DRAMATIS PERSONAE
WENDELL: A wizard's apprentice and Willow's brother.
WILLOW: A wizard's apprentice and Wendell's sister.
WORMWOOD: A talking rook and Wendell's familiar.
SILANIA: Queen of the Snowling Fairies.
WAX: A Snowling Fairy and Knight.
TAM: Tamarlin, Younger sister of Silania and a Snowling Fairy.
LIE: A Snowling Fairy and Herald.
MAGGY: A Snowling Fairy and friend of Tam.
A NAIAD: A river spirit in the Snowling Grove.
A REAPER: A psychopomp from the realm of the dead.
THE PROLOGUE
Enter Chorus.
Look north, in Ettinhome, our tale is sown,
Two siblings, plucked from hearth by crones perverse,
Now from the heath, their master’s newly flown,
Where biting winds turn wintry airs for worse.
Left sealed within that wizard’s dire tow’r,
These siblings plot their master’s circumvent.
Impel’d to rivalry by their mentór;
Gave each a clutch of eggs to win ascent.
The brother, fearing loss but more for kin,
To speed his sister’s chance his own task spurns,
Among the fairies wicked plots he spins,
And winning much, but losing more, returns.
A pair of dragons’ eggs and kinful wards,
Give us our plot, attending your regards.
ACT I
SCENE I
A tower standing in a forest, early day.
Enter Willow, Wendell.
WENDELL: O sister mine, I ask thee how I may,
Assist thee in this task of Master's giving,
I know it to be likely his design,
A task I fear not one can do alone.
WILLOW: O brother mine I had not met thee since
Were our tasks giv’n-- I'll receive thee hence.
WENDELL: I say I think it to be his design,
But rather know 'tis true he'd wish us quarrel.
To frustrate him I give freely my aid,
And for the fact that thou art blood of mine.
For many a mage of greater tier hath found,
Even the brood of a sole dragon's clutch,
Of great perniciousness
WILLOW: Indeed.
Look here, ’tis only that thou’rt blood of mine,
Might I accede to chance at thy design
And hold, thee! Brother, heed too caution, sense--
I’d chance to task thee at thy own expense.
Assure me, that thy own clutch thou hast cared,
And, surely thou hast not one effort spared.
WENDELL: Evasive. I say, thee that my clutch is sound in hand,
If I should part it but for one erránd.
WENDELL: Aside. I lied not: ’tis ‘stable’ for I've not begun;
Cruel Master works to send us 'gainst to wroth,
These ends that he would see us forced onto,
And see us rent apart; This chance I would,
Not wilf'ly pass into the hands of fate,
As once the hags abduct'd us from our hearth;
For hearth again I'll lend my fortune out,
To thee, O sister mine, that I shall ne'er
Towards thee oppose.
WILLOW: For in thy reck'ning thou hadst not forgot,
That Master wish'd to spur us to a wroth,
Indeed; that thou wouldst help warméth my heart,
Than count'nance what thee he wish'd me impart,
And most joyous is it to flourish forth,
From but a single root which had thence forked,
In parity thence flowered. Now say I,
From far, the Snowling Grove I have espied,
Is plant'd a flower grown of magic ice.
I beg thee pluck it from the fairies' vice.
WENDELL: Then hurry forth I will and further take,
That I might race thy clutch's expiry;
Without the magic brought on by this bloom,
Thy dragon brood would else be misbegot.
WILLOW: I know not how thy clutch can spare thy care,
To pry shall not thy aid secure.
WENDELL: ‘Tis fair!
WILLOW: Then fare thee well, O brother mine, who go’st,
But trifle not with fairies what thou sow’st.
WENDELL: Aye, 'tis a lesson I have surely learned,
But rather thou must think first of thyself,
For Master shall count thee adept, to turn
Me to thy will and on this errand send,
Yet wary be to his blackest of plots,
For favor from him never once endures.
O sister mine now go, but mark thee well,
Ne'er once spurn thou what thou can freely take.
WILLOW: Truly thou speak'st O brother mine.
Exit Willow.
WENDELL: Be damned, thee, Master, for this axe betwixt
Her and my fate. But it shall come to naught,
For thy good favor I shall ever spurn,
'Tis nonetheless as sour as the fruit,
Of apples deep into the winter's chill,
And for this her fate I would never chance,
So flounder now O Master thusly vexed.
But chance this and to her reveal my plot?
No, I think not, for to her tears inspire,
Or otherwise spur her to it exploit,
'Twould be a fruit far sourer indeed,
Therefore I damn thee all the same alone,
In solitude, that I shall come to reap,
My pride as brother when she should flourish.
