CATIUA: Why in such a hurry, Denam?
DENAM: Sir Lanselot is here, sister. Come.
CATIUA: Must we greet him so short of breath?
[After searching they enter what they believe to be Lanselot's station only to find a familiar face.]
DENAM: Sir Leonar? What are you doing here? Where's Lanselot?
LEONAR: I wished a private word with you, and Sir Lanselot was good enough to oblige me.
CATIUA: Why such secrecy?
LEONAR: It is a matter of grave importance.
[Two knights block the doors and Denam and Catiua wait for Leonar to speak.]
LEONAR: The Resistance teeters at the edge of the void. We lost a great many men in the battle at Psonji, and each day we lose more to desertion. Why do you think that is?
DENAM: I can't say.
LEONAR: It is our leadership, or lack thereof. We were defeated at Psonji because we rushed into battle too soon. We moved before the enemy's forces were fully divided, and see where it has led us. Already we hasten toward a greater error. If we place ourselves at the mercy of the Dark Knights, we betray everything for which our kinsmen died. Think you not so? Until now I have been patient. Too patient, perhaps. Triumph over Galgastan is more distant than ever. Walister rots from within. Our Resistance needs a new leader. I believe you are he!
DENAM: You can't be serious!
LEONAR: The duke has played his part. It falls to us to draw the curtain.
CATIUA: This is madness! Do you have any idea what you're saying?
LEONAR: Only too well, Catiua. Your brother sees it, too.
CATIUA: You would murder the duke, a man you swore to honor. I'll not believe it...
DENAM: Sister...Leonar is right. If we continue down this road, the Resistance is finished. Those who gave their lives at Balmamusa will have died for nothing. We must win this war, whatever the cost. The duke is lost already.
LEONAR: Night and day, soldiers desert the duke's army. The people love him not. But you? You have accomplished much, you have the people's trust...and the vigor of youth. Yes. The people will see the brightness of our future in you. We could ask for none better to lead!
CATIUA: This is absurd! My brother is no leader!
LEONAR: Well, Denam? I say you are.
[Choice 1 - Yes. This is my calling.]
DENAM: If this is what our people need of me, so be it.
CATIUA: This jape has gone too far! Do you truly think the people will follow the man who slays their duke!? Always you trust to steel for deliverance, but where has it led us? We are beaten! Accept this, and let us quit this island.
DENAM: No. Not yet. Our battle is far from over. Someone must bloody his hands. If there is none other with courage to do so, let it be me.
LEONAR: Well said, Denam. You are a man grown now, and the role well suits you. When you act, the people will follow - the failings of the duke are hardly a secret. But the people will not know where this new road leads. They lack the vision to see. They will turn to you to shephered them. To be their courage - ah, but there will be time for talk later.
[Choice 2 - I could never replace the duke.]
DENAM: A poor replacement for the duke I would make. Look at the blood on my hands.
LEONAR: The blood of Galgastani. You fought only guards at Balmamusa. The sins of that day are mine to bear.
DENAM: I stood by as men and women were slaughtered. Is there no sin in that?
LEONAR: These horrors touch you less than you think. Your heart is still pure.
CATIUA: Please, torment my brother no further. He is ill prepared to lead the Resistance entire.
LEONAR: Then I will speak on it no more. It is enough that you are with me.
[After a moment Leonar catches himself.]
LEONAR: Come, we must return to Almorica and strike before the duke realizes aught is amiss.
[As Denam prepares to depart for Almorica, a few familiar faces block him at the exit of town.]
VYCE: Who would have thought we'd meet again like this?
DENAM: Vyce? What are you doing here?
VYCE: I had hoped the good knight Lanselot might lend me his aid, but alas, he's nowhere to be found.
ARYCELLE: You need only give the word, Vyce!
VYCE: Calm, Arycelle. A quarrel now would only leave our strength diminished.
ARYCELLE: But they are the backbone of the Resistance. We must strike while we can.
VYCE: Gousin said much the same thing, and now he feeds the worms.
CATIUA: Arycelle...how did you come to be here? Vyce, you don't mean to - you wouldn't!
VYCE: Not to worry, Catiua. Our enemy is elsewhere.
ARYCELLE: Yours, perhaps, but I do not forgive so easily! I will avenge you, brother!
[Catiua and Denam reluctantly fight against their childhood friend.]
ARYCELLE: Your lust for power will be your undoing!
