At the palace nightfall was rapidly approaching, and candles were flaring into life behind their shady windows.
Henry VIII was in his night garments, a long, white nightgown that fell to his ankles and a thick, muzzled dressing gown that was tied around his large waist with a double knot. His bedchamber window was thrown wide open and a cool breeze swept around the room.
As the King pulled back the gossamer curtains of his four-poster bed and removed the woven slippers from his feet, the refreshing breeze that was sweeping the room suddenly intensified to a chilling draft.
Henry straightened up and looked around uneasily, but a few seconds later he simply snorted and fell back onto the pillows below, sending a shower of feathers shooting upwards. The candle he had lit, which was sitting on a nightstand nearby, suddenly extinguished itself.
The bedchamber became darker and a very thin mist was beginning to appear, hanging dolefully in the air like wet garments drying on a line. Henry shut his eyes and sniffed loudly, adjusting the sheets around him to suit his comfort.
The window suddenly slammed shut and glass shattered onto the floor below. Henry sat up straight away and heaved himself out of bed, shuffling through the growing mist to see what had happened. He cursed as jagged pieces of glass cut into his feet, and limped awkwardly into a chair that was sitting close by.
The eerie fog swelled, and clouds of white vapour slowly trickled towards him, almost reaching out with ghostly hands. Henry gripped the arms of the chair and frowned, leaning back to avoid the incoming mist.
The bedchamber continued to get darker and darker, and curious moaning noises pulsated throughout the room, getting nearer and nearer to the King. Suddenly, a vast shape erupted out of the haze and soared forwards. Its ear-piercing screams rang out in the silence, and a grey light lit up the room and sent shadows crisscrossing in every direction.
The manifestation circled the speechless King, who was sitting stock still in the chair but shaking profusely, his eyes wide with fear at the impossible sight he was seeing. And then it almost looked like a woman, a grey woman with brilliant blue eyes.
It uttered two, sharp words: HELP ME!
And then it was gone, and with it the impossible mist that had filled the room just seconds before.
Henry nearly fell out of his chair.
Out in the gardens, two time travellers were heading back to their spaceship when a loud roar shook the palace and sent nesting crows flying from their trees.
The Doctor and Donna looked at each other, and then back at the palace, and then at each other again.
"Something's up…" the Doctor said through gritted teeth, and Donna beamed excitedly. Together they sprinted up the dark lawn toward the disturbance.