Constantin | Martyria

Abstract

The play The Happiest Man on Earth dramatises the final days of Prince Constantin Brâncoveanu, from his deposition by the envoy of Sultan Ahmed III to his execution and that of his sons in Istanbul, exploring through intense dialogue the themes of faith, power, gold and paternal sacrifice. The audience is presented with the portrait of a lucid martyr who refuses to renounce his faith despite pressure from the sultan and the betrayal of Ștefan Cantacuzino, choosing death alongside his sons rather than survival at the cost of renouncing the Christian faith.

Characters

BRÂNCOVEANU, 60 – Prince of Wallachia
VĂCĂRESCU, 60 – counsellor, treasurer
MUSTAFA AGA, 50 – the Sultan’s
envoy CONSTANTIN II BRÂNCOVEANU, 31–35 – the prince’s
son ȘTEFAN BRÂNCOVEANU, 29 – the prince’s
son RADU BRÂNCOVEANU, 25 – the prince’s
son MATEI BRÂNCOVEANU, 16–18 – son of
Prince MARICA BRÂNCOVEANU, 50 – wife of
the prince ANITA BALȘ BRÂNCOVEANU, 35 – wife of Constantin II Brâncoveanu
ȘTEFAN CANTACUZINO, 50 – Prince of Wallachia, succeeding Constantin Brâncoveanu
SULTAN AHMED III, 40
THE APROD, 20
THE CUPBEARER, 40
THE LOGOFAT, 50
SOLDIERS

SCENE I

The throne room. Ianache Văcărescu, seated on a stool near the throne, is reading a document with great attention. He seems delighted.

VĂCĂRESCU (cheerfully): …we confirm receipt… in the year of our Lord… on the day of… of… bags… each containing… plus… ahem… ahem… and they shall receive a…

Constantin Brâncoveanu enters.

BRÂNCOVEANU: How are things going, Boyar Văcărescu?

VĂCĂRESCU (startled): How are things, for heaven’s sake?

BRÂNCOVEANU: Call me by my name! How many times must I…

VĂCĂRESCU (interrupting): It’s not proper!

BRÂNCOVEANU: Nothing that’s good is proper.

VĂCĂRESCU: For me, for heaven’s sake… but you’re allowed to do anything.

BRÂNCOVEANU: So, where do we stand?

VĂCĂRESCU: It could have been better.

BRÂNCOVEANU: That’s for sure!

VĂCĂRESCU (smiling): But not much better.

BRÂNCOVEANU: Any news from Venice?

VĂCĂRESCU: The shipment has arrived. In one piece and on time. I’ve got the confirmation (he hands him the document).

Brâncoveanu glances at it quickly.

BRÂNCOVEANU: So, just a thousand.

VĂCĂRESCU: That was all we could manage.

BRÂNCOVEANU: It was possible!

VĂCĂRESCU: That’s all we sent.

BRÂNCOVEANU: We should have sent more. You never know what tomorrow may bring and…

VĂCĂRESCU: Whatever happens, however the world may turn, you’re a lord for life and…

BRÂNCOVEANU (interrupting): Just words, Ienăchiță!

VĂCĂRESCU: The Sultan’s words.

BRÂNCOVEANU: No one is a lord for life, not even the sultan! At any moment…

VĂCĂRESCU (interrupting): Well, if you put it like that…

BRÂNCOVEANU: Things are always happening… things are always changing…

VĂCĂRESCU: Things change, they change, but whatever happens, you’re prepared.

BRÂNCOVEANU: And you’ve got some preparation too.

VĂCĂRESCU (puzzled): What sort of preparation could I possibly have?

BRÂNCOVEANU (suggestively): Don’t you have any training at all?

VĂCĂRESCU: I’ve got… here with… with the paperwork… with the Court’s finances… with my education…

BRÂNCOVEANU: But haven’t you put anything aside yourself?

VĂCĂRESCU: Me?

BRÂNCOVEANU: Ienăchiță, don’t take the mickey!… You know you have!

VĂCĂRESCU: A little.

BRÂNCOVEANU: A little for ten lifetimes, but for one… I reckon you’ll manage.

VĂCĂRESCU: It’s a struggle, for goodness’ sake!

BRÂNCOVEANU (feigning annoyance): Ienăchiță! As well as those thousand—ours—you’ve also sent, say, about a hundred sacks… in your own name. I reckon you’ve got the confirmation too. You received it along with ours… Of course I know. So don’t give me any of that ‘it’s too much’ rubbish.

VĂCĂRESCU: Hard… apart from Your Highness, who has…

BRÂNCOVEANU: Four boys, five girls… plus the grandchildren… plus the lady… plus the Cantacuzinos.

VĂCĂRESCU: But what’s the matter with the Cantacuzinos?… It’s not as if you’re collecting for them as well.

BRÂNCOVEANU: Not for them, but I have to be careful! These days the whole clan’s snitching on me… there’s a queue at the sultan’s.

VĂCĂRESCU: It’s no use! Ahmet won’t listen to them… They can’t sing as much as Your Highness can pay.

BRÂNCOVEANU: You never know. There are also the omens…

VĂCĂRESCU: If we’d gone by the signs, by now…

BRÂNCOVEANU (continuing): …the warning letter…

VĂCĂRESCU: The doctor in Istanbul wanted a bit of money too, that’s why he made up the story about… but it’s nothing to…

BRÂNCOVEANU (interrupting): And the rumours! Plus the misfortune with poor Stanca.

VĂCĂRESCU: If there’d been any… problem, the Sultan wouldn’t have given his consent… to the wedding.

BRÂNCOVEANU: That may well be… but after the wedding, we must investigate the matter thoroughly.

VĂCĂRESCU: Any news from the Turks? I understand Mustafa arrived last night.

BRÂNCOVEANU: I haven’t spoken to him yet.

VĂCĂRESCU: What’s he doing round here?

BRÂNCOVEANU: Just passing through. On his way to Hotin. But he hasn’t forgotten about us either!… He’s coming round today to say hello.

VĂCĂRESCU: Empty-handed?!

BRÂNCOVEANU: That’s the custom when arriving… when leaving, it’s a different custom.

VĂCĂRESCU: I was thinking he might bring a wedding present… from the Sultan.

BRÂNCOVEANU: Yeah… maybe he won’t take our money after all!… Anyway, we’d better get a move on with the wedding… you never know… how Bălașa will bring Maria over… we’ll sort it out.

VĂCĂRESCU: Everything’s ready.

BRÂNCOVEANU: Maybe that’ll calm Radu down a bit too.

VĂCĂRESCU: Don’t take this the wrong way, but I don’t think that’s possible.

BRÂNCOVEANU: It’s possible, it’s possible… he’ll settle down too… the woman will change him.

VĂCĂRESCU: I’d be surprised.

BRÂNCOVEANU: Maria’s a good girl.

VĂCĂRESCU: I hear she’s a bit too good.

BRÂNCOVEANU: What do you mean, too good? Too good for Radu, or…

VĂCĂRESCU: Too… gentle, soft… Radu needed someone a bit more…

BRÂNCOVEANU: What sort of thing?

The Bailiff enters (20).

THE BULLETIN BEARER: Pardon me, Your Highness! Mustafa-bei has arrived.

BRÂNCOVEANU: Let him in! Him and the Court.

The Usher exits.

VĂCĂRESCU: What business does he have in Hotin?

BRÂNCOVEANU: Turkish business. He’s hardly come all this way just to deliver something.

VĂCĂRESCU: At least this one’s a likeable Turk.

BRÂNCOVEANU: And his poison is likeable too. If it ends up killing you!

Mustafa enters, along with 4–5 boyars and 4 soldiers.

BRÂNCOVEANU: I was just about to think you were off to Hotin without even saying goodbye.

MUSTAFA: I couldn’t have. Even if I’d wanted to, I couldn’t have.

Brâncoveanu rises from the throne and goes to meet the Turk.

BRÂNCOVEANU: Welcome, Mustafa!

MUSTAFA: For better or worse, I’ve come… and I’ve found you… I greet you, Boyar Văcărescu!

BRÂNCOVEANU: Well, how could you not find me?

VĂCĂRESCU: Welcome, Mustafa-aga!

MUSTAFA: That remains to be seen. There have been all sorts of rumours.

BRÂNCOVEANU: There always are… About what?

MUSTAFA: About many things.

BRÂNCOVEANU: Don’t pay any attention to rumours. Because if I were to pay attention to them…

MUSTAFA (quickly, curiously): What would you do?

BRÂNCOVEANU (after a brief hesitation): Nonsense! I’m glad you’ve come.

MUSTAFA: I’m not.

BRÂNCOVEANU: Are you tired?

MUSTAFA: I’m starting to…

BRÂNCOVEANU (interrupting him cheerfully): You run about too much… I was actually surprised that, instead of coming to see me as soon as you arrived, you went off for a nap. You’ve grown old, Mustafa!

MUSTAFA: And that… I thought I’d let you have a quiet evening. What have you been up to?

BRÂNCOVEANU: Last night?

MUSTAFA: Yes.

BRÂNCOVEANU: Nothing important. You could have disturbed me. I spoke to the lads. I spent time with my wife; we’re trying to get back on our feet after that disaster with Stanca…

MUSTAFA: Yes… I’m sorry… I heard that…

BRÂNCOVEANU: That’s… the hardest thing for a parent… to see your child…

MUSTAFA (interrupting him): But last night went well.

BRÂNCOVEANU: Yes.

MUSTAFA: And the lads? I’d heard they wanted to go off somewhere… hunting… up into the mountains.

BRÂNCOVEANU (laughing): Too many rumours… The lads are here… we’re getting ready for the wedding, there’s no time for hunting… and you’re invited, mind you; if you’re staying with us, you’ll get to join us for the big meal.

MUSTAFA: I don’t have time for a meal!

BRÂNCOVEANU: …Come on, sit down, have a rest! You’ve got a long journey ahead to Ho…

MUSTAFA (interrupting): I don’t have time, Constantin! There’s no time left to… sit around.

BRÂNCOVEANU: But what’s the rush to get to Hotin?

MUSTAFA: Not in Hotin.

Mustafa takes out a piece of black silk and places it on Brâncoveanu’s shoulder.

MUSTAFA: Mazil!

A few moments of silence.

BRÂNCOVEANU: What do you mean, ‘mazil’?!

MUSTAFA: The Sultan’s order, Constantin! I’ve come so you won’t be frightened… so you won’t run away.

BRÂNCOVEANU: How could I run away?!… Why should I run away?… We’ve got a wedding on now and…

MUSTAFA (interrupting): Sometimes people… do run away. There have been rumours… Mazil. I’m sorry that I…

BRÂNCOVEANU (laughing sceptically, heading towards the throne): Mustafa, seriously… it’s a joke!

MUSTAFA: It’s no joke, it’s an order…

BRÂNCOVEANU (interrupting): Or perhaps that’s the custom among you… instead of stealing the bride, you take the father-in-law… see, Ienăchiță, what cultural differences mean?

MUSTAFA (firmly): You’re dismissed, Constantin!

BRÂNCOVEANU: Turkish humour.

MUSTAFA: Deposed… along with…

BRÂNCOVEANU (interrupting, crescendo): No, Mustafa!… Be serious! … No!… You can’t come here… playing about with a piece of cloth and expect me… or anyone here to…

MUSTAFA: Yes, I can! It’s the Sultan’s will!

BRÂNCOVEANU: Be reasonable! Just a few days ago the Sultan agreed to the wedding! Go on, Boyar Văcărescu, bring out the letter from the Sultan so that Mustafa-aga can see that…

MUSTAFA (interrupting): I know about the letter… it was just a guarantee… so you wouldn’t run away… Constantin, the Sultan has declared you a rebel. You’re deposed!

A few seconds of silence.

BRÂNCOVEANU (cheerfully): See, Ienăchiță, I was wrong after all! Mustafa didn’t come empty-handed… he’s brought one of these headscarves as well.

Brâncoveanu goes to sit on the throne, but Mustafa quickly takes a few steps and pushes him away.

MUSTAFA: That’s out of the question now! Tomorrow the imbrohor arrives. You’ll have a new lord!… And you’re expected in Istanbul!… Tie him up!

BRÂNCOVEANU (imperatively): Nobody move!… A new ruler, did you say, Mustafa?! What new ruler?… I have the Sultan’s word… ruler for life… That’s what’s written… and I’m not dead yet… does the Sultan take his word back?

MUSTAFA: The Sultan is… the Sultan! He can take back what he’s given… (allusively, suggestively) but he must also give… what he’s taken, so come with me to Istanbul and…

BRÂNCOVEANU (interrupting): I’ve got a wedding! What business do I have in Istanbul?

MUSTAFA: You’re not having a wedding. I’ve been ordered to take you (shows the Sultan’s order). Tie up the exiled one!

BRÂNCOVEANU: Who’s going to tie up the mazil? These lads?… How are they going to tie me up?… These are… my men! Where are your men, Mustafa? Who are you in this hall?

MUSTAFA: The envoy of His Highness Ahmed III, and whoever fails to obey…

BRÂNCOVEANU (interrupting): Nonsense! You’re just a stray Turk… What army have you brought to depose me?

MUSTAFA: I’ve come without an army… so you won’t run away. (to the others) If necessary, the army will come too! But there’s no need! I have the Sultan’s orders. That’s enough! And the Sultan orders the Court to arrest the deposed ruler at once! Whoever disobeys the order loses their head!

BRÂNCOVEANU: After 25 years… and a mountain of gold… the Sultan orders… ‘Whoever disobeys will lose their head?!’… Do you realise what you’re saying?… Do you realise how that sounds?!… You were born amongst savages, Mustafa! Just like that, out of the blue… But what’s got into Ahmed?

MUSTAFA: The Sultan’s will cannot be…

BRÂNCOVEANU (interrupting): Of course it can! Calm down! What’s he missing? Why… does he want to see me? Has he run out of gold?

MUSTAFA: The order has nothing to do with gold…

BRÂNCOVEANU: Everything’s to do with gold… and perhaps Ahmed wants more. That’s only natural, for a sultan of his stature! But instead of causing a fuss, scaring these people, sending you on your way – instead of making you lie to a friend… because after twenty-two years, I’ve come to believe that we’re…

MUSTAFA: We were… but now…

BRÂNCOVEANU (continuing, louder): Instead of playing games with the scarf… wouldn’t it have been simpler for Ahmed to just say, plain and simple, that he wants more gold?

MUSTAFA: You’ve been declared a rebel. The Sultan doesn’t want gold!

BRÂNCOVEANU: Why, has he repented?! Listen, Ienăchiță, the Sultan doesn’t want gold! Perhaps he’s waiting for some myrrh! At this rate, he’ll become a Christian! The Padishah’s becoming a monk!… (to Văcărescu) He wants us to baptise him!

VĂCĂRESCU: If that’s the order…

MUSTAFA: The Sultan orders that Boyar Văcărescu also be arrested and taken to Istanbul.

BRÂNCOVEANU: What?

MUSTAFA: And Boyar Văcărescu is…

VĂCĂRESCU: No! He isn’t!

BRÂNCOVEANU: Mustafa, have you gone mad?… I was joking! And the man didn’t even reply. Don’t worry! Nobody’s going to baptise the enlightened one…

MUSTAFA: That’s the order! And Boyar Văcărescu must come with us…

BRÂNCOVEANU (interrupting): Are you carrying out orders or… making them up as you go along?

