Doctor Who_ Bunker Soldiers - Martin Day [23]
However, I am now persuaded that something needs to be done about the coming threat of the Mongols.’
Steven looked up sharply.
‘Therefore, I wish to travel to the Mongol army and plead for the lives of the people of Kiev.’
Dmitri got to his feet, and walked towards the window. He brought his hands together in front of his face. ‘I would rather have you here, old man,’ he said.
Steven turned to the Doctor. ‘You can’t go! You’ll be killed!’
Dmitri looked back at the Doctor. ‘The Tartars have been known to torture and execute emissaries and diplomats.’
‘It is a risk I must take,’ said the Doctor calmly.
‘Very well,’ said Dmitri with a curt nod of his head. ‘You are not, after all, a citizen of Kiev. I cannot... should not... order you to stay.’ He paused, running a finger along the window frame. ‘I shall arrange for an escort, and official papers. You may go at sunrise.’
‘Thank you, Governor,’ said the Doctor.
Dmitri sighed. ‘And may God bring you greater success than those that have gone before you have enjoyed.’
‘So we’re to be cooped up in here like animals!’ exploded Dodo.
‘Oh, that’s just fantastic!’ she added with caustic bitterness.
Lesia couldn’t help but smile at her friend’s reaction to the news of their enforced curfew. She paused in her sewing. ‘We will be well treated,’ she said.
‘I’m sick of being well treated!’ Dodo slumped petulantly on to the bed, pulling decorated pins from her hair. ‘I just want to go home.’
Lesia returned to her embroidery, wondering if she should say something, or if silence was the most appropriate response.
‘Home is important,’ she said in a quiet voice a few moments later. ‘But I have come to realise that the life you lead, the security you feel – it comes from within, from your spirit. It is not about comfort, or walls, or food and clothing and physical safety.’ She glanced up to see that Dodo now had her head in her hands.
‘I know,’ said Dodo. This time her words were almost whispered, and Lesia had to strain her ears to hear them. ‘But I’m so scared...’
‘Scared?’
‘Scared I’ll die here, along with you.’ Dodo raised her head, and Lesia could see the tears that were welling at the edges of her eyes. ‘And being forced to stay here... makes it feel even more of a prison.’
She rolled on to her back, staring at the ceiling.
‘I want a proper bath, I want a toilet that flushes, I want food that doesn’t taste of smoke and salt... But even if we were to go – I’d always think that I’d left you behind. Abandoned you all.’
‘It is not wrong to want to feel safe,’ observed Lesia. ‘But fear has been walking at our side for some months now. I am used to it – it has almost become a companion.’ She paused, her brow furrowed in concentration. ‘Your tales led me to believe you were used to danger!’
‘I’m not used to waiting around for it,’ said Dodo.
‘Then perhaps you would like to come with me later, to pray,’ said Lesia. ‘There is a chapel where we will not be disturbed.’
Dodo glared at the thick wooden door and the soldiers who doubtless stood the other side. ‘And I’m sick of them following us around,’ she said.
‘Please try to look on our enforced stay in a more positive light,’ said Lesia. She put her needlework down, grinning broadly
– and was pleased to see a hint of a smile crossing Dodo’s features. ‘This is a well-guarded building, so we might be allowed a little more freedom... and a little more privacy.’
Dodo sat up, looking closely at her friend. ‘What are you planning?’
Lesia felt herself flushing a little. ‘There is someone I wish to meet,’ she said, avoiding Dodo’s gaze. ‘Being here may help with our... assignations.’
‘You never told me you had a boyfriend!’
‘I am in love with a young man, if that is what you mean. But it is best that his name is not common knowledge.’ She glanced up at Dodo, not used to the blunt way in which her companion expressed herself. ‘You will not tell?’
‘Of course not! Who is he?’
Lesia moistened a cloth in a small pitcher