"Why are we taking this lot to our room?" Rose asked, puffing slightly as she jogged to keep up with the Doctor's long strides.
"Because I don't trust this, not any of this," the Doctor said, "Something is going on here, much more worrying than a thief."
"What gives you that idea?" Rose asked.
"Just a few small things, like Mali's reaction, the timing of this, it's like someone wants to sabotage Lola's coronation and I think it might be one of the staff," the Doctor explained.
"Why would they want to do that?"
"I don't know."
The Doctor and Rose marched into their room and placed all the artefacts in safe places. They had convinced Mali not to breath a word, as they said returning the artefacts was only one thing, to stop the problem at it's source and catch the thief was their intention, and they couldn't have the thief knowing they were getting close. Mali had agreed after a little persuasion.
"So, what's the master plan then?" Rose said, "impress me with your genius."
The Doctor looked at her.
"I don't have a plan," he said, "never do!"
"You must have some kind of idea," Rose looked hopefully at him.
"Ok, here's the idea then, we wait til Amber and Jack get back then find out what we collectively know," the Doctor grinned.
"That is the lamest idea I've ever heard," Rose said, shoving the Doctor gently.
"Well, I'd like to see you come up with something better!" the Doctor retorted.
Rose was saved from answering by a heavy knock on the door.
"Come in!" the Doctor said.
The door opened to reveal Nadir, still wearing a weary expression.
"How has your search been? Fruitful I hope," he said.
"Very," the Doctor replied, sidestepping in front of their finds, "but we don't want to say anything just yet. The key to tracking the thief is going to be secrecy, not letting them know we are close."
"I'm glad you are making progress, my friend, it is a relief to me," Nadir said.
"I'm glad we can help," the Doctor said earnestly.
"You'll have to come to the coronation," Nadir offered, "It is going to be quite a party."
"We'd love to come," Rose said, before the Doctor could refuse.
"Then I shall see you there," Nadir said, heading back towards the door, "hopefully with the thief's identity revealed."
Jack and Amber peered over the edge of the cliff. They couldn't see anything beyond a couple of feet.
"Definitely too close," Jack said.
Adair was skipping around nervously, apparently also thinking it was too close.
"You know, perhaps we should head back…" he said.
"Yeah, I think we should," Amber said, pushing Jack in the general direction of the palace, away from the cliff edge.
"Don't mind if we do," Jack said with a hint of a shudder.
In silence they walked back to the palace, Adair leading them expertly through the safe streets. It was a relief for all three members of the party when the familiar architecture of the palace broke through the mist.
"Thanks Adair," Amber said.
"Yeah, we'll tell your girlfriend you were great!" Jack said.
"Don't even joke about that!" Adair said, "I'll get my neck strung!"
He grinned then ran off, presumably towards the kitchen.
"Nice kid," Jack said.
"I don't like this one bit," Amber said.
"Do you ever?" Jack asked, jogging to catch up with her as she marched down the corridor towards the room they had been given by Lola earlier.
"Something isn't right about this, and I can't put my finger on what."
"Then lets go talk to the Doctor, because he probably can," Jack said, slipping his arm casually round her waist. Amber looked up at him enquiringly and he raised his hands in surrender, grinning with such infectious amusement that Amber couldn't help grinning back.
They made their way to the room Lola had allocated to them, swinging the door open to find Rose and the Doctor sat on the floor, sorting through a pile of vases and similar items of historical and monetary value.
"You know, if anyone other than us had walked in just then, you would have had a lot of explaining to do," Jack said.
"Good job it was just you two then!" the Doctor said with his usual cheery tone, though his face was marked with a frown of concentration, like he had been pondering over something long and hard before the interruption.
"You don't like this either," Amber commented.
"No I don't," the Doctor replied, more seriously, standing up.
"Where did you find all this lot?" Jack asked, picking up a vase and looking over it. It looked to Amber like he was trying to place a price on it. Rose had obviously thought the same thing, as she stood up and removed it from his hands telling him not to get any ideas.
"The kitchens," the Doctor replied, "hidden in a little cupboard right in the back. Doubt anyone else would have noticed it really, I almost didn't."
"And we found our thief, chased them through the city until they jumped off a cliff," Amber said, "I wasn't going to carry on the chase after that."
"You jumped off that building in London," Rose said.
"Yes, but I could see the floor off that," Amber replied, "with all the mist rolling about I had no way of telling how far down that cliff went."
"Which leads us to the conclusion that the thief is either really stupid or knows the city well," the Doctor said.
"Oh it's definitely someone from these parts," Jack said.
"Someone with contacts in the kitchens," Amber commented.
"What about that Adair?" Rose asked, but Amber and Jack shook their heads.
"He was with us the whole time," Amber said.
