carsgovroom

Just a Fairy Tale | Glaw & carsgovroom

Sam smiled wryly when he commented on how it sounded like she cared. "Don't get your hopes up." It was half a tease, but she felt confused. Yesterday she had hated him. But she could feel herself seeing him differently now, after these private conversations of their's. Seeing him without the dangerous expression, hearing him speak without the rough tone. Maybe this was the real man, and the Marshal was just a facade. She was frowning to herself a little. Maybe she did care.

He touched her arm, pulling her away from her musings and back to reality. She blinked, having been staring off into space absently, and she looked over at him and saw that his expression was pensive. He spoke, about Narissa trying to start a war with Verinia, her sister's kingdom. She was trying to go to war with her sister. Sam nodded a little when he mentioned that there had to be bad blood, her own expression turning thoughtful as she listened. This other queen did sound like their best possible ally. She was being targeted like Dorothea had been, which meant she couldn't have a strong sisterly bond with Narissa. She couldn't be in on this plan, could she? She was a queen, had power and influence that they might need as well as an army. If it came to that. Not only that but she was Narissa's sister. August was right, she would know more about Narissa than anyone.

She felt her own smile dance across her lips and she looked back at him when he asked her what she thought. "I think...that your logic is pretty sound. And that it's worth a shot?" Sam nodded, feeling a bit more confident. "I think I could try. And it's not like Narissa could have slipped her sister some magic potion from miles away, right? Dorothea could help me." She nodded again, taking a deep, determined breath. "Now we just have to get there." She looked up to the front of the company where Liam was riding. Beside him was his friend Will and a beautiful young woman with golden hair that Sam hadn't notice before. She watched Liam send Will and another guard behind him up ahead, presumably to look for places to camp. She nodded towards the blonde young woman and looked back at August. "Who's that girl?"

Through Time and Space | Kirah and carsgovroom

One second the Doctor was telling her all about mitochondria and why it made her and Evie "genetically compatible," and then the next her eyes had gone wide and she had stopped speaking. Nora frowned a bit, leaning a little closer. "Um...Doctor?" Then she was speaking again. Nora wasn't sure how much of the technical babble she was able to follow, but she did understand was that the Doctor said she could save all of the humans. Even the ones who had been connected to the Torx for a long time. Her face lit up, a hopeful sort of gleam in her eyes. "Are you serious?" she asked, no doubt in her mind and a smile spreading across her face. Suddenly Nora felt herself enveloped in a hug and, a little shocked, she hugged the Doctor back.

"You're brilliant."

"Not entirely sure what I did?" Nora said truthfully as she was released from the hug and she smiled sheepishly. "But thanks?" She spun as the Doctor darted around, snatching up her tracking device as she went and returning to the console with it. She felt herself smiling as she watched the energetic woman, practically feeling the glee that was radiating off of her. They way she was bouncing around made Nora think of a child on Christmas morning. Then she was being told the plan and Nora gazed at the woman, nodding in understanding. "Then let's do it." The Doctor took her hand and she squeezed it, unable to contain her smile as the pair of them left the TARDIS and went back into the room. It seemed smaller than it actually was, compared to the TARDIS.

"So you do this a lot then?" Nora asked, looking over at the other woman with a half smile on her face. "This stopping alien invasions, saving planets thing. It's like a normal thing for you, isn't it?"

Just a Fairy Tale | Glaw & carsgovroom

He smiled and it changed his face for the better, despite the sadness in the gesture. A smile him look like a younger man, and he already wasn't that old to begin with. Probably only a few years older than her at the most. Sam could feel herself staring and forced herself to stop, focusing on his words instead. Sam gave a sympathetic smile when he realized that he was, in fact, acting like a martyr. "Afraid so." But he did give her a pretty good reason for why he wasn't trusting anyone else with his secrets and mission. She bit her lip as she glanced back up at the sky, where the bird was still circling, and then at the soldiers of the company. Could the queen really be anywhere and everywhere?

He told her that she was the only he he could trust and Sam looked back at him in time to see him smiling at her again. There was genuine kindness there, something that she hadn't seen on his face before. Before he had been scary or rough or steely or or dangerous or calculating or smirking. As she saw the way the smile seemed to lighten his features Sam could see for the first time that he was a handsome man. Her heart seemed to skip a beat and she took a breath, trying to shove those distracting thoughts out of her head as he asked if trusting her wasn't enough.

