The trouble with Time Ladies, thought the Doctor rather guiltily, was that they were far too independent. He had a brief pang of nostalgia for the kind of female companion who stayed glued to his side and screamed at the first sign of danger.
'Presumably this Zarn knows things have changed,' said the Doctor thoughtfully. 'If he doesn't, he soon will. I can't think he'd risk harming Romana.' But there was still a tinge of unease in his mind. Turning to the young rebel, he came to a decision.
'Can you tell me how to reach the House of Zarn?'
The boy looked worried. 'It would be difficult, my lord. The forest paths are treacherous and confusing, especially at night.'
His face brightened. 'I could take you there!'
'Well, I'm not sure...'
'Please, let me, my lord. It would be an honour to serve you. They wouldn't let me take part in the attack, they said I was too young. If I could do something to help the ones who saved us...'
Touched by all this youthful enthusiasm, the Doctor agreed. He looked across at Kalmar, who was still arguing with his colleagues. The Doctor knew that he had only to say the word to have most of the rebel army accompany them. It seemed like a lot of unnecessary fuss.
Simpler to go alone.
He turned to the boy. 'What's your name?'
'I am called Xan, my lord.'
'Right, Xan, let's be off.'
'I will fetch cloaks, my lord. It is cold in the forest at night.'
Xan rushed off to the other side of the dome and returned with two of the grey hooded cloaks worn by the rebels. He had two long swords tucked under his arm.
'Here, my lord Doctor. I have brought weapons as well.'
'Not for me,' said the Doctor firmly. 'I don't approve of violence.' He looked critically at the cloak. 'Somehow I don't think this is really me, either. I'm all right as I am.'
He wound his long scarf more tightly around his neck and pulled on his battered hat.
Xan looked puzzled for a moment, then told himself that so powerful a being as the Doctor had no need of ordinary garments and weapons. No doubt he could summon thunderbolts with a snap of his fingers. Besides, he had Xan to protect him.
Proudly Xan strapped the sword, which was almost as big as he was, around his waist and put on the cloak.
'I am ready, my lord.'
'Then lead the way.'
They hurried off into the night.
***
Romana was attending a vampire feast. She sat at the head of the oval table, an empty chair beside her. It reminded her of the feast she and the Doctor had once shared with the late King Zargo and Queen Camilla. The dining room was much simpler - a long dark chamber hung with black velvet drapes and filled with heavy oak furniture. There was an big arched window, draped with a blood-red velvet curtain.
The food was a simpler version of that served at the royal banquet. Platters of sliced meat, so undercooked as to be still bloody, an assortment of root vegetables and loaves of coarse bread. The wine was inferior, some rough red local vintage, served not in crystal glasses but in wooden goblets.
At that earlier feast, Romana had cut her finger when one of the crystal glasses had shattered. She shivered, remembering how Camilla's eyes had glittered at the sight of her blood.
That hungry glitter was there now in the eyes of her fellow guests - those sinister figures who had appeared in the doorway - as they tore at the bloody meat with long, sharp teeth.
Romana had an uncomfortable feeling that she herself might turn out to be the main course.
She turned to Zarn, who taken a seat beside her at the head of the table. 'I can't think what you hope to gain by keeping me here.'
'We hope to gain the presence of the Doctor.' He nodded to the empty chair on her right. 'When he learns what has happened, he will come to find you.'
'If he does, he will bring the rebel army with him.'
'Why should he? He has no reason to suspect any real danger.'
'Even if he does come and you capture him, what then?'
'The Doctor has destroyed our King and Queen, and Aukon, their High Priest,' said Zarn. 'Not only them, but the Great One whom they all served.'
'We thought that was the end of the vampires,' said Romana. 'But it seems there are more of you.'
'Many more, my lady. The Three Who Rule - who ruled - spread the vampire strain all over this land. The village was the centre, since it was there that the Great One was buried, awaiting the time to arise. But visitors came to the tower from far and wide. They stayed for a time, became changed and returned to their homes to change others. In every village, every city, in the blood of every noble family on the planet, we are waiting.
What is to become of us now?'
'They will hunt you down and destroy you,' said Romana.
There was a hissing of anger from the assembled vampires.
'You are right,' said Zarn calmly. 'First the garil flower to detect us. Then the stake through the heart, the beheading and the fire - that will be our fate all over the land - thanks to you and the Doctor.'
'So you want revenge?'
'Not at all. We want - replacements. You and the Doctor will be our new King and Queen.'
'Are you serious?'
'Completely, my lady. With you at our head, these peasant scum will not dare to attack us. They will come to fear you, as once they revered the Three.'
'What makes you think we'd be willing to become your rulers?'
