Chet Williamson - Reign

"Take that, you son of a bitch," Dennis whispered, and felt his tiny smile grow larger as the music increased in volume, the harmonies blended, the players moved as one, until he was grinning, unafraid, grinning at the grim face of death he knew was hiding somewhere in the shadows of the theatre.

But the shadows would fade, wouldn't they? With song and dance and laughter, they would fade and be replaced by glorious light. It always happened that way in the books and the movies and the stories, didn't it? Christ, it had to happen that way, it just had to.

They worked the number through several times, getting used to the new stage floor, the acoustics and geometry of the space. Curt called a break, and the cast relaxed, got coffee, Cokes, sat on the apron, cooled down in a dozen different ways. At the end of the five, Quentin waved to Dennis. "We'll go on with the scene, yes?"

Dennis nodded and got to his feet. For a moment a wave of dizziness swept over him, and he clutched the arm of the seat, but it passed, and he took a deep breath, walked down the length of the row, and up onto the stage of the Venetian Theatre, where he had first become what he was.

He stepped over to the stage right prop table and strapped on his scabbard, pulling out his saber to examine it. The cutting edges were dull, but still capable of inflicting a wound, and the point, though slightly rounded, could pierce flesh nonetheless. The weapon was just like that of Wallace Drummond, with whom Dennis would fight the climactic duel at the show's end. Quentin, besides being a Tony Award winning choreographer, was also an expert fencer, and had staged duels for half a dozen Broadway shows and many more regional theatre productions. He had choreographed the swordplay for the revival, and had worked for several hours with Dennis and Drummy in New York, using wooden canes to block the moves slowly and carefully, safety always being the major factor. He avoided thrusts, except when they were absolutely necessary.

"Slashes," he had told them, "can be avoided or parried even by the beginning swordsman. And if they land there usually isn't much harm done. But a thrust can injure badly. That's why we use them seldom, and why we should know precisely when they're coming."

Dennis slid the saber back into the scabbard, and walked onto the stage, where Drummy and Quentin were waiting for him. Dan Marks, the actor playing Kruger, Kronstein's henchman, was standing stage right, where Dennis's entrance would occur. Marks, a short, stocky actor, was nervously sliding his own saber in and out of its scabbard. He stopped long enough to smile at Dennis, then fell back into the routine. He looked, Dennis thought, almost scared to be on the stage, and he wondered if Dan was nervous about the scene, or about the stage on which they were playing it.

"All right, gentlemen," Quentin said. "We'll start with Dennis's entrance – quiet please, people! We're rehearsing!" he added for the others, who were making more noise than was usual for breaks. They quieted quickly, however, at Quentin's request. "Let's start with your line, `What in God's name,' all right?"

The three actors got into position. The jovial Drummond put on the dour character of Kronstein in an instant, standing stage center and looking upstage and down, as he would be when the set was on stage. Marks, as Kruger, moved right center, facing Dennis, who was standing right, only a yard from the wings.

"We're on stage now," Quentin reminded them, and Dennis felt the words addressed to him in particular. "So let's see some emotion. Please don't mark it, I want it full out, yes? Begin."

The scene was the climactic one in which the Emperor Frederick finds his half-brother Kronstein about to impersonate him in front of the populace, and announce his intent to wed Maria of Borovnia. Furious, Frederick cuts his way through Kruger to Kronstein, who decides his only step is to kill Frederick and take his place permanently.

Dennis shut his eyes for a moment, trying to remember the feelings, the emotions he had counterfeited a thousand times, trying to become the Emperor Frederick once again. He opened his eyes and strode forward.

"'What in God's name are you about!'" he cried. Or tried to cry. What came out, instead of an angry, imperious shout, was a weakly barked series of words that descended in a mealy whine. It was no worse, but certainly no better, than Dennis had done in the New York rehearsals.

"'About,'" Marks went on, snarling the line, "`to announce your future, your majesty.'

"'You've returned too early, Frederick,' " said Drummond as Kronstein. "'And you've gone too far, Kronstein,'" said Dennis flatly. "`Get away from that balcony.'"

"'Stop him, Kruger. Don't harm him, but stop him.'"

Marks drew his saber and advanced on Dennis en garde. Dennis fumbled with his blade, unsheathed it, and tried to go into the quick flurry of moves that would end with his slapping his blade under Marks's upstage arm to simulate a fatal thrust.

But his movements were sluggish, and he dropped the sword to his side in frustration even before Quentin was able to stop the scene. "Okay, Dennis, you remember the moves?"

Dennis nodded. "I'm sorry. Not loosened up yet.”

“Let's start from the same place then."

They did. Dennis gave his lines with no more life than before, the sabers were drawn, the movements barely gotten through. Dennis's final thrust was more like a caress, but Marks dropped his saber, grabbed his chest as though a cannonball had passed through it, and fell to the floor, expiring without another line.

"'That was uncalled for… your majesty,'" said Drummond. "'He would not have killed you, you know. Those were not the orders I gave.'"

"'I'm giving the orders, Kronstein. Move away from that balcony. Now.'“

“'You shall not let me make my announcement?'"

"'If you were to make it looking like that, I should be the one bound to it. And I shall not wed Maria. I'll wed no one.'"

Drummond cocked his head, narrowed his eyes. "'And let the line die out, eh? You're so grieved over the loss of your peasant girl?'" He spat the final words.

Dennis tried to act stunned, but failed miserably. "'What do you know about her?'"

"'I know she had a cherry mark upon her breast. But perhaps you never found that out. You always were such a gentleman, Frederick.' "

"'You bastard…'"

"'Precisely. A royal bastard, I believe, is the term.'"

" 'You killed her.'"

"`No. I intended only to… dishonor her. Originally Kruger was to have the pleasure. But when we had her there in the cabin, she was such a handsome wench that I decided to take her first. She tried to run away, but fell. Struck her head. A pity. She would have been quite a little piece. Perhaps I could have sired another royal bastard. Wouldn't that have been amusing, Frederick?'"

Dennis stood, trying to let the rage build up inside him, but the well was empty. He looked around quickly, trying to refocus his thoughts, and saw John Steinberg and Ann sitting in the first row. He lost the line. "Line," Dennis said, calling for it.

"'I shall not have you…'" Curt read from the prompt book

"'I shall not have you executed,'" Dennis repeated.

"'Oh, thank you, majesty.'"

"'I shall kill you myself.'"

"'That seems to gel precisely with my plans, Frederick. Only I plan to kill you. No one save your mother can tell the difference between us now, and old ladies die every day. I can become used to being addressed as Frederick… or as your majesty. In fact, I think I'll enjoy it.'" Drummond drew his saber. "'Pray to your god, Frederick. From this day on, I am God in Waldmont.'"

"'Add blasphemy to your list, Kronstein, along with murder and treason and whatever else you've committed. I'll execute you for all of them.'"