CHARACTERS IN THIS SCENE:
BORS- King of Albion.
SOMMERS- Fool and Friend of the King of Albion.
KNIGHT- A Knight of Albion.
KENT- Son of the Duke of Kent in Albion. Suitor to Princess of Albion.
ARMENIA- Princess of Medi, daughter of the King of Medi.
KNIGHT 1- Knight of Medi.
KNIGHT 2- A Knight of Medi too.
KNIGHT 3- Another Knight of Medi.
WILSON- An Independent Investigator from France, investigating claims of Medi betraying Albion.
LIA- Princess of Albion, blinded by King of Medi when disguised as a servant.
PRINCE- Prince of Medi.
The Heath Between Albion and Medi
Enter Bors, Sommers, Knight and Kent
Bors: Now, this meeting is of dire importance. There must be no misstep, no misdemeanour, no foolishness or follies. Our body must be represented with all the dignity and drivenness that it has’t pocessed since king was a boy, and all of his forefathers as a boy afore his time.
Sommers: What of Ninny Nunners dost inspire a fools path? Far better to let Medi run the meeting of the day and night than to put such pressure on a mountain that holds no claim o’er them.
Kent: What d’you claim, Fool? How can you say such things to King?
Bors: Sommers speaks only from care and compassion, I know this much of the boy. He is a useful ally to have at my side in times such as this.
Sommers: I believe in the story you are to present, King. I shall wrap the box myself to pass onto the next boy to come to throne.
Bors: I trust you will. Now come, we are standing still when we should be moving into next scene. Hurry, afore any of this worsens.
Kent: Sire, are you sure of your intentions to the Princess Medi? She is, after all, her father’s daughter. You, yourself, have seen the evil coming from his walls. I plea once more for a new decision to be made.
Bors: She is a child. There has been far too much violence directed to our youth.
Kent: Aye, sire. But she is of Medi.
Bors: They are no different to Albion, France or any other ally. Even our enemy holds the beating heart bestowed to them by Prometheus.
Kent: I suppose the same truth is directed to all?
Sommers: There are only few fools who could be writ down as other. There is no excuse for their fate or their folly other than they have created a story and have believed in its truth. That is both to their fault and to their fiction.
Bors: Did I not say we were to hurry? Knight, quick, walk ahead and announce with Sommers our arrival.
Sommers: You wish for your fool to call to the carnivore?
Bors: I wish for you to brighten the child’s mind. There is nothing that a child holds dear more than the king who shall make her smile, than a king who shall hold her hand in his and lead her towards the right decisions, than a king who will understand what most of his people will not. A king should always protect his children as he protects all those around him. Sommers, announce me, and she shall see all of this. She shall see the self that she has never seen and hold me in her heart.
Sommers: If you believe it to be so, I shall not disappoint Ninny Nunners. Stay true [to Kent], son-and-not-father. We shall see many heroes afore this all ends.
[Exit Knight and Sommers]
Kent: I thought you wished to go ahead with them, my King?
Bors: This fossil is not as valuable covered in dirt and grime. I must clear mind afore I enter into the vein of Armenia.
Kent: You are wise. My father has’t always said it of you.
Bors: Your father is as great a friend as any, though I fear in wiseness he has been very much mistaken. I have been quick to move on from questioning, yes, but that is not to say that I am wise. The egg has rotted away but it seems it has always been spoiled.
Kent?
Kent: Yes, my King.
Bors: I was to make you ruler.
Kent: My father had me believe that was so, yes.
Bors: I was to make you ruler due to my failure.
Kent: You are an almighty King, Albion. There was no need to pass on your great title to a lesser being.
Bors: That is not my failure. As a king I wrote my story to the exact words of those before me. I combined letters and words that formed my life sentence. I sang tunes and melodies to the same beat as the beat of Albion. I was not creative with these but I was not a failure. As Zeus I ruled and as Zeus I created my most intolerable failure, that of my Athena, my Lia.
Kent: Lia is not failure. She is true royalty. Her blood runs the colour of Triton’s great waters.
Bors: A place for king to swallow his last breath. Lia shall’t be mine death and it is a death I wholly enter into. I gladly enter Charon’s great raft and sail away from mine destiny. My destiny has’t always been hers to lead. It is time.