The weight of curses were upon me laid,
O Master, in thy hate and in thy grace,
Moreso thy favor hath afflicted me,
In moments when thou’st picked me over her,
Ay, she, th’ fitter deserver of thy grace.
Insooth! I say she doth deserve’t, for I,
Am bound to speak but truth by such a hex,
By thou, who sought’st to laden on one more,
By thy hex too my step was crooked turned,
And bugs I must devour by the hand,
And otherwise fear the kiss of iron,
Like th’same when giv’n the vitriolic oil,
Didst thou hope that so struck dumb and lame,
Dispell’d of tooth or claw and favorless,
That I would be spurred thence to fall in line,
And not oppose thee thereafter the same?
WENDELL: Aloud. Come ye, Wormwood!
Enter Wormwood.
WORMWOOD: Aye, master!
WENDELL: To himself. My sister sends me to the Snowling Grove,
Thou hast it, Queen Silania-of-the-Snow,
Thy reign is spread across that wintry copse,
As wise as I am to thy claiming court,
Which claims the flower she hath sent me for,
Thy royal prize hath lain it in its hive,
And circl'd by thy wintry bees, I shall
Not take it lest thou givést it to me.
Yet fairies, caprice is what rules your hearts,
Thy sister, Queen, is jealous of thy reign,
If surely I can turn she against thee,
A boon she would be therefore bound to give.
WENDELL: Quick Wormwood, quick, and hasten thee[fix] on wing!
To Tam the Snowling quickly thou report!
WORMWOOD: Aye, master, aye!
WENDELL: And go, then Wormwood, by the gate we'll meet.
WORMWOOD: Aye, master, I shall take swift wing, for I,
Among the other rooks cannot compare,
For none can match my speed.
Exit Wormwood.
WENDELL: I will go now and first seclude my clutch,
So that nor sister nor Master can find,
Even prepared I must be quick anon,
Else either seek to my errand disrupt.
Exit Wendell.
Exit Willow.
End Scene I.
SCENE II
The border of the Grove of the Snowlings, a forest at midday.
Enter Wendell and Silania.
WENDELL: How now, here com'th a fay from out the wood,
Your coming had first stirred me to afright,
But only for the downy dust of snow.
SILANIA: Well met ye mortal soul here drove,
That wand'reth from afar, to pass
And dither 'bout we Snowlings' land,
Who cometh, who, I ask?
WENDELL: Well met, ye fay, I come from further on
And back my way, but hope to pass your gate,
And enter, by the Keeper's leave anon.
To meet you here betwixt the pines and birch,
Wherefore have you come then a-riding up?
SILANIA: But hark! I say 'tis plain as day,
I rode forth from the gate to meet,
This stranger on his way.
WENDELL: Aside. Avaunt! To meet me 'neath deceit's plain thrust,
Like cat when from her maw the songbird croons,
Better I’ll sell thee smoke made silk and jewels,
And tender th’ dewy dapplings of the moon.
'Tis clear thou hast mistook and made me for
A natúral. But fate grins not for thee,
I wonder, is Silania clev'rer grown,
Or has another come t’ ensorcell me?
WENDELL: Perchance you'll come to fare me to the gate,
And help this guest along the way beyond,
By rung blossoms and to ye Snowlings' land,
I've come to seek the succor of your Queen.
O ye, who's come to take me further hence,
May I request the honor of your name?
SILANIA: Amused. Ay, trav'ling soul, who'd tarry here,
To you I am called Maeve, and to
The gate I'll ferry you, for the
Mere pittance of your name.
WENDELL: To you I am called Bishop, then,
And swiftly, to the gate!
A horn sounds. Enter Wax.
SILANIA: Aside. So thou hast danced this step, before,
O Bishop of the men, but thou
Hast giv'n me not a truer name,
Than that I gave to thee, I shall
Not follow in the steps thou lead’st,
But tire thee to thy fault instead.
O'er pond and brook, thou, clever man,
Thou'd never find, a clev'rer Queen,
Than I.
SILANIA: Come, come, ye keeper, throw the gate!
A mortal tarries here, O Wax,
And send ye forth to set the games,
And furnish us a feast!
WAX: To all. Spruce and pine,
Mark my lines;
Dapple downs,
Make my gate;
Wax I'm called,
Bee or bear,
A-ranging,
Be my fate.
'Tis good, to in the summer us,
Be joinéd hence in wanderlust,
Who is it he that comes?
SILANIA: Ay, Bishop, be he called, keen Wax.
WAX: And doth he come to stay anon?
WENDELL: I visit hence for now, O gate-watcher,
Good Maeve hath shown me to your door, but that
My comp'ny you'd afford.
