The Laurel: The Script

[Kabaffahp 566]

 

The Laurel

By: Kaba Halcourt 2029

Author’s Note: As you read through the script you may notice the actions of the characters are minimal this is because I think improvisation is a great thing in theatre and when this play was performed for the first time the players loved being able to customize their movements while having a basic “Oh this is the rough action needed”. Furthermore, in the cast it is listed that two guards are needed, I find it fun to integrate the crowd by asking for volunteers, this can work if there is only one guard too.

Play Time: Roughly 30 minutes

If you perform this play please invite me I would love to come watch others put this on: @Kabaffahp

Link to the skins: “The Laurel” Play Skins

Characters:

Lady Elaine – The female lead, married to Lord Renaut

Sir Aldric - The male lead, a soldier, in love with Elaine

Lord Renaut - A nobleman, married to Elaine

Blanche - Elaine’s handmaid

Brother Theyrn - A priest

Two Guards

 

 

---

Act I 

NARRATOR: The curtains open to a stone manor, it early autumn, vines creep along the walls of the manor, a chapel stands to the side, its door slightly ajar. Sir Aldric enters the stage in armor, bearing an item wrapped in cloth, his armor is worn and dull, he stops before the chapel

SIR ALDRIC:
Six winters gone,
The ivy clings where banners once were proud,
Here I stand, unburied, unblessed, unloved.
Bearing my crown not any king nor glory,
But for her.

[He unwraps the cloth, inside lies a laurel]

She swore she’d wait and yet..
No trumpet sang my return. No eyes did scan the hills.
Only silence.

[Enter BROTHER THERYN from the chapel, carrying a lantern.]

BROTHER THERYN:
Peace be upon thee, traveler
By that blade and gait, I know thee, Sir Aldric?

SIR ALDRIC:
Brother Theryn… still breathing God’s air.
Is it I who live, or this place that died?

BROTHER THERYN:
Both changed. You were a ghost in our prayers.
Some swore you were felled at Duskwatch Hill.

SIR ALDRIC:
Aye, many did. I buried comrades, not myself.
Tell me true: does Lady Élaine dwell still within?

BROTHER THERYN:
She does… though now she wears another name.
Lady Élaine Renaut. Three months a wife.

[SIR ALDRIC goes still. He lowers the laurel to the chapel step.]

SIR ALDRIC:
So quick the frost returns.
Was I so easily replaced?

BROTHER THERYN:
She mourned. A year she wore black.
Then came war to these lands. Her father, fearing ruin,
wed her to a man with coffers deep and soldiers bought.

SIR ALDRIC:
Gold instead of honor.
And what of this Lord Renaut?

BROTHER THERYN:
He rides not in war’s shadow. He bought his way clear.
He wears velvet and speaks of victory over wine.

The laurel was for her brow. Let it grace the altar instead.
The dead keep better promises than the living.

[Exit SIR ALDRIC, BROTHER THERYN watches him with sorrow.]

BROTHER THERYN:
The laurel for love.
But the thorn waits beneath.

[Curtain.]

 

---

Act II 

NARRATOR: 

The curtain opens to a manor’s hall, the stone walls held faded tapestries, Lady Elaine enters and paces back and forth

NARRATOR:

 her handmaid enters after standing in the corner. Elaine stops pacing and faces Blanche

ÉLAINE:
He was seen, you say?
A man of battered plate and sunken eyes?

Elaine halted mid-step, her silk skirts whispering against the cold stone floor as she turned, disbelief etched across her pale features.

BLANCHE:
So says the stable boy. He bore a sword
with marks of Duskwatch, your lord’s crest still there.

ÉLAINE:
It cannot be. I watched his banner burn.
His ring was returned with blood upon it.

Her voice faltered, a tremble carried upon it as she clutched the edge of her bodice, memories flooding her eyes with unshed tears.

BLANCHE:
Yet he walks, a ghost among us

[A knock at the hall door. Both pause before ElAINE speaks.]

ÉLAINE:
Leave us.

With a faint flick of her wrist and a lowered gaze, Elaine dismissed her handmaid, the weight of dread settling upon her shoulders. She took a deep breath before opening the door…

[BLANCHE curtsies and exits. ÉLAINE breathes deep, then opens the door. Enter SIR ALDRIC.]

ÉLAINE (barely above a whisper):
Aldric…

Her breath caught, a whisper of his name escaping her lips as she beheld him, her fingers rising as though to touch a dream.

SIR ALDRIC:
You know me still, then?

ÉLAINE:
By every breath I draw.
I… this cannot be.
They swore you dead.

Her voice cracked beneath the pressure of disbelief, the strength in her posture faltering as her gaze locked with his.

SIR ALDRIC:
Yet here I stand, and there you are, another’s wife.

ÉLAINE:
You cannot know what was done to me.

Her chin lifted slightly, wounded pride flashing in her eyes even as her voice trembled beneath the weight of old grief.