MUSTAFA: An order from the Sultan: You, the lady, the boys…

BRÂNCOVEANU: My lady and the boys?

MUSTAFA: … And Boyar Văcărescu…

BRÂNCOVEANU: But when did the Sultan have time to order you to arrest them all?… Because at first you were only talking about me… Is Ahmed whispering in your ear now? Or has he come here in secret too… so as not to frighten me… and is he now signalling to you… from under his headscarf?

MUSTAFA: Constantin, that’s no way to talk! I know it’s not easy… but it’s not as if… after all, I didn’t come here for a wedding! I have orders and I’m carrying them out… I take no pleasure in…

BRÂNCOVEANU (cutting in): That’s really serious! You take no pleasure in it?!… Don’t you enjoy sacking a friend who’s been helping you for the last 20 years?! Don’t you get any small pleasure… from coming here and, with a single word, changing everything?!… To show who’s in charge? Who helps whom! Or doesn’t help! Who’s the boss?!… Come on, Mustafa, admit you enjoy it!

MUSTAFA: I don’t like it! I take no pleasure in… on the contrary, I’m sorry!

BRÂNCOVEANU: Well then, what sort of… master are you? Shouldn’t you take a bit of pleasure in bringing order to the colonies?! I feel guilty! You’re our guest; it’s not right for you to suffer… Or am I your guest now? (pause)… Anyway, we ought to do something to ease your pain.

MUSTAFA: You’re upset, Constantin, but you should have known that, sooner or later, the moment might come when…

BRÂNCOVEANU (interrupting): I’d have been glad if it were ‘sooner’! But that’s not what matters!… The Sultan must be happy, especially now that he’s repented, no longer wants gold, and is after incense!

MUSTAFA: Constantin, stop it!

BRÂNCOVEANU: And if I don’t stop, what happens?! Will the Sultan arrest someone else? It’s his right, after all… In the end, why stop at the treasurer?… Doesn’t he want the cupbearer as well?

THE CUPBEARER: Have mercy, Great Aga!

BRÂNCOVEANU: Or the logothete? Doesn’t he deserve the Padishah’s attention?

THE LOGOFAT: No, Your Highness!

BRÂNCOVEANU: Why not the… usher as well? Just look at that hostile expression of his… what a conspiratorial look!

The usher freezes. He faints. He collapses without a word. He remains on the floor; no one dares to move.

MUSTAFA (smiling): Just you, the lady and the boys… plus Boyar Văcărescu.

BRÂNCOVEANU: But I wonder what business Ahmed had with the treasurer?… Because I gather he doesn’t want any more gold.

MUSTAFA (smiling): You’re a bit too quick on the uptake!

BRÂNCOVEANU: Well done! So you’re actually showing a bit of joy after all! I’m glad to see you smiling, Mustafa! Anyway, it’s not your fault, is it?! You’re just doing your duty.

MUSTAFA: I’m glad you’ve understood!

BRÂNCOVEANU: What I don’t understand is how you came here yesterday, with a duty like this… and waited until today. Was it mercy… calculation… or did you just eavesdrop a bit?

MUSTAFA: Friendship, Constantin! After twenty-odd years, I wanted to let you have one quiet evening. Just a little… but at least that much to…

BRÂNCOVEANU (interrupting): Is that all?! You’re capable of so much more, Mustafa!… (to the others) I ask the Court to withdraw!

The boyars and soldiers begin to move slowly towards the exit. Brâncoveanu and Mustafa stand face to face and stare intently at one another for a few seconds.

MUSTAFA (staring intently at Brâncoveanu): The Court shall not withdraw!

Everyone stops.

BRÂNCOVEANU: Let the Court withdraw, Mustafa! It, too, deserves to…

MUSTAFA: Now… it no longer deserves to!

BRÂNCOVEANU: They always deserve it… In this world… Besides, the boyars are tired… Disturbed… They need a breather. Let them leave, to clear their heads! To put their affairs in order.

MUSTAFA: Things are clear!

BRÂNCOVEANU: But they could be clearer! There’s always room for… something better! What a difference a moment’s respite makes!

MUSTAFA: How much?

BRÂNCOVEANU: Enough to make it worthwhile.

MUSTAFA: ‘Enough’ is not much.

BRÂNCOVEANU: It’s a lot! A great deal… You’d be surprised!

MUSTAFA: I doubt it!

BRÂNCOVEANU: I ask the Court to withdraw! It’s worth it!

MUSTAFA: Nothing is worth it!

BRÂNCOVEANU: You don’t know… how much it’s worth.

MUSTAFA: Yes, I do!

BRÂNCOVEANU: So what?

A few seconds of silence.

MUSTAFA: The court will remain!

BRÂNCOVEANU: Mustafa… now or later… Here or elsewhere… The Court will still withdraw. That’s the custom.

MUSTAFA: Not today… It’s too late today.

BRÂNCOVEANU: Last night wouldn’t have been.

MUSTAFA: Last night is over.

BRÂNCOVEANU: To no avail… Because you let it pass… Instead of speaking, you preferred to listen.

MUSTAFA: It was worth it. I see you’re doing well, Boyar Văcărescu! In Venice, everything is…

VĂCĂRESCU: It isn’t!

BRÂNCOVEANU: What a pity, Mustafa… You don’t see the whole picture. On the other hand, I know for certain that the Sultan has a… broader perspective! That’s why he’s the Sultan… whilst I’m a mere official and you’re just a poor little spy.

MUSTAFA: Don’t take it out on me; it’s not the messenger’s fault!

BRÂNCOVEANU: Oh yes, he is! He could have been free, yet he chose to remain a servant!

MUSTAFA: Bind him!

No one moves.

MUSTAFA: Whoever disobeys will lose their head!

The soldiers rush towards Brâncoveanu.

Heblu.

SCENE II

The audience chamber in the Prince’s Palace. A soldier stands guard at the door. On the left, at a large table, with their hands bound with silk strips, sit Constantin, Ștefan, Radu and Matei. On the right, at another small table, Brâncoveanu and Marica are reading and writing on various papers.

RADU: He’s mad! If he did that, he’s mad!

ȘTEFAN: You can’t know for sure. He gathered what he could, and when the moment came, he gave it a go!… And look, it worked out for him.

RADU: For how long? A day, two, five… a month…

CONSTANTIN: It doesn’t matter! Today he’s a hero!

RADU: At what cost?

ȘTEFAN: At the right price!

RADU: There’s no such thing! Because what’s fair today… changes tomorrow!

CONSTANTIN: There’s still time until tomorrow.

RADU: A bit… too little to be worth it. And, seriously, how much could he have given?… He didn’t have much to begin with.

CONSTANTIN: A thousand and up!

RADU: A thousand?! No way, their whole lot couldn’t have scraped together more than five or six hundred. We’re talking about cash, not stories… stories don’t cut it there.

CONSTANTIN: They must have borrowed it.

RADU: Even so!… (to Ștefan) Tell me, could all of them… and I mean all of them… have scraped together a thousand bags?

ȘTEFAN: Even two thousand!

RADU: You’re mad! (to Constantin and Ștefan)… You’re both… (looks at them closely) Did you really get scared?… Did you take the whole thing seriously… Are you afraid of…?

CONSTANTIN (interrupting calmly): We weren’t scared, but… it’s not nearly as simple as…

RADU (interrupting): It’s very simple!… But you’re making a mountain out of a molehill…

CONSTANTIN (cutting him off, sharply): Take it easy!… And, look, in the meantime, the mosquito’s turned into a gentleman.

MATEI: Dad, could that bloke have given two thousand?

BRÂNCOVEANU (distracted): Who?

MATEI: Well… this bloke… Ștefan…

BRÂNCOVEANU (pointing at Ștefan): What’s this about Ștefan?

MATEI: No, Dad, not him… Stefan Cantacuzino!

BRÂNCOVEANU (feigning surprise): The new gentleman?

MATEI: Aye.

BRÂNCOVEANU: I know all about him… That’s the sort of thing—now he’s the Lord of the Land… if he wants to, perhaps!

RADU: If he wanted to, he might have… but two thousand bags, I tell you, he’s never seen that in his life!

MATEI: Didn’t our father… have two thousand…?

RADU: Dad?! Not even four!

MATEI: Four… thousand!… (to Brâncoveanu) Dad, do you have four thousand…?

MARICA (interrupting sharply): Matei, mind your own business!

RADU (puzzled): What business?

MARICA: Radule, speak less!

RADU: Why? They’ve tied my hands, not my mouth. And I don’t understand what the point is of all this… nonsense (points to the ropes)… why are we pretending it’s… something other than what it is… we all know that Dad’s going to pay what he’s got to pay and get his house back.

MARICA: We’ll see… But you’re talking too much!

RADU: So what am I supposed to do?

ȘTEFAN: Think!

RADU: About what?

ȘTEFAN: About anything. It helps!

RADU: On the contrary! It’s getting on my nerves! We should’ve had the wedding by now, just as I said… now who knows when…

MATEI (genuinely surprised): Is the wedding being postponed too?

RADU: No, not a chance! The wedding’s going ahead! Mustafa’s going to be the best man!

MATEI: Really?

RADU (to Constantin and Ștefan, pointing at Matei): Is this bloke really our brother?!

MATEI: What’s got into you now?!

RADU: Mum, are you sure there wasn’t some mistake with him?

MARICA: What mistake?

RADU: I don’t know… he seems to be from a different nest… from a different stork.

MARICA: Radu, that’s enough! Leave him alone!

RADU: I’ll leave him be, but if there was some mix-up in the early days, now’s the time to sort it out. The lad shouldn’t be left hanging on to a handout… (to Constantin) So?

CONSTANTIN (puzzled): What?

RADU: How long do you reckon the hero’ll stay on the throne?

CONSTANTIN (uninterested): I don’t know… and leave me alone… Dad?

RADU: I reckon three days at most!… Anyone think it’ll be longer?

MATEI: I reckon…

RADU (cutting in): You don’t think anything! Until we’ve sorted out what’s going on with you, I’ve taken away your right to…

BRÂNCOVEANU (interrupting firmly): Enough!… What is it, Constantin?

CONSTANTIN: Do you have an answer?

BRÂNCOVEANU: No!

CONSTANTIN: From anywhere?

BRÂNCOVEANU: There’s still time.

RADU: Are there several sides? Because I only knew of…

ȘTEFAN (interrupting): There are always several sides.

RADU: Which ‘several’?

ȘTEFAN: Several paths… To get out of the maze!

RADU (puzzled): Are you getting philosophical again?

ȘTEFAN (calmly, analytically): Every problem is a maze… and every maze has several solutions. But you’ve got to be careful, because that can be both a good thing and a bad thing!

RADU (completely lost): Oh, right, right…

ȘTEFAN: It’s good that you’ve got several options… but it’s also bad because you risk spreading yourself too thin. When you don’t know where or how much to put in…

RADU: For goodness’ sake, Aristotle, get to the point and, if you know anything, say it in plain English!

CONSTANTIN (to Brâncoveanu): But that’s no good! It’s taking too long.

BRÂNCOVEANU: That’s how it is at the fair: the harder you haggle, the more you gain!

RADU: But why are there so many parties involved? Is there anyone else apart from Mustafa?

MARICA: Radu, be patient! You’ll understand!

RADU (irritated): When?

ȘTEFAN: When you start using your head!

RADU: You never stop, and it’s all for nothing… (to Brâncoveanu) Did you manage to send word directly to the Sultan?

BRÂNCOVEANU (sarcastically): No, I skipped him! I went straight to Allah… you’re always picking on Matei…

RADU: Well, that’s what I was saying, that there was no way you could… So, who else could you have spoken to?

MARICA: No one! If you don’t shut up, I’ll have them tie a gag over your mouth too!

RADU (quietly, to Constantin): …With the boyars?!

Constantin nods in confirmation.

RADU: Well then, the philosopher was right (pointing at Ștefan)… That’s a waste!

CONSTANTIN: We must try every… possibility!

RADU (to Ștefan): Explain it to them!

ȘTEFAN: What?

RADU: The business of squandering… with the boyars… you take the throne back from the Turks, not from the boyars.

BRÂNCOVEANU: One thing at a time!

RADU: With the boyars, you’re just throwing money down the drain. At least with the Turks you’re putting it to good use… But you’ll have to pay a lot – three times as much as Cantacuzino!

ȘTEFAN: And what if the Turks don’t want money?

RADU: Well then, why are they calling us? So you can explain the meaning of life to them!

CONSTANTIN (quietly): God forbid the Turk shouldn’t want money!

RADU: Seriously! Think about it, all of you! What can the boyars do?

ȘTEFAN: Get us out of… (gestures around him) this maze.

RADU: Well, is that the problem?!… (annoyed) Is that the problem?! No, don’t tell me that’s the problem! (turns to the soldier at the door)… I’m thirsty! Bring me some water!

SOLDIER: Right away, Your Highness!

The soldier goes out to fetch the water.

RADU: How much did you say you were paying the boyars for… (points towards the door) this job?

CONSTANTIN: What business?

RADU: The great escape from the maze!

CONSTANTIN: It’s not that simple… There are Turkish guards downstairs as well.

RADU: They’ll faint if you show them a handful of gold coins.

ȘTEFAN: If it’s that simple, why don’t you pop out into the courtyard?

RADU: Exactly, why don’t I?

Radu heads for the door.

MARICA: Radu, don’t you dare!

Radu walks out without answering her. Constantin rushes after him.

CONSTANTIN (calling out to him in a whisper from the doorway): Radu! Radu! Come back here at once!

Matei also runs to the door. Brancoveanu stands up. Radu turns back.

RADU (to Constantin): You’re right! I can’t just leave like this! (to Matei) Untie this for me too! (points to the knot on his wrist).

Matei undoes it in one swift movement.

RADU: Well done! Now I can move about freely.

Radu goes out again.

CONSTANTIN: What are you up to, mate?

MATEI: I can…

Constantin closes the door and takes Matei to the table.

CONSTANTIN: Keep an eye on him here!… I’ll go and get him!

BRÂNCOVEANU: Leave him!

CONSTANTIN: How can I leave him? I’ve got to bring him back before…

BRÂNCOVEANU: Leave him!

CONSTANTIN: Why?

MARICA: Do you think he can get away?

BRÂNCOVEANU: It’s good to know we’ve tried everything… The order is to take us all to Istanbul. They won’t do him any harm! Let’s see where he ends up!

Footsteps are heard from outside. The sound of soldiers.

ȘTEFAN: Not very far away.

The usher enters, accompanied by two soldiers.

BULLETIN BEARER: I have orders to take the lady and the… princes to the adjoining room… Prince Cantacuzino wishes to speak with… (hesitantly) Prince… In private.

They exchange glances. Matei walks over to Marica; the others remain seated.

MARICA: Do you think he might…

BRÂNCOVEANU: I don’t know… It depends on… anyway, he knows that, whatever happens, he’s still taking a risk!

MATEI (whispering): What’s he risking?

MARICA (with a gesture of affection): Don’t worry! It’ll be all right!

Ștefan Cantacuzino enters, dressed in princely robes. He tries to hide his embarrassment. He speaks to the Logothete and the Cupbearer.

CANTACUZINO: …And keep all the customs unchanged! What’s good stays good!

THE CHANCELLOR AND THE CUPBEARER (awkwardly): Yes, we understand, Your Highness!

