The King's Dragon (14 page)

it's just that it's the night before my wedding.

Couldn't I get locked up with Amy for once?'

The Doctor - kneeling as he had been for the past half-hour in front of the locked door, sonic screwdriver in hand - said, 'Or else with a stripper called Lucy?'

149

DOCTOR WHO

'I
didn't know she was coming! Besides, she didn't strip, did she?'

The Doctor gave him a narrow look. 'Only because she didn't get the chance.'

'It still doesn't
count!
Anyway, I'm not the one that kissed somebody else's girlfriend. Fiancée.

Good as wife, actually — it's only a matter of hours. If you ever get us back. If you ever manage to open that door—'

'Rory,' said the Doctor in exasperation, 'could you please be quiet for a few minutes? I am trying to carry out an extremely complex technical task.'

'You're trying to open a door!'

'I'm trying to open an extremely complex technical door!'

There was a short silence. Rory sulked at his shoes. The Doctor glowered at the door and wielded the sonic screwdriver like a broadsword.

'It's not as if that thing ever works,' Rory said. 'I don't think it does wood.'

'I'd ask you please to respect the sonic.'

'I don't think it does
locks.'

'Respect the sonic!'

There was another short silence.

'I don't even know why you're bothering,' Rory said. 'Give it half an hour and Amy will turn up.

She always does.'

The Doctor leaned back on his heels and stared
150

THE KING’S DRAGON

bitterly at the door. Then he sighed, put the sonic screwdriver into his pocket, and stood up. 'Move over,' he said. He slumped down next to Rory on the pallet, crossed his legs at the ankles, and brooded down at his feet.

'The problem is,' he said, after a while, 'we might not have half an hour. Ten standard time units! I ask you! Not only is it a
rubbish
name for a unit of time,' he said this to the ceiling, as if hoping that the Regulator might somehow hear him, 'but it's absolutely no help in letting me know how much time I've actually got!'

'I hate to say it, but none of this would have happened if you'd only handed over the stupid stuff to the Herald when I said we should.'

The Doctor sighed. 'You do realise, don't you, that you're under the influence of a mind-controlling metal? And not only that but you're getting boring. Beyond boring. Boring was our last moment of excitement.'

'My mind is not under control!' Rory shot back.

'And I didn't mean that the way it came out!'

The Doctor pulled a face. They waited. The candle burned lower.

'So what do you think is going to happen?' Rory said in a subdued voice.

'If we don't get out of here? After whatever is left of our ten "standard time units" —' never
151

DOCTOR WHO

had scare quotes been so ferociously delivered,

'the Regulator will turn up, guns blazing. Unless Beol has had a miraculous change of heart, he'll ride out to battle, whereupon he will, I fear, be promptly turned into barbecue. Depending upon how much firepower the Herald's people have at their disposal, they will then most likely mount an attack in order to try and seize the metal from the Regulators. The Regulators will fight back tooth and claw. You saw what they were like when they got going. Collateral damage isn't going to be a big concern. If there's anything of Geath left standing in the morning, I'll be amazed.' The Doctor tapped his forefinger against his lip. 'If it's any consolation, you and I are likely to survive the battle because we're probably down deep enough in here. So the only thing we'll have to worry about is being locked in a dungeon with the crumbling tons of a ruined city heaped on top of us. At some point in all this the candle will go out.' The Doctor scratched his nose.

'Does that answer your immediate questions?'

Rory nodded.

'Can I sit and think for a while now?'

Rory nodded again.

After a few minutes, a key turned in the lock.

They both sat up, and looked hopefully towards the door. It opened, Amy was pushed inside, and
152

THE KING’S DRAGON

the door was locked again behind her.

The Doctor elbowed Rory. 'Be careful what you wish for.'

153

Ten minutes later, the
three travelers had brought each other up to speed. They had also considered their options and dismissed each of the plans suggested. Now they sat in a row on the pallet. Amy glowered at a scratch that ran the length of her left forearm.

The

Doctor

turned

the

sonic

screwdriver on and off, on and off. Rory twiddled Hilthe's map between his fingers. The candle burned slowly down. On and off clicked the sonic screwdriver, on and off. Amy glared at the Doctor.

