RULE OF THE VALEYARD

Chapter Five

Rose grunted as soon as the men pulled her out of the back of the cab and made her stand up. The one with the gun pointed it at her even though Rose had no intention of doing anything for the moment. The black man ordered the driver to go before he shut the door. Then the man walked around Rose and smirked at her as he drew his finger down her cheek.

"So pretty, the latest acquisition," he said with a heavy West African accent. "The Lord's harem grows by the day."

Rose's stomach turned at the thought of her Doctor keeping a harem of sex slaves but she kept silent as the man leaned in and ran his tongue up her cheek before straightening up and chuckling at her sour look.

"I wish we could have a few of you," the man said as he ran his finger down the side of her neck. "But that's not one of the benefits of serving our Lord unfortunately."

"Go fuck yourself," Rose said.

She grunted when the man slapped her face hard before seizing it.

"You are property now," the man snarled at her. "And you will show the proper respect to everyone, especially your new Lord."

"Come on, James, we need to get her inside," the other man said with a slight Russian accent.

James smirked and Rose gasped when he jerked hard on her arm, nearly dislocating it.

"Come along, girlie, time to meet the master," James purred in her ear before he jerked her arm again.

Rose gritted her teeth and walked quickly so James wouldn't tear her arm out of its socket. They walked through the front doors of Buckingham Palace and Rose couldn't help but marveled at the grandeur of it. She did noticed that among the antiques and portraits, there were more statues and painting of the Valeyard and now she noticed in the paintings that he wore a stiff collar around his neck that was edged with white and there were white bands around the sleeves of his robes and down the front. Rose was taken to the State Room and when the doors opened, her breath caught in her throat when she saw the Valeyard sitting on his throne, waiting for her arrival. The men brought her to him and when she was five feet from the right side of the chair, they put their hands on her shoulders and forced her to her knees before they knelt down on one knee and bowed their heads reverently. Rose noticed that the Valeyard's eyes were only for her and it disgusted her that he was treating these people as his slaves and not even caring if they lived or died.

"Take off her restraints," the Valeyard said to them. "But secure her to the chair beside me. You will find some rope in the seat."

The men stood up and forced Rose to stand before James unlocked the handcuffs and took them off. Then they forced her to the chair while the other man grabbed the coiled bit of rope. Rose didn't fight them as they sat her down and tied her around the waist, securing her to the chair but leaving her arms free. Then they tied it in back where she couldn't reach it and the Valeyard dismissed them. He waited until they were alone before he spoke.

"Hello, Rose, it's been quite awhile," he said to her.

"Doctor," Rose said.

"No, no longer. The man that was the Doctor is dead. I am the Valeyard now."

"I refuse to believe that."

The Valeyard chuckled.

"Why doesn't that surprise me, A'Le'Mahor?" he said.

He raised an eyebrow when he drew a blank look from Rose.

"Your Doctor never used a Gallfreyan term of endearment?" he said.

"What does it mean?" Rose said, fascinated.

"Close to my hearts."

"No," Rose said, trying not to get choked up by that. "No, he never did. Just called me his Rose from time to time."

"Hmm, apparently that is a parallel difference between him and me then," the Valeyard said. "Well, A'Le'Mahor, we are going to be served lunch here in a few minutes, I hope you haven't had time to eat."

"Just some biscuits and tea," Rose said.

"Ah, well, we'll be served something more substantial than that, I assure you."

"Why are you doing this?" Rose said.

The Valeyard frowned.

"You're not hungry? I thought it was a gesture of politeness…"

"No, why are you conquering worlds and enslaving people?" Rose said.

The Valeyard gave her a chillingly smug grin.

"Because I can, my sweet, little Rose," he said, caressing her cheek with his finger. "Because the universe is filled with pudding brains who need my guidance and I intend to point them in the right direction rather than let their stupidity guide them."

"By enslaving them?" Rose said angrily. "By turning women into sex slaves. This is how you intend to guide them?"

Again, the smug little grin that Rose longed to slap off his face.

"I always loved your compassion and sense of moral outrage. And your fiery nature, of course. That is why I'm pleased you have returned to me at last. I did consider going to the other side to find you, my precious jewel, but I figured that could wait until I brought more of the universe to heel. But here you are, on your hunt for your Doctor, I presume? Or has the clone entered the picture yet?"

"Clone?" Rose said, frowning.

"Ah, how naughty of me. Like my long ago spouse said…spoilers," he said before chuckling. "So you are searching for your Doctor to stop the stars from going out, is that correct?"

"Yes," Rose said.

"And you happened to find this world instead, where I am supreme ruler," the Valeyard said.

"If you like," Rose said hesitantly.