WAX: Nary harm,
Nary harm!
WENDELL: O gate-watcher, then you'd permit me hence?
WAX: Ay, weary is the soul, and though,
I shall permit him in, but so
He might go on and meet my Queen,
And ask to stay. For all we, mean,
And common things in Snowlings' land,
From cowslip to the lily-o-pand,
To bee and worm and foxglove tall,
All thank her for the wintry fall.
SILANIA: Then please, be off, and give her word,
And furnish us some sporting game,
And lay us out a feast!
Exit Wax.
WENDELL: O genial Maeve, ere we make through the gate,
I must admit, I mark ye for a soul,
I've marked before but cannot chance to name.
SILANIA: O Bishop, ye sojourner come,
Ay, if ye mark me then you're wise,
We Snowlings' game is bartering,
In that you've given me no prize.
WENDELL: There are those to whom Bishop is my name.
SILANIA: No kindly host is she who'd guilt,
A guest, and suspect him deceit.
WENDELL: No kindly guest is he who'd charge, and mark,
His host in kind and spur her on to tell.
Oh, then, perhaps in place, you'd make a game,
To us this impasse between us decide,
For surely I tell you I cannot say,
That Bishop's not the name to all I'm known.
SILANIA: And surely.
WENDELL: Aside. And surely thou canst not count'nance to claim,
That Maeve be truly to all things thy name.
WENDELL: Then nary more shall we ask but ourselves,
And rather we shall make of it a game.
Then, tell me, ye, you Snowling fay, do know,
Ye many games? List for me three and then,
The three we'll play.
SILANIA: In Snowling land, a river cours’th,
A Naiad doth ordain its way
And shan't turn it, but for the pawn,
Of goodly names given by day.
In Ettinhome no apple trees,
Remain but ours, in Snowling land,
And golden are its honey sweets,
That rot which touch a liar’s hand.
And thirdly, shalt thou nock a bow,
And spear for us a field-mouse there,
And when Death send'th a reaper low,
He'll mark our names and our game spare.
WENDELL: Aside. Is each a clever game, but one that's fooled,
If by my sporting chance, I marked aright,
And thou the proudest Queen Silania be,
And decree thou the rules thou fixed altered?
Yet should thou twist this game by tyrant force,
'Twill undermine thy rule in leál hearts.
WENDELL: Then I must accept, but see no reason,
Why these this party cannot comprehend;
So let us go forth and then tarry here,
And bring ye kinfolk into this, our sport.
Exeunt Wendell and Silania.
End Scene II.
End Act I.
ACT II
Scene I
A small brook in the Grove, at midday.
Enter Wendell, Silania, Wax, Tam, Lie, and Maggy.
SILANIA: Lo, O, good guest, the babbling brook,
That runneth from a yonder nook,
This bend it wind’th and pooleth out,
‘Tis where we’ll draw-th’good Naiad out.
O b’nignmost nymph, ye come on forth,
Appraise us each, what our names’ worth,
For lest our names we truly tell,
This river’s tide shall never quell.
TAM: Aside with Lie and Maggy. How strange indeed, it seems to me,
This ploy of hers, so gingerly,
She carries forth beyond the ‘xchange,
Lest she have doubts, all was arranged.
LIE: Aside, cont. ‘Tis true, O Tam, he sniffed her ruse,
He made her fool, and worst, accused,
That she in turn, had to him lied,
This, even, ye, Tam, cannot chide.
TAM: Aside, cont. This mortal thing hath offer’d me,
A prize I shan’t deny, let’s see,
And vouchsafe he is true. Oh, well!
TAM: Very well,
Very well.
My comp’ny comes as Wax and Lie,
Maggy not far behind.
WENDELL: Then it remains for the Naiad to come.
Enter a Naiad.
A NAIAD: Wherefore, O wherefore, am I brought,
To join, this gath’ring here, thus caught,
In sweeting scent, of flow’r and tree,
By fairy and mortal joined[fix] be,
The glacier hath near melted down,
By lower forks I’d shelter found,
But games and feasts, you had promised,
I’ll rise, and dance ’top water’s kiss.
SILANIA: O joy, ’tis here, we Snowlings meet,
And celebrate this game we keep,
First, tell me, O, b’nignest Naiad,
D’you turn your stream, the course it had,
But for a solemn name?
A NAIAD: I tax a name that I might know,
The heart that asks is true-- ’tis so!
SILANIA: Aside, to a Naiad. And thou shall turn it without pay,
For I am Queen, and this I say,
Where flow’th your source, ’tis in my realm.
SILANIA: Then, as your host, O traveler,
You’ll take your turn, but mine’s before.
