Two knights, armed with swords, cautiously pick their way through a small wood outside Jaffa. Once they have passed through a small clearing, two Saracens emerge from a nearby bush. |
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One of the Saracens advances on the knights, brandishing his sword. He is restrained by his colleague. |
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'No! Not yet!' says El Akir. 'One of them may be the King. Follow them and listen.' |
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As the Saracen stalks the knights through the forest the TARDIS appears in his wake. |
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Elsewhere in the wood, King Richard I - The Lionheart - watches as a hood is placed over the head of a falcon. |
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'We are the only day and night for you, hunter,' says Richard, stroking the bird's back. |
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'I wish that I were a hawk, sire, and Saladin my prey,' says de Marun.
'Now there's a subject for our troubadours and actors,' says Richard, laughing. 'Speak to the Chamberlain about it.'
'I will, my lord,' says de Marun. 'I will have the players call the entertainment "The Defeat of Saladin, the Sparrow of the East."' |
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'Here's a man devoted to his work,' says Richard, regarding de Tornebu, who is attempting to fix the clasp on an ornate belt.
'A beautiful thing, Sire, but it has a stubborn streak. The clasp is faulty and needs hot fires to make it pliable.' |
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'Perhaps I should ride with craftsmen and leave my knights at home,' says a bemused Richard. |
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Another knight, William des Preaux, approaches Richard.
'No, des Preaux, I will not fight today,' says Richard, anticipating him.
'I fear this wood, Sire,' says des Preaux. 'You're too far from Jaffa and the Saracens too near.'
'Have you seen any?' asks Richard. |
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'No...' hesitates des Preaux. 'But I sense them about us. This wood might have been designed for ambush.'
'What, des Preaux?' asks Richard. 'Would you see danger in your own shadow?' |
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'I have put the brothers de L'Étabe with the horses, Sire,' says des Preaux. And all is ready for the return to Jaffa... If your Majesty desires to go...'
'We will stay here until, William the Wary, you recover your composure,' says Richard. 'And, I hope, your sense of humour.' |
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The Saracens quietly observe Richard's party from a distance. Nearby, the Doctor's travelling companion Ian Chesterton gingerly explores his new surroundings. |
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Ian returns to his fellow travellers, the Doctor, Barbara Wright and Vicki. The Doctor locks the TARDIS door, placing the key in his waistcoat pocket. 'Let's take a look around,' suggests Ian. |
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They move through the wood until they encounter one of the Saracens. 'Barbara...' warns Ian, as she retreats from the advancing warrior. She steps backwards into the clutches of another Saracen, who places his hand over her mouth. |
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Unaware of Barbara's plight, Ian braces himself as the Saracen raises his sword. |
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The Doctor steps out of the bushes behind the Saracen, announcing, 'Good afternoon!' Ian launches into a flying tackle and the Doctor clubs the startled Saracen into submission. |
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'Who is he?' asks the Doctor. 'Why did he attack you?'
'I don't know,' says Ian, shaking his head. 'I didn't stop to ask.' |
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'What's going on?' asks Vicki. 'Where are we?'
Ian silences her, straining to hear the sounds of a distant skirmish. Ian and the Doctor drag the unconscious Saracen away from the clearing, before they realise that Barbara is missing. |
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Barbara can hear Ian calling her name, but she is bound and gagged by Saracens. |
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'Someone's coming,' says Ian. 'Hide.'
The Doctor and Vicki hide, while Ian crouches behind a tree. |
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Richard's group stagger through the wood, fleeing from the Saracen ambush. De Tornebu collapses, an arrow in his shoulder. The Doctor and Vicki drag him to safety. The injured Richard is the next to collapse. |
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Des Preaux is left to face the advancing Saracens on his own. 'I am the King!' he announces, attempting to fool them. 'I am Malek Ric!' |
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'Am I to die as well?' says des Preaux. 'If so, dispatch me and have done with it.'
'A king at liberty may give commands,' says El Akir. 'A captured one obeys them. Take him!' |
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El Akir turns to the remaining Saracen. 'Find the others - and kill them!' |
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The Saracen sweeps the undergrowth, soon coming across Ian. Using a sword he has recovered from the battle, Ian prepares to defend himself. |
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Richard props himself up, straining to hear what is happening. |
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Ian snaps a branch into the Saracen's face, but this doesn't delay him for long. He raises his sword and lunges at Ian. |
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Ian struggles to parry the Saracen's relentless attacks. |
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The Doctor is coming to Richard's aid when a Saracen interrupts him. The Doctor grabs a discarded sword and raises it in defence. |
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Ian finally overcomes his attacker and, elsewhere, de Tornebu regains consciousness and pulls the arrow from his shoulder. |
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Dragging himself nearer to the Doctor, he throws his sword like a javelin. The Saracen attacking the Doctor staggers back and falls to the ground. |
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Exhausted by the effort, de Tornebu collapses. 'I have my friend here to thank for my life,' says the Doctor, regaining his breath. 'All right, dear boy?' |
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'Did you hear what that man called him?' says the Doctor as Ian joins them. 'Malek Ric! Yes! That was the name the Saracens had for King Richard, Coeur de Lion.' |
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'So we're in the Holy Land?' asks Vicki.