Zarn smiled, revealing his long pointed fangs. 'Soon you will be not only willing but eager to lead us, my lady. Soon you will both be vampires - like us!'
***
Xan strode confidently along the twisting forest paths, the Doctor at his heels.
It was just as well he had accepted the services of a guide, thought the Doctor. Of course, the route was now stored forever in his Time Lord memory, but he would never have found it alone.
They were moving fast, but even so it was some time before they reached the hollow with the old house crouching deep inside.
'There it is, my lord Doctor,' said Xan.
'The house of Zarn.'
'Highly impressive detached des. res.,' muttered the Doctor to himself. 'All right, Xan, many thanks for your help. Now, just in case things aren't all they seem, I want you to nip back to the dome and tell Kalmar where we are. If we're not back in a few hours, he might like to come and look for us.'
'How will you find your way back without me, my lord Doctor?'
'I'll manage,' said the Doctor. 'A path once trodden is never forgotten! Off you go, Xan!'
As the boy hurried away, the Doctor strode down the path towards the house. To the right of the door, light shone through a gap in heavy curtains that draped a big arched window. Glass invented already, noted the Doctor, in mild surprise. Still a luxury for the wealthy, no doubt.
He made his way to the massive front door and hammered on the heavy iron knocker. There was no response.
The Doctor raised his voice:
'Is there anybody there?" said the Traveller, Knocking on the moonlit door.
The door creaked open, revealing a peasant woman carrying a lantern.
She stared at the Doctor in horror.
'No! Not you!'
Not deterred by this unpromising reception, the Doctor said cheerfully,
'Sorry to disturb you so late, but I'm looking for the Lady Romana. Is she here?'
'She has gone,' whispered the woman.
'You must go too, Doctor. Death and worse than death awaits you here."
The Doctor noticed a child hiding behind the woman's skirts.
'Would your name be Hurda by any chance?'
Before the woman could reply, a stocky figure in a leather jerkin appeared behind her. 'Doctor! I am Zarn. Welcome to my house! The Lady Romana is expecting you - she said you would probably come to fetch her.'
'Is she ready to leave? I understand there was some problem with a sick child...'
'The child is well now.
I'm afraid Hurda panicked unnecessarily and brought your friend here for nothing. Isn't that so, Hurda?' He turned and smiled at the cowering maidservant. It was a cold and terrible smile.
The peasant woman bowed her head.
'Yes, Master.'
'Better take the child up to bed,' said Zarn. 'You don't want her taking a chill.'
The woman snatched up the child and disappeared inside the house.
'A glass of wine before you and your friend depart,' said Zarn. "Though you're welcome to stay the night if
you prefer.'
'We'd better get back,' said the Doctor. 'It's been rather a busy night, one
'way and another.'
'So I hear,' said Zarn. 'A glass of wine at least, then?'
He stood aside, beckoning the Doctor to enter.
'Well, if you insist,' said the Doctor.
'Just a quick one.'
He followed Zarn into the dark hallway. It seemed pretty obvious that he was walking into a trap. But if he was going to get Romana out, there didn't seem anything else to do.
Zarn ushered him along the gloomy hall and through a door to their right.
At the sight of Romana at the head of the table, surrounded by whitefaced figures with eager, glittering eyes, the Doctor knew exactly what was going on.
'Having a midnight feast, Romana?' he inquired affably.
'You could say that, Doctor. But I warn you - it's not exactly the Teddy Bears' Picnic.'
'Oh, I don't know,' said the Doctor. 'If you go down to the woods today, you're in for a big surprise!'
He gave Romana one of his sudden flashing smiles, strolled to the head of the table and took the vacant seat at her side.
Romana passed him the wine jug. 'Try some, Doctor. It's a naive little domestic Burgundy, but I think you'll be amused by its presumption.'
The Doctor poured himself a goblet of wine, sipped, and shuddered. 'Very -
spirited!'He looked at Zarn. 'Now then, what's all this about?'
Before Zarn could reply Romana said, 'It's a career opportunity, Doctor - for both of us. They want us to be their new King and Queen.'
'How very flattering. Still, I suppose we did create a couple of job vacancies.'He raised an eyebrow at Zarn. 'But surely, we're not qualified?
I mean, I'm very fond of garlic - I think you call it garil, don't you?'
At the mention of the hated herb, the vampires around the table hissed angrily.
Undeterred the Doctor went on,
'What's more, I've no objection to religious symbols like the crucifix, and I positively enjoy running water and bright sunlight.'
Zarn's lips tightened with anger.
Romana suddenly realised that to him the subject of vampirism was sacred, the Doctor's mockery intolerable.
'If you refer to the fact that you are not one of us, Doctor,' said Zarn grimly,
'that can be remedied.'