[Enter Sommers, holding Knight’s shield and sword]
Sommers: Bors, she calls. Bors, she hollers. Bors, she whispers into mine ear as she awaits my leave and his destruction. My Medi, thy new ally, is smiling from ear to ear. She is willing to accept all those except those that my King most needs. She wishes for you to enter the world of vile vagabonds alone.
Bors: Then it shall be so.
Kent: Is’t that wise?
Bors: It is.
Sommers: Be strong, young Kent, the son. Thine Princess has already leached our power somewhat [holds up sword and sheild]. She is’t far wiser than she has’t been given all credit for, although her delusions are Medi in all of its glory.
Bors: Remain here upon the heath until called. If there comes a call of Beelzebub, protect Athena, my young Telemachus, my young Menelaus. I release her to your worshipful world.
[Exit Bors]
Sommers: My King has always been a great lover of classic verse, has he not?
Kent: He is’t forward and direct.
Sommers: How does one get so cursed as to enact hatred of Aphrodite? It is most unheard of.
Kent: Speak sense. We must prepare our armies. Medi is overridden with dishonour.
Sommers: The King, he spoke of Styx and Mortar?
Kent: He spoke not of either. Do you not tire of your foolishness?
Sommers: Do you not tire of yours?
[Exit Kent and Sommers. Enter Armenia, Knight 1 and 2]
Armenia: What is this you bring me?
Knight 1: Plans, m’lady.
Armenia: Indeed. And what is this you call me?
Knight 1: Medi, m’lady.
Armenia: You are incorrect. You are disillusioned. You are disrespectful. You shall’t be on the front line to take out their first line of defence with your corpse. If you are lucky they shall find favour with you in the underworld.
Knight 2: And I, m’lady?
Armenia: It seems you are to suffer the same fate. You may go prepare for death.
Knight 1: Yes, m’lady.
Knight 2: Indeed, m’lady.
[Exit Knight 1 and 2]
Armenia: Ah, Venus, how your power grows. No ‘yes m’lord’, no ‘yes m’lady’, no term can hold me to this earth. I am of a far greater divinity now. I, who hold the lives of men in the deep palm of my hand, watch them swim through the lakes of my pleasure and dip into the clay from which they were borne. I who have control of all land and body. Every secret shall be known. A utopia shall rise from the ashes of ancestors’ lying sea beds.
Years of hiding have now come to fruition. I am stronger now, am I not? I am wiser now, is’t that not true? How can then Bors believe his egg should ever match the might of Venus? Why not even that great dreamer Lia could pierce through my armour, how is Zeus going to stand better? Venus is far older than he in immortal spirit.
Let us see then whether he can know of his destiny the way that his Venus does. I put it to you, all seeing eye of Fate, that this is not the case. He shall not hold the same mind that he has claimed all of these generations, only I hold the key to such great knowledge. A goddesses’ will it is then, so let us see what a goddess shall do in the face of mankind’s folly.
[Enter Knight 3 and Bors]
Knight 3: Albion, my Venus.
Armenia: Indeed, fool. I see the face in front of me and I also name him as the same. Step inside Albion, see what is on offer in this den.
Knight 3: Do you wish anything more of me, my Venus?
Armenia: Where is’t your captain?
Knight 3: Preparing for his volley into the front line, my Venus.
Armenia: Incorrect, you are Captain now, and for that you hold a welcome place near to your Venus in Olympus. Now away to prepare.
Knight 3: Venus.
[Exit Knight 3]
Bors: That was a most generous act towards your young knight.
Armenia: He welcomed me into my power and in return I showed him my pleasure. ‘Tis only fair.
Bors: You are a true, Medi.
Armenia: I have always known that to be correct, though it may have rang false to others in my crown.
Bors: You speak of your father? I am truly sorry for his demise, but I am more sorry for his descent into madness. I cannot, I am afraid, forgive him for his actions towards my heir apparent.
Armenia: I am not my father though I claim his name as my own.
Bors: Medi has ruined me; has turned a young hill, a place of growth and loving shade, into a slipping pile of rubble. He has mined out all diamonds from inside my crown and left me with only the rocks to sweep through. He once did the same to me as a child but in a much more physical sense.
