Kings

King Silas Benjamin:
The days of confusion are behind me. I know the smell of omen; I knew it once better, and feared to never have it again.

King Silas Benjamin:
[giving Rev. Samuels an envelope containing a twig with small leaves]... Perhaps no longer withheld...

Rev. Ephram Samuels:
[cautiously, as he examines the twig] Perhaps forgiven.

[Silas presses his hands together before his face, prayerfully]

Rev. Ephram Samuels:
Acacia is a portent of change... of death and resurrection.

King Silas Benjamin:
Death?

Rev. Ephram Samuels:
And rebirth - beginnings on the heels of ending.

Rev. Ephram Samuels:
[he removes a small leaf and presses it into Silas' hand] Change comes from inside the heart... those you love to be its agents.

King Silas Benjamin:
Who?

Rev. Ephram Samuels:
If God has indeed resumed conversation with you... there will be more signs. Let them guide you.

King Silas Benjamin:
And if those signs guide me to *your* door?

Rev. Ephram Samuels:
...It will be open.

David Shepherd:
We're supposed to be on a diplomatic tour.

Jack Benjamin:
*We* are ordered to head deep into Gath and eliminate an insurgent known as Belial - covertly on the order of our king and at the request of the premier of Gath... Wake up, Shepherd; this is diplomacy.

Doctor:
As you can see, we have more patients than beds; your bill forced the insurance companies to fund testing.

Michelle Benjamin:
Crammed in the hallway - can't they be sent to another facility?

Minister of Health:
Every hospital in Shiloh is at capacity; your pet health care bill has created more problems than it's solved.

Michelle Benjamin:
It was supposed to make people's lives easier, not more difficult.

Rev. Ephram Samuels:
Plague is an outward sign of inward disease; you have poison in the body. To be rid of it, you must cut off the bitten limb... This is a warning, Silas - of someone close, for whom light fails.

Belial:
There were two brothers - Cain and Abel... God's first grandchildren. And the wicked one killed the innocent one because of... jealousy. But he became the father of mankind. So... beneath the veneer of civility, we're all children of Cain.

Jack Benjamin:
...The war is over, in case you haven't heard.

Belial:
The war will never end, as long as there are those who make a profit from it.

Jack Benjamin:
Is that how you hate weapons? Someone who profits from both countries being at war?

Belial:
I use him as he uses me; he wants me to destroy the government of Gath, I will - then I'll turn against yours. And out of this chaos... something newer and beautiful will be born.

Jack Benjamin:
And how many have to die, to give birth to your utopia?

Belial:
As many as it takes for us to become united... we are brothers all - even you and him.

[Jack punches Belial]

Jack Benjamin:
He is not my brother!

Belial:
He may well be... one day.

Rev. Ephram Samuels:
[in a broadcast address to the city] We must sacrifice tonight, so that tomorrow... so that there *is* a tomorrow. We ask you to leave your places of work, and go to your homes. We ask to close your doors to the world; do not open them until the sun rises. Light a candle in your window - a sign to your neighbor that we stand together even as we stand apart. If we act as one, the angel of death can not single us out. He will pass over our doors and we *will* be spared. I have no fear, because tonight my faith is not in God, but in you.

King Silas Benjamin:
Poison, in the body; William?

Gen. Linus Abner:
Your brother-in-law just offered aid, during our time of need.

King Silas Benjamin:
He's always been an open enemy to peace; and if this plague was sent to make a king pay attention, attention must be paid. Treachery will be rooted out - and punished.

Gen. Linus Abner:
Let me. He will dream his last tonight.

King Silas Benjamin:
First bring me proof that it is him, and him alone.

Jack Benjamin:
You thought you saved my life, when I was taken hostage, but... you destroyed it. Had I died at Gath's hand, I would have been a hero... You should have left me to die. Then the kingdom would never know you existed.

David Shepherd:
...I'm not your enemy.

Jack Benjamin:
Enemies, I understand. You - I don't know what you are.

Queen Rose Benjamin:
All those times you sat by her bedside. She needed you; she's never needed me, not the same way.

King Silas Benjamin:
Every child longs for its mother.

Queen Rose Benjamin:
To sit and watch her slip away?... I didn't have it then, I don't have it now; it, it...

King Silas Benjamin:
I can save them - save them all - Michelle, Jack... Shiloh. A diseased limb needs to be severed, so that the body may heal itself.

Queen Rose Benjamin:
Then cut.

King Silas Benjamin:
The price will be steep - for you, more than most. One sibling sacrificed, to save two.

Queen Rose Benjamin:
For them, cut; then cut again. You cut until there is nothing left but my children, alive.

King Silas Benjamin:
Let your daughter hear those words.

King Silas Benjamin:
I slaved to bring this city to life, and now it's as quiet as death. We'll soon know which way falls the balance.

Gen. Linus Abner:
I wish I shared your faith; I don't believe in signs.

King Silas Benjamin:
And me... do you believe in me?

Gen. Linus Abner:
Yes, sir; I see you strong before me.

King Silas Benjamin:
You do?... I stayed the order.

Gen. Linus Abner:
Sir?

King Silas Benjamin:
William... lives - and will continue to. You do not get to pass the blame on this. I pray for signs, and when I get them I am grateful. For *this* sign, this... I prayed to *not* be true. Your treachery, for which our country must pay the price.

Gen. Linus Abner:
You think I caused this plague?

King Silas Benjamin:
You *are* the plague; you sold us to the enemy. After thirty years by my side, why?

Gen. Linus Abner:
You lost your way - become weak, ever since that Shepherd boy came and waved a white flag.

King Silas Benjamin:
Is peace so threatening?

Gen. Linus Abner:
I am a warrior; you took my war. I would rather fall on my sword than lay it down.

King Silas Benjamin:
No; you fall on mine.

[Silas thrusts a dagger into Gen. Abner's stomach]

Chancellor Hanson:
Twelve hours pass, sir; it's over - it worked. The plague is gone, and those infected gone with it, but your people did as asked - down to the last. So we count ten lost.

King Silas Benjamin:
Ten, and not ten million.

Chancellor Hanson:
Only those that came in contact with our patients without knowing; all passed in their homes, sacrificing themselves for their neighbors.

[Silas becomes aware of Jack and David standing behind him as he prays in the empty church]

King Silas Benjamin:
[putting his hand on Jack's shoulder] I'm proud of you... both of you. You truly are the King's Own.

Jack Benjamin:
I never would have thought Abner; I'm sorry, father - I know he was your friend.

King Silas Benjamin:
A king has no friends; he has, if he's lucky, his family. Trust each other with your lives as I now entrust you with mine... Brotherhood...

King Silas Benjamin:
[leaning toward Jack, quietly touching his forehead to his son's] Pray for your sister... then go home, rest.

Jack Benjamin:
[after his father has left, he stands beside David] You've made your first true kill; no easy thing. It changes the color of your blood; it paints your conscience. You do that for me?

David Shepherd:
...I tell myself... I had no choice.

Jack Benjamin:
There's always a choice.

David Shepherd:
You don't owe me anything.

Jack Benjamin:
Words... don't settle debt.

Perry Straussler:
[voiceover] It began with the Charter - stolen. It contained our history... signed by our elders, telling the story of our liberties and our pride - and it was taken. From that day on, it was as if a new story had begun; by the order of the king, I endeavor to write it. Times had already changed; new relationships, born in hope, now challenged.

Boyden:
[observing the crime scene after the Charter's theft] In sixth grade we took a class trip to see the Charter; who would've stolen it?

Klotz:
I don't know... but I hate them.

King Silas Benjamin:
You and I are gonna make this tragedy into an opportunity. You will go south, and do whatever is necessary to bring back what was stolen.

David Shepherd:
Sir - I know I lied to you about me and Michelle. I know that was wrong; I'd do whatever it takes to earn your forgiveness.

King Silas Benjamin:
Prove you're better than the lie. The Charter was stolen; bring it back.

David Shepherd:
As you ask.

King Silas Benjamin:
You will go now, telling no one - not your family, not Michelle. Supported only by your wits, a gun, some money, and a phone - should you wish to call and declare failure. Succeed, and history will remember you... and you'll have my forgiveness *and* my daughter. But come back empty-handed, and that's all we'll see - empty hands.

Thomasina:
Two weeks, and no news from Captain Shepherd.

King Silas Benjamin:
Dangerous country, our southern border; perhaps he doesn't return at all.

Thomasina:
You don't sound concerned... Your faith was misplaced?

King Silas Benjamin:
All faith is misplaced; his lie belies his ambition, whether he knows it or not - but I see it.

Thomasina:
What of the Charter?

King Silas Benjamin:
To hell with the Charter; today we start a new one. It's time for *me* to be the hero of my country again.

King Silas Benjamin:
I owe my country an apology. The theft of a national treasure reflects not only on security but on me. The loss, a lesson - not to let stagnate a country that should lead. Today I make amends. The Charter spoke of ideals; Perry - Article Five...

Perry Straussler:
"Never to mistake yesterday's glory for tomorrow's security, but to always exercise genius, judgment and hope; never to rest assured of what we have, but to imagine - "

King Silas Benjamin:
"But to imagine what we have yet to achieve." So let us imagine - example: energy. How do we achieve a 100% self-sufficient, clean, energy-fueled Gilboa?... Don't be shy - give me, give me some ideas.

Energy Minister:
Resume renovation at Pella Dam?

Michelle Benjamin:
Plan for wind farms in the plains of Dan is in research stages.

King Silas Benjamin:
Resume... accelerate... talk to the young; learn to think how they think. Perry - start a new book, one to be read a thousand years from now, about what began here, today - how we found and followed a vision.

