Captured Final Libretto

CAPTURED
Libretto
Written By Gregory L. Garrett
1700 Airline Highway
PMB 289
Hollister, CA 95023
831-537-4176
gregorygarrett@hotmail.com

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CAPTURED
Libretto
A Musical Comedy
Story, Lyrics, and Music
by
Gregory L. Garrett

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Dedication
This musical is dedicated to Katie Rice, whose brilliance,
humor, and native beauty are a bottomless source of
inspiration to me. In knowing her, the core Gothic motifs
of this musical became vivid and apparent, like never
before. As one song in this musical states, “I Will Never
Be the Same”…
Gregory Lessing Garrett
(Creator of Captured)

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Dramatis Personae
THADDEUS FINN BRANDYWINE (Thady) Miller’s son
CAER BLIGHT Hansom and seductively cruel tyrant
PRINCESS ETAIN Caer Blight’s sorrowful, beautiful wife
ELTHLION Wise wandering wizard
MYTHRANCH Dryly sarcastic friend of Thady
BRANWEN Over confident, impulsive friend of Thady
BRANSHEE WHITE………………… New LochLeven bonny lass, stuck-up, after
. a wealthy man for “Roses, Diamonds, and furs”.
CARDEWEC BRANDYWINE Thady’s conventional, jovial father
MAGESTRA BRANDYWINE Cardewec’s beautiful, nurturing wife
THE TRAÚME WOODS SPIDER Sexy and seductively alluring teacher spider
PREMA WRATH Sexy and seductively dominating teacher dragon
DESIROUS Beautiful but aging, sad siren
CALYPSO Gorgeous young-looking harlot
MARGE AND TINA Bawdy River Raven Tavern wenches
ALCHEMICAL SCIENTISTS Caer Blight’s propaganda and spells
research team
PROFESSOR SOPHISTICUS ARCANA Caer Blight’s Professor of Propaganda

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and The One Truth
ALLEN Arrogant, two-timing New LochLeven lad
PRINCE ELDOMERE Aggressive, hansom, argumentative philanderer
HECUBA Ancient witch trapped in The Citadel by Blight
THE BAND River Raven minstrel, dark and mysterious
THE MINSTREL River Raven minstrel, wandering minstrel, plaintiff
Dramatis Personae Cont’d
THE DIRE LOCHLEVEN SENTRIES Blight’s ruthless, storm trooper-
like soldiers
NEW LOCHLEVEN MARKETPLACE PEOPLE Provincial, colorful, outspoken
RIVER RAVEN TAVERN CUSTOMERS Rousing, drunken travelers
OLWEN BRANDYWINE Romantically predatory
CASSANDRA ARWEN Beautiful, delicate, innocent

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Song Analysis: Captured
Scene Song characterS type
content page
act I: (Sharp FocuS)
The Introductory Scene
1) The Alchemical…. “I'm The One”….Blight, Etain, Alchemical….Cabaret/Gothic….Explanation………8.
Scientist’s Chamber Scientists
2) The Mill ……..“The Truth Inside”….Thady, Cardewec …………..Power Ballad……..Aspirations ……..24.
( Musical Interpretation: Option #1) Branwen, Magestra, and Mythrauch
2b) The Mill ……..“The Truth Inside”….Thady, Cardewec ….Power Ballad……..Aspirations……...34.
(Dialogue Interpretation: Option #2) Branwen, Magestra, and Mythrauch
3) Blight and Etain’s….“Tears of Innocence”….Etain, Blight……….Gothic Ballads……Lamentations……45.
Bedchamber “Drawn By the Mysterious” Yearnings
“Apart”
4) New LochLeven….“The Bonniest Lass………The Minstrel…….Celtic Ballad……….Declarative……….66.
Countryside Among Lasses” Traditional Musical Theater
“Diamonds, Roses, and Furs”
5) New LochLeven….“When I'm With You”….Thady………..Up Tempo Big Band….Adoration……….69.
Countryside (Swing)
6) Thady's Bedroom ….“And Not To Know”….Thady, Elvin Priestess….Pop Ballad….Inspirational….75.
(Thady’s Dream)
7) New LochLeven….“We Agree To….New LochLeven Marketplace….Extravaganza….Assertions……85.
Marketplace Disagree” People (Recitative)

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8) The River….“Drinking Waltz”….The Bard Marge and Tina….Enchanting Ballads….Expositional….90.
Raven “ The Bard’s Intro”
Tavern “Nobody Really Knew” (Dramatic Recitative) Intrigue
“Marge and Tina’s Banter Song” Comic
content page
9) Allen’s House…………“Not This One”…………Mythrauch…………Doo Wop…………….Romantic…….97.
“A Love That Is Free” Waltz Ballad
10) New LochLeven….“We Disagree….Marketplace People……….Extravaganza………….Evolving………..107.
Marketplace to Disagree” (Russian Folk) Assertions
11) Old World LochLeven….“No One Alive”….Elthlion………….Power Anthem………Nobilities…………117.
(Pre-Song Recitative: “Silence”)
“The Traume Woods Spider Jibe Song”
12) The Traume Woods….“Spin a Web”….The Traume …………Big Band Swing…….Seduction……....125.
Woods Spider Intrigue
13) The Alchemical ….“The Same Sword”….Elthlion, Blight….Musical Theater……..Persuasion………142.
Scientist’s Chamber “We’re Not The Same”
14) The Gulf of Gimlie….“Tears of a Siren”….Desirous…………..French Café………….Mourning ………151.
“This Siren’s Song (Pop Ballad) Melancholy
15) The Gulf of ….“Calypso on My Coast”….Desirous, Calypso….Broadway, Big Band….Rivalry……..160.
Gimlie Swing, Gospel, Blues
16) Dragon Wald….“That’s The Beauty of It All”….Prema Wrath….Tengo……………Comic Sadism….164.
act II
17) The Great Hall….“Captured”….Blight, Sophisticus Arcana….Cab Calloway Swing…..Predatory …..171.
“Power, Corruption (Gothic Recitative) Control
Control and Lies/Move Us”

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“You Are Such Evil”
“There Is No Evil”
18) Princess Etain’s ….“This Lonely Fortress”….Princess Etain…..Power Ballad………….Liberation……191.
Bedchamber (Dignity
19) The Citadel ……….“There for You”….Mythrauch, Branwen….Tengo……………..Sarcastic…………….194.
Tower Cell Supportive
content page
20) The Citadel………..“Hecuba”………….Hecuba……………….Eastern European………..Haunting……….202.
(Tower Witch’s Cell) Lamentation
21) The Citadel….“Beyond This War”….Princess Etain…….Power Anthem…………...Protestation……..210.
Tower Window
22) The Wolfscaim ….“The Mirror Distant”….Elthlion……..Power Ballad…………….Signature Song…..213.
Woods Moral Exposition
23) The Citadel….“I Will Never Be the Same”….Thady, Etain….Love Ballad…….Transformational…..218.
Tower Cell
24) The Citadel Tower Cell….“Imperfect”….Princess Etain….Power Ballad……….Romantic Idealism…227.
25) The Citadel….“This Much Is True”….Thady, Etain….Love Ballad Lament….Transformational…..230.
Tower Cell “Seal The Portal Scene”…………………………………………………………………………………….239.
“Tears of Innocence (Reprise)”………………………………………………………………………………245.
”
26) New LochLeven….“So Complete”….Thady, Etain….Power Love Ballad…..Romantic Resolution…249.
(Sheltered Pillar)
27) New LochLeven….“We Agree to Disagree”….New LochLeven……….Buoyant …….Resolutions……252.
Marketplace (Assorted Reprises) Marketplace People Extravaganza (Finale)
(Conclusions)
28) The Alchemical….“I’m a Patient Man”….Blight, Olwen…….Leitmotif, ….Epitaph…Afterthought…..264.
Scientist’s “A Love Beyond” Cassandra, Thady, Underscoring
Chamber Reason(Reprise)” Etain

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Captured
Introductory Scene:
Our story opens up with Caer Blight sitting in his great
chair in the Alchemical Scientist’s Chamber Hall, as in the
final scene. He is brooding and gazing into the great oval
mirror on the wall before him, back to the audience. We
only see a silhouette of him from behind. Princess Etain
stands a few feet away from him, staring at him as he looks
on. Blight commands Princess Etain to come closer to look
into the great wall mirror with him.
Blight: (Authoritatively) “Come here, Etain, I want you to see something.”
Princess Etain walks slowly and reticently toward Blight’s chair.
Blight: “Do you see anything interesting in the mirror, my sweet?”
Princess Etain gazes into the great mirror, and we see a computer generated image
of a young boy hiding behind a tree on a Scottish hillside, about to offer a bouquet
of flowers to a young beautiful bonny lass. Princess Etain cocks her head to one
side betraying interest.
Blight: “Do you see how innocent the young boy and girl are? Do you see how
innocent their young love is? (He takes Princess Etain’s chin in her hand and
firmly turns her head toward his face. She responds by recoiling away from him, in
disgust, stepping back a few feet.

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Blight: (Mockingly) “Ok tsk, tsk, my sweet. Why so genteel? I really weary of
your pretense. You are so very lucky I am a patient man. Always so
unattainable…it only makes me want you more, you know…or don’t you?” (He
rises from his chair and walks slowly toward Princess Etain.) “You know
sometimes I think you actually do not know about such things…about how your
reluctance to be near me only makes me want to close the distance between us…
you truly may not know, I am beginning to think. Yes, you, like these children, (He
points to the great mirror.) “possess innocence…childish and ignorant innocence.”
Princess Etain: “Why do you toy with me? You never mean what you say. I have
learned that much.”
Blight: “Ah, to the contrary, my dear, I always mean what I say, but you simply
fail to listen. You, like most innocent people, hear only what you want to hear…
only what fits in with your model of purity and decorum.” (He laughs snidely.)
“The truth is, your innocence is the only thing that keeps me from doing what I do
best…(He closes two fists in the air before him.) “Capture.”
(She draws further from him, as he slowly advances.)
Blight: “I made a promised to you when we first met, so very long ago. Do you
remember what that promise was, my sweet?”
Princess Etain: “I only remember we were once in love, and that is a far distant
memory, my sweet.” (She spits out this last term of affection with mocking venom,
as she turns away from him to face the audience)
Blight: “Well, perhaps your memory needs refreshing.” (He walks up behind her
and moves her long black hair away from the right side of her face to whisper in
her ear.) “I can still remember the sounds of the marketplace bustling…” (As he
speaks, sounds and images of a marketplace begin to rise from center stage, as the
lights upon Blight and Princess Etain begin to dim, opening up a market place
scene.) “…the aroma of freshly baked bread, the delicate fragrance of newly
picked flowers, and you, so young and naïve, such a delicate flower yourself…ah,
yes, do you see it, my love, do you see it?...”

