Of Love and Vengeance
Roger Laird
Published by RogerLairdWriting at Smashwords
Copyright 2011 Roger Laird
All rights reserved
Discover other works by Roger Laird at RogerLairdWriting.com
Table of Contents
Of Love and Vengeance
Narrator: From a city of old, built decades ago, comes this story of valour, love, and pure rage for the deeds of fellow men. The times were harder then, but many managed to find a happy life in this town called Hayden. Our story begins with a young man, Draco, and his childhood friend, Kelvin, in the local marketplace.
Kelvin: How fairs Julia? Have you seen her recently, or has it been as long for you as it has I?
Draco: No. I had the pleasure of dining with her family for supper just last night.
Kelvin: (Mocking) What joy did you find in dining with her family? (Excitement) Is it not so then? Tell me. It must be that you are. And I suppose that you told them?
Draco: We are. And no, we did not yet tell them. That is not the custom.
Kelvin: Then please tell me, how does it feel?
Draco: How does what feel?
Kelvin: Don’t play coy, or perhaps you do not know of what I ask. I mean to say, you do love her don’t you? (Joking) I am certain you must to find joy at supper with her parents and young brother.
Draco: (Defensive) Her parents are delightful people and they live in wealth.
Kelvin: (Accusing) So that is why you are with her. (Joking) Go forth from me.
Draco: (Mocking) No, No, good man. I implore you to believe me, it is not for money. I simply meant that it is rare that one is able to enjoy fine wine and fresh bread with supper in these times.
Kelvin: Well how late did you stay? The bell tolled at Midnight and you still had not returned. I slept and you were not in your bed in the morning. Dinner could not have been so late. Did you stay out all night?
Draco: Supper was late. But you are right, it was not as late as that. We sat in talking and playing games into the early morning hours.
Kelvin: And her parents too? They stayed?
Draco: No, but her brother did. He plays a good game of chess.
Kelvin: (Accusing) You mean he beat you? Tell me how.
Draco: (Relaxed) Simple, I had wine with supper. He did not.
Kelvin: I see.
Draco: I must meet with her parents again tonight.
Kelvin: And Julia?
Draco: No.
Kelvin: For what means do you wish to meet with her parents and her not be there?
Draco: To ask their permission to marry their daughter.
Kelvin: You have proposed?
Draco: No, but I intend to if I am favored by her parents.
Kelvin: You certainly weren’t kidding about custom. Must you be proper in all things you do?
Draco: Just regarding this matter. I meet them at six.
Kelvin: You really do love her then.
Draco: Did you really have to ask?
Kelvin: Meet me at the pub afterwards then. We must celebrate your engagement. Do not rush. I shall wait all night.
Draco: We can’t know if there is need for celebration yet. I still must ask her parents. And heaven forbid, Julia may still deny my proposal.
Kelvin: I wish you luck then. Though I doubt you’ll need it.
Exit: Kelvin
Draco: (Yelling after) Luck has no role in matters such as these; dear friend, if it did, I would not wish to rely on such a fickle force. I will see you tonight in celebration.
Exit: Draco
Enter: Malthus, Draco, and Waiter
Waiter: Please be seated and I will return shortly.
Exit: Waiter
Malthus: Robyn should be here soon, she had an errand to run. Should we begin without her?
Draco: Perhaps a drink before dinner. What I wish to discuss with you requires her presence as well. (Signal with hand)
Enter: Waiter
Draco: We would like two glasses of scotch please.
Enter: Robyn
Draco: Make that three glasses of wine instead.
Robyn: Three glasses of the scotch will be fine sir.
Waiter: The scotch then, very well.
Exit: Waiter
Enter: Waiter with three glasses set them on the table
Exit: Waiter
Malthus: Well Robyn and I can probably guess at why you have asked us here tonight, but it is not our place to guess at these matters. May we get to business now?
Robyn: There is no need to be so frank with the boy. I am sorry Draco. My husband is a business-man in all aspects of life. He does not know how to balance in situations that require more finesse.
Draco: It is fine. I can be much the same. I don’t see any point in delay, especially if you have already thought about why I might ask you here tonight. Sir Malthus, Madame Robyn I wish to ask your daughter for her hand in marriage. Before I do so, I seek to ask for your approval.