"I don't know," Sam said after a moment of thinking it over. "I mean...I guess it is. You can trust me. But there's only so much that I can do. For you." A thought came to her and she looked at him seriously. "Besides I don't think me being a person for you to trust and to help you fight the queen was your motivation for bringing me here in the first place." Sam felt herself smile a little, and there was sadness in it. "But I guess that doesn't matter now. I'm here and we can't change that." She hooked her fingers together around his waist and sighed softly. "I know what you told me last night. About how I'm the strongest asset and my words are more deadly than an army, or whatever. And I can't let Liam start a war with the king and queen. When we get to Verinia I'm going to have to tell everyone about Dorothea. About the queen's plans, and about me. About everything. I know I promised that I wouldn't tell anyone about you and what you've really been up to, but if I don't tell then you'll be...everyone's going to think you're a monster. They'll lock you up or they'll kill you. And you won't be able to help anyone." Sam paused and her expression became a grimace. "I guess I'm not too sure what to do, either."

Liam listened to Raquelle's musings and a slight frown came across his face. What she was saying about the bandits...how they knew about Dorothea and they were no where close to where she had been taken... Verinia was large and confusing and word couldn't have traveled that kingdom...no. He mentally shook his head. King Tommen had told him not to do anything rash, and if he started thinking these things before finding any proper evidence... "It's unwise to start jumping to conclusions without any concrete evidence," he said to Raquelle, looking over at her. "We can't make any accusations against Verinia with theories rather than facts." He glanced back to where the Marshal was riding, and he seemed to be conversing with Samantha. "As for the Marshal, I think his story enthrall us all when he make camp for the night."

Through Time and Space | Kirah and carsgovroom

Nora turned back to Evie, but there wasn't much she could do for her other than try to make her as comfortable as possible. She didn't seem to have any injuries and she was very much unconscious. Nora remembered how out of it she had been when she had been drugged that morning and she had been asleep for about two hours. Poor Evie. And on her wedding day, no less. She just hoped that this wasn't an omen about the marriage.

She had been sitting beside Evie, stoking her hair absently, when the Doctor yelled out. Nora looked up at she started babbling about Hyiasam, which she vaguely recognized as a word she had said earlier that morning when they had bumped into each other, but she still wasn't entirely clear on what Hyiasam was. But it seemed to be the answer to their problems since the Doctor said that she could probably use it to free humans under Torx control. At least the ones who hadn't been possessed for a long amount of time. She winced a little at the thought, but if they did nothing...then the whole planet was dead.

Rising to her feet and moving over to the control panel as the Doctor listed the problems, Nora thought for a moment. "Well...there are a couple of Torx infected people coming back to the room any minute now. We could ambush them and start the reversal process thing. And maybe they haven't spread? Maybe their invasion isn't ready yet?" She glanced over to her sister. "I'm just trying to think of reasons why they went after Evie and I specifically. If they were ready to take over everyone on the planet then why are they putting so much effort into kidnapping my sister and me? Like something about our 'genetic compatibility' makes a global invasion possible?" Nora made a face. "I don't know what I'm saying, sorry."

Just a Fairy Tale | Glaw & carsgovroom

"Aw, you think I look ridiculous?" Sam asked in mock hurt. "Sorry I left my corset and gown back home." She stuck her tongue between her teeth for a moment. It would take a miracle to make him smile. But it wasn't like she had a lot to do before they stopped for the night, or many other people to talk to. "Seriously if you think I look strange then you can imagine how all of you people look to me. I feel like I'm in a never ending renaissance fair."

Her cheeky expression faltered a bit as he went on. She shook her head slightly, trying and failing to understand. "If she's so powerful how can you willingly go against her on your own? I mean there has to be a way where you can keep up appearances with the queen, but let all of these people, your friends and potential allies, what you're doing, and who the real enemy is. Where the danger really lies." Sam gazed at the side of his face that she could see. "You care about them." She gestured towards Liam and Dorothea. "Don't you? And by the time this is all over they're both going to think the worst of you. Dorothea already does. Doesn't that bother you? To save this land you're basically going to destroy yourself. And your reputation. And your relationships with everyone you know. Because...you did all of these things to gain Narissa's trust. All of these horrible things. And yeah you did them because your ultimate goal was to stop her, but you still did them. You still killed all of Dorothea's guards, you still kidnapped her, you still dragged a girl from another world into this conflict, you still...I don't even know what else you did for Narissa. You're going to have hurt so many people by the time this is over. And even if you succeed I can't imagine that everyone is just going to be okay with that." Sam pressed a bit closer to him. "I just think this whole lone wolf thing is wildly unnecessary. You need friends, allies, people you can trust."

