Chapter 7: The Price of a Life
A roar pierced the air. Ace broke free of the guards and tore across the courtyard. Gravel crunched sickeningly as her boots slammed against it. The scream slid into a battle cry as she drew her dagger mid-leap and threw herself at Mordred. He did not raise his sword against her, nor the knife wielded in his other hand. The weapon struck with a metallic 'twang' as it bounced off his plate armour. The blow barely left a dent.
Mordred turned ninety degrees to face her. She was sent sprawling as the back of his gauntleted hand rammed into her chest. With a grunt she landed face first on bloodied stones. The knight pushed her none too gently onto her side with his boot and took a long look at her furious but scraped face. Ace's chest rose and fell. No blow came. With a conceited huff, the knight dropped the knife coated with blood beside her and turned away, unafraid to show his armoured back to her.
"You're not even worth my time."
Winded, Ace clenched her dagger tightly and tried to scramble to her feet but couldn't manage it. Ancelyn drew his own sword and challenged Mordred's honour, but Ace wasn't listening. Their voices were being drowned out by the Doctor's whispering in her ears.
"I'm sorry. Ace, I'm sorry."
She crawled towards Kelly's prone body, her hand searching for a pulse. There had to be one. She couldn't be gone. She had promised... She had promised...
"There's nothing you can do."
Ace shook her head and sniffed. "No," she murmured. She held her face above Kelly's and looked sideways. No movement of the chest. "No, no. This is wrong."
She yanked her arm out of his grip when he tried to pull her away. It was hard to see where the knife had struck through all the blood but as Ace's hands wiped away the blood she found it; a deep stab wound an inch above Kelly's naval. It had sliced through the leather armour with ease at such close range. Had it struck anything vital? There was so much blood... The smell threatened to overwhelm her but she battled the beast and subdued it through sheer force of will. Having reclaimed control over herself, the scent no longer increased her appetite. Instead it obliterated it.
Ace stared at the wound and closed her eyes. "Please, please," she whispered to no-one in particular as she squeezed Kelly's hand. "No..."
"Ace, there's nothing we can-"
The Doctor's falter caused her eyes to flash open and glance back down at the wound. Slowly, as if uncertain if it ought to be doing so, the skin bordering the wound began knitting itself together.
"Thank Bennet," Ace breathed. She felt for a pulse once more. Weak, but it was definitely there.
The Doctor followed her example and stared at Ace with an open mouth as he too felt the pulse beating. "What did you do?" he asked with wide eyes. When Ace continued to stare with a relieved smile at the skin that pulled itself together inch by inch, the Doctor shook her roughly, questions swirling behind his blue eyes. "What," he repeated, "did you do?"
Wordlessly, Ace tugged on the end of a string and revealed the trinket concealed under the armour. A small stone imbedded in the wood glowed a vibrant orange and the light it emitted seeped into Kelly's skin.
The Doctor's eyes widened in surprise and then in alarm. "Magic?" he breathed. "You used magic on her?"
"I wasn't going to let her die," was the cold reply. She met his gaze and refused to be the one to look away first.
He sighed slightly at the emotions leaking from her eyes and brushed her cheek gently. "We need to go. If they see what's happened..."
There was no need for him to finish. Ace nodded. She watched him glance at Ancelyn and Mordred before jumping to help pick Kelly off the ground. He urged her to hurry in whispers as they carried Kelly out of the courtyard.
They didn't return to the inn. Instead the Doctor led the way to a stable and ordered Ace to pay the young boy who saw them enter. He gently lay Kelly down behind a bale of hay in the loft, muttering apologies upon her deaf ears as he scattered hay liberally over her. He studied his handiwork, scattered some more then nodded, satisfied she was adequately concealed.
It didn't sit right with Ace to leave her friend alone and unconscious. She was determined to stay with her until the Doctor eventually persuaded her that Kelly would be far safer if they didn't linger any longer than they had to.
"How much did you pay the stable hand?" he asked.
"Two silvers and a handful of coppers, why?"
"Rather a low price for her life," the Doctor replied.
Suddenly understanding, Ace rushed back to the boy and dumped the entire contents of her coin purse into his hand. Coins pinged as they hit the ground. The boy's eyes boggled, having never seen so much money in his life.
"What do ye mean she's dead but not dead?"
