The Mists of Avalon Page #5

---

You like to throw yourself into the fray,

come what may.

You must think me a simple man, indeed.

Lancelot!

Guinevere!

-Are you hurt, my lady?

-No. I'm fine.

But you risked your life for me.

it's my duty.

Your devotion moves me.

My devotion has no end, my lady.

l must confess something, to be rid of it.

Then we must say nothing more.

l dreamt of you in Glastonbury.

You opened a curtain into Avalon

and lifted me in.

it wasn't a dream.

l was there with Morgaine.

She lifted you in.

But l asked her to do it.

So you felt it, too?

But l am sworn to Arthur.

As am l.

So we have nothing to confess.

But l have sinned with you in my thoughts.

Thoughts are not deeds.

The Bishop says, ''To think is to do.''

My thoughts don't answer to the Bishop.

lf they did,

l would burn in hell a thousand years...

...every time l see you walk past.

Hell is very real to me.

We must do nothing about this.

Are you listening to me?

Swear.

-Swear what?

-To do nothing.

l don't intend to sin against my king.

Why, then, won't you swear?

There will be nothing between us.

Will there, my love?

I'm afraid.

Of course you are.

But don't worry.

l used it myself, before l was married.

it even has a pleasant taste.

Now, take your medicine.

Drink, Morgaine.

You'll be free.

Drink.

What are you doing?

She's carrying a child she doesn't want.

I'm helping her to get rid of it.

Leave us, Morgause.

I'm not an infant,

crawling at your skirts, Viviane.

Nor am l one of your adoring priestesses.

I'm a queen in my own right,

wife of Lot of Orkney.

You do not order me to go or stay.

l said, ''Leave us.''

How could you do this to me? To us?

l never intended for you to know.

Well, l do know now.

How could you have arranged

for such an abomination?

it is my sacred charge, Morgaine.

You and Arthur

are the last remaining links...

...between this land and the world of mists.

Those links are becoming weaker

with every year.

l must do everything in my power

to keep them alive.

Even if it means sacrificing

everyone you've ever loved?

Even if it means sacrificing my very soul.

That is what being the Lady of the Lake

truly demands.

As you, too, will find out.

l?

Why, of course.

What else has all your training,

all your suffering, been for...

...if not to fit you to be the Lady

after I'm gone?

You have a greatness of soul, Morgaine.

l can see it.

I've seen it all along.

l am carrying a bastard child

fathered by my own brother.

You are carrying Arthur's successor.

Would you have Morgause murder it

in the womb...

...in order to have her son

step into Arthur's shoes?

No.

lf you bear no child...

...the offspring of Lot and Morgause

will be next in line for the throne.

Why else is she so solicitous

of your needs?

l don't believe it.

Then go ahead.

Let her ambitions shape

the nation's future.

Morgause thinks of nothing

and no one but herself, Morgaine.

Your motives may be nobler than hers...

...but you still move us around

like pieces on a game board.

What has my mother given up

for your Avalon?

My father died at Uther's hands

because of you.

My poor, innocent brother, Arthur...

...who was a baby on my lap,

and loved me as no other.

And l loved him.

Look what you've done to us.

You've twisted our love and turned it

into shame, all for the sake of Avalon!

No!

l will not kill the child within me...

...but l will not let you take him to Avalon.

l will not let you twist

and bend him to your will.

l can train him to be the greatest ruler

Britain has ever seen.

He will never set foot in Avalon, Viviane.

He will not be one of your pawns

and nor will l.

You have sworn to obey the Goddess

through me.

My vows were to her, not to you.

l renounce you. Do you hear me?

l will never set foot in Avalon again.

You will obey!

Never!

Where else was there for me to go...

...but with Morgause and Lot

into the wilds of Orkney?

There, my child could disappear

into the teeming brood in Lot's castle.

Eat and enjoy!

No man will ever say

l don't keep a great hall...

...even in the depths of winter.

l saved the best cut for you, Morgaine.

Wasn't it you who told me the best meat...

...for a breeding woman

was the liver of a stag...

...eaten raw?

The baby's coming.

Quick, get her to her chambers.

it's all right.

Wife, wait.

You're quick to bring our son's rival

into this world.

lf this child dies...

...and Guinevere fails

to produce an heir for Arthur...

...then our son...

...will be High King.

You think on that as you bring this infant

into the world.

You think well on it.

Morgaine, swallow.

Push.

it's all right, Lady Morgaine.

Push, push!

Morgaine!

Why are you hidden from my sight?

She won't be able to feed him yet.

Poor babe.

But the wet nurse is ready.

Shall l take him, my lady?

The woman's waiting.

Not yet.

Mother.

Yes, child.

Mother, forgive me.

For what?

Arthur...

...he doesn't know.

Arthur is the father?

Don't tell him. Please.

Please, don't tell him.

Let me hold him.

Let me hold him just once.

Leave us.

What is this, woman? The child is alive.

And will remain so.

Why?

it is Arthur's child.

Son of a king.

-She told you?

-In her fever.

She doesn't know l know.

Son of a High King.

No matter how many sons he has...

...this child will always be his firstborn.

With this secret,

we have a weapon in our hands.

Think of it, Husband.

His flesh, his blood, his heir.

But my instruction, my influence.

I'll teach him to have little need

of Morgaine and great need of me.

And as the years pass...

...Britain will become

more and more our own.

lt's time for his first meal.

A new and dreadful power was unleashed.

And the fate of all Britain

was altered forever.

it was as if my life had become

lost in the mists.

Everything that l loved

and cherished was gone.

l thought there was nothing more

that could be taken from me.

How wrong l was.

But at Camelot, it seemed that

high summer had come to Britain at last.

Under the rule of a good, brave man,

with the Knights of the ound Table...

...our beleaguered country was at peace.

Arthur was the High King

everyone had hoped for...

...and Guinevere, his queen.

I've missed you, my love.

Are you ill?

My courses have come on me again.

Why do you let them distress you so?

But it means l haven't given you a son.

l haven't given you an heir.

We are young yet.

We have years for children.

Now, get dressed. The troops

have returned victorious, as l promised...

...and they expect to see

the queen by my side.

Arthur!

What is it, Morgaine?

I'm fine.

Another bad dream?

Mom, why do you have

so many bad dreams?

Some people are born that way,

my poppet.

it's like, some people have brown hair...

...and some people have yellow hair.

Some people see things.

Not yet. He's far too young.

Strange, that in the peace of Orkney

l should feel distracted so.

Why don't you go back to Camelot?

What about my child?

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes