The Doctor lightly knocked on the door to Zoë's chamber.
"Zoë, may I come in?"
"If you like," came the reply from the other side of the door.
The Doctor opened the door to find Zoë sitting at the vanity looking through a case that had been generously filled with costume jewelry, courtesy of the Princess. She held up a gold earring up to her ear and surveyed the effect in the mirror.
"How, uh, how are you?"
"Perfectly well. How are you?"
"You're not upset?"
Zoë pulled out a long, pearl choker and held it to her throat. "Upset? Why should I be upset? Jamie can chase who he likes, I don't care."
"Oh … I was under the impression you cared quite a bit."
There was a pause, Zoë was staring at herself in the mirror as she held the pearls, she touched the small necklace from Jamie that was still on her neck. She then seemed to give herself a mental shake. "Ha!" Zoë exclaimed and dramatically rolled her eyes. "Hardly." The Doctor raised a doubtful eyebrow.
"Zoë, I don't think Jamie is quite himself."
"Oh, I think he's quite himself," Zoë couldn't keep the bitterness from her voice there.
"I mean, I believe he's under some sort of powerful influence."
"I'll say. That Princess emits enough pheromones to stun a horse."
The Doctor's lips twitched and be cleared his throat. "Yes, well. She is emitting something. I think Princess Vectra has done something to Jamie—given him something to affect his behavior."
Zoë stilled, processed for a moment then turned to look at the Doctor, the hardness from her blue eyes had gone and they were lit by tentative hope. The Doctor fought to not smile at her complete drop of pretense.
"You mean like mind control?"
"Yes, something like that. Eässa said she was a skilled herbalist. There are tisanes and tinctures out there in this wide galaxy of ours that can make one's heart and mind very suggestible."
Zoë folded her hands in her lap and thought in a more dispassionate mode. When she had first been reunited with Jamie in the Princess' receiving room she had noticed he appeared to be in a slight fog; something about his eyes were off. And then, when she had caught them kissing on the veranda earlier, he had looked at Zoë for a moment as if he did not recognize her.
"That has me thinking," said the Doctor, tapping his chin. "With her skill in herbalism, I wonder …"
"Wonder what? Doctor, what is it?"
But the Doctor did not answer, he was lost in thought. Suddenly he turned and left the room.
Zoë got up and followed him out. "Doctor!"
…..
Zoë and the Doctor left Jamie in his room composing a bad poem to Princess Vectra, while they met up with Eässa outside the servant's quarters.
"Were you able to get the key?" The Doctor asked.
Eässa looked furtively around then pulled a folded handkerchief from her bodice. The Doctor took it from her.
"Right," he said, secreting it away in his jacket pocket, "let's get to work."
"What's the key to?" Zoë asked
"I'll explain on the way to the TARDIS."
….
The Doctor tapped his foot impatiently as the replicating machine whirred and buzzed. It was the first time Zoë was seeing it in action. It looked to her like a microwave from the turn of the last century. There was even a lazy susan-like disc for the object to sit on that spun as fast as a centrifuge splitting cells.
Ding!
"Ah ha! It's done." The Doctor opened the door, reached in, but then quickly snatched his hand back. "Oo! They're hot!" He pulled out a kerchief from his coat and gingerly gathered up the keys.
"May I see?" Zoe asked and the Doctor passed the kerchief to her. She examined it for a moment.
"It really is identical. Can it replicate anything?"
"Only inanimate objects, which is handy if you only have one tool and need more, or missing a sock."
"And this key is to the Princess' stillroom?"
"Yes and we'd better get the original back to its rightful place before it is missed."
"What is a stillroom anyway, Doctor?" Zoë asked as he locked up the TARDIS.
"Its use dates back to the Medieval times. Normally located off the kitchen or in an outbuilding, medicines were prepared and kept there, cosmetics, perfumes, homemade cleaning solutions, even beer sometimes—hence the name related to distillation. It's like a domestic laboratory of sorts."
"Oh." Zoë personally liked the sound of that. "And we're going to break into the Princess's?"
The Doctor smiled. "Well, you can't really call it a break-in if you have the key, can you?"
….
On returning the Doctor, Zoë and Eässa were immediately presented with the opportunity to return the original key and investigate the stillroom. Vectra was taking Jamie out riding on Kalmyra's equivalent of a horse, along with a few of her other suitors who insisted they come along. Zoë's jealousy was tempered by amusement as she watched Jamie trying to figure the beast out. It had given him a swift kick in the behind with its sixth leg as he tried to mount it.