SIR ALDRIC:
And you, what was done to me?
Six years I fought for king and crown,
and for you, Élaine.
Every battle, every wound was survived, 

thinking of your name.

ÉLAINE (anguished):
They said you fell at Duskwatch.
My dear I wept. The priest gave mass.
A courier brought your ring.

She clasped her hands tightly at her waist, as if holding herself together, every word steeped in the ache of loss.

SIR ALDRIC:
My ring was taken. Not returned by truth.

[A long silence.]

ÉLAINE:
Renaut came after. With guards and gold.
Our lands were dying, plundered while you warred.
He offered shelter, titles, men.
I was… I was pressed.

Elaine turned slightly from Aldric, as though the confession stung too deeply to deliver face to face.

SIR ALDRIC:
Pressed? You were not forged in iron.
You had a will, and it bent.

ÉLAINE (quietly):
So did yours. You went to war, not to me.

She cast the words like stones, each syllable laced with hurt, her eyes glistening as she met his gaze, unflinching.

[Enter LORD RENAUT with flourish, holding a goblet.]

RENAUT:
Well met! What shade stalks my hall at twilight?
Sir Aldric, they say?
I had heard your bones fed crows.

SIR ALDRIC:(coldly)
And I heard your purse spared you the same fate.

RENAUT (smirking):
Gold fights battles just as well as blades, old friend.
And wins prettier wives.

[ÉLAINE turns away.]

SIR ALDRIC:
A man may win a crown, but not a queen.
Some wear laurels; others steal them.

RENAUT:
Careful, knight.
Your tongue walks a blade’s edge.

SIR ALDRIC:
And your soul hangs by a thread.

ÉLAINE (firmly):
Enough. This hall remembers joy once.
Let it not echo with blood.

She stepped between the men, her presence a calm yet resolute barrier, arms raised in quiet command.

RENAUT (to ÉLAINE):
You dismiss me for him?
A ghost of glory past?

ÉLAINE:
I dismiss no man. I beg all leave.
I must think.

Her voice softened, but her spine remained unyielding. She looked to neither man, only to the hearth’s dying flame.

[SIR ALDRIC and LORD RENAUT lock eyes. RENAUT drains his goblet and exits.]
 

[Pause. SIR ALDRIC turns to ÉLAINE.]

SIR ALDRIC:
Do you still love me?

ÉLAINE:
I never ceased. 

She turned her head over her shoulder just slightly, her final words soft, wistful, and resolute before she swept from the room.

[Elaine exits swiftly. ALDRIC stands alone]

SIR ALDRIC (to himself):
Then why does it feel like you did?

[Curtain.]

 

---

Act III 

NARRATOR:

The curtains rise to the chapel at night, candles flicker near the altar, a stained glass window lets in the moonlight, a laurel wreath rests near the front untouched. Brother Theryn kneels in prayer as Blanche enters, cloaked

BLANCHE:

Brother Theryn? Are you alone?

BROTHER THERYN (rising):

Always, child.

God listens, but rarely speaks back.

What brings you cloaked in moonlight?

BLANCHE:

Fear. And guilt, perhaps.

Sir Aldric walks these halls with fire in his eyes,

but none will tell him how he was betrayed.

BROTHER THERYN:

Betrayal wears many cloaks.

Speak plainly, girl.

BLANCHE (hesitant):

Lord Renaut. He sent a man with word of Sir Aldric’s death…

before the battle at Duskwatch was ever fought.

BROTHER THERYN:

God's mercy… He forged a death?

 

BLANCHE:

He knew Lady Élaine would mourn, 

and her father marry her quickly.

He bought her hand with lies and coin.

She weeps at night. I’ve heard her whisper Aldric’s name.

[Footsteps. Enter SIR ALDRIC, silent.]

SIR ALDRIC:

Is it true?

[BLANCHE gasps, steps back. THERYN bows his head.]

SIR ALDRIC:

So I did die, on parchment, by bribe,

not blade.

I wore armor to bleed for this realm,

yet I was slain by ink of a man unworthy.

BROTHER THERYN:

Sir Aldric..

[SIR ALDRIC turns to BROTHER THERYN.]

SIR ALDRIC:

You said betrayal wears many cloaks.

I shall tear one off at dawn.

BROTHER THERYN:

Aldric, let not your soul walk the path of vengeance.

SIR ALDRIC:

It walks where honor was buried.

[Exit SIR ALDRIC. BLANCHE and BROTHER THERYN stare at each other for a few]

BROTHER THEYRN: 

Return to your Lady, I fear what is to come tomorrow.

[Curtain.]

 

---

Act IV 

NARRATOR: 

The curtains rise to show the manor garden at dawn, Sir Aldric enters armed, he walks to the center of the garden planting his sword into the earth.
 