Liam looked at Raquelle with a raised eyebrow before looking at the cat. Then he let out an amused little laugh and shook his head before looking back at the girl. "Raquelle, honestly. She's not a stray. She's a pet and she belongs to Miss Shea. She has a name and everything."

He went silent when the cat yowled loudly, jerking his head around in shock to see her crouched on his shoulder, teeth exposed in a silent hiss as she stared at Raquelle. At the girl's words Liam stared uncertainly at Samantha's cat before shaking his head a little at her antics. "Calm down girl." He stroked her black and white fur soothingly before looking back at Raquelle with a humorous glint in his eyes. "Perhaps you shouldn't insult her right in front of her." Then his tone went serious. "Raquelle, this cat is not mine to get rid of. As long as Miss Shea is with our company then her cat will be with us, too. The Marshal told me Miss Shea had been through quite an ordeal when he found her, and I'm sure the cat is just agitated after being held captive with her owner." That appeared to be all he had to say on the matter and he turned away to look at the road again. He carefully moved the cat from his shoulder to the saddle in front of him after a short while, as it was easier to stroke her fur that way.

Just a Fairy Tale | Glaw & carsgovroom

Sam felt her heart skip a beat when he used the word "poison" but her panic was brief and subsided after he explained further. His tone was soft, not rough like it had been all day. It was the same tone he had used when they had conversed the previous night. Her eyes wandered, looking at a few of the men, the men who would no doubt help Dorothea in a heartbeat if they had any idea she was there and what had happened to her. Her allies were surrounding her, but Dorothea was alone. Beyond her, that is. Sam supposed that she could try convincing Liam on her own but she thought that she might come across as a mad person, and she doubted that August would aid her. He had to keep his cover. "Your queen is thorough. I'll give her that," Sam said, her voice toneless.

He told her that they were being watched and she looked back to see him staring up at the sky. She followed his gaze and saw a black bird circling the sky above them. Her eyebrows furrowed as she studied the thing a bit more. It looked rather large, though it was hard to tell from the distance, and if she had to guess a species she'd say raven. Not that she was a bird expert. "The bird is the queen's spy?" She shouldn't have been surprised. When he told her the queen would have seen her by now Sam felt a chill come over her and she shivered. The queen knew she existed now. A woman who would have her killed without a moment's thought, as she had been told multiple times. "But she doesn't know I'm from the other world, right?" Sam looked at him, leaning forward to see as much of his face as possible. She needed this reassurance. "She might think that I'm just a girl you found lost in the woods. Or with the bandits, like you told Liam. Not a threat."

She was quiet for a moment, looking at him like he was a puzzle that she was trying to solve. "Are you really going to help her start this war?" Sam asked. She shook her head a little. "I mean I know you told me that you're working against her, but isn't there any other way to defeat her? A way that doesn't involve betraying the trust of everyone you know? You stood back and let Narissa do this to Dorothea, to her father, to Liam. Isn't it...hard?" She felt a strange sense of concern for him, and wasn't sure where it had come from. "You can't do this on your own, August. You'll die."

Liam's eyebrows rose slightly as the cat leaped to his shoulder and began licking her cheek, as though she were kissing him, and nuzzling against him. Her purrs filled his ears and her warm fur provided a feeling of comfort. He felt himself smiling as he reached up and stroked the fur along Lea's back. "Nice girl," he said, his words rather fond despite the fact that he had just met the cat. And her owner. He turned to tell Samantha that her cat was very friendly but he saw that she and the Marshal were farther back and he decided not to call out to her.

"Think she likes you, sir," Will said, smiling cheerfully as he nodded to the cat on his shoulder.

Liam smiled, giving the cat a glance. He thought he could see adoration in those yellow eyes. And intelligence. Human intelligence. But he must have been imagining it. "Well of course she does. Everyone likes me," Liam joked and he shared a laugh with Will. "I'm just glad the Marshal is finally with us. Maybe we have some luck after all."