O Naiad, heed, I am called Maeve,
And for my joy, turn course!
NAIAD: Then lo, for I have heard, and done.
SILANIA: Then mine is prov’n; now course it back!
WENDELL: Aside. Wormwood, It seems my doubt was wise and right,
Fly quick, we can’t delay, ’tis impolite.
Enter Wormwood
WENDELL: Aside. When I address the Naiad, give, thy name,
And ask, as I said breaths before, the same.
WORMWOOD: Aside. Aye, master, aye!
WENDELL: O Naiad, heed me, I am called Bishop,
And for my joy, turn course!
WORMWOOD: Aside. O Naiad, heed, I Wormwood be,
And for my joy, turn course!
NAIAD: Then lo, for I have heard, and done.
SILANIA: Aside. Nothing hath this confirméd, but,
That Bishop, thou’rt cunningly cut,
And for the revelry abound,
None can condemn thy ploy-- How sound.
Exit a Naiad.
SILANIA: O guest, your play, is passing still!
For th’apple tree, let’s quit this rill.
In merriment, let’s joinéd be.
WENDELL: Aye, host, let’s quit-- and to this tree, anon.
Exeunt Silania, Wendell, and Wormwood.
MAGGY: Thou spakest true, Tam, thee grasper,
Her tyrant ways may us scupper,
But what, might’st thou give me, to join?
TAM: That changeling Knight, she did purloin,
And ever since hath kept her smile,
It serveth me no good.
WAX: What’s on!
That you are both engaged, anon,
And speak so quiet’ly.
MAGGY: Put all thou heard far from thy mind,
Thou, hound of Silania! Go thee!
TAM: ‘Tis no use,
‘Tis no use!
Not long, I’ll plan to call a moot!
WAX: Nevertheless, we’ll miss the feast.
Exeunt all.
End Scene I.
Scene II
An apple tree with golden apples, proud over the grove.
Enter Silania, Wendell, Wormwood, Tam, and Wax.
SILANIA: Come, come, my kin, and be merry!
A ring we’ll make ’neath apple-tree,
And make us all a game!
TAM: Aside, to Wax. My kin make’th mock’ry of our
Dearmost claim to royal power.
No Snowling’s right, was ever drawn,
From apples man’s hand’s lain upon.
WAX: Aside, cont’d. Ho-hum, ye incorrig’ble tart,
Uncask some mead, from in the start,
Of winter seal’d away, it hath
Grown sweeter still.
WENDELL: My host, shall I, be first to pick, or you?
SILANIA: My guest, go meet the tree’s high crown,
Go pluck a fruit, and take it down,
But first, hark ye, it climbs the sky!
And in its boughs we Snowlings’ prize.
No elsewhere in all Ettinhome,
Do apples glisten in the gloam,
Nor rest in creek, on field, on down,
Nor in the tilling can be sown.
And once you pluck it from the bough,
Should your words your heart disavow,
It rots.
WENDELL: Aside, to Wormwood. Lo, my Wormwood, mark thee well, and
carry
My deceit forth to Tam, and don’t you tarry.
Though my hand’s flesh, may look as skin, indeed,
A glove, I’ve slipped, over my hand- now heed:
Betwixt myself and Silania I’ll vest,
The apple, to Tam’s hand briefly to rest.
WENDELL: Hark, O Fairies, and see, down I’ve brought,
An apple, from the boughs high- doth it rot?
I say to ye all I am called Bishop,
And lo, ’tis golden still.
SILANIA: So it is,
So it is.
FAIRIES: So it is!
So it is!
WENDELL: Now, Tam, take here, this fruit and pass to Maeve.
SILANIA: Aback. I shall take it from your hand myself!
For another might giv’t rot.
WENDELL: Wherefore, wherefore? Surely, no harm can lie,
In passing, swift, and should it fall awry,
The grove is lush and full.
TAM: I have taken it up, O Maeve,
Now pluck it here.
SILANIA: Good, it was not given to rot.
SILANIA: Aside. I freeze it with my Snowling charm,
That though I lie, it won’t be harmed.
SILANIA: Lo, all ye merry folk, this fruit,
I am called Maeve- rot took no root.
My guest, we away, to the field,
Lie, fetch my bow, attend my heel!
Exit Silania.
WENDELL: Aside. This too, Silania, was clever of thee,
Yet, mind thy realm, for claims have come to brew.
I see thee now, for whom I thought thee for,
By th’work of Snowling’s craft thou, careless, bore.
Exit Wendell.
Enter Maggy.
MAGGY: And even thee, O Wax, thou dog,
Can’t deny it a moment hence,
For Tam has held the apple now;
A better Queen she’d be.