VYCE: Damn that woman! It should not have come to this. Call off your men, Denam! A fight between us serves no purpose. The duke who pulls your strings - he is the enemy! He cares nothing for liberating the Walister. He thinks only of the kingdom he might build for himself. It is he who plays each clan against the other. He who sacrifices the blood of his kinsmen! Anyone who ignores the will of his people and uses them as a means unto an end is my enemy! Who knows all the duke has wrought better than you, Denam!
DENAM: Quite a speech. But it is your actions that concern me, not your words. What can you know? You, who ran from the truth!
VYCE: It was you who ran, not I! You talk of revolution, but revolution without principles is meaningless! What happened to the old Denam? Has lust for power blinded you to the damage you do?
DENAM: Always so quick to judge, Vyce, so impatient for results. A mountain is climbed in steps, but you expect to vault to the top in a single leap! Can't you see that what I've done - what I do - is vital?
VYCE: What you've done is treason. I'm sorry it's come to this.
[They continue to spar with one another.]
CATIUA: I would not have thought to find you in league with the New Walister Alliance, Vyce.
VYCE: In league, Catiua? The New Walister Alliance is my creation.
CATIUA: Of course.... No wonder Gousin knew so much of me.
VYCE: You remember our life in Golyat? Miserable as it was, you had your brother. I had nothing. But I don't hate my father for it. It wasn't his fault. When I saw what happened at Balmamusa, I finally understood. It is men like the duke who bear the blame. These so-called noblemen play the smallfolk against each other to avert our watch from the true enemy. Balbatos and Brantyn are no bette - clergy and nobility are two sides of the same false coin. Both want only a docile flock to rule.
CATIUA: Gone is the quiet boy I knew, too timid to speak his mind.
VYCE: I know you, Catiua, like your brother cannot. He'll never understand your true spirit.
CATIUA: And you do?
VYCE: Deny it if you will, but you know it in your heart. I'm not like him.
CATIUA: Frankly, I care nothing about who you are or what you do.
VYCE: I know. More's the pity.
[Vyce takes notice of some of Denam's party.]
VYCE: Still with this flock, bird-man?
CANOPUS: You're rather loose with your tongue for a man about to die.
VYCE: And looser still with my coin - how much to switch sides? I'll make you a sweeter offer than the duke ever did.
CANOPUS: No deal. Even you should know a mercenary's true currency is trust, not coin.
VYCE: Oh, but it's more than that, no? I know what it is that keeps men like you with Denam.
CANOPUS: Aye? Then you should join us. The rewards of friendship are far richer than the spoils of war.
VYCE: Friendship is in rare supply these days.
CANOPUS: I walked away from a friend once. Seems an age ago now. And over what? Some trifle I scarce remember. Foolish to let such a small thing drive us apart. At the time, I never wanted to see him again, let alone fight at his side. But even without words, true friends have a way of understanding one another.
VYCE: You're rambling, old man. Your point?
CANOPUS: Whatever may come between you, in time, it will pass.
VYCE: You have all the wisdom of a dusty old tome, and the charm to match.
CANOPUS: And you rise to the bait like a spring trout. Ha!
[Vyce gets wounded.]
VYCE: We've no hope of prevailing against the duke's men, not yet. We must withdraw!
[Arycelle dies.]
ARYCELLE: Forgive me, brother. I have...failed you.
VYCE: Arycelle! No!
[A flash of light and a strange noise rumbles from within the distance.]
VYCE: What? What was that?
[Away from the battle a rogue group of Dark Knights attacks the city.]
BARBAS: Take the town!
[The Dark Knights scatter and suddenly a lone warrior appears to fend them off.]
LANSELOT: No more! Is this what passes for honor in Lodis?
BARBAS: You bear the arms of Xenobia.... So this is the Holy Knight Lanselot! How I have longed for this moment! Show me the power that crushed Hyland!
LANSELOT: Only too gladly! Let our steel sing!
[Vyce and Denam lay down their weapons briefly.]
VYCE: I didn't expect the Bakram attack to come so soon. And you, the duke's loyal, scarce equipped to march, let alone repel them!
DENAM: If the Bakram expect us to lie down for the trampling, they're in for a nasty turn!
VYCE: What, you have a plan? No matter, I'll see soon enough. But there's little time. If you've some miracle on hand to rally the Resistance, best work it quickly.
DENAM: I will. When next we meet, it will be as enemies full-fledged, Vyce. Stay whole till then.
VYCE: And you, Denam. Until next time.
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