"And besides, he's so loved up on Lola why would he want to sabotage her coronation?" Jack commented offhandly.
Rose giggled and the Doctor rolled his eyes, but Amber regarded him, a curious expression on her face as she thought over what he had just said. Jack wasn't looking and didn't notice.
"We can't do anything else now," the Doctor said, "we should get some rest."
"Gladly!" Jack said, "I've done enough chasing for tonight."
"Does that mean I may finally get a minutes peace?" Amber asked dryly.
The sun was bright but the air crisp and cold the next morning. The Doctor and Rose hid all the artefacts in their room for when Lola came, bubbly and chatty as ever, despite her impending disaster coronation, asking them at great length what they wanted to do.
"I could show you around myself now you know, I'm free until the afternoon when I have to try on a load of nasty dresses for tomorrow. You know, I hate dresses, why can't Queens be funky and wear dungarees or something? I don't do well on the whole dress thing – I trip over them all the time, and I feel like a marshmallow." Lola said as they walked into a large conservatory.
"You should have seen the dress I had to wear in Cardiff," Rose said, "it was gorgeous, but not much use when you are trying to fight zombies."
"You looked lovely in that dress!" the Doctor said, "And besides, wearing trousers in nineteenth century Cardiff would have caused more of a stir than it was worth!"
"What were you doing in nineteenth century Cardiff?" Jack asked.
"Long story," the Doctor said.
"Involving Charles Dickens, a botched TARDIS landing and a bunch of crazy aliens called the Gelth," Rose elaborated.
"You two do get around, don't you?" Jack said with a grin.
"Who are you guys anyway, from the sound of you, you don't seem like regular tourists," Lola said, "fighting zombies, catching thieves? Are you intergalactic police who don't like taking days off or something? Coz there is such thing as too much work, my Uncle calls it burning the candle at both ends and it's really bad for your health. He says…"
"You know, I wonder if you even want us to catch this thief," Amber said coolly.
Lola looked very offended.
"Of course I do! And I'm very grateful for the assistance you are giving my people and my city, I just don't want anyone to get hurt that's all, because I am nice and caring like that and…"
"We don't doubt it," the Doctor said quickly, "In fact, I was wondering if you would answer some questions I have – you might be able to help us catch the thief even quicker."
"Sure, I'll help any way I can!" Lola said, looking pointedly at Amber who just calmly met her eyes.
"I'm going for a walk," Amber said, and took her leave.
"What's her problem?" Lola asked.
"Her planet was destroyed," Jack said, as though this was explanation of everything.
Amber walked quickly through the streets, tucking her jacket around herself in an attempt to block out the perishing wind that had picked up over night. Her long blue hair blew around her, a dash of unusual colour among the crowds of Sertians. Retracing her steps, she travelled all the way back to the cliff edge and peered over. Even in the broad daylight she could barely see the bottom.
"Definitely a local," Amber muttered to herself and sat down at the cliff edge, before lowering herself over and beginning a long climb down.
The cliff was jagged and had plenty of footholds. Amber made fairly quick work of scaling the wall, being both small and agile. About halfway down she came across a plateau and paused to catch her breath.
The view was amazing. It seemed she could see the whole planet, sat on the tiny ledge on the cliff side. Vast fields of green stretched out before her, with majestic rivers sweeping across them. Sparse collections of trees littered the landscape, and tall mountains marked the edge of the world. The Sertians weren't for bright colours, choosing to wear pastels and creams above vibrant, bold colours, and this was reflected in their landscape. The mist hung over the terrain, making everything appear soft and gentle. Nothing stood out, nothing made a bold statement (quite unlike Amber's hair and Rose's pink jacket).
As her eyes travelled across the view, however, a dash of vibrancy in the foreground caught Amber's eyes. She stopped gazing into the middle distance and focused on the ground in front of her where, caught in a reed like plant, swaying in the breeze, was a single, brilliant white feather.
"Are you looking forwards to being Queen?" Rose asked as the Doctor spoke quietly to Jack.
"Yeah, it's gonna be fab – I'm going to really revamp the whole place. People are so boring around here, so traditional! I want to inject some life into the people," Lola said excitedly, "I only hope they like me, I know none of the elders really do… they think I'm too irresponsible and scatty. And they are probably right about me being scatty, but I'm not irresponsible! I know exactly what I'm doing!"
"How does it work? Who are the elders?" Rose asked, genuinely curious.
"They are the people who are advisors to the crown, like a government, only they are all really old and don't have a clue. If I was in charge of who got in the government I'd have a few girls and some funky young people who weren't only interested in drinking brandy and bossing people around. Unfortunately, as it is at the moment, I think you have to be at least eighty-five to qualify! And even if that's not true, you have to be voted on by the other members, and they are all over eighty-five."
