The sun was shining down over green fields as a flock of sheep came over the hill, followed soon after by a tall lanky man in a brown overcoat and blue suit, his hands in his pockets and his face looking to the sky with a smile. "Ahh…..England…you've got to love the 16th Century, Martha!"
A young dark skinned woman walked up over the hill, tugging at the skirt of her peasant outfit. "Easy for you to say, Doctor…you get to wear pants." With a huff she blew her falling bangs from her pinned up hair out of her eyes. "I don't know how they managed with so many layers of clothes…"
"As much as I agree that you're wearing far to many clothes, Martha," the Doctor said with a cheeky grin as he walked behind her and helped her adjust her bustier and skirt, "You've got to admit that some great things happened in this period in history. Leonardo Da Vinci begins painting the Mona Lisa, Magellan circles the Earth for the first time, we're talking the height of the English Renaissance here!" He finished adjusting Martha's costume and leaned over her shoulder, reaching out his hand to wave it over the horizon. "Martin Luther starts a religious revolution by nailing his problems to a door, your verbose suitor Will Shakespeare is born…"
Martha tried to cover up a laugh with her hand as the Doctor continued, "and the letter 'J' joins the alphabet for the first time! Can you imagine what it must have been like? Now people all over England could finally 'jump for joy' instead of '-ump for -oy!'" Martha lost it and doubled over as she laughed out loud, the Doctor's grin growing wide.
Martha finally caught her breath as the giggles subsided and looked at the Doctor questioningly. "You forgot to mention a big one though." The Doctor's eyebrow rose and Martha continued, "Queen Elizabeth? You do remember her, right? Last time we saw her she was cursing your name and shooting at you…now here we are in her era. Are you actually trying to get us into trouble?"
"I'm wounded, Martha," the Doctor replied with a hurt look as he put a hand to his chest, "that you would think I'd purposely go out and try and get us into trouble." Martha just looked at him with a raised eyebrow as she put her hands to her hips. The Doctor looked at her and tugged at his ear, a chagrined look spreading across his face. "Well…I mean….aren't you curious?"
Martha tried to hold her stern look, but she couldn't resist the grin that broke out as she kicked at the ground. "All right…you got me; I've been curious ever since we ran off."
"Ah-ha, I knew it!" The Doctor exclaimed as he grabbed Martha by the waist and whirled her around in a hug. "Your urge to always know the answers is commendable, Doctor Jones." He set her down and took her hand in his. "Now let's go see what time has in store for us, eh?"
Martha looked at the view from the top of the hill and noticed a low, wide building with smoke coming from a chimney and various horses and carriages out front. A stable was off to the side, and people were coming in and out of the building. "How about there?" she asked as she pointed out the building to the Doctor. "It looks like it might be a tavern or something…"
"Capital idea! No better place than the local inn to get your bearings and pick up on the news of the day." They started down the hill and soon they were laughing together as momentum carried them into a run to see who could get there first.
The Doctor opened the door of the inn for Martha and her nose was immediately assaulted with a variety of smells: Beer, fresh bread, burning wood from the fireplace, smoke, cooked meat, and mud. The rest of the smells she didn't even want to try and identify as she waved a hand in front of her face and searched for a table. There wasn't a lot of people in the main area, so Martha found them a table in the corner as the Doctor sidled up to the counter.
"Good morrow to you sir!" said a burly bald man with thick hairy arms as he finished tying his apron and walked behind the counter. "Not many people are out and about this morning…is there something I can get for you and your lady?"
The Doctor searched through one of his pockets and drew out a handful of coins that clattered as they landed on the counter. "Two pints of your finest, and some bread and cheese if you would. People aren't out and about why? My friend and I are travelers who have recently come to London, and I am afraid we aren't current with the latest news."
The innkeeper swept the coins into his pocket and yelled to a serving maid that was putting mugs away. "Oy! Evelyn! Take care of our fine customers here, would ya?" He turned back to the Doctor and leaned forward over the counter. "This very day young Lady Elizabeth was taken to the Tower of London, milord, unjustly I might add between you and me. Mourners like to keep it private, and celebrators of such an event aren't welcome here at La Belle Sauvage, thank you very much."