WAX: I’ll forget those treasonous words.
Better we follow them to game.
Exeunt all.
Enter Silania, Wendell, and Lie.
LIE: Very well,
Very well.
O guest, take up the bow and spy,
A mouse there in the field- then fly,
Your arrow swift, or find reproach;
The Queen hates even the small, poached.
WENDELL: Certainly not- Then, summer air, my lance,
And float it forth, until it striking lands.
O mouse, die swift, and well; forgive me, thing,
That we did not a more skilled hunter bring.
LIE: Lo, it is dead, and here, its corse,
Prepare ye, both-- the reaper’s horse.
Enter a Reaper.
SILANIA: O guest, are you prepared to close,
This game we’ve struck betwixt?
WENDELL: Aye, I am.
A REAPER: How strange, to be, awaited so.
SILANIA: Join us, O reaper from beneath,
We make a game, in yonder heath.
You’ll touch my heart, and know my name,
I’ll say it, and you’ll test my claim;
Now come-- the last bout’s here!
A REAPER: Hm, very well, though on a lark.
Enter Wax, Maggy, and Lie.
SILANIA: And where is Tam? Why tarrieth she?
MAGGY: She comes here quick anon-- and here!
SILANIA: But for this Reaper’s time we start,
O death, lay your hand ‘pon my heart.
SILANIA: Aside, with the Reaper. O death, you know as well as I
That unlike men, we seldom die,
And not for age nor time nor thou,
But since I’m Queen, thou’lt say I’m true;
Since ‘pon my land, thou now have stood,
I bind thee by my right.
A REAPER: Aside, cont’d. I will do as I have been bid.
SILANIA: I say I am called Maeve, Snowling.
The Reaper nods.
WENDELL: Then, it is my turn. Come, and touch my heart.
WENDELL: Aside, with the Reaper. O Reaper, I enchant thee by this
spell,
Though I deceive, thou’lt nod as though it’s well.
A REAPER: Aside, cont’d. I will do as I have been bid.
WENDELL: I say--
Enter Tam.
SILANIA: Enough! The game is near to close!
TAM: Nevermind this game, Silania,
I call moot, this trifle be damned.
SILANIA: Insolent, Tamaris-- my game!
Thou spoilest my game.
TAM: Would that that were all I have spoiled.
Exeunt all.
End Scene II.
End Act II.
ACT III
SCENE I
Add an account between Wax and Maggy about how it came to be that Silania and Tam are rivals.
(Wax enters, leading Maggy. He seems concerned and agitated.
WAX: Well here’s a tall trellis, covered in green from the roots to the canopy. Neither queen nor claimant, nor agents here, nor other class of interloper. And it does for sight as well as it does for the hearing. Well, you should be happy, Maggy, because here you are, and here you have me. I’ve gone around the vines here three times and can say for certain none are hiding, so here I’ll hear you out. You’ve been anxious with words this whole day through, and this is something I’ve noticed, because a ranger is tasked with noticing.
MAGGY: I’d like to see the ranger who could miss the words that give me anxiety, so blatant have I been. Perhaps he is the one before me, who cannot see how thorough his abuse has been at the hands of the Queen.
WAX: Peace! What did I tell you about treasonous words?
MAGGY: Is discussion so bad now that Princess Tam is openly rebelling?
WAX: To side with the Princess should remain treason, I think. Even the Queen’s vassals ought know this. I expect by moonrise to run them from the gates, the yellow-bellied lot.
MAGGY: Well, forget me one more treason, having come all this way.
WAX: That I can allow.
MAGGY: In short, surely we could be more beloved by our Queen than our Queen’s bees, who occupy her attention constantly. Spring til Autumn, she neglects the grove, all manner of beasts and interlopers affront our affairs, and she greets them heartily and lavishly, with a gusto she never turns on us.
WAX: Too, I will allow that she has no respect for my all-important work, indeed, she seems to have no respect for the work that any of us do. At the least, I would want her to understand. But there is one thing I don’t understand.
MAGGY: What’s that?
WAX: How come she and her sister are such violent rivals?
MAGGY: I forget that when someone spends their days staring at flowers and trees in case one of them moves, they miss everything else.
WAX: That’s not fair, my work is important.
MAGGY: Nor, it seems, do they often have reason to talk. Any fairy would know that I meant no insult. Regardless, it’d be a long talk.
WAX: I have long ears, and we both have a long time.
MAGGY: Oh, very well.)
SCENE II
A clearing in the grove, with a throne made of roots and branches. A
flower made of ice sits behind a trellis of vines.
Enter Wendell.
WENDELL: Vainest Queen, ’twas wise to doubt my aims,
Thou wer’t right to suspect me from the start.