CANTACUZINO (turning to Brâncoveanu): I’m sorry… that things have turned out this way!

THE CHANCELLOR AND THE CUPBEARER (in unison): We feel the same way…!

CANTACUZINO (to Brâncoveanu): Believe me, I knew nothing of it! And when I heard…

Radu enters, cheerful, flanked by two soldiers.

SOLDIER: We found him downstairs, Your Highness… the Turkish guards had caught him!

RADU: Nobody’d caught me… I didn’t run away, after all… I was just talking to the Turks, to find out what the weather’s like in Istanbul.

CANTACUZINO (to the soldiers): Thank goodness you rescued him!

RADU: Well done, Uncle! You’ve managed it at last!

CANTACUZINO: What happened wasn’t…

RADU (interrupting): I realise the ceremony wasn’t exactly a happy occasion… never mind, all in all, you’re…

CANTACUZINO (interrupting): Of course it wasn’t a happy occasion! It’s not a happy moment at all, and I don’t…

RADU (interrupting): Oh yes, it is! It’s a very joyful moment. It’s just that it’s short! That’s the problem! So, I say to you: enjoy today! Because tomorrow, who knows what will happen? … Or whether there’ll even be a tomorrow!

CANTACUZINO (to Brâncoveanu): Can we have a word for a moment?

THE USHER: The lady and the princes are asked to go into the adjoining room… The rest of you, please withdraw!

The Logothete, the Cupbearer and the soldiers exit. The others remain.

BRÂNCOVEANU (to Cantacuzino): May it be for the best!

CANTACUZINO: May it be so! For everyone… cousin!

BRÂNCOVEANU: Yes, at least it’s in the family!

CANTACUZINO: You should know that it was merely by chance that I was the one who…

RADU (with the others): He’s being very modest! (directly to Cantacuzino) What a coincidence! You deserve all the credit!… Well, were those trips to Istanbul just a fluke?… No, no!… You really do deserve everything that…

BRÂNCOVEANU (interrupting authoritatively): Radu!… (to Marica) Take the lads and go next door!

Marica stands up and walks towards the door. He stops and turns back to the boys. Constantin stands up first and goes over to Cantacuzino.

CONSTANTIN: Nice coat, Uncle! But it’s heavy… It’ll weigh you down!

Constantin leaves.

CANTACUZINO: I didn’t ask for it… and if it was given to me…

Ștefan stands up, playing the same game in front of Cantacuzino.

ȘTEFAN: Don’t worry!… It’ll all pass!

Ștefan walks towards the door. Radu, same gesture.

RADU: As the philosopher would say (nodding towards Ștefan)… Carpe diem, uncle! For now the evening is drawing in!

On his way to the door, Radu suddenly turns towards the Usher with the intention of scaring him.

RADU: Boo!

The bailiff loses his balance but stays on his feet. Matei starts laughing and runs after Radu. Marica comes out and closes the door. A few seconds of silence.

CANTACUZINO (humbly): Constantin, believe me! I didn’t do that!

BRÂNCOVEANU: It doesn’t matter now. Better you than a stranger!

CANTACUZINO: That’s true… But you’ve got to believe that it wasn’t me who…

BRÂNCOVEANU (interrupting, calmly): You know that I… know! Pretty much everything that goes on… Especially what you lot… your people, do. So I know… what and how. But it doesn’t matter any more! There were misunderstandings too; it’s a shame we didn’t sort them out when…

CANTACUZINO: There were… but it wasn’t me!

BRÂNCOVEANU: You’re afraid, Ștefan! Do you think I’ll come back?

CANTACUZINO: Where would you come back to?

BRÂNCOVEANU: Ahmed wants gold… you know that… and as for me… who knows, maybe I’ll come back.

CANTACUZINO: I’d be the first to be delighted!

BRÂNCOVEANU: Why?

CANTACUZINO: If you… were to… come back.

BRÂNCOVEANU: Are you that scared?!… How much did you give?

CANTACUZINO: I didn’t pay anything.

BRÂNCOVEANU: You know what the Turks are like – if you give them more… they’ll turn on you!

CANTACUZINO: In that case, you’re welcome! I didn’t pay anything!

BRÂNCOVEANU: Then why did you want us to be alone?

CANTACUZINO: That’s why! To tell you that I didn’t pay!

BRÂNCOVEANU: But you did! We both know it! Otherwise, why would I be a rebel now and you…

CANTACUZINO (interrupting): Because…

BRÂNCOVEANU: …and you, of all people, sir?

CANTACUZINO: But what’s wrong with me? Why should I, of all people, not…

BRÂNCOVEANU: Come on, stop it! Tell me! How much?

CANTACUZINO: Nothing. Believe me!

BRÂNCOVEANU (sarcastically): I believe you!

CANTACUZINO: Not a penny!

BRÂNCOVEANU: Maybe! But you must have given something!

CANTACUZINO: What could I have given?

BRÂNCOVEANU: How should I know?! Maybe… something else… a piece of paper!

CANTACUZINO: No!

BRÂNCOVEANU: In which, who knows, you claimed I’d sided with the Russians.

CANTACUZINO: And did you?

BRÂNCOVEANU: You lot did!… At Stănilești.

CANTACUZINO: Let’s not get sidetracked by Stănilești! Because there, we all thought to…

BRÂNCOVEANU (interrupting): Except that some of you didn’t think things through. And we were all nearly beheaded!

CANTACUZINO: But we didn’t lose them!

BRÂNCOVEANU: I know that…

CANTACUZINO: I’m telling you: it’s nothing to do with us! Mustafa told me too. The Sultan… he’s the one who did it! He wants you in Istanbul! To talk! And if you come to an understanding… who knows… you might come back!

BRÂNCOVEANU: You’re scared!

CANTACUZINO: It’s not about… But what was I supposed to do? Could I have said no?! He’d have had me arrested too!

BRÂNCOVEANU: Better on the throne than in the dungeon!… Come on, stop whingeing! I know you wanted to! But don’t worry!

CANTACUZINO (interrupting): I didn’t want to!

BRÂNCOVEANU: Everyone wants to be a lord!

CANTACUZINO: Not everyone… You didn’t want to either… in your day.

BRÂNCOVEANU: But I was!

CANTACUZINO: See?!

BRÂNCOVEANU: Exactly. Everyone wants to be a lord… But let’s get on with more… What’s going on? I wouldn’t go to Istanbul!

CANTACUZINO (unable to hide his satisfaction): Yes, you must go! It’s an order!

BRÂNCOVEANU: Fine! (changes his tone) How much?

CANTACUZINO: What… how much?

BRÂNCOVEANU: Name a figure!

CANTACUZINO: What figure?

BRÂNCOVEANU: One that would satisfy you and keep me away from Istanbul…

CANTACUZINO: You mean to…?

BRÂNCOVEANU: Yes!

CANTACUZINO: Help you to…?

BRÂNCOVEANU: It’s not your fault. You knew nothing about it. There had been rumours; I’d got something… ready.

CANTACUZINO: Well, if you’d had…

BRÂNCOVEANU: Exactly, if I’d had… you’re not to blame at all!

CANTACUZINO: With the Turks in the palace?!… You know that’s impossible!

BRÂNCOVEANU: If you want it, it’s possible!

CANTACUZINO: How?… What can I do?

BRÂNCOVEANU: You can! On the road, not in the palace.

CANTACUZINO: On the way, you say!

BRÂNCOVEANU: Yes. You sensed that it wasn’t safe in the palace, that the guards were on my side and… to make sure nothing happened, you hurried us to a safe place. Guarded even by the Turkish guards… and if on the way…

CANTACUZINO: That’s out of the question! Ahmed is waiting for you! It’s better, if he’s there, to sort it out there… with him… you’ll sort it out and I’ll be there straight away…

BRÂNCOVEANU: Just tell me how much!

CANTACUZINO: Do you think you won’t get along?… You’ve always got on well so far. He’s wanted more… And you’ve also…

BRÂNCOVEANU (interrupting): We get on better from a distance!

CANTACUZINO: Ah, I see!… You reckon that, if you’re there, you won’t be able to…

BRÂNCOVEANU (interrupting): I can do it there too!… But it’s simpler this way!

CANTACUZINO: Because, if you’re not prepared… speak to someone you trust here… who can take care of it… and send you everything you need to Istanbul.

BRÂNCOVEANU: I’d rather not get to Istanbul!

CANTACUZINO: If you like, I’ll help you; I’ll take care of it myself…

BRÂNCOVEANU: What will you sort out?

CANTACUZINO: To ensure you receive… whatever you need… in Istanbul.

BRÂNCOVEANU: You’ve already taken care of it… Just say how much and what you want!

CANTACUZINO: Nothing! I don’t want anything… because I haven’t given anything… because I didn’t want to…

BRÂNCOVEANU (interrupting): All right! But now, how much do you want?

CANTACUZINO (after a moment’s thought): Want?!… Now?! What more could I want? You know me! You know I don’t want… much!

BRÂNCOVEANU: Right…

CANTACUZINO: And that I’d rather give than take.

BRÂNCOVEANU: Right!

CANTACUZINO: Because, even if you hoard, what do you end up with?… When it’s not meant to be, it isn’t… look at…

BRÂNCOVEANU (interrupting impatiently): That’s right!

CANTACUZINO: So, we’d better be in good health ourselves!

BRÂNCOVEANU: Go on! How much shall I give you?!

CANTACUZINO (after waiting a few seconds): What’s the point of giving anything… It used to be different… You could… But now…

BRÂNCOVEANU: It’s never too late to give! … How much?

CANTACUZINO: Nothing! (clearly cheekily) Now I can take it myself!

BRÂNCOVEANU (smiling): That may well be! But I can give you more than you can take for yourself!

CANTACUZINO: I’ve told you I’m not greedy! Let me just take as much as I can.

BRÂNCOVEANU: Let my lads go!

CANTACUZINO: Me?

BRÂNCOVEANU: Yes, you! If you want to, you can save them!

CANTACUZINO: Am I to lose my head?! No, thank…

BRÂNCOVEANU (interrupting): You won’t lose it! Ahmed’s got business with me!

CANTACUZINO: If Ahmed doesn’t take him, they will. Haven’t you seen?!… Carpe diem!

BRÂNCOVEANU: Don’t let them stay in the country… take their estates away, and they won’t be able to come back!

CANTACUZINO: Of course not!… With what you’ve amassed abroad…

BRÂNCOVEANU: I’ll give you 100 bags for each one.

CANTACUZINO: Who aren’t you letting…

BRÂNCOVEANU (interrupting): 300!

CANTACUZINO: For each one?

BRÂNCOVEANU: Yes! Half straight away, half once they’ve crossed the mountains!

CANTACUZINO: Ahmed’s no fool… If you were to give me… 1,500… bags…

BRÂNCOVEANU: 1,200. For all the lads… and you’d leave the girls alone…

CANTACUZINO: You’re a good father… you’d give me a thousand five hundred too!… To me!… But then how much would you give the Sultan? How much do you actually have?!

BRÂNCOVEANU: Let the lads off… along with all their lot… and you won’t regret it!

CANTACUZINO: Do you have three thousand bags?

BRÂNCOVEANU: Let the lads go!

CANTACUZINO (calculating): Three thousand bags… at 550 ducats each… Good heavens… Over one and a half million gold coins! In bags, not in estates!… (curiously) Do you really have that much?

BRÂNCOVEANU: Let the lads and the lady go… and I’ll give you two thousand bags! That’s all I’ve got!

Silence for a few seconds.

CANTACUZINO: No… I can’t… Not 2,000. You’ve got more than that!

BRÂNCOVEANU: I’ve saved them up over twenty years… You won’t manage that even in forty… Take them and you won’t need anything else!

CANTACUZINO: How many?… How many do you actually have?

BRÂNCOVEANU: 500 here, 1,500 in the mountains…

CANTACUZINO: Where on earth from? Mustafa’s ransacked the place. He’s taken everything there was…

BRÂNCOVEANU (interrupting): 500 here. 1,500 in the mountains… Don’t let them go until you’ve got yours…

CANTACUZINO (interrupting): If you give me two… that means you’ve got four!

BRÂNCOVEANU: I don’t have any…

CANTACUZINO (continuing over him): Cousin, you’ve been up to no good!… Four thousand sacks! Two million gold pieces!… Where are they?

BRÂNCOVEANU: 2,000… 500 here, 1,500 in the mountains.

Cantacuzino steps closer and begins to whisper.

CANTACUZINO: Do you have four thousand? Tell me the truth! Do you have four thousand?

BRÂNCOVEANU: 500 here and 1,500 in the mountains.

CANTACUZINO: It’s clear!… You’ve got four thousand! You really do have four thousand!… I didn’t think it was possible… In that case, you really do deserve all…

Cantacuzino tries to shake his hand, but Brâncoveanu pulls away.

CANTACUZINO: That’s just… Huge! You really are the prince of gold!… Four thousand! Four thousand! (begins to raise his voice) He’s got four thousand! Look at him! He’s amassed four thousand! (shouts) In bags!… Four thousand!… Bags!… No, banknotes, not estates or… Bags!

BRÂNCOVEANU: Speak more quietly and listen!… 500 now and 2,000 in the mountains!

CANTACUZINO: Ah, we’ve already reached two thousand five hundred… Bags?! Well, if you give me 2,500, how much will you have left?

BRÂNCOVEANU: Nothing! I’m off to Istanbul with Mustafa.

CANTACUZINO: Exactly! Because you’ll be giving some away there too. Come on, tell me! How much would you have left?

BRÂNCOVEANU: Nothing! I’ll give you all of them!

CANTACUZINO: That’s not true! You’ve still got some left! Otherwise, you wouldn’t be giving it away!… Do you have four thousand bags?

Brâncoveanu remains silent. Cantacuzino approaches him.

CANTACUZINO: Do you have four thousand?

BRÂNCOVEANU: How many do you want?

CANTACUZINO: Five thousand! Five thousand bags!

They stare at each other for a few seconds.

BRÂNCOVEANU: Let my lads go!… In six months you’ll have 5,000 bags… 2,500 straight away… and the rest, paid for with the estates…

CANTACUZINO: Which estates?

BRÂNCOVEANU: All of them! I’ll draw up deeds for all of them… in the country, in Moldavia and beyond the mountains…

CANTACUZINO: And from where else?

BRÂNCOVEANU: From everywhere… I’ll order the lads to sell them… to get them out…

CANTACUZINO: And if they don’t?

BRÂNCOVEANU: You’ll keep the lady… hidden away… until you’ve received everything… 5,000 bags.

Silence.

BRÂNCOVEANU: But the lads will get away with it… 5,000 sacks. With those, you can do anything, anywhere… 5,000 sacks.

Silence.

CANTACUZINO: You’re taking the mickey!

BRÂNCOVEANU: No! I’ll give you everything! Bags, documents…

CANTACUZINO: No!… If you’ve got 5,000, I can get ten… Yes, I’ll get ten… You’re not taking the mickey out of me… Ten!

BRÂNCOVEANU: Do you think so?

CANTACUZINO: I’m sure…

BRÂNCOVEANU: You won’t do a thing, you wretch!

CANTACUZINO: Just give me ten and I’ll do nothing more!

BRÂNCOVEANU (disheartened): You’ll want twenty…

Silence.

CANTACUZINO: Do you have twenty?

BRÂNCOVEANU (smiling): I’ve got nothing!

CANTACUZINO: How much do you have?

BRÂNCOVEANU: For you? I don’t have enough…

CANTACUZINO: Are you sure?

Brâncoveanu remains silent.

CANTACUZINO: Right! Well then, that’s that…

BRÂNCOVEANU: That’s it!

CANTACUZINO: So, that’s how it is… But you should know that I’m sorry… actually, that’s what I wanted to tell you: that I’m sorry and that I’ve never had anything against you… That’s just how it turned out!

BRÂNCOVEANU: That’s true… these things happen!

CANTACUZINO: Right! Well then… That’s about all I had to say… And if you’ve got nothing left to say either… if that’s not enough… for me… I’ll be off.

Cantacuzino heads for the door.

BRÂNCOVEANU: But what are you doing, if I’m enough for the Sultan?!

Cantacuzino stops. Stuck. Stunned.

Curtain

SCENE III

In front of the curtain, in a spotlight, Constantin II Brâncoveanu is waiting for someone. He is agitated, looking all around.

The sound of footsteps can be heard. Soldiers are passing by. They cannot be seen; they are shadows or beyond the curtain. Then it falls silent and Anita Balș Brâncoveanu, his wife, appears. Constantin embraces her. The two speak in whispers, constantly looking around.

CONSTANTIN: You’ve managed it!

ANITA: Of course I did! I was worried about you, that…

CONSTANTIN: I bribed a soldier and… anyway, he knew I couldn’t leave the palace.

ANITA: Tell me! When are we leaving here?

CONSTANTIN: Dad’s been talking to various people and… it’ll be…

ANITA (interrupting): When?

CONSTANTIN: In a few days.

ANITA: We don’t have a few days!

CONSTANTIN: We do!

ANITA: I’ve heard something different!

CONSTANTIN: What did you hear?

ANITA: That tomorrow they’re going to send us to…

CONSTANTIN (cutting in): Not so fast! (intrigued) Where did you hear that?

ANITA: I just heard it.

CONSTANTIN: No! Cantacuzino’s going to drag his feet a bit longer… to see what else he can get out of Dad…

ANITA: Cantacuzino wants his head!

CONSTANTIN: But he’d be happy with a few bags of money!

ANITA: No! He’s not after him. If we don’t get to Istanbul, he will. That’s the order!

CONSTANTIN: How do you know?

ANITA: I just know!

CONSTANTIN: Have you spoken to Mustafa?

ANITA: I’ve spoken… to lots of people.

CONSTANTIN: And with Mustafa!

ANITA: And I hope you lot… have spoken to him too! (she gets tense) Because we’ve got to get away! As soon as possible! Today, right now! You’ve got to do… you’ve all got to do… whatever it takes… to make sure we don’t end up there!

CONSTANTIN: Don’t worry, Anita! Dad’s on it! You’ll see that…

ANITA: I want to see for myself!… You do your bit too! Our boy has to get away! Don’t let them take him as well, because if he gets to Istanbul, they’ll stop him!

CONSTANTIN: They won’t stop him!

ANITA: Yes, they will! Even if we… come back, they’ll keep him there, I guarantee it…

CONSTANTIN: No!… No! No! No! You’re worrying too much!

ANITA: Not nearly enough!

CONSTANTIN (interrupting firmly): Nothing’s going to happen to Constantin!

ANITA: How do you know?

CONSTANTIN: Calm down! Trust me, he’ll…

ANITA (interrupting him, agitated): I won’t calm down! And I don’t trust you! Just think about it for a moment! You’re the next in line. Or you should be… and he’s… the next one. This isn’t right! We’ve got too many ‘next ones’. He’ll want to keep one of them… Do you understand?

CONSTANTIN: Of course I do, but that doesn’t mean that…

ANITA (very agitated): Yes, it does! There are too many of us!

CONSTANTIN: Very well!… Mucareru’ was always paid on time! The Turks are glad they don’t have to worry about…

ANITA (cutting in): They’re not happy! We need to be fewer and weaker… for them to be happy.

CONSTANTIN: Why should they…?

ANITA (cutting in): So they can stay strong! (quietly) Constantin, if we get to Istanbul, there won’t be… so many of us left!

CONSTANTIN (worried): What did Mustafa tell you?

ANITA: Nothing… nothing we can’t work out for ourselves… with our own heads. We’ve got to run away! That’s it! If we can’t all… then at least us! The three of us!

CONSTANTIN: Where shall we run to?

ANITA (interrupting, agitated): I don’t know… To Moldova, to my dad’s, or… it doesn’t matter where. We’ll take our son and cover our tracks!

CONSTANTIN: No! How can I just leave everyone and…?!

ANITA (still agitated): You can’t help them anyway… With or without you… Nothing will change!

CONSTANTIN: It will change!… And why should I run away? Dad will sort it out! He knows how to take on the Sultan! He’s always known! Ever since he ascended the throne, from day one…

ANITA (interrupting him, more loudly): Until the very last day, when he won’t know any more! Because if there was a first, there’ll be a last!

CONSTANTIN: Maybe… but not now… And anyway, we can’t get out of the palace.

ANITA: Yes, we can… The three of us… we can. Let’s at least try. They’re guarding the prince… We… we’ll slip past unnoticed for a few hours and… that’s all we need.

CONSTANTIN: No! If we run away, he won’t be able to escape! They’ll step up all the guards, they’ll send word along the road too. No! I can’t do that!

ANITA (loudly): Yes, you can! And you must! Whatever it takes!… (changing tone) For me and your son!

CONSTANTIN (quietly): You don’t understand what you’re asking of me… To betray them?! To abandon them all and…?!

ANITA (cutting in): Not everyone! Stay with me and Constantin!

CONSTANTIN (firmly): No!… How could I run away?! What would I be if I ran away?

ANITA (whispering, hurriedly): My husband… his father… And a free man.

CONSTANTIN: No!

ANITA: Yes, we must! We have to run away! Perhaps, at first, some won’t understand, but then, just think about it for a moment! In a way, you’ll be helping them too… who knows, maybe they’ll need support from someone of their own… someone who’s free and… might be able to get hold of some… resources… in Venice… in Vienna.

CONSTANTIN (hesitantly): No!

ANITA: You’re doing it for them too!

CONSTANTIN: No! Nobody would believe that…

ANITA: It doesn’t matter… what anyone thinks! I know you’re a good man. And your family know it too! You’ve always done the right thing. If we were… prepared… with everything we need… Mustafa might turn a blind eye… for our sake.

CONSTANTIN: Have you spoken to him about…?

ANITA: He’s said… a lot. And he hasn’t said anything clear. Just that it’s essential for the Prince to reach the Sultan… and the family too. But if anyone… apart from the Prince, were to escape… were to run away… in a moment of inattention…

CONSTANTIN: Did he tell you that?

ANITA: In a way… And that he can’t save more than one… of you… just one… Just one.

Short pause.

CONSTANTIN (quietly): It’s a trap!

ANITA: What trap?

CONSTANTIN: Let’s go!

ANITA: It’s not a trap! We’ll be all right!

CONSTANTIN: If you run, you’re admitting guilt! And if one person’s guilty… they all are!

ANITA: No! Mustafa isn’t interested in that; he just wants… our gratitude!

CONSTANTIN: And the Sultan’s too! Because if I run away, they’ll pin the blame on Dad.

ANITA: That’s got nothing to do with it!

CONSTANTIN: It does! Because then we’ll be the proof that Dad…

ANITA (interrupting him, agitated): Proof?! Do you think we need any more ‘proof’?!… Are you blind?! Can’t you see that if he wants us to be guilty, we’re as good as guilty… (changing tone) And so what if he wants to use us?! If it isn’t us, it’ll be someone else!… Why shouldn’t we escape?

CONSTANTIN: Let’s get away… but not like this! Surely, you wouldn’t be at peace either if…

ANITA (cutting in): I don’t even want to be… at peace… I just want to save my child! And for that, I’ll do anything! Do you understand? Anything, anytime… with anyone… We have to save Constantin!

CONSTANTIN: Anything?

ANITA: Yes! Mustafa has opened a… little door for us. That’s all I care about! I don’t know how… big this loophole is… or where it leads. But I’ve got to try. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be human, I wouldn’t be a mother… And you… if you love me…

CONSTANTIN: I love you!

ANITA (continues, crescendo): If you love your child…

CONSTANTIN: I do love him!

ANITA (continues, firmly): You won’t think about anything else… and you’ll do everything you can to save us!

CONSTANTIN: I am! But, Anita, you must understand that Mustafa didn’t come here to… open the door!

ANITA: I don’t know and… I don’t care, if we – you, me and Constantin – have a way out, however small…

CONSTANTIN (firmly): We don’t! If he’d really wanted to save us, he’d have given a sign… on the first night… before it all began… if anyone’d left then, it wouldn’t have been his fault. Now that the Sultan knows he’s got us all… If he lets us go, he’ll lose his head… and he won’t lose it. (sadly) I don’t know what he told you. But he won’t let us go. And if we ran away, we wouldn’t get far. He’d let us escape just so he could catch us.

ANITA (agitated): No, no, no!… He told me that… if I and… we…

CONSTANTIN: He lied! He was testing you!… He just wanted to…

A brief pause.

ANITA (quietly): So what then? (louder) Then what?!… (desperately) Then what?! My boy’s going to be taken away and…? Are you saying that… there’s nothing left to do? That, that’s it, we’re all off to…

CONSTANTIN (cutting in): No, no, no! Calm down!… There’s still plenty… to do… and Dad’s going to…

ANITA (desperately): And what if he doesn’t?! What’ll happen to him? To our little boy?… (Constantin doesn’t answer) Tell me! What’s going to happen to him?

CONSTANTIN (quietly): He’ll pull through!

ANITA: How?

CONSTANTIN (confidently): He’ll make it! Believe me, he…

ANITA (growing louder): How?… How?… Just tell me how and… I’ll believe you!

CONSTANTIN: Believe it!

Fade out.

Pause. Change of set.

SCENE IV

A room in the Sultan’s palace. An oriental atmosphere (rugs, cushions). Everything is resplendent. Lots of flowers, especially tulips. A distinctive melody can be heard softly in the background. In a corner of the stage, Brâncoveanu stands, flanked by two Turkish soldiers. He is dressed in a white shirt, reaching down to his ankles. His feet are bare. Brâncoveanu shifts from one foot to the other, looking for a foothold… He smiles at the soldiers.

BRÂNCOVEANU (to a soldier): May I… move about a little?… My legs have gone numb and…

No one answers him.

BRÂNCOVEANU: Just a little!… A few steps… At my age… He takes a few cautious steps, looks around, smells the tulips… He tries to sit down, but there are only a few cushions in the room. With a sudden movement, he bends down and picks up a cushion.

Immediately, the two soldiers rush forward with their swords drawn and stop in front of him.

BRÂNCOVEANU: Halt!… (he bends down and takes another cushion in his other hand)… Now let me see you!

Mustafa enters hurriedly. The two soldiers take a few steps back.

MUSTAFA: All right! They’ve told me he’s on his way here!…

Brâncoveanu stacks the cushions one on top of the other and sits down.

BRÂNCOVEANU: How lovely!

MUSTAFA: What’s the matter with you? Why are you in…

BRÂNCOVEANU: It’s nothing to do with me!… The lads were a bit on edge!

MUSTAFA: Where are your clothes?!

BRÂNCOVEANU: What, don’t you like these?… Don’t they fit me properly?

MUSTAFA (to the soldiers): Who did this?

BRÂNCOVEANU: Leave them be, Mustafa! Those were the orders! You know how it is!

MUSTAFA: Get up! They’ve got to get here!

BRÂNCOVEANU (without standing up): Let them come! I’m ready… Just look at me. But I hope Ahmed understands that I’m getting on in years… These legs aren’t what they were twenty years ago… or even forty…

MUSTAFA: I think the Grand Vizier gave the order to… I’m sorry!

BRÂNCOVEANU: It’s no good, my friend… for you to be sorry! I’m not ashamed! (pointing to his legs) Time has taken its toll on them, but they’re still holding up! What do you reckon?

MUSTAFA: Don’t ask him questions!… He doesn’t like it!

BRÂNCOVEANU: Who?

MUSTAFA (gesturing towards the door): Him!… Listen to him and give him a short answer… And tell him everything!

BRÂNCOVEANU: What exactly am I supposed to tell him?

MUSTAFA: Because he knows everything!

BRÂNCOVEANU: Nobody knows everything!

MUSTAFA: Ahmed does!

BRÂNCOVEANU: So what else am I supposed to tell him?

MUSTAFA: Everything!

BRÂNCOVEANU: There’s no point! Didn’t you say he knows it all anyway…

MUSTAFA: Cut the jokes! Give him everything… and, all at once… Don’t try to negotiate!

BRÂNCOVEANU: What’s there to negotiate?

MUSTAFA: Exactly! You’ve got nothing left to negotiate! Don’t forget you’re not in Bucharest any more… here it’s…

BRÂNCOVEANU: Tell me something I don’t know!

MUSTAFA: …Ahmed isn’t Cantacuzino… he doesn’t want…

BRÂNCOVEANU: Money?… Then what does he want?

MUSTAFA: To see you!

BRÂNCOVEANU: Naked?

MUSTAFA: And you’ll see that he knows about… Cantacuzino… what you discussed… how much you offered him.

BRÂNCOVEANU: Cantacuzino’s lying! Out of fear… that I might come back! That I might pay more than him… How on earth would that poor wretch know that you lot have even taken my clothes?

MUSTAFA: Come on! Get up!

Brâncoveanu doesn’t get up.

BRÂNCOVEANU: I suppose I understand, after all… you have different customs… the opposite of ours. You cover young women from head to toe, yet you strip the old men… I’m not judging you, if that’s how you like it… still, I wouldn’t want to see Ahmed barefoot… and he’s still young! Or you in one of those shirts with…

MUSTAFA (interrupting, in a whisper): Do you really have ten thousand?

BRÂNCOVEANU: Are we back on the subject of money?! You were saying we weren’t…

MUSTAFA: For the bags?!

BRÂNCOVEANU: Is that the price?

MUSTAFA: Cantacuzino’s! Ahmed’s priceless!

BRÂNCOVEANU: With him, everything’s free!

MUSTAFA: Everything, Constantin… Don’t forget, everything at once! I don’t know how much you’ve got… how much it is… How much it could be…

BRÂNCOVEANU: If you’d spoken up in time… you’d have found out!

MUSTAFA (continuing his train of thought): How much could you have scraped together?!… It’s none of my business… But give him everything! And not just the money.

BRÂNCOVEANU: Are you telling me all this just out of friendship?

MUSTAFA: We’ve known each other for so long… and if I can help you… If there’s still a chance…

BRÂNCOVEANU: Hasn’t anyone asked you to… prepare me?

MUSTAFA (dismayed): If that’s what you think… that I’d…

BRÂNCOVEANU (cutting him off): I have no doubt whatsoever! Otherwise, why did you turn up right now?… After days on end when you gave no sign of life… and during which I and the lads enjoyed… Turkish hospitality.

MUSTAFA: I’m not free either! I can’t go wherever and whenever I want!

BRÂNCOVEANU: Well, look, you’ve managed to turn up just now! And right here in the Sultan’s palace… What a stroke of luck! You’ve slipped in here to keep me company. And to give me sound advice… to teach me what to do and how… (changes his tone) So, what’s the order this time, Mustafa?!… Some people are getting on my nerves… you’re putting me through my paces… and the Sultan is… picking at me?!