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The lights upon Blight and Princess Etain have faded
down to nothing, and the only thing on stage is a
bustling marketplace scene.
It is a post war victory celebration in the center of the
marketplace of New LockLeven. Young Etain is in the
marketplace square with her father, Duke Ettington, who sings a
non-twisted version of “I’m The One”, as he judiciously waves
at his adoring crowd. Etain, childishly bossy and headstrong,
barks orders out to three of her father’s sentries who are fawning
over a pretty flower vendor. She instructs them to attend to their
posts, as protectorates of her father from any who are in
opposition to him.
Etain: “What are you doing? Do you think this is some kind of brothel? Attend to
your posts! Watch for any who would accost my father. Do it now or I will see that
you are each reprimanded in full!”
Duke Ettington: (Leaning down to speak to Etain in discreetness.) “Etain, darling,
it’s ok. These people love me. There is nothing to worry about. They know I will
protect them, and they have nothing but reverence for me. Things are changing for
the better for us. I am their favorite leader, and there is nothing but admiration in
their eyes. Look and see.” (He points to the adoring onlookers. They are looking at
The Duke with love and adoration.)
Etain: “But, father, you remember how fickle the people can be. You remember
how you taught me to be vigilant against descent and rebellion. Why are you so
confident all of a sudden that all are on your side? Even your sentries are forgetting

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their duties to protect you for the taste of bonny lass.” (She points to the three
sentries who are once again fawning over the pretty flower vendor.)
Duke Ettington: “Etain, the war is over. These people love me. I have stuck with
them through the entire war, and they only want to exalt me now. Allow then this
without so much suspicion. It is good that you are wary of rebellion, but for this
one afternoon, I think you can relax for a bit. You are such a good daughter. I will
be fine.”
Etain: “I just could never live if anything happened to you, father. I know we are
safe, but for so many years, it was not like that. I still fear when you are out in
public like this. I just don’t like it. I am losing my patience.” (She stomps her foot.
She is a bit insolent as well as protective of her father.)
Duke Ettington: “I understand, dear. Perhaps you could learn a few more things
from your old father. I am a very patient man. You could take a few lessons from
me on that.” (Now, even more endearingly, he holds Etain at her shoulders and
speaks tenderly.) “You will always be with me, darling, I promise I will never,
ever let you go.” (He chortles magnanimously, smiling and putting an arm around
Etain’s shoulders.) “Come, now, relax, all will be well.” (He smiles broadly at her.)
(Just then, a meat vendor approaches The Duke and speaks.)
Marketplace meat vendor: “You have done so much for our town, Duke
Ettington. So much strife as ended with your victory over the rebellion. The way
you captured the rebellion…absolutely astounding! Nothing can oppose you now.”
Duke Ettington: “Thank you, gracious sir. If anything, I am in the business of
capturing. Look at this fine young daughter of mine. I captured her when she was
only five…left to an orphanage, and destined for a life a misery before I swooped
down and rescued her from that destiny.” (He caresses Etain’s cheek, and the meat
vendor smiles.)

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Meat Vendor: “Such a good man you are, Duke Ettington, such a very good
man.” (Right as he says the word, “man”, the meat vendor thrust a knife into Duke
Ettington’s heart.) “And that’s for The Rebellion! Did you think you had captured
all of us?” (The Duke falls to the ground, and quickly, the Duke’s sentries
apprehend the meat vendor and whisk him away.)
(Play The Suitor’s Death Suite here.)
Etain: (Screaming) “Father, father! No, no father!) “She leans down over her
father’s face, sobbing, and screaming.) “No, no, no father! You cannot leave me!
You promised you would never let me go! You cannot leave me!”
Suddenly, the scene shifts focus from Etain and the dying Duke,
to a young lad, Caer Blight, gazing at the spectacle, while
leaning on a nearby vegetable stand pole. He is, handsome and
cunning looking. He watches intently at Etain and her dying
father, studying every aspect of the sad situation. There is a man
close to the young lad. He is robed in Alchemist’s robe, and
carrying an ancient book.
Blight: (Nudging the Alchemist next to him.) “What say you, Alchemist, can you
save him?” (He speaks with an unaffected and cold tone.)
Alchemist: “I can cast many a spell and turn dross into gold, but bring back the
dead… that lies beyond me.”

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Blight: “I thought as much. Such an ill fate for such a powerful man. Ah, but he
does leave behind him a most precious flower. Indeed, she is a beauty. I would
love to make her mine. Tsk, tsk, indeed, there is no justice in this world, is there
doctor?”
Alchemist: “Perhaps you can make her yours. She is obviously impressed with
power and wealth, having been raised by The Duke. If you had power and wealth,
she too would desire you. It is the way of love. Women want security, so they fall
in love. But love is weakness, so men to not make the fall. Perhaps his death has a
greater reason for being than just a cruel demonstration of the folly of victory.”
Blight: (Peaking his interest, looking at the Alchemist now, intently.) “Go on.”
Alchemist: “Well, let’s just say for a moment that for every door closed, a door
opens. And let’s just say for that same moment that a people without a leader is a
like a ship without a rudder, lost and directionless….and it appears to me that both
a door has closed here today, as well as the people lost their rudder.”
Blight: “And a rudderless people are in need of new direction, you are
suggesting?”
Alchemist: “Indeed they are. And what have you dreamed of ever since I can
remember knowing you?”
Blight: “Well…”
Alchemist: “Don’t be timid. You can say it. It is me, your friend. You have wanted
power. Power over others, power over women, power over situations, events,
power to rule. Just look at you. You stand here entirely unaffected by The Dukes
demise. You are bloodthirsty and cold. You are the perfect open door for what is
about to come.”
Blight: (Very interested in The Alchemist’s words.) “What is about to come?”
Alchemist: “A new age of governorship. An age of iron fisted rule, and control,
where the people will be dictated to and they will obey. There is a new kind of
tyranny about to rise, as happens with every new cycle of leadership.”

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Blight: “And how do you know this, Alchemist? What have you seen in your
magic glass?”
Alchemist: “I have seen the future and I have seen the past, and they are both the
same… endless cycles of goodness, followed by corruption, eternally rising and
falling like some infinite ocean of circumstance.”
Blight: “More specifically….”
Alchemist: “The Duke was a powerful but good man. His rule is over. The next
cycle of rule will include a powerful man, but not necessarily good in the way The
Duke was. A new kind of morality comes with every new leader, and it is time for
a morality based upon natural law, strong, absolute, and merciless. The people
need a real father, a father who will punish them as much as direct them. The Duke
was too soft, to gentle. He deserved to die. Like a child, the masses cannot respect
a leader who allows too much freedom, with too few limits. An iron fist is needed
to restore this land to order and control, and The Duke has only succeeded in
holding ground for a short while. The rebellions continue, as was proven today
with the point of a knife.”
Blight: “Come now, your point!”
Alchemist: “My point is this. You are the next in line, Caer. You are The One
next in line to rule. I have seen the prophecies and have been waiting for this
time.”
Blight: “You think me to rule?” (Blight laughs) “But what do I know of statecraft
and why would the people follow me, even if I did?”
Alchemist: “All that will come in time and the people only need to be convinced
of their need of one such as you. I will work on their minds with my magic. You
have only but to present yourself as The Chosen One, The Father that they have
been searching for, and you will see how easy it is to assume control. The masses
deep down inside want to be told what is right and wrong. They want a leader who
will assert himself as infallible and absolute. Like children, the masses only respect
he who plays the tyrant, cruel and savage, as well as diplomatic and gracious. And
there is great graciousness in cunning. You are all these things. I have known it
since I met you. Trust me, they will adore you.”

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Blight: “I like this, doctor, I like this, indeed.” (He smiles with cunning
aggression.)
Alchemist: “I knew you would, my friend. I knew you would. And look at that
poor dear daughter of The Dukes…all alone in the world now. You, too, are alone.
Perhaps there is a destiny between you two that may surprise you?”
Blight: “I would like that. She possesses a rare innocence and beauty that I should
like to explore…such a thing as she would do well as my submissive whore. I
would love the challenge.”
Alchemist: “You see every woman as your submissive whore to command and
dominate, don’t you? Indeed, you are a heartless bastard, aren’t you?” (They both
laugh)
Blight: “Perhaps.” (Staring intently, now, at Etain) “Yes, I would love to have her.
Just like her father, I would protect her, and keep anything bad away from her. She
would be mine to guide and direct, and do whatever else I desire.”
Alchemist: “Sounds like the perfect romance.” (He laughs.) “But do I detect a
trace of love in that? Are you, even as we speak, falling under the spell of her
beauty? I thought you were beyond the folly of love?”
Blight: “Don’t misconstrue me, Alchemist. I have much love in my heart. But I
have tasted rejection and did not like the flavor. I have learned it is better to
assume control of a woman’s heart than allow her to masters yours. The pain of the
heart is thrice the pain of the flesh. I know the truth that love is weakness.
Alchemist: “It appears that you have made a good friend of despair, my friend.
This is good. Such an unaffectionate heart…it will serve you well in the time to
come. A good ruler must appear to care, when in his heart, he only cares for his
rule. Remember that as you rise to power.”
Blight: “I think I already know that very well.”
Alchemist: Good, yes, indeed, I believe you already do. You are ready, my
friend…ready to rule, and ready to capture Etain’s affections… ready for all of it.

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You need only present yourself as The Chosen One, and all will fall into place.
You will rise to power. It will take some doing, but you shall succeed. Begin by
courting Etain. I know you have been stung by rejection, but even if she does reject
you, you will see that, eventually, like the people, you will capture her.”
Blight: “I will do it.”
The lights fade upon the marketplace scene, and a new
scene opens up in The Alchemical Scientist’s Chamber,
with Blight singing.
SCENE I:
SCENE Intro (Lyrics): Caer Blight Singing
Simultaneous: Spotlight opens up on Alchemical Scientists, stage left, and intro. theme
“I’m the One” begins.
One measure of silence.
Simultaneous: Spotlight opens up on Alchemical Scientist, stage right, and bar three of
“I’m the One” intro.
One measure of silence.
Simultaneous: A third spotlight on Caer Blight, standing center front stage, grinning
demonically at the audience, with charm, and bar five of “I’m the One” intro.
Behind Blight, center stage, back wall, hangs enormous oval mirror, containing image
of Blight. (The prop is actually a projector screen, not a real mirror.)

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Song #1 “I’m the One” (Opener)
(A CAPELLA for first line)
VERSE I:
(Blight:)
I’m The One that you hate to adore.
Just a man you are forced to abhor.
The kind of man you love to hate,
While you are screaming out for more,
It is me.
I’m The One that can settle your score,
Not a traitor but an arbitrator.
The One who loves you totally,
Your forever governor,
It is me.
CHORUS: I’m the One
(Alchemical The One you want
Scientists:) The One you seek
The One with all you’ve been searching for,
It’s in me.
I’m the answer
To your wants
For every hidden dark request
Is fulfilled by me.
Just believe.
VERSE II: Must you be such a bringer of gloom?
(Blight) Stick with me and they’ll be flowers in bloom.
I do it all to make you free.
Whatever comes let freedom ring.
You will see.
You’ve seen depots with tyrannical rules.
Aristocracy, assembled by fools.
The Chosen One has
Come to you
And, all your life had led you here,
Here to me.

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(At string tremolo, Blight snaps his fingers: left hand at chest, right hand
directly above his head, and then, left hand at chest, again, like a Latin
dancer.)
CHORUS: He’s the One
(Alchemical The One you want
Scientists:) The One you seek
The One with all you’ve been seeking for,
It’s in he.
He’s the answer
To your wants
For every hidden dark request
Is fulfilled by him.
Just believe.
Love Beyond Reason break.
Blight: And, though you may think I am hideous,
Evil inside and insidious,
Once I was only in love,
Like anyone whose yearning was so alive.
Stop Love Beyond Reason break.
Blight: Deep inside, I’ve waited here. My thoughts, my dreams, my aims were
pointed toward making her come to me.
Why is it so hard to yearn for here, waiting to be loved and give my love
To the one who ‘d love me as I am and be always true.
Always true.
Always.
Love Beyond Reason break.
Blight: And, though you may think I am hideous,
Evil inside and insidious,
Once I was only in love,
Like anyone whose love was once so alive.
Stop Love Beyond Reason break.

