The Doctor, Leo, Eadburh and the Brigadier stood in the great hall, waiting
for the King. It was mid day and light was streaming in to the hall and
glinting of the golden thread woven in to the tapestries that hung on the
walls. The hall felt warm and comfortable despite its size and they all
felt strangely at peace there.
They were waiting to see the King. He was the only man in the country who could call on enough men to properly defend the enclosure. Leo was going to try to persuade him to send out the call to his Lords for men to come to their aid.
"Remind me why we don't just all jump in the Tardis and go somewhere that it is safe?" asked the Brigadier.
"This is our home," said Leo in a way that indicated that no further debate was necessary.
The Brigadier looked between the Doctor and Leo. Physically they were very different but he could detect the same steely determination under their outwardly friendly guises. Then the door at the side of the Hall opened and the King stepped in. They all bowed their heads in respect as the king moved over to his great chair.
"So, Leoffric, what matter do you need to speak to me so urgently on" asked the King.
"The attack last night my Lord. The lady Eadburh was seriously imperilled and we must prepare to deflect further attacks" said Leo.
"What would you have me do?" asked the King.
"I would humbly recommend that you send out the call to all the Earls and Lords to send men to protect the Palace. We can then prepare them to see off further assaults".
The Doctor watched the exchange between King Offa and Leo carefully. At first the King had seemed his usual self. However, the King was a man of action and the Doctor would have expected him to have quickly decided on a course of action, but he was questioning and debating this issue at great length. It appeared that he was trying to persuade Leo that to take any action at all would be an overreaction.
The Doctor slipped his hand in to an inside pocket and pulled out a pair of battered spectacles. Making a great show of cleaning them on the cuff of his jacket he then put them on and began to examine his fingernails. When he had looked at his fingers long enough to make it appear convincing that he had put them on for that very task he looked up at the king.
The Doctor had to stifle his every instinct to stop himself from jumping back in horror at what her saw. He pulled the spectacles down to the tip of his nose and looked over them at the King again. The apparition had gone. Then he pushed the spectacles back up on to the bridge of his nose and took in the figure he could now see through them.
It was intangible like a shadow but it appeared to have solid mass. It was almost transparent but seemed to swallow all the light around itself. It was the figure of a man, standing beside the King and whispering into his ear. It had a face, which was too indistinct to read, and its inaudible voice seemed to rustle the King's long fair hair like a gentle breeze.
The Doctor took of the spectacles and put them back in his pocket. When he looked at the King again he seemed to be alone and without his shadowy companion.
They watched the king depart and Leo turned back to the others.
"Well, that didn't go as well as planned" he said
"Let me talk to him, I am sure I can persuade him" said Eadburh before she turned to follow her father out of the hall.
The Doctor, Leo and the Brigadier stood looking at each other.
"Well, following the nights events I would have thought he would have been easy to persuade," said the Brigadier.
"I think that is the problem, he was too open to persuasion. Just not from us" replied the Doctor.
Leo and the Brigadier exchanged puzzled looks and then both turned to face the Doctor, their expressions demanded an answer. The Doctor pulled the spectacles out from his pocket a waved them in front of his companion's faces.
"These rather ordinary looking glasses are in fact Gallifreyan Divination Goggles," he said.
The Brigadier raised a quizzical eyebrow.
"They enable the wearer to see subtle disturbances in the temporal vortex that even Timelords senses are not sensitive enough to pick up. When I looked at the king through them I saw something. Something that should not be there" finished the Doctor.
Eadburh made her way through the long covered walkway that connected the Hall to the King's private rooms. She felt a slight brush against her face and turned to where she though it had come from but there was nobody there.
She began moving onwards again but the feeling of being watched was growing. Suddenly a cold shiver ran down her spine as she felt an icy hand pass though her body like a ghost and clasp hold of her heart. She was bound to the spot but resisting like a fish on the line, turning franticly to catch sight of her assailant. But she could see or hear none. The hand on her heart began to squeeze.
They were waiting to see the King. He was the only man in the country who could call on enough men to properly defend the enclosure. Leo was going to try to persuade him to send out the call to his Lords for men to come to their aid.
"Remind me why we don't just all jump in the Tardis and go somewhere that it is safe?" asked the Brigadier.
"This is our home," said Leo in a way that indicated that no further debate was necessary.
The Brigadier looked between the Doctor and Leo. Physically they were very different but he could detect the same steely determination under their outwardly friendly guises. Then the door at the side of the Hall opened and the King stepped in. They all bowed their heads in respect as the king moved over to his great chair.
"So, Leoffric, what matter do you need to speak to me so urgently on" asked the King.
"The attack last night my Lord. The lady Eadburh was seriously imperilled and we must prepare to deflect further attacks" said Leo.
"What would you have me do?" asked the King.
"I would humbly recommend that you send out the call to all the Earls and Lords to send men to protect the Palace. We can then prepare them to see off further assaults".
The Doctor watched the exchange between King Offa and Leo carefully. At first the King had seemed his usual self. However, the King was a man of action and the Doctor would have expected him to have quickly decided on a course of action, but he was questioning and debating this issue at great length. It appeared that he was trying to persuade Leo that to take any action at all would be an overreaction.
The Doctor slipped his hand in to an inside pocket and pulled out a pair of battered spectacles. Making a great show of cleaning them on the cuff of his jacket he then put them on and began to examine his fingernails. When he had looked at his fingers long enough to make it appear convincing that he had put them on for that very task he looked up at the king.
The Doctor had to stifle his every instinct to stop himself from jumping back in horror at what her saw. He pulled the spectacles down to the tip of his nose and looked over them at the King again. The apparition had gone. Then he pushed the spectacles back up on to the bridge of his nose and took in the figure he could now see through them.
It was intangible like a shadow but it appeared to have solid mass. It was almost transparent but seemed to swallow all the light around itself. It was the figure of a man, standing beside the King and whispering into his ear. It had a face, which was too indistinct to read, and its inaudible voice seemed to rustle the King's long fair hair like a gentle breeze.
The Doctor took of the spectacles and put them back in his pocket. When he looked at the King again he seemed to be alone and without his shadowy companion.
They watched the king depart and Leo turned back to the others.
"Well, that didn't go as well as planned" he said
"Let me talk to him, I am sure I can persuade him" said Eadburh before she turned to follow her father out of the hall.
The Doctor, Leo and the Brigadier stood looking at each other.
"Well, following the nights events I would have thought he would have been easy to persuade," said the Brigadier.
"I think that is the problem, he was too open to persuasion. Just not from us" replied the Doctor.
Leo and the Brigadier exchanged puzzled looks and then both turned to face the Doctor, their expressions demanded an answer. The Doctor pulled the spectacles out from his pocket a waved them in front of his companion's faces.
"These rather ordinary looking glasses are in fact Gallifreyan Divination Goggles," he said.
The Brigadier raised a quizzical eyebrow.
"They enable the wearer to see subtle disturbances in the temporal vortex that even Timelords senses are not sensitive enough to pick up. When I looked at the king through them I saw something. Something that should not be there" finished the Doctor.
Eadburh made her way through the long covered walkway that connected the Hall to the King's private rooms. She felt a slight brush against her face and turned to where she though it had come from but there was nobody there.
She began moving onwards again but the feeling of being watched was growing. Suddenly a cold shiver ran down her spine as she felt an icy hand pass though her body like a ghost and clasp hold of her heart. She was bound to the spot but resisting like a fish on the line, turning franticly to catch sight of her assailant. But she could see or hear none. The hand on her heart began to squeeze.