Damsel Page #15

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RAPUNZEL (CONT’D)

She can hear you Edward. Will you

confess?

KING EDWARD:

I am so sorry Marie.

86.

Marie musters the strength.

QUEEN MARIE:

Please, let Cavill go, he is not

his father.

RAPUNZEL:

But, with him, his father’s name

will end.

The spider buries its fangs into the queen’s neck. Her veins

become black, pulsing under her skin.

Marie’s breath grows thin, her eyes become glossy.

The vines vanish in black ash, allowing Marie to fall to her

knees.

Edward rushes to his wife and holds her close, while she

dies.

QUEEN MARIE:

You are a villain in this, as much

as she.

KING EDWARD:

I am sorry Marie. I am so sorry.

His lips quiver, his eyes well with rage. Marie manages her

dying wish in her final breath.

QUEEN MARIE:

Cavill is Thessia’s only hope. The

white fortress in the southern

mountains. Now, go and save our

son.

The Queen’s face becomes ghostly white. Her veins entirely

black with poison. She’s gone.

Rapunzel’s eyes dart to-and-fro. Manic. Something deep

inside her regrets Marie’s murder. It’s difficult for her to

watch the innocent woman die.

RAPUNZEL:

I have thought long on how I might

have you understand what you have

stolen from me. It is important

that I see your face while you

watch everything you love whither

and die. It will happen for you

again, with your son and with your

kingdom.

(MORE)

87.

RAPUNZEL (CONT'D)

When you have lost it all, you will

begin to understand loneliness. I

will leave you to rot in the very

cell where you left me. You will

spend the rest of your years alone

with your thoughts. Your own

faults will haunt you. They will

be your torture. Only then will

you begin to understand.

Rapunzel is gone.

King Edward cries out a guttural cry of anguish.

CUT TO:

EXT. SOUTHERN PINE FOREST - NIGHT

The knights in silver armor march. The golden lion of

Thessia on their shields.

A front-line of hundreds.

They make their path through the trees, toward the queen’s

Ivory Fortress in the south.

CUT TO:

EXT. REDWOOD FOREST - SOUTH - RIVER BANK - MORNING

Elise is wrapped in a blanket. Her boots sit near a blazing

fire.

She’s out cold. Still wet.

She coughs, rolls to her side, struggles to open her eyes.

Beaten.

Gilbert is crouched next to her. Mud covers the place where

his cheek was bashed.

GILBERT:

Good morning.

Elise sits up. She cringes in pain and breaks free of the

tightly wrapped blanket.

She holds her ribs.

GILBERT (CONT’D)

You fell over the waterfall.

88.

ELISE:

You came and found me?

GILBERT:

Yes.

ELISE:

How long have you been following

me?

GILBERT:

You left without saying goodbye.

ELISE:

I knew you’d demand to come.

Elise notices her belongings sitting next to a nearby tree.

No quiver. No bow. No necklace.

ELISE (CONT’D)

What happened to your face?

GILBERT:

The big one with the hammer got me.

Elise sorts through her bag. Her hatchet, cloth, the flint,

the twine.

Elise finds the bloody knife that she used to take Fishel

down.

Examines it. Guilty. Gilbert catches on.

GILBERT (CONT’D)

They would have killed you.

ELISE:

I know.

GILBERT:

Or worse.

The weight of murder clearly effects Elise more than Gilbert.

GILBERT (CONT’D)

All I got was the bag. I was

terrified. Worried that you had

drowned.

His face says it all. Terrified is an understatement.

She puts her hand on his.

89.

ELISE:

You saved my life.

Their eyes lock.

ELISE (CONT’D)

Thank you.

She inspects their surroundings. The high waterfall, from a

cliff that separates the land, as far as she can see.

There’s no going back.

ELISE (CONT’D)

Hand me my boots?

He does.

She slides the carving knife into the sheath and pulls them

on. Struggles to stand.

The ache gets her, she limps.

Elise throws her bag over her shoulder.

ELISE (CONT’D)

You are a long way from the camp.

She turns her back on the river and makes her way south. The

towering trees of the redwood forest.

EXT. REDWOOD FOREST - SOUTH - CONTINUOUS

Elise and Gilbert are dwarfed by the colossus trees.

GILBERT:

Elise, the reason I followed you-

He tries to find the right words.

GILBERT (CONT’D)

The way our conversation ended-

A confession.

GILBERT (CONT’D)

I remember more about my brother

than I have told you.

Her pace slows.

90.

GILBERT (CONT’D)

He was a prince. My father, the

king of our land.

Elise stops in her tracks. Puzzled.

GILBERT (CONT’D)

One day, my brother spoke of a

strange voice calling him to a

distant world.

ELISE:

Rapunzel.

GILBERT:

She took him. When my father

finally found him, it was too late.

It’s hard for him to say.

GILBERT (CONT’D)

She didn’t stop with my brother.

She murdered my father and mother.

She burned our kingdom to the

ground with an army of darkness. I

escaped with my life. But, she

murdered thousands. Everyone I

knew.

Elise comes to know the breadth of Rapunzel’s wrath.

ELISE:

So it is not just King Edward. Not

just Thessia.

He takes her hand. Elise feels an emotional spark in his

touch.

ELISE (CONT’D)

Who am I to stand against her

darkness. How can I face something

so powerful?

They connect. Electric.

GILBERT:

If something were to have happened

to you and our last conversation to

have been the one under the stars-

The moment hangs too long, her feelings for Gilbert are

exposed.

91.

GILBERT (CONT’D)

I will not let you face it alone.

She buries her head against his chest.

ELISE:

I am glad you are here.

CUT TO:

EXT. REDWOOD FOREST - SOUTH - NIGHT

Night has fallen over the redwood forest.

Elise and Gilbert hurry south, trying to make better time.

The wind gives way to the mysterious whisper.

SPIRIT (O.S.)

an mbealach seo

Louder now.

SPIRIT (O.S.) (CONT’D)

go tapa. an mbealach seo

ELISE:

Do you hear that?

He squints, intently. Hears. His eyes widen.

SPIRIT (O.S.)

go tapa. go tapa. go tapa.

GILBERT:

What is it?

They change directions. Following the voice.

SPIRIT (O.S.)

an mbealach seo.

It swirls around them, echoing, drawing them further into the

east.

They make it a couple hundred yards before they hear a

strange ringing. A familiar, ethereal tone.

They continue. Several moments pass before they see a faint

glow in the distance.

The strange ghostly glow from the center of a clearing.

92.

SPIRIT (O.S.) (CONT’D)

teacht. teacht. an mbealach seo.

GILBERT:

What is it?

EXT. FORBIDDEN GARDEN - CONTINUOUS

Elise and Gilbert stand at the edge of the clearing.

Behind them, the redwood forest, before them, the lush garden

of smooth grass and white flowered vines. Yellow fireflies

dance.

The remarkable tree, at the center of the garden. It

emanates its etherial tone.

Its ghostly, unconsuming flame dances among the twisted

branches of white.

They are in awe. Taken aback.

ELISE:

It cannot be.

Elise leads the way into the garden.

GILBERT:

What is it?

They look on the site’s glory. Something few have ever seen.

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