He pulled a face, switched the sonic off one more time, tucked it in his pocket, and wiped his sleeve across his forehead. The heat in the tiny room was stifling.

Beyond the locked door, there was a distant
155

DOCTOR WHO

howl. All three looked anxiously as the candle's flame flickered wildly and almost went out. Amy shuddered.

'That'll be the Regulator,' the Doctor said.

The candle steadied itself. Silence fell again, taut and restless.

Rory cleared his throat. 'You know, there's still a chance that Hilthe will come and get us,' he said diffidently. 'I'm sure she will.'

Enraged, Amy leaned past the Doctor to shout at him. 'Will you stop going on about Hilthe! Hilthe is about as likely to get us out of here as the sonic screwdriver! What is
wrong
with you?'

'Mind-controlling metal,' mumbled the Doctor from between them.

'Did you listen to anything I said to you not five minutes ago?' Amy shouted over him. 'Hilthe turned me over to Beol's men!'

Rory raised his hands to placate her. 'I'm sure it was a misunderstanding.'

'I jumped off a roof! I landed in a tree!' Amy brandished her arm at him, scratch and all. 'There's going to be bruises. I'm going to be purple. At my
wedding!'

'I
still think it might simply have been a misunderstanding!'

'Oh, so the two armed guards who chased me over a roof and then dragged me through the
156

THE KING’S DRAGON

streets and down into this dungeon were simply misunderstood? I'm glad we've cleared that one up! I feel much better disposed towards them now I know they were just misunderstood!' Amy glared at the tile rolling around in Rory's fingers.

'Anyway, it's not Hilthe you're really thinking about, it's the Herald.'

A deep crimson blush spread slowly across Rory's face. The Doctor slid out of the way and went elsewhere, not an easy task in so small a room but one to which he applied himself fully.

'That's not true,' Rory lied unconvincingly.

'What is it with you and Golden Girls at the moment anyway?' Amy said. 'First it's the Old Woman of Geath, next it's a gazillion-year-old being of light.'

'You're just jealous!'

'Jealous? How did you work that one out?'

'That you didn't see the Herald first!'

'As if I care two hoots about an addle-brained over-lit—'

'Anyway, what about you, Amy Pond!'

' — Christmas tree decoration! What about me?'

'You and the Ancient Mariner over there! Nine hundred years old, Amy! Nine
hundred!'

They were nose-to-nose, staring at each other as if they were complete strangers. Amy felt more
157

DOCTOR WHO

alone than ever - and it was worse because Rory was there and she shouldn't feel this way if Rory was there. Should she?

'Addle-brained?' Rory said.

'The Ancient
Mariner?'
Amy countered.

Rory blushed again. 'Yes! All right! That was rubbish. Sorry. Best I could manage.'

Amy began to giggle. Rory rested his cheek briefly against hers. He reached down to take her hand and put his other arm around her shoulder.

Amy tucked herself into the space and turned to look at him. Rory leaned down to kiss her.

They did that for a while.

'Sorry.'

'Me too.'

'Love you.'

'Love you too.'

'Hate this Enamour stuff.'

'Hate it too.'

They went back to kissing and when they were happy again, Amy rested her head on Rory's shoulder and they leaned back together against the stone wall. 'Doctor,' Amy called. 'You can come out now.'

The Doctor, who had been standing with his back to them and his ear pressed against the door, turned round. Amy and Rory held hands and smiled at him.

158

THE KING’S DRAGON

'Do you have a plan yet?' Amy asked nicely.

The Doctor put his hands in his pockets. 'I do, in fact, have a plan.'

'Then let's hear the plan.'

'My plan is to wait for whoever is now scratching at the keyhole to let us out.'

Amy and Rory looked over at the door. He was right - there was somebody out there, scrabbling away. Amy squeezed Rory's hand. 'It might be Hilthe.'

Rory kissed the top of her head. 'Doubt it.'

The door opened slowly to reveal the Teller, bent over the keyhole. He looked up at the Doctor.

'Help,' he said.