Perry Straussler:
The Book of Silas!

Queen Rose Benjamin:
[noting Jack as he watches Katrina try on her wedding dress] Seeing the gown before the wedding... No mind for superstition.

Katrina Ghent:
Well, young wives have nothing to fear from old wives' tales.

Queen Rose Benjamin:
[to Jack, as he leaves] Turn and laugh... hmmm? You had an eye on greatness and the grip to hold it, and you'd let a quarrel with me pair you to a laughingstock. You had a more interesting weakness than spite.

Katrina Ghent:
Did I lose more weight? Just drops off me when I'm happy.

Queen Rose Benjamin:
You blackmailed him into this.

Katrina Ghent:
Jack accepted my proposal freely, happily - once he saw the damage it would do you.

Queen Rose Benjamin:
It will never happen.

Katrina Ghent:
Of course it will; I'm his only chance at happiness left - I know exactly what Jack is, and I don't care. With me, Jack can be king by day, and a bad boy with whatever boy he wants at night; I might even join in. When I marry Jack and knock out an heir, that'll make you - what? The royal granny? While I take your place... as queen.

David Shepherd:
[sliding an envelope onto the bar] You hear a lot tending bar.

Bartender:
People pay twice that to keep me quiet.

David Shepherd:
I used to work in a garage; I know what it's like to be invisible. People forget you're there - they say things.

Bartender:
Trust me - you're not that anonymous. Errand boy for Silas, combing the south, looking for the Charter - hitting everyplace that moves product. Go home... before you get hurt.

King Silas Benjamin:
Your sacrifices haven't gone unnoticed - or your new discipline. We've had difficult conversations; I bade you retouch your image the same - feign lightness under the eyes, and you did.

Jack Benjamin:
I answer to you, sir.

King Silas Benjamin:
Can't have been easy - fabulising on that scale... taking a new fianc?e when you could have been free. It wasn't for nothing - or for shame, or a lesson on the cruelty of being a king; well, you'll experience that soon enough.

Jack Benjamin:
Sir?

King Silas Benjamin:
You heard me - an engagement gift. On the day of your wedding, I will stand before all and designate this country a blood dynasty, with you as my heir - the future king... That's if you want it so.

Jack Benjamin:
With all that I am.

King Silas Benjamin:
I pass you when you are born, flailing in blood; I pass you again, and you're at an age for love.

Michelle Benjamin:
I never got to thank you - for taking care of David. Sending him on diplomatic training, I...

King Silas Benjamin:
Just want you happy.

Michelle Benjamin:
You've been telling me for years to live my life; you were right.

King Silas Benjamin:
No regrets? For your vow?

Michelle Benjamin:
Dolls and stories... scared of the dark; I couldn't stay a little girl forever.

King Silas Benjamin:
...I thought you might.

Jack Benjamin:
I'll be king on my own soon enough; your coup - we don't need to ally ourselves with the enemy. No innocent people have to die. It may take more than a month, like we want, but it will happen. We save all that blood. You'll still be by my side - as planned.

William Cross:
If you only had half as much mind as charm. Your father has no intention of announcing anything - or going anywhere, heaven or hell. You've seen his lies.

Jack Benjamin:
This is different; he's...

William Cross:
[he slaps Jack in the head, startling him] Hey! No one *ever* changes. You were given an offer, and you accepted; in exchange, you ceded your right to whim. The change of power happens on *my* clock - not his, not yours - with *you* at *my* side. Silas falls - and soon. And be sure there will be all the blood required. The only turning back now leaves you in the same ditch. Go back to your fianc?e; get used to your life - you're engaged now.

[in his dream, David finds himself next to his father at the piano]

Judah Shepherd:
Follow the time, David; you know the meter... One and two... one and two... one and two...

David Shepherd:
Dad - is it really you?

Judah Shepherd:
You haven't learned your lesson, David.

David Shepherd:
My lesson?

Judah Shepherd:
Keep playing; if you stop, I'll have to go... One and two... one and two... one and two... Look at you - you *have* practiced.

David Shepherd:
But I failed...

Judah Shepherd:
Remember what I always told you - if you find yourself lost, follow the time; you'll find your way.

[in his dream, David now finds himself in the king's boardroom, with Silas standing behind his chair facing him]

King Silas Benjamin:
It's time you learned your lesson, David.

[now David finds himself at the front of the boardroom, with the queen, Michelle, Thomasina and other court members around the table; in front of them, he is faced by his own self, dressed in business attire]

King David Shepherd:
Follow the time.

Queen Rose Benjamin:
Your scores in protocol training were impressive; a gift for remembering names - now, that's good. Uh, you also have appointments this week - medical exam, psychological evaluation, and background check. It's all routine; but, uh, if there is anything rattling in your cupboard - spare us the embarrassment... Dear, you're blushing.

Lucinda Wolfson:
I flush when I talk about myself.

Queen Rose Benjamin:
Well, it's hard to stay shy in *this* home; a level of public exposure is to be expected. Your periods regular?

Lucinda Wolfson:
I beg your pardon?

Queen Rose Benjamin:
Your fertility. At issue, front and center. Have you ever been pregnant?

Lucinda Wolfson:
No... well, I thought... once... I'll be a good wife to Jack.

Queen Rose Benjamin:
No; you're mistaken. You're not marrying Jack - you're marrying this country. You accept that ring, you've become a vessel for the propagation of his kind. If you can't manage that, you will have failed your only employment.

King Silas Benjamin:
You've been waiting here some time; can I help you?

Jessie Shepherd:
I only wait for David.

King Silas Benjamin:
We wait on him too... I'd be happy to send you word of his return, should he forget his upbringing and neglect to tell his mother.

Jessie Shepherd:
You sent him somewhere; I know it. You've done something to him.

King Silas Benjamin:
...If David *was* charged somehow, I can assure you it was for a good cause, and you'll be proud.

Jessie Shepherd:
You don't have good causes; you pretend to be a good man, like you pretend to be a young man. But I don't wait here out of worry, but to see it when he comes home victorious - which he will. His course is set on something; I tried to change it - you set that monster loose. And the shame of it is, you and I will be the only ones who will wish it never happened. And we'll have to *watch*.

Michelle Benjamin:
Geothermal drilling also on hold due to seismic disturbance; construction on the wind farms halted, pending assessment. At this time, the timetable for the king's renewal initiative remains... indefinite.

Rev. Ephram Samuels:
You can still renew the land; perhaps it is not our energy that needs to be clean first.

King Silas Benjamin:
What then? Why does He reject all my offerings?

King Silas Benjamin:
Must have been a hell of an adventure.

David Shepherd:
It tested my faith - in many things. Did you intend for me to rescue your Charter, or to die trying - as perhaps you've sent others to die before?

King Silas Benjamin:
I intended it a test of mettle, no less than I would ask my own natural-born son - to come out deserving or dead.

David Shepherd:
Then here I am.

King Silas Benjamin:
Here you are.

David Shepherd:
My eyes opened.

King Silas Benjamin:
To see my arms opened wide, rejoicing in your triumph - and giving you leave to press any noble intentions on my daughter. Our country welcomes home its Charter - and its hero.

Perry Straussler:
[voiceover] It is the historian's compulsion to look at events and see in them the story, as it needs be remembered. As charged by the king, a new book did begin, and a new day did dawn - and on that day a leader rose whose name would be carried as long as there is wind, one who suffered and stumbled but did not fall. Not as Silas would have it, but as fate, or necessity... or God would. It falls to me to write his story.

King Silas Benjamin:
That laughter at my expense?

Rev. Ephram Samuels:
Merely appreciating the evening; but I can't say I support what you have done - offering away our lands?

King Silas Benjamin:
You don't support peace? After all your words, you'd rather war?

Rev. Ephram Samuels:
I'd rather an undivided nation, as planned - as *promised*.

King Silas Benjamin:
Those plans, those promises, weren't vouchsafed by treaty, by action - *I* did that. You come to my house, drink my scotch, criticize me?

Queen Rose Benjamin:
I thought we agreed to no politics.

King Silas Benjamin:
This is beyond politics. The reverend has recently made this... personal.

Rev. Ephram Samuels:
Ma'am - you have brought art to Shiloh and music to hearts. You have raised the level. *This* is why we end wars. And perhaps it's best I take my leave.

Queen Rose Benjamin:
This country was nothing before it had a king... stone age clans at war. It's why I designed every inch of this monarchy as I did - the color of the flag down to, yes, the china - so they could have something larger than life to be inspired by. Decadence, kings, huge and poreless. You think I care about ballet? They didn't wait in line to see dancing; they came to see *us*, the royal family - *we* are the performance.

King Silas Benjamin:
Things usually go well for me... of late, my plans are frustrated. I can't lose what's threatened tonight, and it hangs by threads, by minutes. What does He want from me? Why does He act my enemy? Port Prosperity - is that the cost? I'll take it back; I'll rescind the offer.

Rev. Ephram Samuels:
I can not tell you of God's mind; He shares with me at his pleasure... and on the subject of Silas, He is silent.

King Silas Benjamin:
...I did right by him. This land was once a place where men of faith feared to walk the streets, and prayers came in whispers. *I* made it safe for men like you.

Rev. Ephram Samuels:
So God owes *you*?

King Silas Benjamin:
If not him, you. Tell me what's the fair trade.

Rev. Ephram Samuels:
One offers sacrifice according to the offense; only you can name that.

King Silas Benjamin:
Sacrifice? Has He not moved past that yet?... Give him my best; tell him I've given too much.

Rev. Ephram Samuels:
We make amends, Silas - the pure, the unblemished - for our sin.

King Silas Benjamin:
He wants what I will not let him take. I will not leave this on the altar, and live...

