Beware the Calm

Love is a Promise

Aeryn knew she was a complete mess, with her straggly hair, red rimmed, bloodshot eyes, creased and still damp clothing and the definitive slouch of exhaustion weighing her down. But she didn't care. As the doors to the hall were thrown open and she and the Doctor stepped in to a sea of madness and hundreds of voices all calling out, crying to be heard over the tops of each other, she knew then that no matter how bad she might have had it up until now, it was nothing compared to what these poor people were going through.

It was no secret that Aeryn and her father were not human - everyone in the kingdom knew it, and everyone accepted it, but only because for the most part the two of them acted human enough for people to overlook the fact that they weren't.

Now, with her dishevelled appearance and obvious exhaustion from being awake for nearly two days straight, Aeryn was looking more human than she'd ever done before. She wasn't the 'super perfect, not a hair out of place, not looking a day over twenty five' alien from another planet. She wasn't even the smart and proper 'Governess'. She was just herself, and that made the people warm to her even more.

It meant she was more approachable. She didn't intimidate people like her father was doing as he tried to bark orders and get some sort of sense out of the chaos all around him. When he snapped and shouted, people flinched and backed away. When Aeryn offered a tired smile, or a gentle word of encouragement, it was warmly appreciated, and returned in kind.

"Corporal Dale," she nodded as the young man who'd escorted her out of the courtyard earlier, squeezed through the throngs of people to stand before her. He snapped off a formal salute to her and the Doctor - who pulled a disgusted face at such an action. "Ma'am. Sir."

"What's the situation?" She asked, concerned as she looked at the sheer volume of people trying to cram themselves into the room. Most were walking wounded, but one or two were more badly hurt and required medical treatment by the Castle's physicians, who were already doing everything they could to help those in need. "What's happened?"

"Kiro was hit by something at dawn," the Corporal told them both. "We don't know what, but the survivors are saying it was something huge and black, that moved with speed unlike anything they'd ever seen before. It killed half the village, then collapsed the church where the remainder of the folks were hiding. After that it moved onto Chen and Bree. Same stories there. Huge, black creature, moving too fast for anyone to make out what it was, killed at least half the population of each place, and caused major structural damage during its rampage. After the first few survivors staggered up to the Castle, your father was finally convinced to sound the alarm. We've been evacuating each and every town and village since, bringing as many here as possible. Though if I'm being honest Ma'am, I don't think the castle will be big enough for all of them."

"Then make it big enough," Aeryn told him firmly. "We do not leave one single person outside the forcefield. Is that understood? We save everyone we can, and we don't stop. Not until the very last person is safe within these walls."

"Yes Ma'am," he saluted again, before turning away to carry out her instructions.

"Good call," the Doctor told her quietly as he moved along by her side. "At least this will be one less thing to worry about, with that creature still out there."

Aeryn opened her mouth to reply, but her father's harsh barking caught her attention and she turned in his direction to see her father reprimanding a young boy - no older than five at most - for making childish whimpering noises.

"You must be brave, boy! Stop that racket, you're embarrassing yourself!"

"Father!" Aeryn warned sharply as she stormed over. "That is enough!"