The Doctor stepped from the TARDIS. He looked at the group of Southfolk, guards, me and Dare in turn.
“Hello, I’m The-”
“Doctor!” we both said.
“Yes, that’s right. I am. The Doctor. And this is Ardrin.” The Doctor eyed me, perhaps trying to decide if I knew him or was mistaking him for some medical doctor.
Ardrin stepped out of the TARDIS hesitantly. “Sorcery,” he breathed.
Sensing an opportunity to explain his technological magic, The Doctor turned back to Ardrin. “Oh no. It’s not sorcery. Just a more advanced tool than anything you have. I’ve simply brought you over a great distance in a short period of time. Now. If you’d only-”
“Listen-!” Crest rushed up to Ardrin, cutting off The Doctor mid sentence. For his part The Doctor looked a little confounded. He’d just been cut off from speaking twice in five minutes, something he was not used to.
“Ardrin, we’ve got to talk. It’s about the Southfolk. There’s real trouble here,” Crest said.
Ardrin looked at the strange grouping of us. He frowned. “I think you better enlighten me immediately. What are all these people doing here and what’s happened to the other guards?”
“What we’ve been doing here needs to change. A woman has lost her child…she’s very ill, Ard.” Crest faltered.
“Lost her child? More proof Southfolk can’t be trusted with their own children,” Ardrin snorted.
“No Ard,” The Doctor put in. “She’s lost her child. Look at her.” He moved to the doorway behind us where Chalynge stood. She’d come out to see what the commotion was.
Ardrin’s face showed confusion, then a slow understanding. “That is unfortunate to be sure. But what is that to the situation at hand?”
I moved over to where The Doctor was standing. He scanned Chalynge with the sonic. “Will she be alright?” I asked quietly. “She’s tough, I’ll give her that. She just needs rest,” said The Doctor.
“You aren’t a cruel man, Ard.” Crest was saying. “We grew up together. The way we push the Southfolk back, beat them, drive them out indiscriminately? They never even have a chance to ask us for help, let alone be offered any. It can’t go on. We cannot keep the Southfolk out any longer, not if this is the result.”
“You expect me to let them all in then?”
“There must be something we can do that doesn’t end like this,” Crest said, indicating Chalynge.
Hav stepped forward. “I would speak,” he said.
“The dogs have come. So let them bark,” said Ardrin.
It must have been difficult for Hav to let this pass, but he did. “You are the King’s man; this is Kingsground. You have authority here. We ask a place to stay. We want no trouble from you, nor will we be a trouble to you, but that you let us stay and make our lives here in safety.”
“Make the right choice, Ardrin,” said The Doctor, quietly.
But Ardrin shook his head. “It’s no use. I see no way of this working.”
“I knew they’d never hear our words.” Dare’s voice rose sharply. She came out of the crowd and lunged at Ard, a knife in her hand. Her shout gave Ard the warning he needed to catch her by the arm and twist the knife out of her grasp. “Child. You are unpracticed in combat,” he said as he shoved her away. But in that moment, another had used the distraction to catch Ard from behind and hold a knife to his throat. “No one move. I’m speaking now and you will all listen. You. Doctor. Drop your weapon. You guards as well. Hands up.”
“It’s a screwdriver.” The Doctor said, dropping it on the ground. The guards disarmed and held their hands up.
“Southfolk, join me. Get those blades. We will make Ard’s blood run, and these guards, and any who side with them. They will pay with their lives, and we will take what we like from this place.” Nothing moved, but I could hear the Southfolk murmuring what to do. I held my breath. The Doctor, Hav, and Chalynge stood near me; all of us frozen in place.
“I recognize this man. I don’t know how he came to be here, but he is one of the monsters who brought destruction to us,” Chalynge whispered. “He is the same one who killed the guard today,” Hav whispered back.
“Dare, come away from there.” The Doctor said.
“No,” said Dare.
“Dare, this man is our enemy. He is-”
“One of those who attacked us? Of course he is! I saw that two days ago when he joined us. I went to him for help. I knew he’d be able to offer us protection. After all, we’ve seen their strength.”