Rev. Ephram Samuels:
Then you find another lamb.

King Silas Benjamin:
No... not even God is that cruel.

King Silas Benjamin:
[to heaven] This what you need? Something beautiful has to die to make you happy?

Jack Benjamin:
Thing about royalty is, there's no end to what people will do to get close to you - like it'll rub off and suddenly make them less obscure. Something in the way my mom set up the monarchy... they think we're something other than human.

David Shepherd:
So they... give you things.

Jack Benjamin:
Whatever they have. The waters part, and dignity crumbles; I have a room in my apartment just for that.

King Silas Benjamin:
[rejecting Helen's touch]... No.

Helen:
You have to go? What is it?

King Silas Benjamin:
...The cost.

David Shepherd:
You want blood? Come here and take it. It's fresh, still warm from the life that left it - the blood of my brother. Take his blood and call it enough. If you need more, take mine. Do it. I surrender; shoot me and call it enough. Or can one of you come down here and show me your face? Show me that you're more than tank, metal and shell - that you're human like we are - that you breathe, that you bleed, that you feel and feel pity - that you live for more than our deaths. Come, any of you who have lost a brother. Come and tell me it's enough.

[first lines]

Jessie Shepherd:
David! Come inside!

King Silas Benjamin:
[to Jack] What wouldn't I give for a playboy who couldn't keep it in his pants and who runs through women; but what I have is a son who shows no interest in them.

[Jack looks shocked]

King Silas Benjamin:
Oh, you thought I didn't know? I've been keeping pictures of our family out of the free press for years... what you do at night with your boys after your show of skirt-chasing is a disgrace. If you were my second son, I wouldn't care, but for a king it's not possible... We give up what we want when we want power; believe me. Now, you want to show me you have the heart to be king, show me you can control it. Wrestle it to the ground. numb it with ice. But you cannot be what God made you, not if you mean to take my place... Celebrate, Jack, it's what you're good at.

Palace Guard Boyden:
[commenting on what's being served at David's banquet] Ice trucks means fish tonight. Probably king salmon, given the season.

Palace Guard Klotz:
No, it doesn't mean fish.

Palace Guard Boyden:
Then what?

Palace Guard Klotz:
Lamb. It's a hero's welcome. Heroes get red meat. I'd do it with a nice pistachio crust.

Palace Guard Boyden:
No chance. Queen Rose hates lamb ever since she spent summers on her uncle's sheep farm. Everyone knows that.

Palace Guard Klotz:
Do they? Do they know what color panties she picks for Thursdays, too?

Capt. David Shepherd:
You want blood? Come here and take it. It's fresh, still warm from the life that just left it; the blood of my brother. So take it, take his blood and call it enough. If you need more, take mine. Do it! I surrender! Shoot me and call that enough. Or can one of you come down here and show me your face? Show me that you're more than tank, metal and shell; that you're human like we are, that you bleed, that you breathe, that you feel and feel pity, that you live for more than our deaths. Come, any of you who have lost a brother, come and tell me it's enough.

King Silas Benjamin:
Evolution is just one of God's many tools- like me.

King Silas Benjamin:
We *will* have peace - and those who obstruct it are wolves, carving out my flock for food.

Michelle Benjamin:
They're already starting to protest. You don't care what your people say about you?

King Silas Benjamin:
A handful - grumbling at the press? No cause for alarm. A healthy exercising of the freedoms I'm pretty sure *I* gave them.

King Silas Benjamin:
The people cannot have what they want at every turn; neither can you. That's the definition of governing - and parenting.

King Silas Benjamin:
[changing clothes after having coffee spilled on him] Have him hung!

Queen Rose Benjamin:
*Hanged*. Laundry is hung; valets are hanged.

King Silas Benjamin:
So are queens who correct their husbands.

David Shepherd:
I hate the idea of losing our home. I lost my father... my brother. I know a lot of you here lost people too. And it's natural to say they died for this land, and we're never giving it up.

[the protestors applaud]

David Shepherd:
But I'd happily trade our farm to bring Dad or Eli back; lives are more important than livelihood. I think of all the other fathers and brothers who are gonna go on living because Silas ended the war, and it makes me love our king even more.

Katrina Ghent:
[to Thomasina] Name the price; I need an audience with the king, and you're the dragon at every gate. Even dragons eat.

Ethan Shepherd:
God gave us this land, and not even Silas can take it away! Who will stand with me against the king?

Rev. Ephram Samuels:
William Cross, come to my congregation; now I really *have* seen everything.

William Cross:
Don't get your hopes up, Ephram; it's you I've come to see, not Him.

Rev. Ephram Samuels:
I will always hope for you.

William Cross:
Silas *will* fall.

Rev. Ephram Samuels:
...That may be his fate... someday.

William Cross:
Someday soon, maybe. And I wanna know, when that time comes, if you can set aside our differences, and do what is best for the people - like we did once when we were young, and saw a king in Silas.

Rev. Ephram Samuels:
You and I did not make Silas king.

William Cross:
Funny; I don't remember Him writing any checks.

Rev. Ephram Samuels:
God will choose the next king of this realm - not you.

William Cross:
Then ask your boss who *He's* chosen.

King Silas Benjamin:
You're offering to buy a ministry.

Katrina Ghent:
And overpay.

King Silas Benjamin:
Unlucky for you, there's no positions in my government for sale today; but I admire forthrightness. So I'm gonna pardon you for trying to bribe a sovereign while wet. Good day, Mrs. Ghent.

King Silas Benjamin:
The people have the right to mock, scorn, criticize, and burn unflattering photographs in effigy until morning - but I will *not* have my country drawn back into war by opportunists or fanatics.

Thomasina:
Sir - I have concerns... for your heart.

King Silas Benjamin:
Doctor gave it a clean bill, just winter.

Thomasina:
Not the function; the temperature. I fear it's gone cold... since Serenity, sir. Since you stopped going.

King Silas Benjamin:
I know of no such place.

Thomasina:
So it seems.

King Silas Benjamin:
You have a point?

Thomasina:
Without it... without *her*, you have *not* been yourself as... as I know you. What you spied sharply escapes notice; and what gave you pause, doesn't. And without the countervalence of warmth, you've grown mean, sir. And I don't know how to serve this cold Silas. And my duty is to protect the family.

Katrina Ghent:
I just bought up the whole mess of shares. My lawyers tell me it's called an "angry takeover" or something like that; what do I know.

David Shepherd:
When everything inside me screamed I was betraying my family, I still trusted you.

David Shepherd:
Martyring yourselves won't change anything; no one will even know.

Ethan Shepherd:
God will; God will know.

King Silas Benjamin:
Your words today, at the river.

Thomasina:
Sir...

King Silas Benjamin:
More than I ever heard you string together in a month. Now, you've been in my employ in this capacity for how long?

Thomasina:
I don't keep count...

King Silas Benjamin:
How long?

Thomasina:
Ten years, eight months... some days.

King Silas Benjamin:
Maybe it's time... for a promotion.

Boyden:
Oh, my god. You love Thomasina! Since when?

Klotz:
First Night - hair up; somethin' happened.

Boyden:
You are so screwed.

Klotz:
Oh, I'm so screwed.

King Silas Benjamin:
[to Jack] You should be careful accepting gifts from your uncle; they're *never* actually gifts.

[Abner is unaware that Silas believes David to be his divinely chosen successor]

Gen. Linus Abner:
I don't know why you think he deserves special treatment.

King Silas Benjamin:
Only concern yourself with that I do.

King Silas Benjamin:
The secret to cooking's all in the shopping - going to the market, finding the best produce, fighting over the best bread, bringing all the ingredients together; that's the hard work. Cooking is just the correct application of heat.

King Silas Benjamin:
There *will* be a trial; you will be asked to recall your time with Shepherd.

Jack Benjamin:
I'm not sure how I'll remember it.

King Silas Benjamin:
You *choose* how you remember it.

Jack Benjamin:
I find him interesting - his devotion to you, to doing the right thing, even when he has no idea what that is.

King Silas Benjamin:
You're my heir; you have something to lose in his success.

Jack Benjamin:
...Not much success in an execution.

King Silas Benjamin:
You see the way the people look at him? We have to slit the throat on the legend.

Jack Benjamin:
And that falls to me.

King Silas Benjamin:
All the ingredients are there; all that's required is the correct application of heat.

Jack Benjamin:
Captain David Shepherd - we all heard the stories. He took down a Goliath, brought us peace, saved the nation, saved me. We all wanted to believe in him. It makes us feel good about ourselves to imagine someone like that is real. But can anyone ever be this... good?

William Cross:
A determined king - always a measure of weakness to show strength upon the feeble.

Rev. Ephram Samuels:
Shepherd is hardly feeble.

William Cross:
He will be by trial's end. Some time ago, I made you an offer - an offer you refused.

Rev. Ephram Samuels:
This is not a discussion for here.

William Cross:
The way he watches me? This is the safest place of all.

Rev. Ephram Samuels:
What you intend will fracture this country.

William Cross:
No more so than Silas will when he hands over our land to the enemy.

Rev. Ephram Samuels:
Seeing it done, I don't think I want to take part in treachery.

William Cross:
There's no place in war for a soft stomach. We *need* your support.

Rev. Ephram Samuels:
...And David.

William Cross:
Hmm; a place can be found - if he survives.

David Shepherd:
[watching a falsified videotape suggesting his treason] Sir, that's not me! This isn't real. This was set up! Sir, that's not me - you have to believe me.

King Silas Benjamin:
Belief may be enough in the house of God; this court needs proof.

David Shepherd:
...I serve the king; that is all I am guilty of.

Thomasina:
Your eyes follow me.

