The Queen and the Rose

Chapter 8

Wish I could do something to make this better for you guys, I feel like it's not a favorite and I'm really sorry about that.  I'm doing my best, enjoy the chapter! :)

Rose felt a growing sense of uneasiness creep through her as they walked into the tomb. At first, she told herself she was being ridiculous, but then she realized that she really wasn't. It was a bloody tomb, after all. She had trouble keeping from squeezing the Doctor's hand into oblivion.

Isi, who seemed to be leading the group into the tomb, waved her hand, lighting a torch on the wall of the narrow hallway. She lifted it from its bracket on the wall and led on, the rest of the party incredibly quiet behind her.

"So tell me, your majesty," the Doctor broke the silence, rather loudly, in fact. "Are you planning to kill us and eat us?"

Queen Surbia's light laughter filled the hall. "Oh, no. The doesn't mean that I won't ask a favor of you."

The Doctor narrowed his eyes at her. "And what, exactly, is it that you need from us?"

"I don't believe I was referencing needing both of you."

At her words, the Doctor's hand tightened around Rose's, but he said nothing. They continued walking, the corridor seeming to go on forever. Finally, the pyramid opened into what was easily the biggest chamber the Doctor had ever seen in his very long life.

It was ornate, huge, filled with riches and with a large sarcophagus in the middle of the chamber. The walls were painted with hieroglyphics, some touched with gold and blue and red. Realizing its seemingly untouched beauty, he turned and looked at Rose to see her reaction.

Her eyes were alight with excitement, looking thrilled to be so close to something so lovely. Her lips were slightly parted, looking, for short of a better phrase, in awe. He smiled softly, again loving how she was seeing the beauty in the universe around them. She took nothing for granted, no matter where he took her or when, she found something wonderful there.

She was not watching him watch her, but instead was gazing around the tomb as though she had never seen something so beautiful. Of course, she had seen many beautiful things, but every place was beautiful in a different way, and she loved seeing what each new place had to offer.

After a few moments, she felt the Doctor's gaze on her and turned her head to face him and smile up at him. "It's gorgeous," she whispered.

He grinned back at her with his usual manic expression. "It is, isn't it?"

"Come forth," Queen Surbia beckoned, having moved towards the sarcophagus.

"What are you doing?" The Doctor asked, "What's magic got to do with the dead body of King Horus?"

Surbia lifted a finger and beckoned the two of them closer, though Rose had a feeling her seductive crooked finger was meant for the Doctor alone. She tried not to tighten her grip on his hand too much at the notion. Possessiveness was not becoming, she knew, especially when it was coming from her, since the Doctor didn't belong to her in any sense of the word.

The Doctor made an odd sound of questioning in the back of his throat and tugged Rose along after him further into the chamber. He moved with caution, as if anticipating the Queen to lunge at him with a knife. He was careful with his steps, every bit of him suspicious, she could feel it as if she were feeling it in her own body.

Surbia hoisted herself up to sit on the sarcophagus, her servants surrounding her. She blinked at the travelers before her. "Come closer," she said, indignant, as if she couldn't believe they weren't running towards her and fawning over the tomb.