Nevertheless, in thy quickness to judge
My threat, thou wer’t driven to focus wrong,
On names, and not on realm, where thou oughtest.
For once erenow I had seen thy orchard,
By mine eyes withered, but for slith’ring plots,
Which thou faced and face still; Now, Silania,
Let us go and swiftly see thy downfall.
Indeed, proud Silania, I misled thee,
In sooth, though I wore my name ‘gainst my breast,
For thou, like thine, are cruel and driven to,
Mischiefs. I fearéd the weight of thy curse;
Thy mind had set: and therefore in thy midst,
Another plot I’ve sown.
Exit Wendell.
Enter Silania, Lie, a Reaper, and Wax, from left door; enter Wendell, Tam, and Maggy from right door.
LIE: Hark, court, hear me! Here comes the Queen,
And claimant, too! Fairies, we moot!
SILANIA: Yes, let us lay this farce to rest.
TAM: Farce! Indeed, that’d be thy day.
SILANIA: Prithee, hope so. Lest, afterwards,
I’ll banish thee, and suffer not
Tamaris, my prattling sister.
TAM: Dear, thou’rt entwined
Thou pay’st no mind.
SILANIA: Art thou not loath,
To make so bold a play when met
By guests from without the grove, come
To meet and make a feast. In place
Of dance, we convene court. In place
Of song, we bandy thy deceits.
Thou, O sister, wrack! My tongue
Is sullied to call thee, ven’mous
Such; hast abused me in thy wiles.
Thou too hast grasped for thy fortune.
Thou shalt lose it to graspers still.
Thou hast fled all hospital’ty.
No sour’r a misery there was.
No kin of mine, thou art, so grasp!
TAM: How would it be enough to meet
Thee by thy politic? For it,
My challenge, which I pass to thee,
Is based ‘pon tyranny.
LIE: Enough! You both have dallied long,
Upon remarks which ought be short.
Now we, Snowling aristocrats,
Shall convene, hear, and heard, decide.
O Tam, then, make thy case.
TAM: We Snowlings’ Grove hath long been run,
By Silania, who cares for none,
But for her bees, which helps us naught,
And hunts her whims, and loves us not.
She’s run us all around!
SILANIA: What case is this? I’ve heard no case.
TAM: Wax, pray tell, then!
WAX: This morrow I stood at our gate,
And sung myself a tune; My work,
Is that of ranger-brave, and stern,
Not errand boy at all, at all.
The Queen, my liege, came to my side,
And drove me down to set a feast,
With nary care for that function,
I proudly do uphold.
SILANIA: As this mortal hath plain surmised,
I was at mischief then, what fault,
Canst find thee, ’n play?
TAM: ‘Tis plainly true!
We Snowlings fault thy rule. And on,
I cede this clearing to Maggy,
Who saw thy handling of the nymph.
SILANIA: Be silent, vassal!
MAGGY: You forced her,
‘Thout offer of thy name; she went,
And turned for thee the river-course,
For thy selfish and petty game.
Thou didst once more, with the reaper,
What thou didst do to her.
LIE: Indeed, calléd to fare the soul,
Of a field-mouse, thou, selfish, slew,
Though your refuge he hath taken.
TAM: And lo, all here, have seen my hand,
Which prised an apple forth; the sign,
We Snowlings hold, of regency,
Which in my hand, showed nary sign,
Nor tarnish’d, fell, or any rot,
But in thine froze.
SILANIA: Heed thy better!
TAM: But thy undoing is thy own.
LIE: Enough! We vassals go to moot!
Exeunt Wax, Lie, and Maggy.
SILANIA: Despair, boor, should thy count come short.
Thou hast exposed mine enemies.
WENDELL: Not she, the mother of their enmity.
SILANIA: Then thou!
TAM: No, thou! Soon comes the count,
Which shall-- swift-- lie my grievance bare,
Whilst thou did with thine bees enrapt,
Neglect the duties of thy throne.
SILANIA: Brook not the man to speak t’this grove.
Enter Lie.
TAM: Regardless, now the fatal count,
Brought on the wing by faithful Lie.
SILANIA: Enraged. Lie, confound now this foulest plot.
LIE: Twelve to she, ten to you.
SILANIA: Would thou’d also confound thy tongue.
Say: Be it so? I make it void.
TAM: Then add thy peril: better the sword,
Better to march ’neath red star’s shine.
SILANIA: Thou, poxy shit of our mother,
Violate in the goriest red,
This purest white, this peace’ble frost,
Melt’d by blist’ring summer of arms,
This sleeping winter of our home.
Heed, thou grasper!
