Laius Leaving

Laius Leaving

This scene takes place in Deidamia's chambers.

Deidamia's Chambers
The Queen's chambers are just as regal and posh as imaginable... and more. The room is blanketed in refined luxury; tasteful, not ostentatious. Dozens of tapestries decorate the stone walls of the room, showing off scenes of beautiful gardens, breath-taking vistas, and the manifestations of Hera in all of her infinite wisdom and nobility. The prominent colors in the tapestries are taken up in the rest of the room's settings. Smooth, warm, cream-colored velvet covers every cushion and pillow and curtain in sight while cool, relaxing, blue and green linens lay over tabletops and cover the floor in blankets.
The centerpiece of the room is unmistakable -- a rather large but elegant bed seated upon a raised dais which dominates the middle of the room. Crafted in a wooden frame made to hold a canopy and curtains, the Queen's bed is plush and unquestionably comfortable. Creamy velvet curtains veil the thick mattress seat, allowing for only the vaguest of glimpses. Gauzy material of green and blue twist and turn and cling to the four corner posts like twining vines.
The exotic, sweet scent of honeysuckle permeates the room thanks to the blooming vines that cluster and hang in the far left corner of the room. A curtain of green life lends a private veil to a sunken bathtub carved from a single block of magnificent white marble stone. A row of spidery ferns lines the outside perimeter of the bath, helping to lend even more of an outdoor air to the space. Carpets fashioned in the patterns of peacock feathers litter the cold stone floor in abundance. The room screams of elegant refinement embraced by just a touch of exotic sensuality.

A lady in waiting opens the door, bowing deeply once she recognizes the King. Stepping aside, she holds the door open and goes back to her chambers once he has entered.'.
Laius arrives from the hallway.
Deidamia sits on the ledge of her bay window, overlooking the palace grounds and gardens. Her feet are curled up underneath her, and she seems...serious. Somber.
The Eleusian King passes through the doorway slowly, his face an unreadable mask; however, before he squares his shoulders to face his wife he gifts the maid with a brief nod of his head. Then, with an almost audible sigh, he approaches the window. For a long moment he stands behind the Queen, watching her carefully. His back is straight as a pillar and his eyes dull like the sky without the sun.
Deidamia turns her head to look up at you, pale eyes searching your face for any sign she may interpret. For a moment it seems as if she would speak, but she hesitates, shifting her eyes uneasily to the window again.
"I am sorry." The King hesitates as he speaks, his feet moving nervously beneath him. Then after a long pause he adds more to his speech: "For everything." Then he falls silent once more, his eyes focused only on the face of the Queen.
Deidamia blinks once quickly, then more slowly as realization sets in of what was said. Oddly enough you caught her quite off guard. Her eyes shift to you again and though she remains silent, there are a million questions churning in her mind. She just hasn't picked one yet.
And he is little surprised by the reaction, is the noble King. But there is a sheen across the front of his eyeballs: tears are forming underneath the pale skin. But he remains silent and still, save for his eyes. They are riveted still upon the Queen.
You say "Why." Her lips form the single word that can cause so many of the troubles in people's lives. "You made me feel an ugly, unwanted, stupid little child. How can it be that the Gods give me more respect than my husband?" Her words aren't thrown as an accusation, instead a tired but honest inquiry."
Laius opens and closes his mouth several times in quick succession, giving him the appearance of a beached whale. Then, his eyes flash at his own ineptness and his words come out. But they are slow and laborious, "I never meant to do those things, Deidamia. But I am surrounded on all sides by enemies, the Gods not the least among them." Then he looks down, and stirs at the hard floor with his sandal as if looking for more words. But as he finds none, his eyes remain upon the floor.
Deidamia lifts her hand to give a gentle but commanding touch to your face, bringing your eyes to meet hers. "You think the Gods are your enemies? Truly if you believe this then yes, you shall fall. They are not to be feared as enemies but respected as our -caretakers-." She pauses, closing her eyes for a moment before lowering her hand and looking at you.
"Hera speaks to me. Zeus commands me. Ares respects me and Athena comforts me. I have had visions and prophesies and warnings thrown at me until I was sick with it and I felt I stood alone." she shakes her head, a tiny motion and a pensive one. Softly, she almost whispers. "If you do not stand by me. If you continue to fear and disrespect the gods Laius then I cannot stop it from happening." She says, almost an ominous prophetic warning itself.
For a moment, the eyes of Laius look the same as before as they gaze into those of the Queen. But then of a sudden, as flint striking a fire into dry wood, they leap into heated flame. "House Callidae does not rule Eleusia." Where his eyes burn, his voice is cold. "It is you who must stand by me, Deidamia Callidae. I am not the warrior-king written in the stories. I am not the great man, who knows only virtue--my word does not speak only truth. And I will not be threatened: not by woman, not by man, or not by God. I was born to be King, and King I shall be. I pray to Zeus each day, and to Apollo and Athena as well. If the Gods will smite me, then I shall bear it. But I will remain steadfast in all that I do." The prophetic warning bolsters the ire of the King. He is not a man to be threatened.
Deidamia springs from the ledge as if thrown. Her own eyes blaze with fury as she speaks. "You are doing it again! -I- am not your enemy! -I- did not threaten you! I have been given a message to pass along to you and you can't even treat me as a person, instead of the dirt beneath your feet long enough to hear it." She almost spits out, brushing past you and towards the door.
Deidamia stops almost as an afterthought, glaring at you, her fists clenched. "If I had known that you would treat me so poorly, as if a servant then I never would have married you because I -was- given a chose Laius and I chose you. Now I think that is a mistake because you don't feel sorry about anything, and you throw lies in my face."
So great is the rage of Laius that he can say nothing in reply. He can only stare at Deidamia, his eyes thrown open in wild amazement. "Then give me your message, Your Majesty." His voice is stiff, and his back even more so.
Deidamia narrows her own eyes, and shakes her head. "You are a jealous, weak and scared man. I will give you nothing if you wish the ire of the Gods so much. After all, you invite it at every turn and push away every person that would help you. I will give you -nothing-." She says lowly, turning towards the door. "Or I shall give you what you shove down my throat every day and see how you feel then. It would be a just dosage of medicine."
Slowly, the King removes his crown from his head and tosses it aside. It falls out of the window and down into the courtyard below. The sound resounds throughout the entire palace, reverberating off of every crevice and rebounding through every corridor. "Then you may govern Eleusia." And then he sweeps past her with long strides, a calm expression upon his face.

Fin.