The boy bounced nervously from one foot to another. "The red knight got her but I saw her and she was breathing."
The eight-fingered man shook his head in defeat. "I told ye to stay away. She could be one of them Fey."
"She magic-ed the lock," the boy persisted. He watched his mentor study the magically locked box. "Said she could be Trickster, you did. You said we should help 'em."
The continued pestering was making the man weary. He did not like the boy's curiosity. He could only foresee it as being a problem in the days to come. "A dullard Trickster to take on a knight," he scoffed. "Trickster or no, she's dead and walking and if she keeps walking, she'll be dead twice."
With that, the boy was dismissed with a wave of the man's hand. The boy reached into his pocket and ran a finger over the edge of the collection of coins he carried.
"I think we need to talk, Ace."
Ace looked glum as she picked a tiny winged insect out of her stew. They had paid for a single room in an inn on the complete opposite side of town to the last. Compared to this one, the last with its window and relative lack of creepy crawlies was a palace. Here, it looked like someone had been murdered in the bed, that or emptied several blocks worth of chamber pots onto it and left it to ferment. Whatever kind of nasty bed-bugs and other critters that might live in the straw beneath the grotty blanket was not something Ace wanted to find out.
The Doctor had his serious expression on display that made her want to curl up into a ball in the corner because that look, accompanied by those dreaded words, could only mean she was in for another lecture. Having endured several during her travels, the precedents indicated she was not going to be allowed to sleep tonight.
"About...?" she asked, reluctantly taking the bait. Doing otherwise would only prolong it.
"Miss Jones."
Inwardly she cringed. That was a bit broader a topic than she'd been expecting. Sure, magic was a guaranteed topic as was interference but... "Anything in particular?"
He leaned forward and rested his chin on his hands. The movement indicated he had quite a collection of questions and was debating which to ask first. "What was she doing in that warehouse?"
That one was easy enough. "Dunno," Ace replied. Kelly had not said much and what she had had been very vague. She had no idea what kind of 'lost information' Kelly might have been recovering.
"Who is she?" was the next question.
"A very good friend," she replied automatically. "We met at school."
The Doctor shook his head, appearing even more thoughtful. "That is who she is to you, not who she is."
Ace scowled. He was nitpicking. "Look, can't we just skip to the part where you get mad at me?"
"Oh, I'm not mad," he disagreed.
Ace blinked. "You're not?"
"No."
"Oh, great. You're furious then."
He shook his head. "Not at all. In fact, I wish I had thought of it."
Ace glanced up from her stew. "You what?"
"It was rather ingenious," he commented. "Not the flashy projectile magic, but the sneaky warding magic. Magic," he went on, "that would harm no one while protecting the wearer. What's more," he added, "you managed to find something imbued with this magic and convince Miss Jones to wear it without anyone suspecting a thing."
She still couldn't believe what she was hearing.
"Not even she had a clue. You didn't tell her what it was," he elaborated, smiling proudly. "She had no idea and so fought for her life, unaware that she was far safer than she had been in the ring."
"But-" she began but he continued over the top of her.
"But you knew magic has its limits." His smile grew. "You knew it cannot bring back the dead. A mortal blow would not give the magic time to heal her."
Ace nodded mutely as she stirred the soup spoon, drowning another winged insect that had landed in the liquid.
"Luckily, she managed to avoid that."
"But she nearly died!" Ace exclaimed.
"And your foresight saved her life. You should be glad."
Ace shook her head. "She never should have had to fight in the first place."
He tilted his head to examine her face. "She didn't have a choice."
"But I did," Ace muttered. "I asked if she could come and she almost died because of it." She resumed her stirring. "You should be mad at me," she mumbled.
"No, no, no," he tutted. "Ace, I'm proud of you." He sighed when she didn't look up. "If you hadn't done what you did, she would have died. For days I have tried to think of alternatives, of ways of getting us out of here alive. And I came up with nothing."
Ace shivered. It chilled her to the bone to think that the Doctor, the one who always had a plan and a trick or ten up his sleeve, had not been able to put a lifeline in place in case things were to go wrong. So he wasn't just complimenting her. She really had made the difference between her friend living and dying. And if she hadn't found the charm? The thought was terrifying.
He asked where the idea had come from.
"I'm tired of people I care about dying, Doctor." The statement hung in the air like a heavy cloud.