Robyn: (Excitement) Oh wonderful, you see Malthus, I knew this is what he wanted. And you said it was too early.
Malthus: (Serious) And how is it that you intend to provide for my daughter’s welfare during these hard times. I am certain that it would be better to wait until things are more stable in the economy.
Draco: I see the validity of your concern. My father passed away two years past. When he did, his mercantile was left to me. In the desperate state of business, I have focused my products mainly in foods. By doing this, I have avoided failure. If our economy reaches the point where I am unable to sell food, then our city will indeed be in a dire state.
Malthus: That it would indeed. I am satisfied with your answer. Have you asked Julia about this yet?
Draco: No, that would be against custom.
Malthus: Then she still might say no.
Robyn: Malthus, hold your tongue.
Malthus: The boy needs to know what he risks Robyn. I would like him to save face if he is unsure.
Draco: It is fine. I already know she may deny me, but first I need your answer.
Robyn: Yes, a thousand times yes.
Malthus: It seems pointless for me to deny it now. If I went against my wife’s wishes, I would surely pay for it later. My answer is yes. I respect you for honoring the old customs when they have all but fallen away in recent years.
Robyn: I think Julia suspected where we were going. She asked me to tell you to stop by before going home if I saw you. Now shall we order dinner? I’m famished.
Malthus: Robyn let the boy go. It was courtesy to ask us to dinner, but he obviously has other things he needs to do tonight. We will eat alone Draco, Thank you.
Robyn: You are quite right. Good evening Draco.
Draco: Good evening and Thank you both.
Exit: Draco, Fade Scene
Julia: I am so glad my mother got the message to you.
Draco: In truth, your parents were intent on meeting with me when they left here tonight.
Julia: Is that so? It seems odd that my mother did not mention that to me.
Draco: Then you really had no idea they intended to meet me?
Julia: Truly, none.
Draco: Julia, I had good reason to meet with your parents tonight.
Julia: What reason, is my father proposing business with you? Or perhaps you with him?
Draco: Julia… Julia will you join your hand with mine in marriage?
Julia: Draco, you have permission from my parents?
Draco: I do.
Julia: Yes Draco, yes.
They embrace and Draco steals a kiss
Julia: Please Draco, you must not kiss me so.
Draco: Why not. You will soon be my wife.
Julia: It is sinful to kiss me before we are wed.
Draco: If kissing your lips were a sin payable by death, I would wish to taste death a thousand times over.
Julia: That may be so, but I would wish to live and enjoy the taste of you many times more.
Draco: I love thee.
Julia: I love thee. It is late and you must not stay here over long.
Draco: Kelvin is expecting me at the pub. I am sure he has taken it upon himself to start celebrating without me. He will need my help home tonight.
Julia: Do not stay out too late. Now that we are engaged to be wed, we must plan the details of the wedding. I want us to discuss a date with my parents in the morning.
Draco: Sweet dreams Julia.
Julia: Fare thee well Draco.
Exit: Draco, Fade Scene
Draco: (Distraught) I cannot believe what you say is true.
Barkeep: I am not asking you to simply take me at my word. I know this must be upsetting for you. You can verify it with the law enforcement officers on duty. It was quite a brawl. The officers were unable to determine who actually stabbed him, but they arrested all of them. It seems unlikely that any of them will be charged with the murder though. It was clear that Kelvin had been drunk and the other men started the conflict. I suppose his family could invoke a blood feud.
Draco: He is like me, the only surviving child of two deceased parents. He has no family to invoke a feud.
Barkeep: Then I suppose his murder will go uncontested, and Valence and his gang will gain more influence through intimidation.
Draco: No! I will not let that happen. I will kill every last one of the men who are responsible for my dear friend’s untimely death. I was to ask him to be best man at my wedding to Julia. We have both been robbed of that. I cannot allow that to stand. If it takes me twenty years, I will kill them all. I shall not forget this vow.
Barkeep: I must pretend that I did not hear you say that. Under the law, you have no right to invoke the feud. But it is my opinion that the law is wrong in this circumstance. Where no family is present, I can think of no other who has more right to invoke the feud. Be you careful not to get caught though, for the law is not on your side and Julia will need you in the years to come.
