Queen Adara:You gave the lives of our men for this proof. To show the Realm this magic that would bring us to doom! All I see here is proof of our fear. We assuaged our own worries with their cries and their tears. This crime, this slaughter, will demand a price to be paid, and we will all pay it, until the end of our days.
Adara tries to lead the boy away from Aryus and Daodyn, but Daodyn cuts the boy down.
King Daodyn:(calling to Adara)You will come to understand this. He has not a heart. But a soul full of darkness, that will leave a dark mark. Aryus, my brother, bend her to your will. That child, the last, must stay down and be still.
King Aryus:I will not change her mind. For a slaughter we committed. The child is forsaken, and death would be swifter. But wrong she is not, enough is enough. You drew up this plot, and you got what you got. Do not call upon me, for brothers we’re not.
Adara mourns the child and Aryus exits left stage.
The scene fades to darkness, illuminating the narrator.
Narrator:And so the Realm moves on from the destruction of a city and celebrates the hero, King Daodyn of Venustas for eradicating such evil from their land. King Aryus shuts himself away, the horrors of war having changed him forever. QueenAdara gave birth to another in the usual way, his hair like the night, but his brother’s fair as day. A third one was named shortly after the war. Prince Xarashi, he was, of Venustas, not the Moors. He was raised with true love, that he thought were just lies. Until he learned the truth, then cut all those ties. To all in the Realm, well those who survived, this event was known as The Battle of Stillwater Tides.
Act III: The Fall of the Great City
Scene 1: In Time
Scene opens to drawing room of Queen Adara who sits alone looking thoughtful.
Narrator:Years have gone by, and with time, love can fade. King Aryus and Queen Adara’s love had been lost in the war of shadows and shade. King Daodyn had won but lost himself along the way. Queen Adara raised their children, softening Daodyn’s heart, and this ended the King and Queen’s strife. From then on, they grew close, uniting for their people, finding their common ground, and upending all evil. This love for their people that they had found, and warmed cold hearts, by which they became bound.
Enter King Aryus stage left.
Queen Adara:Aryus…
King Aryus:My love… it has been far too long. I saw him today…
Adara looks away in shame.
King Aryus:He has grown up. He is…
Queen Adara:Daodyn has always claimed him.
King Aryus:Yes, but he is mine.
Queen Adara:(looking out the window)By nature, he is, but he is a son of the Saints. Know you he does not, and nowit’s too late. Our relationship has changed, Daodyn’s and mine. I’ve come to love him, you see, for he has become kind. He’s changed, and we’ve learned of the things that we share. I care for you still, but it feels most unfair.
King Aryus:You cannot mean this, these things that you say. He’s never been yours, not then, not today. He’s lost in his own cruel, wicked ways. Tell me you’ve not succumbed to his words so smooth and hollow. For he is the maker of this fate that we follow.
Queen Adara:I do, and I know he has not always been true. I swear he has changed, and he repents his prior ways. For my people, I must stay, for my children, I must rule, and for my soul, I must bear, this harsh truth unto you. Our love, though it real, has since long passed. That is where it will stay, in our hearts, where it will last.
King Aryus:These words, they are his, for I cannot hear what you say. My Queen, my love, she was never this way. Our love, it was strong, it would never fade, your mind he has tainted, in darkness it frays.
Queen Adara:You’re wrong, it is I. I do not wish to hurt you so. But it is time, King Aryus, for you to go home.
King Aryus:(his eyes dark and in shadow)With these words I will leave, but know in your heart, that soon you’ll be free, and your mind not so dark.
Aryus exits stage left. Adara left in her room with a concerned expression.
Narrator:Queen Adara tore through her own heart that day. But her conscience controlled her, and there was nothing more she could say.
The scene fades to dark.
Scene 2: Of Light and Dark
The scene opens to Daodyn pacing in a meeting chamber with Adara staring out a window with a worried expression.
Narrator:Two years have passed since Aryus’ warning to return for his Queen. Shortly after Queen Adara ended their affair, one of her sons went missing. After years of searching for her adopted son, Queen Adara is faced with growing speculation that her son, Prince Xarashi, is plotting against her. Word from their allies insinuates a plot is brewing.