SIR ALDRIC:
The sun comes slow today.
As if the heavens hesitate
Knowing blood waits beneath.

[Enter LADY ÉLAINE]

enters the garden, breathless, skirts brushing the dew-covered grass as she catches sight of Aldric. Her voice trembles, but she stands firm.

ÉLAINE:
Aldric!

SIR ALDRIC (without turning):
You should not be here. This place is not for prayers.

ÉLAINE:
Nor for murder.
I know what you intend.

She takes several steps forward, the dawnlight catching on her silken sleeves. As he turns, she flinches, yet speaks with solemn resolve.

SIR ALDRIC:
Do you?
Then tell me, what does the man who lost his name,
his honor, his bride, what does he do?

ÉLAINE:
He lives.
He walks away. He finds peace far from this cursed house.

Her hands wring at her sides as she pleads.

SIR ALDRIC (turning):
Peace is for those unburdened by memory.

ÉLAINE:
I did not wish to leave you. I was deceived
I wept your death until my eyes burned dry!

As Aldric turns, Élaine’s expression softens, haunted by memory. She steps closer, voice low.

SIR ALDRIC:
And then you wed the man who killed me in ink.
A wedding forged in mourning’s shadow is still a wedding.

ÉLAINE:
I never loved him.

SIR ALDRIC:
Then you loved me, and still let him touch you.

[ÉLAINE steps back, wounded. A long silence.]

ÉLAINE (quietly):
Then let one thing be true [His words strike her like a blow. She recoils half a step, hand flying to her chest as her breath catches.]
Before steel answers for sorrow
I love you still. [ Élaine reaches out, her fingers just brushing his arm as if to tether him back to life.]

[Enter LORD RENAUT, armored and smirking.]

RENAUT:
A touching scene. The grieving widow and the resurrected knight.
Shall I stand aside, or do you mean to duel me with verse?

SIR ALDRIC (coldly):
Steel will speak clearer than truth did.

RENAUT (drawing sword):
So be it.
Let the past die with the better man.

[ LADY ELAINE withdrawals to the corner of the garden watching the two with bated breath ]

[FIGHT SCENE: This fight seen was designed by the actors, this scene may be changed by the actors or director as needed]

A: Ser Aldric lets out a yell, drawing his sword and lunging at Renaut - blade aimed to cut at the man's shoulders.

R: Renaut, with evident martial prowess, side steps as Ser Aldric lunges, bringing his Rapier up to guide the blade off course “All those years served, and still no talent” he chuckles
 

A: Ser Alaric grits his teeth, turning back with his on coming swipe aiming upward towards the hilt of his opponents rapier. “My valor was earned, not bought!” The warrior sneers back.

R: Renaut stumbles back as the blade connects unexpectedly, his eyes go narrow “Enough chatter!” he feints a swipe with the rapier, turning it into a thrust aimed towards Ser Aldric’s mid section.

A: Ser Aldric lets out a cry as the rapier pierces his gut, his action faltering in the moment as he held his sword aloft. The pair weren’t so fair apart now.

R: Renaut leans into Ser Aldric's ear as he firmly presses the Rapier deeper into his gut “Elaine will remember you the same as everyone else does, as nothing!” he says with a twisted grin

A: Blood dribbled from the corner of Ser Aldric’s mouth as he grimaced in pain. All hope seemed lost until the warrior growls, summoning his strength to collide his skull against Renaut’s own - shoving him back. Twirling his long sword, Ser Aldric stepped after Renaut, running him through.

R: Renaut, with blood streaking from his nose and battered face, he inhales sharply in painas the blade passes through his chest, life leaving him as he falls to his knees 

Sir Aldric staggers as he grips his mid section, blood blossoming beneath the cloth and hand. His sword clatters to the ground as he is forced to kneel.

ÉLAINE (rushing to him):
No, no, not this. Aldric!

When Aldric falls, she rushes to him, sinking to her knees. Her arms wrap around him, her voice cracking.

SIR ALDRIC (weary smile):
The laurel... it was always yours.
I’m sorry I couldn’t bring it sooner

[He collapses into her arms.]

ÉLAINE:
Stay. Please. I’ll unmake every vow,
I’ll cast off every name…

[Her tears fall freely as she cradles his head, trembling fingers brushing hair from his brow.]

just stay.

SIR ALDRIC:
Too late.
The war ended years ago.
But my peace... comes now.

[He dies. ÉLAINE weeps silently.]

ÉLAINE:

He died not for glory.

Nor vengeance, though he swung the blade.

He died for love, and a truth too long buried. [As his final breath leaves him, Élaine lowers her head, pressing her brow to his.]

Renaut wrote his death in ink…

So Aldric wrote it back in blood. [She rises at last, lifting her gaze toward the audience, voice ringing clear though her eyes glisten with grief.]

[Curtain]

Signed,

Kaba Halcourt

[ Only took 3 months to actually format it into a script but tada ]