Exit: Draco, Fade Scene
Julia: Must you go out again? I stay up every night waiting, hoping that you will return safely. I pray that the police don’t call on me in the early morning to bring me news of your death.
Draco: Julia, I wish you would not worry so. It has been three years since we were wed. I have vowed to avenge Kelvin’s death. I have already taken the lives of the other five men that were involved.
Julia: And with each new death the risk increases. The police are investigating the deaths. Each day they grow closer to discovering you. I implore you please don’t go tonight.
Draco: I must go Julia. Valence is going to be leaving his estate tonight. He has been locked in his house with full security since Setzer and Helmer were killed.
Julia: And what happens if you fail. He is sure to have security when he leaves his estate. Draco, I am pregnant and our baby is due soon.
Draco: Even still I must go.
Julia: How much blood must be shed? Will it end with our lives or must our children suffer for the quarrels of their father?
Draco: If vengeance is not taken by the one who suffers from this evil deed, then should not a young man honor the wishes of his dead father and make right the debt owed to them?
Julia: I do not wish to raise a child in a world filled with hatred and violence.
Draco: Then you must allow me to go. After tonight the violence will end. Julia, my love for you is not diminished because of my oath to Kelvin’s memory.
Julia: The time we spend together suffers. Can you not forget your oath?
Draco: It is a blood feud Julia. Even though I shared no blood with Kelvin, I was the only one who could invoke the feud. With the death of Valence it will end and we can live in peace. Perhaps you think we should have waited to marry until this feud was fulfilled.
Julia: That is not what I wanted then and it is not so now. I have a foreboding feeling about you leaving tonight. Please stay.
Draco: I must go now. I love thee.
Julia: Go then, but be safe. I love thee.
Exit: Draco, Fade Scene
Enter: Valence and three guards
Guard one: I still think we should have waited for the other guards.
Guard two: We had to continue with moving the package.
Valence: I am standing here among you. You can address me by name.
Guard three: I do not think that would be wise. What if the one that hunts you should hear your name?
Valence: If he were near enough to hear, then it would already be too late. Besides, I do not enjoy being referred to as an item that needs to be delivered.
Guard two: Sorry, but your father paid us to deliver a package. He did not inform us of the nature of the package. We have spent time planning and we referred to it by that name. It is not our intention to offend you.
Guard one: It still bothers me that the other three did not show up. They are usually so reliable.
Guard three: That is why we split into two groups. They may still meet us at one of the checkpoints. Our only concern now is getting Valence to his father’s estate safely.
Valence: We would move more swiftly if we avoided the checkpoints and moved directly to my father’s.
Guard three: No we must go to the checkpoints. If we can meet with the other guards there then you will be better protected.
Valence: And what happens if Draco has discovered the others and found the location of one of the checkpoints. Would that not put me in further danger?
Guard two: It is highly unlikely that would happen. We are all trained warriors. It would not be so easy for him to overcome the others.
Guard one: Let’s keep moving and keep quiet.
Exit: Valence and three guards
Enter: Valence, three guards, and three shrouded figures
Guard three: Alas there are our companions. Now we shall move more swiftly.
Guard two: We should hail them to indicate our presence.
Guard one: No need. Look they stir.
Valence: (Panic) No! It’s a trap. Watch out for arrows.
Guard two: Run! (Fall dead)
Guard three: Valence move behind us. We will strike these foes down.
Guard one: Only the one in the middle is moving. Perhaps the others are decoys.
Valence: Then charge the villain and take his life.
Shrouded Figure: I have come to kill you Valence, to snuff out your life with a haste you don’t deserve.
Valence: That voice is familiar. Be brave guards, this is the moment you have been paid for.
Guard three: By my honor. (Fight with shrouded figure and die)
Guard one: My life is more important than my honor.
Valence: But you have already been paid.
Guard one: No, not yet I haven’t, and if I died I wouldn’t either. So I will keep my life and forfeit my wage.
Exit: Guard one running
Shrouded figure: (Remove cloak) Valence. I have slaved toward this moment for years.
Valence: (Contempt) Draco. I should have known it was you hunting and killing my companions. I assumed it was somehow tied to Kelvin’s murder, but I wasn’t sure how.