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Blight: She was all I wanted
All my thoughts, my dreams,
My aims were pointed toward
Making her come to me.
Why is it so hard to yearn for her,
Wanting to be loved and give my love
To the
One who’d love me as I am,
And be always true?
Always true.
Always.
Scene goes dark, as flashback
scene opens up, stage left.
Simultaneous: Cross cut to scene where Caer Blight, young, dapper, presumably
quasi-virtuous, and chimerically cavalier Blight is spying on the love of his life, Etain,
as she collects wild flowers on a country hillside (Old LochLeven 2000 years before
New Lochleven). All is beautiful and hopeful.
(Don’t lose a beat going into first verse of “A Love Beyond Reason”)
Song: “A Love Beyond Reason”
(From “I’m the One” Opener)
(A young Caer Blight to Etain)

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VERSE I:
Blight: All day long there’s a feeling I fight
And this feeling has no name.
Reason fails when you’re in my sight,
And I lose any sense of shame.
PRE-CHORUS:
(1st
x): When you’re ‘round, even time slows down
There’s no good or bad
And I only want to
Have you as my own,
And I will not back down ‘til you’re mine.
CHORUS:
(Waltz): Far beyond all reasons why,
You’re a truth I can’t deny.
And I’ve seen a lot of truth roll by
And I’ve heard a lot from
Those who lie.
But with you,
It’s a love beyond reasonable doubt.
With you,
It’s a love beyond
Reason
Beyond reason
With you, it’s a love beyond…
VERSE II: All the reasons I have inside
To believe love can’t be found.
Love has rules that I can’t abide,
But I can when you are around.
PRE-CHORUS:
(2nd
x): Memories come and I see them go
Of what could have been,
Of what almost was,
And now I only want what I saw
In your heart long ago.
CHORUS:
(Waltz): Far beyond all reasons why

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You’re a truth I can’t deny.
And I’ve seen a lot of
Truth roll by,
And I’ve heard a lot from
Those who lie.
But with you, it’s a love beyond
Reasonable doubt.
With you, it’s a love beyond
Reason
Beyond reason
With you, it’s a love beyond
(Outré) Reason.
Suddenly, cello strains of the Caer Blight Leitmotif arise, as another prospective,
young suitor approaches Etain with bouquet of flowers. She rejects him with a hand
that says “halt.”
This scene has provoked Blight to step out from his hiding place (perhaps behind a
tree), causing the other suitor to back away, fearfully, because of Blight’s sudden
movement.)
RECITATIVE – Etain, Blight
Etain: Both of you, away.
Away with you,
Go!
Blight, how long have you been hiding,
Spying on me,
Like I was your prey?
Did you think that I might want you,
You a mere peasant hauling hay
From the fields
In the sun
While someone like me
From royalty,
Elvin and beyond your means,
What could you possibly have to
Offer a girl like me?

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Blight draws closer to the would-be suitor. Etain pulls out a hunting knife from a
leather sheath attached to his belt. He draws closer as they retreat in fear.
Blight: Darling, I have always loved you
From afar
But, now, I must let you know you are mine.
And this man, who claims to love you,
Is a false and dangerous, lecherous man,
Who must die by my true
Hand. (Blight lurches forward to stab the young suitor as he says
“hand”.)
After the stabbing:
Blight: “Feel the sting of rejection!”
(As the suitor dies, we hear the song “Suitor Death Suite.”)
Instrumental: “The Suitor Death Suite”
Episodic flashback of an even younger Etain is with her royal father, Duke Ettington.
A small peasant boy tries to kiss her against her will. Her father, in protective rage,
violently pushes peasant boy away from his vulnerable daughter. Etain runs to her
father, embracing him, saying: “Papa, thank you! He scared me so!”
Flash forward to Etain running to hug Blight in gratitude for Blight fending off
would-be suitor, hugging him in the exact same way she hugged her father. Blight had
triggered her Oedipal incestuous passions.
Etain: What perverse and strange attraction
Do I have for this man
Who would
Fight
For
Me?
You are the One

24
I can believe in
You are the One
I could conceive in
To remain
The One
(Etain kisses Blight passionately, and they stand
transfixed as they stare into each other’s eyes,
stunned and hypnotized by the dangerous sexual
aggression they feel towards each other.
Blight: “I promise you one thing, sweet. I will never, ever let you go….”
Etain: “I know, love...I know…”
1000 yearS Later
Cross-cut to Alchemical
Scientists’ Chamber with
Blight and Princess Etain.
Etain: (Sorrowfully) “You always want me broken. Broken, I am easier controlled
by you. “

25
Blight: “Receptive is a better word, Etain, receptive. You are at you best when you
are broken. Consider it a gift to feel that way. We are all broken. None are whole. I
complete you, and you know it. You were made broken. I merely remind you of
what you are, by design. Why deny it/ why do you…resist?”
Princess Etain sings:
Resist
Princess Etain:
Verse I:
I kissed the darkness of the night.
In my room no longer trusting of the light.
When you move,
I can't control myself.
I always lose the will to resist.
I know it's useless to try to turn away from your kiss.

26
I just can't take the chance to miss a single second with you in
my arms, with you in my arms.
Chorus I:
I seem to have lost all my power to resist you.
I seem to have lost all my power to resist.
Verse II:
I can't deny you I can't bluff.
Too intense for me, and yet, never enough.
When we meet, there's only you and I.
I always lose the will to resist.
It feels like crying, silent tears of joy,
I'm alive!
I'm lost in your embrace, and nothing to destroy this moment
with you.
This moment with you.

27
Chorus I:
Bridge I:
Now I’m on my knees.
I can't resist when you're near me.
I fall so hard every time you come around.
It’s your kiss, when you thrill me.
I drop my guard knowing this time I’ve found
My bliss, when you chill me,
Frozen so deep in the warmth that you give me.
Resist.
Bridge II:
Testing the borders of my heart to see how far I'd let you in to
touch my soul.

28
From the start I let you see the wounds and now I can’t say
no.
Final Chorus Vamp: (8x’s)
I seem to have lost all my power to resist you
I seem to have lost all my power to resist you
Now I’m on my knees.
Cross fade to Blight with Alchemical
Scientists and peasants present to view.
Princess Etain departs. Conceivably, Old
LochLeven peasants are present as slaves
in the Alchemical Chamber, as the object
of Blight’s commands, as well as
functioning as an audience for The
Alchemical Scientist’s song.

29
Scene opens with Caer Blight, older now, as in opening scene, facing audience, center
stage, arms outstretched in an obvious Messiah pose.
BRIDGE I:
Alchemical
Scientists: He is water for all who thirst.
He is charity for those who can’t go on.
Your deepest longings cry out
For the truth that lives in –
Side
Of
Him
He is the One
You can believe
He is the One
You can believe
He is the One
The One.
(Off stage: Angelic Choirs.)
Blight addresses the audience directly,
now:
(Spoken not sung:)
Blight: “You know, we all need someone to look up to…somebody who will
never let you down. Don’t you just hate to be let down?....being let down is

30
such a letdown, I find.” (He speaks sarcastically and deceptively, employing a
matter of fact and explanatory irony in his voice.)
Resume Original Opening Scene
VERSE III: Everyone needs someone to adore
Doesn’t matter if you’re rich
Or you’re poor
Exalting someone
Who
can
soar.
(Comic aside reminiscent of “One” from A Chorus Line.)
Blight: (Soar)
Jazz Hands!
Alch.
Scient.: Little bit of song, and dance, and rhetoric sure brings them down to
their knees. It’s such a lovely hierarchy, when the bottom rung
becomes my property!
CHORUS: I’m the One
(Blight:) The One you want
You’re right, you’re wrong
You’re every reason to be.
It is me.
I’m the One
The One you crave
The food you need
The water that you must drink
Drink in me.

31
BRIDGE:
(Alchemical
Scientists:) He is safety for all who fear.
He is clarity for those who’ve lost their way.
Your deepest longings cry out for The truth that lives inside of me.
I am the One.
Choreography Between Blight and Alchemical
Scientists.
Alchemical Scientists Trance Dance in Worship of
Blight…very ritualistic and occultish!
(Alchemical Scientists sing in chant-like trance as
this ritual takes place.)
Alchemical
Scientists: He is The One who will make it all right.
He is The One who will ease all your fright.
When you are low, he will break through your wall.
When you are high, He will comfort your fall.
Bight Addresses the Audience, Now…Messiah Style,
with Alchemical Scientists’ Vocal Counterpoint.(See
Score for exact musical construction.)

32
RECITATIVE
(Blight, Epitaph)
(Blight reveals his deep dark colors by singing this entreaty
where every word is a lie, enshrouded by falsely imploring
understanding for the suffering of others.)
BRIDGE II:
Blight: I feel your pain.
Alchemical
Scientists’
Counterpoint: Don’t you feel?
Don’t you feel how much He loves you?
Blight: I feel your suffering.
Alchemical
Scientists’
Counterpoint: Don’t you see he’s The One who’ll end your suffering?
Blight: It’s I, alone. who knows why your heart aches so.
All come to me. (With eyes lowered in an evil request for
submission.)
All come to me. (Beckoning with outstretched hands.)
Alchemical
Scientists’
Counterpoint: Just believe in Him and all your problems will be done and gone

33
with.
Blight: When you’re lonely, when you’re hungry, when there’s no one you.
can trust in me.
You’ll see.
Alchemical
Scientists’
Counterpoint: He’s The One.
There’s only One you can trust, pure and just.
So much fun when your worries are no more.
Blight: I’ll protect you.
I will guide you, fulfill all your dreams and so much more,
If you just receive.
Alchemical
Scientists’
Counterpoint: He’ll give you everything you ask for,
If you bow down to the ground, on your knees!
Alch. Scient.: (Just re---e-- ceive!)
Blight: (Just be—e—leive!)
Blight seeks to hypnotize with his mantra of “Just believe in me!” Aside from the
actual theater audience, it might prove effective to have a handful of Old
Lochleven peasants inside the Alchemical Scientist’s Chamber with Blight, as
slave peasants under Blight’s trance.)
In me!
Just believe!
Just believe.....in me!
(Composer’s note: Megalomania is a psycho-pathological condition characterized by
delusional fantasies of power, relevance, or omnipotence. We see Caer Blight as this

34
now, in contrast to how he was when he had first met Etain. He now operates with an
inflated self-esteem and an over estimation of his powers and beliefs, which becomes the
confidence to make those powers and beliefs real, and a real threat to all. However, it
should be remembered that this over inflation comes from a deep seated wound of
rejection, which he suffered from Etain from her initial rejection of him, and it exists as
compensation for the scar of inadequacy she bore him. Obviously, Etain’s rejection of
him has triggered and even deeper rejection that he had suffered, owing to the intensity of
Blight’s reaction to the wound.)
At this point. Blight is in a Megalomaniacal
frenzy, with his hands high with power lust.
Gradually, he becomes more settled and
chimerical, spinning his cane a few times, and
Speaks with ironic venom and whimsy:
Blight: “We all need somebody to look up to, now, don’t we?” (Grinning
Demonically.)
(More Counterpoint between Blight and the
Alchemical Scientists.)
Blight: I will guide you.
I will teach you.
I’m The One who’ll not mistreat you.
(Alch. Scient.) (Treat you like you’ve never been bad.)
Alchemical
Scientists’
Counterpoint: He’s The One you can depend on.
He’s The One to pin your hopes on.
He’s The One who’ll never leave you.
He’s the One who’ll not deceive you.
He’s The One to put your trust in.