"And it might be nice to have another lady in the company, too," Will said thoughtfully. "Not only for appearances. So these scoundrels can mind their manners." He smiled, joking. "For Princess Raquelle, too."

"Perhaps," Liam said, thoughtful, and he turned to see where the other princess was.

Through Time and Space | Kirah and carsgovroom

Nora's expression had gone from curious to horrified as she listened to the Doctor tell her what the aliens were and what they were doing. "They're taking over people's minds? And their bodies?" she asked, her voice shaking slightly from disgust. "That's what they were planning on doing with me? And Evie? I don't understand why they would be targeting us specifically."

Her eyes widened when she was told that the only way to stop the Torx was to kill it. And the human, too. Nora's head shook weakly, even though the Doctor told her that there was nothing left of the humans the Torx were invading, that they were zombies dependent on the parasite that was in control. No, that couldn't be it. Those people's minds couldn't just be gone. Those people's hearts, minds, and souls had to be somewhere in there. Just blocked off by the Torx. Not dead. "No there's got to be something we can do," Nora said, shaking her head more firmly now. "We can't just kill them, there's got to be a way to save those men, the real men. And whoever else those Torx things have. Those people, their minds or spirits or whatever makes them who they are, they can't just be gone! There has to be a way to reverse it, to take the Torx out without hurting the humans." Nora felt a bit desperate as she looked at the Doctor. "Please tell me there's a way. I don't want to murder anyone."

Just a Fairy Tale | Glaw & carsgovroom

Liam leaned back a little in shock when the meowing cat suddenly leaped from Samantha's shoulder and onto the saddle in front of him. His lips parted in a surprised little "Oh," as the thing, wavering for balance on the spot, continued making it's little cat noises. Liam looked over at Samantha, who had stumbled back from the force of the cat's leap and was now gazing wide eyed from her pet to his face, and he managed a surprised laugh. "You have a very excitable cat, Miss Shea."

Sam had been watching the prince carefully when Dorothea started crying out to him, studying his face for his reaction. He had been surprised at her outburst and fidgeting antics, but it was a rather tame sort of surprise. There was no complete shock in his expression, no evidence that he had had a life changing experience like she and the dwarves had had when Dorothea spoke to them for the first time. He did not react at all when Dorothea told him that it was her, nor when she said that Narissa had done it to her. He...couldn't understand her. She was just a cat to him. Sam's crestfallen face met his when he spoke to her and she was silent for a moment. Her eyes flickered to where August was sitting on the horse that they were to share and saw his warning eyes, and then Sam looked back at the prince. She could not say anything that would make her appear insane in front of Liam. "Yes, she is. I'm so sorry about that."

Liam smiled and shook his head. "It's fine. Don't worry. What is her name?" He reached forward to stroke the cat in a friendly gesture.

"It's, erm, Lea," Sam said, picking the first name that came to her head. She gave Dorothea another look, one that clearly stated "I don't know what to do," before looking back to Liam. "Should I take her...?"

"No," Liam responded, though he wasn't sure why. "She can ride with me for a while. If that's alright with you?" He saw her nod and gave her another smile before looking back at the Marshal and Will. "I hope we can ride a little while longer before looking for a place to camp." He nudged his horse forward and the caravan started moving again.

Sam was suddenly faced with the big animal she was meant to ride and hesitated for a moment, feeling rather intimidated. She looked at August's outstretched hand, then up to his face, and took a breath of courage. Sam took his hand and with his help managed to climb up into the saddle, sitting behind him in a relatively sturdy position. She was suddenly aware that there was nothing to hold onto, at least nothing beyond August himself. Sam bit her lip, feeling rather reluctant but knowing there wasn't another option. She looped her arms around his waist and held to him, anchoring herself and immediately feeling much more secure and unafraid of slipping off and falling. She was quiet for a moment, just holding him for security, then she leaned a little closer to him and whispered into his ear. "She was speaking to him, was standing right in front of him, and he couldn't understand a word she said." She realized that they had been surrounded by people and no one had reacted to Dorothea's words. "Nobody did." Sam looked at August, feeling suspicious. "How is that possible?"

Through Time and Space | Kirah and carsgovroom

Nora recognized the room when she was led to it. She had also recognize the wheezing sort of grinding sound when she had heard it and she hid her smile so the men didn't see. She spotted the box in the corner of the little room that had served as a prison for her before and chance a glance at the faces of the two kidnappers. They did not seem to acknowledge its existence.