Zoë laughed and Jamie glared at her.
Serves him right, she thought.
"Are you alright, dearest?" Vectra asked solicitously from her expert seat on her mount.
"Aye. He jist caught me by surprise. I've got it now."
Once the riding party was out of sight Eässa led Zoë and the Doctor to the cellars where the presently unused winter kitchen was. Off the winter kitchen was the stillroom.
The room was cool, lit by a few egress windows. It smelled earthy-sweet. The stone walls were completely lined with shelves and cabinets. The shelves were populated by jars of varying shapes and sizes and colors, the cabinets hid chests of tiny drawers filled with dried herbs. Everything was meticulously labeled in the Princess' flowing script.
In the middle of the room was a long, marble-topped work table. Plants were hanging from the beamed ceiling above it to dry. Unlit Bunsen burners and a mortar and pestle were on the table. At the far end of the room was a large hearth. An iron bar was fixed inside it from which hang cauldrons for larger batches.
If the Princess had not been trying to steal Jamie from her—and the Doctor, she quickly added, Zoë would have liked to sit down and talk with Vectra about this herbal science and learn from her.
A small, clear jar full of powder caught her eye. The color was exactly that of the lip rouge she saw on the Princess' and Jamie's lips, earlier.
"Princess Vectra makes her own cosmetics, too?" She asked.
"Yes," answered Eässa. "That's just the color. She adds it to an oily solid to make the lipstick." The Doctor picked the jar and opened it. He sniffed it, accidentally getting some on his nose. He swayed slightly, his eyes blinking slowly.
"Doctor?" Eässa and Zoë looked concerned. The Doctor looked at Eässa and smiled his most charming smile.
"You know, you're even more lovely than when last I saw you."
Eässa blushed then shook her head and gave the Doctor a slight slap on the cheek.
"Oh!" The Doctor touched his cheek with a hurt look then blinked rapidly, his vision clearing. "Oh, my giddy aunt, that stuff is potent!"
"So that's it. It's the lipstick!" Zoë exclaimed.
"She must've premixed it into the color," Eässa said.
"I think it's more than just the lipstick, Zoë," The Doctor added. "I remember feeling a bit queer when we first stepped into Vectra's receiving room. The perfume she was wearing was quite heady. I think she was dosing Jamie with that at first, but it wasn't enough. The more concentrated form of the love balm was put in the lipstick, coupled by body heat as an activator. But, that potion is not the only thing I've come here to find …"
The Doctor browsed around more, squinting at labels.
"What is it, Doctor?" Eässa asked.
"Who helped Vex develop the cure? Was it the Princess?"
Eässa blinked. "Why, yes …"
Before the Doctor could ask anything else they heard voices in the corridor.
"Can I help?"
"No, Jamie, I'll make the poultice myself. If you could wait with Sir Geff …"
Eässa's eyes widened. "They're back already!?" She hissed. "Hide!"
"You don't need to tell me twice!" Zoë whispered back. She flattened herself against the wall beside a shelf—for once, thankful for her diminutive size. The Doctor dove under the worktable. Eässa crouched down in the far corner of the room, making herself as small as possible. The lengthening shadows of the late afternoon helped shield her.
The doorknob jiggled and a second later Vectra strode in muttering to herself.
"Of course Lord Geff would fall from his mount and twist his ankle! Stupid man!" She grabbed various things from the shelf and began to muddle the dry ingredients together with a drop of oil, in the mortar and pestle. She then took the whole pestle with her, along with a strip of cloth and strode out of the room, muttering Kalmyrian obscenities.
The trio waited until her footsteps died away before emerging from their hiding places.
"We should leave," Eässa advised. "Now that we have a key we can return again at the next opportunity."
The Doctor grabbed the lip color.
"What are you doing?" Eässa asked.
"Well, I was thinking … maybe if the love balm is used by someone else, it would break Vectra's hold on Jamie, or at least cancel it out?"
"You would have to know how to add the solid in the right amount. And besides, the Princess is meticulous, she will notice if anything is missing."
"Hm." The Doctor put it back.
"Then how?" Zoë asked, starting to feel helpless. "What can we do?" The petite scientist worried her lip in thought, then voiced an idea: "Does she keep the lipstick in her room? We could grab it and make a copy?"
