Chapter 4: Enter the Ring

What am I doing? Kelly asked herself as she paced back and forth inside a preparation tent. This is mad. I don't know how he did it but he talked me into this, that stupid Doctor. It's my life on the line, not his!

It had been all very nice of Ace to compliment her ability to defend herself but that hardly made a dent in Kelly's growing petrifaction. Her usual sense of pride in her skills had dissolved into a puddle of nerves.

I'm an intelligence agent, not an Olympian! Surprise and deception are my bread and butter. Going toe to toe with an opponent is exactly what I avoid! A few bodyguards, dockworkers and bouncers are nothing compared to the monsters waiting for me out there. They're heavy and muscular and are specially trained killers. They live and breathe combat. I don't have an ice cube's chance in hell against them.

Head in her hands, she sat down and stared at the dirt floor. The reality of dying wasn't something she thought about while suspended a hundred feet in the air or when fleeing from armed pursuers. Focusing on survival was for more important but it was the quiet moments before and after that turned her skin to ice, right before the plunge into danger or when curled up in a ball of blankets after it was all over. There had been close calls in the past, nothing like this though. Those were spontaneous, this was pre-meditated. She knew it was coming and was doing nothing about it. How she longed to vent her frustration but she bottled every ounce she had to unleash in the bout to come.

I should run. I should say to hell with this Doctor and to hell with Ace's blind faith in him and get myself out of this mess while I still can. If I can't get out of this stinking castle then I'll find somewhere to hide and just stay there until it all blows over.

"Kelly?" a voice inquired.

Kelly abruptly shot to her feet, leaving her broken emotions on the ground. Her shoulders slumped in relief. "Thought you were Ace," she managed then turned away and tried to busy herself with stretches.

Focus, focus. I really don't need riling up. I won't be any good like that. I will stand even less chance if I permit my anger to rule me. I need every bit of luck and strength I have to get through this. I need to keep it calm and controlled.

She could feel his eyes on her back.

Go away, she willed. I don't need any more feelings, intensely negative or otherwise, to bother me right now.

"Turn," the Doctor instructed.

She turned her head slightly and rolled her eyes, ignoring his instruction. Adding to her mounting disquiet, he walked across the room and stepped in front of her. He studied her face and squinted.

Just leave me alone, she willed. Stop assessing me with those eyes.

She never expected him to hit her with the umbrella. By the time she had processed what had caused her pain, he had also poked her stomach with it.

"H-hey," she managed, winded. "Stop- oww. Quit it!"

He persisted in his attack. Enough was enough. He had pushed their antagonism too far. Kelly blocked the next swing and attempted to snatch the umbrella from him.

"I said, quit it!"

She knocked it from his hand and it rolled along the ground but he did not seem done. He pulled a short sword from a rack of blades. Is everyone going insane around here or are they just determined to kill me?

After a moment, he held the sword by the blade and offered it hilt-first to her. She refused to take it.

"Take it," he commanded.

Does he really want me to hurt him? Surely he doesn't think I'm that mad to follow him in his insanity. I hate him but not enough to want to physically harm him.

Yet she was compelled to obey. As if under the influence of a spell, she grasped the hilt and gently took its weight. He took up another sword from the rack and gave her no time to recall her inability to fence.

Her body moved instinctively to block his strikes in a semi-haphazard manner. She found herself slipping into a familiar stance and resorting to modifications of martial art techniques she knew. The sword felt like heavy extension of her arm and she adjusted to try and accommodate that. Before she could register what she was doing, the Doctor's sword was knocked out of his hand. He looked equally as shocked but smiled and, more importantly in Kelly's opinion, made no attempt to retrieve it. Sword-tip pointed squarely at his heart, she watched him warily, expecting him to launch another assault or barrage of pokes. He did not and it was a few seconds before her brain acknowledged he was no longer a threat. Yet he never had been, she realised. It had been a test. That manipulative little-

"Quite a variety of styles you've dabbled in, Miss Jones," he complimented, panting heavily. "I'm impressed. Akkido, Kenpo and a touch of Judo; an unusual combination."

Each style he named caused her eyebrows to leap upwards.

"You have not stayed in any of them long enough to truly hone yourself to a particular style, have you?"

Her eyes narrowed. He was right but how could he tell? None of the styles she had practiced had ever involved using a blade. To be able to pinpoint and name three styles she had trained in was... incomprehensible.

"I moved around a lot when I was younger," she admitted. Her reply had been shocked out of her. "But how-?"