“It isn’t our way, Dare,” said Chalynge.
“And just what is our way? Hunger? Sickness? Death? Those who live in this place have murdered my sister this day.”
“Dare, come away from him,” Chalynge pleaded.
“How can you not care?? My sister is gone, and this man’s life must be the payment!”
“Yes Dare, the new life in me is GONE. And I do mourn your sister. It pains me to my very core. The ancestors weeping threatens to drown me. But that doesn’t mean more blood must be spilled. This man has done evil. I choose to forgive. We must find a way forward.”
While Chalynge was speaking I’d been keeping my eye on the man holding Ard. His eyes moved over us as we failed to take up weapons and kill as he’d asked. Several in close proximity, including Hav, had moved closer to him. Seeing his opportunity to incite the violence from the Southfolk was evaporating, he suddenly changed tactics. Swiftly he grabbed Dare instead. This had the immediate effect of stopping Hav from advancing.
“Sel, what are you doing? I thought you, but you said I -was beautiful.” Dare’s voice broke.
“Hav, stop where you are! Don’t anyone try to follow me.” Sel played the blade across Dare’s neck gently as she whimpered. He backed off in the direction of a cluster of trees as we looked on. No one dared move. I saw Ard was looking at Hav, who’d been trying to help him. As soon Sel disappeared from view, Hav made to go after them. Ard stopped him by taking his arm.
“Let me go! She’s my daughter,” Hav said.
“No. You let me go. You don’t know these grounds like I do. I saw you trying to help me. I can see you and Sel are not the same. I’m not sure what I can do for your people, but right now I can do this. That child is foolish, but she is indeed a child. I’ll bring her back to you. Crest, do you remember our old training days? Come and help me.” Crest and Ard set off together.
“Hav, I’m frightened Sel will kill her. Doctor, what do you know of this man, Ard?” asked Chalynge.
“Ard knows these grounds. I think he’s a good man, at least he wants to be, and that’s important. He’ll bring Dare back, then we’ll talk about the rest of it. I know he’ll see reason.”
By now the guards had arrived, and Kenwa was talking to them. Hav spoke quietly to the Southfolk. Both groups stood separate, uneasy, though neither interacted with the other. Finally three figures emerged from the trees. They walked close together. They grew nearer and we could see Ard’s leg was injured. He leaned on Dare and Crest. Hav and Kenwa ran to meet them.
“Dare, are you hurt?” Hav asked.
“No. But this man, Ardrin, he’s been stabbed. His leg needs attention.”
Both groups could now see Ardin was wounded. There were gasps and someone began to hum the healing melody. Then someone else cried out, “The twin sign!”
It was the pattern of blood staining Ard’s clothing. It matched the stains worn by Chalynge. A voice among the group said “it cannot be the twin sign.” Another muttered “we don’t sing for them.”
“No,” Kenwa said in a loud voice. “No my friends. If we deny the song to her we deny it to Ardrin too. They make a pair- the holy twos! We sing now for both. And for all.”
Kenwa breathed deeply and began to sing. At first it was just Crest who sang with her. Then one by one others joined in, until all the guards were singing as one. Southfolk began to relax, some humming along. The song overwhelmed my senses. I closed my eyes.
“Marie.”
“I’m not ready,” I said under my breath.
The Doctor glanced at me. He watched as I slid to the ground. “Glad,” he said, concerned. I said, “My name is Marie. I’m a traveler too. From earth.”
“Marie.”
“How can we help you?” The Doctor asked.
“Marie.”
“The virus is pulling me back. I’ll fade. Tell them not to worry. Make them know I’m alright. I was never really here to begin with.”
“Marie, wake up. Come back to us,” Jim was saying. I sat up.
“Woah woah, slowly. I should be very upset with you, you know. Did it work? Did you find the family? Were they alright?”
“It’s quite a long story, but I do think they were on their way to working things out. The Doctor was there.”
“I think you mean The Doctor is here,” said a familiar voice.