MUSTAFA: Shut up and get up!

BRÂNCOVEANU: Why?

MUSTAFA: The Sultan’s coming!

BRÂNCOVEANU: And if I don’t get up, won’t he come?

MUSTAFA: Don’t you really understand that everything has changed?!

BRÂNCOVEANU: I haven’t changed!

MUSTAFA (eyeing him up): Is that so?! Look at yourself!… Do you realise what’s happening?

BRÂNCOVEANU (changing his tone): What’s happening?!

MUSTAFA (pointing at Brâncoveanu): This!

BRÂNCOVEANU: And what am I supposed to make of… this? Why was all… this… necessary?… Why can’t we just talk normally?… Why, for example, if we want more money, don’t we just ask for it and be done with it? Why, a month ago, was I preparing for my wedding, with the Sultan’s blessing?… Why didn’t you give me a sign?… It wouldn’t have cost you anything; I’d received other signs too… (quieter, to himself) Why didn’t I pay any attention to them?

MUSTAFA: I should have…

BRÂNCOVEANU (interrupting): Why should I be afraid?… when it makes no difference whether I laugh… Why is this room full of tulips?… Do you understand, Mustafa, what’s happening?

MUSTAFA: It’s not up to me to understand…

BRÂNCOVEANU: That’s right! You carry out orders!

Sultan Ahmed enters. He is alone, dressed as usual, but without any extravagance.

AHMED: And he carries them out well!

The soldiers rush forward and lift Brâncoveanu to his feet. Mustafa freezes in a bow.

AHMED (to the soldiers): Let him go!… Forgive them, Constantin… Old habits. It’s hard to change them… Sit down!

MUSTAFA: Forgive me, Master, for…

AHMED (leaning on Mustafa’s bowed back): …Don’t worry!… You did your best!… How was your journey, Constantin?

Brâncoveanu remains standing. Mustafa remains bowed.

BRÂNCOVEANU: Quickly!

MUSTAFA (whispering sternly to Brâncoveanu): Your Highness!

AHMED (to Brâncoveanu): Look, you see… this is what I have to contend with! If not even Mustafa, who’s a well-travelled lad, has seen the world… if even he can’t bring himself to give up… ‘Master’ and ‘Your Highness’… as if we were still in the 1500s… What more can I expect from others?… How do the boyars address you?

BRÂNCOVEANU: Me?!… Your Highness.

AHMED (amused): Is that what they called you?!… And they would bow and… swear allegiance!… And when it came to an end… (pause) What is life?! Full of surprises… Your Highness, then! You lot are even worse! The provinces… Do you know what they say in France?

Brâncoveanu doesn’t reply.

AHMED: You don’t know, do you?!… ‘Your Majesty’!… Majesty!… It’s quite different, isn’t it?

BRÂNCOVEANU: Not quite… Have you been to France, Great Sultan?

AHMED: We’ll get there in due course… but, for a start, I’ve brought France to me…

BRÂNCOVEANU: The whole of France?

AHMED (smiling suggestively): No… just the best bits.

BRÂNCOVEANU: The flowers?

AHMED: The flowers aren’t from France… but the women are.

BRÂNCOVEANU: I see!

AHMED: Of course you do… You’re a man of the world, Constantin. Well-read, well-educated… In France, the women are very… well-read… Mustafa, does your back hurt?

MUSTAFA (still bowing): No, Your Highness!

AHMED: It’ll start to ache!… I like educated people, Constantin! Unfortunately, around me… (to Mustafa) You may withdraw! (to the soldiers) And you too!

The soldiers rush out; Mustafa withdraws more slowly.

AHMED: How did you find Bucharest, Mustafa?

MUSTAFA: Lovely, Your Highness!

AHMED: And in what other ways?

MUSTAFA: And rich, Your Highness!

AHMED: Rich in beauty, then… That is the great danger, Constantin… you may leave, Mustafa… that is the great danger!

BRÂNCOVEANU: Wealth?

AHMED: Let’s forget about beauty! Caught up in work, in worries… (crescendo) In wars… in betrayals… in wealth… (wisely) We happen to forget what’s most important… Do you forget, Constantin?

Mustafa exits.

BRÂNCOVEANU: Beauty?

AHMED: As if beauty is the last thing on your mind right now?! ‘Ahmed’s gone mad,’ that’s what you’re thinking!

BRÂNCOVEANU: No… I was just thinking that…

AHMED (interrupting): Well then, what’s the point of the rest?! To be healthy… strong… rich! If there isn’t a bit of beauty in life (smells of tulips)… Or more… What are you living for? What are you saving up for?… What have you been saving up for?

BRÂNCOVEANU: Me? Like… everyone else, I’ve just tried to…

AHMED (interrupting): Like everyone else?!… Well, are you ‘everyone else’?! After 25 years! You haven’t hoarded like everyone else! Because if everyone hoarded like you, there’d be nothing left to hoard.

BRÂNCOVEANU: I’ve collected… and I’ve given… I’m sorry if…

AHMED (interrupting): Why should you be sorry? You’ve got no reason! On the contrary, you should be proud that you’ve saved! Many would have liked to save as much as you! But they haven’t managed it… yet… So, are you proud?

BRÂNCOVEANU: I’m not!

AHMED: I don’t believe you!

BRÂNCOVEANU: Just look at me and you’ll understand… I’ve got no reason to…

AHMED (interrupting): As if what you can see matters?!… What you can’t see… that’s what makes the difference, Constantin!… You’re proud!

BRÂNCOVEANU: Maybe I was… but I was wrong!

AHMED: We all make mistakes!

BRÂNCOVEANU: And then we pay the price… And I’m prepared to…

AHMED: To what?

BRÂNCOVEANU: To pay!

AHMED (smiling): You might not be!

BRÂNCOVEANU: I am… ready. With everything…

AHMED (interrupting, delighted): Now that would be something!… It really would be… To have such strength… to give everything… everything you have.

BRÂNCOVEANU: Everything!

AHMED (pause): But don’t be too hasty… I don’t like disappointments, Constantin!

BRÂNCOVEANU: Who does?

AHMED: That’s not the point. I don’t like them!… You know I’ve thought about you many times?

BRÂNCOVEANU: About me?!

AHMED: Yes!

BRÂNCOVEANU: I don’t think I deserve to…

AHMED (continuing): And for a long time… a very long time… I turned a blind eye… Even after Stănilești… you sided with the Russians, but I told myself… never mind, Constantin’s a man of integrity; in the end, he’ll realise he was wrong.

BRÂNCOVEANU: You know I didn’t side with the Russians… I was, and still am, on your side!

AHMED: And on our side… and on theirs… and on others’… Unfortunately, I’ve got letters… Papers. All sorts… From your lot. And from others.

BRÂNCOVEANU: I don’t know what you’ve got… What exactly and where it came from… but…

AHMED: You’ve betrayed us, Constantin!

BRÂNCOVEANU: No!… I’ve been with you every time…

AHMED: You’ve betrayed me!

BRÂNCOVEANU: Always by your side, in war… and in peace… I’ve always paid when and how much was asked, and…

AHMED (interrupting): That’s the problem! That you paid! In too many places… you’ve taken too many sides… And now you’ve ended up with no side at all!

BRÂNCOVEANU: I’m on your side!

AHMED: That’s how it goes… When you have too much, you eventually lose your sense of proportion… And now… where have you ended up?

BRÂNCOVEANU: To pay… Again!

AHMED: So, you admit you’ve betrayed me!

BRÂNCOVEANU: No! I’ve always been on your side! I did what you asked me to… I sent aid… I sent…

AHMED (interrupting): Then why should you pay? If you’ve done nothing wrong… if you haven’t betrayed me… why should you pay?

BRÂNCOVEANU: I don’t know… Perhaps because… that’s the custom!

AHMED: You’re being a bit cheeky!

BRÂNCOVEANU: I’m trying to be honest!

AHMED: If only you were… if only you’d admit what you’ve done… if only you were sorry… If only you’d understand that…

BRÂNCOVEANU (interrupting): That I have to pay… I’ve understood… And I want us to speak openly…

AHMED (repeats, surprised): “Let’s talk openly”?!

BRÂNCOVEANU: Yes!… So I can understand exactly what I need to do… I think the two of us…

AHMED (interrupting him): The two of us?! (loudly) The two of us?! (amused) There’s no ‘two of us’… Look at ‘the two of us’. I have only Allah above me!… Whereas, between you and your God, there is me… the vizier… ten thousand Turks… plus a hundred or so of your boyars.

BRÂNCOVEANU (quietly): No! Nothing stands between me and…

AHMED (continuing): Wealth has driven you mad, Constantin! You’ve forgotten your place! You’ve forgotten who you’re speaking to! ‘The two of us’! You’re mad!

BRÂNCOVEANU: Then help me!… Save me!

AHMED: Save you?!… Me?

BRÂNCOVEANU: Yes! From madness and… its seed – help me to rid myself of it!

AHMED: What do you…?

BRÂNCOVEANU (louder): My fortune!

AHMED: Your fortune?!

BRÂNCOVEANU: Yes! Everything I have… let it be yours!

AHMED: Mine?! Do you realise what you’re saying?! What use do I have for… your nothing… I am the sultan, you…

BRÂNCOVEANU: I know, I know… I know you don’t need it! But you’re not doing it for yourself… for me!

AHMED (laughs): Do you really think you’re… fooling me! That this sort of talk… works on me?!

BRÂNCOVEANU: I believe… that you can help me! Help me get back on the right track!

AHMED: Why on earth would I help you?! You betrayed me and now you’re asking me to help you?!

BRÂNCOVEANU: Yes! Be generous! Take everything from me!

AHMED (surprised): Are you being cheeky or have you gone mad?!

BRÂNCOVEANU: No! I’m telling you in all sincerity that…

AHMED (interrupting, furious): Are you taking the mickey?! You’re laughing at me… At me! (shouts) At Ahmed!

BRÂNCOVEANU: No! I wouldn’t dare to…

AHMED: Are you making fun of Ahmed?!

BRÂNCOVEANU: No! I know how it looks… But I’m being honest…

AHMED (cutting in again): You poor little ant, do you think you’re an elephant just because I’ve bent down to speak to you?

BRÂNCOVEANU: Forgive me!… I know it looks that way!… But it was nothing! (quietly) I’ve gathered… and lived… long enough to realise that I’ll never have… as much as people think I have… and I won’t be able to pay… as much as others expect me to pay… I have too much, so… it’s always too little! So, I beg you in all honesty, have mercy!… Set me free!

AHMED (pauses to think): Do you realise what you’re asking of me?

BRÂNCOVEANU: Take it all!

AHMED: That’s no small thing to…

BRÂNCOVEANU: I know! It’s a lot!… perhaps 5,000 bags of gold coins, dozens of estates…

AHMED: Stop talking about these trifles! I don’t even want to hear it!

BRÂNCOVEANU: I know! They’re trifles! Very little! But you can do so much! You can help me, set me free, save me… from my worries… from everything… take it all from me!

AHMED (thoughtfully): I can… I can do that! Even though it makes no sense, I can! I really can! Even though it’s pointless… worse still, it’s getting in my way! People will think that… hm… (short pause) People don’t understand! They can’t possibly understand!… I can!… I… (different tone) But I don’t want to! Because you betrayed me!

BRÂNCOVEANU: I didn’t betray you!

AHMED: …And, if I help you, all the traitors will say, ‘We’re betraying the Empire, but never mind, the Sultan will save us’!

BRÂNCOVEANU: I haven’t betrayed you!

AHMED: And which is more important? The Empire or the Sultan?!

BRÂNCOVEANU: I haven’t betrayed the Empire either…

AHMED (interrupting, gravely): Worse still!… You’ve betrayed the Sultan! I have proof… your letters to…

BRÂNCOVEANU: They’re forgeries…

AHMED: Your boyars…

BRÂNCOVEANU (speaking more quickly): The boyars are lying! You know they’re lying! They don’t understand! You know they don’t understand! You do understand! You can see beyond…!

AHMED (enlightened): I can!

BRÂNCOVEANU: Save me! You’re the only one who…

AHMED: I can! I can!

BRÂNCOVEANU: Yes, save me from it all!

AHMED (firmly): I can!

BRÂNCOVEANU: Let my boys go… and the lady… and my grandchildren… and take everything else from me!

AHMED (puzzled): What?!

BRÂNCOVEANU: Leave them… and take everything from me… because you can!

AHMED: What am I supposed to do?!

BRÂNCOVEANU: Take everything from me! Leave them, the boys… and the lady… and the…

AHMED: Am I to do that?!

BRÂNCOVEANU: Yes, and take everything from me!

AHMED: So, is that what you want?! Is that what you’re after… (pause) You’re not being fair to your sultan! You’re asking me to be generous, to take on… everything, and what are you doing?! What are you doing?

BRÂNCOVEANU: Let them go, and I’ll do anything…

AHMED (interrupting): So, that’s it! Ahmed is to save you from… everything, to save them… (starting to shout) for Ahmed to save everyone… for him to do everything… always, everything… that’s all… everything… and you… you… you’re being stingy! You’re keeping what’s most precious to you!

A few seconds of silence.

BRÂNCOVEANU (plainly): I’m not keeping anything! Everything I’ve gathered is yours! And it’s no small thing!

AHMED: It’s nothing!

BRÂNCOVEANU: It’s all I’ve got!

AHMED: And the lads?

BRÂNCOVEANU: What about the boys?

AHMED: The boys… and the lady… and the grandchildren… whose are they? You said you’d give me everything!

BRÂNCOVEANU: They’re not to blame!

AHMED: Only Allah is innocent! It’s a shame, Constantin, you were just about to convince me that you were sorry and…

BRÂNCOVEANU: I am sorry!

AHMED (continuing): You want to make amends!

BRÂNCOVEANU: I do, and…

AHMED: …that you’re truly prepared to sacrifice everything… to atone for your betrayal… to send a sign to your Sultan that…

BRÂNCOVEANU (interrupting): I’ll give you everything! (quietly) Everything!

AHMED: So close!… How close you came… to deceiving me… and getting away with it… to taking advantage of my nature, which is inclined towards kindness… towards forgiveness!

BRÂNCOVEANU: I didn’t mean to deceive you… on the contrary, from the very start I offered everything that…

AHMED (interrupting, in a different tone): My father was right! Sometimes, I’m too kind! Or too weak! But what can I do?! I’ve always preferred poetry to the sword! Wisdom, not war! (Ahmed smells a tulip) I’m vulnerable… and you sensed it straight away… and you wanted to take advantage!

BRÂNCOVEANU: No, I didn’t! But I know that only you can see beyond the intrigues… the lies and betrayals… to be a sultan, yet remain human… to build, to give meaning!

AHMED: Exactly! That’s exactly it! You’ve seen right through me, old man! You’ve realised that I’m vulnerable to beauty! To a beautiful flower… to beautiful words… to a grand idea… a true sacrifice. Sublime… And I thought you were capable of doing something truly great! That, at last, I too might have my moment… Because there is something inside you that gave me hope!