He tapped his chin with a finger thoughtfully. "I've met a few notable practitioners. One had a nasty habit of making her stances too wide and I noticed it in your footwork."

Of course. Time travel. Why was she surprised? He's probably watched the masters at work, perhaps even trained under them. She tried not to snort. That was a silly idea. Just look the man; he hadn't trained. He was a skinny stick of a man bordering on being labelled old. She doubted he could last a minute in a fist fight, which explained why Ace had blocked him into a corner during the fight; she had put him out of harm's way and protected him as best she could. Now she thought about it, Ace's reaction time had been extremely quick and her actions seemed well rehearsed as if that was the kind of welcome she and the Doctor got in their travels quite frequently. That made her not just his prized pupil but his devoted guardian as well. He couldn't adequately defend himself. That was what Ace was for.

The Doctor was speaking as he returned his sword to the rack so she tried to tune back in.

"... knights who train for years. But if we can adapt your own method of fighting, you'll be better able to defend yourself." He paused. "Like just now, you should focus on defence but if you do not use any offensive strikes, you opponent might decide to charge in with strikes with little thought of the openings he is leaving. While that would be the best time to retaliate, it is also extremely risky."

Kelly recoiled when she felt his hand on her arm. Automatically, she raised the sword's point to chest height and the Doctor stepped away, raising his hands in a universal sign of no harm.

She could not believe his audacity. I'm sorry, am I supposed to let you get close to me after almost being skewered by you only a few moments ago? You have a funny way of building bridges; burning the supporting ropes then trying to cross without them. Is it really that shocking that I don't trust you? You don't know me, I don't know you. I don't like you and you haven't done anything worth considering redemption.

"Only want to help," he told her while maintaining a healthy distance.

He must really be used to travelling with Ace, she thought. He went to adjust my stance without a moment's pause. The movement must be very natural for him. Had Ace been in my place, he would have done the exact same thing. And, she added with consideration, Ace would have thought nothing of it. She would not have protested, not even flinched even if she too had been forced to duel with him beforehand. That might be fine with Ace, but it is not fine with me. I didn't choose to go off gallivanting around the Universe with him.

Any kind of spontaneous contact was not acceptable unless her life was in immediate danger. It was important to feel in control, even if only of herself and those she permitted to get close to her. She could be surrounded by chaos and still feel relatively secure but would be tethered on a knife-edge if caught in a crowded elevator for any length of time. If she knew something like that might occur, she could prepare herself for it and cope better. If it came out of the blue however, she could not.

To his credit, the Doctor had noticed her hostility and made the smart move; to back off. After a few seconds of assessment, she concluded he really did intend to help. Given her current predicament, she could use every bit of it she could get. She steeled her nerves and steadied her racing heart before lowering the sword to permit his approach.

"I'm just going to adjust your stance," he informed her.

Glad to have regained some control over their interaction, she nodded slightly. He directed her to decrease the width of her stance then gently extended her sword-arm and rotated her hand to the left so her thumb rested over her curled fingers. He tutted when she turned the blade slightly.

"Control it from the wrist, not the shoulder or the waist. Speed, not brute force."

He gently turned her wrists left to right then back again so she become familiar with how the movement felt. She was beginning to feel like a mannequin in a shop window as he altered her stance further, bending her elbow more, and decreasing the angle of her arm towards the floor so the blade was just off parallel with the ground. Sensing the wrong edge of the sword was facing up, she twisted her wrist.

"Slower," he reprimanded as he retrieved his umbrella. "We don't have time for a full course in swordsmanship, but a few of these should feel familiar."

He walked her through the movements, utilising his umbrella as both a mock sword to demonstrate and as a poker when he corrected her. And while the exercises should have made Kelly even more nervous about the coming bout, many of the movements felt natural and required little tweaking at all. She considered it a success when she didn't get poked.

"Most importantly," he told her and the finality of his tone informed Kelly that the training was almost over. "Remember the general principles of combat." He raised a finger. "Never take your eyes off an opponent." He raised a second finger. "Do not allow your opponent to strike the face, neck or lower abdomen. And lastly," he continued and raised a third finger, "should it become too much or too dangerous at any point, you place your sword on the ground and yield to your opponent. Understood?"

Kelly nodded. He nodded to himself then turned to leave. Seeming to have abruptly changed his mind, he turned back around.

"Oh, I almost forgot. Ace wanted to wish you luck but couldn't afford to give up our seats."

Kelly tried to smile. "Right." The Doctor nodded slightly then turned to leave. He didn't say a word as she murmured a "Thanks," but doffed his hat as he exited.