She made a angry little sound when her sister and the Doctor were literally dropped onto the floor, but then she was distracted by hands shoving her forcefully forward. She stumbled and nearly fell on top of the two women, then spun around as the door was slammed shut in her face. "Arse!" she yelled after them. Then Nora turned as the Doctor got up onto her feet. "He is isn't? How could neither of them notice your magic box right in front of their faces?"

The door of the TARDIS was opened and Nora couldn't help but smile. she darted over to Evie's other side and helped the Doctor pick her up and carry her inside. She took a look around as she went in through the doorway, a feeling of wonder filling her even though she had known what to expect. She laid Evie carefully on the seat the Doctor ha indicated and checked her sister for any injuries. She didn't see any and Evie didn't seem to be waking up anytime soon, so Nora just brushed her blonde hair away from her face and gave her a soft kiss on her forehead. Evie was going to be fine.

Nora spared her bags a quick look and asked, "So is my suitcase the reason you were able to bring this thing here without being in it?" Then she got up from where she was kneeling in front of Evie and went over to her. "So. That bad guys. How do we stop them from getting what they want?" She paused for a moment, then asked. "What do they want, exactly? I heard you call them parasites, but what are they really called?"

Just a Fairy Tale | Glaw & carsgovroom

Sam turned at the sound of a voicing calling out to August and saw a striking young man riding up to them. A ways behind him was about twenty or so more people on horseback and a few more horses carrying supplies. As the brown haired, brown eyed young man drew nearer Sam studied his face a moment more and knew, without needing to be told by Dorothea or August, that this was Liam. Dorothea's prince.

Her heart seemed to skip a beat and she wanted to speak, to say something. Tell him everything. That Dorothea was right in front of him, that this was all a trick. But when the prince stopped in front of them and she was faced with proper royalty for the first time in her life, Sam felt rather intimidated. She had no idea how to act in front of and speak to royalty. She could speak to Dorothea with ease but because the princess did not look like a princess. She was a cat. Much more approachable than this handsome young man who seemed to radiate nobility. He was dressed in chain mail and light armor and the colors and crest of his kingdom, and he sat tall and proud on his horse. But there was also kindness in his eyes, and she remembered what Dorothea had told her about him. Sam opened her mouth as though to speak, but then August started talking and the words faded from her before she had a chance to speak them.

~~~

Liam nodded as the Marshal spoke. He didn't feel the need to ask for more explanation, nor did he feel like he need to question his account for where he had been. Liam didn't have any reason to doubt the man at all. "Yes. It is true. I saw what remained of her caravan myself." It took all of his self control to keep his voice from cracking, to keep it from betraying to amount of pain and desperation he was feeling. "But I'm glad to see that you're still in one piece. And that you'll be joining us. It's good to have you on my side, Marshal. I may need you."

He finally gave the girl the Marshal was traveling with a proper look as sh was introduced. Liam looked a little taken aback as he studied her rather peculiar and ragged appearance. Her red hair was tangled, her pretty face exhausted and smudged with dirt, and she was wearing the strangest garments. Including pants. She also stood rather awkwardly, as though unsure of herself or what to do. She hadn't bowed. Not that it mattered much to him personally, but he was so used to people bowing. However when the Marshal stated that she had been held captive Liam's face changed from puzzlement to sympathy. And understanding, as if the explanation explained everything that was peculiar.

"Of course, Marshal," Liam said before looking at Samantha Shea with a smile. It was kind and generous and genuine. "I'm so sorry that you had to go through that ordeal, Miss Shea. But you're safe now, and I would be honored if you joined us."

"Thank you," Samantha said, finally bowing. Although the movement looked foreign to her.

Liam gave her another smile before looking back to his caravan, which had gotten closer. "Will! Send up a free horse!" He looked back at the two and smiled apologetically. "We don't have very many extra horses, I'm afraid. You two will have to share one." Will arrived, pulling the other horse alongside him. The rest of the caravan had approached close behind and Liam looked at them all. "You all know Marshal Derrick. And this is Miss Samantha Shea. They will both be joining us to Verinia," he announced clearly as Will handed the Marshal the reins to the horse he had to share with Samantha.