Doctor Who - Short Trips (Big Finish) - 28 - Indefinable Magic by Neil Corry

Author:Neil Corry
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
ISBN: 9781844353842
Publisher: Big Finish Productions Ltd
Published: 2009-03-30T07:00:00+00:00

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208

The Doctor and Jo walked towards a city. An old crone with her head half-hidden by the hood of her cloak offered them some apples and Jo reached out to take one. But the Doctor grabbed her hand and said: ‘No, thank you. Not today.’

They walked past a large pond. Jo dawdled to look at it more

closely as the Doctor strode ahead. She stared as a frog suddenly smiled and winked at her, before plopping back into the pool. Jo quickly ran to catch up with the Doctor.

The city was vast and each of its towers had huge triangular flags that fluttered down the sides of each building. The Doctor seemed particularly interested in the architecture, painting out to Jo how the city was made up of so many types of buildings. Jo knew the Doctor was just showing off, but it was an amazing illusion that what had appeared so uniform was, inflict, so diverse.

The Doctor pointed at two impressively tall and elaborate towers either side of a gateway that appeared to be the main entrance to the city. The gate was open and its portcullis raised, so the Doctor and Jo ventured in. They didn’t get very far before six ceremonial guards drew near. They were dressed entirely in black except for the gold braid on their shoulders, and the gold and silver of their swords.

Shouting in unison, they proclaimed: All hail Prince. Sophia, the most wise, the most beautiful, the most magnificent, whose

greatness knows no end!’

After an elaborate salute that ended with them striking their fists against their chests, the Doctor and Jo turned away from looking at the towers and towards the guards but they didn’t respond with anything more than a slight smile. The guards took a more

defensive stance and spoke again, but this time much louder. ‘ALL

hail Princess Sophia!’ This time it was definitely a command.

‘By whose order?’ The Doctor asked, looking directly at a guard with slightly more gold showing on his uniform. ‘No, let me guess –

Princess Sophia!’

‘Uh-oh,’ said Lisa. ‘Why didn’t they just hail Princess Sophia like the guards told them to?’

‘“Uh-oh” indeed,’ said her mother. ‘It certainly would have been

the easiest thing to do, wouldn’t it? But the Doctor rarely took the easiest path. And we both know that the Doctor didn’t like people

who acted as if they’re more important than everyone else,

especially him, unless they really, really deserved it. Anyway,’ she smiled, ‘it wouldn’t have been much of an adventure.’ Her voice

became an exaggerated monotone. ‘The Doctor and Jo said, “All

hail Princess Sophia”, wandered around for a bit and then went

209

home. The end.’ Lisa’s mother pretended to stand as though her

story was done. She looked at Lisa and, smiling, asked: ‘What do

you think? Was that good enough or shall I continue with the real

story?’

‘The real story! The real story!’ Lisa squirmed in delight as her

mother sat down.

‘All! Hail! Princess! Sophia!’ The guards spat each word out, all pretence at ceremony gone. They had moved their hands onto the ornate hilts of their swords, to show the threat if their command wasn’t followed.

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