TC Script Ep 266

266

admiral mar, lyr+co on deck looking out at sea, dove sitting off to side.

AM: negotiations are almost complete. It will obviously take some time to go through the official protocols set in place by Avarie, but with the Ashguard hopefully advocating for them, we’ll get the chicks rehomed soon.

Kieera: and those homes will be vetted first, right? Don’t want to go handing them off to any more crazies.

AM: Adopting families will be extensively background searched, yes.

kerwik: small miracles.

dove: they will not appreciate the blessing of the chimeras

erka: who the flock brought her up here

lyr: i was hoping the fresh air would make her a bit more bearable 

kieera: still seems like a brainwashed fanatic to me

lyr: Im not saying it was effective.

erka: the chicks are still terrified of her, too. just bringing bad vibes everywhere really. 

AM: perhaps that is what should be worked on - some reconciliation between the two

Kieera: forcing the hybrids to get along with someone who wanted them dead, and the chimeras with their captor? yeah, seems like a great idea.

AM: work on it. there’s still a long way to go. (walks off)

kerwik: not my problem (leaves)

kieera: have fun, lyr (leaves)

erka: you’re not gonna make me help with this are you

lyr: what else have you got going on. if we can teach the kids to not be afraid of these creeps it’ll help them realise they’re nothing to be afraid of, at the very least.

erka: icarus, if you say so (leaves, exasperated)

dove to lyr: I’m not sure why you’re acting so high and mighty. I know what you did to that Sparrow. we are not so different, you and i. willing to go to extremes, to get what we want, in the end.

trio+cereea in smoking room in castle after dinner. 

ree: scra’s pulled the King card to get us 10 mins alone with you - out with it already, why are you here? how did you find us?

c: lord eldwode sent me after you ungrateful children when you decided to forsake his generosity and all the strings he had to pull in order to get you off the hook with the Council, and disappear in the middle of the night. Thankfully he discovered your absence first and tracked me down, as i had not left the capitol yet, and tasked me with finding you. as i’d caught wind of a Raven’s egg floating about, I knew you lot had something to do with it and took a gamble on which direction you were headed. I caught up to you just as you began across the Scarr and could do nothing but hope you came back again. 

S: why would Lord E go to such measures? i get that he vouched for us and we made him look bad, but -

C: because he cares for you, you idiot. You’re still a Crow. Crows look out for our own. And I am sure he saw some kinship in you, as he is also the last of his family. Although I assume that kinship will turn to patriotism, if the rumors I have heard in the nearby villages are true, Crow King?

S: Look, I’m not -

K: they’re true. And the Council cannot have him.

C: Oh, on that we both agree. If he is our lost King, Ashguard will retake their rightful place as his Royal Guard.

K: No. He won’t be needing you.

C: what -

R: ky -

K: I’ll be his Guard. 

S: Ky I’ve told you -

K: no one would fight as hard for you. no one would be as devoted.

S: I - uh - 

(ree and f in the background: should we be blushing at that??) 

C: …as…admirable as that sentiment may be, be realistic. An entire Guard is better than just one disgraced Redguard Osprey. He will have enemies. numerous enemies. you cannot protect him from them all. you are not infallible. 

K: I -

C: would you go against your mother, Osprey? She will see his existence as a threat to her position, I imagine she will not take it lightly. Could you face her, if it came to it?

(K says nothing)

K: (looks at scra) yes.

S: im not gonna make you fight your mom for -

K: this is what she trained me for. she’d be ecstatic I was finally acting as a proper Redguard.

R: so you’re doing this for her, then?

K: no. I’ll never do anything for her again. 

f: be reasonable, Ky. 

K: I’ve never been more reasonable in my life. (leaves.)

(all standing around)

r: (to scra) you’re right. it’s become a problem. 

f: (to C) since you’ve shown yourself, I assume you couldn’t think of a way to help us escape?

C: There are too many Ravens watching you at all times. You’re too public, also, those Ravens of yours have seen to that. There would have been no traveling discreetly, no place to hide you all. The Council is already on their way, I thought it best you had one more person on your side when they arrive.

Ky in the portrait hall again. his aunt appears.

Aunt Teer: I often come here too. To look as they stare down their noses at me, at the disappointment I am to them. Family-adjacent, only here because my sister married in. Not good enough for such prestige. Too low-born to keep. Too unstable to be let loose, when my only act of insanity was to not want any of this.

AT: I wondered what they would say to me should they be capable of speech. How scathing their words. How barbarous their tongues. And then, I realised something. what does it matter? they’re dead. Their only voices are the ones i give them in my head.

(Aunt leaves. Shadow appears in window behind ky, holding a sword. it looks like scra’s dad. they attack)