Klotz:
No, ma'am.

Thomasina:
Are you lying?

Klotz:
Yes, ma'am.

Thomasina:
You are a guard at the royal gate; serious things are happening in this country. Stop it.

Klotz:
I'm sorry, ma'am; I can't.

Thomasina:
And why not?

Klotz:
It's love, ma'am... I'll stay out of your way.

King Silas Benjamin:
Your outburst in court - I don't think it'll help your case.

David Shepherd:
My case is that I'm innocent. You called me son once; I've only ever acted to earn that name.

King Silas Benjamin:
I recall learning of a relationship later than I was due.

David Shepherd:
That is my only sin to account for; that was against you as a father to Michelle, not to the state.

King Silas Benjamin:
You betrayed my trust once; it left a mark. If there's anything else that you have done to hurt this country or me, deliberately or not, now is the time to tell me.

David Shepherd:
I swear - if I had, I would confess my guilt, give myself up to your mercy.

King Silas Benjamin:
Yeah... yeah, I believe you would.

Jack Benjamin:
After all, what's more likely - that David Shepherd was somehow magically endowed, or that he's just like us - an ordinary soldier, stuck in a war with no end?

King Silas Benjamin:
[walking with Rev. Samuels through a supermarket] There's no pleasure in being told your favorite is your enemy... Tomato - still quietly a nightshade.

Rev. Ephram Samuels:
He is not your enemy, Silas; you know that. You have a chance to end this, now - make it right.

King Silas Benjamin:
Whatever your visions...

Rev. Ephram Samuels:
He is only becoming what he is meant to be, what God intends for this nation.

King Silas Benjamin:
Well then, He didn't tell me.

Rev. Ephram Samuels:
Change is coming, Silas - you were supposed to foster it, to nurture it, to see the future improve upon the past. Now, you can still have your part, but *don't*.

[Silas starts to walk away, but Rev. Samuels strikes his hand against the produce case, causing all the lights to go out]

King Silas Benjamin:
Oh, so that's it - change from arcana to tricks?

Rev. Ephram Samuels:
Don't give God reason to tear from you this kingdom. I have known you to be a man to make mistakes in the name of... vanity - but never a villain.

King Silas Benjamin:
There was a time, once, not far from memory, when you lost what was most dear to you. And you asked me that those responsible for the death of your wife not be just punished, not be just killed, but that all memory of their existence on earth be swept clean. And you asked not with the countenance of God, nor magic hands - just as a broken man seeking revenge... and your friend did that for you, and you thanked him for it. So who are you now, to ask that friend not to exact revenge on those that would take from him?... Be the lamb, or be the knife; try to be both, you'll end up slaughtering yourself.

Michelle Benjamin:
They'll see that their evidence was tampered with, their witness corrupt; my father'll *have* to rule you innocent.

David Shepherd:
Yeah, unless he doesn't want to.

Michelle Benjamin:
Of course he wants to - you're his adviser, his friend.

David Shepherd:
That was before he knew about us.

Michelle Benjamin:
What, you think he'd try you for treason because his daughter fell in love with you?

David Shepherd:
I think... maybe he was afraid his country would.

Michelle Benjamin:
You know, one of the things that I've always loved about you is how much you believe... I *will* take the stand, I *will* defend you, and my father will be glad. If you believe in me, believe in him.

King Silas Benjamin:
Let him go.

Michelle Benjamin:
I don't care what anyone thinks of me, so long as they know David is innocent.

King Silas Benjamin:
Dammit, Michelle, we're trying to make this easy for you.

Michelle Benjamin:
I'm going to help him.

King Silas Benjamin:
Don't you dare.

Michelle Benjamin:
I *have* to.

King Silas Benjamin:
Everyone for David is against me; now stay out of this, or by God I'll count you amongst them.

Michelle Benjamin:
[frozen in shock]... You *want* him dead.

King Silas Benjamin:
He's guilty... I'll have every shred of his existence wiped from this earth; it'll be against the law ever to speak his name.

[David had been abducted from his prison cell, and suddenly finds himself deposited in a field where Rev. Samuels waits]

David Shepherd:
...I don't understand.

Rev. Ephram Samuels:
It's all been arranged; a plane is waiting. We have friends in other countries, until it's safe for you.

David Shepherd:
You want me to run?

William Cross:
[suddenly speaking from his car] Only if you want to live. Your death is a foregone conclusion; Silas is only waiting to sell the last few believers on his version of your truth.

Rev. Ephram Samuels:
Which is why we must protect you, David.

William Cross:
Silas won't be around for long - we need to keep you safe, so he doesn't kill you first.

David Shepherd:
Why are you so sure he won't be around for long?

William Cross:
[getting out of his car, he approaches David] The problem with great men is they don't always die at their best; some live to make mistakes which outlive their accomplishments.

Rev. Ephram Samuels:
Come on, David.

David Shepherd:
[pulling away from Rev. Samuels] No... If I go with you, everything Silas says about me is true.

William Cross:
You're worried about his good opinion of you?

David Shepherd:
I'm worried about my own... I'm no traitor.

William Cross:
You'd rather die than be misperceived? Careful, David; you never wanna be *too* good.

William Cross:
[to his men]... You heard him; rush the man back to his execution.

Rev. Ephram Samuels:
...David...

David Shepherd:
You, of all...

David Shepherd:
[he removes the wristwatch which Rev. Samuels gave him after anointing him, and returns it] If I *do* die, it shouldn't be while wearing this.

Jack Benjamin:
You demanded my presence; fine. Begging gets redundant after the first snot bubble, so let's try to do this quick.

David Shepherd:
...There's a plot against your father... I think they mean to kill him, replace him as king.

Jack Benjamin:
You call me here to... make up some stories about what? Some coup? You think that's gonna save you? You should've stuck to begging; it has more dignity.

David Shepherd:
It's your uncle... and Reverend Samuels.

Jack Benjamin:
...The reverend - really? And what do they want from you? You wanna be their king?

David Shepherd:
If I did... easier for you to attack me when you know I've done no wrong. You need to warn Silas.

Jack Benjamin:
...You sit here in a cell, thinking your voice'll save a man who's gonna let you hang? You think you're *that* good?

David Shepherd:
He won't listen to me, but he'll listen to you.

Jack Benjamin:
He's not your father; he's mine.

David Shepherd:
He's still my king.

Jack Benjamin:
...Even now?

David Shepherd:
I'm just doing what you'd do, Jack... You should be careful, too.

Queen Rose Benjamin:
The trial's not over yet... but you'll probably cry then, too.

Michelle Benjamin:
...I'm pregnant.

Queen Rose Benjamin:
...But... you can't - you can't be. Are - are you sure? The doctor said it was impossible.

[the queen slowly registers a deep fear]

Queen Rose Benjamin:
...David's child... oh, God; does he know?

Michelle Benjamin:
[nervously shaking her head]... I'm afraid - of my own father.

Queen Rose Benjamin:
Your father... must never know.

Michelle Benjamin:
You'll help me...

Queen Rose Benjamin:
Oh... this - this is a blessing. This is our family's future - this kingdom's future. But you must have nothing to do with David, ever again.

Michelle Benjamin:
I can't; he needs me.

Queen Rose Benjamin:
No, it doesn't matter. You're scared of your father; you should be. He has eyes for David's blood, and that blood now pumps through your veins. He will see David dead, and all his kind. If he knew, he would never let that child live. You've been given this... nothing else matters. You'll listen to me... you understand now; you feel it. A mother will do anything to protect her own... as I will protect you.

Thomasina:
Colonel Shore is grateful for his immunity, and looking forward to a quiet and comfortable life on the eastern coast.

King Silas Benjamin:
If there's a number that made him lie, there's a number that'll make him tell the truth; see to it there's no more talking.

Thomasina:
Are you sure that's necessary?

King Silas Benjamin:
[he waves his guards away]... We spoke some time ago of promotion.

Thomasina:
I recall.

King Silas Benjamin:
Since then there's been an increase in responsibility which you have handled with your usual grace.

Thomasina:
Thank you, sir.

King Silas Benjamin:
I need someone by my side that I can trust at all times and in all things. You've always taken care of the family; you said it was your highest aspiration.

Thomasina:
It was... and it is.

King Silas Benjamin:
That's all I ask now - to take care of the family... just on a higher order.

David Shepherd:
I have only ever tried to embody what is good about this nation. My family has sacrificed life, and life again to keep alive the idea of a home as spoken by our king. I am a faithful servant to this country, this court... this man.

King Silas Benjamin:
Betrayal has its own particular sting. Unfortunately, one gets accustomed.

David Shepherd:
I have never betrayed you... though I've been given the opportunity. There *are* those who work against you.

King Silas Benjamin:
Oh, I know full well the dealings of William Cross. There's nothing whispered in this kingdom I'm not privy to. There are many traitors, and though you're not complicit in their dark work, you're not innocent. Even my daughter's lost faith in David Shepherd.

David Shepherd:
I *am* innocent.

King Silas Benjamin:
Are you?

David Shepherd:
I am.

King Silas Benjamin:
Even if you are, of the charges brought against you, hasn't the effect of you been the same?... King, all these years - authority unquestioned. You think there's a coincidence they conspire against me now? A monarchy stands on the belief in the singularity of its sovereign, all vectors pointed here... and then along came you. Oh, and they looked at you, and they thought how they might improve upon me... replaceable. You thought to inspire, but you inspired treason.

David Shepherd:
I... I only ever meant to serve you. I never meant to hurt you.

King Silas Benjamin:
Oh, I know that; but don't you see now that you *have*? You've weakened the country.

David Shepherd:
What can I do?