She breathed deeply then turned to confront the problem that was donning medieval armour. This will prove to be a challenge. She could vaguely recall that the order in which the armour was put on was important but had, ostentatiously, not committed the information to memory. I should have known that that knowledge would prove vital in years to come. How inconsiderate of my past self.

She glanced up hearing footsteps nearby. The Doctor back again? No, she concluded with a sly grin. He wouldn't sneak. This kind of behaviour was closer to a certain pyromaniac who ought to have been saving the Doctor a seat. Peeking her head out of the tent, she caught sight of Ace.

"Busted," she called.

Ace emerged from her hiding place and grinned sheepishly as she entered the tent. "You got me. I knew you'd beat him."

Ah, so she'd been there a while. "I didn't beat him," Kelly corrected. "He let me win."

Ace scoffed then tripped on the ropes holding up the doorway of the preparation tent and muttered curses as she re-tied them to metal stakes hammered into the ground. "He was probably just pretending when you were really flogging him. Honestly, he should have let me show you a few tricks."

The mental image that conjured up was of Ace brandishing a sword above her head like a club. Surely that would instil terror into the opposition, she thought.

"Need a hand with that?" Ace asked.

Kelly followed her gaze and realised she had been referring to the collection of armour. Before she could open her mouth to answer Ace was already sorting through the armour, laying them out on the ground in their correct placement and had started loosening the buckles.

Kelly blinked. "You've... done this before," she commented and Ace nodded.

"Once or twice," Ace replied as she helped Kelly don the armour. "Mostly past the 22nd Century. Most of the humanoid space combat suits come in pieces like this but with extras, you know, oxygen tanks, gravity belts, booster packs, things like that. Used a few of them too."

Ace didn't waste any time and Kelly tried to avoid hindering Ace as she seemed to know what she was doing.

"Never worn one in a duel though but I've had plenty of them..."

"You've been in duels?" Kelly asked in disbelief. Ace fighting off aliens in the heat of battle with a sword, that Kelly could believe, but single combat?

Ace nodded as she adjusted a buckle. "I told the Professor I should show you how it's done but he sent me to find seats instead. So of course I had to follow him and see what he was up to. Didn't think I'd get to see all ready to kick some medieval butt," she grinned comparatively. She handed Kelly a scabbard to buckle to her waist. "Now you look proper."

Kelly glanced down. Ace seemed to have positioned everything correctly as she could move quite freely but she wasn't exactly the knight in shining armour history would portray. Her armour was mostly leather-based with thick sheepskin padding. Kelly had secretly hoped for something considerably more... well, metal, the kind found in picture books and in photographs of historical re-enactments, but reluctantly accepted that was too heavy and expensive to be practical. Even now, Kelly felt twenty pounds heavier and her figure caused the armour to feel a size and a half too small in some places and a size too large in others.

She caught Ace admiring the armour. "Still not too late to swap and take my place," she offered half-heartedly. "Be the knight in shining armour."

Ace blinked and almost seemed to consider it before shaking her head. "Nah, I'd be a terrible knight. Too many rules," she smiled. "I'm fine with just being the Lady of the Lake."

Before Kelly could ask what that meant, a trumpet blared outside signalling the next bout. Ace comforted her with a pat on the shoulder.

"You're going to be fine. You're gonna hit 'em so hard and fast they'll ache for weeks."

"Ace..."

"I'm serious, Kit! Now out you go and do your thing. The... snap, snap, kapoow!" Ace imitated hand strikes and kicks, almost falling over in the process.

Kelly chuckled out of nerves.

"Don't you go and lose out there!" Ace called as she raced out the tent. Kelly was almost out of earshot when she heard the added, "I've bet money on you."

"You what?!" Kelly exclaimed but was ushered into the ring.

Much to Kelly's relief, she was not pitted against the knight who had challenged her. Instead a scrawny boy of about 12 stood before her. Do I look as nervous as him, she wondered, hoping her legs were not quivering as much as his were. Her previously meagre looking armour now looked like luxury compared to his makeshift padded vest and extremely worn gloves. Kelly imagined he was more the type to wield a pitchfork or wooden practice sword than the real thing he held awkwardly in his right hand.

She must have missed the starting signal for he abruptly ran towards her, swinging wildly. His lack of coordination was concerning and Kelly was quick to sidestep out of the way. She brought her blade up to halt his swinging and almost flinched at the look of utter fear in his eyes. His desperation made him unpredictable. His swings did not flow from one to another but Kelly couldn't predict where they were coming from next. Hoping his sense of self-preservation would trigger, she changed to offensive and darted forward. He fell over his own feet in his hurry to get out of striking distance. She pointed her sword's tip at his chest and breathed a sigh of relief as a trumpet blared shortly followed by applause.