35
He’s The One to put your lust in.
Blight: You want freedom.
You want friendship.
You want things that you will find in me…..
On your knees!
Alchemical
Scientists’
Counterpoint: You want freedom.
You want friendship.
You want things that you will find in him…..
On your knees!
Blight and
Alch. Scient: On your knees!
On your knees!
With blackness of heart!
Blight: You who hunger.
You who suffer.
You who wonder what The Truth is.
I am your light.
I am your dark.
I am your Lord.
On your knees, now, down on your knees!
On your knees!
On your knees!
Blight and
Alch. Scient.: On your knees!
Blight

36
(Epitaph:) I am shelter from the wars
That rage
Inside you.
Scene End
Scene II

37
Go to: New LochLeven, The Mill:
Option #1
(Scene 2)
Song #2: The Truth Inside
The Truth Inside Musical Interpretation of
Dialogue Option:
(Cardewec points to a time piece hanging from a gold chain,
hanging from his best pocket.)
INTRO:

38
Cardewec: Where ya’ been, lady?
You’re late again, laddy.
Ya’ think this mill runs by itself, do ya’?
VERSE I:
Thady: I’m sorry, father, I was only looking
For one brief moment in the pond.
I could I swear I saw a face, so deep, in a pond so blue,
And starring up like a face in a dream,
Wise, but stern.
Cardewec: Away with your fantastic and vivid and dreamy imaginings.
How do you expect to “attain” a sweet lass and a mill of your own
With that attitude?
Chasing dreams and phantoms just won’t do.
Thady: I’m sorry father but I really saw a face today.
Why can’t you seem to understand?
Cardewec: Why should I give you all this sympathy
When you need reprimand?
Cardewec: Hard is a miller’s life, so much to do every day,
And so much left still to do.
You want a miller’s wife, so much, but then you pay
And stature you must accrue.
(Cardewec begins demonstrating for Thady how to do his job by picking up pines
pieces and stacking them on his open hand and arm, each piece reaching his
hand and arm on the pulse of the drum.)
Thady: You think the only life is your life.
You never stop to think that I have plans of my own.
You think that living life in one place
Will bring me the bliss that you have known all your
Thady: Life is hard you say, every day.

39
Cardewec: Life is hard, I know, every day.
Thady: But I want to roam beyond this town.
Tempestuoso!
Cardewec: Begora! Begora! You’re a headstrong willful brat!
Ya’ know it, and you won’t go far like that, you know it,
And I shouldn’t have to tell you this. (Stomping around the mill
with his pipe high in the air.)
It’s every lad’s analysis that
He who baits the trap the best… (He snaps!)
Always gets his prey! (He does a little shimmy, shammy, Russian
“If I Were Rich Man” move or two, symbolizing masculine
triumph.)
And that prey will someday be your wife!
Begora! Begora! You are no aristocrat, you know it,
And you won’t succeed like that, you know it,
And I hate to rain on your parade, or
Trample on the plans you’ve made, but
Dreaming all the day won’t pay…
Or get a miller’s wife… (He snaps!)
And someday you’ll want a miller’s life! (Again, he does a little
shimmy, shammy, Russian “If I Were Rich Man” move or two,
symbolizing masculine triumph.)
Beseechily:
Thady: Father I’ve tried, and I’ve tried, and I’ve tried for the lass I prefer.
Amoroso Menno moso:
I brought her sweet flowers and wooed her with words,
As I courted her.
I’ve promised her roses, and diamonds, and furs if she’d
Marry me.

40
All it has brought me is failure.
So why should I try for a wife?
Cardewec: Well, laddy, you’re too young to understand
That there are more fish and you will catch one.
You think a lassy should move on your command
I’ve fished those waters and I did not like the outcome.
(Cardewec proceeds to cast out a fishing reel that he picks up
from the mill table, communicating to Thady how to catch a
wife!)
Well, lady, you’re too bold to understand.
A lassy bites hard when you can charm her.
You think a lassy should swoon just can she can.
But, with no money you can only just alarm her.
(Cardewec puts the fishing reel down.)
Thady foments about, disgruntled(Music).
Cardewec finally fixes a stern look on him, folding his
arms on the half note of the “Bb”, and looks left, right,
and center on the following eighth note/quarter note
beats, showing his disapproval of Thady’s tirade. He
does this series of gestures twice, once for each
measure.
Cardewec: Nope
Thady: But, father…
Cardewec: Nope, back to work now.
Cardewec: Nope

41
Cardewec: Nope
Cardewec: Back to work!
Thady: But…
Cardewec: To work!
Cardewec: Back to work!
Thady: But…
Cardewec: To work!
Cardewec: Back to work! Zip-it, lady, but
Thady: But…
Cardewec: No, back to work, now.
Thady: But…
Cardewec: Now!
They enter into a face off, stalemate, sitting on
opposite sides of the mill, alternating looking at
each other, and then the cLoch, and then each

42
other, and then the cLoch, etc… with a cLoch
sound dictating it all.
Magestra, Cardewec’s wife, enters mill to inquire as to
why Cardewec has still, not yet left for town with the load
of pine, shaking them out of their humorous stalemate.
Magestra: (Sharply, but with obvious love for him.) “Cardewec! What in New
LochLeven are you still doing here? There are merchants, carpenters,
and craftsmen waiting for your load in town and here you are a
jabbering away the day with Thady, instead of going?! Jabbering,
jabbering, jabbering, jabber, jabber, jabber, jabber, jabber, jabber,
jabber, jabber, always a jabbering away the day, you two, if I am not
keeping a hen’s eye on you!”
Cardewec: “Oh, come, come, now sweetie. We were just having a little heart to
heart about Thady’s fawning over that little bonny lass, Branshee White.
I was just instructin’ him a few pointers about how to go about courtin’
and such.”
Magestra: (Magestra overtly pleased) “Well, well, that is different! I might be
impressed that Thady is taking an interest in nice country lass. You two
can keep up that particular (over-enunciates the word “particular”) line
of jabbering, with haste. Nevertheless, Cardewec Brandywine,” (more
sternly now), “I would be even more impressed about you would take
your “heart to heart” into town, finally, so that our patrons don’t have a
change of heart, and make me the poor wife of a bankrupt miller!”
She raises her voice, brandishing her finger in the air, but smiling through her
emotional display, and finally, pushes Cardewec away from her toward his rig of
mules.
“Now, off with you! Go to town, will ya?!!!”

43
She then runs to him, grabs a pouch of bread from her apron and puts it in her
husband’s hand, kissing him square on the lips, with a loud smack. She speaks with
sensual tenderness to him.
“Don’t forget to eat, my love. I’m gonna miss you!”
She kisses him again, and he grins from ear to ear, giving her a warm hug.
Cardewec: “And don’t worry so much about our talking. We get our work done.”
(Winks at Thady again.) “You gotta watch that in a lass, laddy.
Wooooorry.”(Over-emphasizes the word) “Too much worrying will be
the end of all your fun, laddy!” (Cardewec and Thady laugh)
Magestra: “Fun!” (She charges at Cardewec) “I’ll show you fun! How about five
fingers of fun right across your thick loafin’ head! Ooooooh, you make
me so mad, sometimes, Cardewec Bradywine!” (While inching away
from him with fist held high)
Cardewec grabs her and kisses her deeply on the lips and holds her in a tight hug. She
melts a little, simmering down like a fish that is tired of struggling.
“You are a vixen!” (Smiling and stroking Cardewec’s chest with one
arm, while the other hangs around his shoulder)
Cardewec: “And that, laddy, is how you capture the heart of a bonny lass!” (He
chortles heartily) “With your lips!” (Kisses her again)
Magestra: “Don’t listen to him, Thady. He’s a scoundrel and a rogue…and I love
him with all of my foolish heart.” (A touch sentimental) “Now, be off
with ya! Skedaddle! No more conversing with anybody until you get to
town. Git! Git!” (Shoos him away with her hands)
Cardewec: (Leans down, whispers into Thady’s ear.) “And you thought I was
bad!” (Both snicker) “That’s my boy.”
Cardewec beams with pride and delight at Thady, and turns to take his load into town.
Magestra turns to go back into the house to work.
Magestra: “Now, no more dawdling, Thaddeus Finn Brandywine!” (She
brandishes a finger high, and makes a mock sneer.) “You gets in that
mill and do whats you father tolds ya’ to do! Now git!” (She smiles at
him as she leaves the mill.”)

44
(Thady begins working feverishly to pick up the pine pieces and stacking them for his
father’s next trip to town. He, eventually, begins to tire, and finally stops from
exhaustion. He moves into a spotlight in the center of the mill and sits on a bench to sing
his “I Want” song.)
(Song #2: The Truth Inside (“I Want” Song)
VERSE I: Plaintive:
Thady: I can take no more of this.
A miller’s life, I’ve tried.
And, I’ve had the best intentions
To find a miller’s wife to bride.
I want to see what’s out there,
I want to know before I die.
TAG I: I want to leave this life of stacking wood.
Such a grim, provincial livelihood.
If only father understood.
TAG II: I want to see what lies within me deep inside.
Include offstage ensemble choir support: “I want to know.”
Mythy: I want to know.
Thady: I want to know.
Branwen: I want to know.
Chorus: The Truth!

45
Chorus: The Truth!
Thady: The Truth inside!
Off Stage
Choir Support: Ah!.........
BRIDGE
(1st
x): Should I be a scholar should I
Be a slave, a tyrant, ruler,
Over knaves, or be the King of
Aces in a card game
Falling to the floor, or
Cannon food for mercenary
Soldiers who delight in
Dying for some belief they’re taught.
I want to
Know the truth inside.
BRIDGE
(2nd
x): Should I be a Lord, a Duke a
Major to attract a wife, or
Order men to die in war for
Causes that a man will
Fight for on command, or
Could I be your Savior at the alter,
Giving hope to
Those who’ve traded Faith for war?
I want to know the truth inside.
TAG II: I want to show that I am

46
More than meets the eye.
Chorus: I want to know.
I want to know.
I want to know.
I want to know.
A CAPELLA: The truth in—
(Con Accomp) —side.
The truth inside.
The truth inside.
Mythy: I know my life would be much better.
Branwen: There has to be much more for me.
TAG I:
Mythrauch: Gonna leave this life of milking cows.
Branwen: To leave this sweat upon my brow.
Thady: To leave a father who won’t allow.
TAG II:
{ALL}
(A CAPELLA)
Mythy: I want to see what lies beyond this wretched countryside.
Thady: I want to see what lies beyond this countryside.
Branwen: I want to see what lies beyond this countryside
(Con Accomp.)
Mythy: I want to know The Truth!
Thady: I want to know The Truth!
Branwen: I want to know The Truth!
(Thady steps into a center stage, bright
spotlight and puts both hands over his heart.)