"I know," he sighed.
After a considerable pause and a few deep breaths, she told him about her and Kelly exploring the castle the day they had arrived and how they had examined all the stalls. They hadn't been looking for anything in particular, just browsing and helping smooth Kelly's nerves concerns about inadvertently messing up the timelines. She remembered Kelly eying some necklaces from one of the stands. Intending to buy one as a present, Ace had been aghast at the prices until the seller made a passing comment about them being enchanted.
"I thought he was just a nutter, you know? Then we bumped into Ancelyn and I realised he might have been telling me the truth."
One of the objects Kelly had examined was a silver bracelet that the seller informed Ace apparently allowed the wearer to focus their own 'magical energies'; a kind of outlet for their own magic casting. After Ace explained she couldn't cast magic, the seller recommended a magical charm, explaining it would not allow her to direct or use magic but would work on its own.
"I asked if he had any healing ones," Ace went on, "and he gave one to me. Cost a fortune, but I tested it. I put it on and cut my finger and it healed right away."
"And so you gave it to Kelly," the Doctor concluded.
"I was going to but..." Ace paused. Uncertain whether it was a good idea to tell the Doctor this, she went on hesitantly. "Professor, not much scares Kelly. Right before she went out there, she was terrified. Then I wondered if the charm would work on bigger cuts or even how much charge it had. I thought that if anyone should rely on some magical object to keep them alive, it should be me, that I should be the one out there fighting Mordred, but she wouldn't let me."
"I must agree with Miss Jones in this instance," the Doctor commented, a slight scowl on his forehead, seemingly displeased by the notion of supporting Kelly's judgement. "She was quite right in refusing your offer. She is the more experienced fighter," the Doctor reminded her quickly, worried Ace might take offense.
"Even though I got crash courses in swordsmanship from a sentient alien sword?" Ace asked.
He nodded, surprising Ace. "No matter how intensive or intrinsic, there is no substitute for experience, which," he went on, "brings us back to my second question; who is she?"
"She's-"
"Right here," interrupted a voice and the pair spun around in alarm.
Kelly stood in the doorway, leaning against it in a stance that suggested comfort but really just assisted in disguising her from the sight of other patrons of the inn. Strands of hay littered her hair and much of her green tunic was stained brown by dried blood.
"Mind if I sit?"
Ace immediately rose and made to help her cross the room but could only stand around feeling useless as Kelly stubbornly refused her help and limped over without aid. She tried not to wince as she sat down.
"Speak of the Devil and she may appear?" she tried to joke then caught scent of Ace's stew and helped herself to a few mouthfuls. Ace opened her mouth to mention the insect corpses floating in the bowl but Kelly had drained the contents before she could make a sound.
"How are you feeling?" the Doctor asked.
Kelly raised a single eyebrow, suspicious of his concern. "Like I've been dragged behind the back of a horse and cart," she replied.
"You look awful," Ace blurted as she sat down beside her.
"I smell something awful too," Kelly agreed.
She didn't think she had ever been so filthy. I could trudge through sewers and still be cleaner. And I've been there and done that, she thought to herself and smirked slightly as she saw Ace attempt to hide her smile behind a hand as she scratched her nose. What I wouldn't give for a shower right now or a nice long soak. It would be a dream to just be able to close her eyes and relax actually.
After the shock of waking up with straw covering her face and threatening to slide down her throat or up her nose, she had almost shrieked at the thick layer of crusted blood that coated every inch of her from the shoulders to her waist. It was like waking up to a nightmare.
Her shoulder bore no sign of Mordred's blade having sliced it. Not even a thin red line was to be found. Kelly had begun to wonder if it even was her blood by that point but distinctly remembered a sharp stabbing pain in her gut. She knew she had not imagined the pain and the blood had to have come from somewhere. The ghost injury unsettled her.
She fished the trinket out from beneath her crusted tunic and tossed it onto the table. "Care to tell me what this is and how it did this?" she demanded rather than asked as she tugged at the collar of her tunic and revealed a swollen red mark in the shape of the trinket lightly branded onto her neck.
Ace cringed. The Doctor averted his eyes and scratched some dried blood off the trinket with his fingernail. He examined the jewel in the centre. "Out of charge," he informed them, "and thankfully not a moment too soon."
Kelly frowned. Out of charge? She had thought it was just a pendant until it had burnt her neck and left its mark there. Like some kind of torture device. How was that something to be thankful for? Weren't there a hundred other more important things to be glad about like the fact that she was, you know, still alive! She thought she had been stabbed but there was barely a mark on her. Yet she could find no explanation for the blood stains that soaked her from the shoulder down.
"Can someone please explain why I've found myself covered in what I assume is my own blood without a single scratch on me except for this?" She pulled her collar back up and eyed them both suspiciously. "In a stable no less."
"Ace," the Doctor prompted.
"It's magic," Ace told her as she prodded the trinket. "Healing magic." Kelly raised a sceptical eyebrow and, with a sigh, Ace repeated what she had already told the Doctor in an abbreviated fashion.
"So I should have died but didn't because of some hocus-pocus?" Kelly summarised a few minutes later, a hand subconsciously hovering over her stomach.
Ace nodded. "When you put it like that, yeah."
She's accepting this story a bit too easily for my liking, thought Kelly. The concept of healing magic conflicted with her understanding of magic as being electrical. Electricity can't heal wounds like that. At least Ace is telling what she believes to be the truth. "And you knew this would happen?" Kelly inquired.
Ace hesitated. "I was pretty certain it would work..."
Pretty certain? That wasn't comforting. Even if she hadn't been certain of whether or not the trinket would do what it was claimed to, Kelly couldn't believe that Ace hadn't mentioned it to her before. "And you didn't think to tell me this before I took on Mordred because...?"
"Because..." Ace began but trailed off.
"Because," the Doctor answered for her, "it was important for you to fight naturally else Mordred would have suspected something was afoot."
Kelly eyes glared daggers at her usual target. I knew it, she thought darkly. This was all your doing. You put her up to it. "That's your excuse?"
"It's a perfectly reasonable excuse," he replied.
Hell no it isn't!
"I see," said Kelly as she concealed her fury behind her emotional mask. "So you believed it to be more important that I played my part methodically than to inform me of this? That I was..." She broke off then attempted to rephrase how she expressed her frustration. "You would rather I believe I was due to die than tell me otherwise, is that it? Is that what you're telling me?"
"Kelly..."
She silenced Ace with a hand. "No, I want to hear what he says." He really has taken this too far, she thought angrily. Being unpleasant and suspicious was excusable but this, this was uncalled for.
"But I..."
Kelly spoke over her. "Go on, Doctor. Speak." She crossed her arms and watched him expectantly. "I want to hear how he defends keeping me in the dark. If there's two things I can't stand, it is other people getting me to do something I don't want to do and people withholding information that concerns me. Especially," she added, "when not knowing might get me killed."
A few of the other patrons were beginning to turn their heads, having heard her raised voice. Cursing herself for failing to control her anger better, she lowered it.
"This wasn't just a bit of verbal sparring between us," she went on, locking eyes with the Doctor. "This was my life on the line. I could have died. I thought I had died. I think I deserved the courtesy of at least being told!"
The bench chair she was sitting on jerked backwards. Kelly stumbled as Ace stood and marched out the door. Startled by her untelegraphed departure and unable to get up quickly enough to follow her, Kelly was forced to watch her go with a puzzled frown. When Ace was out of sight, Kelly returned her gaze to the front and recoiled as she found the Doctor's blue eyes glaring directly at her, his face inches away from her own.
"I could not tell you what I did not know myself," he replied coldly, each word expressed with a fine point. "The charm was not my idea. It was hers."
If the git really thinks I'm going to fall for that I'll- The thought was crushed as a jolt of perception surged through her. She stared at the door as his words sunk in. His explanation made sense of Ace's abrupt departure. Her mouth dried and her throat turned to sandpaper, rending her unable to speak.
"Now you understand what it is you have just done," he reprimanded.
She gritted her teeth and glared at him. Don't you look smug, she thought venomously. You hypocrite, a pot should never call a kettle black without looking in the mirror first. Fuming from inner rage and shame, she struggled to her feet and stepped over the bench. "Don't you dare talk to me about damage," she replied, her voice barely audible. "Not when I'm the one who picked up the pieces when you broke her."
Without a backwards glance, she limped out into the night.
