Doctor Who_ Bunker Soldiers - Martin Day [32]
VI
Rosa rubicundior, lilio candidor, omnibus formosior, semper in te glorior
Night had fallen. The Doctor and a group of soldiers assembled in the shadows of the great gates of Kiev. The men whispered nervously in the light of enormous guttering torches as they sought to reassure the horses; only the Doctor, his long white hair flowing in the bitter breeze, seemed impatient to be off.
Massed footfalls alerted the Doctor to the arrival of Dmitri and his retinue of guards.
‘I have grave news,’ announced the governor, drawing the Doctor to one side.
The Doctor arched his eyebrows. ‘Really?’
‘Your friend has escaped from prison.’
The Doctor’s face fell. ‘I am sorry,’ he said. ‘Steven is clearly frightened. I implore you not to take that as a sign of guilt.’
Dmitri lowered his voice. ‘His flight raises all manner of suspicions in my mind,’ he said. ‘I am told that when the escape was finally noted the building was almost completely deserted.
The soldiers say they were sent away by Mykola, who himself was discovered, unconscious, in the cell. He told some story of the black arts, which I do not countenance. Suspicion points instead to treachery, possibly to Yevhen, and perhaps even to an attempt on the life of your friend.’
‘Perhaps Steven is safer now than within the walls of your prison,’ noted the Doctor.
Dmitri nodded. ‘Indeed. I shall not hunt for him – my soldiers are, in any case, required elsewhere. But I have ordered that Mykola lead your expedition to the Tartars. He will join us soon.’
‘Do you think that sensible?’
Dmitri extended an arm towards the Doctor, perhaps the closest he had yet come to a sign of affection for the traveller.
‘You are wise enough to watch for Mykola’s trickery. Pray that I am wise enough to do the same with Yevhen.’
The Doctor nodded. ‘I understand.’
‘I am hopeful of your success with the Tartars,’ said Dmitri, more loudly and for the benefit of the soldiers.
‘It will be a challenge,’ said the Doctor. ‘I must first of all win their trust, their respect.’
‘You already have mine,’ said Dmitri.
The Doctor looked around. ‘Though I am impatient to get started, I wonder why we must leave when it is dark. Surely we would make better progress by day?’
‘We have no idea how far advanced the Tartar scouts are.
Better that you leave now.’
‘And get as far as we can before we are spotted?’ The Doctor paused. ‘Yes, yes... I suppose that makes sense.’
Dmitri turned as Mykola approached. The soldier had swapped his chain mail for a lighter and partial armour of leather. The Doctor noted, with interest, the cut that still bled just above his ear – however Steven had escaped, Mykola would be mindful of what had happened for some time to come.
‘The good wishes of our city go with you, Mykola,’ said Dmitri.
The soldier seemed less than enamoured by the prospect of the expedition, though he managed a curt nod of respect.
With a last glance at the Doctor, Dmitri strode back towards his home.
Mykola began giving orders to the men, preparing them for the ordeal that lay before them. The Doctor patted the graceful neck of his mount, a chestnut-brown stallion, and watched the soldier closely. He sensed a crushed resignation about him Whatever Mykola’s role in the arrest of Steven, and whatever had happened since, it seemed unlikely that it had been entirely of his own doing.
Mykola turned to the Doctor.
‘I am concerned that the expedition will be arduous.You are old and slow, and many dangers lurk in the forests.’
The Doctor was indignant. ‘Old? My boy, you don’t know the meaning of the word! In any case, I am quite capable of looking after myself. How do you think I have lived for so long, hmm?’ The Doctor made a show of leading his horse towards the city gates. ‘Shall we proceed?’
Dodo and Lesia returned to the governor’s residence to find Yevhen waiting for them. He was pacing his daughter’s room, arms behind his back, boiling with anger. It was like being caught creeping home after a late party, but when Dodo saw the flames that flickered behind Yevhen’s eyes, and remembered their