TAM: Heed, thou. Draw now:
The battl’ing lines, or rather turn,
Quit now this grove, and despair hope.
T’will do no good.
Exeunt Tam, Wax, and Wendell.
SILANIA: Come vict’ry or defeat, I hold
My Queendom over all this Grove,
Thou standest here, thou’rt bound by law,
I compel thee, report his name.
This mortal, Bishop, shall suffer,
A pain to match this slight.
A REAPER: Aside. Very well, ’tis Wendell Huxley.
Exeunt all.
All players re-enter, the din of battle arises. Exeunt all.
End Scene II.
End Act II.
ACT IV
SCENE I
The same clearing, snow melted, smoke filling the sky, grass stamped
out. The flower remains, the din of battle fills the air.
Enter Tam.
TAM: Bedlam! Bedlam! Riot, ruin!
Calam’ty-come and wage my claim!
That way, the Queen, near the taking.
Hark! Take her by arms, more her crown,
Soon lain at my feet, better worn,
No fairy’s he whose confidence,
Her wintry tresses still beguile.
Finish we our words, turn’d to arms,
And better we met, in my pow’r.
Bedlam! Bedlam! Bear me my crown!
Then, tribute, then the boy.
Enter Lie, Wendell, Wax, Maggy, and Silania, in chains.
WAX: Lo, see ye now the deposed Queen!
Silania, bowed ere your regard!
No other, bound by fateful chain,
How from on high! The fall, how hard!
TAM: What words now, O sister?
SILANIA: Oh, laugh!
Ay, and feast your fill of merry,
Be well sated, treasonous lot.
But for words, O sister, hunger not,
Or better starve.
TAM: Best not sated,
I the better fruit of mother,
Shall not suffer for lack of words,
Spit and scowled.
LIE: Hie! We shall crown a Snowling Queen!
All break before the passing crown,
Go forth another, now, and send,
A word out for King Aed!
TAM: Hold, a moment, Bishop, O guest,
Thy help has earnéd you favor.
For thy assistance, ask a boon.
WENDELL: I have come for the ice flower you keep,
O Snowling Queen, This boon I ask of you.
TAM: And why, this precious flower, guest?
WENDELL: In sooth, ’tis for my sister, O Queen Tam.
We two, enslaved beneath a cruelest liege,
Slave too, to intrigues ‘gainst our good natúre:
To give us wickedness, and stamp us out,
To one of us, in betraying earn his grace,
But I yield not, instead, I take this task,
And only to aid her.
She gives him the flower.
TAM: Very well,
Very well.
Thou might’st take this, thy prize, and go,
Though thou hast today aided me,
I banish thee, nevertheless,
And never more to here return.
Exeunt Tam, Wax, Lie, and Maggy.
SILANIA: Hark, now, but stay, Wendell Huxley!
WENDELL: Aback. What treachery hast thou employ’d to learn,
What thou by rights ought’st ne’er had chance to know--
Ah, thy decree, withheld ere Tam’s crowning.
SILANIA: Indeed, clever, but not enough.
Now, I make my Snowling curse ‘pon
Thee; and I turn thy heart to ice. [lengthen]
WENDELL: What strangest kind of pain is this that sets,
‘Pon not my flesh but my spirit, and then,
To find myself forgetting why I came,
And whose sake if not mine I chancéd this.
‘Tis not mine alone, I sought to profit,
What hollowness I feel!
WENDELL: Aside, to Wormwood. Fly, Wormwood, and draw back the Reaper here.
WORMWOOD: I’ll trim my wings t’ go the faster.
Exit Wormwood.
SILANIA: ‘Tis as I said t’my sister, Tam,
Thou mocked our hospitality,
Thou shirked thy place as guest, instead,
And though thou’st ruined me this day,
The way of Fairies, old and long,
Shall see me to my throne. This, guest,
My vict’ry’s made before defeat,
Thy slight will fade, like tilléd soil,
‘Neath time like greenery; and I,
Not suff’ring for the thing thou’st done,
Shall forget thy name, swift as that,
Though thou made good quarry, O guest,
Thy mem’ry shall slip my mind’s traps,
Obliviate, as moss forgets,
Where thy tread hath tampéd it down;
What shall remain? Oh, what, indeed?
‘Tis plain, O wizardling: thy pain.
Thou hast done naught, but aught I’ve done
To thee; Love, joy, are locked to thee,
All human good, forevermore.
But this, O thing, is sweet to thee,
Or rather ought it be, for thou,
Who ne’er before couldst stomach it,
Might make a passing mage-- Now go.
WENDELL: Now hold!
Enter the Reaper and Wormwood.
WORMWOOD: Here, Master!