God, Ace, I'm sorry, she sighed as she glanced down another passageway. Me and my big mouth. Had I known... I was just so angry and… Waking up afterwards was like an out of body experience. I couldn't feel anything and there was blood everywhere, like I was staring at my own dead body. Alright, I was scared. Terrified even. Heck, wouldn't you have been in my place? Please, stop running away.
At first the sound of her own footsteps on the cobbled street made her anxious but the effort required to quieten them slowed her down even more than her bruised hip. Guess the magic only worked on open wounds, she thought. The lanterns casted shadows onto the ground of varying lengths and intensities as their stones' batteries fed them, some providing less light as their charges approached empty. Without them the streets would be pitch black. It was difficult enough to see and she continued to stumble on the uneven stones. Her boots squelched as she stepped in something she didn't want to think about.
She caught sight of a shadow moving in the distance and altered her path to follow it. She has a good lead on me, she thought and gritted her teeth as she increased her gait and pace. Her thoughts were disrupted by the clinking of metal. Automatically, she pressed herself against the nearest wall and turned her face away.
Through the corner of her eye, she watched a handful of men dressed in chainmail and cloaks walk past. They carried proper burning torches. The curfew patrol, she thought and remained still until they were out of sight. Peeking her head around the wall, she noticed they were heading in the same direction as the shadow.
They couldn't be the only patrol skulking around. She entertained the idea of getting off the ground and surveying the area from the roof but the buildings around her were hardly sturdy. As she searched for possible routes onto the rooves, it occurred to her that she had no idea where she was. When she had awoken she had only walked a block before hearing Ace's voice through a narrow slit of a window and she had circled the building until she located the entrance. It had been dark then and she hadn't recognised any of the streets or houses. Now she could not even see her own hand and she was twice as likely to become lost. The streets looked all the same; dark, gloomy and mostly hovels. That would make this the slums but knowing that was not helping her to find Ace.
She turned to another sense; sound; and listened. Many loud footsteps to the right getting progressively quieter; the patrol. She strained to hear more and heard a faint patter of footsteps on something that did not sound like stone. Kelly glanced down the nearest alleyway. The path was not cobbled. Having eliminated the main street, she began systematically checking the alleyways. She caught sight of a figure down one turning right at the other end of the fifth one she checked and she hurried after them. Once she was within sight of them, she called out in an urgent whisper, "Ace!"
The figure paused and glanced back. Kelly crept closer but the figure turned and bolted.
No, wait! Kelly steeled herself and began jogging to follow her. Damn she's fast! Must be all the practice she gets, she thought as she panted. Running from bad guys, running from the things she hates, running from her family. Well you're not going to run away from me.
At a crossroad she stopped running and bent over, massaging her hip. Now where? I lost sight of her a few turns back-
Thud!
Kelly's heart stopped. Sounds of a scuffle followed and she warily crept towards the sounds, holding her breath. A cry; Ace! No, no, no!
She burst around another corner and skidded to a halt before quickly retreating to the shadows. Mordred and a pair of knights stood in the alley. Their backs were turned to her. Their attention was focused on Ace whom Mordred had pinned to the stone wall with his arm.
"Where is it?" he demanded.
"Get off!" snarled Ace.
He pushed his arm harder to restrict her even tighter. "I said where is it? I know you moved it. Tell me, where is the body?"
Kelly's blood ran cold. Her feet threatened to collapse beneath her. She sank into a crouch in the shadows, her back to the wall and her head in her hands as she tried to stop herself from shaking. Body… A heavy, lifeless word. There was only one body they could be referring to. Mine. They're after me.
A series of short thuds were followed by a grunt of pain from Ace. "Where is it?" demanded the knight.
Kelly heard Ace spit at him and a sickening crack as her friend's head hit the wall. Kelly's shaky hand reached for her dagger but the sheath and blade were gone. She remembered taking it off for the fight. In growing anxiety, she raised her knee and searched for her hidden knife she kept inside her boot. She nearly threw it away in despair when she found it. If her dagger had been a toothpick compared to Mordred's sword then her knife was nothing more than a splinter. It was light and perfect for throwing but at this range she had no hope of it striking his hands or face. Everywhere else was protected by plate or chainmail armour that the knife had no hope of piercing through.
Worse, Kelly could do nothing but stand there and watch. She had wished to be more in her element while fighting that monster but now she had ended up in that situation without the means to defend herself or her friend.
