| ACT ONE The royal chamber in the tower. It is past midnight. |
|
| Siwan |
The music's over now. There – the last lantern's been put out. |
| Alis |
The big lantern up there's still going strong. |
| Siwan |
What a moon. Such a light night. We hardly need these candles … What time is it Alis? |
| Alis |
I heard the watch calling midnight as I came here. Shall I take the crown, ma dame? |
| Siwan |
Yes. Put it away in the chest. |
| Alis |
Wasn't the dancing on the green a delight? You could see the knights from France were enjoying it all so much … |
| Siwan |
Now this gown. I can't wait to be free of it, Alis. |
| Alis |
Yes ma dame. I heard one of the Frenchmen say how strange It was to see the courtly dances of Aquitaine Here on a castle green in North Wales. They didn't realise how you'd brought The graces and manners of Toulouse With you to the wilds of Wales. |
| Siwan |
They shouldn't be surprised at that. Half the English court are Frenchmen. The new Welsh nobles have French blood. And tonight we're celebrating a pact Between France and Gwilym's Brecon Which will be sealed when his daughter marries my son. The French knights knew the significance Of the contracts we made this evening. |
| Alis |
Why didn't you dance, ma dame? |
| Siwan |
With that heavy crown, weighing on me so? That great silver gown billowing around me? Even for the French dances I'd need far lighter Dress than that. My duty tonight was to take the throne In my Prince's absence. |
| Alis |
But no one can dance the French steps As beautifully as you. You'll have to lead the dancing Come your son's wedding, just as you've done When all your other children married. |
| Siwan |
Yes. I'll dance at Dafydd's wedding. A dance to celebrate his golden future. I'll dance for Dafydd. |
| Alis |
Shall I let down your hair now, And comb it before you go to bed? |
| Siwan |
Do that, Alis. The crown pressed into my head And made my temples ache. I'd like you to comb my hair. I'll sit here for you. |
| Alis |
(Sings.) Le roi Marc était corracié Vers Tristran, son neveu, irié; Da se terre le congédia Pour la reine qu'il ama. |
| Siwan |
Not that song, Alis. Not tonight. |
| Alis |
It's Marie de France, ma dame. You taught me the words. |
| Siwan |
As my mother taught them to me. But Tristan and Isault is too sad a story for tonight. |
| Alis |
She sings the kind of song I understand. That moves me. Not like our bards. Their poetry's too cold and too clever For a country girl like me. (Sings again.) En sa contrée en est allé, En Sud Galles oû il fut né … |
| Siwan |
Let Tristan and Isault rest, Alis … And finish my hair. |
| Alis |
Was Tristan a Frenchman then? How was he born in South Wales? En Sud Galles oû il fut né. Brecon's young lord, Gwilym Brewys, has French blood then? When I was looking at him out there tonight I was thinking of Tristan. |
| Siwan gives Alis a resounding slap. |
|
| Alis |
Oh … ma dame! What did I say? |
| Siwan |
Have you finished with my hair girl? |
| Alis |
Look in the mirror, ma dame. You'll see two braids, just like Isault's … My lip's bleeding where your ring caught me. |
| Siwan |
The taste might teach that tongue of yours a lesson. The wine I left outside, did you give it to the doorkeepers? |
| Alis |
Didn't you see them as you came here? |
| Siwan |
They were both sleeping soundly, One on either side of the door. |
| Alis |
The doorkeepers sleeping! Shall I go wake them? |
| Siwan |
No. Let them sleep. Tomorrow's May Day. |
| Alis |
It's already May Day. And already the lads and girls Are out there in the groves, dancing. Hands held around the maypole Then they'll be pairing off, the couples Creeping away. I don't suppose That many of them will reappear before dawn. Oh, those country boys know how to have fun too Ma dame. |
| Siwan |
Have you … been with boys Alis? |
| Alis |
Of course. The first time was when I was fifteen. You've never been out under the maypole? |
| Siwan |
I was a King's daughter. And at fifteen A mother myself, to a little prince. I gave my young womb to political imperative Like every royal daughter. |
| Alis |
The trees are so still now. I can't even Hear the sounds of the sea. It's at its far ebb. If I were a Princess, on a May Day eve like this I'd put all my duties aside. |
| Siwan |
You don't know what you're saying Alis. Take your candle to your room, go to bed. I won't sleep for a while yet. I'll knock on the floor if I need you. |
| Alis |
Good night then. God be with you ma dame. (Alis exits.) |
| Siwan |
(Sings.) Pour la reine qu'il aima. |
| Gwilym appears. |
|
| Gwilym |
My Lady … |