Armenia: My father was not the most pleasant of men, nor was he the most pleasant of kings.
Bors: This I knew as a child but ignored in favour of a friendship that expanded over years. I regret decisions now. I wish to start anew. Medi shall remain our ally, I hope, through the next generation, the more pleasant generation?
Armenia: I cannot think of any greater nation than Albion and Medi connected. It is a powerhouse not even the new lands can conquer.
Bors: You have always been a most agreeable child. I am glad to see you have not changed throughout all of these proceedings.
Armenia: Yes, m’lord. I am a most agreeable woman, indeed. My mother was much the same, so said my father.
Bors: Evangeline? Why, no, she was most disagreeable with I and Medi. She believed our potential was ne’er fully reached, to which I must agree that I now see to be true.
Armenia: That is what she believed?
Bors: Most unfortunately, so. Evangeline was a good woman, but as a queen ne’er moved close to the greatest. From what I am led to believe she ne’er wanted to be. Medi was much in love with her for her independence. He was a great lover of independence as a youth.
Armenia: That is so. What do you believe of independence, Bors? You, who sent independent Wilson to my land.
Bors: I believe in my fools words, that is all. I believe Medi’s downfall was that he did not.
Armenia: Wilson was traiterous. His lies spread through the halls and leaked down walls. They washed o’er floors. Fools slipped and fell to their loss all ‘cause of independence—a name befitting only the strongest of women.
Bors: Strong men and women indeed hold claim over independence. I am sorry for your experience with Wilson. In my retrospectful mind I know that ‘twas a mistake to send a man with dislike for Medi to the lands to seek help. I had ne’er encountered a story such as the one I was being told afore and knew not what to do.
Armenia: Perhaps you would have acted better had a goddess guided you?
Bors: Perhaps, or perhaps it was my time to pass crown down to dreamers.
Armenia: ‘Tis a risk.
Bors: ‘Twas time. I am glad to see crown pass to you, new Medi. You shall hold it with true care and compassion, I see. Juno has’t always been good with mercy.
Armenia: I am not Juno.
Bors: You are her representative, yes.
Armenia: No, I am not Juno. As you so kindly admit, I am not Evangeline, the woman who receives love. I am Venus, a woman forced to give love to her subjects. It is time for Venus to receive offerings in return.
[Armenia takes dagger from under dress and stabs Bors in the side]
You are correct, Bors, it is not the time for old mountains.
[Enter Kent, Wilson, Sommers and Knights]
Sommers: Nunners!
Kent: My King.
[Kent and Sommers rush to Bors]
Wilson: Arthur, there shall be no more. You have shown justice at its worst fist and injustice to its worst cause, or would you consider me not to wake upon entrance into Poseidon’s great waters?
Armenia: I think only that knights punishment will be high.
Wilson: I am sure witch will see to it, but as Arthur I must again protest to release the boy. I have seen good, false or no, come from inside vessel. ‘Twas quiet, ‘twas reserved but ‘twas there. Can it not escape from inside unholy hearts?
Armenia: You consider your words mean much, independent? Look! I hath claimed Zeus, almighty father Jupiter. I hath bested Dionysus, drowned in his sins, in his extravagant, arrogant mind, and hath made his followers savage for their Venus. Mine plans were not perfect but they were true, and you say they were not kind. You claim they were unholy and wretched but you ne’er saw these words connected to mine father. E’en your own words verse my mother were of these wicked kind and yet, it is I with my noble goals you claim as evil. No, independent, tis not true. I do right for mine kingdom and as Venus my kingdom is to rule o’er all pitiful fools. They are to be pitied but I am not. Arthur was one of many disguises a goddess must work under to help her people. Do you not see, independent? Your demise was always here, written by the fates that I proposed to write. As was his [points at Bors], and his [points at Kent], and he is but a small fool [points at Sommers]. He already know’eth his place underneath my feet.
Wilson: I cannot harm you.
Armenia: You cannot. No fool dare to harm their Venus. Those that have hath met much worse fate.
Wilson: Why! Who else hath you harmed?
Armenia: I hath harmed none. They hath harmed themselves. They should not hath aimed for new Medi as they aimed for Old. ‘Twas their own fault for such ignorance, for not realising what beauty hath arisen from Venus’ whispers to ear.
