EPISODE III: TRUCE
The Ithacans and Laestrygonians grow closer.
| SCENE 12 | INT. BANQUET NIGHT. RAUCOUS CROWDS, FOOD, WINE |
| BEATRIX: | So these - creatures - had a palace? |
| ODYSSEUS: | The princess led us straight up to it. We had no idea what was waiting for us - |
| BEATRIX: | They had a princess? |
| ODYSSEUS: | Do you need me to slow down? |
| BEATRIX: | No - no, we’re just trying to keep the pieces together. |
| GELASTOS: | Beatrix, when was the last time we got a story like this? If you just let my guest speak his piece, I’m sure you’ll have a chance to get your pieces in order. |
| ODYSSEUS: | Very well. And a palace they had, looming over the sea-cliffs. She’d offered to introduce us to her kin. We approached with some trepidation. |
| SCENE 13 | INT. PALACE DAY. ANTIPHATES AND AGNES STAND OPPOSITE ODYSSEUS. PHILAUTOS AND LUPIOS IN BACKGROUND. |
| SOUND | EXCITED-SOUNDING CHATTER FROM AN ATTENDING CROWD. |
| ODYSSEUS: | We’re asking for time to heal and rest, and timber to repair our fleet. If you allow this, Ithaca will be indebted to your kingdom. |
| ANTIPHATES: | Indebted. But your aim is to sail away from here, and live out your days at home, is it not? |
| ODYSSEUS: | We won't trouble you long, King Antiphates. |
| ANTIPHATES: | If you see this as a debt, how do you propose to repay it? |
| ODYSSEUS: | In return for your kindness, Lamos will always have a friend and ally in Ithaca. |
| ANTIPHATES: | A friend who never plans to visit. An ally too distant to help us when we need it. |
| ODYSSEUS: | King Antiphates - |
| ANTIPHATES: | Spare it. I've made my decision, King Odysseus. You'll have your time and your timber. Not because you bargained for it, and not because I want to give it up, but because I am a man of honour, and you are a guest in my kingdom. |
| ANTIPHATES: | Will be demonstrated by your conduct, and that of your men. (EXIT) |
| AGNES: | You'll forgive my husband. He has a kingdom to worry about. |
| ODYSSEUS: | I'm familiar with that burden. His gift is a generous one. |
| AGNES: | If you feel indebted, I'm sure you’ll have the chance to repay it. In the meantime, I suggest you follow him and try talking. |
| ODYSSEUS: | Thank you, Queen Agnes. (EXIT) |
| AGNES: | He looks lonely. And I’m not surprised, after what’s happened to him. Poor man must be sick of the sea by now. (CHUCKLES TO SELF) I reckon I could do more with those boats than he’d ever want to. |
| PHILAUTOS: | You like our ships? |
| AGNES: | (DEFENSIVE) And you like to listen, apparently. |
| PHILAUTOS: | You'd like them less if you'd lived on them for seven years. |
| AGNES: | You'll be relieved to see home, then. |
| PHILAUTOS: | Yes. And no. I was a teenager when I last saw home, and the home I left, I'd much like to see again. But that place hasn't waited for me. It’s not my own. |
| AGNES: | Can’t you make it your own when you get there? |
| PHILAUTOS: | Just as I'm sure you can make our fleet your own, if you're clever enough. But boats are no good without skilled hands to use them. Is Lamos famed for its fishermen, Queen Agnes? |
| AGNES: | If only. We’re shepherds and dairy farmers. |
| PHILAUTOS: | Then give me a home here. Work your plans. Put me at the head of your new fleet. I've seen ten years in Troy and seven at sea; I can make sailors out of your men. |
| AGNES: | And I’ll use you. Just make sure you stay useful. |
| PHILAUTOS: | You're welcome. You’re paying for it. But I'm cheap. Now what I want to know is: what price will you offer my king for his boats? |
| AGNES: | You met her at the river. And I'll need your help making her dear to him. Go now; we’ll talk again. Anthea! |
| SOUND | EXIT PHILAUTOS, ENTER ANTHEA |
| ANTHEA: | I’m right here. And there's no need to scheme, mother. I wouldn't miss my only chance to get out of this place. |
| AGNES: | Then you'll do as you're told, girl. And not a word to your father. |
| SOUND | PAN ACROSS TO LUPIOS WITH ANTIPHATES |
| ANTIPHATES: | Make no mistake, Lupios. I don’t like the look of you. Any of you. I don’t like how my lot are behaving with strangers about. I want you gone as soon as you can go. |
