The Man in the Iron Mask Page #20

INT. BASTILLE - LATER

The two guards and the blacksmith are coming downstairs after

completing their work. Far above them, in the prison tower,

the cries of the prisoner echo; he sounds like a raving

madman now.

The two guards and the blacksmith enter an office at the base

of the tower; the BASTILLE JAILER looks up.

BLACKSMITH:

Pay me quick, I want out of here.

Soldiers, swords drawn, appear in the doorway behind them.

GUARDS:

What --

BASTILLE JAILER:

You saw the prisoner's face.

Understanding, the blacksmith raises his hammer toward the

soldiers; but he is stabbed in the back by the jailer, and

the soldiers skewer the two guards who helped him. A soldier

lifts the jeweled key from the hand of a dead guard.

THE KEY:

is handed to the King by Andre, the young Lieutenant. Louis

hangs the key around his own neck, with a thin gold chain.

LOUIS:

Now. Where is d'Artagnan?

LIEUTENANT:

Out directing the search for the

traitors.

LOUIS:

When he returns, watch him. When he

leaves again, you tell me.

The Lieutenant bows. Louis smiles, and fingers the key.

EXT. PARIS STREETS - NIGHT

Squads of young Musketeers gallop along the river, and

through the dark streets around it, searching...

ALONG THE BACK WALL OF NOTRE DAME CATHEDRAL, three forms

scurry through the darkness: Aramis, Porthos and Athos,

heaving, wheezing. They duck into a niche of the wall to

avoid capture from another patrol galloping by. Then Aramis

unlocks a door in the cathedral wall and they stagger in.

INT. CATACOMBS

The three Musketeers struggle through the catacombs, reach

the chapel, and fall gasping to the floor.

ARAMIS:

Bloody hell...

ATHOS:

We can't... stay here. That traitor

d'Artagnan... knows about this

place.

PORTHOS:

Can we eat... before we go? This

excitement's given me an appetite.

ARAMIS:

Bread and wine... in that cupboard.

Porthos hauls himself to his feet and turns up the wick of

the lantern. The rising light reveals a note, stuck to the

cupboard with the blade of a dagger.

PORTHOS:

A note. Pinned with a dagger, like

the old days.

He removes the note, and reads...

PORTHOS:

"Phillippe has been removed to the

Bastille, to the lower dungeon. At

midnight tonight I will order the

guard changed, and will delay the

replacements for ten minutes. That

should give you ample time. Never

have I needed more to say: One for

all, and all for one. D'Artagnan."

ATHOS:

He lures us to capture.

ARAMIS:

He seeks redemption.

ATHOS:

You're a fool!

ARAMIS:

Perhaps. But of d'Artagnan I am

certain. What he did tonight was

what he told us all along he would

do -- be faithful to his King.

ATHOS:

So what has changed?

ARAMIS:

Perhaps he serves a different king.

PORTHOS:

What choice is there? If Phillippe

is in the Bastille, then to the

Bastille we will go.

ATHOS:

You are right. But it is a trap.

PORTHOS:

So what? I'd rather die covered in

blood, than an old man, lying in my

own piss.

ARAMIS:

Then to the Bastille.

ATHOS:

To the Bastille. And death.

EXT. BASTILLE - NIGHT

The stone walls rising into the Paris night seem to ooze

evil. The building looks impossible to get into, much less

get out of; its doors appear to be solid blocks of wood,

encased in stone ramparts.

We hear a sharp, echoing KNOCK; Aramis, Athos, and Porthos

stand outside the main entrance, Athos slumped between the

other two like a beaten captive being delivered to jail.

No one answers their knock; the three Musketeers exchange

doubtful glance, and Porthos knocks again. A guard inside

slides open a view port of the massive door.

PORTHOS:

Open up! We have a prisoner!

The port shuts, bolts rattle, and the great door heaves open.

The Musketeers glance at each other again, and play their

roles, Aramis and Porthos dragging Athos inside.

INT. THE BASTILLE - MAIN COURTYARD - NIGHT

The prison courtyard is murky in the darkness, and ringed by

doors leading into mazes of corridors to its dungeons.

GUARD:

Take him down to level three. The

Captain will see to the documents.

Aramis and Porthos drag Athos into one of the shadowy portals

surrounding the courtyard.

INT. BASTILLE - VARIOUS SHOTS - NIGHT

The three Musketeers duck into the inky shadows; Aramis cuts

the bonds that hold Athos' hands, and gives him the extra

sword he had beneath his cloak.

PORTHOS:

It worked!

ATHOS:

It's a prison, you idiot! They

don't expect anyone to try getting

in! The problem will come when we

want out!

Aramis shushes them, and leads them into another quiet

corridor. They hear the distant bells of a church, then

suddenly they must scramble, as a platoon of guards carrying

torches troop up stairs into the corridor; the Musketeers

dart like rats into dark nooks; as the guards pass, the

Musketeers huddle, and the bells end their tolling.

ARAMIS:

Midnight! We have ten minutes!

They press on, deeper into the Bastille.

INT. PALACE - ANNE'S ROOM - NIGHT

Anne moves to the window, where she starts to kneel for her

nightly prayer; but she stops. Outside in the garden, far

below her window, is d'Artagnan on horseback, waiting. Their

eyes connect. He has a single rose in his hand. Never

taking his eyes from her, he places the rose on the stone

bench of the garden, and reins his horse away.

Then she understands what he was trying to tell her before,

in the hallway; it was goodbye.

EXT. PALACE GARDEN - NIGHT

D'Artagnan rides away quickly, passing -- without seeing --

Lieutenant Andre, who has been watching him.

EXT. PARIS STREETS - NIGHT

Through the night d'Artagnan gallops. We see his destination

in the distance:
the Bastille.

EXT. THE PALACE GATES - NIGHT

The great gates of the palace swing slowly open, and out ride

a whole platoon of young Musketeers, surrounding Louis

himself, on horseback and dressed like a soldier.

INT. THE BASTILLE - VARIOUS SHOTS

The three Musketeers scramble down a flight of stairs,

through another corridor, down another stairway. They pass

cells; wretched prisoners look up, but none of them is

Phillippe. Then the Musketeers surprise a JAILER.

JAILER:

Hey...!

But before the man can say anything else, Porthos has crushed

him like a bug against the wall. They rip the huge ring of

keys from the jailer's waist, and take his torch.

PHILLIPPE'S CELL

He lies on the floor; he sees the light of a torch, coming to

him like sunrise... and then he hears a voice --

ATHOS:

Phillippe...?

PHILLIPPE:

How did you --

They open the door and release him -- from the cell, but not

from the mask. He tries to hug Athos.

They head back the way they came.

EXT. PARIS STREETS - NIGHT

Louis and his platoon of young Musketeers ride through the

streets, scattering the paupers who sleep there.

INT. BASTILLE - VARIOUS SHOTS - NIGHT

Back up the stairs... through one corridor... they start up

the second flight of stairs, then stop and scramble back.

ARAMIS:

(whispering)

Someone's coming!

They take cover on either side of the corridor, and lift

their swords. It's a man coming down the stairs, with a

hooded lantern... they raise their swords to strike --

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