Attila Page #5

of his brother.

Therefore, I am the rightful king.

To what purpose? To be paid

for fighting in the service of Rome

or some other nation?

We will live

as Huns have always lived.

What else should we do?

We should rule the world!

You'd have us attack Rome?

No.

(Bleda ) He has been bought off.

Besides, he has a whore in Rome

who calls herself a princess.

If we attack Rome,

we leave our flanks open.

We will return

to find our villages burned

and our women gone.

(Priest) You've said

what we should not do,

but you've not said

what we should do.

Attack north... Pannonia and beyond.

- Attack our own people?!

- Not of our tribe.

But Huns nonetheless,

and we've been at peace

for many years.

And war will come again,

as it always has.

You all know the ancient prophecy.

A conqueror will rise among us.

The one who finds

the war god's sword.

Have you found this sword?

No.

Then your words are empty.

I will give a different sign.

I say you murdered Rua,

and are not fit to take his place.

And I say you lie.

Then we'll meet tomorrow

when the sun awakens.

Let the strongest prevail.

And that will be the sign.

He will tip his arrows with poison.

If I die of poison, the tribe

will kill him. He knows that.

This poison leaves no sign.

How would Bleda get such a poison?

You?

Galen...

What evil have you worked for him?

Did he poison Rua?

Bleda swore he'd kill me

if I didn't help.

Besides, I knew it would

bring you back from Rome.

- I would have come back anyway!

- My visions...

- Your visions!

- I was right to do what I did.

This time tomorrow you'll be king.

- Give me some of your poison!

- I have none.

There are no more mushrooms.

I've been looking for weeks.

Then you've not only killed Rua,

you've killed me.

No. If the poison enters you,

I'll draw it out.

How? Will you be riding next to me

on a horse of your own?

Attila, find the sword.

If you have the sword,

nothing can touch you.

Nobody has found it

in a hundred years.

How am I supposed to find it

before sunrise?

I'm through with you, woman.

Never speak to me again.

Hyah! Hyah! Come on!

(Chanting)

Powers of earth and sky, be true

to the visions you have shown me.

Give Galen's strength to Attila

and Attila's pain to Galen.

(Groaning)

(Groans )

(Grunting)

Hyah!

(Gasps )

Hah!

Ha. Ha.

(Gasps )

(Screams )

(Chanting)

Give Galen's strength to Attila

and Attila's pain to Galen.

- Hyah! Hyah!

- Hah!

(Chanting) Attila! Attila! Attila!

(Chanting continues )

(Crack)

(Yells)

(Valentinian )

Aetius, what are the Huns up to?

Attila is attacking

to the north of Pannonia, sire.

Didn't you say there were just...

just more Huns to the north?

Then he's fighting his own people.

Well done, Aetius.

All to your greater glory, Majesty.

You may fool an inexperienced youth,

but you know that Attila

isn't just attacking the Huns.

- He's uniting them.

- At least he's not fighting us.

But if he ever does,

the danger is twice as great.

He will not attack Rome.

He'll attack the Germans,

the Eastern Empire, but not Rome.

How can you be sure?

In Rome, he saw things

he'd never dreamed of.

I saw doubt grow in his eyes.

He came certain he could defeat us.

He left uncertain.

- And there's one other factor.

- What's that?

Attacking Rome

would mean attacking me,

and that, he will never do.

- And if something happens to you?

- We'll have to see that it doesn't.

Wine, anyone?

We miss you, Galen.

I wonder if

she still has her visions.

She had a vision about this place.

- Near my old village.

- She's the reason I claimed it.

That's why I buried her here.

(N'Kara ) Will you go away again?

(Attila ) It depends

what my scouts say.

(N'Kara ) You'll attack

Constantinople?

Not the city itself.

Not at first anyway.

But the provinces are rich.

Can't you postpone it?

N'Kara, I have only

just begun to build my empire.

I have to think of the future.

I am thinking of the future.

A king must teach

his prince how to govern.

Prince?

The midwives

confirmed it this morning.

- I hope it will be a boy.

- Oh, it will! I know it will!

(Laughing)

Why doesn't he come?

If he doesn't come soon,

you will die.

A baby cannot be hurried,

even for a king.

He will come when he comes.

Just see that he comes safely!

Oh, you gods.

Make it a boy.

Make it a boy.

Make him strong.

A boy, Your Majesty.

Yes.

The son of a king.

And N'Kara?

N'Kara.

You have your prince.

Teach him well.

No.

No!

(Thunder)

Was this part of your vision?!

Was this part of your vision,

and you didn't tell me?!

I curse you, Galen!

- And I curse you, gods!

- (Thunder crashes )

(Grunting)

(Yelling)

Kneel!

Kneel before your new king.

Submit to him!

(Woman ) The messenger said

the campaign was successful.

Yes. The city fell quickly.

The new siege engines worked

even better than I'd hoped.

I'm glad.

- You're well?

- Yes.

- You were obeyed in my absence?

- Yes.

- And my other wives?

- Also well, my lord.

Good.

Where's my son?

You have many sons, my lord.

Of which do you speak?

The eldest.

You have a dozen wives,

twice that many children.

And yet, all of us taken together

don't pleasure you

as much as he does.

- He's my first-born.

- And child of the red-haired woman.

I hold court this afternoon.

In the meantime, I wish to rest.

Attila...

I missed you.

It's good to be back.

Attila...

King of the Huns,

lord of all lands from

the frozen ocean to the Black Sea,

from the River Rhine

to the mountains of the East.

Our Great King graciously

gives you leave to rise.

I am King Canute of the Finns.

We welcome you as a friend

and as a loyal subject.

I bring tribute. Furs, gold

and silver, spices and perfumes.

In the name of my people,

I accept the tribute.

I am King Meloch of the Parthians.

I beg you to settle a dispute

between myself

and King Omar of Scythia.

- Concerning what?

- The boundary between our nations.

- Where is Omar?

- He arrives tomorrow.

Justice requires that

I hear both parties at once.

Yes, but if you only...

Yes...Great King. Tomorrow.

Attila. Attila.

Attila.

He's all I hear about.

I thought we were finished with him.

No such luck, Majesty. He's still

here and stronger than ever.

As long as he doesn't trouble us.

But he troubles the rest

of the world, and they trouble us.

Pleas for help

from Scythia, Alericum, Moesia,

and from Theodosius himself.

"From Theodosius,

Emperor of the East,

"to his beloved nephew,

Valentinian.

"I beseech you, send aid,

we are overrun by the Huns."

Overrun.

He exaggerates. The walls of

Constantinople are 20 feet thick.

But dozens of smaller cities

have fallen.

The provinces are stripped bare.

Attila demands 3,000lbs of gold

to remove his troops.

A Roman emperor, subject to

extortion like a common shopkeeper.

(Placidia ) And if

Constantinople falls,

there will be nothing left

for Attila to conquer but us.

Aetius, you said if he threatened

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