Rose laughed. She thought the people of Corfeil wouldn't know what had hit them when Lola came into power, and that was probably a good thing. Judging by the miserable nature of her Uncle, they needed a good shake up.
"Where has Amber gone?" the Doctor asked Jack as Rose chatted to Lola.
"Search me!" Jack said, shrugging, "So what else did you find yesterday, other than a load of artefacts?"
"Not much," the Doctor said, "only little things, like there is some bad feeling among the staff, though none of it so far seems to be directed towards Lola, which is odd, considering it's her coronation that is being sabotaged."
"You know," Jack said, "maybe it isn't."
"What?" the Doctor asked.
"What was the name of that kitchen woman you spoke to?" Jack asked.
"Mali," the Doctor replied, "not thinking of chatting her up were you?"
"Actually, yes," Jack replied and walked out, just like Amber had a moment ago.
Jack walked through the corridors and into the kitchen. It was easy to pick out Mali among the steam and crowds of people. She was the one who looked ready to pull out her own hair from stress. Jack grinned to himself and wandered over to her.
"You look like you could use a relax," he said.
"I certainly could sir, but I have no time for such activities, I have a coronation to prepare for," Mali said.
"And a wedding I hear," Jack prompted.
"Yes, that too," Mali said with a hint of distaste.
"Well you are doing a fantastic job," Jack said, taking her hand and kissing it, "I've never seen such skill in the kitchen."
Mali blushed heavily.
"Really sir, it's nothing," she said.
"Lola is a lucky girl to have such willing staff."
"She's a lovely girl, we would only wish to serve her to the best of our ability," Mali said.
"You speak of her almost like a daughter," Jack tried.
"Well, the child's natural parents died a while back, and I think it's important that a girl has some female influence in her life, not just dusty scholars and her Uncle," Mali said, beating the mix she was making with unusual ferocity.
"Oh of course," Jack said, "and you must do a fantastic job, she's a truly charming individual. So sad that her parents died when she was young…"
"Yes, tragic," Mali said curtly.
Jack stood back and pondered how to phrase his next question when he noticed Adair watching him from the back of the room. The boy looked cold, not open and friendly like he had been yesterday.
I must be getting close, Jack thought, and pressed on.
"How did it come about, that she should lose both her parents so young?" Jack asked, all sweetness and concern. It was apparently the golden question.
"I don't know," Mali said curtly, "now if you wouldn't mind leaving, I have important things to do."
"Mali," Jack said seriously, "What happened to Lola's parents?"
"I'm sorry sir, but you must leave," Mali continued, ignoring his question.
Suddenly, Adair was there in her defence.
"Sorry sir, but we are very busy at the moment. If it is someone to show you around you want, perhaps you should ask Lola, I'm sure she would be more than happy to oblige," he said, steering Jack towards the door. Though Jack could have easily fought against the boy, he had got more than enough to work with, and he left quietly. It was time he reported back to the Doctor.
"Where's Jack gone?" Rose asked.
"No idea," the Doctor replied, "now Lola, I have a few questions I'd be grateful if you could answer."
"Sure thing!" Lola said, "Hey, see how much effort I'm making not to talk too much – that was a two word answer!" You proud?"
"Very," the Doctor said, grinning at Rose who was laughing.
He and Lola went to sit in a corner and Rose left them too it, wandering over to the entrance of the conservatory. She looked out of the large glass door at the beautiful palace grounds, almost over grown with long green vines dotted with dainty purple flowers. It was a lovely place.
A door behind her opened, and Rose turned round to see Amber who was marching towards her with a purposeful look on her face. She picked up a large ornamental staff as she walked past it without even looking and continued walking.
"What are you doing?" Rose asked as she marched briskly past.
"Testing a theory," Amber said.
She was heading towards where Lola and the Doctor were sat talking. Rose didn't know whether to alert them to the fact that Amber was walking to them armed with a staff that she planned to do God knows what with, or whether to trust the Assassin's intentions. Before she could make up her mind, three things happened at once.
Adair and Jack both burst into the room from entirely different directions, both garbling something simultaneously, Jack directed at the Doctor, Adair directed at Lola, just as Amber swung her staff gracefully between her hands and then at the back of Lola's head. Rose gasped, but not because Amber had hit Lola, because Lola had turned around almost automatically and blocked the strike. Judging by the look on her face, she hadn't even been aware that she had done it.
"Theory tested," Amber said, lowering the staff and holding out a brilliant white feather before Lola.
The bubbly look on Lola's face faded, and in a serious tone of voice she had never used before she said, "Are you going to give me a chance to explain, or just take me straight to my Uncle?"
Thanks for all the reviesw! Please keep them coming, next part out soon! xx