47
Outro:
Thady: When I find what I am after I will never feel that
I am less than worthy.
Scene end.
Option #2
(Scene 2b.)
The Truth Inside Dialogue Interpretation of
Conversation Option:
“The Truth Inside” (Pre-Song Dialogue)
Song #2

48
At New LochLeven, inside Cardewec Brandywine’s mill, with his son, Thady Finn.
Cardewec: “Where ya been, lady? You’d think that this mill operates by its
lonesome, the way you doddle and dilly-dally away your time. Come
on, laddy! We’ve got work to do and you’re late, again!”
Thady: “I’m sorry, father. I was just looking at the mill pond. I could have
sworn that I saw a face in the water, a dark and menacing face, laughing
and mocking me.” (Looking a little shaken up)
Cardewec: “Again, with your fantastical imaginings! Dilly dallying away MY
precious time. How do you expect to ever own a mill, like this one, and
capture yourself nice bonny lass to marry, if you ain’t nothin’ for towin’
the line? Gazin’ into a pool and reportin’ menacing faces? Why can’t
you see my menacing face in the mill pond, calling you back to work?
Leavin’ me here to toil alone beneath the burden of your truancy,
stacking the pine pieces when I should be finishing the cut list for 0ld
Man Hofstadter!”
Thady: “I said I was sorry, father. But, I did see something in the mill pond
reflection, a face, and it wasn’t my face, and it did scare me. You have
to understand…”
Cardewec: “Understand nothin’, laddy! This is a business I am running, and if we
don’t work, we don’t eat! Now, do YOU understand, is the question?
Why are you young lads always yearnin’ for understanding when it’s
clear what is required from them! Work hard, finds yourself a nice
bonny lass, marry, settle down, and raise your darn kids!…simple!
Caput! …Nothin’ more to understand!”
Thady: “But, father…”
Cardewec: “No, Thady Finn. Not a word more! I’ve heard enough of your
tomfoolery!”
A small, lovable dog enters the mill.
Cardewec: “Look, it’s Achilles! Come here, boy. Come here, Achilles.” (The dog
hesitates) “Come Achilles, heal! Achilles, heal! (Looks back to Thady)

49
“You are fiddle-faddling away our work time with whimsy and folly.
Enough!”
Thady: “No, father! You need to understand me. Whatever I saw in the mill
pond reflection is what I saw. And just because you think I should own
a mill, marry, and settle down doesn’t mean that I want to. I want to do
more than that. I want to see what else there is to see. I know there is
more.”
Cardewec: “More, you say? More than this? What’s more than this, laddy? You
after some kind of foolish danger outside of LochLevin? You want to
indulge your wander lust to end up without a home, or a wife to tend to
your aching bones when you’re too old to even think about wandering?
Is that what you want, laddy? Is that it?” (Increasing annoyance)
Thady: “Why is anything different from the life you’ve created for yourself a
waste of time? How can you really know what might lay waiting for me
beyond the border of LochLeven?”
Cardewec: “Begora! Laddy, you’re headstrong and twice as stubborn, and a willful
brat as well! You just don’t want to work hard, that’s all it is with you.
You’d rather daydream at the mill pond about menacing faces and wild
imaginings of every sort than put your nose to the grindstone…
besides…” (softening up a bit)…”whatever happened to that lovely
bonny lass milkmaid…what was her name? Ah, yes, it was Branshee,
Branshee White! Doesn’t her beauty inspire you to want to better
yourself and capture her heart to marry?” (Winks, knowingly to Thady
and nudges him on the shoulder, lovingly)
Thady: “She wants nothing to do with me, father.” (Hangs head down low.)
“She is of Elvin descent, a royal Elvin lineage, to boot, and she can’t see
wanting to have anything to do with me, a mere miller’s son.”
Cardewec: “Don’t ever say “mere miller’s son,” laddy! Why, it’s a privilege and an
honor to provide the wood that built a damn near fifth of New
LochLeven, after the fire. Why you should be rejecting her, and not the
other way around!” (With good humor)
Thady: “father, she doesn’t think like you.”
Cardewec: “And that therein lays the problem. If more people thought like me,
there would be less trouble in the world..and a hell of a lot more
drinkin’ on Friday evening at Finnegan Stout’s Tavern!” (Chortles and
belly laughs)

50
Thady looks injured.
“Okay, okay, there, laddy. I can see that this bonny lass has really gotten
under your skin.” (More softly and compassionately) “Look, there be
lots more fish in the Loch for ya to catch. Them Elvin lasses are
notoriously conceited and infamous for their powerful impulses to
marry into money and stature. And, she’d only want more money and
stature from you once you’d marry her. Let her go. Wait for a lass like
your mother. I found myself a diamond in the ruff, and so can you.
Always more fish!” (Hugs Thady)
Thady: “Thanks, father. I’m glad you understand that much about me.”
Cardewec: “But keep trying for Branshee, even though, laddy. Boy, she’s a looker
and I bet you could train her to be happy with just what you give her, if
you really work at it!” (Nudges Thady again and laughs)
Thady: “Father!”
Cardewec: “Hey, she may come around, you just never know. After all, it’s the
hunt to capture her heart that is half the fun. Winning her is good, as
well, but conquests turn into predictable domestic routines, soon
enough.(He chortles) But that’s all I’m going to tell you about the
matter, for now, laddy.”
Thady: “I sure do like her.”
Cardewec: “Aay! There, there laddy. You be smitten by the lass! (Laughs a belly
laugh) “Don’t worry, it’ll pass and then you’ll be smitten by another.
No end to it, actually, the smittening, that is. Just don’t let your wife
know about it, laddy! (Nudges Thady again, and chortles, good
spiritedly)
Thady: “Father, can you, also, understand that I may want another life…other
than yours?”
Cardewec: “Begora, laddy! And I was getting into such a grand mood, and ya’ had
to go into that again! Listen to me. You’re just too young to understand
why, laddy, but sometimes, father does know best. So, for now, enough
with your stubbornness…a lot like me, I have to admit, and our
ancestors. We’re a headstrong breed, we are, the Brandywines. But, as I

51
said, enough laddy! Just do as you’re told and know that I’m looking
after your best interest, okay?”
Thady hedges looking up.
“Okay, come on, there laddy?”
Thady: “But, fa…”
Cardewec: “Nope!”
Thady: “But, fa…”
Cardewec: “Nope!”
Thady: “But…”
Cardewec: “No!”
Thady: “B…”
Cardewec: “Zip it!” (Makes zipping motion with finger across lips)
Thady: “B…”
Cardewec: “Zip.” (Same zipping motion across lips)
Thady: (Silent, as he stares at his father, and then utters:) “B.”
Cardewec: (Raises finger) “Ack!” (Runs hand across throat to make “cut” sign)
Thady: “Very well. I trust you.”
Cardewec: “That’s my boy!” (Pulls Thady close to his side and hugs him, warmly)
“Now, you go collect those pieces of pine and stack them nice and neat,
so I can commence back to milling, as I should be doing. But before I
start, I need to haul a load of cut pieces into town to sell to the
carpenter’s guild and craftsmen. Someday, you’ll understand why I am
so hard on you. I want you to have everything I have, and more, laddy. I
want you to marry bonny lass and have children of your own. It’s the
only way for a sensible man to behave. You will see the wisdom in it,
someday. I love you a great deal; you know that, don’t you?”

52
Thady: (Draws nearer to his father’s arms) “I know, father, I know. I just wish
you didn’t love me quite so much, that’s all.”
Both share a hearty laugh.
Magestra, Cardewec’s wife, enters mill to inquire as to why Cardewec has still, not yet
left for town with the load of pine.
Magestra: (Sharply, but with obvious love for him.) “Cardewec! What in New
LochLeven are you still doing here? There are merchants, carpenters,
and craftsmen waiting for your load in town and here you are a
jabbering away the day with Thady, instead of going?! Jabbering,
jabbering, jabbering, jabber, jabber, jabber, jabber, jabber, jabber,
jabber, jabber, always a jabbering away the day, you two, if I am not
keeping a hen’s eye on you!”
Cardewec: “Oh, come, come, now sweetie. We were just having a little heart to
heart about Thady’s fawning over that little bonny lass, Branshee White.
I was just instructin’ him a few pointers about how to go about courtin’
and such.”
Magestra: (Magestra overtly pleased) “Well, well, that is different! I might be
impressed that Thady is taking an interest in nice country lass. You two
can keep up that particular (over-enunciates the word “particular”) line
of jabbering, with haste. Nevertheless, Cardewec Brandywine,” (more
sternly now), “I would be even more impressed about you would take
your “heart to heart” into town, finally, so that our patrons don’t have a
change of heart, and make me the poor wife of a bankrupt miller!”
She raises her voice, brandishing her finger in the air, but smiling through her
emotional display, and finally, pushes Cardewec away from her toward his rig of
mules.
“Now, off with you! Go to town, will ya?!!!”
She then runs to him, grabs a pouch of bread from her apron and puts it in her
husband’s hand, kissing him square on the lips, with a loud smack. She speaks with
sensual tenderness to him.
“Don’t forget to eat, my love. I’m gonna miss you!”
She kisses him again, and he grins from ear to ear, giving her a warm hug.

53
Cardewec: “And don’t worry so much about our talking. We get our work done.”
(Winks at Thady again.) “You gotta watch that in a lass, laddy.
Wooooojry.”(Over-emphasizes the word) “Too much worrying will be
the end of all your fun, laddy!” (Cardewec and Thady laugh)
Magestra: “Fun!” (She charges at Cardewec) “I’ll show you fun! How about five
fingers of fun right across your thick loafin’ head! Ooooooh, you make
me so mad, sometimes, Cardewec Bradywine!” (While inching away
from him with fist held high)
Cardewec grabs her and kisses her deeply on the lips and holds her in a tight hug. She
melts a little, simmering down like a fish that is tired of struggling.
“You are a vixen!” (Smiling and stroking Cardewec’s chest with one
arm, while the other hangs around his shoulder)
Cardewec: “And that, laddy, is how you capture the heart of a bonny lass!” (He
chortles heartily) “With your lips!” (Kisses her again)
Magestra: “Don’t listen to him, Thady. He’s a scoundrel and a rogue…and I love
him with all of my foolish heart.” (A touch sentimental) “Now, be off
with ya! Skedaddle! No more conversing with anybody until you get to
town. Git! Git!” (Shoos him away with her hands)
Cardewec: (Leans down, whispers into Thady’s ear.) “And you thought I was
bad!” (Both snicker) “That’s my boy.”
Cardewec beams with pride and delight at Thady, and turns to take his load into town.
Magestra turns to go back into the house to work.
Magestra: “Now, no more dawdling, Thaddeus Finn Brandywine!” (She
brandishes a finger high, and makes a mock sneer.) “You gets in that
mill and do whats you father tolds ya’ to do! Now git!” (She smiles at
him as she leaves the mill.”)
Mythrauch appears at the mill entrance with a yoke over her shoulders, carrying a pail
of milk on either end. She peeks in the mill to see if Thady can visit.
Mythy: “Pssst! Hey, Thady, you busy? I saw your father leave with a load of
wood. Can you chat?”

54
Thady: (A little gloomy) “Yes, Mythy?”
Mythy: “Hey, what’s wrong, carpenter boy? You look a little gloomy.”
Thady: “Ah, nothing’. Just tired of this mill, that’s all.”
Mythy: “Step and fetch, step and fetch, step and fetch. Am I missing anything?”
Thady: “Exactly.”
Mythy: “Me too, Thady, me too. Soooooooo tired of milking ol’ Jezebel… been
milking her all morning, ever since the sun came up like a big bald
head! Gaaaaaal! My hands ache! (Raises hands over her head.) “In case
anybody has misinformed you, a milkmaid’s life is far from
glamorous!” (Exasperated)
Thady: (Still a little gloomy.) “I guess everything gets a little old, given time.”
Mythy: “Too much of a good thing?”
Thady: “Or perhaps, too much of as bad thing!”
Both laugh.
Branwen walks in with arm full of freshly cut pine logs. Ker-plop! He drops them near
the Plane saw.
Branwen: “Elloooo, there, Thady, Mythy! Thady, here are pine trunks that your
father ordered from my father. Heavier than a millstone around my
neck, they are! Mostly greenwood, wet, and denser for it!”
Thady: “That’s fine, Branwen…just as well, wet…keeps better that way,
anyway, until it comes time to plane them.”
Branwen: “Good enough. You know I am about ready to quit this line of infernal
preoccupation.”
Mythy: “Don’t you mean “occupation”?
Branwen: “Yes, that’s what I said, isn’t it!? I would love to be a Man of Letters
and spend all my days penning some great literary masterpiece, or
anything but hauling wood like a pack mule, by the sweat of my brow.
It is no way to live!” (Slams fist on nearby table)

55
Thady and Mythy gaze at each other for long moment, in silence, and then back at
Branwen.
Mythy: “Well, you may want to reconsider that whole Man of Letters thing,
Branny, but you know I am with you about needing a change. It seems
to be the consensus of the day around here.”
Everyone laughs and then look away from each other, wincing in apparent pain, and
cease laughing, each staring at the floor, in silence, sullen and depressed. Finally,
Mythy speaks.
Mythy: “I hate milk!”
Thady: “I hate milling!”
Branwen: “I hate wood!”
All walk to nearby bench in the mill and sit, quietly, head in hands. Eventually, first
Mythy and then Branwen, in succession, raise their head out of their hands to look at
Thady, who in turn, stands to declare:
Thady: “There has to be more than this boring provincial life!”
(Song #2: The Truth Inside (“I Want” Song)
VERSE I:
Thady: I can take no more of this.
A miller’s life, I’ve tried.
And, I’ve had the best intentions
To find a miller’s wife to bride.
I want to see what’s out there,
I want to know before I die.
TAG I: I want to leave this life of stacking wood.
Such a grim, provincial livelihood.
If only father understood.