'He was not the King,' gasps de Tornebu, indicating the belt he was trying to fix. |
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'This belongs to his royal master, King Richard,' says the Doctor, examining the belt. 'He'll certainly be glad to get this back again. We shall be able to get into his favour. And we need some assistance to help find Barbara.'
'We can't wait that long,' says Ian. 'I'm going to have another look for her now.' |
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Richard recovers and heads off through the wood. Over an hour later, Ian returns from his fruitless search. Vicki has given de Tornebu some medicine, and the Doctor has fetched a cloak from the TARDIS. Ian reluctantly agrees that they need some help from King Richard to find Barbara. The Doctor and Vicki head for the nearby Jaffa, leaving Ian to make a stretcher for de Tornebu. |
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Barbara awakes to find herself inside a large tent. There are sounds of bustling activity outside. |
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'I will do you no harm,' says her fellow prisoner, des Preaux. 'I do not know who you are. Or how you came to be in the wood outside Jaffa. Your clothing is strange. It has caused some talk.' |
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'Thank you for the cloak,' says Barbara, before drinking the water he gives her.
Des Preaux tells her that they are at the great Sultan's encampment at Ramlah.
'I am King Richard, Couer de Lion, leader of the mighty host, scourge of the infidel,' he tells her. |
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'But I thought Richard had red hair,' says Barbara, forcing des Preaux to admit his ruse. Barbara asks him to take her back to the wood.
'But what am I to say of you to the heathen?' asks des Preaux. 'How can I explain you to them?'
He decides to tell them that Barbara is the King's sister, the Princess Joanna. |
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El Akir enters the tent to confront his prisoners. 'Salah ed-Din has commanded that all prisoners be treated with compassion. Would you say I have complied with his wishes?'
'The Sultan of Egypt and Syria would no doubt be pleased,' says des Preaux, maintaining the pretence that he is King Richard. 'But this lady, my sister...' |
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'Sister?' interrupts El Akir.
'Aye, Joanna,' replies des Preaux. 'Princess of England and closest to me in affection. My sister has been ill-treated, handled roughly by your men. Is this the compassion Saladin speaks of?'
'Enough of your babbling,' says El Akir. 'The woman is all of one piece.' |
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'Woman!' says an outraged des Preaux. 'Hold your tongue, Saracen!'
'We shall call her a prisoner, then,' says El Akir as des Preaux is restrained.
He turns to Barbara: 'You have no rights, no privileges, nothing except the benevolence of our leader. That you are the King's sister bodes well for me. I can serve both the Sultan and the Malek el Adil.' |
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'Saphadin?' asks des Preaux.
'As you call the Sultan's brother, yes,' says El Akir. 'He will be pleased to see the woman he has so long admired.'
El Akir orders the guards to let the prisoner go. 'He is a lion without claws.' |
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'Silks, satins, the finest robes in Jaffa!' promises Ben Daheer, a portly shopkeeper in the street-market. |
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'You have some very fine materials here,' observes the Doctor.
'The finest of the coast, my lord!' preens Ben. |
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Ben invites the Doctor to step inside his shop. Once he is inside, Vicki sits on the step outside, huddled inside the cloak. |
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A man called Thatcher arrives with a delivery for Ben. The Doctor eavesdrops on their conversation. 'Why can't you be more careful when you come here?' Ben tells Thatcher. 'Why can't you wait until the place is empty?' |
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'I want more than you paid last time,' demands Thatcher, as Ben examines the contents of a large bundle.
'Such clothes as these are difficult for me to sell,' says Ben. 'I am afraid that I may sell them to the person you took them from.' |
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'Having been stolen once, they can be stolen again. Or perhaps borrowed, shall we say, hmm!' says the Doctor to himself, chuckling quietly. He takes some garments and hides under a table. Meanwhile, Ben counts some coins into Thatcher's hand. |
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'Here, that's not enough,' says Thatcher, unhappy with his payment. 'It was dangerous work getting them things. If I were caught, do you know what would happen? Do you know the King's punishment for thieves? I'd be shorn like a prize-fighter and boiling pitch poured on me head. And, as for you...' |
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While the two men argue, the Doctor grabs a belt and some boots, adding them to the clothes he has already taken. Thatcher leaves, disgusted at his treatment, and Ben returns to his business. The Doctor, however, is nowhere to be seen - he is tying a thick cord to one of the legs of a table. A ruse to get robes
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He pulls the cord, bringing the table crashing down. 'Oh, my beautiful clothes!' wails Ben. 'Oh, they're ruined! All covered in mud! My silks and satins! Embroidery from India! Oh, I am beset by devils! Oh!' The Doctor, meanwhile, throws the stolen objects to his waiting accomplice. |
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'Oh, my poor friend, what a misfortune,' says the Doctor, rising to his feet. 'You've had an accident.'
