Julian, Ekah

A Secret Place
Julian: You came back.

Ekah: Yes.

Julian: …

Ekah: Speak from your heart. I know you can.

Julian: (A breath) I’ve missed you.

Ekah: And I you.

Julian: My soul seeks you.

Ekah: My spirit has always sought yours.

Julian: I’m sorry I pushed you away.

Ekah: I’m sorry I ran away from you.

Julian: Since you've left, my life, my soul has become an endless

torrent of restless wind.

Ekah: You have a restless soul?

Julian: My worries in the Fort have become so heavy.

Ekah: This loss has made me restless too. My fear runs deep for
my people.

Julian: And yet…my soul is still pulled to yours…

Ekah: My spirit seeks yours…

Julian: I crave you.

Ekah: I desire your gaze.

Julian: Let’s continue our engagement.

Ekah: But Governor Sampson…

Julian: Forget it all. This is what I want. This is what I need.

Ekah: And I need our people to be saved.

Julian: We’ll do it together. We’ll find a way.

Ekah: Yes. I know we will.

Julian: I so deeply desire you.

Ekah: My fire burns for your name.

Julian: We belong as one.

Ekah: Yes! Our spirits were born// to walk beside one another.

Julian: /But…

Ekah: The thinker who doubts his mind.

Julian: The mind…so fickle…

Ekah: Get back to that beautiful heart of yours.

Julian: Right now I am listening to my reason, and my reason is

telling me…Their fighting will only get worse. The traders
aren’t leaving.

Ekah: Our people need to heal. Your people need to heal. Where
can they find hope?

Julian: Wait. This is it. May I take your hands?

Ekah: You may have them.

Ekah: Did you actually listen that time?

Julian: I did. On the wind I can hear my parents. Ekah, I miss

them…

Ekah: They are always with you.

Julian: I can never be who they are.

Ekah: Then be your own man.

Julian: Hiy hiy. I grow because of you.

Waciy, Ekah, Astekemaw, Kahkakis (Takah)

An Encampment

(PAULINE exits)

Astêkamâw: A light-filled gift.

Kahkakis: With the [tongue of a dog].

Waciy: Reminds me of yours.

Kahkakis: You are too kind, Waciy.

Waciy: My love, I trust you more than anything. If you think we can
find agreement with Governor Sampson, I am willing to give
it a try.

Astêkamâw: You better trust me.

Waciy: Oh, I do

Astêkamâw: Because if you didn’t-

Waciy: Don’t worry, I remember what happened last time.

Astêkamâw: Never forget.

(WACIY gently clasps her hand again. The sound of a horse. EKAH appears on the
back of a horse. She dismounts and walks through the crowd, who easily part for her.)

Waciy: Ekah...

Kahkakis: Just in time! Did you hear the news? A dance. A peace
treaty. We can finally eat. We can finally stop yelling at each
other. I can finally dance with the women in both camps!

Ekah: You dance with broken spirits. You are wasting your time.

Waciy: Where were you?

Ekah: Hunting…I found nothing.

Waciy: I wish you would remain here. We need your voice at

council.
Ekah: You sit around talking with empty ears and give them our
kills.

Waciy: I do what is necessary to survive.

Ekah: Our people are dying. They slaughtered the Niitsitapi at

Cypress Hill. (To Kahkahsi) They’ll slaughter the Metis.

Kahkakis: I’m still here! This is a gift, Ekah. Put that hunting ax away.
Come dance with your old friend Kahkakis.

Ekah: You dance with the enemy.

Astêkamâw: Ekah. My daughter. This is not a fight for you.

Ekah: Do you not hear what they call us?

Astêkamâw: You have your brother's ears...and your father's

stubbornness.

Waciy: Wait a moment…

Ekah: My brother is not here because of them…

(A moment between mother and daughter)

Astêkamâw: Ekah. Come here. Look at the rest of our nation. Look
deeply into their eyes. See what I see.

Ekah: I can see everyone’s eyes. You all play the fool. The white
spirit has destroyed you. You all walk with bad medicine.

Astêkamâw: Look deeper. I see hope. That is what we have tonight.

Hope.

Waciy: Ekah, join us tonight when we discuss with Governor

Sampson. We will make sure our people are honoured
through this treaty.

Ekah: I am never going to that fort again.

Astêkamâw: Is it because of Julian/?

Sampson/Lily/Pauline
Location 2: The Fort Living Quarters

Pauline: So this is your room.

Lily: It’s a bit drafty.

Pauline: Welcome to the prairies.

Lily: And the blankets look a little thinner than what I had back
home…

Pauline: (Rueful/spitefully) Is this going to be a regular thing from

you?

Sampson: The room will do just fine, young Pauline.

Lily: Father, I feel that it’s custom to-

Sampson: (To LILY) We are grateful for what we have.

Lily: Yes. (Beat.) Might we start a fire?

Pauline: Go for it.