"No," the Doctor countered. "The special chemical activators will be killed off in the extreme heat generated in the replication process."
"Then we will just have to steal the real thing and try it on Jamie as soon as possible," Zoë said.
"Are you volunteering?" the Doctor asked, looking pointedly at Zoë, his lips twitching.
"I'm not doing it," Eässa declared quickly.
"Well, I'm certainly not doing it!" The Doctor exclaimed emphatically. "That would be silly!" He then looked at Zoë and his expression gentled. "If it's too uncomfortable for you we'll think of something else."
Zoë raised her chin and affected a careless air, adding a shrug for good measure. "Oh, don't be silly. I'll be fine. It's just a kiss. Just two pieces of flesh being pressed together. Nothing." Zoë remembered saying that to Jamie before …
The Doctor nodded his head. "Of course. Quite right. And it's not like this would be the first time."
Zoë blushed and her eyes darted to Eässa whose eyes shone with mild curiosity.
From somewhere above them the trio heard a faint gong.
"Oh! My goodness, what time is it?" Eässa exclaimed. "That's the bell for dinner! We must make haste before you're missed!"
……
Eässa's presence was required at dinner to wait on the table, delaying the stealing of the lipstick scheme.
Princess Vectra was regaling the guests with the tale of Sir Geff's twisted ankle and how the gallant Jamie helped him back to the palace, leading the horse to make sure it would not jostle the injured noble, then supporting his walk back inside the palace.
"Very noble, Mr. McCrimmon," Vex said with an obeisant nod in Jamie's direction. "I think you've made an excellent choice, my daughter."
"Thank you, father. Has the officiant arrived yet?"
"Yes. He arrived a few minutes ago. He will be joining us for supper."
"Officiant?" The Doctor echoed.
Vectra gave the Doctor a smile. "For my wedding to James."
"What?!" Zoe practically squawked. The Doctor dropped his fork.
"With yer permission, yer highness, we'd like tae be married by the end of the week."
"What?!" The Doctor exclaimed this time.
……
Back in the Doctor's room Jamie was sitting in a wingback chair with the Doctor looming concernedly over him.
"Jamie, you cannot marry this woman! Can't you see she's … she's …" the Doctor fumbled as he looked for a concept that Jamie would understand, "Bewitched you?"
Jamie's eyes had a faraway look and a besotted smile was on his face. "Aye, I know."
"No! I mean she's literally bewitched you!"
Jamie leapt to his feet, eyes blazing. "Are ye callin' my beloved a witch? I'll nae hold wi'sich slander!"
The Doctor rolled his eyes and waved an impatient hand. "Oh, settle down, Jamie. How else do you explain that we've only been here three days and you're marrying Vectra in two?"
Jamie could not answer, so instead he declared, "I'll nae stand fer this. I'm goin' tae my room!"
Jamie stormed out and the Doctor plopped down in the recently vacated wingback chair.
"Maybe Zoë will have better luck," he sighed.
Jamie stalked into the sitting room attached to the bedroom suite he'd been given. There he saw Zoë sitting in a chair before the blazing fireplace, book in hand.
"Och! Zoë! What are ye doin' here?"
Zoë closed her book. "I … uh was hoping to talk with you Jamie—"
"I actually wanted tae see you."
"You did?"
"Aye." Jamie opened his sporran and pulled out a folded piece of paper. "I finished ma poem and was wonderin' if I could get yer opinion on it."
Zoë grimaced. "I'd rather be jettisoned from an airlock without a spacesuit …" she muttered.
"Eh?"
"Nothing."
Jamie unfolded the paper and cleared his throat. "Now, I know I'm nae Robert Burns, but, here goes …"
Zoë had only recently begun to explore poetry via the Doctor's library and did not have much with which to compare Jamie's literary efforts. Even so, his attempt was truly as horrible as she had feared.
"Stop, stop," Zoë said, putting a hand to her forehead.
Jamie winced. "Och, is it tha' bad?"
Zoë sighed and, rising to her feet, walked over to the Scot.
"Jamie, I'd like to ask you a very serious question." Zoë took a breath and looked up into his face. It was then she noticed for the first time that his familiar warm hazel eyes had a distinctly violet hue to them. Zoë sucked in a startled breath at this physical proof of Vectra's art. She took Jamie's hands and clasped them between hers. The Highlander flinched in surprise and Zoë watched in fascination as the color of his eyes suddenly fluctuated between cool violet and his natural warm hazel.