56
TAG II: I want to see what lies within me deep inside.
Chorus: The Truth!
Chorus: The Truth!
Thady: The Truth inside!
BRIDGE
(1st
x): Should I be a scholar should I
Be a slave, a tyrant, ruler,
Over knaves, or be the King of
Aces in a card game
Falling to the floor, or
Cannon food for mercenary
Soldiers who delight in
Dying for some belief they’re taught.
I want to
Know the truth inside.
BRIDGE
(2nd
x): Should I be a Lord, a Duke a
Major to attract a wife, or
Order men to die in war for

57
Causes that a man will
Fight for on command, or
Could I be your Savior at the alter,
Giving hope to
Those who’ve traded Faith for war?
I want to know the truth inside.
TAG II: I want to show that I am
More than meets the eye.
Chorus: I want to know.
I want to know.
I want to know.
I want to know.
A CAPELLA: The truth in—
(Con Accomp) —side.
The truth inside.
The truth inside.
TAG I:
Mythrauch: I want to leave this life of milking cows.
Branwen: To leave this sweat upon my brow.
Thady: To leave a father who won’t allow.
TAG II:
{ALL}
(A CAPELLA)
Mythy: I want to see what lies beyond this wretched countryside.
Thady: I want to see what lies beyond this countryside.
Branwen: I want to see what lies beyond this countryside
(Con Accomp.)
Mythy: I want to know The Truth!
Thady: I want to know The Truth!
Branwen: I want to know The Truth!

58
Outro:
Thady: When I find what I am after I will never feel that
I am less than worthy.
Scene end.
Open scene at The Citadel with Princess Etain
and Blight.
Tears of Innocence (Song #3a)
(Pre-song Dialogue)
Princess Etain and Caer Blight are in The Citadel of The One Truth Grand Hall, in
Old World LochLeven with highly ornamental décor with gothic black and red
tapestries and carpets, crystal chandeliers. Etain is seated and Blight stand near her.
Princess Etain: (Angry.) “I will not!”
Caer Blight: “You will because I will it!”
Etain: “How many men must die to satisfy your lust for power? When does it
ever end?”
Blight: “It ends when it ends. What do you know of statecraft? When I found
you, you were a dreamy Elvin child running through the fields of your
mind, chasing whimsical fantasies. When I married you, finally, you
became something. Even though I was just beginning my climb to
power, my potential was the elixir that gave your spirit wings! Indeed,
you are Elvin, but never confuse a regal lineage with the ability to be
regal, my raging pet!”

59
Etain: “Regal?! Regal?! What do you know of regality? If a viper be regal,
then you are regal. If a spider’s venom be regal, then you are regal. If a
tyrant’s terror be regal, then you are so. But, none are so and so not
you!”
Blight: “Such calumny and treachery, from such a sultry, unappreciative
wench!” (Moves closer to her) “Ungrateful, incorrigible, whorish,
Etain…and quite possibly too dangerous to maintain alive.”
Blight speaks with increasing charm, vicious irony, and sickly sweet venom.
“If you refuse to carry out my commands, and fail to assemble my
sentries to oppose The Resistance, then I can only assume that you
would prefer the cold caress of steel across your fair Elvin throat. (Pulls
out sword and places it against her throat, caressing her face with the
back of his cold leather glove.) “Am I making myself perfectly clear to
you, darling?” (Etain grimaces with controlled rage, like a captured
animal) “Such a beautiful complexion. Tsk, tsk, t’would be a shame to
see it all ruddied up and stained with your own blood, now wouldn’t it?”
Etain: “Go ahead, do it! Kill me! End my misery! Do it!!!” (She screams with
a fearsomely icy dominance)
Blight: (Blight speaks with ironic, twisted delight) “Wouldn’t you like that,
dear, and escape all your duties…both administrative…. and conjugal?”
Etain spits on Blight’s face.
Blight: “Bitch!” (Tosses her to the ground.)
Etain: “What are you mad? Do you actually think I feel anything for you when
you use me as your whore in what used to be our marriage bed? I feel
nothing towards you! (Screaming the next word.) Nothing!!!
(Blight puts sword away in a sheath at his hip.)
Blight: “Etain, dear, do you honestly think I care what you think about me? You
think I care about your pitiful affections? You are more stupid than I
thought. I only care that you behave as I command. I care not about how
you regard me beyond that...” (Kneeling down, he grabs the back of her
hair, pulling it back to expose her neck, as he withdraws his sword,

60
placing the blade close to her throat, again.) “I will feast upon your
beauty in your bedchamber, when I desire and, in the same spirit, I will
command you to send my sentries to do battle. My will is your
command, princess. Compliance from you is all the (With mocking
emphasis) love that I require. (Blight moves in closer to her face with
his.)You are weak and wretched. You will do anything I say as long as
you can be the one who is in control and not the one being controlled.
Isn’t that right, Etain? Don’t you love the feeling of ruling? Isn’t it the
strongest drink you’ve tasted yet… all the kingdom in your control from
my rule… intoxicating, is it not?...the bitter sweet elixir of…Power!”
(He says this forcefully, as he raises her to her feet by squeezing her
head between his hand upon her hair, and his hand holding the sword
near her throat. She gasps for air as he does this.)
(Play “The Suitor Death Suite” Leitmotif to accentuate the mood here.)
Etain: “You disgust me!”
Blight: (Blight lowers the sword but continues to hold her hair tightly,
controlling her head.) “Flattery will get you nowhere. Do as you’re told,
and issue the front border attack by tomorrow. I don’t request that you
understand. I only demand obedience. Now, a little more gratitude,
princess. Do as you’re told, like a good girl.”
Etain: “And what if I refuse.”
Blight raises sword to her neck, again.
Blight: “Princess, you know how I work. When philosophy fails, force takes
over.”
Etain: “What philosophy? You mean lies.”
Blight: “Dear, Etain, I teach the value of life. Freedom doesn’t come free. There
are sacrifices to make for the good of the whole”
Etain: “Whose freedom?... the freedom of the people who live in terror of your
DieLocken Sentires? Is that the freedom you fight for?...the freedom
from your twisted rhetoric, and sinuous propaganda, and half-truths? Is
that the freedom you fight for?...or do you fight for the freedom of those
who die desperately trying to escape your version of freedom?”
Blight: “How little you understand of freedom. In this world, you are either the
master or the slave of someone. You are master to many, and slave to

61
me. But that is not good enough. You want all to be free. Well,
obviously you have not studied your history, dear sweet Etain. When all
are free, it is but a fleeting illusion, for one will always rise to power to
enslave the rest. And there will always be those who follow that one to
ensure their survival, even if the thousands of enemies to that one must
be killed to secure this…”(He speaks ruthlessly.) “…liberty and justice
for all.”
Etain: “And I should believe this is the way it is?....coming from you?...a
madman? How should I look at the bloody cobblestones below my
tower window, where you have mercilessly tortured any who spoke out
against the cold darkness of your tyranny?...and how should I look at a
heart so black that it enslaved the very woman who he had professed to
love so many years ago, before he had gone corrupt under the elixir of
unlimited power?” (She sobs and put her hands over her face.)
Eldomere walks into the chamber where Blight and Etain are battling. Etain turns
away from Eldomere as he walks in.
Eldomere: “Chancellor, I have news regarding The Resistance.”
Blight: (With sickly sweet voice) “Pardon me, Etain, darling.” (Now sprightly)
“Duty calls! Run along, would you, dear?”
Etain turns around, in disgust, but remains.
(Flippantly) “Very well, remain. (Now commanding) Eldomere, your
news?”
Eldomere: “A new uprising of rebels has developed near the perimeter of
Wolfscaim Woods, but we have successfully quelled the conflict with
the traditional protocol of public tortures, executions, and we have
added to the message that no rebellious acts will be tolerated by slaying
many women and children in the public square. All is now quiet
throughout the provinces.”
Blight: “Excellent! Ah, you see, Etain, peaccccccccce.” (Holds the “s” sound
at the end of “peace”) “Sometimes, it takes the sacrifice of a few to
achieve peace for the whole.”
Etain: “And who decides who the unlucky few are?”

62
Blight: “Why, who else? Me! I find that Democracy is far too cumbersome of
an animal to lumber about with, and so, I am all that is left…who lives,
who dies…well, I guess it is just up to me.”
Etain: “You are vulgar and loathsome scum!”
Blight: (Facing Eldomere) “Isn’t she enchanting when she is upset, Eldomere?
…such power in her whorishness.”
Eldomere: (Hesitantly) “Yes, my lord.”
Blight notices Eldomere gazing at Etain with adoration, obviously attracted.
Blight: (Commanding booming voice) “That will be all, sentry. Be gone!”
Eldomere turns, walks toward chamber door, sneaking glances at Etain as he leaves.
Blight: “Why do you turn away when he walks in, dear? He, obviously, finds
you quite alluring. Do you share some secret delight in seeing him that I
do not know about, darling?” (With typical twisted ironic pleasantness
in his voice)
Etain: “Don’t be absurd! I turn away because he is an arrogant and
philandering pig. He lusts for all the women in The Citadel, not just
me.”
Blight: “I do not believe you.”
Etain: “I do not care.”
Blight: (Silence for a moment) “Does he intrigue you… a military man…all that
blood on his hands…does he make you…”
Etain: (Cuts Blight off) “Stop! He is a vulgar brute. The few times that I have
attempted conversation with him, he seized the opportunity to argue
with me on everything I side, ignoring the fact that I could have had him
killed at any point.”
Blight: “And, why didn’t you?”
Etain: “Better things to do.”
Blight: “Really? Like what?”

63
Etain: (Ignores Blight’s last comment) “Eldomere’s seductions are able to
attract the gaze of the kitchen wenches, no more.”
Blight: “Isn’t that about your caliber, Princess? The scullery maids break under
their master’s voice in the same way you do under my voice…with
contemptuous compliance.”
Etain: (Brooding with rage) “I never break for you. I never break for anyone.”
Blight: “Ah, but you do, Etain, you always do. You merely place yourself at a
higher price than the kitchen maids. That is the only difference. But, in
the end, whether kitchen wench or princess, you all want the same
thing…to be dominated…you all love the whip! It is all you know, and
that is why you love it so.”
Etain: “Haven’t you ever heard that familiarity breeds contempt? If it is all I
know, there is no love left for it.”
Blight: “Whether familiar or not, contempt is the result, and that is where the
love grows from. We always love what we hate, my dear, remember
that.”
Etain: “You are sick!”
Blight: “No, not sick, just truthful.”
Etain: (In calm, cool resolve) “Someday, I will escape this nightmare.”
Blight: (Calmly and seriously, yet invective and snide at times, with a deep
resonance in his voice) Etain, darling, why must you forever be so
ungrateful? You seem to enjoy the eternal beauty that you have attained
from the Alchemist’s magic? From my command, they have created a
spell that will assure us the blessings of immortal beauty and youth, if
you’ll remember. How old are we?...I lose count…two, three thousand
years old, or was it five?…I just can’t keep track, these days. And yet, I
see no evidence of gratitude from you. Why is this?”
Etain: “What perversions you construe unto me! I should prefer to shed this
immortal coil of eternal night if I could live even one day of mortality,
without you!”
Blight grins, mockingly, lowering his lower lip in a false pout.
Blight: “Oh, poor, darling. My heart bleeds for you.”