BRÂNCOVEANU: There is something, and I want to…

AHMED (interrupting): That you can give up your children, your faith… everything! (disappointed) But you, instead of letting yourself be… overcome by beauty… of offering mercy in return for the mercy you ask for… you’ve lost yourself in nothingness; instead of rising up, you’ve buried yourself! (saddened) What a pity! I would have forgiven you!

BRÂNCOVEANU: Forgive me!

AHMED: It’s not enough just to ask for it! You must deserve it! Forgiveness requires suffering… And sacrifice… (directly, intensely) How much are you willing to sacrifice, Constantin?

BRÂNCOVEANU (falling to his knees): Everything!

Ahmed looks at him.

AHMED: Are you kneeling, ‘Your Highness’?

BRÂNCOVEANU: Not the lord… it is your father who begs you!… Forgive the children! Set them free… and everything I have…

AHMED: Do you have anything left apart from the children?

Brâncoveanu remains silent.

AHMED: Well then, what will you give me?

BRÂNCOVEANU: Everything! I have offered everything a man… a gentleman… and a father can offer!

AHMED: Just any old father! An ordinary man! But you… you’ve offered nothing! You should have done more!

BRÂNCOVEANU: I have done… more! And now I’m giving everything… that I’ve done!

AHMED: You’re not giving everything!

BRÂNCOVEANU: Yes, I am! I’m giving it to you!

AHMED: What?

BRÂNCOVEANU: What do you want?

AHMED: Everything… the children and my faith!

BRÂNCOVEANU (rising slowly): I’ve always been…

AHMED (interrupting him, firmly): You haven’t always been! Not to me! But this isn’t about me now! (in a different, hissing tone) It’s about… what’s above me!

BRÂNCOVEANU (has stood up, realising): Above you… there’s only…

AHMED: Exactly!… And perhaps He would be pleased if you gave…

BRÂNCOVEANU (interrupting): My… faith?

AHMED: If I deign to take on all… your earthly… burdens… at least give to Allah…

BRÂNCOVEANU: My faith?

AHMED: Yes!

BRÂNCOVEANU: He doesn’t need it! He has yours, Your Highness!

AHMED: That’s true… But Allah is great! There’s room for…

BRÂNCOVEANU: Next to a (gestures towards the sultan) sun, there’s no room for a… firefly!

AHMED: Watch out, old man! (threateningly, coldly) This sun… reaches every corner of your mind, you see… (softly) and burns!

BRÂNCOVEANU: See? There’s no room for me beside the sun!

AHMED (authoritatively): If I want there to be… there is! (short pause, approaches Brâncoveanu, slowly, in a friendly manner) Constantin… I don’t like seeing you (points at him) like this! It pains me to look at you… I know that you… aren’t like the others! I’ve been watching you for a long time! You’re… different! And we’re meeting now, because I care and… (quieter, as if sharing a secret) I don’t want to lose you!

BRÂNCOVEANU: Then why…?

AHMED (delighted): To win you over! (loudly) It’s easy for me to lose you! Very easy! In a way, you’re already lost! Your path… and the boys’… leads to only one place! We both know it! And no one can change that! No matter how hard you struggle… I’ve heard all about what you’ve tried in Bucharest and… along the way… and here, ever since you did me the honour of being my guests! But no one can help you!

BRÂNCOVEANU: Apart from you!

AHMED: That’s right! (delighted) Apart from me… If I want to! Everything changes!

BRÂNCOVEANU: And do you want to?

AHMED (stepping closer, looking him in the eye): Make me want to!

BRÂNCOVEANU: How? How could I...?

AHMED (interrupting quickly): Easily… and simply… (very naturally) Give me your trust…

BRÂNCOVEANU: You already have it…

AHMED: And that of the boys!

BRÂNCOVEANU: As sultan, you are…

AHMED (cutting in): Not that… not with words!… Not from this world! (steps away, paces) That… I don’t need it! I’ve got enough! I’ve got everything that’s visible! Everything… that the eye can see! (slightly irritated) My ancestors conquered the world… the whole world… from the outside! (turns towards Brâncoveanu, slowly, haltingly) They did what was easy, they mounted their horses and… But me! (lost in thought, to himself) Me! I must do what’s hardest! What remains… to reach where they didn’t even dare to go! To conquer… the unseen, the world within…! (directly to Brâncoveanu) Give me your faith, Constantin!

BRÂNCOVEANU: Faith in…?

AHMED (interrupting): Yes! Not in me! In Allah! Through me!

BRÂNCOVEANU: To save my boys?

AHMED: No!… (short pause) Not like that!… We’re not at the market!… We’re talking about faith, Constantin, not bran!… Faith! True faith… is offered… completely, unconditionally, without anything in return! You believe, you don’t ask questions!

BRÂNCOVEANU: So, you won’t save my boys…

AHMED (interrupting him sharply): My boys?! What’s that got to do with it?! You give me something, so I’ll give you something?!… It doesn’t work like that!… Believe in Allah!… Ask Him to help you… with whatever you need… let Him save your boys! (intensely, wildly) And be glad if He doesn’t… Because that’s the only way you can prove your faith! When you believe without receiving anything in return!

BRÂNCOVEANU: I do believe!

AHMED (hopefully): In Allah?

A brief pause.

BRÂNCOVEANU (beginning slowly): In God!

AHMED: Constantin, this isn’t the time!… For a man who’s spent his whole life dealing with… money, palaces and… the finer things in life… you’ve put up enough resistance! That’s enough! I’ve got the message! I wouldn’t have wanted you to accept straight away either! I wouldn’t have believed it! But now, it’s over! You’ll do as I ask! It’s only natural… and any sensible person in your shoes would do the same! Accept Allah! You and your family! I’m not saying you’ll all be saved, but Allah is great! Have faith!

BRÂNCOVEANU (in a different tone): I do!

AHMED: Do you really?

BRÂNCOVEANU (starting softly, rising sharply): And perhaps… if you’d told me in Bucharest… that I could save my boys if…

AHMED: I’m not telling you now either! Ahmed doesn’t lie! (in a different tone) But Allah…

BRÂNCOVEANU (cutting in): Still… if you’d told me… I don’t know what I would have done! Because I’m… a man and… a father!

AHMED: You are! And you’ll do what’s best for…

BRÂNCOVEANU (interrupting firmly): But now…

AHMED: No ‘buts’!

BRÂNCOVEANU (continues, forcefully): After these past few days… In which you’ve taken everything from me… everything I thought I had… and shown me that everything here… in this world… can vanish in an instant… (crescendo), when I realised that nothing… is certain… and I can’t even cling to words… to save my children…

AHMED (crescendo, passionately): Yes, you can!… Cling on, old man! Hope! Fight… just as you have until now! Bribe! Beg! Believe! Give me what I ask for! Do what you have to do!… Be practical! (he tempts him) You can have more than you’ve ever had! Come to me! Your place isn’t in that hovel! Your boys weren’t born in a manger… Your world… is here, with Allah! In the sunshine! You are Altin Bey! The Prince of Gold, not of… manure! And afterwards… you’ll return home and change your own people too!

BRÂNCOVEANU: I’m not going back!

AHMED: Yes, you will! You’ll come back!… But renounce your pagan darkness! Change your faith! Step into the light!

Short pause.

BRÂNCOVEANU: No! I’m staying!

AHMED (surprised): A servant?

BRÂNCOVEANU: That’s what I was!

AHMED: That’s what you were! Always at my mercy… and at the mercy of others… (in a different tone) Don’t you want it to be different? To have power… to make… history yourself, rather than have others make it for you?!

BRÂNCOVEANU: History… makes itself.

AHMED: Is that what you think?

Brâncoveanu doesn’t reply.

AHMED (crescendo): Is that your excuse? Yours? Is that how you fool yourselves? Is that how you manage to put up with… everything? You’ve invented a phantom: history! And it’s to blame for the misery you live in?!

BRÂNCOVEANU: We don’t live in misery!

AHMED: You’ve got used to it! It seems like a bed of roses to you! You put up with anything! We take your money, we take your horses, we take your food, we take your women… we take your children! And you still kiss our boots. It sounds stupid, I know, but that’s exactly what you do! Because we rule the world! (contemptuously) And you… you just keep bowing down. You’ve ended up with your noses in the dirt… (short pause) With your eyes covered in mud, you no longer know what the sky looks like… This isn’t your path, Constantin! I’ve seen what you’re capable of… 25 years of rule! Among you, there are no others like you, and I’ll make sure there never are! You… you were born to create, to change lives, to open up new worlds… not to turn the other cheek! Come to me… to Allah! Be a master, not a servant!

BRÂNCOVEANU: What would a master be without a servant?

AHMED: A master! He who is born a master… remains a master… with or without a servant! Renounce your faith as a servant and…

BRÂNCOVEANU (interrupting him, simply): I cannot! I am… what I was born to be!

AHMED: A servant?

BRÂNCOVEANU: A Christian!

AHMED: That’s not enough!

BRÂNCOVEANU (plainly): It’s a lot to turn the other cheek, not to hate your enemy… to love him!

AHMED: Are you stupid or are you mad?!… Do you love me now?

BRÂNCOVEANU: I’m trying!

AHMED: But you won’t succeed! Because nobody…

BRÂNCOVEANU (interrupting him): Some have managed it!

AHMED: They didn’t have enemies worthy of the name.

BRÂNCOVEANU: Yes, they did!… But when it happens… (crescendo) when it’s not just in stories, philosophies and ideas… when you truly forgive the one who drives the nail… who steals your food… your boys… your life… (at peace) you are free and… you have neither enemies, nor servants, nor masters!

AHMED: Free?!… Are you free?

A brief pause. Brâncoveanu smiles.

BRÂNCOVEANU (overlapping): You can’t possibly understand!… Yes, perhaps today I’m still under your power…

AHMED (loudly, over him): Just as you were yesterday and will be tomorrow!

BRÂNCOVEANU: But the world is bigger than us… and time lasts longer than three days!

AHMED (interrupting): No, old man! You’re deluding yourself! The Sublime Porte will endure…

BRÂNCOVEANU: A thousand years?

AHMED: Longer still!

BRÂNCOVEANU: History… which we did not invent and which you know… is full of thousand-year empires that vanished after a few… tens or hundreds of years. We’ve witnessed a few ourselves. They came, they went, but we’ve stayed! And even if today… we can’t see the sky, we know it! Because we’ve always lived under the same sky. And that’s why, even when we can’t see it, we don’t lose our way, we don’t disappear… we don’t forget who we are!

AHMED: You should forget! Forget! (directly, in a low tone) For your own good… and for the boys’… Forget! Come under another sky! Beside the Prophet and beside…

BRÂNCOVEANU (interrupting, calmly): No! I can’t come! I’ve nowhere to go! I understand what you’re asking of me and… where you’re calling me… But… even if I wanted to… (smiling resignedly) I can’t change… the sky!

AHMED: But you could lose your boys!

Brâncoveanu is silent.

AHMED: You… a brilliant mind… you’re sending your lads to… (disappointed) Are you really… that primitive?! Is your ignorance really… that great?! How does a man like you end up…?!

BRÂNCOVEANU (interrupting, conciliatory): In small steps! Great things… both good and bad… are achieved in small steps. When you took me from Bucharest and brought me here… perhaps neither I nor you knew exactly what we wanted, what we were doing… or how far we’d go. We simply found ourselves on a path… And the path… we… your Allah… and my God… did the rest. For that is how the unmade is made. By doing.

A few seconds of silence.

AHMED: So you’re not going to save your boys?

BRÂNCOVEANU: That’s exactly how I’m saving them!

AHMED: You’re losing them! Right now… you’re losing them! (gives up, heads for the exit)… Ahmed wanted to forgive you! To give you a chance! A real chance! To lose or to win!

Ahmed exits.

BRÂNCOVEANU (shouts): How can I win?

AHMED (from offstage, loudly): Lose everything!

Heblu.

Oriental music, overlaid with the clanking of chains, hammer blows and groans (Matei’s are more clearly distinguishable).

SCENE V

In front of the curtain. Ienăchiță Văcărescu (wearing a white shirt, barefoot, with obvious signs of torture) speaks in a whisper to Mustafa. Out of total darkness, a spotlight falls on the two of them. The conversation begins.

MUSTAFA (hastily): I only wanted to help you, because there’s not much more that can be done for the family! His Highness is very angry! But, as for you, who knows how a… kind word and… a token of loyalty might have gone down!

VĂCĂRESCU: Are we talking about faith or…?

MUSTAFA (interrupting): All of it, Boyar Văcărescu! Come on, you’re… a man of understanding! All your life you’ve been dealing with… I mean, you know how it is with… everything!

VĂCĂRESCU (puzzled): I don’t understand! You mentioned faith, and I’ve heard from the prince that the Sultan is expecting to…

MUSTAFA: To what?

VĂCĂRESCU: To join… his army… (points upwards)

MUSTAFA (interrupting, puzzled): Allah’s?! Aren’t you a bit too old for…?

VĂCĂRESCU: For the army?

MUSTAFA: Both the army and… But if you want…

VĂCĂRESCU: No, I don’t want to! You’re right, I’m too old! But you mentioned some proof of…

MUSTAFA: No! No! No! Allah’s army is led by the Sultan! I… was just saying, between you and me, about… a more… concrete proof!

VĂCĂRESCU (innocently): Yes, of faith! Because, if we were to change our faith…

MUSTAFA (irritated): You should know I’ve had a long way to come and I’ve gone out of my way to get here so we could try to… sort something out! But if you don’t want to, I’ll go and leave you… in Allah’s care!

VĂCĂRESCU (hopefully, to Mustafa): Do you think Allah will look after me… even if I don’t…?

MUSTAFA (conciliatory): That’s exactly what I was saying! That everyone’s busy with their own affairs. And that’s why I feel sorry that, around here, nobody thinks about you anymore! All the envoys and ambassadors only ask about the situation of the prince, the princes, the princess… they beg us to forgive him… but who’s going to take an interest in you?

VĂCĂRESCU: Let’s find someone who’ll think of…

MUSTAFA (interrupting): There isn’t anyone! Apart from me… (in a different tone) But that’s a good thing!

VĂCĂRESCU: Why?

MUSTAFA: That’s why!… That’s why I’m here and I was telling you that… (suggestively) who knows, maybe we can sort something out! If people aren’t interested… maybe… we can sneak you out somehow… to get you away from… (mimes a blow to the back of the head).

VĂCĂRESCU: Do you think it’s possible?… (hopefully) That would be… Mustafa, that would be it!

MUSTAFA: Anything’s possible!

VĂCĂRESCU (surprised): Anything’s possible?!

MUSTAFA (seriously): Not with the prince, no! If the old man’s a bit thick and wants to play the madman, that’s his business! But you, what’ve you done wrong?

VĂCĂRESCU: I’m not to blame at all! Nor is the prince!

MUSTAFA: He is, he is! Because, even if… let’s put it this way… he hadn’t betrayed us as much as he did – because he did betray us… he must have betrayed us… what would it have cost him to do what the Sultan asked of him?

VĂCĂRESCU: To change his faith?

MUSTAFA: What faith? We know him well! He didn’t amass that fortune by talking to saints! He’s lived in the world! He knows how things work! Where did all that… faith come from, all of a sudden?!

VĂCĂRESCU: Did you help him to…

MUSTAFA (interrupting): We tried to help him! He should have sorted things out the nice way, when he had the chance; now… he’s a lost cause… (changing tone) But you…

VĂCĂRESCU: What’s got to do with me?