| Siwan |
Gwilym! |
| Gwilym |
Siwan – I've been waiting, outside the keep. What made you detain her such a time? |
| Siwan |
Today, at sunrise, Henry, King of England, My brother, sails for France. |
| Gwilym |
Yes? What of it? |
| Siwan |
You're a hot blooded young man … |
| Gwilym |
Twenty five, and a father to four daughters. |
| Siwan |
I still see you as that brash young upstart Captured, carried here wounded from battle For us to subdue and to nurse … |
| Gwilym |
Why tell me about your brother? What if he is travelling to France? |
| Siwan |
That's why I kept my maid here the while. |
| Gwilym |
To keep me away? |
| Siwan |
No. The implications, Gwilym. My significance. I bind two kingdoms. A King of England And a Prince of Gwynedd. Your coming here now, is no trifling matter. What if one of Gwynedd's Royal Council Saw you crossing the green and entering this keep? What if my Prince was to learn of this? With my brother away in France He'd have a free hand to wreak his vengeance In whatever way he wanted. The implications Gwilym. |
| Gwilym |
No one saw me. Don't worry. And your guards Were sleeping. Did you drug their wine? |
| Siwan |
A prudent precaution, knowing how reckless you can be. |
| Gwilym |
Don't forget – I'm almost one of the family here. Your daughter's my step-mother And my daughter will soon marry your Dafydd. That gives me some right to come and go … |
| Siwan |
Not in the dead of night. Not in the royal bed, like this. |
| Gwilym |
You want this marriage – your Dafydd To my daughter – more than anything. I know. |
| Siwan |
Yes. I want it. But it's the Prince's decision. He's fifty-seven. He wants a grandson. Allying with you and Brecon secures our borders, And a child from that alliance would also secure Llywelyn's bloodline. Longevity runs in Llywelyn's family. If our Dafydd and a son of his inherit that trait This kingdom could be secure for another century. One lesson that Llywelyn continually tries to teach me Is that success is bred from patience. Yet I find patience such an elusive virtue. |
| Gwilym |
And what lessons have you taught him? |
| Siwan |
You're married, a hearthful of daughters, Don't you know that a wife has nothing Worth teaching her husband? |
| Gwilym |
I do know you say that mockingly. I'll show you one wife - a Prince's wife Who's consulted as a prime minister, Who's the court's chief ambassador And who walks the halls and makes heads turn As if she were Helen of Troy … My lady? |
| Siwan |
Perhaps that's a form of escape for me. I inherited a passionate, restless nature, From my father. To keep myself sane I occupy my time, like a man, With my husband's stratagems, his statesmanship. |
| Gwilym |
Do you know what they say about you Down in South Wales? That Gwynedd, thanks to your influence, Has become a French princedom. All your children have been given away To a French nobleman in marriage. You've almost changed your Welsh Prince Into an adopted Frenchman. |
| Siwan |
The only thing that forges real change in a man Is love. Are you telling me That Llywelyn loves me as you do? |
| Gwilym |
You're the first successful politician That I've found to be intelligent and intuitive Siwan. |
| Siwan |
The unruliness of passion is anathema to statesmanship Only once did I allow my heart To rule my head in such matters. |
| Gwilym |
And when was that, my lady? |
| Siwan |
When I suggested the union Of Gwynedd's heir To Gwilym Brewys's daughter. Of mine and yours. |
| Gwilym |
An inspired suggestion. |
| Siwan |
A desperately bad suggestions If Dafydd doesn't sire a son. |
| Gwilym |
You astonish me Siwan. |
| Siwan |
Why? |
| Gwilym |
You know why I came here to your court. |
| Siwan |
To finalise the arrangements for that wedding. |
| Gwilym |
And why do I want to see that wedding happen As much as – if not more than – you do? |
| Siwan |
Because you have no male successors. Four girls won't secure the future of Brecon. And we border on Brecon. Our northern princedom Dwarfs your swathe of lands. Just as to your south you're dwarfed By Hubert de Burgh's South Wales territories. Make an ally of us – and you'll sleep more easily And your small kingdom will swell in stature Like a cub protected by the great lion's paw. |
| Gwilym |
O, Siwan – I didn't come here to talk politics. |
| Siwan |
Talking politics with you Is a form of defence for me. |
| Gwilym |
How is that? |
| Siwan |
It keeps my thoughts from other things. |
| Gwilym |
Are you frightened of some other truths? |
| Siwan |
Not frightened of the truth – But of hearing it spoken perhaps. |
| Gwilym |
