Ruby wandered through the halls of the castle with the Doctor close behind. The hundreds of identical doors that they had passed were full of identical furniture. The Doctor was opening doors of his own and finding each one indistinguishable from the previous one.
But, then something caught Ruby's eye. All of the doors contained elaborate carvings and beautiful metal accents except for one. All of the way at the end of the hallway Ruby could spot a door of plain wood and with large iron hinges. Without looking back she called, "Doctor? You should come see this." She received no response, but all the same the curiosity that was building inside of her kept her feet moving. There was something strange about that door. It was almost out of place.
No it wasn't the door. It was the entire hallway. Once Ruby reached the door she realized that the carpet had ended and the stone floor was visible. The candelabras were nowhere to be found except for two torches on the walls. Once again she called, "Doctor?" Still, there was no reply. Oh well. He couldn't say that she didn't try.
Ruby's hand closed around the rusted iron handle. She took a deep breath and opened the door.
The Doctor's ears perked up as he heard the unmistakable sound of a heavy door creaking open. He shut the desk drawer that he was looking through and started to walk across the large room toward the hallway. Then he heard another distinctive sound. That same door that he heard before had closed. He reached the hallway and immediately panicked. Ruby was nowhere to be found.
"Aw, come on! I told her not to wander off. Brilliant, just brilliant." He huffed and looked around for any door that could have made that sound. His eyes fell on the last door in the hallway and he rolled his eyes. "Can't blame her though. It is an interesting door." The curiosity that constantly coursed through his veins pulled him towards that door earlier but he resisted the temptation to put Ruby in any danger.
His hand found the large handle and he pulled with all his might. A stone spiral staircase immediately greeted the Doctor. "Ruby?" He paused with his left foot on the first stair. "Where are you?" Still nothing was heard. He walked up the next several steps and once again called out, "Ruby?"
"I'm over here." He heard an annoyed sigh come from up the staircase. "You're a pain, you know that?"
The Doctor walked up the stairs until he saw Ruby standing there with her hands on her hips and her wait shifted to one side. He had to admit she did look rather silly standing like that in such an elegant dress, but right now he was a little offended that she could call him a pain. "What do you mean? You're the one who wandered off when I specifically said not to. As far as I'm concerned you're becoming a thorn in my side."
"Ha! I've got you there. You were so busy searching through the boring rooms that you didn't hear me calling your name."
"You did not call my name," he denied.
"Oh, yes I did."
"Well, I didn't hear you, so you must not have."
"I'm not denying that you didn't hear me, because you were in your own little world. You wouldn't have heard a bomb siren! I called your name twice."
"No, you didn't."
"Yes, I did."
"Nuh-uh.
"Yeah-huh,"
"Nuh-uh!"
"Yeah-huh!"
"Will you two please can it?!"
The Doctor and Ruby stopped screaming, with their faces inches apart, and turned their attention towards the rather rude voice that had come from the top of the stairs. Ruby was the first to hike up the skirt of her dress and go up the stairs. The Doctor was only a step behind her. They stepped on a stone floor and Ruby called out, "Hello?"
"Well, hello?" She spun to her left and found a man behind bars looking at her with a perverted look on his face. "And what might your name be?"
"I think I should be asking the questions." The Doctor protectively stepped in front of Ruby. "My name is the Doctor, but judging by the circumstances," He gazed at the bars and cobweb infested corners, "I think that your name is more important here."
"Why, I'm Thomas Seymour."
"You're the one that had an affair with the Princess." Ruby pushed the Doctor aside, not only because she was perfectly capable of taking care of herself, but also for a better look at the man behind the bars. He had long scraggly hair and a horribly unkempt beard. "How long have you been locked up like this?"
"Oh, maybe a day."
That meant that he always kept his appearance that way. One day was not enough time to become that disheveled.
"You still haven't given me your name, sweetheart."
"And you'll never get it. Now, Mr. Seymour-"
"Please, call me Tom."
Ruby let out a sound of disgust. "Never. What did you get locked up in here for?"
The Doctor looked at her with a warning in his eyes. "Ruby, I wouldn't ask anymore questions. Let's just leave."
"So it's Ruby, is it?" Seymour chuckled.
She elbowed the Doctor hard in the ribs. "Nice going."
"Sorry, about that."
"Liar."
"Ok, maybe I'm not that sorry."
"I knew it."
"Well, I do mean it sometimes. It's just that he's locked in a cell and going to be hanged. What harm can he do with your name? And in this century, he would never find anything. Now let's just go."
Ignoring the Doctor, Ruby stared at the man before her. "How could it be that you're being arrested for an affair, when it's not even illegal."
"Search me."
"Again, never. Ya know what I think?" She paused for dramatic affect. "I think that none of this was her fault. I think that you raped her."
"What does this word mean?"
"What?!" She slowly turned to face the Doctor who only nervously smiled. "You could have stopped me anytime."
"I-I tried, but you wouldn't listen."
"Yeah, well I do that a lot when I'm angry. You're going to have to yell at me next time."
"Can we just go, now, before you create any other new words or free a dangerous criminal?"
Ruby crossed her arms and huffed. "Fine."
The doctor smiled. "Good."
As Ruby turned toward the stairs she felt her dress lightly snag something but in less than a second the tension was gone and her dress was free. She didn't bother to check what it had snagged on, because she saw no point in fixing something that didn't need to be fixed. Instead she held the Doctor's hand for support as she descended the stairs on her heels. Why in the world was his hand so warm all of the time? She didn't understand it in the slightest, but she did enjoy it. "Doctor?" she asked.
He noticed something in her voice that made him turn to her at the bottom of the stairs. "What is it?"
"I just wanted to say thank you."
"Your welcome. I mean those shoes are like daggers."
"I didn't mean that." She paused for a moment and continued. "Thanks for stopping me up there. Ya know, before I did anything stupid?"
"As long as you do the same for me. And believe me you'll have your chance soon."
Ruby chuckled, "I don't doubt it." She then opened the door and said, "Aprés vous, Doctor."
"Merci," he grinned from ear to ear.