MUSTAFA: If we get ourselves a bit organised… I’ve got good signs! People’ve got nothing against you, I’ve asked! After all, you didn’t do any harm… of your own accord! The Prince put you there! What were you supposed to do?! You obeyed! Just like anyone else. And that’s what you’ve got to say!

VĂCĂRESCU: What am I supposed to say?

MUSTAFA: The truth! Let everyone know: the ambassadors… and everyone! That the prince betrayed us… and you’re innocent! That, in your heart, you never wanted it!

VĂCĂRESCU: What didn’t I want?

MUSTAFA: Nothing! The money, the betrayals… everything that the scoundrel did!

VĂCĂRESCU: He didn’t do a thing!

MUSTAFA: Boyar Văcărescu! (he studies him closely) Did they beat you badly?! (he points to the bruises on his head)

VĂCĂRESCU: They gave me a proper beating!

MUSTAFA: It’s as if you’ve lost your mind!

VĂCĂRESCU: I am in my right mind, why would I...?

MUSTAFA (cutting in): Then… what don’t you understand?! So we can sort this out… And so that the whole of Europe knows… which keeps wondering… and thinks we’re the barbarians, not you lot who throw your children to the axe for…

VĂCĂRESCU: For…?

MUSTAFA: A whim! (looks around) Come on, there’s no time for…! (slowly, didactically) So…! You didn’t want to, the prince forced you to commit… misdeeds… betrayals… major betrayals!

VĂCĂRESCU: What betrayals?

MUSTAFA: We know them well enough! We’ll write them down, you’ll sign them and… that’s it!

VĂCĂRESCU: Done how?

MUSTAFA: The Sultan is forced to… take action… just like any other… enlightened ruler… on this earth! But you’re innocent! Everyone knows it! It’d be a shame if anything happened to you! Do you also remember about ten pouches of gold coins… fifteen, just to be on the safe side, and, if you have faith, we’ll sort it out!

VĂCĂRESCU (calmly, confidently): Mustafa! Your Highness! The Prince didn’t force me! I wanted to…

MUSTAFA: What did you want?

VĂCĂRESCU (continuing): What I did! But there was no misfortune! I didn’t betray anyone! I won’t sign anything! And I don’t remember any bags, because I’ve remembered everything… (louder), but…

MUSTAFA (hopefully): Right…

VĂCĂRESCU: I’ve got faith! Look at me! It’s all I’ve got left! And you were saying that, if I’ve got faith, we’ll sort it out!

MUSTAFA: No! No! No… like that! What are we supposed to sort out?! If you don’t want to get off the hook…

VĂCĂRESCU: I do! How could I not want to? What person on this earth wouldn’t want to?! And if I still had a few bags left, I’d gladly give them away! But they’ve taken everything from me! (points to his wounds) They know what they’re doing!… And you should know! Because you were there the whole time…

MUSTAFA: Me?!… Where would I have been?… I was away at…

VĂCĂRESCU (interrupting): You were… with the ladies, prying information out of them, and with us when they fleeced us! I could sense you, even if you’re hiding! (sniffs him) You smell of burnt flesh, Your Highness!

MUSTAFA (threateningly): Watch what you say!

VĂCĂRESCU (smiling): I’ve got nothing left! Not even a care… I used to like you, Mustafa! You were… you are… a man of action… a clever one. It seemed to me we were alike! I’ve worked out what you’re up to… and now… ever since you brought us here… and to Bucharest! It’s clear that His Highness is always sending you to dig around… for money, for secrets! I realise that now you’ve got to find him some excuses for… what he’s going to do! It’s not easy for you either!

MUSTAFA (sincerely): It isn’t!

VĂCĂRESCU: I know! But if it’s an order… what can you do?! Plus, he doesn’t even trust you completely! Just as you’re keeping an eye on us, others are keeping an eye on you, aren’t they? (Mustafa doesn’t reply)

VĂCĂRESCU (continues): They’re keeping an eye on you! They’re listening in on you! Maybe even right now! Ahmed himself might be round here somewhere! That’s how the ‘enlightened ones’ are! They suspect everyone… they’re eavesdropping!

MUSTAFA (instinctively glances around): His Highness would never…

VĂCĂRESCU: But sometimes, he does!… (understandingly) And I also reckon you don’t want to be… what you are… because, ‘in your heart’, you’re not proud of what you’ve become… or, at least, that’s what you choose to believe – that you’re just a… tool! You’re following an order. So, you’re innocent! But watch out, Mustafa, you’re starting to like it!

MUSTAFA: No! No more than you’d have enjoyed it yourself, if you’d been in my place!

VĂCĂRESCU: Thank God… I’m not in your shoes! But maybe you’re right! Who knows what I’d have done?! I wasn’t born a saint! I’ve lived… as best I could… and as for dying… that’s down to you lot!

The light fades from the two of them; another spotlight comes on as Marica Brâncoveanu enters, dressed in a long, simple gown, without jewellery or signs of nobility.

MARICA (calmly): Your Highness, thank you! Thank you! For your generosity and for your deep understanding of the limits of human nature… which you have made clear to us too! To see them all was more than we deserved! More than we still dared to hope for! We received this gift without even having begged for it. I have understood, so late in the day, but, with Your Highness’s help, I have understood, over the last nearly 100 days, how inappropriate it would be—outrageously inappropriate—to ask, to demand, expect or believe that what I feel and desire has any right to be spoken, heard or fulfilled! (at peace, smiling) No! I have awakened! At last! I have been helped to wake up! I have received the blessing of the light of your power poured out upon the darkness of my weaknesses! Forgive me! For everything! For the sought-after yet barren beauty of the words I write! For my unwitting cunning, as a person greedy for life and sick with hope, hidden within the thanks I offer you! (gradually becoming tense) Forgive me for the mercy I ask for, especially when I cry out that I do not deserve it! Forgive me! Forgive us for being so foolish as to believe that we know what tomorrow will bring, what yesterday was, what today is, that we, we… can measure time, people or… the truth! (vulnerable) Forgive me, and thank you! For letting me see them! They were so beautiful and… so big?! Perhaps it was just my imagination! They were far away, the light was dim, but it was as if everything… everything I’ve been through, rightly so, by your right—the only one that matters here, now… everything made them seem more… even the little one! Especially the little one! He’d grown, he was… It’s true, at his age, in a hundred days you really can… grow up! So big! It’s true! What’s true? That I thank you for letting me see them. And that you didn’t let them see me! (bursts out, crescendo) And that I hope! I hope! I hope! Whether you want it or not, whether I want it or not, regardless of anyone’s will, I still hope that… (takes a breath, regains control) Forgive me! Forgive us! Or don’t forgive us! But all of us, together! Equally guilty!

Heblu.

SCENE VI

Brâncoveanu, Constantin, Ștefan, Radu and Matei, with chains on their feet, stand in a cell (three walls) set within the previous set. Their faces, arms and legs bear marks of torture. They are all wearing white shirts reaching to the knees and are barefoot. They look down. At first quite loud, the jerky sounds of footsteps and chains can be heard. Gradually they fade away.

MATEI: Where are they taking him?

No one answers.

MATEI (louder): Where are they taking him?

ȘTEFAN: Where else would they take him…

MATEI: Where?

BRÂNCOVEANU: Calm down! The worst is over… he’s gone!

MATEI: Where?

RADU (whispering to Brâncoveanu): You’ve always said that!

BRÂNCOVEANU: That’s what I thought!

RADU: Every day?

CONSTANTIN: As often as was needed!

RADU: Who needed it?

CONSTANTIN: Everyone!

RADU: Not me! For a hundred days… the same old stories!

MATEI: Where am I taking Ienăchiță?

RADU (continuing): If it’s bad, it’s bad! You might as well know what to expect!

CONSTANTIN: After today, he won’t be in a bad way any more!

There’s a metallic screech, followed by a loud bang (like a heavy door slamming shut).

MATEI: Where?

CONSTANTIN: Stay calm!

MATEI: How can I stay calm? What do I do now? Is he going to get us one by one?

CONSTANTIN: We’re together and…

MATEI (agitated): Now… but… when they come… what’s going to happen?

CONSTANTIN: Stop worrying!

RADU: It’ll be just as it’ll be!

CONSTANTIN: Quickly! That’s how it’ll be! Quickly!… After he’s been here, it won’t… it’ll be quick!

RADU (indignant): How lovely!… We’ll have a… short day!

CONSTANTIN: Yes! It’ll be over and…

RADU: And is that a good thing?

ȘTEFAN (to Radu): Good?! Is that what you want, for it to be good?!

RADU: Let it be!… Good or bad, just let it be! That’s what I want! Whatever happens… Let it be bad! If it can’t be any other way… But let it still be!

ȘTEFAN: Haven’t you had enough?

RADU: Has it been enough for you?

ȘTEFAN: Enough for two lifetimes!

RADU: Maybe! But you don’t have two! And it wasn’t enough for me either!

ȘTEFAN: I’d give you some of mine!

RADU: Because you’ve got plenty! You, Constantin… you’ve got something… you’re leaving something behind, back home… it’s easier for you… but me and this little one… it’s not fair!

CONSTANTIN: It’s easier?!

RADU: Yes!… You’ve got…

CONSTANTIN: Nothing! I’ve got nothing left!

RADU: You’ve got a son!

CONSTANTIN: I’ve got a son? (outburst) Where?… Where is he?… Tell me, Radu, where is he?

RADU: At least he’s not here! He’s getting away!

CONSTANTIN: “I’ve got a son!”… “It’s easier!”… (shouts) “Isn’t that fair?!”

Constantin collapses.

ȘTEFAN: Nothing’s fair!

BRÂNCOVEANU: For none of you! It wasn’t you who chose to…! I chose!

RADU: You?! What did you choose?

BRÂNCOVEANU: Everything! To be… what I was… I knew what it meant! You lot had no choice!

RADU: Until now! But perhaps from now on…

ȘTEFAN: From now on what?

RADU: From now on… perhaps we’ll have a choice! And we’ll have to choose! We mustn’t just let him…

CONSTANTIN (to Radu): Shut up!

RADU: Why? Why should… why should he be the only one to do everything? Let’s carry it ourselves! Maybe the time has come! At least from now on, let’s…

ȘTEFAN (interrupting): From now on? Are you talking about the future? From now on?! On to where? On how?

RADU: Anyway!

ȘTEFAN: Have you forgotten where you are?

RADU: Have you died?

ȘTEFAN: It’ll sort itself out!

RADU: No! No! No! Enough of the philosophy! Right now, as we speak, are you dead?

ȘTEFAN: Go on! What do you want?

RADU (shaking him): Are you dead?!

ȘTEFAN: Yes! We all are!

RADU: No! I’m alive! I can see! I can hear! I can feel that I’m alive! I’m moving… I’m talking… I’m making a noise! (rattles the chains)… so, I can still… do something… and I have to!

ȘTEFAN: What?

RADU: To try… to still be here tomorrow!

ȘTEFAN: Where?

RADU: Anywhere! Here, but alive!

Moans are heard again. Matei starts.

CONSTANTIN: Stay calm!

RADU: No! I don’t want to stay still! As long as there’s still something… to give and to escape… I can’t stay still!

CONSTANTIN: We’ve given them everything!

RADU: Not everything!

MATEI: What else is there?

RADU: There’s more!

CONSTANTIN: What else are we to give?

MATEI: Is there any gold left, or...?

CONSTANTIN: We’ve given it all away!

ȘTEFAN: It was all for nothing! Back home, we might have got away with it! Here… it’s too late!

CONSTANTIN: From now on… it doesn’t matter! That’s just how it was meant to be! It was written that…

RADU (interrupting him): Whose will?

ȘTEFAN: Written by whom?…

RADU: Rather than just letting ourselves be… at the mercy of… We’d be better off fighting in Bucharest! Did anyone think of actually fighting… rather than just paying?

BRÂNCOVEANU: We’ve thought of everything, not just ourselves!

RADU: We’ve thought too much! We’d be better off fighting! We’d get away more easily!

CONSTANTIN: We’ll get away with it anyway!

RADU: No! We won’t get away with it! Let’s give it to them!

CONSTANTIN (interrupting, firmly): We’ve given them what they wanted!

RADU: Let’s give them what we’ve got left!

MATEI: Why don’t we give it? (agitated) If there’s anything left…

Brâncoveanu takes a few steps and embraces Matei.

BRÂNCOVEANU (gently): There’s nothing… what else can we give?

RADU: Well, there is!

MATEI: What?

RADU: Something that… for us… doesn’t help us anyway!

MATEI (to Radu): Do we have anything?

BRÂNCOVEANU: There’s nothing… to give! Radu, don’t lead him on!

MATEI: Dad, please! If there’s anything else, let’s…! I’ll sort it out later! I’m young! I work! I’ll fight! I’ll look after you lot! If God helps us and…

ȘTEFAN (bursts out): God?! Which…?

Brâncoveanu slowly pulls away from Matei.

BRÂNCOVEANU (intervening): Ștefan, the day is almost over… don’t throw away… everything… for the sake of one day!

ȘTEFAN: Everything?… It’s already lost!

BRÂNCOVEANU (vigorously): Then win it back!

ȘTEFAN: To win… you need gold! And there’s no gold left!

BRÂNCOVEANU: The days of… gold are gone!

CONSTANTIN (quietly, to himself): The time has come… for the cross!

RADU: Exactly! So, we’ve still got something!

MATEI: What?

RADU: Something to give… to take… and to get rid of!

MATEI: What?

CONSTANTIN (to Matei): Don’t listen to him! We’re getting away now! (quietly) Just a little further!

ȘTEFAN: If we could, we’d have got away!

RADU: We still can! Let’s at least give it a go!

MATEI (quietly, at the end of his tether): What? Just say it! What? What else are we supposed to give?

ȘTEFAN: Nothing!

CONSTANTIN: What we’ve got left is ours!

RADU: What good’s that to us? We’re going to die anyway! We’ve got to try!

MATEI (shouts): What?!

CONSTANTIN: There’s nothing left to try!

RADU (to Matei): Let’s be like them! Let’s become Turks! They said that…

CONSTANTIN (cutting in): And you believed them?! They wanted the gold, nothing else! They don’t give a damn about…

RADU (turning to Constantin, cutting him off): Because back then we had gold! But now! That’s all we’ve got left… and maybe… it’s worth something else!

CONSTANTIN: Faith is priceless!

RADU (to Ștefan): Everything has a price!

ȘTEFAN: How do you pay for it?

RADU: With a word! That’s all!

ȘTEFAN: A word isn’t worth a penny!

RADU: We live by what they want to hear!

MATEI: Do you think they’d let us…?

RADU (interrupting, hurriedly): I don’t know! But we’ve got to get on with it! As for the rest, we’ll sort it out… tomorrow! Can you imagine what it would be like to…?! Tomorrow! What it would mean if it were tomorrow!

CONSTANTIN: You’re… a child!

RADU: I am… and I want to get on with…!

CONSTANTIN (continuing, loudly): There’s nothing you can get on with! We’re not getting out of here!

RADU: I don’t know! Let’s give it a go! Who knows?! We’ll see where we end up!

CONSTANTIN (quietly, to himself): To hell!

RADU: Where?

CONSTANTIN (quietly): To hell! That’s where we’ll end up!

RADU (laughing): What? To hell?

CONSTANTIN (dryly): To hell!

RADU: Somewhere else?! Are there more than one?!