'I see. One quick nip and we're in the vampire club, is that it?'
'It's not quite that simple, Doctor,' said Zarn furiously.
The Doctor looked surprised. 'It isn't? Tell me about it.'
Zarn looked suspiciously at him, but there was genuine interest on the Doctor's face.
The Doctor's insatiable curiosity was at work again, thought Romana. He really wanted to know.
'We "nip" as you choose to call it, Doctor, in order to feed,' said Zarn coldly.
'If we drink too deeply, the subject dies. But even if the subject recovers -
and many do - he or she will not become a vampire.'
'Why not?' asked Romana. 'I thought that was how it worked.'
Zarn laughed horribly. 'Do you think that every piece of peasant scum we use to feed our hunger then joins our noble order?'
'But you do - recruit?' insisted
Romana. 'You yourself said Zargo and Camilla spread vampirism throughout the land.'
"The process of conversion - the change , we call it - takes place over many nights. We drink the blood of the chosen one, time after time, taking him - ' he smiled at Romana -'or her close to, but not over, the brink of death...'
'What happens then?'
'Either the chosen one dies or becomes one of us. Not all are suitable. A certain strength of spirit is required to survive the process.'
That must be why Aukon was so keen to vampirise young Adric, thought Romana. He sensed Adric had the strength of spirit they needed.
Ignoring Zarn, the Doctor addressed Romana, deliberately using the calm, detached tone of one scientist discussing an interesting theory with another:
'In my view - for this bunch of vampires, at least - a kind of forced mutation occurs. It takes several exposures for the vampire toxin to establish itself in the bloodstream. If the subject survives various changes occur. The cardiovascular and muscular systems are immensely strengthened, and the ageing process is arrested.'
Romana replied in the same cool scientific tone:
'You do get the various side effects of course - sensitivity to light, mild hydrophobia, the allergy to the allyl component in garlic...'
The Doctor nodded. 'And of course, the raging hunger for extra protein that the altered system needs. Hence the blood-drinking.'
He turned to Zarn. 'You know, you could actually get the same effect by gnawing a good hunk of Cheddar cheese, but it doesn't quite have the right mystique, does it?'
'You defile a sacred mystery with this scientific ranting,' snarled Zarn. 'You will feel differently about vampirism soon, Doctor. You will see it as a great and noble order. Who else can defy death?'
'It is our eventual death that gives meaning to our lives,' said the Doctor, levelly. 'I'm sorry, but we must decline your flattering offer - mustn't we, Romana?'
Romana stood up as well. 'We certainly must.'
'I am not offering you a choice,
Doctor,' said Zarn.
'Then I'll offer you one. You can flee now or stay and be destroyed by the rebel army. I sent my guide back to their HQ for help.'
'The boy may never reach his destination,' said Zarn. 'The forest paths are dangerous at night.'
The Doctor took Romana's arm, moving away from the table until they stood by the great window.
'I'm afraid we must still decline. Time to leave, Romana.'
At a sign from Zarn, the vampires left the table and moved to block their way to the door.
The Doctor looked down at Romana and said urgently, 'If we get separated, don't wait for me. Make for the dome and get help.'
Romana looked at him in puzzlement, wondering what he meant.
All became clear when he picked her up and hurled her through the curtained window with incredible force.
Protected by the heavy velvet curtain, Romana crashed through the shattered window and landed on the ground outside in a tangle of cloth.
After a frantic struggle she freed herself from the entangling drapes and looked up. She saw the Doctor at the window, struggling to free himself from Zarn and the others.
'Run, Romana,' he called. 'You can't help me alone.'
'What about you, Doctor?'
'They won't kill me, they need me!'
The Doctor was right, thought Romana miserably. On her own she could do nothing. If she fetched help she might just possibly get back in time to save his life.
As the Doctor went down beneath a tidal wave of angry vampires, Romana fled down the drive and into the dark forest.
Chapter 12
Blood of a Time Lord
As Romana ran, the Doctor struggled desperately to get to the door. He knew he would never reach it, but he hoped to keep the vampires too busy preventing his escape to think about Romana.
The Doctor and the cluster of his attackers reeled to and fro in the gloomy, cluttered dining room. Chairs were smashed and the heavy table overturned. Whenever he could get a grip, the Doctor would send one of his attackers hurtling across the room.
But there was always another vampire to take its place, and the thr
own attacker would crash to the ground, scrabble to its feet and run screeching to rejoin the fray.
Dimly the Doctor was aware of Zarn, standing back with a lantern held high, directing the attack. He could hear his voice rising above the shrill screeching of the vampires. 'Seize his arms and legs! Hold him down!'
The struggle went on for quite some time, but the end was inevitable.
Doctor Who: The Eight Doctors Page 12