'Oh, am I not the most miserable of men?' says Ben.
'Oh, yes you are,' says the Doctor. 'But, I'm afraid I must leave you with your misfortune. But I shall return. Yes, I will return and you shan't be the loser by this time, eh?' |
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El Akir addresses Saphadin in Saladin's reception chamber. 'I bring good fortune, not only for your ears but for he who rules all of us as well,' says El Akir.
'Be content that your voice is heard,' says Saphadin. 'If what you have to say pleases my brother, then you will see him.' |
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Unbeknownst to El Akir, Saladin is behind Saphadin, standing on the other side of a curtain. He hears every word of their conversation.
'I have taken two prisoners,' continues El Akir. 'One of them, the King of the English, Malek Ric.' |
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Saphadin is astonished when El Akir brings his prisoner - who is in fact des Preaux - into the tent.'The other, a priceless stone I bring to lay before you, as your heart desires,' says El Akir. 'The sister of the Malek Ric. Here for your command.' |
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Barbara is brought in, but Saphadin is furious when he sees her. 'You vile worm,' he says. 'Do you think I do not know the face and the form of the Princess? You take me for a fool?'
El Akir turns to Barbara: 'You tricked me!' |
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'Silence,' says Saladin wearily, emerging from behind the curtain. He looks at des Preaux, declaring, 'This is not King Richard. A blacker head of red-gold hair I never saw.' He is, however, clearly impressed by Barbara. 'You have the better bargain, brother. She may not be the Princess, but her beauty lights the room.' |
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'I am William des Preaux,' the prisoner tells Saladin. 'To aid my King's escape, I shouted out his name and took his identity. This lady, your Highness, has no part in this matter but in aiding my pretence. I beg you to look upon her kindly, whatever fate you have for me.'
'I salute your chivalry,' says Saladin. |
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'Great Sultan, this woman can be made to entertain you,' says El Akir. 'I can have her dance on hot coals, run a gauntlet of sharp-tipped swords... die for your pleasure.' |
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'What do you say to that?' Saladin asks Barbara.
'It sounds like the punishment for a fool,' she replies.
'It does,' agrees Saladin. 'And who here is the most foolish? El Akir, I can devise my own pleasures. Go with Sir William. Let me hear you have treated him like a brother. Let him have all liberty, except liberty itself.' |
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'Are you afraid of me?' Saladin asks Barbara.
'No,' she replies.
'You're not of these lands, yet you seem to be a stranger to Sir William,' he says.
'I'm a traveller. I came with three friends. We arrived in the wood,' she tells him. 'I could say that I'm from another world, a world ruled by insects...' |
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'... and before that we were in Rome at the time of Nero,' continues Barbara. 'Before that we were in England, far, far into the future.'
'You and your friends, you are players, entertainers,' concludes Saladin. 'You must serve my purpose or you have no purpose. Grace my table tonight in more suitable clothes. If your tales beguile me, you shall stay and entertain.' |
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The Doctor, Ian and Vicki - dressed in the stolen clothes - have brought the injured de Tornebu to King Richard's palace at Jaffa.
Richard bemoans that all he is left with is 'one wounded friend and a sore head.' He is pleased when the Doctor returns his belt, but claims he would swap it for de Marun and the other dead knights. |
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'And now I learn my brother John thirsts after power, drinking great draughts of it, though it's not his to take. He's planning to usurp my crown, and trade with my enemy, Philip of France. Trade! A tragedy of fortunes, and I am too much beset by them. A curse on this! A thousand curses!' |
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'We must ask him,' says Ian, whose primary concern is Barbara's safety.
'I'm not sure this is the time,' replies the Doctor.
'He doesn't seem in the best of moods, does he?' agrees Vicki. |
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'I am asking you to send me with an escort to Saladin's headquarters,' says Ian.
'And what will you do when you are there?' asks Richard.
'Arrange for the release of our friends,' says Ian.
'As my emissary to Saladin?' says Richard. |
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'What, flatter him? Bring him presents in return?' asks an incredulous Richard.
'It would be of little use, a player King and a young woman, sire,' says the Doctor.
'I can bring them both back,' insists Ian. |
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'We do not trade with Saladin today,' exclaims Richard.
'Not today, not tomorrow, nor any day henceforth.' |
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'Understand this,' Richard tells the Doctor and his friends. 'This woman can rot in one of Saladin's prisons until her hair turns white before I'll trade with the man that killed my friends!' |
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