CHARACTERS IN SCENE:
ARMENIA: Princess of Medi, disguised as the servant Arthur.
WILSON: An Independent Investigator from France, investigating the allegations against the Kingdom of Medi by the Kingdom of Albion.
KNIGHT 1: A Knight of Medi.
KNIGHT 2: A Knight of Medi To.
Medi’s Palace
Enter Armenia
Armenia: Ah, what foolish games we play when hearts conquer minds. Arthur has’t never had need of heart for anybody but his Princess and, as the noble and good princess that she is, she will of course respond with the same love. There is, after all, no better love than the love of a princess. My subjects bow to my heart, and the princess bows to the heart of her kingdom—the heart she is born with the right to control its rapid motions. It shall’t be her choice now how quick or how slow it moves, how much it shapes the condition of its organs, how much it is loved or feels intense hatred. Ha! See how the tongue holds power, foolish father. The fool’s words that you claimed so vile are exactly what you spout, and the wise words of the woman are exactly what your daughter has’t dominion over. I am the Venus. I am the Goddess above all other Goddess’s you may find or worship. I am all. I am light and I am darkness. I am hope and I am sense. I am life and I am death. Death to all those who go ‘gainst noble hearts of goddesses.
(Enter Wilson)
Wilson: Arthur? So, I have found you. Good. I fear there has been movement in the underbelly of the kingdom. Why—I returned to our study to discover evil sprawled across our lits, papers flying in circles around our desks, a heart torn upon the old brow of an old master like myself.
Armenia: I care not for your brow, old man.
Wilson: Arthur? What dost thou mean? Why, thy hood has gone. How have I ne’er noticed afore? Evangeline? It is you.
Armenia: You shall’t not call me such names. It dos’t not belong to you, despite all of your treacherous tales and superfluous stories.
Wilson: You are not Evangeline.
Armenia: I am higher than she. I am Venus. Her tongue ne’er got as far as a whimper. Mine has gone farther than Zeus’ bolt.
Wilson: Princess? You are the Princess of Medi. But, where is Arthur?
Armenia: He has served his purpose. As have you, independent.
Wilson: You have destroyed my trusted servant.
Armenia: Your trusted servant ne’er existed, only the Venus’s genius.
Wilson: Non, you are incorrect. He is still standing afore me, in your shadow. He is what you could have been if your arrogance did not blind you.
Armenia: There is only one such blind girl and she is gone—fled with hateful boys and traitorous kings. Why, you look upset, independent, do not fear—I will be sure to return you to France, in what condition I cannot account for. Even a Venus has her limits.
Wilson: I will seek help from my king—my true king, not Medi, nor Albion. I will seek out the capture of this poor, poor boy who has been lost to the demon’s spell.
Armenia: Are you not understanding, independent? The woman has trounced the boy. He is no longer here. Venus remains the victor. Your kind is now to be rid of, to make way for a greater future.
Wilson: It is not the woman I fear. The woman I see in your cheeks is one I have sorely missed, but she has long since gone from this world. I see only the husk that has been left behind. You are demon. You have claimed the vessel of the woman, and have destroyed the boy.
Armenia: Yes? Yes? You may think what you wish. I am Venus, that is all as that is everything.
Wilson: As is Lia, Arthur.
Armenia: My name is Venus: Armenia the Venus. And Lia, Lia is but a dreamer—a girl.
Wilson: And Arthur was but a boy, yet he brought more to the world than a demon could ever believe.
Armenia: You have adopted the dreamer’s tongue.
Wilson: I have not. It has always been there. We suppress it. But I will do so no longer. There is no greater power than a dreamer’s tongue—or a girl, or a boy. I shall seek help and the demon will be stopped, Arthur. I will see what is left of the boy to salvage.
Armenia: Twill be hard, independent, for my knights come close.
(Enter Knights 1 and 2)
Wilson: Only a demon would fear war and need protection.
Armenia: Oh, the Venus needs no protection. The Venus is protection enough on her own, independent. It is they that come to her for protection.
(Armenia signals to knights. Knight 1 hits Wilson on head with handle of his sword. Wilson falls down unconscious)
That is not to say that Venus will not take offerings in return. After all, that is what her subjects are for.
Knight 1: What is it you wish of him?
Knight 2: Shall we lock him away?
Armenia: Ah, but what can he do? What can anybody do verse the tongue? The Venus shall’t forever win.
Knight 1: What is that you say, servant boy?
Armenia: You are all fools, but that is what I like. Tie the independent to his horse and send it towards cliff. It shall swim to France—return him home overseas. If it does not reach then it is the fate of the goddesses, and blood shall not be on Medi’s hands.
Knight 2: Is that all?
Armenia: Yes, my knight, ‘tis true. I shall go ‘head to join his highness. You shall’t follow with my knights to join up with his own.
Knight 2: Yes, Servant of Albion.
Armenia: Do not worry; I will not be for much longer.
(Exit Armenia)
Knight 2: Why must we work for such fools?
Knight 1: There is no rightful fool among them all, that is why.
Knight 2: So, we fight for nobody?
Knight 1: That is, we have yet to find somebody. Now, come, let us do as the fool ordered—we cannot let the king find out that we have disobeyed the voice he has’t chosen.
(Exeunt)
Happy New Year Everybody that celebrates. This is the start of the end for Play On as Act 4 will (finally) be the last act of the play. Who’s excited? What do you think will happen? After Play On, we’ll be moving on to a series of short stories and poems that was started on this blog a few years ago: The Street Crawlers. You can find the beginning of The Street Crawlers series under Writing: Original Stories in the banner above. Or click on this link to get to the first story: https://literaryonion.com/2019/11/23/the-street-crawlers-1-the-street-crawlers/ . In total there’s 4 already up. In order: The Street Crawlers, The Copper Fox, The Children of Hell and The Soldiers of Hell. Thank you for reading and here’s to a better/equally good depending on how your 2023 went 2024.
Signed,
The Literary Onion
The Literary Onion 