King Silas Benjamin:
You swore that if you ever hurt me or this country, you'd admit guilt and fall upon my mercy - did you not?

David Shepherd:
I did.

King Silas Benjamin:
Then keep your word.

Klotz:
I wasn't staring, ma'am.

Thomasina:
...You think I'm beautiful?... You think I'm good?

Klotz:
I do.

Thomasina:
No matter what I do?

Klotz:
It's love, ma'am... Thomasina.

[she gently kisses him]

King Silas Benjamin:
Captain David Shepherd - you have stood before this court protesting your innocence. Now, having heard the weight of evidence against you, and knowing the penalty of guilt... how do you plead?

David Shepherd:
...Guilty.

[gasps ripple through the court]

David Shepherd:
I stand before you, prepared to elaborate on my crime.

Jack Benjamin:
Stop talking, David.

King Silas Benjamin:
[startled] You're out of order, major.

David Shepherd:
I'm guilty.

Jack Benjamin:
No, he's not!

King Silas Benjamin:
The prosecution will stand down...

Jack Benjamin:
I can't go along with this anymore; this was all a set-up. David Shepherd was framed. He's not a traitor - I am; Silas is.

King Silas Benjamin:
Silence!

Jack Benjamin:
There's been silence for too long. I am guilty - but not more so than my father, who colluded to have David found a traitor, when he is anything but.

King Silas Benjamin:
Shut up!

Jack Benjamin:
King Silas framed this entire case, coerced witnesses, faked evidence, convinced me to lie against David. But I see now that David is a better man than the rest of us - innocent, deserving respect.

King Silas Benjamin:
What do you know about respect? You never had it, you never give it!

Jack Benjamin:
He's innocent; it's over!

King Silas Benjamin:
He's admitted guilt!

Jack Benjamin:
You're no king.

King Silas Benjamin:
And you're no prince, you f*ggot!... Guards - arrest Major Benjamin now! David Shepherd - you are guilty of treason! Take him away - take him away!

David Shepherd:
You lied - to everyone.

King Silas Benjamin:
You're a traitor - you're both traitors; you're all traitors!

Jack Benjamin:
[taken by guards from Unity Hall, he finds himself at a rear exit with guards aiming their sights at him] So this is it? Not even a trial?

William Cross:
[getting out of his car] We have their allegiance now. The king's own guardsmen follow you - as do all Silas' generals.

Jack Benjamin:
I couldn't watch him do that to David; I'm sorry.

William Cross:
Don't be; you were perfect. After seeing what Silas really is, they'll be begging for his replacement. Only one thing changes.

Jack Benjamin:
What?

William Cross:
No more waiting; we act *now*.

King Silas Benjamin:
Whereas we made law, where there was none; we mined justice from sand. Whereas we have courts - civil and criminal - presided over by a tribunal of judges, who all apply good law with study, intelligence, and compassion.

[cut away to a judge calling Ethan's case]

King Silas Benjamin:
A system of appeals ensures justice decreed is justice deserved. And today, the last recourse for those of you who feel themselves denied fair address of grievance: Ten cases, here selected - I alone will adjudicate, divine wisdom my only counsel, and my gavel sound only after my words correct what is *not* right.

Queen Rose Benjamin:
Make do with your egg whites.

King Silas Benjamin:
Eggs without yolks - sacrilege. Prometheus on the rock gave better breakfasts.

Boyden:
I hate Judgment Day - more a mess every year.

Klotz:
I like it. Each envelope contains a unit of hope; more envelopes, more hope.

Boyden:
More envelopes, more hopes denied.

Klotz:
Some of us hold on to hope.

David Shepherd:
I'm not supposed to use this as a place to talk about personal things... but I find I have to. This is the first time I've experienced how justice *really* works... live, not on TV. I see now how lucky we are to have a king who knows the difference between what is right and what is expedient... who understands the sacrifices that must be made in order to pursue the true course, so that we... so that *I*... can learn from him.

David Shepherd:
I tried... I can't. Manipulating the system, dirty justice? I can't speak against him.

Jack Benjamin:
Even without him denouncing the king, and with his brother's head on the chop, he won't stay. Either way, I'm rid of him.

Katrina Ghent:
Only at the cost of tar on your soul.

Jack Benjamin:
Don't you worry about my immortal soul; it's been starved. Maybe you want to feed it, or lecture me sternly, somewhere private?

[she gets up to leave]

Jack Benjamin:
You, of all people - judging me?

Katrina Ghent:
Well, that can't tell good when someone like *me* won't even have you.

Katrina Ghent:
I came here, greedy for all the trappings position could provide. Someone here had all that... and turned it down.

David Shepherd:
[overwhelmed by Silas' decision to spare Ethan] You'd do this?

King Silas Benjamin:
Not for favor. I am justice - impartial, not blind. But when a court sentences in such an extreme, it validates the sovereign's right of oversight.

David Shepherd:
[to Silas] I wasn't sure about God... or how He deals with any of this. Now I see... God works through *you*.

Michelle Benjamin:
You'd let his brother die, for jealousy? What, one too many magazine covers?

Jack Benjamin:
I'm not jealous; he can have all the magazine covers he wants.

Michelle Benjamin:
Then *why* ruin him... risk someone dying?

Jack Benjamin:
To save myself! Don't you get it? I'm fighting for my right to exist!

Michelle Benjamin:
Whose life is more secure than yours? You're the prince!

Jack Benjamin:
And you're the princess - born first by four minutes; eldest by a hair. Are you really that innocent? That you haven't thought about it yourself? Or are you just too ashamed to admit you have?

Michelle Benjamin:
No one wants your crown.

Jack Benjamin:
Not yet; you can't produce an heir, so what? You could still take pride of place. I see the way you look at Shepherd; I see the way your father looks at him. All it takes is one wedding, and he can make of the pair of you king and queen... and me, suddenly the court jester? I will not sit by and be plowed into obscurity by someone else's ambition... not after all I sacrificed.

Vesper Abaddon:
Is this my last meal, then? Before execution? Goodness - it's not my birthday, is it? By my count, I have over a week.

King Silas Benjamin:
Four months ago. I don't need occasion to extend courtesy to a prisoner.

Vesper Abaddon:
Oh, dear... the king is bored. I felt that gloom, I'd rape a serving girl.

King Silas Benjamin:
So sure of yourself.

Vesper Abaddon:
I got nothin' to do. I think a lot about *you*. There's clarity in solitude. And you think I don't see, uh, loneliness when it's eating in front of me? You're a king - and every second you aren't miserable is a second stolen.

King Silas Benjamin:
It's a long time since you've been a king.

Vesper Abaddon:
Our lives... not much different. Though I somehow make do, without self-pity.

King Silas Benjamin:
Watch yourself.

Vesper Abaddon:
You expect to rule the world and be happy? Being a king's a *terrible* job - joyless, no comfort or heat. No silky lover who wants nothing back. You'd sooner find the ark as a true friend. God won't allow it; you still try... and he mocks you for it.

King Silas Benjamin:
What did I ever do to God?

Vesper Abaddon:
...You asked to be king. Macaroon?

Ethan Shepherd:
I stood up to the king for what I believe; why would I want to live a life that's saved by a lie? As much as you believe in Silas, I know that he's wrong. I know that he's not the one in God's heart.

David Shepherd:
I don't even know if there *is* a God! But I know that *we* can change things - you and I; *we're* the ones here. We're the ones who can save you.

Ethan Shepherd:
Can't you see, David? I'm already saved.

Helen:
I am here on account of my son, Seth. Dr. Nayar has saved his life countless times, and his kindness and caring are second only to the boy's father, whose visits have been less frequent of late... he works.

King Silas Benjamin:
...Is your son well at the present time?

Helen:
Yes, thanks to his doctor, and the hope of better days.

King Silas Benjamin:
You're asking me to forgive... a fatal crime, to soothe one boy.

Helen:
Dr. Nayar has provided my son with the presence of stability, safety, of strength - a strength my son *needs* to stay alive. You are acting as God today, sir; I ask you: How much more can God demand?

King Silas Benjamin:
I'm sure Dr. Nayar deserves gratitude... As much as it will cause pain, I must do what God and law require.

David Shepherd:
What if we were honest about us? We wouldn't need to sneak around.

Michelle Benjamin:
It's not that easy - I made my vow. I already live with God's disappointment; I can't live with my father's.

King Silas Benjamin:
Today I make pilgrimage; meaningful action requires meaningful thought - ideas born in solitude, brought to life in Shiloh. Last time I did the same, I came back with a vision for peace; before that, with a vision for a capital in Shiloh. Who knows what I'll come up with this time?

Joseph:
[recording a video message for Jack] I needed to say goodbye, but you never gave me the chance. I needed you to know that, behind the lie, I see you... for who you really are - and I love you. And I know you love me, and I think everyone should know. No more hiding, Jack; you're too brave to be such a coward. You deserve to be who you really are... I hope this will help.

King Silas Benjamin:
I need someone close to me that I can trust, and there are those who say that I should not trust you... that you want what you cannot have... I was there, that day - I *saw*.

[David is cautiously uncertain about what Silas is referring to]

King Silas Benjamin:
The butterflies - the crown of butterflies; what does that mean to you, David?

David Shepherd:
It's hard to put in words.

King Silas Benjamin:
Try.

David Shepherd:
I grew up hearing your story - how the butterflies crowned your head... and you knew you were meant to be king. So when they came to me... I knew.

King Silas Benjamin:
You knew *what*?

David Shepherd:
It was God - speaking to me, a nothing farm boy... telling me to serve my king.

King Silas Benjamin:
And nothing else?

David Shepherd:
What else could it mean?

William Cross:
3:30? In the afternoon? You're just now waking up?

