ACT TWO SCENE ONE BLODEUWEDD'S CHAMBER, MUR Y CASTELL, ARDUDWY Enter Blodeuwedd and Gronw. |
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| Gronw |
My captain says the horses are ready My men want to leave. |
| Blodeuwedd |
Must you go? |
| Gronw |
Or stay here and be killed. |
| Blodeuwedd |
No my love. If there's to be a kill It won't be you. |
| Gronw |
He and his men return today. |
| Blodeuwedd |
Yes. Go then. Don't delay. His name tolls Like a death knell in this heart. Do you know, in the woodlands in June When the golden seed adorns the blackbird's beak And the leaves' murmuring is louder than the sound of the stream... Then, suddenly, all becomes still. The sweet piping stops, the hedgerows silent. And in the roots and stems the sap's rise is arrested... And in that moment the leaves grow old As the summer bears down On the bushes. And spring dies. So too for me That, in the first steps of love's dance, I'm suddenly reminded of him. His name, his being, and I stumble to a halt. |
| Gronw |
Blodeuwedd, Is this our lot? |
| Blodeuwedd |
I tasted joy. I never had this before. Now I'm happy. I know who I am. |
| Gronw |
Three nights of blissful sin. Is that our destiny then? |
| Blodeuwedd |
It's fulfilment. For now. It's what I craved. It made me happy. |
| Gronw |
I daren't stay. But I want more of you. |
| Blodeuwedd |
Our bodies are inexhaustible. O, Gronw, I want to delve into all their riches with you. To wake up all our senses with our coupling. And then too the seasons of our stillness, The peace of sleep, beside you, In your arms, knowing as I wake That we'll make love again, and again. How can I go back to sleeping with him? Lying there unfulfilled. Not wanting him, His awkward approaches, his timid touching. Then me watching him sleeping, Alongside me. A stranger. |
| Gronw |
You don't want This day to mark the end of our love? |
| Blodeuwedd |
No. No! |
| Gronw |
And Llew Llaw Gyffes? |
| Blodeuwedd |
Why do you say his name? |
| Gronw |
We must look upon our fear And name it. |
| Blodeuwedd |
Is there some trick, to deceive Llew? |
| Gronw |
Yes. Come away with me. This morning, now. |
| Blodeuwedd |
Where? |
| Gronw |
To my fortress. The horses stand ready at the gates. Our freedom is in those stirrups. Let the Llew Come to his lair and find it empty. From my battlements we'll brave his roar. |
| Blodeuwedd |
You don't know his strength. Behind him stands Math And the massive might of Gwynedd And Gwydion the sorcerer. No fort on earth Can repel them. And I don't want To be caught like some doe in this lion's claws, My flesh ripped to shreds. |
| Gronw |
Blodeuwedd, what's a court Or a kingdom to us? We'll flee to far Dyfed Where Math's enemies will welcome us And give us sanctuary. |
| Blodeuwedd |
I'll never go. I can't impose myself on strangers. It's easy for you to trust their word. Not me. |
| Gronw |
Man is more caring than you credit. |
| Blodeuwedd |
To his kind. But as I'm outside their pack, Why should they offer their trust? Don't take me away from here. |
| Gronw |
What shall we do? |
| Blodeuwedd |
Kiss. Forget. And farewell. |
| Gronw |
Is that your advice? |
| Blodeuwedd |
I don't know any better. |
| Gronw |
Can you forget all this? |
| Blodeuwedd |
No. Never. |
| Gronw |
D'you want to forget? |
| Blodeuwedd |
Do you? |
| Gronw |
I'd rather die. |
| Blodeuwedd |
Kiss me, my lover... Before long He'll claim again the homage of these lips His hands will grasp at these shoulders And mark out his demands on this white flesh. I wish there was a poison in my teeth, So that like a serpent I could coil around his neck, Constricting him, and crush him in an embrace Like this... like this... My fangs would finish him. |
| Gronw |
Enough Blodeuwedd. But that's the only way. We must kill him. |
| Blodeuwedd |
It's taken you this long to read my mind. |
| Gronw |
I wouldn't wish him dead, unless it has to happen |
| Blodeuwedd |
It has to. You know it has to. |
| Gronw |
Is there a way to kill him? |
| Blodeuwedd |
It won't be easy. He's fated That he can only die in a certain way. But he's the sole possessor of that secret. |
| Gronw |
So fate is set against our love? |
| Blodeuwedd |
Love's a rare bloom. It grows Up on the cliff of death. Some snatch at it. Others graze upon it gently. Patience, Gronw. |
| Gronw |
How do we discover the secret of his death? |
| Blodeuwedd |
Leave that to me. These slender fingers Can play his hungry body like a harp, Can lull him, lure from him The secret sealed inside his heart. He'll return today, lonely and restive And I shall kiss him. |
| Gronw |
And prise from him the greatest mystery he possesses. |
| Blodeuwedd |
A soul for a kiss. Is the price too much? |
| Gronw |
These moments with you, or my previous life. If I had to choose between the two Like a moth to a flame I'd fly to you. |
| Blodeuwedd |
Yes. I know. What's our plan? |
| Gronw |
Leave that to me. If a man's hand Can destroy him – send me word. And when our day comes to hatch this plot I'll count each hour I've been away from you And in the blow that splices him I'll count each morning, noon and night Of missing you... I must go. |
| Blodeuwedd |
You'll keep your word? |
| Gronw |
Do you doubt my fidelity? |
| Blodeuwedd |
Gronw – what does your fidelity mean to me? Will you still want me? Desire is what holds Man's will a slave and keeps its arrow true When fidelity's bow has rusted. Look at me, Feast you lips upon this kiss And fill your nostrils with my scent... Now go. |
| Gronw |
Shall I hear from you tonight? |
| Blodeuwedd |
Before nightfall. |
| Exeunt. |
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INTERLUDE |
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| CAER ARIANRHOD, ARFON Dusk, the same day. Enter Arianrhod. |
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| Arianrhod |
Deep in my mind I see them ride Gronw's rippling muscles, horses' mouths foam-flecked As hooves hit sparks from rock, and then... The horses' wheel, and rear. A dead stag They'd killed in their earlier hunting But hadn't returned to butcher, lies on the path. We know why. Gronw had found a sweeter meat To feast on. Now this forgotten carcass Has been blown big by three days hot sun Then punctured and opened by tearing beaks. Two ravens slowly strut, waiting their turn While a huge white headed eagle straddles ribs, Tearing at entrails, dipping into puddles of dark blood, Its white feathers soaked red. The stench of death Hangs from the air. A noble beast left out to rot. That's not the proper huntsman's practised way. But over cold custom now feverish needs holds sway. |
| Exit Arianrhod. |