| LUPIOS: | We’re all thinking of our own homes, Antiphates. |
| ANTIPHATES: | Your men look comfortable here already. |
| LUPIOS: | They look comfortable because they’re tired. Let them rest, and they’ll get restless. |
| ANTIPHATES: | What about you? |
| LUPIOS: | I have a life to return to. |
| ANTIPHATES: | And your king? |
| LUPIOS: | A better life than mine. Plus an island of his own. Look, I want us gone, same as you do. I'll see that he doesn't forget it. |
| ANTIPHATES: | I don’t care much for his tall stories. Right now he doesn’t seem to have any direction. What if he needs to be pushed? |
| LUPIOS: | For his own sake? Just say the word. |
| ANTIPHATES: | I'll say the word. Be sure to keep yours. |
| SCENE 14 | INT. BANQUET NIGHT. |
| GELASTOS: | You’d barely made land and they were already plotting against you? |
| BEATRIX: | How could you let them draw you in like that? |
| ODYSSEUS: | We were - so tired. After the war, and the storm, and the years away from home. And at the beginning, there was kindness, or . . . an imitation of kindness . . . |
| SCENE 15 | EXT. RIVERBANK NIGHT. ANTHEA SITS BY THE RIVER. ODYSSEUS APPROACHES. |
| ODYSSEUS: | Here again? By the river? |
| ANTHEA: | As are you. With wine, apparently! |
| SOUND | HE POURS TWO CUPS OF WINE. CLINK. |
| ODYSSEUS: | You’re always here. What’s special about this place? |
| ODYSSEUS: | What’s so special about big rocks? |
| ANTHEA: | Nothing. That’s the point. They block everything out, until all that’s left are the sight of the rocks and the sound of the river. This is the only place I can go without feeling surrounded by the rest of my stupid island. |
| ODYSSEUS: | Why would you hide from your own home? |
| ANTHEA: | I could ask the same of you. |
| ODYSSEUS: | Trust me. It wasn’t my choice. |
| ANTHEA: | And this isn’t mine. But we both want to get out of here, right? I can’t just stay and suffocate. |
| ODYSSEUS: | Anthea, you don’t know what you’re throwing away. I’ve spent seven years crawling home. There were moments when I’d forgotten what it felt like, but – |
| ANTHEA: | I know exactly how “home” feels. I feel it every day. You’ll get sick of it too, once you’re back there. People like us are bigger than where we came from. |
| ODYSSEUS: | You should be careful saying that. |
| ANTHEA: | I’m not worried about them. They all think I’m mad. |
| ODYSSEUS: | And that doesn’t worry you? |
| ANTHEA: | I use it to get what I want. I’m smarter than all of them. |
| ODYSSEUS: | You remind me of someone. |
| ANTHEA: | Some girl you picked up on the other side of the sea? |
| ODYSSEUS: | No. Me. Before – |
| ANTHEA: | Before you started crawling away from your own freedom? |
| ODYSSEUS: | You really have no idea how to talk to a king. |
| ANTHEA: | Perhaps you should try to teach me. |
| ODYSSEUS: | Would you listen? |
| ANTHEA: | Probably not. But you can watch me being stubborn. |
| ODYSSEUS: | I’ve had plenty of ‘stubborn’ from my crew. |
| ANTHEA: | You don’t trust them, do you? |
| ODYSSEUS: | I’m like a father to them. |
| ANTHEA: | Or you still think of them as children. What makes you so much more important, anyway? |
| ODYSSEUS: | (MOOD LIGHTENS) I’m a king. Everything I do is important. |
| ANTHEA: | Then I suppose I’ll have to compete for your attention like everyone else. |
| ODYSSEUS: | Unless you think you can trap me here, among the rocks. |
| ANTHEA: | (LAUGHING) Be careful what you wish for, King Odysseus. |
| SCENE 16 | INT. BANQUET NIGHT. A FEW MOMENTS OF SILENCE. |
| GELASTOS: | You were telling us about the palace - you - drifted off. |
| BEATRIX: | So they were monsters, but they took you in as their guests. |
| ODYSSEUS: | I said they were monsters. I didn’t say they were stupid. |
| SCENE 17 | INT. PALACE DAY. AGNES AND PHILAUTOS TALKING AND WALKING |
| AGNES: | And you’re sure Odysseus will listen to you? |
| PHILAUTOS: | He’s had seven years to regret the times he didn’t. I’m the only man in the fleet worth his ear and he knows it. |
| AGNES: | Would you trust someone who’s doing what you’re doing? |