Wilson: You live to kill, Arthur. Surely ‘twas not always way?
Armenia: ‘Twas. Now, ‘tis your turn.
[Armenia aims dagger at Wilson who dodges]
Wilson: I am not yours to claim, young Evangeline, as I am not one to claim you. I hath only war from past.
Bors: Athena!
Armenia: He calls out in madness. Death has o’ertaken him. Come Charon, take this beast for powerful sister.
Kent: ‘Tis not madness. ‘Tis wisdom. Athena! I beseech you, with all your strength protect Albion, protect Bors!
Sommers: Protect Bors! Protect my Bors!
Armenia: The madness spreads.
Wilson: Protect my Medi.
[Wilson charges at Armenia, Armenia charges at Wilson. Lia runs on and staggers into Armenia’s dagger]
Lia: Athena shall’t protect all! Fall with me, Venus.
Armenia: I shall not, dreamer.
[Wilson stabs Armenia from behind. She falls down onto her knees, hugging the dying Lia]
Wilson: You shall’t, Arthur. This world was not made for you.
Armenia: You dare to kill Venus.
Lia: You are not Venus, you are Nemesis. Together we shall leave dreamers and fools. We stormed Medi together and we shall leave as one. Our mistakes lay waste behind us.
Wilson: I wish for it not to end this way.
[Enter Prince]
Prince: Lia! I knew I should not have paused. I knew I should not hath let you run further to broken Medi.
Kent: Lia! Bors! Not Albion, it cannot fall.
Bors: My Athena. I am father first. Charon! Hear me, I am father. Love me as Zeus but grant me power of Juno.
[Bors dies]
Sommers: Bors! No, you cannot leave. Your story, it has’t not ended. Father Bors!
Kent: He is gone. His daughter ‘twill soon be gone too. Alas, there is nothing we can do.
Sommers: There must be a word or phrase to bring breath.
Kent: There is not, fool. We have not the advancements.
[Lia lets Armenia fall to the floor and then falls to the floor too]
Lia: We shall soon see who ascends to Olympus. I fear we are not for that world.
Prince: Sister, Father and Love hath all been lost. This is not war. This was not planned. It could not hath been. Alive, Lia! Stay alive.
[Kent comes over to Prince kneeling over Lia’s body, leaving Sommers crying over Bors]
Kent: She cannot. We must let peace come.
Prince: She shall not be claimed by nightmares. I hath power to see that she will not.
Kent: Do not fall as father and sister did. Princess tells that you are to be different, do not let those words be in vain. Let Athena fall to dreams once more.
Prince: She is all of my dreams.
Kent: She will forever be, as she will forever be in mine. She is true teacher.
Wilson: Man tells truth, young Prince.
Prince: You hath ended her! You cannot speak.
Kent: He hath done no such thing. He cometh only to aide Athena.
Lia: Sword! Independent!
Armenia: I shall’t ascend.
Lia: Rule o’er kingdoms. Bring dreams!
Armenia: I shall claim rights.
Lia: Speak not of your love or loss.
Armenia: Mother. I come.
Lia: My two independents. Live well. My Prince, rule as you wish. Your wish rules supreme as it matches mine and mine kingdoms.
Armenia: I am sorry.
[Armenia dies]
Wilson: Young Evangeline is claimed. Goodbye, my Arthur.
Lia: Feel sorrow for sister. Feel love for each other. I must go.
[Lia dies]
Prince: Lia, return.
Sommers: She will not. They hath never done, except in fables.
Kent: They are here. Medi and Albion still hold our heads. Our hearts hath been claimed long ago.
Prince: Speak sense.
Sommers: Kent is. Kent is sense personified. That is his aim o’er life.
Kent: Protect thyself, Prince. You are strong. You are love personified, as she was reason and her father wisdom and order. And be strong, my fool, Sommers, who speaks of wise words whilst collecting those of a cockscomb. We shall’t see them once again, in the pool into which we peer.
Wilson: This should not hath been end.
Kent: ‘Tis.
Sommers: We should have ability to control death.
Kent: ‘Tis not so.
Prince: What, son? Why must you act calm in midst of pain? ‘Tis not of help or of hindrance but of wishes and wonderings.