"Then you are in luck, A'Le'Mahor. You see, I do long for a consort to be at my side and that is why I toyed with the idea of finding you. I need a lives mate to rule with me over the universe."

"You're soft in the head if you think I'm gonna do that," Rose said.

"Would you rather I threw you inside my harem and only took you out long enough to rape you before throwing you back?"

Rose was shocked by that. She never in a million years imagined her Doctor saying something so heartless and cruel and the evil grin on his face only added to the chilling realization that perhaps the Doctor was well and truly gone now.

"I can be merciful, Rose," the Valeyard said to her. "I don't want to hurt you but I will not have a rebellion form against me, especially a rebellion formed by you and my former companion. And I know where Clara is, despite her pudding brain delusions of her being so clever that she can outwit me. At least, I know the general vicinity. I don't know the exact house but that can be remedied by having my police bust down the doors of every house in that area and seeing who's there. But perhaps it doesn't have to come to that. You see, I want you to be at my side, A'Le'Mahor. You are one of the few I have traveled with that I consider worthy enough for that role. But of course, that would mean you would give yourself to me completely and be completely loyal. I will not tolerate betrayal and I assure you, I have a fate worse than death for those that do betray. Do you really want to risk that, Rose? Especially since I'm offering you so much more?"

Rose stared at him silently, not sure how to answer that. She didn't want to rule over the universe and commit acts of depravity but at the same time she was debating on going along with this and giving Clara and the others more time to mount an attack. The Valeyard studied her face and he chuckled again.

"You cannot outwit me, my sweet little ape. I know you're debating on whether or not to pretend to accept my offer so your friends can rise up against me. I don't wish to possess your mind and turn you into a puppet but if that's what it takes…"

"I…I don't want to rule anything," Rose said.

"I wasn't asking you to rule. Merely be at my side and keep me company, as you did in olden days. There is no escape, Rose. You may have thought that surrendering would buy you and your friends time but you will never leave me alive so you might as well surrender for real and accept my offer. It is the only time I will show this mercy so I would consider that before you decide you would rather die than serve me. You are very valuable to me and as I just told you, I will not allow you to die. But you will wish you had died once I'm through with you. And if you think that I'm bluffing and the Doctor part of me has just been squashed down into the very core of my being. Well…try something at your own risk is all I can say. Then we'll see how much of the Doctor still exists. So…now that I have informed you of all this, what is your decision?"

"I…I don't have a choice," Rose said.

"Oh but you do have a choice, it's just that you must choose between pain and pleasure. I will make it worth your while to become my consort, trust me. You will want for nothing and we can be together. Perhaps I might even make you into a Time Lady so you can be with me past your normal human existence."

"But…why me? You just said you hate the human race in so many words and they're not good for anything except bowing to you and kissing your arse."

"Because you are not like them. You never were and that's why I allowed you near and allowed you to see a side of me I kept hidden from most of the universe. Yes, I'll admit that the old feelings for you are there. That, at least, didn't die with the Doctor."

"What if you're lying?" Rose said. "And this is all a game for your amusement?"

"Then I suggest you give in and play the game because not playing the game is far worse. However, I understand you are reluctant to trust me but…I give you my word that I am being truthful with you in everything I've just said."

"Then I accept," Rose said with a weary sigh.

The Valeyard chuckled again. He rose and Rose eyed him warily as he walked to the side of the chair. Then he bent down and turned her head towards his and kissed her cheeks gently.

"I can be gentle or I can be harsh, it's your decision which one me you want," he whispered to her. "Resistance is useless now so surrender to me and I will give you paradise."

He smiled as he gazed at her eyes and stroked her hair.

"I will even allow you to call me, Doctor. Although I reserve that privilege for you alone and only in private. To all others, I am the Valeyard. Is that understood, A'Le'Mahor?"

"Yes, Doctor," Rose said.

The Valeyard smiled and kissed her lips. Rose returned it and when he finished kissing her lips, he kissed her forehead and laid his own forehead against it.

"You will not regret becoming my queen," he whispered to her. "Dispel all fear and become what you were meant to be, my beloved. Do you accept your true destiny then and become my willing consort?"

"Yes, Doctor," Rose whispered back.

The Valeyard kissed her forehead tenderly.

"Good. I will hold you to that and remember, my queen, you will be watched and the first sign of betrayal, you will go from queen to slave in a heartbeat and you will go from unimagined pleasure to unimagined pain. Is that understood?"

"Yes, Doctor."

"Good."

The Valeyard kissed her lips once more and smiled as he pulled away from her.

"Very good," he said, sitting back down. "And now that the nasty bit of business is concluded and I have secured your oath of loyalty, let us relax, talk of the past and enjoy our lunch."

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