Do I frighten you Siwan? Is that it? |
| Siwan |
Not you. The things I'm really frightened of Are within me. And you awaken them. |
| Gwilym |
They're the very things That make life so sweet. |
| Siwan |
They can make life bitter too If they're suppressed and hidden away – I buried them somewhere deep in my soul Knowing that I dare not set them free, Not even acknowledge them in my life here As Llywelyn's princess and political partner. Because I had to make that choice Between my natural passions And stately protocol. Yes, I'm bitter. |
| Gwilym |
You've guessed then why I came here To arrange the wedding. |
| Siwan |
You don't understand do you That politics and pleasure should not mix. |
| Gwilym |
I wouldn't call my longing for you a pleasure. |
| Siwan |
Is your flatterer's tongue faltering? Or do you mean to say that your longing For me is becoming burdensome? |
| Gwilym |
One thing I didn't come here to do Was to exchange jibes. |
| Siwan |
That wasn't a jibe. I'm ten years older than you. Dafydd, the son in law I'm giving you Is almost as old as you. |
| Gwilym |
I was only ten years old, At my father's wedding in Hereford When I first set eyes on you, Princess, As you led your first daughter, a child bride, To be my father's second wife, And the crowd in the church garlanding Your path with rose petals. I didn't speak to you then – I couldn't. My heart was in my throat. I gathered up a handful Of scented rose petals, And they were my pillow that night. Not that I slept. My mind was restive, hungry … I didn't see you then until I was brought here In manacles. My wounds were light – But I became feverish. You came to my bed, surrounded by your maids. Walking towards me as I'd seen you in Hereford. Was it the fever? Or was it my breathless excitement That made me sweat and lie atremble As you knelt over me, placing your lips on my mouth? |
| Siwan |
You fainted. You frightened us so. |
| Gwilym |
But you knew that my wounds weren't serious. It was that kiss. It was fated, Like Isault's kiss … |
| Siwan |
Gwilym, ssh … Not that unhappy tale. Tristan and Isault have haunted me this evening. |
| Gwilym |
I'll talk of happier things. When I'd recovered, I stayed awhile. We'd go riding along the mountain passes Stopping on some sunlit verge to drink wine. And there was singing and dancing in this fortress … The halls of Gwynedd's court were As bright as any in Aquitaine. Then your kisses turned from courtly greetings To a hotter, sweeter foretaste Of this tryst tonight. Do you remember when you first kissed me With your mouth on fire, greedy … |
| Siwan |
And the very next day Llywelyn returned. With your ransom paid. |
| Gwilym |
He's got a knack of returning At the wrong time. |
| Siwan |
We had a week of discretion And keeping distance. Then you left. |
| Gwilym |
You see. And that's why I've returned. My daughter's marriage to your Dafydd Was agreed by me, so that I could be here now, To claim you, make love to you Siwan. Of course, you knew that. |
| Siwan |
Did I dare know it? I didn't think You'd give your daughter's hand And your castle in Builth as dowry Simply to open the way to my bed. |
| Gwilym |
I'd give my whole kingdom For this night in your bed Siwan. |
| Siwan |
All your worldly wealth? Like Saint Francis. Sanctity and sensuality are two poles Of the same madness. They both make men Forsake reason and caution. |
| Gwilym |
I heard that Francis as a young man Was a gambler and a squanderer. I like men who gamble, with money and with fate Who can lose and still cock a snook At life and luck. If Francis was ever such a lad He's the Saint for me. |
| Siwan |
I'll pray to him on your behalf Asking him to guard you from ill-fortune. |
| Gwilym |
But not tonight. Fortune's with me tonight. If I lose my luck and lose your love Then I'll plead with Saint Francis. |
| Siwan |
You love danger too much. That reckless bravado of yours Makes me fear for you. |
| Gwilym |
You have to take me as I am Siwan. Since I was a child I've been in my element hunting, fighting Accepting dares. That's how you squeeze The grapes of experience till your mouth Runs with the tang of their juices. |
| Siwan |
Am I one of those bunches, Ripe on the vine? |
| Gwilym |
Your taste will be sweeter Siwan. More exquisite, even more heady. |
| Siwan |
Did you mention this to anyone At my brother's court? |
| Gwilym |
Who would I tell? |
| Siwan |
And you told nobody that I suggested This Easter as the time to meet To make the wedding arrangements? |
| Gwilym |
Perhaps I mentioned that. Perhaps I told Hubert the Chancellor. Such details Interest him. Why? |