"Interesting …" she murmured to herself.
"Eh?"
Out of a sense of urgency Zoë tightened her grip and stepped closer. "Jamie … are you really in love with Vectra?
Jamie frowned and blinked at her. " … O-of course."
Zoë leaned in and gazed into his eyes, which were trying to avoid hers. The color fluctuation was even more pronounced now. "You don't sound very sure."
Jamie closed his eyes. When he opened them again the normal hazel seemed to be dominant.
"I …"
The door to Jamie's room suddenly opened and cloyingly sweet perfume heralded the arrival of Vectra. "James, my love, I've been waiting—Oh … what are you doing here, Miss Heriot?"
Jamie's eyes blazed violet and Zoë's heart fell. He yanked his hands out of her grip and turned to Vectra.
"Och, I wrote a poem fer you. I was gettin' a woman's opinion before I presented it to ye."
Vectra's gaze, which had been narrowly fixed on Zoë turned back to Jamie and softened.
"Oh, thank you, my dear. That was most thoughtful of you. I'm sure I'll like it."
"Would ye like to hear it now?"
Oh, please, in heaven's name, no! Zoë thought.
"Perhaps later, my darling, I would actually like to speak with Miss Heriot for a moment, if I may?"
Zoë straightened in her chair. "Of course."
"Come with me for a turn about the gardens. This time of day shows it in its best light."
……
The garden was beautiful in the golden light of late afternoon. "James told me you are a 'star scientist', as he so cutely put it, but that you also have an interest in plant life. I brought you out here because I thought you would enjoy studying our native species."
Zoë looked around at the veritable cornucopia of beautiful and intriguing varieties of flowers, creeping vines and trees; she did indeed itch to explore … but she knew that the Princess brought her out here to distract her.
"I thought you asked me out here to talk … your highness."
"Yes. You are a very no-nonsense, to the point young woman. I appreciate that," the Princess said as she gracefully kept pace with Zoë, which was not hard as she was considerably longer legged. "Well, then, I will be blunt, Miss Heriot: are you in love with James?"
Zoë nearly stumbled into a flowering hedge.
"W-what?"
Vectra looked calmly at her. "It is a simple question."
"It's an impertinent question!" Zoë snapped.
Vectra blinked and her mouth opened slightly.
"Your highness," Zoë quickly added.
A flash of anger chased across the Princess' face. "I am not accustomed to being spoken to so … cavalierly. I'll overlook it since you are not from our planet and unused to our ways … and for James' sake. I would like his friend to be in the great hall during the ceremony, not in the dungeon."
Zoë swallowed.
"The reason I ask is because I would like you to be a bridesmaid."
"B-bridesmaid?" Zoë choked out. She almost made use again of "I'd rather be jettisoned out of an airlock without a spacesuit", but she held her tongue.
"I wouldn't want to put you in an awkward situation if you did indeed harbor some feelings for James."
Zoë narrowed her eyes at the Princess. "Why me?"
Vectra shrugged her orange shoulders. "I thought it would be nice to have a friend of James' in the wedding party."
Zoë opened her mouth to flat out refuse, but then an idea popped into her head. It would be leaving things to the eleventh hour but it was probably their best chance.
"I've never been a bridesmaid before. What would my duties be?"
"Oh, you and the other bridesmaids will help me get ready, then you will proceed ahead of me into the hall, the other ladies will show you what to do."
Zoë forced a smile. "It sounds interesting. I'll do it."
…..
"You agreed to what?!" The Doctor exclaimed, his large gray eyes practically bugging out of his long face.
"Be a bridesmaid."
"In Heaven's name, why?"
"Believe me, I find the idea just as appalling, but I have an idea: Myself and the other bridesmaids will be helping the Princess get ready. We will be in the boudoir and at that time I will be able to swipe that lipstick—maybe only have time to put it on—then I'll sneak away and try to see Jamie before the ceremony starts."
"It's a good thing they have the tradition similar to Earth of not letting the bride and groom see each other before the ceremony. That said, it's all cutting it rather close."
"I know, but it's nearly impossible to get Jamie alone, she's always around."
"And I haven't had a moment to sneak into her quarters," chimed in Eässa. "With the wedding feast in preparation and decorating I haven't been able to get away."
"The wedding is the day after tomorrow," the Doctor said. "We'll keep trying, the sooner the better since we don't even know if it will work."