Andrew Cross:
I awoke before the sun; I had my reading to do.

William Cross:
What are you reading?

Andrew Cross:
Newspapers.

William Cross:
[slightly distracted by another conversation on his cell phone] Which ones?

Andrew Cross:
All of them; if I spend fourteen hours a day reading, I should be done in two months.

William Cross:
[trying to carry on both conversations at once] I... wait.

William Cross:
[William ends his cell phone call, then focuses on his son] I don't understand.

Andrew Cross:
I'm reading every newspaper printed while I was in exile - cover to cover. Soon be as if I never left.

William Cross:
Andrew - you're home, after a long time away; you have to *do* something, not just read about it.

Andrew Cross:
Like what?

William Cross:
I don't care... Think of all the things you wish you could have done when you were away - now you can do them. Anything you want - so long as you want *something*.

Andrew Cross:
I just want you to be proud of me.

William Cross:
I'll be proud of you when you make your mark, son... or you might as well never have come back.

Katrina Ghent:
I have no interest in Silas; I've had my fill of old men.

Queen Rose Benjamin:
And without their money, you'd still be dancing on poles, or stilts or - whatever it was you did.

Katrina Ghent:
I may have bought my title, but your brother bought your crown; are we so different?

Queen Rose Benjamin:
As long as I walk these halls, you'll get no respect in this court. You accept it, and you move on. People have been made disappear for less.

Katrina Ghent:
[as the queen exits the room] Good day, ma'am; may God bless you, and may God bless your kingdom.

Queen Rose Benjamin:
I hate nothing more than lies - wasted words, clouds that darken the blue sky yet bring no relief of rain.

King Silas Benjamin:
My family... always in my heart when not in my eye; may the time apart enrich the time spent together. May there be enough love left over 'til the next time we join hands. Amen.

Michelle Benjamin:
What happened? Come on; we used to tell each other everything.

Jack Benjamin:
I used to take all your stuff.

Michelle Benjamin:
Maybe I can help.

Jack Benjamin:
I doubt it.

Michelle Benjamin:
...Maybe you can help me.

Jack Benjamin:
You want me to help hide this thing with David.

Michelle Benjamin:
Were we that obvious?

Jack Benjamin:
No; you hid in the shadows like the best of us. You have a talent for deceit - I was impressed.

Michelle Benjamin:
What, you want to see David suffer? This hurts *me*, not him.

Jack Benjamin:
Whatever it is you don't want 'em to see or hear or know, you can bury it. You can bury it so deep, you won't find it yourself anymore... but you'll wish you hadn't.

Rev. Ephram Samuels:
Joseph Michael Lasile - a man, like us, beloved in the eyes of God... challenged, by the traits that God bestowed. Such a split can divide a man in two, but not Joseph - he lived as one man his whole life, despite the inequality, despite the hate. He took his own life not for loving wrong, but for loving too much. Some will say he died a cowardly death - but he lived a courageous life. Let's remember *that*.

David Shepherd:
[looking around the farm] I wish I could have this - what you have here.

King Silas Benjamin:
You can, every day.

David Shepherd:
How?

King Silas Benjamin:
Don't ever be a king.

David Shepherd:
Then why not stay here? Leave Shiloh behind; you don't have to be king.

King Silas Benjamin:
Oh, but I do. If it's in you to be of service to your fellow man, then you have an obligation to God to do it, be it a policeman, a fireman, a soldier, a king. If it's in your DNA, if the job fits, you must do it.

David Shepherd:
I don't know if there's one thing I have to do... *can* do.

King Silas Benjamin:
...Lucky you.

Queen Rose Benjamin:
I'm trying to bury this story with that boy.

Jack Benjamin:
Joseph.

Queen Rose Benjamin:
What?

Jack Benjamin:
His name was Joseph.

Queen Rose Benjamin:
What do I care what his name was? He was trying to ruin you.

Jack Benjamin:
No, he wasn't; he was trying to save me.

Queen Rose Benjamin:
Save you - from what?

Jack Benjamin:
From me... and I destroyed him for it; I'm the reason he's dead.

[Rose orders Thomasina from the room, then sits quietly next to Jack]

Queen Rose Benjamin:
You said he was nothing to you.

Jack Benjamin:
...He loved me... and I loved him.

Queen Rose Benjamin:
No, you didn't. You can't.

Jack Benjamin:
I loved him... I *loved* him.

[Rose gets up, irritated]

Jack Benjamin:
I cut him out of my heart, because that's what Dad wanted; that's what you wanted... and now the only person who saw me - who really saw me, and still loved me - he's dead.

Queen Rose Benjamin:
[she slaps him] Good!

Queen Rose Benjamin:
[shocked by her own reaction, she tentatively embraces him] This... this mistake of character... this will be our secret.

Jack Benjamin:
Mistake of character?... This is who I am.

Katrina Ghent:
I want to see you powerless, so you know how it feels - what you do to those around you.

Queen Rose Benjamin:
You have your way; whatever you want, I'll do.

Katrina Ghent:
Choose - I'll let you save one of them, son or daughter. I'll destroy video or pictures; the other I'm going to air. The fall of prince or princess... your choice.

Jack Benjamin:
If I become king, my first order of business is to reinstate the guillotine - just for you, Thomasina.

Thomasina:
I give my life to protect this family; I espect to lose it doing the same.

Jack Benjamin:
Why? We're all a bunch of conniving cowards, hoarding over a carcass.

Thomasina:
At your worst, yes. At your best, you bring heaven closer to earth.

William Cross:
Andrew - why would you do that? That camera had sensitive pictures.

Andrew Cross:
I know.

William Cross:
[stunned] You looked? You let them go public - why would you deliberately hurt your cousin?

Andrew Cross:
You told me to.

William Cross:
What?

Andrew Cross:
You told me to do something - to make my mark. You hate Silas - and Silas loves Michelle. I hurt Michelle to hurt Silas... I broke his favorite thing.

William Cross:
You did that... for me?

Andrew Cross:
I love you; I want you to be proud of me.

Michelle Benjamin:
I'm in trouble... I can't get out of it on my own, and no one else can help me.

Queen Rose Benjamin:
You should have thought of that during your photo shoot... With David Shepherd, I presume?... You've always been my little girl, even when we both pretended you weren't. Tomorrow, that's over. Your pictures will be broadcast; they'll be everywhere you turn, and places you do not. And there's nothing to be done.

Michelle Benjamin:
But you're the queen; can't you do something?

Queen Rose Benjamin:
It is the queen that is allowing it to happen. The story will dominate the news; you'll be ridiculed by women, made fantasy by men. And while David is congratulated, you'll be dragged through the mud... But when the dust settles, and memory fades, you'll be thought of as a woman - which is what you are - sexual, desirable... formidable. And you'll wield that power in ways young girls cannot.

King Silas Benjamin:
Bad back, I can deal with; embarrassment...

David Shepherd:
You have no reason to be embarrassed.

King Silas Benjamin:
Oh, yes I have; I'm not as young or as strong as I was - not like you. Oh, your youth, my experience - we'd be one *perfect* king.

David Shepherd:
You're the most powerful man I know.

King Silas Benjamin:
Not anymore... you are. I've opened up my entire life to you.

David Shepherd:
Why would you do that?

King Silas Benjamin:
[perplexed by David]... Sit down.

[David cautiously sits beside the king on his bed]

King Silas Benjamin:
We only really know each other when we know each other's deepest secrets - when we know what's in each other's hearts. I trust you with mine; I want you to trust me with yours.

David Shepherd:
...I do.

King Silas Benjamin:
What's in your heart, David? What is your deepest secret? I want to know you just as you know me; I want to forgive you, just as you've forgiven me, so that nothing can come between us.

David Shepherd:
[torn by his promise to Michelle not to reveal their relationship to her father]... I could keep *nothing* from my king.

King Silas Benjamin:
I believe you, my son... Go home.

David Shepherd:
[looking out the window] The frost... your amaryllis... they'll die.

King Silas Benjamin:
Maybe next year... we'll come back.

King Silas Benjamin:
This was a pilgrimage like no other; rather than envision what the country needs, I came to see what we already have. And I want to acknowledge those who might fill these seats when our hearts fail the rest of us: My son... my daughter... my nephew... my friend. We have so much to learn from youth. Well, you've all heard it - "I wish I knew then what I know now." Well, from this day on, I say, "I wish I know now what I knew then." Imagine...

[the court applauds]

King Silas Benjamin:
[he moves to the chair beside his own] But I have thought long and hard about who might fill up this empty chair, and serve as my advisor - when all the time it was quietly filled... by someone who is earnest, when it is not the fashion, who loves this country almost as much as I do. But above all, whose honesty is something I learned I cannot do without. I want the owner to come down now, and claim his place at my table... and for all to know: David Shepherd.

Katrina Ghent:
Nobility doesn't suit you, Jack.

Jack Benjamin:
I'm the better story, and you know it.

Katrina Ghent:
From what I heard today, David Shepherd is the better story - an even better story when these pictures come out.

Jack Benjamin:
Ruin *me*, and you'll crush my mother far worse.

Katrina Ghent:
What if I offered you a way to save your sister *and* yourself?

Jack Benjamin:
And how many lives would I have to destroy to make that happen?

Katrina Ghent:
Just one - the queen.

Jack Benjamin:
And how would I do that?

Katrina Ghent:
By marrying me; I always wanted to be royalty.

Michelle Benjamin:
You saved my life!

Jack Benjamin:
No; no, I didn't... it just feels that way. The truth doesn't get any easier to tell - it only gets harder, until it's gone forever.

