‘Do you know how long I have been waiting to do that?’
The Doctor blushed.
‘I know what they are capable of doing, and you can trust
me, Doctor. Of all the lessons I have
learned these past weeks, that one is the one I hold closest.’
She turned to face the king and his smith.
‘Thank you. They are
very beautiful. I shall certainly
cherish them.’
The smith cleared his throat and spoke.
‘The shorter ones are a matched pair…katana. But I wanted to offer you something more
spectacular as well, and so I spent most of my efforts on the great sword. I rarely have call to craft ōdachi, and I
wanted to make the most of the chance I had.’
He paused.
‘I hope they serve you well.’
Vastra smiled.
‘I hope I have no need for them. But if I do, I am certain that your work will
serve me just fine. Thank you.’
She bowed, and the smith took a few steps back.
The Doctor clapped his hands.
‘Well, if that’s everything, I suppose we’ll be off.’
Taisei held his hand up.
‘Not quite finished, Doctor.
Those were gifts from my people.
I have one last gift to bestow on each of you. It is something personal, from me and my family.’
Taisei reached into the pockets of his robe and pulled out
two small ceramic bottles. Each was
sealed closed, and each had a long silk cord binding the bottle’s neck. He held one bottle in each hand, red silk
cord to the left, blue silk cord to the right, and motioned for the Doctor and
Vastra to come closer. They did, slowly,
and looked carefully into the king’s face.
‘My father never left his kingdom when he ruled; he always
felt it his duty to be here for his people whenever they needed. Even as a child he strayed very rarely from
the boundaries of the kingdom. I had
many more opportunities as I grew up, as he felt it proper that my education
included more of the world than he had experienced.’
Taisei paused, catching his breath and carefully choosing
his next words.
‘Now that his spirit is among those of his fathers in
eternity, the greatest gift I could give him, other than trying to live up to
his legacy as king would be to allow him to travel. It is our custom, should the family allow,
for small portions of the deceased’s ashes be offered to close relatives to be
kept in their home shrines in memory of the dead. I am extending that to include you both, for
what you have done for my family.
The Doctor and Vastra looked at each other in shock. It took several moments, but finally the
Doctor spoke.
‘Taisei…you can’t be serious. We aren’t family…it’d be breaking all of your
traditions in one swoop.’
Taisei smiled.
‘And how many times, even just today, have you expected me
to break other traditions?’
‘That’s different and you know it,’ the Doctor replied.
‘Do I?’
Taisei’s hands never dropped to his side.
‘I spoke about this at great length with Tsugu. You will remember, Doctor, that you told me
to take his advice carefully, as well as the advice of my father’s other
friends. All of them agreed that, while
this was certainly an exceptional situation, it was right and fitting to do
this. And so I am. I ask the two of you again, do you accept
this gift from me, or do we part in anger?’
Vastra reached out and took Taisei’s hand, feeling the cold
bottle, cold even against her skin.
‘I do, King Taisei, and assure you I will keep it safe the
rest of my days.’
The Doctor looked at Vastra and nodded his head.
‘Yes, I do.’
He held out his hand and accepted the blue wrapped
bottle. It felt cool in his hand as
well, and he wrapped the cord around his hand several times to ensure he didn’t
drop it.
Taisei nodded, the smile creeping back onto his face.
‘Then we are settled.
I will miss having you both here at the court, I hope you know. I do trust you will come back some time?’
The Doctor smiled.
‘I’m sure we will. I have no idea
of when…and as much as it always seems I show up places when something dramatic
is about to happen, I hope the next time it will be on far calmer terms.’
Taisei laughed.
‘That would be my hope as well, Doctor.’
The Doctor walked quickly over to Tsugu. ‘And you, old friend…you take care of
yourself. I expect to see you here next
time I stop by for a visit.’
Tsugu laughed his voice dry with age.
‘I’ll do my best, Kyoujyu…but you know, better than anyone,
that old age has a way of bringing with it challenges that even a dragon with a
pair of swords can’t face down.’
The Doctor embraced Tsugu.
‘No tears, Kyoujyu…I’ve seen much in my life. And who knows? Perhaps when you next return I’ll still be
here. After all, who will carry my water
buckets for me?’
The Doctor stepped back and caught the gleam in Tsugu’s eyes
as the corners of his lips turned up in a hidden smile.
‘Go now, Kyoujyu. You
have your friend to return to her home…and we must return to the city so Taisei
can continue the work his father started.’
‘Tsugu is right,’ Taisei said from behind the Doctor. ‘There is much to be done, for all of
us. Thank you again for everything you
and your friend have done for us. I am
sure it will not be forgotten.’
The Doctor turned.
‘Perhaps it would be best if it did.’
‘Why is that, Doctor?’
His voice was drenched in confusion.
‘Think about it, Taisei…I doubt this world is ready for what
happened here a few weeks ago. Aliens
coming out of the sky, a reptile person killing them all…’
‘Dragon, Doctor,’ Vastra said with a smile.
‘Yes, OK, fine…dragon.
Whatever, the point is, strange things happened, things your people, and
the people of this world in general, aren’t ready for. Perhaps it’s
best that they forgot. There’d be far too many questions…questions
you won’t have good answers for.’
Taisei’s voice grew slightly hard.
‘You expect me to lie to my people, Doctor?’
No, not at all,’ the Doctor replied, walking over to put an
arm around his shoulder. ‘I’m just
saying that perhaps it’s best to let the story fade, like all stories do. Someday it’ll be treated as a myth or a
legend, not as fact. And myths and
legends are easier to think of as fiction than truth.’
The Doctor looked at Taisei, deep in thought.
‘Do you understand what I mean, Taisei?’
After a few moments’ pause, Taisei nodded.
‘I do…but it is hard to think of the people responsible for
the salvation of my kingdom as myths.’
‘You don’t need to, Taisei.
Just…don’t go spreading stories.
Let it fade. Keep it in your
head, and in your heart, where it belongs.
That’s all you have to do.’
‘I see your point, Doctor.’
‘Excellent!’
The Doctor jumped over to the TARDIS door and pushed it
open. Vastra bowed once more to the king
and his advisors and walked inside, the swords in her arms. The Doctor followed, quickly closing the door
behind him.
A second later the door opened slightly and he popped his
head out.
‘You may want to wait and watch this, Taisei…it’s pretty
awesome, if I do say so myself.’
The door clicked shut and Taisei, Tsugu and the others say
and watched. A few moments later a loud,
wheezing sound began to erupt from the TARDIS.
It sounded like time and space ripping itself apart, though Taisei of
course had no idea what those things were really. All he knew was that it was unlike anything
he had ever heard before. The light atop
the box began to flash on and off in time, and as they watched, the blue box
began to shift and fade from view. A
wind licked up, blowing the grasses to and fro.
In the distance, one of the cattle looked up, disinterested,
and returned its attention to the grass it was eating.
Finally, the TARDIS was gone.
Taisei turned back to face Tsugu.
‘Have you seen this before?’
Tsugu smiled.
‘Once or twice my King, It still amazes me to this day.’
Taisei shook his head.
‘You heard the Doctor.
Not a word of this to anyone.
Hold true to the memory, but keep the story secret.’
His advisors all nodded.
Taisei wondered how easy it would be to keep such an amazing tale
secret, but knew in the end all he could do was keep his secret for
himself. The rest, well…that would be up
to them. He trusted them, though, and
that was a start.
‘Back to the city then, everyone. There is much work to be done.’
Wordlessly the group turned and began the journey back to
the palace.
~~~