This is my fault! If I had kept my big mouth shut-
Mordred grabbed Ace by the lapels and threw her against the building opposite. Another heavy thud. Kelly winced and again resisted the almost overwhelming urge to charge out there and launch an attack. He jerked his head at the guards. "Put him in the dungeon. Perhaps we can still loosen the tongue."
Someone clutched at Kelly's sleeve and provided enough force to prevent her from limping into the fray. She spun on the spot, knife in hand and ready to fight. For a moment she thought she was imagining things then looked down as the thief boy raised his hands in a universal gesture of no harm.
"Go," he whispered feverishly. "They look for you. You stay, they find you. You can't help."
"I won't leave her," Kelly hissed back.
"Must," he insisted and he started pulling her along. For a child, he was remarkably strong.
She escaped his grip and dashed back to the corner. When she rounded it, it was empty. Mordred was gone as were the guards, as was Ace. Her panic growing, she raced to where they had been and spun on the spot. She needed to find them now! If Ace ended up in the dungeon there was no telling if she could be broken out… or what manner of persuasion Ace might be subjected to.
You can't just go and barge right into the keep, reason cried in warning as it tried to dissuade her from her course. You're supposed to be dead! If they discover otherwise, they will run you through a second time and make sure you stay dead this time. What help will that be to Ace?
Even more reason to act now, she argued.
Don't be stupid, reason reprimanded. Remember how acting impulsively didn't work so well last time? You know, the whole being tazered and imprisoned inside a UNIT facility. Remember that? Remember why that happened? Because you panicked and acted hastily without any thought as to the consequences. It was a disaster. You didn't rescue Ace. You ended up neck-deep in hot water with her. Instead of dragging her out, you jumped right in to the frying pan to be cooked with her.
That was different, she tried to defend. I thought she was dead but right now she's alive and I need to do something before they can hurt her.
Her reasonable side couldn't believe how her emotions had blinded her. It momentarily floundered to compress its message into a single fact that even her flaring emotions could not ignore. If you show yourself, it declared, they will have no reason to keep her alive.
Kelly gritted her teeth as her pace slowed to a stop. The statement was like a bucket of cold water being thrown over her head. It cooled her rage and tempered her frustration. Her shoulders sunk as she acknowledged the voice of reason was right. As loathe as she was to do nothing while Ace was in danger, rationally she did not have a choice. Castles were among the pinnacle of defensive structures and, without a plan or equipment, her chances of breaking into the keep were extremely slim. The likelihood of breaking in and out with Ace in tow, alive, was practically nonexistent.
To make matters worse, Mordred wanted her body. That much was obvious but why? To show off his fighting process? To recover some of his lost pride? Something else? She shuddered and decided to stop thinking about it. She had plans to formulate, equipment to track down and a friend to rescue.
Without the boy's assistance, Kelly had no idea how she would have found her way back in the dark. Having led her there, he slid into the shadows just across the street. She reached for her coin purse to pay him for his assistance but it, like her dagger, had been left behind before facing Mordred. He shrugged noncommittally when she apologised. He didn't seem to care which was unusual but Kelly didn't have time to be give his odd behaviour a second thought.
Leaving the boy outside, she avoided the few remaining occupants who were still awake and snuck upstairs. There were only three rooms, one of which was empty. Prompted by the faint glow of a candle leaking out from under the door, she tried the first door. Cautiously, she stepped inside. She jumped slightly as the Doctor stepped out of a position of vigil by the shadows of the doorway.
Her heart ached as his gaze looked past her and out into the passageway. The passageway remained empty. She watched him frown. "You didn't find her," he sighed as his eyes closed wearily.
Kelly slowly shook her head then realised he couldn't see. "No, I did," she corrected quietly. "Mordred took her."
The Doctor's eyes snapped open. "What?!" Kelly flinched as he grabbed her by the shoulders and shoved her against the wall. "Where is she?" he demanded. "Tell me!"
"The dungeon I think…" she answered, almost frozen in shock. "I tried-"
But he had stopped listening. The savage predatory glare dissipated as light drained from his eyes. The blue of his eyes turned grey as if aged by his anxiety. His shoulders hunched as his unexpected burst of strength faded and the pressure on her shoulders lessened.
He let her go and made his way over to the chest beside the bed, each step seeming to be a mountain for him to climb. His straw hat was retrieved as was his umbrella. For the first time Kelly watched him use it as a make-shift walking stick instead of spinning it around or hanging it off his forearm. He donned his hat and hid his eyes from her.