Draco: I spit on your soon to be grave Valence. How dare you speak my friend’s name? What a dishonor you give his memory when you utter it.
Valence: A dishonor soon forgotten when I place my blade in your breast the same as I did his. My only regret was that you were not there to die beside him that night.
Draco: So you admit it was you who stabbed him. For what reason, you are low to kill a drunken man in a bar room brawl when he is so outnumbered. You are pitiful.
Valence: It was my plan to murder him there that night. His drunken state just made it all the easier to provoke him. You see, I knew that if he had provoked the fight and the law could not determine who had struck the fatal blow then we would all get off. Now I suppose that you hope to kill me to repay the debt of your friend’s life.
Draco: If I killed three hundred of your dearest companions and lay them beneath your corpse as a sacrifice on the mountain that touches the heavens, it would not begin to pay the debt you owe unto me for stealing my friend’s life. As punishment I shall vanquish you to serve him in heaven. Furthermore, all of your family’s wealth will dwindle away and their drink will forever taste of the blood I must draw from you here.
Valence: But then you would be guiltier than I am.
Draco: That is why I will settle for your blood and the blood of those who helped you take Kelvin’s life.
Valence: On Guard!
They fight and both men are wounded. Valence falls to the ground.
Valence: Are you satisfied Draco. You will not survive with that wound. Are you happy that the price you pay for my death is your own life?
Draco: I will live just long enough to finish what I started the very night you killed my friend. My life is a small price to forfeit to ensure your debt to Kelvin does not go unpaid.
Valence: Foolish man.
Draco: (Yelling) DIE! (Cut Valence’s throat and then fall to knees)
Fade Scene
Enter: Draco crawling down street
Draco: (Pounding on the door Yelling) Julia I have returned. It is your love Draco. Please you must come to the door. I am injured.
Enter: Julia from within door
Julia: (Kneels and embraces Draco, Reassuring) My love. I am here. I am here. Let me staunch your bleeding and I will call for a doctor.
Draco: No. Stay with me please. I will die from my injury and I do not want to lose what little time we have left with each other.
Julia: (Crying) Oh please. Say it’s not so. I love thee Draco. I cannot live without you.
Draco: (Reach hand to Julia’s stomach) You must, Julia, for our child. Everything is in order with the store and you will not have to worry about it. You will be provided for, but you must care for our child.
Julia: No. It’s not fair. You cruel, selfish man. You cannot ask me to go on without you. I asked you to abandon your feud and you did not. You cannot ask this of me.
Draco: You are right. I cannot ask it of you fairly, but I do ask you for it. Raise our child Julia, my love. Raise our child with no malice for my death. No hatred, for the debt of my life has been paid and shall not be sought after.
Julia: And what of the debt of my grief? Does that not matter?
Draco: Be calm my love. This is my final time and I wish not to fight with you.
Julia: And shall we just sit on the front step and steal a fading glimpse of the moonlight as you die out with it?
Draco: The beauty of the moon may only exist for the night, but by being caught in the glimmer of your eyes and reflected to mine, it may outlast the days of this world and survive with my soul through, even, the end of time.
Julia: I will find you there my love.
Draco: (To Julia’s stomach) I love you my child. (To Julia) I love thee.
Julia: I love thee.
Draco dies Fade Scene
End
Discuss the play that you have been reading at RogerLairdWriting.com/forum now.
Over a thousand years has passed since The Great Disaster changed the geography of our world forever. Technology has fallen away from the world and feudal society has emerged again. New warriors have taken up the weapons of older times. General Tao Blight has risen to meet his fate and fight alongside them as the leader of Aodhan's First Royal Army. His fellow soldiers and countrymen have freely given him their respect, but they might start to question where his loyalties lay if they found out his true heritage.
Tao has not always belonged to the country he now serves. His childhood home was located in the disputed territories, far closer to the Naichian Empire’s border than the border of the Aodhan Kingdom. There had been a time when his father kept a strong stance of neutrality when it came to matters regarding the feuding countries, but his ideal of neutrality could not persevere when his homeland was the subject of dispute.
Tao's mother was murdered after his father enlisted in the Imperial Military. Her death served as the catalyst that drove Tao and his father to opposite sides of an extreme conflict. Now, Tao is on the brink of ending the war once and for all. But how will he cope when he is forced to face the memories of his complex past?