Kent: ‘Tis incorrect. You wish to bring back those who have been claimed. You wonder of what life could ‘er hath been had they not been lost but words hath already been writ. ‘Tis no changing them now, I hath experience in that much. You can only find way to make sure words ne’er come again.
Prince: I cannot. The words are of beasts and monsters. They hath claimed me.
Wilson: You are not claimed.
Sommers: It may be so.
Kent: ‘Tis not so! We may stand and weep or we may let our kingdoms mourn. We should show sadness, ‘tis true, but we should carry on from their words and create our own. You must see this. Lia and Bors beg it so.
Prince: What must I do?
Kent: Stand, collect their bodies and bring them home. Bring them to Albion soil.
Prince: That I fear I cannot do.
Sommers: I shall’t take my King. I shall bear weight Bors himself could not carry.
Kent: Good fool. Prince, will you help to carry fair Princess home? We shall bear weight of her crown together.
Prince: It seems we hath always to carry the weight of each crown.
Kent: That may be so, but we shall do so with all care and love we can. Our acts hath only e’er been from care and love, and e’en though I still care not for Medi I do deem it necessary. Carry with me, Medi.
Prince: I shall, Albion.
[Exit Kent and Prince carrying Lia, Sommers carrying Bors]
Wilson: So, what shall it be? Armenia, the beloved boy Arthur, hath perished to Medi’s power upon mind. Attendants and Knights hath fallen to her dreaded fist as they did to the regal fist of her father. History was doomed to repeat. This war was created in past and present, fighting for future.
And what shall independent do now? It seems his job was ne’er worth title it was provided. It seems that story was ne’er directed towards him and always to those around him. That is so for that is what independent hath always enjoyed, but this did not bring joy.
The report? What shall it say of kingdoms who fall and kingdoms who must fight to grow from soil freshly lifted? It shall say how it does not matter status, as royals and fools both fall same, but status of action shall always be remembered. My lovely Evangeline once granted me chance and it seems now the fair Lia has done the same for her Evangeline. It seems that my debt has finally been repaid through another. I can now rest knowing that I am no longer owed to my love but can remain in love.
And, what of the kingdoms? They shall grow once more. Albion and Medi hath been one far longer than e’en new lands can measure. They are allies from one generation to next and I believe ‘twill be seen to that this continues. Three good men are left behind, with power of Zeus, Venus, and Athena inside their hearts. ‘Tis a good way to start.
Yes, although may not be case for some lost and loved, I believe in all honesty I may possess that the kingdom ‘twill not fail.
To all you who sit to learn from fate, to learn from tales, I beseech you to hold the lessons learned today upon the heath and through all of these take these two simple words with you. When times are hard and all is hated; when you doubt but no not why; when you hath gods inside you playing with strings, simply two words that come from Medi, Albion, France and more—two words from the mouths of dreamers, fools and thinkers: Play on, my friends, play on.
(THE END)
And so that’s it. The end has finally come. In true Shakespeare style, we end with more death. And yes, your eyes do not deceive you– both female characters died (unless the Knights/Attendants were played by females, which they definitely could be). I decided for them to die because they are the emotional heart of the play– both on opposite sides. Armenia and Lia are supposed to be the flip side of each other– both Princesses with little power over their lives, both wanting more, both pretending to be someone they’re not to reach their own goals. The difference being Armenia has been made bitter by her experiences with her family and Lia is still positive about her future and is more of a dreamer, similar to the Prince of Medi. One is bitter, the other has hope but both are ultimately the same. In this way, Armenia had to die to prevent all she was going to do. Lia had to die so she didn’t become Armenia. Is there other ways I could’ve gone? Yes, but this play was written years ago and was meant to mimic some plays by Shakespeare (King Lear etc.). That doesn’t mean that my next Archaic Modern Play will follow the same patterns (already started and hopefully will at some point finish). What did you think? Would you end it any differently? What do you think happened post the end of the play?
Up next is the continuation of The Street Crawlers short story and poetry series. Follow the blog to be updated/emailed whenever a new story is posted. Thank you for reading and I hope you’ve enjoyed.
Signed,
The Literary Onion
The Literary Onion 