But time slipped away and opportunities were lost, and so Zoë found herself smoothing down Princess Vectra's gown while the other bridesmaids chattered excitedly around her like a flock of parrots.
"Oh, you look so lovely, your highness!"
"I know," the Princess said airily. Her dress was made of layers of frothy fabric that fluttered about her like large white petals.
Zoë and the rest of the women were dressed in satin gowns of a deep salmon color with a structured bodice, transparent puffed sleeves, and a lace décolleté punctuated by embroidered flowers. The gowns were made for tall Kalmyrian ladies. Zoë's was poorly hemmed and she had to constantly pick up her skirts to keep from tripping. Other than that annoyance it was becoming.
"He is such a fine man!" The other bridesmaid continued to gush.
"I know. So unlike my milksoppy suitors. So manly and bold!"
Zoë resisted the urge to roll her eyes, instead she directed her gaze to the vanity table where a single lipstick sat alongside her brush and comb. The moment Vectra turned away from her vanity mirror Zoë snatched up the lipstick, applied it to her lips and replaced it on the table—and just in time, too, as Vectra turned back to her, requesting her hairbrush.
The lipstick made Zoë's lips feel warm and tingly.
"Excuse me, your Highness" Zoë said after handing her the brush. "I think I had too much tea this morning, I'll be right back."
"Oh, I need to go too!" Piped up one of the other bridesmaids. "I'll come with you."
Zoë's heart sank, but she could not think of an excuse on the spot to dissuade her that sounded plausible.
…..
Before Zoë knew it she was walking down the aisle with the other bridesmaids. The Doctor, who had seated himself at the back, caught her eye and gave her a questioning look. Zoë tapped her lips with one finger to indicate that she had been successful at putting on the lipstick. The Doctor smiled and put his hands together in a silent clap.
Zoë turned her attention back to the end of the aisle. Her mouth dropped open at the sight of Jamie in his bridegroom clothes, not because he looked good, but because, one, he wasn't wearing his kilt, and two, what he was wearing made him look ridiculous. Vectra had dressed him in long, puffed trousers, a long single breasted coat and vest, topped with a feathered turban. The whole ensemble was of a similar salmon colored satin as to what she and the bridesmaids were wearing. If the situation were not so serious, Zoë would have laughed.
Just outside the hall doors Vectra stood waiting for the cue of the bridal trumpets.
The Doctor suddenly slipped through the hall doors and immediately confronted her.
"Vectra! You must stop this!" He whispered harshly.
Vectra gave him a large smile, revealing a row of perfect teeth. "Why? We love each other and he would make a strong consort for a future Queen."
"Hmph. That 'love' as you call it is false and you know it. You've placed an enchantment on him through your herbal arts."
Vectra smiled. "And there's nothing you can do to break it."
"I would not be too sure, your highness."
"If you're referring to Miss Heriot trying to use my lipstick to replace my enchantment, I'm afraid you're out of luck. I switched the lipsticks."
The Doctor's already large blue eyes grew larger. "You what?!"
"Did you think I didn't notice you all hiding in my stillroom? That things were touched and moved?"
"Then … what Zoë put on …"
"Is a normal, unadulterated lipstick," she finished for him with a smug, triumphant smile.
"Oh, dear. Oh dear, oh dear, I must tell—"
"You will do nothing. Herovar!" Vectra called to the guard posted by the door. "Please escort my guest back into the wedding and sit with him; make sure he enjoys the whole ceremony. The Princess pulled a small sachet from her plunging décolletage and passed it to the guard.
"Here is some paralysis powder if he gives you any trouble."
Herovar, who was a young man, gave the Doctor a doubtful look over, wondering at all the fuss over this funny little man. But, with a mental shrug, he complied with a, "Yes, your highness." Herovar took the Doctor lightly by the arm. "Come along, sir."
The Doctor raised his chin and, with a speed and strength that surprised Herovar, the Doctor yanked his arm out his grip.
"I don't need an escort, thank you!" The Doctor snapped then straightened his lapel with an affronted air. "I can walk on my own power." Herovar grabbed his arm again, this time using a more forceful hold. "Not if I have to use this," Herovar said dryly, holding up the sachet.
"Ah, no, in that regard you're correct," the Doctor said with a wince and then gave the guard a beatific smile as if he were in charge of the situation. "Very well, if you insist."
And with that the Doctor allowed himself to be pulled into the hall.