| Siwan |
Hubert de Burgh is a venomous viper of a man. And my husband was with him yesterday. What if Llywelyn comes back here With Hubert's insinuations nagging in his brain? |
| Gwilym |
If Llywelyn suspected anything He's a wily enough statesman To let me deliver my castle as dowry Before unleashing any angry accusation. I know the Prince of Gwynedd. |
| Siwan |
That's more than I can safely say And I've been married to him for twenty five years. A Prince and statesman can be as impetuous as the next man. |
| Gwilym |
Why talk of him now? You promised this night to me. |
| Siwan |
I do give you this night. I give you myself, my heart, my body In this royal bed. Here, now, I'm yours Gwilym Brewys. |
| Gwilym |
And your love? Do you give that too Siwan? |
| Siwan |
I don't know yet. Tonight, yielding willingly is enough. Tomorrow, who knows. Perhaps I'll be in love with you tomorrow. But by then tonight will be over And we'll wonder if there can be another. |
| Gwilym |
I'll wait. You summoned me tonight You put the opiates in the guards' possets. |
| Siwan |
I did that. My own hand. Tonight's my gift to you. |
| Gwilym |
And why Siwan? Why all this for me? |
| Siwan |
Because you remember how things first taste And how that first taste is all, before it fades. Because you laugh at danger And life's frightening fragility. Because your excitement is mine to take And your ecstasy is mine to give. Because it's now the eve of May Day. |
| Gwilym |
Your bed is beckoning Siwan. |
| Siwan |
Come to the window first Breathe in this scented night air. I'm giving all my senses full rein tonight. And look at that moon over Anglesey Gwilym. |
| Gwilym |
D'you hear those sounds, like horses in the distance? |
| Siwan |
Hill ponies, panicked by something, stampeding? |
| Gwilym |
Those steeds are shod, I tell you. |
| Siwan |
There's nothing now. |
| Gwilym |
No. Not now. But my ear Is attuned to the sound of hooves. I'm hardly ever mistaken. |
| Siwan |
What was that? |
| Gwilym |
That was a dog. Somewhere by the fortress gate. |
| Siwan |
Gelert. |
| Gwilym |
What? |
| Siwan |
It was Gelert. Llywelyn's hound. I'm certain of it. |
| Gwilym |
No. He's taken Gelert with him. To do some hunting on his journey home. What a dog! I saw it once Running down a stag, bounding along the crags, Defying death, above the abyss … |
| Siwan |
I know Gelert's bark. I heard Gelert out there. |
| Gwilym |
You heard a dog. But not Llywelyn's hound. Siwan, my love. The candles' flames are flickering low And this royal bed begs us to make bold use of it. Let me take you before the light dies. |
| Siwan |
Sshh! Listen! |
| Gwilym |
I can't hear anything … |
| Siwan |
People over by the gates, people moving, Someone's arriving, coming in … |
| Gwilym |
It's your imagination. Your pretty ears Are flattened back like a frightened cat's. Why are you suddenly so nervous? |
| Siwan |
No – Listen! There! |
| Gwilym |
The fortress gates, yes, opened and closed. The sentries are probably changing shift. |
| Siwan |
When the guard changes, Gwilym No one opens the main gates. Something's afoot. And now, men running … Look, look! Torches moving through the dark. Towards this keep. |
| Gwilym |
What's happening? |
| Siwan |
Dear God – what is this? |
| Gwilym |
Soldiers are surrounding this tower. You're right. Something's going on … |
| Siwan |
Your sword. Where's your sword? |
| Gwilym |
Not with me. Not even a dagger. Nothing. I'm going to see if the stairway's clear. |
| Siwan |
He's here. Gwilym! Llywelyn is back! |
| Gwilym |
And tens of armed soldiers around this keep's entrance. We've been betrayed Siwan. We're trapped. |
| Siwan |
Can you get out between the window pillars? |
| Gwilym |
The space is too narrow. Where are the maids' chambers? |
| Siwan |
Down next to the tower's door. |
| Gwilym |
And what's above us? |
| Siwan |
The turret loft. It's locked. |
| Gwilym |
There's nowhere to escape. No move I can make. The Prince must be welcomed to his royal chamber. It sounds as if he's on his way. How shall his welcome be? Simple and sans ceremony? |
| Siwan |
Come to the bed. Lie here, in my arms. I'll give myself to you now my love. Llywelyn and soldiers rush in. |
| Llywelyn |
Take him. Tie his hands and arms. |
| Gwilym |
You won't need to do that. I've no dagger or sword. |
| Llywelyn |
Tie him up I said. Stand him here. Gwilym Brewys. I caught you once before, In battle. As a prisoner of war You were free to walk this castle's halls, Your wounds were nursed … This is how you repay me! Making Gwynedd's queen a harlot And myself a cuckold, to be ridiculed In the courts of France and England. |
