grimacing at the weight of the anchor in her hands.
"We're still connected." Zoe explained. "So it'll know."
The boat came close to the edge of the concentration of Nereid excretions and the water began to churn dangerously, buffeting them away from the centre of the whirlpool, but Zoe called out to Philippe to stay steady. When the whirlpool was at its height and they were in danger of being sucked in, she and Reinette pitched the anchor over the side and the reaction was immediate. An electrical charge ran across the surface of the water and the boat was buffeted violently back as the three of them were thrown from their feet and onto the deck as the boat was lifted into the air whilst the water below them sucked in on itself and the Nereid passed through the portal.
Water crashed over the side and drenched them afresh when it slammed back down.
Zoe's head immediately stopped throbbing and she looked to Reinette with a grin. "Easy peasy, lemon squeezy."
Reinette lay back on the surface of the boat and laughed, thrilled that this was her life now.
December 31st 1763, Versailles
Zoe yawned so widely that she heard her jaw click as she made her return from Paris up the sweeping drive of the palace. She was tired and cold and just wanted to be in the warmth of her apartments, preferably buried beneath the blankets with a still sick Reinette. Yet again, her wife had fallen prey to the various illnesses that sprouted up in the winter season and was confined to bed rest, and was appropriately irritable with Zoe's fussing. In an effort not to argue with her whilst she was sick, Zoe had removed herself to Paris for the day and she caught up with several friends and looked in on the school that she'd set up some years ago with the king's money, pleased to find that it was flourishing. The children looked bright eyed, clean, and well-fed: the school provided breakfast and lunch for them every day and they were often the only meals the children got to eat all day.
She'd stayed longer than she intended and finally peeled herself away as the sun began to dip beneath the horizon. She didn't enjoy travelling in the dark, particularly as she was without a carriage, and so she had saddled Louis the horse, bid farewell to the children and teachers, and made as much time as she could whilst the sun was still up.
Another yawn gripped her and she whined through it. She just wanted a bath and bed, but she would skip the bath if it was too much effort. The thought of crawling into bed next to her wife, no matter how sick she was, helped to push her forward and Louis trotted up the drive towards the palace that was lit up in anticipation of the ball that night. Since Reinette was sick, neither of them were attending and that suited Zoe just fine. She liked the balls well enough when she and Reinette got to dance together but she found them a tedious exercise in diplomacy and biting her tongue. She much preferred spending time alone with Reinette in their apartments.
"Evening, Lady Zoe." Robert greeted, taking the reins from her hands when he emerged from the warmth of the palace to take Louis from her.
"Evening, Robert." Zoe replied, dismounting smoothly. "Hope you're keeping warm tonight."
I am, madame, thank you." He said. "Have a nice night."
She returned the sentiment and jogged up the steps, unconcerned that she was dressed in dusty travel gear rather than the bright and shining dresses of the nobility that were present to celebrate the New Year. The entrance hall was empty of them, though she heard the sound of music and laughter filtering from the ballroom, and she swung down a corridor away from it, hoping she could persuade a servant to bring her some of the food. She didn't like the balls but she did enjoy the food. She hoped she would be able to tempt Reinette into eating as well, as she was looking more tired and thinner over the last few weeks. The illness was affecting her more strongly this year than the past. It was concerning but not overly so as Reinette had the habit of working too hard when she should delegate.
Zoe and Louis both agreed that she needed to slow down but she was stubborn and had kept working until she fainted one day and Zoe had put her foot down.
Perhaps a change of scenery would do her good.
They could return to La Rochelle, a place they both loved and had fond memories of, or perhaps just go to one of Louis's country homes so that she was away from the temptation of work.
She was contemplating how long such a trip would take to put together when she walked straight into the king, who was dressed in all his finery. She stumbled but grabbed him by the shoulders to keep him upright and she laughed, surprised.
"Oh, Louis, I'm sorry!" She apologised, brushing him off and straightening his elegant coat. "I didn't see you there. Got lost in my own little world. Shouldn't you be at the ball?"
"Zoe." Louis said carefully, his tone of voice pained and his expression uncertain.
"That's my name, don't wear it out." She said cheerfully before grimacing. "God, forget I said. It might be popular in two hundred years but it'll never be funny. What's up?"
"Zoe." He said again. "It's Reinette."
Cold fear shot through her and she forgot how to breathe for a second.
"What's happened?" Her voice was cold and sharp; she didn't recognise herself in the tone.
"Her cough got worse." He explained and she couldn't understand why he was speaking to her as though she was a frightened horse that he needed to keep calm. "I called for the doctor again and...oh, Zoe, I'm so sorry. It's - it's tuberculosis."
Tuberculosis.
She felt the structure of her world begin to shake.
"What?" She whispered.
"It's in her lungs." Louis said, patting at his face with his handkerchief. He looked distraught and pale beneath his make-up. "She was coughing up blood this afternoon, she says it been happening for days but she's said nothing because she didn't want to worry us, so I called Le Mariniére. He said...oh, Zoe...he said there's nothing he can do."
She felt as though she was suspended over the edge of the tallest cliff and one wrong move would see her shattering into thousands of pieces against the ground below.
"There must be something." Zoe said determinedly, her mind racing, because the alternative was just too horrific for her to accept or even acknowledge.
"All we can do is make her comfortable." Louis told her softly and he reached for her, presumably to share in his grief with the one person who understood what loving Reinette was like, but Zoe shoved past him.
She knocked the King of France to one side, and she stalked down the hallway; anger and desperation radiating off her and she started to run.
She burst through the doors of their apartments, startling the servants so fiercely that they jumped back from their tasks with a scream. One glance at her face had them scurrying out of the doors, closing them firmly behind them. Zoe stared at Reinette, who looked small and frail in their bed, her skin so white it looked like the paste. Her eyes met Zoe's from the bed and they stared at each other, the horror of their new reality gaped between them. She swayed on her feet as Reinette's face collapsed in on itself, her bravery leaving her.
"I'm sorry, my darling." Reinette choked on a sob. "I'm so sorry."
Zoe stumbled to the bed their shared and crawled onto it, dirty shoes and all, and she drew Reinette into her arms. Her wife clung to her and buried her face into her chest, her shoulders heaving with sobs, and Zoe couldn't breathe. She was choking on her pain and her grief and the utter incomprehension of what was happening to them. None of it seemed possible and all of it seemed so painfully unfair. She buried her face in the top of Reinette's blonde hair and curled around her wife, trying to wrap her up and shield her from death, as though her body would keep it at bay.
"It's okay." Zoe whispered through her thick tears, hand smoothing back Reinette's hair. "It's okay. It's going to be okay. I'm here. I'm here."