The Doctor's eyes widened in surprise. "Elizabeth was sent to the Tower?" He turned around and leaned on the counter as he started counting on his fingers. "That makes this…1554…"
"March 18th, milord," the innkeeper answered helpfully. "Evelyn will bring your drinks and food to your table if there's nothing else I can get you."
The Doctor looked up distractedly. "What? Oh…yes, thank you very much for your help." He walked over to their table and sat next to Martha in the corner, who was wrapping her hands around a large mug of beer. "Martha…you're never going to guess what time it is!"
"Let me guess…it's 8:00 and we're missing Eastenders?" she asked with a smirk before she took a sip from her beer and coughed.
"It's May 18th, 1554…Elizabeth was just sent to the Tower of London, and…"
Suddenly the door to the inn opened and a worn looking man wearing a velvet cassock and chain shirt walked in. He took his broad velvet hat off and his spurs rang as he wearily sat in the corner opposite them. He placed his hat on the bench next to him and his head sunk to rest on his arms on the table. The innkeeper hurried over to him and bent down to whisper urgently in his ear. The man sighed deeply and his head shook left and right. The innkeeper quickly stumbled back and then ran back to the kitchen area.
"What is it? What's going on?" Martha asked worriedly after watching their exchange.
"I think we just walked into the middle of a rebellion…" the Doctor whispered. "Stay here," he said with a hand on her shoulder as he got up with his flagon and walked over to the moping man.
"You look like you've hit bottom, my friend," the Doctor said with a sigh as he sat down next to the man at the table and set down his beer.
"Teetering at the precipice…I can see the bottom, for my lady's light shows all. If I could block the darkness from her with my sacrifice, I'd wish immortality so I could do it for eternity," muttered the man forlornly. He looked up at the Doctor with sad, resigned eyes. "I love Elizabeth…I'd do all for her…but my actions have merely sent her to the mouth of Hell in that bloody Tower." His expression hardened as he sat up straighter. "It's too late for me to ever tell her now…but I will defend her to the end. That will have to be enough."
The Doctor glanced at Martha as he thought about the man's words. "I would've shared a similar fate such as you, friend…I count my blessings every day that she's more stubborn than me."
The man glanced at Martha and looked back at the Doctor with a smile. "Indeed, you have my blessings too, sir. It gives me hope for the next life…for my lady's stubbornness can change the world." He then stood up and donned his hat with a flourish before holding his hand out to shake with the Doctor. "I can delay Fate no longer…she calls my name and I must answer."
The Doctor stood up to shake hands with him, when suddenly the door to the inn burst open with armed soldiers bearing the crest of Queen Mary. Two of them grabbed the man's arms as another grabbed the Doctor whilst a fourth unfurled a scroll and began reading. "Sir Thomas Wyatt, you are hereto declared under arrest by the command of Her Royal Highness, the Queen of England for inciting riot and high treason against her personage. All sympathizers to the usurper Elizabeth and enemies of the Catholic Church and Queen Mary shall be imprisoned for further questioning and judgment."
Martha stood up with the flagon in her hands and a panicked look on her face as she looked from the Doctor to the group of armed soldiers. One hand slowly slipped to her pocket in her skirt to reach for her screwdriver, but the Doctor glanced at her in concern and shook his head quickly. Don't, Martha…there's likely more of them outside.
The barmaid named Evelyn scurried out from the kitchen with an apron in her hands. "Sarah, I told you not to forget your apron again, didn't I? I swear…new help, eh?" She laughed nervously as she went up to the stunned Martha and tied the apron around her waist.
Not one to be slow on the uptake, Martha looked down at the apron and then at the flagon in her hand. "I'm so sorry, miss," she said meekly as she smoothed down the apron with her free hand. "I was so nervous being my first day and all I plum forgot…" She smiled weakly at Evelyn and glanced worriedly at the Doctor. If you get yourself killed your next regeneration isn't going to hear the end of it…
The Doctor stole a quick glance at Martha and smiled weakly. At least you'll still be with me…but don't worry; I rather like this incarnation and don't plan on losing it anytime soon.