64
Etain: “If it only would…I would relish the sight. “
(Pre-song Dialogue over Blight Leitmotif): {(Cm+2)(Cm+2/Eb)(Cm+2/Ab)(G-G7)
etc…}
Blight: “You are such a foolish princess. (Caresses Etain’s cheek with the back
of black leather gloved hand, and she recoils in disgust) “Stunningly
beautiful, but terribly foolish.”
Etain: “I only wish you had killed me instead of that suitor, long ago. Death
would be better than to live with you an hour.”
Blight: (With false concern) “You didn’t used to feel that way, darling. What
has changed you so?”
Etain: “I have not changed. It is you that has changed.”
Blight: “My, how your tune changes when you forget who has given you all of
this.” (Sweeps arm out to point to the landscape outside their Citadel
window) “And now, you expect more, when you do not express
gratitude for all that I have given you so far?” (Walks away from her,
pressing the insides of his wrists together as he walks. He speaks with
sweet venom) “My hands are tied, Etain. My hands are tied.”(Sigh
falsely)
Over-Chromatic Descent
Etain: “I hate you!” (Blight moves closer, feeding sexually off of her anger)
Blight: (Slow and deliberately) “Danger binds you to me, Etain. You hunger for
the darkness that I provide. We are bound by hate.”
Etain: “Hate is too weak of a word for what I feel for you!”
Blight: “The feeling is mutual, my sweet. The feeling is mutual.”
Etain runs out of The Grand Hall toward her
bedchamber, but is followed by Blight, who

65
grabs her wrist just outside her chamber door,
and causes her to sit on a bench just outside
her chamber room.
Now, just outside the door of Etain’s
bedchamber, in The Citadel Tower. Blight has
her by the wrist, as she sits on a bench,
sobbing, writhing in torment, and grabbing at
her hair in anguish.
Begin Pre-Tears of Innocence
Song Recitative Between
Blight and Princess Etain.

66
Recitative
Blight:
Etain, Etain, Etain darling do you really think I care, at all, about what you think of
me or your loyalty?
I don’t care what you’re thinking, nor for your heart that's sinking. I only need
from you obedience.
Etain:
Isn't it clear you disgust me? I've no affection left for you. I let it die, and you're
only flesh to me, now.
Blight:
We'll discuss more of that in your bedchamber. Anything more than flesh from you
is a waste of time. I command. You obey. We'll leave it at that! I weary of your
place in my life.
Etain:
All that I wanted was for you to love me. Is gratitude too much to ask from you?
Blight:

67
You are a princess in the mightiest Citadel You’re surrounded by handmaidens,
and you say I am cruel, even though all this comes from my rule!( Blight struts
around the Annex in front of Princess Etain’s bedchamber , venomously, with a
bold sense of dominion, as Princess Etain sits,looking at him with contempt and
anger.)
Etain:
All of it won by the blood of the innocent, spilt in the name of your lust for fame.
You raise a flag that is covered in blood and declare freedom, freedom, but for
who?
As Choreographed by the music:
1. Blight circles Princess Etain like a vulture circling its prey.
2. Blight paces like a caged lion, thinking of yet more rationalizations for his
actions to pacify Princess Etain.
3. Blight raises the back of his right hand as if to strike Princess Etain across the
face, but lowers it again, and begins to sing. (The “C” chord strikes as he raises
his right hand at Princess Etain.)
Blight:
Don’t be so naive and foolish. Freedom's never freely given. Can't you see? Just
look at me!
Life is dearly won at the expense of life. So I thought I’d win me an expensive
wife.
Holding onto power with the threat of death, is the very reason that you have your
breath.
Would not want it any other way, my dear. (Tenderly)
It’s not such a price to pay for the life I’ve given you to request a little of your
gratitude.
But you don’t come through.
(Blight, with rage, grabs Princess Etain and pushes her to the floor,
smiling sinisterly, and just about to hit her, but then turns with a
scoffing gesture of his chin, and departs, leaving here trembling and

68
sobbing on the Annex floor, in front of her bedchamber. She rises to sit
back down in the bench, puts her head in her hands, and crying,
searches for some shred of dignity in her sobs. She, then, rises and
enters her bedchamber to sit in a chair near her adorning mirror.
Suddenly, Blight storms in to her bedchamber, goes to stand behind her
at her chair before her mirror, and continues his onslaught.)
Blight Spoken: “You are such a foolish
princess!” (He caresses her cheek with the back of his smooth,
black leather gloved hand, as she recoils in disgust, but quickly
restrains her by grabbing the back of her hair and violently
securing the back of her head against his stomach.) “…
stunningly beautiful, but terribly foolish.”
Princess Etain Spoken: “I only wish you
had killed me instead of that suitor long ago. Death would be a
sweet release from this life with you.” (She snarls and grins
when she says this, betraying loathsomeness for Blight that is
almost corrupting her to become the very thing that she hates,
Blight.)
Blight Spoken: “My how your tune changes
when you forget who has given you all of this.” (He sweeps his
arm out toward the window overlooking the landscape below.)
“And yet it appears that you expect even more from me, when
you have not yet expressed gratitude for all that I have already
given. Indeed, my sweet Etain, my hands are really tied with
you. With your ingratitude, you have abandoned and betrayed

69
me, dear. I have given you all you could dream of, and you just
don’t see it. You push me Etain, you really do. It’s a fine line in
all of us between civility and cruelty…a very fine line…” (There
is mocking venom in his voice.)
Princess Etain Spoken: (With anger) “I
hate you!” (With this, Blight moves closer, feeding off of her
anger.”
Blight Spoken: (Almost whispering in her ear)
“Hate binds you to me, Etain. You love the venom of my words.
It intoxicates you. You hunger for the darkness I provide,
clinging to the danger in it like a frightened but curious child
exploring the very thing that frightens her. There is power in the
darkness. You know that deep inside. It governs you. That’s
why I chose you long ago. We are bound by hate, Etain. We
both live for it. We are, in the end, the same….” (laughs self-
assuredly.)
Princess Etain Spoken: (More passive
now…giving in.) “Hate is too nice a word for us.” (Reaching up
to gently caress Blight’s face, Etain is increasingly giving in to
relishing the idea that they are BOTH wicked and corrupt.)
Blight Spoken: (Blight speaking gently) “I am
glad to see that you are finally getting the picture, Etain, darling.

70
I knew you would come around. You see, it’s not such a bad
thing to accept your dark side….to embrace your shadow, now
is it?”(He smiles devilishly. Blight is trying to put the finishing
touches on embedding hate in her mind to attach her to his will.)
“I know that you would kill me if you could get the chance. That
is the measure of your love for me. It is so true in the end, this
perverse cruelty in humankind which causes us to destroy the
thing we love…and love what we destroy?”
Princess Etain Spoken: (Princess Etain’s
head is swooning and she appears to be hypnotized and speaks
robotically.) “I suppose it all comes to this in the end. Hate,
love…they seem to be the same thing, after all. I am beginning
to see the darker side of me is justified. The cruelty of the beast
is not something to be feared. The blood of others will always be
the salvation of the few.”
Blight Spoken: “Yes, good girl. Good girl, my
noble yet whorish slut, Etain. It pleases me to see you are
learning. You are starting to realize that it is not so strange to
sacrifice the blood of others for your own survival. It is as
natural and expected as the air you breathe and the power you
seek in obeying me.” (Blight studies her intently, savoring her
corruption. He releases her hair and speaks gently, stroking her
cheek, and she moves closer to his hand with her face, enjoying
his touch.) “Yes, dear, continue. You were making a very good
point. Please, tell me more.”

71
Princess Etain Spoken: “Why have I
avoided seeing this? You have been right all along, dear. It is
hate that moves us. It is hate that gives us passion and fuels your
touch for me, and the reason I scream with delight under your
touch….and your whip. It is hate that makes me crave your
gloved hand upon my throat when you take me in violent rapture
in your bedchamber. It has been hate all along. It makes me feel
alive!” (She is writhing with erotic passion now.)
Blight Spoken: “Yes, Etain, you are getting it
now, finally, you are getting it.” (He raises Etain out of her chair
and kisses her mouth deeply, and she kisses his with equal
strength, drawing her arms around him tightly.)
Princess Etain Spoken: “I have missed
this so much, darling. I need you so badly!” (Etain grabs
Blight’s head and begins kissing his mouth wildly and madly.)
Suddenly, there is a loud scream from outside, and a
DireLochen Sentry knocks on Princess Etains
bedchamber.
DireLochen
Sentry: (Shouting through the closed door.) “Princess Etain,
the recent Leader of The Regional Resistance has been
beheaded, as you commanded, and his head has been place on a

72
spike as an example to The Rebellion. Also, as you had
commanded. If you wish we…..” (He is cut off by Blight from
within the bedchamber.)
Blight Spoken: (Screaming at the top of his
lungs toward the closed door.) “That will be all sentry. Be
gone!”
(Upon hearing the sentry’s report, Princess Etain leaps to her
feet, broken from the Blight’s mesmeric spell.)
Princess Etain Spoken: (She speaks with
terror and anger in her voice) “My God! What has happened?
What wicked magic are you using on me?”(She moves away
from him, in disgust.) “Get away from me. What am I doing?
What have I done? Executions? Death? Heads on spikes? How
could I have fallen so far down…I hate you! I hate you!”
Blight Spoken: (Said sweetly and affectionately.)
“Yes, I know, dear, and I hate you too.” (Blight smiles darkly.)
(She runs to her bedchamber window, as Blight turns and walks
slowly to the bedchamber door. He turns as he opens the door

73
to leave, and looks back toward Princess Etain as she looks
down at the execution site, crying.)
Blight Spoken: “One more thing, my sweet. The
next time you want to kiss me, warn me ahead of time. I just
wasn’t in the mood this time, even though you were,
obviously….” (He hesitates) “… wet and dripping….” (He
laughs wickedly.)
(Princess Etain turns to him as he leaves as screams, with a
deep womanly roar.) “I hate you!”
Blight Spoken: (Spoken with a calm, reserved,
and confident tone.) “Oh, the feeling is mutual, my lovely, the
feeling is mutual.” (He grins and closes the door behind him.)
Princess Etain begins singing Tears of
Innocence while she struggles to hold
her head up and gaze out of her
Citadel Tower bedchamber window at
the spectacle below.

74
Tears of Innocence Main Song:
VERSE I:
Etain: Trapped within the Citadel
Of a truth I find so false.
I can, scarcely, hold my head up
From this crown made of shame.
So many men I’ve sent
Away to die for me,
Just because I knew that I could
Wage a war to protect my life,
Not worth living,
To reflect the strife he is giving
With my tears.
PRE-CHORUS:
Trapped where I live
With so much to give
And I only want to
Go beyond these walls.
This war that won’t hide,
Out there and inside,
And I only want to
Go beyond these
Walls!
That I’ve built around my heart,
A fortress to protect me from the
Truth inside me,
I cry all day,
With the stain of blood
On my hands.
CHORUS: Tears of Innocence I cry
Fears that make me do or die.