| PHILAUTOS: | This is why you’re lucky to have me on your side. Odysseus doesn’t “trust”, like you or I would trust. All he does is trick people. When he’s not tricking them, he’s tricking himself into thinking that they admire him for it, until he sees trickery in everyone he meets. |
| AGNES: | And you think you can trick him - |
| PHILAUTOS: | No-one can trick him. He’s the best. The truth bends around him, like light through a glass bead. But we don’t need to trick him. He’s alone and desperate. Seven years at sea. Six days of storms. No hope left of home. For the first time, he’s afraid of the Gods. For the first time, he’s afraid of his own men. Fate is busy playing her own tricks on my King, and who’s his only friend in all this? |
| AGNES: | Dear Anthea. The lonely little princess who thinks she’s under a curse. |
| PHILAUTOS: | Your daughter is doing our work for us. All we need to do is keep them together for long enough. |
| SCENE 18 | INT. BANQUET NIGHT. |
| BEATRIX: | There’s something more to your story, isn’t there. |
| ODYSSEUS: | There’s always more, but stories are about what’s important. I could spend hours describing the colours of the courtyards, or the names of each - |
| BEATRIX: | What about the princess? |
| GELASTOS: | Yes, what about the princess? She took you to meet the King. What happened to her? |
| ODYSSEUS: | She’s . . . not important. |
| SCENE 19 | EXT. RIVERBANK NIGHT. ODYSSEUS SITS BY THE RIVER, ANTHEA JOINS HIM. |
| ANTHEA: | Whatever you’re waiting for must be important. |
| ODYSSEUS: | Worth every moment. |
| ANTHEA: | You still haven’t punished those mutinous thieves on your ship. Have you learned to be nice to them? |
| ODYSSEUS: | If I have, I hope it’s not you who taught me. I’ve a reputation to defend. |
| ANTHEA: | Oh, so I’m the teacher now? (BEAT) |
| ODYSSEUS: | Anthea. Meeting you was just what I needed. Without you I might never have felt ready to return. |
| ANTHEA: | How long are you going to be with us? |
| ODYSSEUS: | I don’t know. We need to get supplies first - make good the damage – I don’t imagine it’ll be too much longer. |
| ANTHEA: | I’ve been thinking that too. |
| ANTHEA: | I want to come with you. Now. I – I don’t want to wait. |
| ODYSSEUS: | You don’t know what’s out there. It’s dirty and it’s dangerous. |
| ANTHEA: | You’ve survived both. |
| ODYSSEUS: | Anthea, you’ve seen my ships - |
| ODYSSEUS: | You’ve never left sight of your own shoreline, and you think you’re ready to cross the world? |
| ANTHEA: | I’m not ready to do anything else, Odysseus. Come back here tomorrow and tell me when we’re leaving. |
| SOUND | ANTHEA KISSES HIM ON THE CHEEK AND WALKS AWAY. HER FOOTSTEPS DISAPPEAR UNDER THE RISING WIND. |
| ODYSSEUS: | Ai - Aiolos - It’s not as bad as it looks. Give me a little longer. She’s clever. So - clever. It blazes in her; you can see it. Clever people don’t hang around, pining for this stuff to be more than it is - |
| ODYSSEUS: | Look at me. Mile a minute, and it doesn’t have to be complicated. She’s beautiful. I’m – well, I’m me. She can’t be disappointed, even if she’s only got me for a short time. |
| ODYSSEUS: | It’s not just about her! Seventeen years since I saw my wife. The best seventeen years as well. If I make it home, Anthea may be the last glimpse of beauty I can – |
| SOUND | CRASH/DEBRIS. WINDS CRESCENDO UNTIL END OF SCENE. |
| ODYSSEUS: | You really want me to ruin everything we have in some fit of thoughtless honesty? Her father’s deranged and spiteful, her mother’s worse - and anyway, she’s shown me the only trace of humanity that I’ve seen since we made land. What about her? (PAUSE) Oh, it’s useless! You’re the one who did this to me! And I don’t need to be scared of you. You’ve got nothing left to take away from me! |
| SOUND | ANOTHER CRASH, THEN CUT. |
EPISODE I: MUTINY
Odysseus begins to tell the story of how he survived disaster.
EPISODE II: STRANGERS
Odysseus and his men recover after their ordeal.
EPISODE IV: WHISPERS
Trouble brews between host and guest.
EPISODE V: CLAMOUR
Things get serious by the riverbank.
EPISODE VI: RELEASE
Time runs out for Odysseus.