King Silas Benjamin:
People ask how I cope with all the responsibilities - millions of souls relying on all the good air in my lungs. It's an easy secret - every day I look for signs in my life and try to read into them God's intentions. Take a good look at *your* life right now, captain, and think hard: what does God want *you* to do, today?

David Shepherd:
To shut the hell up?

King Silas Benjamin:
So be it.

David Shepherd:
When I read the signs in *my* life, they say that I was sent here to help you. What I can do for you, I will.

Premier Shaw:
[on meeting David] The hero of Gilboa, slayer of tanks; I imagined a giant.

Jessie Shepherd:
I knew before anyone he was born different. In the call, seven sons - a mother knows. This one - you protect from what *wants* to happen... He has a destiny in him. People with destinies... things don't go well for them. They die old and unhappy, or young and unfinished. No... Not for him.

[repeated line]

Various characters:
Don't go.

King Vesper Abaddon:
You got yourself here; it's time to change - or die. You have to learn to live without air, and for you air is adoration.

King Silas Benjamin:
Oh, is it wrong to seek the opinion of the people?

King Vesper Abaddon:
Of course it is; you're the best thing for them, and they don't know it. That's right - what would they have without Silas?

King Silas Benjamin:
You.

King Vesper Abaddon:
You see? They owe you; stop trying to win their approval. It is better to be feared than loved - necessary. Maybe you once brought your country into a new day, but that day is done; now, you rule by night.

[cut to Jack discussing plans with William Cross]

King Silas Benjamin:
My son...

King Vesper Abaddon:
Hang 'im.

King Silas Benjamin:
My peace...

King Vesper Abaddon:
You wanna give Gath the land, do it. Those for, plant in front of the cameras; those against, plant in the dirt.

King Silas Benjamin:
That simple?

King Vesper Abaddon:
Don't hide it - let the sun dapple the whole damn mess. And anyone still plotting against you will do it slipping in a blood puddle.

King Silas Benjamin:
I'm trying to win my people back, not get them to hate me more; they already think me a tyrant.

King Vesper Abaddon:
I know you, Silas, better than anyone. My worst enemy - now, my only friend. You're no tyrant... but you could be - if you tried.

[cut to William conferring with his son Andrew]

King Silas Benjamin:
And Shepherd?

King Vesper Abaddon:
You need to kill him - and soon.

King Silas Benjamin:
He's watched over. How do you kill someone whom God protects?

King Vesper Abaddon:
Easy - with a bullet.

King Silas Benjamin:
Tomorrow has come. Some of you meet it with reproach, and with the unkind thought that the return of any land to an enemy is weakness; lose that thought, friends. The handover of Port Prosperity will take place, and Gath will be our unfiring chum. In the name of peace, I will crush any in the blessed event's way.

Chancellor Hanson:
There are some still in their homes, sir, refusing to leave.

King Silas Benjamin:
Any who have not vacated by the deadline will be arrested; any who resist arrest will be shot - twice.

King Silas Benjamin:
[observing two ministers whispering] Oh - say you have some dissent, please.

Minister Forsythe:
Not at all, sir... Shall I order a media blackout, to keep anyone from thinking you unsympathetic?

King Silas Benjamin:
But I *am* unsympathetic, to all those who oppose my will. Send *more* cameras. Let them remember it was my will that built from the ashes this nation and put in their mouth the right to complain - but there are limits, now reached. Go, do your jobs.

Minister Forsythe:
Sir - what is the official statement on the fate of David Shepherd?

King Silas Benjamin:
Who?

Queen Rose Benjamin:
Jack...

King Silas Benjamin:
Oh, forget Jack.

Queen Rose Benjamin:
No; he's in hiding from you.

King Silas Benjamin:
So he should be.

Queen Rose Benjamin:
He's your son... who once you held in the palm of your hand, whose laughter was God's greatest gift.

King Silas Benjamin:
Not anymore.

Queen Rose Benjamin:
Jack is a surety under this family's legacy. He lives, or the crown dies with you.

King Silas Benjamin:
Lucky I don't die.

Queen Rose Benjamin:
...I built this country with you. I bound it to our family and name. You may have the will, but I maximize your effect. And tomorrow will be your greatest hour - and you need at least one smile by your side that isn't trying to hold back the tears... So Jack will stand beside you; he will not be arrested, and he will not be harmed. You will acknowledge him, and you will do this for me.

King Silas Benjamin:
And if I don't?

Queen Rose Benjamin:
You'll find yourself standing alone.

King Silas Benjamin:
...If he behaves, I won't cut his throat.

Michelle Benjamin:
Where's David?

King Silas Benjamin:
Held temporarily underground, until we can find a more permanent place for him there. Noon tomorrow, David Shepherd ceases to exist; time to find a new boyfriend.

Michelle Benjamin:
What if I already did? What if I found someone and was seen with him - let the cameras and the country see that the princess found someone she like more than David Shepherd, how he doesn't mean anything to her, and he shouldn't to them either.

King Silas Benjamin:
What a mature young lady you have become.

Michelle Benjamin:
I want to say goodbye.

King Silas Benjamin:
...Better hurry.

Michelle Benjamin:
David... there's no way to say "sorry" well enough; you needed me, and I left you.

David Shepherd:
Did you think I was guilty?

Michelle Benjamin:
No - but there was a reason.

David Shepherd:
I would have bet my life you'd be there for me... I did; you didn't come.

Michelle Benjamin:
I couldn't. Please, just let me explain.

David Shepherd:
I can't trust you, Michelle! Nothing you say could matter to me. Just keep your reasons.

William Cross:
He thinks it's all selfish - CrossGen, our thick pocket-lining, our pockets swell for war... There's a language to civilization, and a small group of scholars who can read it. I was born fluent; General Benjamin could barely make out the glyphs - as king, he's lost his glasses. Can't see that war is just the fuel of progress. Nothing gets made in peace - except art... He changed; I remember when we first met - I really liked him. He used to be so funny...

King Vesper Abaddon:
[speaking to David through the prison vent] Are you *really* not gonna eat any of that? I can smell the meat from here... oh, shame to waste steak.

[he tosses a string with a hook through the vent, and David attaches the steak and sends it through]

King Vesper Abaddon:
Aaah... thank you. Mmm... The girl?

David Shepherd:
The king's daughter.

King Vesper Abaddon:
Oooh - not bad.

David Shepherd:
Doesn't matter; the king, in all his wisdom, set me up to die any minute.

King Vesper Abaddon:
That was my idea; sorry about that, David.

David Shepherd:
You know who I am?

King Vesper Abaddon:
Oh, I know lots about you. You gave me back my mind. I was asleep for a long time; I talked to weevils in my mash, filled books with garbage - and then you came, rose like the sun, and outshone the world's brightest star. And then he came to me, and I told him - heh, I told him to blot you out, bring back the night, to turn into me... and he listened! And in helping him, I got my mind back. At some point he'll realize that I was up to no good, and boy, will he be mad!

David Shepherd:
Who are you?

King Vesper Abaddon:
I... am the king.

David Shepherd:
[dismissing the idea as a prisoner's delusion] You're a prisoner.

King Vesper Abaddon:
I don't suppose they tell in school of Vesper Abaddon?

David Shepherd:
Only about his atrocities.

King Vesper Abaddon:
Hmm - interesting fellow, with his faults. If he were alive, he'd probably tell you that there is nothing to be afraid of in death... Were you loved, David?

David Shepherd:
I'm not sure.

King Vesper Abaddon:
You were; I saw. That's someone whose heart will die when you do. It's lucky - even if it was just skyfire-fast... Since I owe you double, let me give you a parting gift - your obol coin in the mouth:... It is always better to be loved than feared. Some of us made the mistake the other way, and it does not go well. Die loved, you die happy.

David Shepherd:
I'd rather live miserable.

King Vesper Abaddon:
I like you!

Jack Benjamin:
I come to beg forgiveness.

[Silas motions for Jack to approach]

King Silas Benjamin:
Forgiveness is a form of love, and I do not love you.

Queen Rose Benjamin:
Silas...

Jack Benjamin:
[whispering, almost inaudibly] Yes, you do.

King Silas Benjamin:
...Kneel.

King Silas Benjamin:
[seeing Jack's hesitation]... *Kneel*.

[Jack slowly drops to his knees]

King Silas Benjamin:
Now kiss the ground I walk on.

Queen Rose Benjamin:
Silas!

King Silas Benjamin:
...Your mouth's been in dirtier places.

[wincing, Jack prostrates himself and kisses the floor at Silas' feet]

King Silas Benjamin:
That's the second time your mother's given you life... It'll be the last.

King Silas Benjamin:
Last time we met, we weren't sure who should shake hands first.

Premier Shaw:
Well, you've taken the liberty twice; now, let me be the one to offer my hand.

King Silas Benjamin:
What's it like - governing when the people have hope?

Premier Shaw:
Unusual. And how has it been governing when they're afraid?

King Silas Benjamin:
Easier.

King Silas Benjamin:
Peace is not a lamb, but a lion - and it requires force and discipline; otherwise it will go wild, feed on you. I make no meek apology - history will thank me; you will, too.

David Shepherd:
[praying as he awaits his execution] I have only ever lived for peace... I lift my eyes to You, and I know I'll find it.

King Silas Benjamin:
Our cause is peace. We've been on a long drift from God, and it is the duty of the leader to cinch the tide and turn the soft, blind swimmer towards where we conceive the shore.

Queen Rose Benjamin:
You've come to tell me... you've come to tell me he's dead.

Rev. Ephram Samuels:
...Ma'am.

Queen Rose Benjamin:
No - he can't be. I know him; he's harder than lead. He once looked at a man and he fell dead of fright. And you would have known this - you see things of this size. Did you see some sign? No! Silas does not die like this; he... does not die.