Now the dance of potential death was over, she offered her hand to help him up. The boy refused to take it. She withdrew her hand, understanding she had wounded his pride enough already.

What have I done, she suddenly wondered in alarm. I wasn't supposed to win! Now I have to go through it all again with someone else. As she was herded back into her preparation tent, she swore in Arabic.

Thankfully the wait before the next round only lasted a minute or two. She barely had time to swallow a mouthful of water before being hustled back into the ring.

Shit, she mentally swore upon catching sight of her opponent. This is a proper knight, not a farm boy wannabe. His armour was subtler than the other knight's; less plate, more chainmail. His stance was relaxed but that worried Kelly. That can only mean he's not nervous. He's done this before.

He eased into their duel gradually, unlike her first opponent. He didn't rush into anything which was a relief. It gave her a minute to catch her breath. Their blades met a few times before he began circling her, his head tilted ever so slightly to one side. Kelly turned slowly on the spot to keep him within sight but couldn't dismiss a feeling that he would not directly take advantage of her back to deliver a crippling blow if he had the chance. Is he toying with me, or just prolonging this?

As she would in a combat situation back home, her eyes were drawn to his face, scanning for any signs that might telegraph his next attack. He smiled as if approving and slid into a slow, carefully executed combination of strikes. There was force behind them but they were not difficult to block. She could not bait him into rushing as he only attacked when he desired. She didn't understand. This is more like a point-based match instead of just a simple overwhelm-the-opponent one, she thought. He's waiting for me to make the move.

Kelly wasn't inclined to. No sense leaping to the offensive. She much preferred this slower pace as it allowed her time to identify gaps in her opponent's defence. And, what was the rush? Kelly was patient. She could wait and plan while she was. Waiting was one of her skills. One does not charge into an art gallery and expect to steal a painting. One must wait, plan and execute. He smiled at her. Don't let your guard down, she warned herself. It could be a trick.

"Tis polite to exchange names during a duel."

Kelly was suspicious of his pleasant tone. Now wasn't exactly the best time to talk. "Kay," she answered simply as she pushed his sword slightly to one side experimentally.

He turned side-on to compensate then slipped his sword back to its guarding position. "Tis a fine name. From where art thou?" he asked.

Gee, that's a difficult question to answer. Her guard faltered. He swung towards her left which she haphazardly blocked. A second strike followed and she had to twist away to avoid it.

She glared at him. He shrugged with a cheeky smile. She couldn't really blame him for trying. He had upped his offensive, testing how it fared against her defence.

Why am I even putting up resistance? I should just let him win and have this end. Drop my guard and let him disarm me. Easy... except he would notice. So? Better to get out of this alive, isn't it? Who cares if a knight knew she had thrown the duel?

While it made sense in her rational mind, her pride was reluctant to surrender so cheaply. She scolded her pride which had been made bold by the slow pace.

Her conflicting emotions must have shown on her face for he frowned. She berated herself for showing weakness.

"Is something amiss?" he asked, his concern sounded genuine. "Wait..."

His eyes glanced up and down. He lowered his voice to adopt a much quieter tone.

"You're... a lady?"

He knows! Her cover blown, she responded instinctively, taking advantage of his surprise by slashing diagonally from his shoulder to hip, left side, right side followed by a horizontal slice at his less-armoured underarm. With astounding speed, he jumped back to create distance and parried her blows before stepping forward to lock their blades.

"At ease," he implored, gritting his teeth as he fought to steady their blades. "I meant not to alarm you."

She saw truth in his eyes. She couldn't describe what it was that made her step back. As their standoff recommenced, Kelly tried to even her breathing and calm her racing heart. Idiot! What did that achieve? Throw the match already!

She lowered the tip of her sword so it pointed more sternly towards the ground. He obliged, seamlessly disarming her then swept her feet from beneath her. Air left her lungs as her back struck the ground and the knight pinned her to the ground with a boot. There was no weight pressed down on her. The boot was just a show.

"I yield," she called in as gruff a voice as she could manage. The crowd applauded loudly. The victor removed his boot. Kelly took the victor's offered hand and was pulled to her feet.

"Fear not, your secret remains with me," he murmured and she nodded gratefully before being escorted to the preparation tent.