The soldier rolled closed the parchment and proceeded to walk out the door with Sir Wyatt and the Doctor. Martha chewed on her bottom lip as she watched them go, Evelyn's hand on her shoulder keeping her from running to the Doctor. After the door closed behind them Evelyn turned Martha to face her. "Ol' Pete didn't lie, Miss…we here at the Belle don't take kindly to the way things are going these days. If your man is taken to the Tower, I know some people who can help you get in to see him."
The Doctor rolled his shoulders the best he could to ease the discomfort of having his hands tied behind his back as the soldiers rode their horses through Ludlow Gate. Peasants did their best to make way for the Queen's soldiers through the crowded streets, some of them looking at them in sympathy…others salivating at the thought of another public hanging. He leaned over slightly to Sir Wyatt who was tied to the horse next to him. "So where do you think they're taking us?" he asked.
"We're taking you to Westminster to face judgment by the Privy Council, traitor," a dark haired soldier barked out contemptuously. "If you repent, maybe God will grant you a quick death!"
"Charming fellow," the Doctor whispered as he leaned back.
"Mary's paranoia has been great these past weeks…many people have been arrested in her name for public contempt…so much so that the prisons are overfilled with dissenters," Wyatt replied. "We could end up in the Tower, or held up in a church till it's our time." They came around a street corner and in the distance could be seen the tops of white towers looming over the other buildings. "Mayhap I might even steal a glance at my lady before the end…"
They made a turn down another street and at the end came to a large low building with stairs leading up the front. Marble columns and armed guards lined the outside of the building at intervals. "Time to stop your clatter and face your judgment in the Star Chamber," announced one of the soldiers. They rode to the end of the street and a number of young boys came running up to the horses to tend to them as they dismounted.
As they climbed the stairs and entered the building they were joined by another group of soldiers who had their own prisoners, from resigned old men to very scared young boys. Two large doors opened into a vast courtroom full of windows and all were pushed in and lined up against a railing dividing the room in two, the guards tying their bound hands to the railing so they could stand for judgment without fear of escape. The Doctor looked about him and sighed. Every Renaissance has to have a dark time before it, unfortunately.
Doors at the far side of the room opened, and a herald wearing blue velvet and a feathered cap walked through and thumped a large staff against the floor. "All rise for Her Highness' Right Honorable Councilors, may God watch over them and Justice prevail!"
A line of bearded men wearing velvet robes filed into the room and sat in chairs behind a long desk on a raised dais at one end of the room. The one in the middle, a rather gaunt and narrow faced older man with a pointed beard leaned forward and banged a gavel on the desk.
"It is dire matters to the Queen indeed that this chamber needs be in session today, bailiff. What are the charges?"
The man in blue velvet set down his staff, unfurled a scroll, and began to read from it. "Milord, the charges are inciting riot and treason against Her Royal Highness Queen Mary, as well as against the Catholic Church. Sir Thomas Wyatt did attempt to instigate rebellion to prevent the marriage of our Queen to Felipe of Spain by attacking Kent, Rochester, and Gravesend."
"Dire matters indeed…" the councilor muttered as he rubbed his chin. "And the other men?"
"Sympathizers, aiders and abettors, milord." The bailiff then rolled up his scroll and picked up a packet of papers from a small desk which he gave to the councilmen. "The evidence, milord."
The councilors passed the documents back and forth as they scanned them, and after ten minutes or so the councilman in the middle banged his gavel on the desk. "Treason is not a matter that can be punished too severely. Take these men to the Tower that they might ruminate on their deeds and learn to beg God's forgiveness. If they cannot, then at least they shall not infect our good people with their evil deeds."
The councilman banged his gavel again, and then the councilmen stood as a group before filing out of the room. Guards came and began untying the prisoners from the railing as the Doctor whispered to a rather sober Wyatt, "So…now what?"
"Now I count my blessings that God sees fit for me to spend the rest of my days within the same prison as my lady," he answered, sighing deeply. "We head for the docks so that the barge may take us through Traitor's Gate to the Tower."
The Doctor was about to continue his questioning when the guards barked for silence and pulled the rope tying them to lead them out of the room.
I hope you're all right, Martha…I seem to be batting 1,000 when it comes to queens and mothers. Let's just hope I never meet the Queen Mother…I might destroy the Universe!