75
With myself, I have lain here weeping,
Because I’m guilty of breaking under the
Knife of a man
Who holds me
Just ‘cause he can.
Why resist?
It’s always his will,
As his threats
Do move my hand.
OUTRO: And I will
Always cry these tears of innocence
And I will
Always cry these tears for the innocent
And I will
Always cry these tears of innocence
And I will
Always cry these tears for the innocent.
End intro to “Picking.”
She picks up a picture portrait of Caer Blight and her when they were wed, and they
were in “love,” resting it, then, on her nightstand. She sings, “Drawn by the
Mysterious.”
Cross-cut to split chamber scene. Etain is on one side singing, and Blight is on the
other brooding over the loss of Etain and tormented by his lust for power.
Song #3b “Drawn By the Mysterious”
(Lyrics)
VERSE I:
Etain: In disbelief, I watched you change
You were so kind, and now it’s strange
To see a man fall so far down below.

76
What was it, then, that captured me?
Was it the past, some loyalty,
Gratitude, or was it just an undertow?
CHORUS: Drawn by the mysterious attraction to you.
(Part I) Drawn by what I fear most from inside of you.
Things unknown, men overthrown, and me,
I just stand by, paralyzed.
I hate the deeds that he does, but love the man.
So I fall.
VERSE I: How much is me? How much is him?
He holds the knife. I move a limb.
Disobey, and the cold caress of steel is death.
This is not love. This is not hate.
Under his spell, subordinate.
Dark and twisted, is the love we share.
CHORUS: Drawn by the mysterious attraction to you
(Part II) Drawn by what I fear most from inside me.
Someone must have taught me, well,
To love what I despise.
Hypnotized.
I hate the deeds that I do,
And shall be done.
From his hand.
Cross-cut to split Chamber scene, Etain on one side and Blight on the other, of a
plush bedchamber. They sing “Apart” but not to each other, and as a soliloquy,
separately.
Song #3c “Apart”
(Lyrics)
VERSE I:
Blight: I had touched the hand that pulls away
So, silent, gone

77
My yearning for the one who might stay with me
Far beyond the dawn.
BRIDGE: In truth, I knew that someday she would
Come, then, fly away,
Far from me,
Far from any goals that I might have had
To keep her close and near me always
Why does love envelop me?
Why does love develop at all,
If it only leads to you
And I apart?
VERSE I:
Etain: I had touched your face to feel the tracks
Of frozen tears.
They fall like birds of prey upon my fingers,
Hungry all these years.
BRIDGE: In truth, I knew that someday he would stay,
Then run away,
Feeling trapped,
Though I once was sky and the earth to him,
And all he yearned for lived in my eyes.
Why does love envelop me?
Why does love develop at all,
If it only leads to you
And I no more?
TAG I:
Both: I am so in love with you…
CHORUS: Apart from you.
Both: Forever is too short,
(Part I) And the seconds are forever,
When I gaze into your eyes,
Hoping you will never leave.
A CAPELLA: So many
(w/ Music) Nights spent in the darkness,
Wondering if you’re thinking of me
As I am of you.

78
CHORUS: When we’re apart, how,
Etain: The moments scatter.
Each time you leave, I lose my breath.
All the times that I thought you’d stay,
Flooding back through my mind.
When we’re apart.
BRIDGE: How can it be love so perfect
Etain: Falls down like trees?
Blight: How does a man like me find he’s
Brought down to his knees?
TAG I:
Both: I was so in love with you…
CHORUS: Apart from you
Both: Forever is to short,
(Part II) And the time stings, unrelenting,
When I think, to realize,
That you might not think of me.
A CAPELLA: So many
(w/ music) Things, yet left unmentioned,
Wondering if you’re thinking
Of me when I part from you.
CHORUS: When we’re apart, how, the moments scatter
Etain: Each time you leave, I lose my breath.
All the times that I thought you’d stay
Flooding back through my mind.
Blight: When we’re apart, how, how nothing matters
The time goes by like frozen rain.
All the times that I’d stayed away,
Wasted days in my life
When we’re apart...
BRIDGE: Why is it that war requires a
Etain: Husband to be away?

79
Blight: Why is it that war will make a
Wife wish for yesterday?
TAG I: War can change the way you live
Both: and how you die.
(Instr.)
CHORUS: Apart from you,
(Part III) The test of time is long,
Both: And the winds of change transform us,
Turning love to bitter lies,
As your memory of me dies.
A CAPELLA: So many
(w/ Music) Fears you’d find another,
Wondering, in my absence,
Loneliness might possess you.
Outro: When we’re apart, how, the moments scatter.
Etain: Each time you leave, I lose my breath.
All the times that I want you here.
Blight: Fantasies of you being near.
Both: Thoughts of you to survive.
Blight: When we’re apart, how, I feel the chasm
Each time we meet, we drift apart.
Etain: All we clinged to in tragedy.
Both: All dissolve in the fact
That we’re apart.

80
Scene III ends as scene IV
opens up with Branshee White
collecting Bluebells on a
country hillside, near The Mill,
in New LochLeven, with
Thady Finn spying on her.

81
Song #4a “The Bonniest Lass Among Lasses”
Cut to New LochLeven where Thady is hiding behind a tree, spying on Branshee
White, as she collects wild bluebells from the mill side, country hillside, beneath High
Loch Mountain. Then, a wandering minstrel (The River Raven Tavern Band) arrives
on the scene and sings:
“The Bonniest Lass Among Lasses”
To reflect Thady’s infatuation to Branshee. No words spoken; just scene exhibition
and song.
Thady and Branshee do not register that they are aware of The Band. They, simply,
react within the musical atmosphere that he creates with his song.
VERSE I:
The Band: So high in the lowlands where
LochLeven lay
Lives the bonniest lass among lasses.
She’s a lass that will torture your heart
If you let her
She’ll tear your whole world apart.
You sigh when you greet her
For breathtaking, though she be.
She sees through arrogant glasses.
Though you talk like a lover
Whenever she sees you,
In time, she changes your view.
CHORUS: The bonniest lass among lasses
Oh, how she stays in your mind.
The whole day and
She’s in your heart through the night.
But, you can’t escape from
The spell she casts.
TAG I: Hecuba, Hecuba, In my sight
Hecuba, Hecuba, such delight.
BRIDGE: Because she’s the potion

82
Just one drink
And you’re nearly bursting at…
at the seams.
Just like the ocean,
She gently rocks you
To give you what…..
what you really want,
In a ship tied to the beams.
TURN-
AROUND
CHORUS: The bonniest lass among lasses
Oh, how she stays in your mind.
The whole day and
She’s in your heart through the night.
But, you can’t escape from
The spell she casts.
TAG I: Hecuba, Hecuba, In my sight
Hecuba, Hecuba, such de—
light…
The bonniest lass among lasses.
Go right into the next song with Banshee White singing.

83
Song 4b: “Roses, Diamonds, and Furs”
VERSE I:
Branshee
White: All I want is a big strong house, with a big strong lad of my own.
Ten diamond rings, and ten thousand things that I own,
Including ten servants.
A husband soon to mayor.
Tag: And they will kiss my ring and courtesy as I walk.
CHORUS: Roses, diamonds, and furs.
Such things a girl prefers to make her happy.
Clothes and shimmering pearls.
Royal Barons and Earls, so stout and sappy.
Tag: Why I should I make do with less than everything?
BRIDGE: I want a view of the town from so high above.
I want an elegant gown from some bon vivant.
Outro: And the man who gives me these,
I will surely love!
VERSE II: All I want is an easy breeze and a break from the battering storm.
But, all I get is your arguments.
Can we ever be in concordance?
Won’t you come up for some air?
Tag: And though sometimes your right, I just can’t fight you anymore.
CHORUS: Roses, diamonds, and furs.
Such things a girl prefers to make her happy.

84
Clothes and shimmering pearls.
Royal Barons and Earls, so stout and sappy
Tag: Why I should I make do with less than everything?
BRIDGE: I want to walk in the rain in my diamond shoes.
I want to see all the world from an ocean cruise.
Outro: And the man who gives me these,
I will surely love!
Song #5 “When I’m With You”
(Pre-Song Dialogue)
Thady holding bouquet of flowers for Branshee.
Open scene with Thady spying on Branshee White (in same manner as Caer Blight
with Etain, 2000 years in the past) while she collects Bluebells on the hillside, for her
basket, to sell at market.
He looks on at her, smitten with infatuation. Eventually, he steps out from hiding to
reveal himself.
Thady: “Aloooh, there, Branshee White! Collecting Bluebells, again, I see.”
Branshee: (Turns toward him, a little startled) “Oh, Thady, you scared me. How
long have you been standing there, spying on me?”
Thady: “Spying? Who, me, spying on you? What-ever makes you say that?”

85
Branshee: “Well, it might have something to do with this.” (Holds up a carving
knife)
Thady: “Hey, where did you get that? That’s mine.” (Checks to find empty knife
sheath hanging from his belt loop)
Branshee: “You dropped it last time you were spying on me.” (Frowns)
Thady: (Grinning nervously) “I must have dropped it when I was collecting
mushrooms last morning for mother’s stew.” (Now, acting innocent)
Branshee: “Hmmm, what word rhymes with spying?....Hmmmmm, let’s see…
buying, tying, crying…hmmm, wait…there’s another word I’m looking
for…Oh, I…darn, I just had it…”
Thady: (Playing along) “Lying.”
Branshee: “Yes! That’s it! Lying! You’re a genius!”
Thady: “Okay, okay. I get the point.” (Solemnly)
Branshee: (Looking at him deadly, seriously)
Thady: “What? So I was spying on you a few second before I said hello, so
what?”
Branshee: (Still staring without humor) “Listen, Thady Finn, and you listen good.
Some LochLeven lads think that when a girl says “no” she means “yes.”
But guess what? “No” actually means…”
Thady: “Yes!” (Hopefully, and gleefully, playfully)
Branshee: (Even more seriously now) “Do I look like I’m playing?” (Stares at
him)
Thady: “You look like you are contemplating a homicide, to be truthful. Okay,
okay, “no” means “no.”
Branshee: “Yes.”
Thady: “I knew it!” It means “yes!” (Pointing to her)
Branshee: “Okay, we’re about through here, I think.” (Fed up)

86
Thady: “But…”
Branshee: “Hey, you can save it, okay! Save the jokes, save the wit, save the
flirtations for a lass who likes you, and that ain’t me!”
Thady: “Oh, Branshee, you could do a lot worse than me, you know. I’m not so
bad.”
Branshee: “That’s highly debatable.”
Thady: “In fact, not bad, at all.” (Self-assured poise to regain self-esteem)
Branshee: “Okay, not bad, but not right, not right for me. I have royal Elvin blood
flowing through my veins and my father is a Lord of Houses, a
dignitary. You’re father is a simple miller, a peasant, and you are his
son, about as right for me as black bread for a duchess.”
Thady: “I won’t always be a miller’s son. I am going to make something of
myself, and I will be able to give you anything that you could desire.”
(Earnestly)
Branshee: (Stares at him in disbelief) “Did I mention, we are through, here?”
(Points, quickly, between the two of them)
Thady: “Hmmm, I don’t recall.” (Undying playfulness)
Thady sings song #4b “When I’m With You”
Song #4b “When I’m With You”
Lyrics
VERSE I:
Thady: When I’m with you,
The clouds seems to
Melt and drift,
Revealing the sun.
With you in my view,
Nothing seems to matter,
But this view
I have won.

Captured Final Libretto

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