He said nothing as he took hold of her arm in a vice grip and led her out by the arm. He surely couldn't intend to leave her, thought Kelly, recognising where he was leading her. Surely not. He can't mean to flee.
She dug in her heels the instant she caught sight of the stables. "We're not leaving her!"
His voice was cold. "We're not. You are." Before she could open her mouth in protest, he continued with the same lack of warmth in his voice, "Mordred can only be after two things, and because he captured Ace alive, that means he's after you."
"He thinks I'm dead-"
"He wants to be sure you are," the Doctor interrupted. "In his attempt to stop Mordred, Ancelyn humiliated him by revealing your identity. Mordred was humiliated in front of the entire castle guard, the entire townsfolk. It would have destroyed his reputation and his honour demands revenge. He is not furious, he is livid. He will search every shadow and every home in search of your body and if he discovers you live, no amount of magic could reattach your head from your shoulders."
His grip was inescapable and was unnaturally strong for his age and build. He pulled her over to a horse's stall and Kelly recoiled as the beast awoke. "No!"
"You are not safe here."
"Nor are you," she returned as he released his grip on her. "They're after you too. They'll seize you on sight and you'll end up in the dungeon with her." She repeated the question her voice of reason had asked. "You'd both be stuck and then what? How am I supposed to do anything about it?"
A slight smile appeared on his face as he led the horse out of its stall. Kelly shied away. The Doctor did not notice and seemed lost in his own thoughts. "It will hardly be the first time we have been thrown into a dungeon without a plan of how to get out."
Kelly ignored the comment. "We shouldn't be splitting up. We need to be planning a jailbreak."
She shivered as his eyes stared into her soul. "I promised Ace I would keep you safe." He checked the horse was saddled properly. "The only way I can guarantee that is if you are not inside the castle to be discovered and the window of opportunity is closing. The longer you argue, the longer a messenger has to reach the wall and order the gates be shut again."
Kelly adopted her most serious tone. "I'm not leaving her," she stated.
Can't he understand that? I'm the reason she was captured and I can't just leave when I know her life is in danger. I gave up the chance I had to try to save her because I knew I couldn't manage it alone and now you're trying to get rid of me.
He scowled at her refusal to cooperate. "Right now her life depends on you not being discovered."
That may be true but sending me away is not going to help, thought Kelly angrily. How can he expect to save Ace alone? He's an old man. Words are his weapons and they cannot protect him from a castle full of guards wielding iron. He can't save Ace with words.
"Kelly," he commanded, stressing every syllable, "get on the horse."
Kelly glanced sideways at the reins in his offered hand and shook her head. He can say that until the cows came home but there's no way in hell that's going to hap-
Her gaze was drawn into his. There was this strange look in his eyes. Kelly's mind wandered as she stared into them. She thought she had noticed how blue they were but they really gleamed. Like a still lake at dawn. Like a cloudless sky. Like... those blue-ish purply gemstones. Why couldn't she remember what they were called? Why was it so hard to think with her head so cloudy? Why was the depths of his eyes so captivating and why was her left foot sliding into a stirrup?
Stirrup...
Stirrup...
The word echoed in her mind and thinking of it sent a tremble down her spine. Flashes of images and memories sporadically stabbed through the fogginess. Horses, stables, the smell of fresh manure, the sound of hooves crunching on dry earth and the whinnies of stressed colts, the feeling of anticipation as a metre high jump zoomed closer then fear, the falling sensation of being airborne, the sicking crunch that followed...
The Doctor reached out a hand to help her onto the animal's back but she had frozen. He tried to re-establish eye-contact but Kelly stared sightlessly at the horse's mane and began shaking. The horse shuffled and whinnied in discontent, sensing its rider's unease. As if summoned by the horse's call, the thief boy, the same boy Ace had earlier mistaken for a stable hand, appeared. The Doctor turned in surprise but the boy walked slowly past him and petted the beast's neck, muttering soothing words and sounds. The horse settled and remained still. Unable to understand how Kelly was continuing to put up resistance, the Doctor watched the boy for a few seconds. He nodded as he came to a conclusion.
The boy turned when tapped on the shoulder and his gaze was drawn into a pair of bright blue eyes...