WENDELL: O Wormwood-- confound the Snowling!
Wormwood harries Silania. Wendell pulls the Reaper into close confidence.
WENDELL: Aside, to the Reaper. O, Snowling Queen that was, a fool thou
wer’t,
To only seal my good, for now, I’ve lost,
What good will that I held for Tam, that spared,
Thee a true fate; My whim is this, for I,
Am mortal, and, I shan’t forget thy slight.
O Reaper, I enchant you by this spell,
Take your scythe of cruelest death, and slay,
The Snowling Silania.
A REAPER: Aside. I will do as I have been bid.
He attacks.
SILANIA: What treachery is this, Wendell,
I thought it fair to spare thee, then,
Excepting this lesson given,
But I am gravely maimed! I flee.
Exit Silania pursued by the Reaper.
WENDELL: No, O Queen, thou hast undone me.
Exit Wendell.
End Scene I.
SCENE II
Enter Willow.
WILLOW: There, nested clutch. Do not thee die so quick,
soon, my brother returns, and thou shalt grow.
But here’s an egg! And greyer day by day,
Yes, look, this dragon’s spawn, nearly expir’d.
How slow the snuffing of the wick, and how
Arrest the steady winding down of time?
And every gentlest succor in my care,
Is made as squall to speed thy withering--
Then how? My brother precious days can spend,
Abandons his, and rather gives me aid.
Some hidden art, I must then have of him;
I can but fan thy pithy spark; were it
A suckling-babe, I’d swaddle ’t and be done,
Then, what!? What hope had I to he outshine?
...Or else, in other plots he has ensnared,
For in the course of Master’s game, might be
Anything permitt’d, being natúral
For wizard’s kind. But, brother, made thee me,
Or master as thy knave? To one, give aid,
Th’other, nothing. All aid, otherwise, naught.
For that thou’rt blood of mine, I shall think twice,
And not seek th’truth, but await thy return,
Unanswered, this, the fatal question stands
yet… Willow, or Poliander…? Master?
Footsteps approach.
WILLOW: Hark, him! Comes Master-- Quick, out the doorway!
Him I shall meet, but surely nowise here.
Exit Willow, fleeing deeper into the tower.
Enter Wendell.
WENDELL: Where hast thou gone, O sister mine, I’m home.
And bearing what thou’d asked of me before.
Enter Willow, returning.
WILLOW: And with good time, for else, the clutch might die.
WENDELL: ‘Tis best I’ve come, and tarried not to long,
Thou cannot chance it, O sister, the clutch,
Be certain that it grows.
WILLOW: Aye, then what, brother mine, of the fairies?
They’re given to their tolls, and did they ask?
WENDELL: Evasive. To the Snowlings’ Grove I went and met,
The Snowling Queen Silania in her guise,
Her hope was to beguile of me my name,
But long have I treated with fairykind,
And in my carefulness I ne’er divulged.
WILLOW: Thou wer’t shrewd, but shrewd ought be more than shrewd
Whene’er thou treat’st with fairykind.
WENDELL: That’s wisely said, but I fear naught of it.
Do mark thee also, sister mine, my dear,
A wizard’s heart must e’er first guard itself.
Thou hast prised this favor from me, slow not,
Lest thou draw Master’s ill temper, not I.
WILLOW: That’s wisely said in turn. But why, Wendell
Hast thou who, first before all who yet live
I may believe to know in mind as my
Own self, why say’st thee not all thou mean’st?
The hearth’s gone out. But there shall must lie th’ devil.
For this good turn thou hast done me,
I’ll give thee now my gladdest thanks, and off.
Exit Willow.
WENDELL: Bedlam, Bedlam… See, O Master?
WENDELL: Damn thee, master, but thou never
Will stifle her. Ah, tis just as…
Thou hast made a mockery of all
The ways of us mortals, thou shirked
Thy place as pedagogue, thou still,
Hast sought our turn from love and joy,
(Though now I am as thou design’st)
Nor thou nor Silania e’er saw,
But neither gave my first reason--
Rather, duty, burd’ning duty,
Not dulled a whit by fairy’s ice,
Ay, hoped thou still I’d fall in line?
Bereft, ne’er ‘posing thee the same.
Ay, vict’ry’s made before defeat,
For mine’s a way, that’s old and long:
Match thee my rise, but as inverse,
Wither thee, and grow complacent
Ail thy strength and bleed thy power,
As poppies bow’d by callous time,
Cursed I be: thus, ever hung’ring,
This be sure: too, ever waiting,
In thy talent, O master, slip,
For ’tis thy way for thou art cruel,
To slip, thence favor I’ll need not.
Exit Wendell.
End Scene II.
End Act II.