Braveheart Page #14

LONGSHANKS:

You weak little coward! Stand up!

Longshanks jerks him to his feet.

LONGSHANKS:

I go to France to press our rights

there! I leave you to handle this

little rebellion, do you understand?

DO YOU?!

Longshanks grabs his son by the throat.

LONGSHANKS:

And turn yourself into a man.

The king leaves. The friends of the humiliated Prince hurry

to him and lift him; as the Princess moves to him too...

EDWARD:

Get away from me!

He slaps her! Her personal guards, Frenchmen in distinctive

uniforms, jump from their seats at the edge of the garden,

but the Princess raises a hand to show she needs no

assistance, and curtseys to Edward, who shouts --

EDWARD:

Convene my military council!

As Edward marches off with his entourage, NICOLETTE, a

beautiful raven-haired Handmaiden, rushes to the Princess,

who is wobbly, hurt more than she let show. Nicolette whispers

to her in French, with subtitles...

NICOLETTE:

They say this Wallace killed thirty

men to avenge the death of his woman.

I hope your husband goes to Scotland.

Then you'll be a widow.

INT. BRUCE'S CASTLE - BEDCHAMBER - NIGHT

Robert the Bruce is in bed with a young Nordic beauty with

vacant blue eyes. She drowses; but the lovemaking has not

defused the restlessness of Robert's spirit. He lies on his

stomach, turned away from her on the bed. Stirring, she kisses

his neck; but he doesn't respond.

WOMAN:

I wanted to please you.

ROBERT:

You did.

But he is numb as she nuzzles him again. She sags back, and

he still stares away, lost in thought. Realizing her hurt,

he explains...

ROBERT:

In Lanark village, the king's soldiers

killed a girl. Her lover fought his

way through the soldiers and killed

the magistrate.

She looks at him blankly.

ROBERT:

He rebelled. He rebelled. He acted.

He fought! Was it rage? Pride? Love?

Whatever it was, he has more of it

than I.

WOMAN:

(hurt)

You might have lied.

ROBERT:

I'm too arrogant to lie.

CLOSE - ROBERT THE BRUCE

On his FACE as he moves grimly up a dark castle staircase.

He follows a servant who carries a candle against the gloom.

They reach a door, which the servant unlocks. Young Robert

takes the candle, and enters --

A DARKENED ROOM:

Robert wills himself forward, and places the candle on a

table in the center of the room. A SHUFFLE in the dark; then

moving into the light is a LEPER whose once-noble features

are decaying with the disease. Isolated in his disfiguration,

he looks at his visitor -- his son -- with the eyes of the

condemned. Young Robert forces himself not to look away.

ROBERT THE BRUCE

Father. A rebellion has begun.

THE LEPER:

Under whom?

ROBERT:

A commoner named William Wallace.

THE LEPER:

A commoner? So no one leads Scotland?

The old man thinks, and points a half finger at his son.

THE LEPER:

You will embrace this rebellion.

Support it, from our lands in the

north. I will gain English favor by

condemning it and ordering it opposed

from our lands in the south. Whichever

way the tide runs, we will rise.

ROBERT:

This Wallace. He doesn't even have a

knighthood. But he fights with

passion, and he is clever. He inspires

men.

THE LEPER:

You admire him. Uncompromising men

are easy to admire. He has courage.

So does a dog. But you must understand

this:
Edward Longshanks is the most

ruthless king ever to sit on the

throne of England, and none of us,

and nothing of Scotland, will survive

unless we are as ruthless, more

ruthless, than he.

Young Bruce rises heavily, and moves to the door.

THE LEPER:

Press your case to the nobles. They

will choose who rules Scotland.

With a last long look at his father, Robert leaves.

EXT. SCOTLAND - MONTAGE - DAY

-- Troops ride through the countryside, intimidating and

questioning civilians; all refuse to talk.

-- Wallace's house burns, as soldiers dig up the graves of

his father and brother, and scatter their bones to dogs.

-- The English search through the woods, finding nothing.

EXT. WALLACE LANDS - NIGHT

William and Hamish ride, to see the damage. They find the

smoking ruins, and the defiled family graves.

HAMISH:

Ah, William... I am so sorry.

William is struck by an awful, urgent thought...

EXT. UNDERBRUSH NEAR MARION'S GRAVE - DUSK

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