| Gwilym |
Now there spits the rhetoric of wounded pride. I've loved a Princess, who's a married woman, But so do hundreds of noblemen. Such things are as much part of our lives As jousts and tournaments. You caught me in your bed. Very well – Exact your penalty, Make me pay for this indiscretion. You're already promised my castle in Builth as dowry And your son is to take my daughter. Now for this – take more of my lands, Of my wealth – take anything you want. |
| Llywelyn |
This indiscretion? Make you pay! You French lords are lousy jesters. When I beat you in battle that cost you A third of all you owned. The whole Of your possessions wouldn't come close To paying for this infamy tonight. Oh yes, I'll take your castle in Builth. I'll also take your life. |
| Gwilym |
That's more than you would dare. Your anger, my Lord, is clouding your common sense. Every lord in France, in England and the Marches Would turn against you, and take up arms to challenge you If you dared kill me. That action Could ruin Gwynedd. |
| Llywelyn |
If the Pope himself and the whole Of Christendom vowed to rise against me – I'd still take your life. |
| Gwilym |
Oh! This isn't righteous anger Or wounded dignity. This is jealousy! Siwan, my lady, what other Princess In the whole of Europe has a husband who … |
| Llywelyn |
Shut him up men. Gag his insolence. |
| Gwilym is gagged. |
|
| Siwan |
My Lord. May I ask a question? |
| Llywelyn |
You? |
| Siwan |
Yesterday you bade farewell to my brother The king before he set forth for France. |
| Llywelyn |
What of that? |
| Siwan |
Was it then Hubert de Burgh who told you of this? |
| Llywelyn |
And if it was, would that Make your whoring any less heinous? |
| Siwan |
He owns strategic shires to the south of our kingdom. His power's expanding, his wealth growing. |
| Llywelyn |
This is no time to discuss Hubert's estates. |
| Siwan |
Hubert is close to taking the rest of Glamorgan And soon he'll have a kingdom in South Wales To match the size and strength of Gwynedd here. |
| Llywelyn |
Ma dame – I don't hear your counselling. I see only this treachery This desecration of my bed, my wife … |
| Siwan |
Gwilym Brewys has no male heir. Who but he can stand between Gwynedd And Hubert de Burgh? Between Hubert's ambition And the security of our princedom, Dafydd's future throne … |
| Llywelyn |
Aye, no one but he. Yet you'll not persuade me. You'll not have your way. |
| Siwan |
If you kill Gwilym, his territories will fragment And Hubert de Burgh's might will border our own. Was it to help Hubert's aspirations That you rushed home tonight? |
| Llywelyn |
Ma dame your concern for me is touching. |
| Siwan |
It's not easy to set aside A quarter of a century's politicking. |
| Llywelyn |
Easy though to cast aside your clothes To toss your purity to the swine. |
| Siwan |
I've wronged you. Of course I have. But now I'm arguing for your kingdom's sake, Our son's inheritance Llywelyn. |
| Llywelyn |
Are you claiming that such thoughts Were in your mind as you took This scoundrel to the royal bed? |
| Siwan |
I'm asking you to pause, to think. Putting a pair of cuckold horns on your head Isn't a reason for letting your teeth be drawn. |
| Llywelyn |
Not even adultery's enough for you. Your shameless mocking Is insult upon injury Siwan. |
| Siwan |
I'm a Frenchwoman. And a King's daughter. Your Welsh moral strictures Aren't part of my upbringing Llywelyn. |
| Llywelyn |
A Frenchwoman best served by a Frenchman eh? |
| Siwan |
I'm trying to protect your life's achievements From one night's rage. Gwilym Brewys's life Is vital to the security of This kingdom's southern borders. |
| Llywelyn |
Gwilym Brewys's life is what you're desperately trying to save. |
| Siwan |
Yes … Yes. |
| Llywelyn |
So, then – he will die. |
| Siwan |
And your kingdom, the future We've been building for Dafydd? |
| Llywelyn |
To hell with the kingdom and with you. I've lost my wife tonight. Now you can lose your lover. |
| Siwan |
You daren't kill him. |
| Llywelyn |
Take him to the dungeons. |
| Siwan |
My brother – he'll come back from France … The King of England, Llywelyn … |
| Llywelyn |
This vermin will hang. Like a common brigand. |
| Siwan |
Gwilym! |
| Llywelyn |
Yes. He'll hang. |
| Siwan |
Gwilym! |
| Siwan runs to Gwilym. |
|
| Llywelyn |
No – stay away from him. |
| Llywelyn strikes her hard across the face. She cries out. |
|
| Llywelyn |
I never thought I'd hit you … Take him from here. Take her to the tower loft. And lock her up. |