The Doctor smiled down at him benignly. He pulled the dungeon door wide open and threw his arm out expansively. 'Step into my office.'

'Beol's very brave,' said the Teller, 'but he's going to get himself killed. I don't want him to get killed.'

'Of course not,' said the Doctor. 'Who wants to see their baby brother turned into a crisp by a massive dragon?'

The Teller blinked at him. 'Yes. Quite.'

'So you thought you'd come to me. Very sensible. Best decision you've made all day. Best decision you've made all year.'

'Well, and because of what your friend did
159

DOCTOR WHO

earlier.' The Teller nodded towards Amy. 'In the plaza,' he said to her, 'you put yourself in harm's way for me. You didn't have to do that.'

Amy shrugged. 'I think you've been an idiot, but I didn't think you deserved to be pounded to a pulp.'

'Thank you,' said the Teller fervently.

The Doctor smiled. 'Good work, Pond.'

'All part of the service, Doc. Urn, Doctor.'

'So you decided you could trust us, after all?'

the Doctor said to the Teller.

'I need you to help me explain to Beol what's going on, in a way that he'll understand. He's convinced this attack is corning from Dant. I think he's planning to declare war on them.'

'I doubt he'll get the chance,' the Doctor said drily.

'Well, exactly! All that I saw earlier, the dragon scale, the flying machines...' The Teller lowered his voice. 'I know this must sound like nonsense, but...' He took a deep steadying breath, and then committed himself. 'I think they've come from another world. I know... I know... I'm crazy, that's what everybody says, always have, but...' He held his hands up helplessly. 'What else can it be!'

The Doctor merely smiled. 'So where did you find the dragon, then? Not in Dant, that's for sure.'

160

THE KING’S DRAGON

The Teller snorted. 'Of course we didn't find it in Dant. Or Sheal, for that matter. We found it in a field up in the high country west of Jutt. Not too many people up there. Must have been there for ages. Beol saw something glittering and we thought it might be jewellery, something we could sell. So we got digging. Surprised when it turned out to be that dragon, I can tell you. I didn't recognise the metal, so I guessed it was probably rare and, if that was the case, it would be valuable. I was going to break it up, sell it off in bits and pieces. But the first time I did it I realised it was having an odd effect. I had a tiny piece in my pocket one night. Someone called out for a story and I started telling one about a dragon.

What else? Nobody ever wants to hear about dragons. But that story - oh, they couldn't get enough of it! I earned more that night than I had done since we left home. Making money from storytelling?' He gave a hollow laugh. 'Oh yes, there had to be something not right about that dragon!'

'And as soon as you realised that, you decided to come to Geath.' The Doctor gave him a canny look.

'Why Geath, of all places?'

'Ah.' The Teller raised an eyebrow. 'Now that is a much longer story.'

'Good story?'

'Of course.'

161

DOCTOR WHO

'Ooh. I like a good story.' The Doctor sat back down on the pallet and crossed his legs. 'Go on, then.'

The Teller gave him an anxious look. 'Are you sure you want to hear?'

The Doctor gestured around the room. 'Captive audience.'

A Much More Likely Story

'I put it to you,' said the Teller, sitting down on the floor in front of them, 'that city-state republicanism is a fine and admirable thing — provided you have the good fortune to be born in one of the cities.

However,' he held up a finger, 'should you have the bad luck to be born out in the country, life is not nearly so good. That's where Beol and I come from — up the river, the far end of the Vale of Evesh. Nice country. Excellent fishing. Very fertile all round, in fact. That's important. Because the problem with these great cities,' the Teller wagged his finger for emphasis, 'is that while they're very busy doing politics and making art, they're not producing much in the way of food. Difficult to grow crops in the middle of all this stone. But, given that their citizens get as hungry as anyone else, the cities need to own big pieces of land, and they need to have people working hard on that land while they're off busy—' He pointed towards
162

THE KING’S DRAGON

his audience. 'What are they busy doing?'

'Doing politics and making art!' his audience chorused back at him.

'Well done! Quite. So most of their politics is concerned with these big pieces of land. And most of what goes on between the cities is passing the bits of land around. Like a big game. Only it's not as much fun for the people who are living on that land.