Join Tao in LEGACY: A FATHER’S TALE as he attempts to create a new legacy and fights for the peace his world so greatly desires.
Preface
Not long after the beginning of the twenty first century, an event occurred in nature that was driven by the actions of men. The scientific rules that govern the world were stretched to their limits. As the rules could not be broken, the world snapped back to correct its position in the universe. The result of this event would later become known as The Great Disaster. At the time of The Great Disaster there were over ten billion humans living on Earth, nearly all perished in The Great Disaster. Many more died in the chaos that followed.
The only portions of the known world that are inhabitable by humans at the time this story begins are the portions of the world that sat on the Eurasian and African tectonic plates. The world bulged out beneath the Eastern hemisphere, raising the elevations of the major tectonic plates in that portion of the world. The African plate slammed into the Eurasian plate, forming the highest mountain ranges ever known and merging the two continents into one. The other plates were mostly covered by water when the polar ice caps broke apart and melted, causing ocean levels to rise. Any survivors in the mountainous regions still above water were evacuated to the sole surviving continent.
Much of the blame fell on the scientific community and, as unlikely as it may seem, all technology and most sciences were destroyed in a process lasting hundreds of years. Society fell apart, rose again, and crumbled, in a vicious cycle. Eventually, groups banned together, forming the new countries of the Aodhan Kingdom and the Naichian Empire. These countries became reflections of the ideals that ancient countries stood for long before The Great Disaster.
Over a thousand years has passed since The Great Disaster. Humanity is a mere shadow of its former self. Feudalism won out as a way of life, and has been practiced with far greater success than had ever been achieved in the past. A great peace was won and it lasted many years. A neutral territory’s leader, in his greed, created cause for war between the last two civilizations on the Earth. Now a new generation of warriors must rise up to meet fate and leave their legacy on the world.
Legacy:
A Father’s Tale
Available Now
If you are interested in performing or producing this play, please contact Roger Laird at RogerLairdWriting@gmail.com. Please look for other works from Roger Laird at RogerLairdWriting.com. Also look for his short story Zombie High free for download at www.smashwords.com.
Things I wouldn’t give for a kiss
I wouldn’t give my life because that may only be taken
I wouldn’t give my love because that you must gain to be kissed
I wouldn’t give a minute of my day because time stands still when you kiss me
I wouldn’t give my happiness because that stems from kissing you
Things I would give for a kiss
I would give my sight because I go blind when I feel your lips touch mine
I would give my inspiration because it is made anew by kissing you
I would give my warmth because I grow cold without you
I would give my tears because they lose purpose in your presence
I would give my life because without you I have no reason to live
To My Wife
Eyes that intrigue beyond the depths of the deepest ocean
A voice sweeter than the songs of the highest regarded angels
A smile brighter than the stars hung in the heavens
Hair smoother than the silks of the Ancient Chinese
A kiss more intoxicating than a bottle of perfectly aged wine
A heart that beats louder than raging thunder with compassion
A will that stands stronger than the tallest mountains
And a mind that thinks the thoughts of the world into existence
The Perfection of a Rose
The perfection of a rose
Is that of the heavens
Its fragrance so sweet
That none other can have
Or even capture
Its petals so beautiful
As if arranged that way for some greater purpose
Or just to catch your eye
Amongst the troubles of the day
So you might start to wonder why
You don’t stop and smell the roses
A little more often
I Love thee
One may not love thee so
Yet, given chance to love
May change faces
Locked behind garden walls
Sit thee in the heat of day
Crying the world away
And doors remain shut
In thine hands thine heart asunder
Thou spend thy soul
To avoid a blunder
Walls such as these deter all that come
Yet I stay forth, striving to reach within
Be it to care for thee
Such a mortal sin
Then dead I’d ready be
To care not would be my wrong
And to wrong thee is my fear and my pain
Thus I be so profane
When in thy presence stay I
Wishing for favor in thine eye
Love not known yet love be sworn
In disguise it lay for fear of scorn
Sprouting wings to fly away
For secrets cannot remain
Given chance, risking mistake
And worse, causing pain to thee
I know all at stake
And ask only for you to see
I love thee