Damsel Page #8

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43.

She finally finds a jar of twisted white twigs. She opens

it, removes one and throws it into the stone bowl.

She hobbles toward Marie and hands the queen the bowl of

ingredients.

Hawk feathers, black moss, mushrooms and the white twig.

The witch removes a knife from the table.

WITCH OF THE WILDERNESS (CONT’D)

I’ll need blood.

The queen shifts uneasily as the witch takes her hand.

WITCH OF THE WILDERNESS (CONT’D)

You are connected in blood.

Marie steadies the bowl under her other hand, cringing as the

witch runs a cut across her palm.

WITCH OF THE WILDERNESS (CONT’D)

In the bowl.

The red liquid drips from the laceration in Marie’s hand,

over the ingredients of the bowl.

The mysterious woman returns the knife to the table and

removes her blindfold.

Her eyes are scarred shut. She turns the blindfold on Marie,

who lowers her head, allowing the vagrant to tie the cloth

around her face.

The witch sparks a flint stone over the bowl and it begins to

burn. Smoke rises.

She wafts the smoke under Marie’s nose.

WITCH OF THE WILDERNESS (CONT’D)

Calm. Calm. Silence.

Moments pass. A light hum pierces the air. Marie raises her

chin, working to distinguish the images in her mind.

WITCH OF THE WILDERNESS (CONT’D)

The soul. The blood. Connected.

Eternal.

QUEEN MARIE:

I see Thessia. The castle.

44.

WITCH OF THE WILDERNESS

Go beyond what you know. Let your

mind sleep.

The ringing grows. The witch continues to sway the burning

bowl under Marie’s nose.

WITCH OF THE WILDERNESS (CONT’D)

Breath.

Marie takes a deep breath.

WITCH OF THE WILDERNESS (CONT’D)

Be the air. Around you. Grow.

Around the trees. In the distance.

The sky. Grow farther.

QUEEN MARIE:

I see a forest of titan trees.

Red.

WITCH OF THE WILDERNESS

Think on your son. Think on his

face. What do you see?

Marie smiles.

QUEEN MARIE:

His smile.

WITCH OF THE WILDERNESS

Beyond what you know. What does he

feel? Now?

Marie frowns at first, feeling silence from him. Thinking it

could be death.

QUEEN MARIE:

Quiet. Silence.

WITCH OF THE WILDERNESS

Now feel what he does.

Marie goes silent.

WITCH OF THE WILDERNESS (CONT’D)

What does he remember?

The ringing grows in Marie’s ears. It’s piercing. A

culmination of sound until

45.

QUEEN MARIE:

I see a white fortress. That is

where she holds him! The southern

mountains.

The queen removes her blindfold.

QUEEN MARIE (CONT’D)

He is alive!

CUT TO:

EXT. SOUTHERN PINE FOREST - DAY

Elise moves briskly through the descending terrain.

A blood-red cardinal lands on a nearby branch.

In the distance, Elise spots a buck. Six points, like the

one she’d nearly downed when the prince interrupted her.

She pauses in her place. Draws an arrow.

Steadies.

A vicious snarl comes from her blind-side.

She cautiously turns. A dire wolf. Black. Twice her size.

Saliva trembles in the aggressive breath of the beast’s

exposed fangs.

It lunges. She spins, releasing the arrow into its throat,

moments before its teeth are on her.

It falls.

Knowing the dire wolf, a pack animal, she readies another

arrow.

Scans the terrain.

Another stalks toward her from over a high rock. A short

distance ahead. Another flanks on her right.

A final joins from the left.

They notice when the buck scampers away, but their sites are

on Elise now.

She aims at the center, closest, wolf.

46.

It snarls and snaps. Leaping from the high rock, pursuing

her with all of its vicious might.

She releases the arrow into the wolf. It falls dead.

She draws and launches another arrow, barely having time to

finish the third attacking wolf.

She draws another arrow, aiming it at the final dire wolf.

The wolf is calm. It makes human-like eye contact.

Elise lowers her bow, her arrow still cocked.

She allows the animal its choice.

The wolf watches her as it walks away.

CUT TO:

EXT. PINE FOREST - RIVER BANK - LATER THAT DAY

A pale grey sky floats above. The air is dry and frigid.

Elise’s heavy breath turns to steam as she walks, briskly.

She comes a still river. Removes her pack. Breaths into her

palms.

She eyes the water with dismay before removing her vest and

then her cotton shirt.

Her long, thin, back is bare.

She puts the vest on without the shirt. Rolls the shirt into

her bag. Removes her boots.

She ties her hair up with a length of twine.

She hoists her bag and boots over her head and forges across

the cold river.

Her quiver and bow, still strapped across her body.

She’s up to her chest in water.

Finally, at the other side, she drops her boots and bag.

Shivering.

CUT TO:

47.

EXT. PINE FOREST - RIVER BANK - THAT NIGHT

Elise’s vest and pants are draped over a branch.

below dries them. She’s wrapped in her blanket.

The fire

A pack of coyotes laugh in the distance.

Elise’s eyes are full of sorrow.

with Braun. Her father.

Far from home. Her fight

She allows herself to break. Feeling alone, she remembers a

prayer.

ELISE:

What is far, will soon be near. I

will not fear what I am bound to

face. I will not want for what I

soon, will have. Though, I am

blind in darkness and the paths are

many, my guide is true. Though the

weight is heavy, I do not bear it

alone. Though my heart shys from

the struggle, I will fight through

the current. Against the

adversary, I will stand strong, for

I do not stand alone.

CUT TO:

INT. CASTLE THESSIA - WAR ROOM - NIGHT

A stone fortress, spare of furnishings. A giant table at the

center. A large map lies unfurled, orange in the flickering

torch light.

Red tapestries with the king’s golden lion insignia hang.

Edward stands a short distance from his wife, whose back is

turned.

He oozes contempt. Eyes ablaze.

KING EDWARD:

Do you think you are not watched at

every second of every hour?

Especially now!

He explodes, bringing his hand hard into the wooden table.

48.

KING EDWARD (CONT’D)

Do you think, I would send men at

the suggestion of an insane,

vagrant woman who makes her home in

a swamp?

Marie lowers her eyes. Edward encroaches. Spins her by her

shoulder so that she faces him.

Edward takes hold of her bandaged hand. Blooded by the

witch.

KING EDWARD (CONT’D)

It is unbecoming of the queen to

have dealings with a pagan. You

will be labelled a heretic, they

will demand your head on a stake!

He squeezes. She cringes as her hand buckles in his grip.

KING EDWARD (CONT’D)

Am I not doing everything I can,

Marie? How am I to control a

kingdom, if I cannot control my

wife?

Marie pushes Edward, freeing herself.

QUEEN MARIE:

You have failed to find Cavill! He

waits in the southern mountains in

a fortress of white. Go and save

my son, before it is too late!

Edward is unbending. Rigid.

KING EDWARD:

I have sent trained scouts. Search

parties. I will find Cavill

through honest means, from a

trustworthy source and when that

occurs. I will send my legions to

have my heir returned.

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