King Daodyn:I need you to stay. What hurries you so?
Queen Adara:To the prince, my King, or do you forget—your first-born, your heir, whom you’ve only thrice met?
King Daodyn:(pausing and turning his attention to Queen Adara) Of course I remember. He consumes all your time. But that is not why he is there, and he looks quite fine.
Queen Adara peers at her infant son in the hands of his nanny.
King Daodyn:It is Aryus you seek, your first love, your desired seed.
Queen Adara:(still and stoic)Will you stop me then, if it bothers you so?
King Daodyn:I care not for whom you desire, but for this, and only this, it is you I require. See to this matter then do as you will, for your hold on him is mine that you do strengthen still.
Angry, Queen Adara rises and goes to the Elven dignitaries with King Daodyn.
Narrator:And so, despite her attempt to love a man who did not love her, Adara realizes she cannot change the man that Daodyn is.
Scene 2: The Hidden Garden of Arynthia
King Aryus and Queen Adara meet in the hidden garden, alone. They embrace and share a passionate kiss.
Narrator:After two winters apart, the ill-fated lovers reunite.
King Aryus:Your presence is unexpected. What does this mean, my love? I’ve missed you so, and to taste your lips is as welcome as the first ray of light after the long darkness finally breaks.
Queen Adara:I’ve missed you, my love. My days in this sunbathed city have been the darkest I’ve ever known. I’ve tried, how I’ve tried, but there’s nothing within him but thick blood and hard bone. Love—it’s not there, not anywhere, not within him, not without, in any shape or any form, for me or my son to find. Our child, bless him, Daodyn’s and mine, has at least brought me joy of a different kind. But alone I am here, my heart no longer mine. It is you, dark prince, for whom I doth pine.
The ill-fated couple share a kiss.
Narrator:In their hidden sanctuary, they stole a moment that had been forbidden to them, setting into motion a tragedy that would end in destruction for all.
The lights fade, and the curtains close upon the troubled lovers.
Scene 3: The Fall of Rykanshir
The stage is set with remnants of battle—broken weapons, tattered banners and bodies lie amidst the rubble of a great city. Daodyn, Aryus and Adara are observing the aftermath of a great battle in Rykanshir.
Narrator:Years have passed, and Aryus and Adara’s affair stayed aflame. More children born—to both houses they came.For King Aryus too, had now shared his own name—but it came at her cost, and to Daodyn’s gain. As it worked out, the King’ friendship thus grew, for they shared not only wives, but their battle mages too. Daodyn took the Realm to war, in a slow gentle gait, drawing his allies in, to their deaths, or to fame. For that is how war, no matter how far, draws you into its’ core, where the darkness then touches, the truth and the lies, of all that it clutches.
King Aryus:Was this the result you desired, Daodyn? Was this the forest that your father could not see? It was this very day that he sought to avoid! It was never I who was ill fit for your Queen. This massacre is yours to claim.
King Daodyn:(stoically observing the battlefield)Their bloodline was cursed. It was inevitable that they would have destroyed us all! You know nothing of black magic. Perhaps if you had any desire other than my wife, you would have sensed the evil that was gathering here as I did.
A noise in the rubble draws the attention of the victors. A child emerges from the ruins, the sole survivor of a fierce battle. Daodyn moves to attack.
Battle Mage:My King! A survivor! Do I move to attack?
Queen Adara:(The amulet at her neck is glowing)Stop! He is but a child! I order you, step back!
Adara goes to the dirty and injured child, healing his wound.
King Aryus:(observing the child curiously)How is it, this child, has survived this destruction?
King Daodyn:(eyes narrowed)It is he, the young prince, though last, he may be. Adara, step away. This child cannot live, Prince Xarashi he is called. He is the son of King Erendril, the youngest of them all.
Queen Adara:(moving between Daodyn and the child)No, he will live. The battle is won. Dark prince or not, he needs to rest, so we’ll give him a cot, and see he is dressed.
King Daodyn:Your power, I know, that it lays bare your dear soul, but my Queen, doth remember, that it will take quite a toll, to see this destruction. I suggest you take leave, for I can see the seduction. The black magic within him, you know not its power, I saw them, in battle, I saw them devour. Grown men and young men, they fell down to decay, but then they rose up, their flesh freshly flayed.