Lily: Oh I’ve never…I am not accustomed to…

Pauline: Then I suppose you’re fresh outta luck. The Chief Steward
and our servants are all busy preparing for your secret
announcement. Governor, another community of Nehiyaw–

Sampson: You may call them Cree.

Pauline: The Cree…In any case Governor, I must go. I need to invite
Waciy. And Asteke…Astek….The leaders of the nearby
nation. Father had a good relationship with them. And their
daughter-
Sampson: You’ve been most helpful, Pauline. Please tend to your
duties.

Lily: Might I see Julian ahead of the announcement tonight?

Pauline: Unlikely.

Sampson: Where might my daughter find her husband-to-be?

Pauline: (Begrudgingly) These days he traps himself in his study.

Lily: What does he do in there?

Pauline: Study.

Lily: I am ever so interested in meeting the man behind all of the

eloquent letters I have received.

Sampson: We must be patient, Lily.

Lily: But father-

Sampson: Lilith!

Pauline: …Anyways. Bye.

Lily/Sampson

Lily: Father, I have been traveling down river, through forest and
prairies for weeks. Is it too much to ask that I am afforded
some confidence if not some comfort?

Sampson: Comfort is sacrificed when circumstances are dire.

Lily: First thing I’ll teach this so-called civilization is proper

hospitality.

Sampson: Lilith, think of the bigger picture. Think of your

husband-to-be. He will not be amused seeing you like this.

Lily: I’m sorry, Father. Perhaps the journey has tired me more
than I figured.

Sampson: You’ll have plenty of time to settle in. For now, we must
fashion up and prepare to dance.

Lily: This dance will not soften the anger.

Sampson: Don’t underestimate the jollies of drunken frivolities.

Lily: It’s just like London all over again. This dance will not soften
the death of Julian’s parents, just as it did not soften the blow
of Mother’s death.

Sampson: …

Lily: …

(SAMPSON goes to pour some wine)

Lily: Do you think Julian will-

Sampson: Julian is grieving. Many people are grieving. You would do

well to hold that in remembrance.
Lily: (Gathering letters) Right. But he wrote me such nice letters.
The ink left marks on my heart as indelible as those on the
page.

Sampson: And when did he stop?

Lily: When his parents died.

Sampson: Patience. Time. Julian will come around. Nothing happens

overnight.

Lily: Like Ottawa.

Sampson: I remember its first days. Brimming with excitement. Building

new dreams and hopes every rise and fall of the sun. But
like here, there were conflicts. The Mohawk. The
Anishinaabe. (beat) But in the end, we prevailed.

Lily: May we always prevail.

Sampson: We will.
Pauline/Lily

CONTEXT: Pauline and Lily are both sneaking around the house. Pauline has nabbed her
brother’s journals to find information and doesn’t want to get caught. Lily, who is interested in
Pauline’s older brother, is trying to get find out how to woo him. Pauline has just met Lily and
isn’t sure if she can be trusted or not.

(PAULINE is sneaking around holding books. They both accidentally bump into one another)

Pauline: Ahh! What are you doing?!

Lily: Oh, shh, dear one, you gave me quite the fright.

Pauline: I gave you a fright?

Lily: You startled me.

Pauline: Why are you sneaking around?

Lily: I am not sneaking. You seem to be the one who is

Pauline: Tip toeing, sneaking, trying to walk as quietly as possible, turning your head side to side
like a deer so no one sees you

Lily: Fine, fine, now leave me.

Pauline: Gladly.

(PAULINE goes to leave)

Lily: Oh, Pauline.

Pauline: I thought you wanted me to

Lily: One query. Your brother.

Pauline: You want him to talk to you.

Lily: Yes.

Pauline: He doesn’t talk to me as much anymore either. Not since Mom and Dad died.

Lily: What does his heart desire?

Pauline: (Looks at the books) How should I know that…

Lily: I have countless love to give. As I am sure do you. Will love help him?

Pauline: Love can help anyone.

Gabriel/ Lily
Gabriel: You have a look in your eyes. What ignites your senses
tonight?

Lily: A priest is hardly someone I wish to speak to about this.

Gabriel: How about a friend. Maurice’s brother. Julian’s uncle. Your

soon to be family.

Lily: Alright.

(They sit down)

Gabriel: Love is like a torentrial whirlwind. It is confusing.

Invigorating. Chastizing. Mysterious.

Lily: Accurate.

Gabriel: Julian has always been quiet. But he has been taking this
death personal.

Lily: Yes.

Gabriel: Love and grief sometimes share the same wing.

Lily: We share the same loss.

Gabriel: Your mother.

Lily: Yes.

Gabriel: Pain does not beget pain. But it can build understanding.

Lily: If only he would see it that way.

Gabriel: Give him time. He is also grieving about…another loss.

Lily: Oh?
Gabriel: Oh. Has no one told you about Julian’s prior engagement?

Lily: …

Gabriel: Goodness. Now that is one detail I am surprised they left

out. Dear me, I shall take my leave.