CONSTANTIN: No! I don’t know! But you haven’t seen what…

RADU: Oh yes, I have! I’ve seen it all! If that’s the whole problem, I say we shouldn’t waste any more time!

CONSTANTIN: Don’t tempt him! What if you haven’t seen anything?

RADU: After he’d been here…

A loud metallic screech is heard, followed by a loud bang (like a heavy door slamming shut). Everyone jumps. They start talking frantically.

MATEI: What’s that noise?

CONSTANTIN: Stay calm!

RADU (increasingly agitated): They’re coming! We’ve got to tell them!

ȘTEFAN: They won’t want to hear it!

MATEI (desperately): What should we tell them?

RADU: That we want to… live!

MATEI: We do!

ȘTEFAN: Nobody can hear you!

RADU: At any cost!

MATEI: We do!

RADU (loudly): To live!

CONSTANTIN (gently): We’ll live… on the other side!

ȘTEFAN: And what if… there isn’t an ‘afterlife’?

CONSTANTIN (interrupting): Of course there is!

ȘTEFAN (agitatedly): What if everything is here and now… and there isn’t?

CONSTANTIN (interrupting): Of course there is! There has to be! Otherwise, what’s the point of it all?

ȘTEFAN: It doesn’t! Nothing makes sense! It’s all in our minds! We invent meanings!

RADU: All the better then; we’ll tell them what they want to hear… if there’s nothing on the other side, we’ve got nothing to lose.

CONSTANTIN: We lose everything.

ȘTEFAN: Everything is nothing.

RADU: And isn’t that fine?! After we’ve given them everything and it didn’t work… we’re left with nothing!

CONSTANTIN: We’re not getting off scot-free!

RADU: Let’s give it a go!

ȘTEFAN: No! It’s pointless! (to Radu) They don’t want what you’re trying to give them! Since you’ve been here, how many times have they asked you about…?

RADU (interrupting, agitated): Because, before, I had money! But now…

ȘTEFAN: Now they don’t ask you anything! Because you’ve got nothing left. Get it! Nothing makes sense!

BRÂNCOVEANU: Everything makes sense! Only a fool thinks that what he doesn’t understand doesn’t exist!

RADU: But it does exist! Why not…?

BRÂNCOVEANU (continuing, crescendo): Because the earth ends where his eyes can see!

ȘTEFAN: With his mind!

BRÂNCOVEANU: Because his limited mind can encompass the world!

ȘTEFAN: And so what’s the point of… all of it?

BRÂNCOVEANU: I don’t know! (after a brief pause, softly) I don’t know what the point was of… you all suffering! And Mum! And the others! It’s hard not to understand! Worse than… everything else! Not to understand! Why you?! Why your family!? It’s hard to keep your thoughts straight… when everything’s all wrong! To believe in good when there’s only evil all around!

RADU: So why do you still believe?

BRÂNCOVEANU (pause, simply): Because, otherwise… if you don’t believe… and there’s no longer… (points upwards) anything more… above… all that’s left is what’s here! (firmly, resigned) And that’s not possible! Radule! Ștefane! Matei! Constantine! With nothing more than… here… than what can be seen… (a metallic clang from outside) and heard… without faith… and, even if you were still alive, you still wouldn’t…

The sound of soldiers’ footsteps can be heard. Far off, but drawing nearer.

MATEI (interrupting, frightened): What’s that noise?

CONSTANTINE: Nothing!

MATEI: Yes, there is, listen! You can hear it! I can hear them! They’re coming to…!

Everyone huddles closer together. Brâncoveanu tries to embrace them, to hold them all close. Radu stays a little further away.

BRÂNCOVEANU (to Matei): Stay calm! Not yet…

MATEI: Yes, they are! They’re coming! I can hear them! They’re getting closer!

The noises grow louder. Footsteps, chains.

MATEI: Good heavens, they’re really coming! They’re coming! They’re coming to…

CONSTANTIN (interrupting, soothingly): This too shall pass! You’re with us! It’ll be all right!

MATEI (desperately): No! No! I don’t want this!

ȘTEFAN (confidently, calmly): It’s all right, Matei! It’s good that they’re coming! It’s all coming to an end! You’ll see! It’ll be all right!

RADU: When? Where?

ȘTEFAN: Over there!

MATEI: Where exactly?

ȘTEFAN: Over there! On the other side!

MATEI: You were saying that over there isn’t…

ȘTEFAN: Nonsense! I was talking rubbish! It’s fine… at last!

CONSTANTIN: It’s very good!

ȘTEFAN: We’re getting away from it all!

MATEI: How are we getting away?!

Radu comes over and hugs them.

RADU: Together!

The noises are getting louder and louder. Two or three bangs against a bolt.

MATEI (terrified): Dad, what shall I do? What’s that noise?!

BRÂNCOVEANU (calmly): Nothing! You can’t hear a thing! Nothing! There’s nothing left here, and no one! Just us and… God!

Very loud noises.

A crash.

SCENE VII

Brâncoveanu alone on stage. A single spotlight. Otherwise, darkness. Brâncoveanu remains in the semi-darkness for a few seconds.

BRÂNCOVEANU (from the darkness): He who laughs last… I don’t know if he laughs best, but probably… he cried at the start! And vice versa! (pause) It’s dark… but… little by little… we’re getting used to it! (steps into the lit area) Just as we get used to the light when we emerge from the darkness. Of course we prefer the light! It’s more comfortable! Everything’s simpler! You can see around you… you can see further. Well, that’s what you think… (pause) Still, the dark isn’t all bad… (steps into the dark) it forces you to look more closely. Deeper inside… plus, nobody can see you! On the other hand, if you want to take a peek at the person next to you… you can, and nobody will see you! That’s what you think, because, as a rule, you’re not the only one looking! People look… especially when they can’t see each other! (pause) When I was little, I was a bit afraid of… the dark (steps into the light) …nothing too dramatic. I didn’t look under the bed or in the wardrobe… (steps into the darkness) or… I did look sometimes, but not… every time… just like… most children do. (steps back into the light) …Of course, there are exceptions. Radu was… (pause)… Radu was… (sighs, pause) when he was little. Radu was something else! With him, day or night, it was the same thing! He was everywhere! He was on the prowl! How many nights I spent looking for him! And every time he’d appear, thudding out of the darkness (short, loud noise)… someone’s heart would leap into their throat. Constantin got it worst of all… he started walking very early… Radu… from eight months, actually, they all… left… quickly (short pause)… (sadly) I mean, they walked off on their own, quickly! (resumes his tone) Except for Ștefan! He started later. He took his time. It was well over a year before he managed to make a break for it too; I just happened to be there… back then I had more time… I hadn’t got there yet… Constantin had picked him up… he wasn’t much of a lad either, just over three years old, but he was strong. I’d sat down a couple of steps away from them… and this little one came over to me on his own and grabbed my leg… This little leg… it came up to my knee… Then all day long he kept running back and forth, sometimes to me, sometimes to… What nonsense! I started in the dark and ended up at… (steps into the darkness)

BRÂNCOVEANU (from the darkness): Parents are… hard to put up with! Perhaps not all of them, but… most of them, whatever they do, wherever they are, at any moment… they always end up back with their children! (in the light) And, even though you’ve absolutely no desire to hear them any more, because you’ve got your own… or your own lot… you’re forced to listen! Oh well! Actually, you’re not even listening! Because you can’t stand hearing the same stories over and over again! (pause) I wasn’t like that… or I tried not to be. Right, everyone says they aren’t, and, in the end… still, I really did try to keep things separate, to see my children for who they are. So as not to smother them… I let them breathe… (choked with emotion) as much as I could! (pause) I didn’t spend much time with Matei… I don’t know if I played with him more than ten times… But there really wasn’t time. I always used to say that… just a bit longer and that’ll be it, I’ll settle down, there’ll be time… when I’ve got time. But time, that time, always seems to come a bit later… that’s just how it goes. Anyway, all in all, I think I’ve pretty much always been with the children… from when they were born until… (pause) And I’ve caught a lot of things… for example, I think I caught, with each one… that first glance… the first time they looked at me… but right at me, not just, you know, confusedly, looking round me… not to the side, like they do when they’re very small… no… right when they saw me… when their eyes locked onto mine and wouldn’t let go… with their eyes… what a feeling!… your child’s first glance! (quietly) I didn’t know back then that I’d see that last one too. (pause) Or when they started walking and… Nonsense!… as if all children don’t walk?!… It’s not really such a… big achievement!… As I was saying, we make something out of nothing… (pause)… (cheerfully) But before he could walk, Matei had a very strange way of shuffling about… I don’t know how he’d managed to find a way to crawl; he’d put one foot down and… and… (pause) I suppose that, over the last hundred days, I’ve spent more time with Matei than in all the other… years. (steps into the darkness) Were they really years?… Seriously, that’s not just a figure of speech… Were they years?… They say that, at the very last moment, you see your whole life flash before your eyes… in an instant… Obviously, that’s nonsense… it can’t be (steps into the light) I’ve always been a fairly practical sort… I studied, yes, but I didn’t get lost in philosophy… I built things, I didn’t fall asleep pondering the secret of harmony… That’s just a… story; there’s no way you can see your whole life in a flash!… Because it’s impossible. (short pause) …(analytical tone) on the other hand, this moment is right before death and it remains rather difficult to verify… what it’s all about… just like with death… only when it happens do you find out what it’s all about… and it’s no use… it’s too late… still, logically, you can’t see 60 years in a single moment… unless everything is a single moment! (pause)… And for me, it really has been 60 years… for better or for worse… 60… exactly 60… today’s my… complicated… birthday… anyway, it’s not a case of ‘Happy Birthday’, but 60 years ago… hm… (pause)… they’re gone… in the blink of an eye… so to speak, because four boys and seven girls… plus the rest… don’t just appear in the blink of an eye… but they can be lost… (steps into the darkness) Sure, I could have saved them… there’s no question about that… I mean, well, I can make excuses for myself, that I had no way of knowing… that the boyars, Contacuzino… Mustafa or the Sultan… rumours… excuses… I know I could have saved them… I was warned… But I’ve been warned a thousand times over the last 25 years, I couldn’t… (steps into the light) Of course I could have done more, not that I didn’t try everything I knew, but I don’t know if I knew everything I could have tried… Seriously, we can always… do more… any parent who’s even remotely honest with themselves knows they could have done more for their child… their children… more, better, sooner… and, even though we all imagine ourselves to be good andtry to do everything… absolutely everything… to give them everything… to protect them from everything… yet… some do more than others… (short pause) some people’s children live… (enters the darkness)… (pause)

BRÂNCOVEANU (steps into the light): When was I ever so happy? The happiest man on earth!… When? I’ve been thinking about it… lately… Of course, there were many moments… of happiness… Children, grandchildren… I have two grandchildren. That’s no small thing… But still, I can’t quite pinpoint the moment when I was the happiest… …than this. Why, when I remember… all the others… the good ones and the bad ones… and the really bad ones… Why have I forgotten exactly that moment?! When was I happiest!… No, not when I was made a gentleman… At first, I didn’t even want to… then I did, but I had so many worries… When Constantin was born, my first son?… Or Ștefan?… Or Radu?… Or the girls?… Or this little one?… He was so small and I… already old… Of course I was happy, but I also felt a twinge of sadness. How long would I be there for him? Would I see him grow up? See him fall in love?… How will he become a man?… (enters the darkness) I’ve always felt a pressure to spend more time with Matei… right from the very first days… to be closer to him, because you never know how long I’ll…

BRÂNCOVEANU (steps into the light): Anyway, at some point, he must have been very happy! Terribly happy. Unbearably so. Superhuman… Unfairly happy!… The happiest man on earth… or, at least… the happiest parent!… Because, at this very moment… I am nothing else. (different tone, from the start) And I’ve always believed that, beyond chance, beyond the good fortune or misfortune that fill our days, beyond laughter and tears, wealth or misery, there is still an ultimate balance. Between what we give and what we receive… That we can only lose what we’ve had, can’t we?! That’s only natural, isn’t it?!… (raises his voice) So then?!… (crescendo) I’m asking, then?!… When?… When was I ever so happy?! (softly) I want to know! To understand! To see! At least now!

BRÂNCOVEANU (enters from the darkness): Constantin was the first to fall. My eldest son! He was always the first! You don’t know if it’s true! You don’t understand! If only! If only you’d woken up! If only you’d been born! No! No! No! You don’t understand! You can’t… see the unseen! (steps into the light) Even when you see it! How can you see when… his head comes off?! When, just a second before, he was looking at you… Your son, Constantin! And then… then… (softly) he falls… (pause) You don’t understand! There’s no way! When you see it, you immediately feel that fear, like any parent, that he might… get hurt… when he falls… that he might not… (short pause) And he falls… he falls! He hits the ground! He bounces! He rolls! That head you’ve known all your life, which is… Constantin’s head… with his hair, his cheeks, with… with everything… it rolls… and, without meaning to, you look for his eyes… his gaze… which was looking for you just a second earlier! (pause) And you don’t understand! How can you still be here?! Why don’t you just vanish?! Why don’t you fall apart?! How can your eyes still see? Your mind still thinks… how can you hear?! To breathe… to…? (pause) When was I ever so happy?! The happiest man on earth! (enters the darkness) Then came Ștefan… Very quickly! Ștefan, who only came up to my knees! Then Radu fell! And Radu? I don’t understand! Then… Why have they stopped? (hurriedly, deliriously) Matei is crying… How much longer must he endure this? Why are they stopping? Why are they prolonging his agony? Matei is saying something. More people are saying something. I don’t understand! I don’t understand! Matei is looking at me and crying… I don’t understand! I hear that ‘the Sultan forgives him’! I don’t understand! That ‘Matei is asking to change his faith’… I don’t understand! That ‘if he agrees, the Sultan will pardon him’… I don’t understand! And Matei is crying. Matei says something. Why are they tormenting him? Why won’t they let him go? (pause) (steps into the light) Why is it never enough?! Why does it always have to get worse?! How can I lose Matei? I don’t know what’s right! (agitated, delirious, breathing heavily) Matei is looking at me. He’s waiting for me to save him, and whatever I decide, the Sultan wants it all! Matei is telling me something. I don’t understand… ‘The Sultan is waiting’… and Matei is waiting… and he’s crying and screaming… I don’t have time to delay! I have to save Matei! Get him out of here! At least that much! I don’t know if it’s the right thing to do! (hurriedly) I try to reach him. My boy is crying. And he doesn’t understand… I’m getting closer… but I don’t manage to tell him that everything will be… (short pause) my boy is looking… he’s looking at me… and he falls… he hits the ground, rolls over… and comes to a halt… right next to me… He’s looking at me… When was I ever so happy?!

BRÂNCOVEANU (pause, slowly): I’ve always believed there’s a final balance… Between what we give and what we receive… At some point, I must have been absurdly happy! To tip the scales, because balance is the result of two imbalances… Isn’t it? (pause) So, when was I ever that happy? I’ve searched through everything I’ve experienced, but I haven’t found anything to match it… Until, at the very last moment, in that fleeting instant, filled with the brief swing of an axe, I realised that right then, at that very moment when I was setting off to find my boys, I was the happiest man on earth! Unbelievably happy!

Heblu.

THE END

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SCENE I

SCENE II

SCENE III

SCENE IV

SCENE V

SCENE VI

SCENE VII

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