Ace greeted her there and helped her remove the armour. Kelly tried to tell her of the knight discovering her identity but was shushed by the Doctor who was, as Ace had put it, "thinking." Ace's added comment of it being, "usually a good sign," was a bit more promising.

The Doctor ensured Kelly's silence by handing her a loaf of bread which, ravenous, she quickly dug in, breaking off the crusts and passing them to the always hungry Ace.

"Something isn't right with this place. It's..." he searched for a word. "... off kilter. Slightly skewed." He paused. "Have either of you noticed anything unusual?"

"He knows who I am," Kelly repeated but the Doctor shushed her again.

"Strange things, anything?"

"Apart from the smell?" Ace offered through a mouthful. She looked thoughtful a moment before blurting, "The oranges taste wrong!"

Trust Ace to think of food, thought Kelly.

"That would be the bitter variant of orange, Ace," the Doctor informed, smiling. "Few hundred years too early for the sweeter kind."

Exasperatedly Kelly sighed and resigned herself to waiting until the Doctor was willing to listen to her rather important news. As she did, she found herself reflected briefly over what she knew of the basic premise of medieval life and anything she would classify as 'strange'. Food, beer, castles, knights, sword-fighting, lords and ladies, churches... She halted. Churches, yes they were very big and important in this time, weren't they? Yet she hadn't seen one and she and Ace had traversed almost the entire grounds of the castle they day they arrived. That had to classify as odd, right?

Unsure if it was what the Doctor was after, she offered, "The church?"

"There's a church?" asked Ace. "I haven't seen one."

Kelly clicked her fingers, glad Ace had confirmed her suspicion. "That's just it. They're not exactly hard to miss. Big, stone, impressive looking, but we didn't see anything like that."

"Yessss..." mused the Doctor, "No church. Anything else?"

"There's the lanterns," Kelly suggested but before she could elaborate they all heard a crunch of heavy boots outside. Her heart raced as she recognised the knight from the duel.

"Apologises for intruding," the knight began, noticing the Doctor and Ace. "Perhaps another time-"

Ace's mouth hung open, her eyes were wide. "Not at all!" the Doctor insisted, taking Ace by the arm. "We were just leaving."

Kelly's eyes glared daggers at them both. You're what?! No, he knows who I am! Don't bail on me.

Before Ace could regain her ability to speak or Kelly could protest, the Doctor tugged her outside.

What are you doing? Don't leave me here!

The knight looked a bit sheepish to have interrupted their conversation. "Again, pardon me for intruding and unsettling you in our duel."

"Well my disguise wasn't exactly flawless."

The knight laughed and she realised she'd spoken aloud. The comment had broken the tension though which she was grateful for. "True although it holds some weight from a distance," the knight replied.

"Until I open my mouth to speak." She couldn't help but respond friendly. "Alas, I'm doomed to be mute forever if I want to keep up my career."

There was something reassuring about this man. She couldn't put her finger on why. He gave off this vibe that made her feel at ease despite the threat he ought to pose. He wasn't unattractive either; tall compared to most men Kelly had seen in the castle, blonde, bright eyes, rugged looking face, certainly athletic as he had proved in the arena. There had to be a catch. He couldn't be nice, funny and athletic and not have some kind of fatal flaw.

He laughed again. "Your words are quite strange. I do not quite gather your meaning."

She shook her head. "It's all a big misunderstanding. My friends and I aren't from around here." She surprised herself with the use of 'friends' to describe Ace and the Doctor, the latter in particular. He was hardly a friend but the word had escaped her mouth easily. "I was mistaken for a knight," she explained. "Wearing green doesn't mean anything where we are from."

"I guessed a mistake was the source of this travesty," he told her. "The arena is the last place one should find a woman. Alongside in the stands of course, but never on the field."

Well there's that downside she had been looking for. Kelly's lip twitched but she bit back her anachronistic retort. "It was not through choice. I was forced into competing by that brute of a man in the red clock."

The knight's expression darkened at the description. "Mordred," he breathed darkly. "He dares threaten a lady so..." A scowl severely creased his face.

A name to put to that sinister face at least. "I didn't catch your name," Kelly prompted.

Outside the tent, Ace was recovering from her shock. She had recognised that face immediately. "Professor, that was Ancelyn," she stated.

The Doctor nodded. "I know. This must be before we've met him."

Ace tilted her head. "But you he said he came from a parallel world."

He looked at her, disappointed.

Ace frowned, sensing she was supposed to figure something out for herself.

He gave her a few moments before telling her. "This is that parallel world."

"Oh," she managed as she began to process the implications of that.

"Yes, 'Oh' indeed."