Chapter 23

Pride walked down the hall, an idea in mind.

"Doctor?"

"Yes?"

"Can we go to Amestris' past?" There was a pause. "You said this ship travels in time, right? And I just thought it would be nice to use that in a place I'm familiar with. And it's a good way to learn about history, isn't it?"

The Doctor was quiet for a moment and Pride tried not to react. This was certainly a risk. It could be an inoculous enough comment, but given his history, it could also be suspicious. He'd been planning to take the risk since the Doctor first mentioned the ship could travel through time though.

"There are rules," the Doctor said. "You can't mess with the past. It's against the rules of time and it could make changes to history or you." Yes, that was the point. It wasn't that he didn't enjoy traveling with the Doctor. He did. At over three hundred, it was rare to experience something so new. He actually had it in him to do things again. But he wasn't going to completely ignore the potential to change the past. "You never know what could happen."

Well it would be hard to make things worse than they currently were.

Pride nodded. "That's okay. No one even has to know we're there."

"Okay." The Doctor walked back towards the controls. "Okay. Why not? I don't always go where I planned, but I can try."

They took off. Outside he could hear rain now. The Doctor opened the door partially to a stone wall. She turned back to him.

"You ready?"

They walked out into a stone hall, blue ornate rug on the floor. There were no windows in sight, the only light coming from a torch on the wall.

"Well something went wrong," the Doctor said.

Pride nodded. "There are no castles in Amestris," he said, making his tone oh so happy he could tell the Doctor that.

Amestris had been a very small country before Father had taken it over, and even then castles were becoming far less common, and Father had been busy preparing for the Promised Day. But they were clearly in a castle, and considering the years castles were built, Pride might not even be born yet. That was no easy feat.

Which was nice and all, but he'd finally had a plan, and it involved Amestris, and preferably a little later in history. Why did the TARDIS have to get it wrong, again?

"What the-? What are you doing here?!"

Pride straightened up. He and the Doctor turned towards the voice. There was a young man in the hallway. He was built kind of like a stick with brown hair and eyes. He'd raised his fists but he clearly had no fighting skills. For one, he was holding his fists wrong.

"I don't know how you got in," he said. "But you must be intruders."

"Intruders? Excuse you," the Doctor said with an affronted expression. She stepped forward and pulled out what looked like a wallet, flipping it open. "I'll have you know we were invited. I'm Jane Bradley, this is my nephew Selim. We're expected. Don't tell me you're not prepared."

Pride tried not to stare. The Doctor had never used a fake name before. And not only that, she'd used his. It made sense. If she thought he was Selim she was making it easier on him, and even as Pride it was nice not to have another name he was juggling around. But it just sounded weird to hear her call herself a Bradley.

"What?" The man took a step back, uncertainty flashing across his face, and fists dropping. "No. No of course we're prepared. I'm sure you'll enjoy tonight's feast. My apologies. I, we, just didn't expect you inside already."

"Feast?" the Doctor asked.

If she was pretending they were supposed to be there, she should probably pretend to now why.

Luckily, the person they'd met didn't seem to notice. "Of course. I'm Peter. If you'll just come this way, I can take you to the Great Hall."

He waved his hand for them to follow, and started down the hall. They passed a narrow window rain was getting through, and down an absurdly narrow staircase. Eventually they reached a large wooden door. Peter pushed it open with impressive strength for someone his size. Inside were multiple wooden tables, along the wall to create space in the middle of the room. On the other side was a large fire place, flames roaring in it. There was a balcony in the right hand corner of the room, but no one was up there. In fact, aside from the three of them, there was no one in the room at all.

Pride looked around with a frown. "Is it supposed to be empty?" he asked.

"Not to worry. The Lord and Lady will be here soon," Peter assured them. "You just make yourself comfortable."

Then he bowed and walked out of the room. The Doctor slowly made her way further in. The way her eyes darted around, it was like she was looking for something. Well, given their history so far, Pride couldn't blame her for being on her guard.

He moved after her. "Is everything alright? You seem worried. And no one's here."

"I don't know. Something seems off here."

"Oh."

Pride looked around the room again, but couldn't tell what she was talking about.

But then they had just sat down when a rumbling shook the castle. The table shifted, rattling the plates on it. Pride could feel the chair shake under him. And it wasn't coming from outside. It was coming from the ground, from somewhere below them. So it couldn't be thunder.

Pride stared at the floor, then back up at the Doctor. Yes, she'd noticed what was wrong as well.

"What was that?" Pride asked, leaning in closer to half whisper.

"I don't know. But I think it's time we investigated, don't you?"

Well, here we go again. He actually didn't mind so much this time. It had been a while after all. He nodded.

That was when the doors reopened. Trumpts played, and Lord Frederick and Lady Emily were announced.

[Historical accuracy isn't my thing, but given what 1910s Amestris looked like I don't think that really matters.]