Lily: Wait, you can’t leave me with that.

Gabriel: It is not my place.

Lily: Do not tease the unteasable, Father Gabriel.

Gabriel: Before you arrived. Long before you arrived. Julian was
engaged to Ekah. Daughter of the Nehiyaw Chief.

Lily: That girl from downstairs…

Gabriel: Their courtship lasted several years. My brother and her

father were in peace agreements. Then the fighting got
worse. Maurice was killed. By her people. And she retreated.
She abandoned Julian and their courtship. The heart can
only break so many times.

Lily: Julian…
Agatha/Lily
Lily: I can’t do it.

Agatha: What you do is within your own control.

Lily: A leader does not cry in front of anyone.

Agatha: A leader is strong of heart.

Lily: I am not my Father’s daughter. I am not my Mother’s

daughter. I just want to be me.

Agatha: You will make me proud.

Lily: The leaders of this land are crying and I don’t want to listen
to any of it. I just want to be held like you used to hold me.
How can I go on? How can I lead when I no longer have you
to show me who I am?

Agatha: Lily?

Lily: …

(Can LILY see her? LILY can sense something)

Agatha: It is up to you to show you who you are. What will you let go
of? What will you hold onto? A leader must know how to
balance both.

Lily: (Looking to the sky) Please. I need something. Something to

change the directions of my wind.

Agatha: The winds of change are already here.

Lily: But I am not a stupid naive child. Until this moment comes…I
must play this quiet game.
Kahkakis/Lily
(KAHKAKIS releases her. LILY slowly gets up. She sits down. KAHKAKIS with his knife
cuts a piece of Kumkway and throws it at her)

Lily: I don’t need your pity.

Kahkakis: It’s called a Kumquat.

(LILY picks up the piece of fruit)

Lily: You know…I’ve never tried this fruit until today. It’s…

Kahkakis: Disgusting?

Lily: Absolutely horrid.

Kahkakis: Makes you wonder why it’s got such an appetizing sounding
name.

(They sit in stillness for a while, eating)

Kahkakis: Warm. Gentle. A seed of fire in her eyes that carried her on
the wind.

Lily: Beg your pardon?

Kahkakis: My Mom.

Lily: Oh.

Kahkakis: You’ve met Ekah?

Lily: Of course.

Kahkakis: She reminds me of her. Free spirited. Untamable. It is her

fire that will ignite the change, just as my mother could have.

Lily: I’m sorry you lost her.

Kahkakis: I’m sorry our Dad is a giant tugay.

Lily: Tug-what?

Kahkakis: …nevermind…
Lily: He’s not so bad.

Kahkakis: Wouldn’t know.

Lily: He never spent any time with you?

Kahkakis: None. He came and left. He’s a Kumquat himself.

(LILY starts to laugh)

Lily/Julian/Sampson
(JULIAN wanders by the room holding books. He is preparing himself.)

Julian: "Success tends to create pride and blindness in the hearts of

men, while suffering teaches them to be patient and strong."

Sampson: Julian. Was that a Xenophon quote?

Julian: Oh. Yes.

Sampson: “Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not;
remember that what you now have was once among the
things you only hoped for.” Epicurus.

Julian: Hope is lost. We grow what we want from the seeds that we
have.

Sampson: You sound like your father.

Julian: …

Sampson: Julian, have you met…

Lily: You are as eloquent in person.

Julian: Oh. Lily, um, Mistress Sampson.

Lily: You must call me Lily. Just as in the letters…

Julian: Of course.

Lily: You are not at all how I imagined you.

Julian: Nor I you.

Lily: You are far more handsome.

Julian: …thank you.

Sampson: Lily, why don’t you run downstairs for a moment. I brought a
bottle of the “good stuff.” I feel like the three of us should
have a long awaited toast.

Lily: I will. Wait for me?

Julian: Of course.

(LILY smiles and leaves.

Gabriel/Sampson/Pauline
Gabriel: Do you see, Governor? It’s done. It’s all done. “And he shall smite the wicked and
plunge them into the fiery pit.”

Sampson: Father?

Gabriel: Look at them. In the eyes of our Lord they are lost.

Sampson: Surely they must

Gabriel: Purity is abstained from their heathenous ways. In their eyes, I see nothing but Satan.
And what do we do with Satan? We purify. Our greatest mission...to redeem their souls...

Astêkamâw: Your anger will not bring your brother back-

Gabriel: (Snaps) I will have you locked up! Flogged! Strung up by your copper necks. This shall
come to pass. This treaty shall come to pass. And our laws, our ways, will be here forever.
Right?

(Confusion from the crowd)

Gabriel: Right?!

Pauline: Wait. What if we just

Gabriel: Silence, fellette!

Pauline: Non. You be silent! Isn’t there something any one of us could have done differently?
One small thing that would have stopped all of this? There has to be.

Gabriel: It’s too late.