El's eyebrows knit together, as she sat on the floor, reading the book the Doctor had provided for her. It wasn't anything too complex, a collection of old Time Lord fairytales the Doctor had grown up with.
"…the woman did not have a lavish life." The Doctor read slowly, El mouthing each word as the Doctor read. "She was not rich, or powerful, or especially smarter than anyone else. In fact, she and her sister had barely enough to pay the rent. But, one day, the king sent out word to all the towns in the land. At his castle, he was going to hold a series of trials."
"Trials?" El repeated. "Like court?" She asked, recalling an earlier story of the Firebird of Law.
The Doctor smiled but shook his head. "No, trials in this context means… tests. Like tests of strength, tests of intelligence."
"Oh." El nodded slowly. "Like… Hercules?"
The Doctor beamed proudly. "Exactly! But the trials the king planned were different," He turned back to the book, beginning to read from it again, "The king asked his citizens, anyone who was willing to come, to participate. He said, the trials would be dangerous, but for all who made it through, they would receive a prize beyond their wildest imagination…"
El looked at the Doctor inquisitively. "What kind of prize?"
"I'm getting to that." The Doctor answered, turning back to the book. "Rebecca did not want her sister to go to the trials, should she perish because of them, but Ivory knew that whatever the prize was, it could help them to survive the coming winter, so, off she went. Once there, those who chose to undergo the trials were starved for almost a week. The next, they were forced to eat the mind-fish, creatures that would cause them to experience temporary insanity. They were left out in the rain to be struck by lightning, stabbed with all sorts of different needles, and forced to sit in completely blank rooms, by themselves, for days on end."
"That's…" El shivered. "Horrible. Sounds like something a bad person would do."
"Right you are, kiddo." The Doctor turned back to the book. "But, the woman made it through the trials, and for her effort… she received only enough gold to last her the week."
El frowned. "Doesn't sound… fabulous."
The Doctor turned to El, beaming proudly. "Hey! You used a new word in the right context!"
El tilted her head, before smiling herself. "I did!"
"Yep, after going through all that, the king's 'fabulous prize' was little more than milk money." The Doctor continued reading. "Ivory was angry, but took what she'd earned, and went back home. But, there was something happening, something unknown to Ivory…"
"Really?"
The Doctor continued. "Shortly before, a being from the heavens fell to the earth… an angel. The angel lost his memory, he knew not his name, or even where he came from. Ivory found him, took him in, nursed him back to health… and she fell in love with him. The angel returned it, but soon… he found himself being called away."
"Why?" El inquired, enraptured now by the story. She didn't get to read anything like that in the lab.
The Doctor read. "A Great War in Heaven erupted between the angel's people, and a terrifying race of demons from the darkest depths of the universe. The angel knew he had to join his brothers in the fight, but before he left, he and his love shared one, final night together… and then, he left. But, unknown to both of them, the angel left his love with child. Thus, when she went to undertake the trials… the child of the angel was growing inside the mother "
El gasped. "All those dangerous things, and there was a baby there?"
The Doctor nodded. "Anyhow… long after the trials had ended, the king had learned that Ivory was pregnant… and of the power that the child would wield. The king grew jealous, but waited, and when the child was born… he stole her away from her mother"
"Oh, no…"
"The king kept her locked in the dungeon for many, many years." The Doctor continued. "Constantly trying to use her to spy on the other kingdoms, to hurt people who threatened his reign. But then, one day… the angel appeared."
"The angel? The same one?"
The Doctor nodded. "The angel had died during the battle against the demons… but he'd been reborn and was sent falling back down to the earth. There, he found Ivory's child. His child. He rescued her from the king, and with a group of noble knights, imprisoned the king and his men for what they had done."
"What happened to the girl?"
"The girl's mother was long gone, so the angel took his child with him." The Doctor answered. "For you see, even though the girl had been treated so cruelly, she never gave in to despair, and when her father finally returned for her, he'd begun to teach her about her birthright… to explore the far distant stars." He smiled finally, closing the book, turning to El.
"Wow…" El looked to the Doctor. "Did all that really happen?"
"Of course it really happened." The Doctor answered. "All fairy tales, the Time Lord ones especially, happened somewhere out there, in the wide old universe."
"Then can we meet them?" El asked.
The Doctor smiled and winked. "Why not… But, we do have a lesson to continue. Now, what new words did you hear?"
El paused for a moment. "Dungeon, imprisoned, despair… birthright.
"Alright, and what do you think these words mean?"
"Dungeon is…" El began. "A bad place. Where people are kept locked up."
"Very good. Next word?"
"Imprisoned means…" El frowned.
"Think about the root, prison."
"It means they're locked away?"
"Great! Next word?"
"Despair is…" El frowned. "I don't know."
"Despair is like a deep, aching sort of sadness. Got that? Okay, last word, birthright… it means what she was born to do.
El nodded slowly.
"Right, now, next story." The Doctor turned the page. "Oh, it's a poem! I haven't read this one in ages!"
"What is… poem?"
"It's a story, but it's written in a rhythm, like it's meant to be sung." The Doctor explained. "You know, like a song without music."
"…music?" El asked.
The Doctor looked at the girl, heartstrings being tugged by her confusion. "Yeah… Tell you what, I've got whole section of the library blocked off just for music. After we get done here, we can go listen to some, yeah?"
El nodded, and the Doctor turned back to the book. Skipping the poem, he arrived to the next proper story. "The Legend of the Pandorica." He announced aloud.
"Long ago, when the stars were young, there was a demon. A nameless, terrible, destructive force of nature. None could reason with it, none could trap it, none could stop it…"