Rev. Ephram Samuels:
Rose... Rose, he was just a man, after all... more so today than ever. Now, your son and daughter... the country... they are all gonna look to you for how to mourn... Shall we go and see the body?

Queen Rose Benjamin:
Silas is not a body! He is not dead! Any moment, the king will walk through the door.

Jack Benjamin:
I didn't want it to be this way... but we're here now. I take my place - *his* place. As you've always said, mother, many times: The people must see us *be* us - even when we're not.

[he softly kisses his mother's cheek]

Jack Benjamin:
We must be a family now.

David Shepherd:
It's true, then; he's dead.

Jack Benjamin:
Mourn, if you must.

[Jack steps forward and embraces David]

Jack Benjamin:
I was worried you wouldn't make this.

David Shepherd:
It was you - you saved my life; why?

Jack Benjamin:
We're rid of the poison. My father is gone; it's *my* turn to rule, and I want to do it well. I need someone good around here. I will try to do right by your example. I swear to you - from this moment on, I am your friend.

Jack Benjamin:
They took from us our best. But we can not let the work of rogues impede my father's best ambition - peace. To that end, let it be said, let it be known, let it be remembered that I, on the day of my melancholy ascension, saw through that goal. But we needn't give up our land to achieve that peace; we can reach out to Gath...

William Cross:
[unable to contain his impatience] Enough! We suffered enough peacock speeches under him; if there's to be change, let's start there. I don't speak the backwards language of kings, so I'll talk plain: Silas is dead, killed by Gath assassins. The media will confirm the story today. Jack will be king; his first order will be to avenge his father's murder. Gath has never wanted peace with us; they want war, and we will give it to them. Ready our planes to strike.

Jack Benjamin:
No.

Rev. Ephram Samuels:
Perhaps we should wait, mourn our loss - not let grief cloud our good judgment.

David Shepherd:
The country doesn't want this.

William Cross:
They will, when we're attacked. And Gath will strike, right here in Shiloh - you can count on it.

Jack Benjamin:
No; war is not the answer. As king...

William Cross:
Sit down, Jack.

[a soldier steps behind Jack and places his hand on his shoulder, pressing him into his seat]

William Cross:
The reverend was right; grief clouds judgment. Our heir apparent has had a traumatic day, so until he has recovered properly and mourned his loss, I'll help make his essential decisions.

Queen Rose Benjamin:
*You* did this.

William Cross:
I've allied the media, the military, now our new king, all to this purpose.

Queen Rose Benjamin:
And you used my son!

William Cross:
Neither you, nor he, nor any vagrant opinion will interrupt what - God, you've got *me* doing it! We attack - today!

Andrew Cross:
Father...

William Cross:
What?

Andrew Cross:
They found his ambulance; there's no sign of him.

William Cross:
Who?

Andrew Cross:
Silas... he's gone.

Jack Benjamin:
Mother...

Queen Rose Benjamin:
Just tell me you didn't know... even if it's not true.

William Cross:
[entering] Come; time to greet your country.

Queen Rose Benjamin:
Don't do this, Jack. You don't know him - he's alive. I know it; he's alive, he'll come back... and he will kill us all.

King Silas Benjamin:
[lying wounded in bed, attended by Helen] You come to finish me off?

[Thomasina appears behind David, pointing a pistol at his head]

David Shepherd:
I'm not here for that.

King Silas Benjamin:
Or maybe plant a garden?

David Shepherd:
Jack has named himself king, but only as a puppet; Cross is the real power. He wants a war with Gath that will never end.

King Silas Benjamin:
[he motions for Thomasina to lower her gun]... Someone had to win.

David Shepherd:
Don't you understand? Everything you ever built will be destroyed unless you go back!

King Silas Benjamin:
I'm done, boy; read the signs.

David Shepherd:
...What about your country?... No; you don't deserve to die loved. You don't deserve it, you son of a b*tch! Get up! After all the wrong you've done to them - to *me*... I fought for you; I believed in you! We all did! You told us you were chosen to lead; was that a lie? Or did God just make a mistake?

Seth:
Daddy?

King Silas Benjamin:
Come here, puppy.

Seth:
Are you leaving again?

King Silas Benjamin:
Remember what I said about working for the king?

[Seth nods]

King Silas Benjamin:
[summoning the strength to sit up from his bed] I *am* the king.

[first lines]

King Vesper Abaddon:
Yes. I think you may have made a mistake.

[the press minister has been found murdered in his car]

Jack Benjamin:
Four of our generals, and now our press minister - all loyal to us.

William Cross:
Where one loyalist falls, ten others will beg you for their position; you're very popular, Jack.

Jack Benjamin:
It's a message - my father's still alive, and his teeth are still sharp.

William Cross:
The panicked bite of a dying dog - probably dead already.

Jack Benjamin:
It just feels like he could just come back anytime.

William Cross:
He's not coming back; he's one man! Against an army, that answers to us. You've been afraid of your father your whole life; now might be a safe time to grow a pair - and flaunt 'em. I can only put the crown in front of you; they need to see you take it.

King Silas Benjamin:
[addressing the nation in a pirate broadcast] People of Gilboa - a few days ago, our nation was the victim of a coup d'?tat. Your king was shot, and the reins of our country seized by corrupt and evil men. My people, you have been deceived. I address you today to say that I, Silas Benjamin, king of Gilboa am alive - very much alive. I am still sovereign of this nation. I send a message to the traitors who would depose me, who would subvert God's will and the freedom of my people: I am the rightful king of this nation, I and no other. I will return to Shiloh to take my place, given me by God *and* citizen. Like an earthquake, I will come.

Klotz:
So they're still gonna have the ceremony? Is Jack gonna take the crown?

Boyden:
He just had them polish it; he wants to be the new king.

Klotz:
But we still have an *old* king - can we have two kings?... Oh, boy.

Rev. Ephram Samuels:
[seeing Jack in his empty church]... A man with much to consider.

Jack Benjamin:
My whole life, I've waited for this moment - my chance to lead, to impress my personality on a country and make it better... Tomorrow it happens. But I - I don't feel anything... It's not there.

Rev. Ephram Samuels:
You mean *He*... is not there.

Jack Benjamin:
Shouldn't He give me something? Words... of wisdom, or... a warning, an image for a new standard? My father had signs, butterflies, whole conversations, whatever, to give him the confidence to speak in His name... What's my blessing?

Rev. Ephram Samuels:
God... does not take counsel with sinners. Recently, you and I - we've been made unforgiveable.

Jack Benjamin:
We both knew my father needed to go.

Rev. Ephram Samuels:
And all the others? All the innocents shot dead - your declaration of war...

Jack Benjamin:
That's William.

Rev. Ephram Samuels:
We allowed it... Silas was right; I cannot accuse him and let myself go unscrutinized.

Jack Benjamin:
I can make good of our mistakes. Once you put the crown on my head, you will see how well it fits.

Rev. Ephram Samuels:
The crown will never touch your head. That is the hollowness that you feel - and you know it; *He* knows it... and He will never speak to you.

Jack Benjamin:
Why not?

Rev. Ephram Samuels:
You are not the one He wants.

Queen Rose Benjamin:
You never do that again.

Michelle Benjamin:
Jack and William are wrong; I won't pretend otherwise.

Queen Rose Benjamin:
Yes, you will. Until Silas returns - and then you will pretend even more. The fate of this monarchy, this family, no longer lies with your brother. Jack will die the moment Silas returns.

Michelle Benjamin:
And if Silas and David don't return?

Queen Rose Benjamin:
I know your father; he'll come. And you have to stay alive long enough to greet him with open arms. You keep your head down, your mouth shut. You tell no one of this pregnancy, especially David. You'll have nothing to fear - I'll take care of everything.

King Silas Benjamin:
You *can* drink with people you hate; life's taught me that much. Come on - might be your last.

David Shepherd:
[sitting down opposite Silas]... So that's it, then - we die tomorrow.

King Silas Benjamin:
Odds are not in our favor... Not like the old days - then I was sure. I'd ask the outcome of a battle, and He'd answer in thunder and the answer would always be "yes".

David Shepherd:
No answer tonight?

King Silas Benjamin:
Not for some time.

King Silas Benjamin:
[heavenward] Hey, maybe we can help You out a little.

King Silas Benjamin:
[pouring a third shot glass at the table] Just let us know You're listening out there, and that You exist and that You care a little for the back-and-forthings of we tiny men, and that success - or death - in the outcome of battle mean a little out there in the sparkly quintessence... Just knock the glass over. An infant could do it; a breeze... No?... I guess we're on our own.

David Shepherd:
Maybe He doesn't talk to bastards.

King Silas Benjamin:
And here I thought we were getting along so well.

David Shepherd:
I know you - too well now. I'll help you tomorrow; I'll probably die, too... But I'll do it, because the people need you. They have a chance at peace with you.

King Silas Benjamin:
[as they get up to leave] If we do survive, I owe you more than apologies - I wronged you.

David Shepherd:
The minute I see you in your chair, I'm outta here. I don't wanna see any of you again.

King Silas Benjamin:
...Do that.

David Shepherd:
Just promise me one thing: If God ever does speak to you again, you'll listen.

[Silas quietly nods, and the two men leave the room... not noticing that the third shot glass has been knocked over]

Chancellor Hanson:
[nervously] Sir - Reverend Samuels... he won't come... coronation...

William Cross:
He knows I'll kill him for this.

Chancellor Hanson:
He said he expects it.

William Cross:
Fine; send a team - meet his expectation.

William Cross:
[bewildered]... Sir, what about the benediction?

William Cross:
*You* do it.

Chancellor Hanson:
[Jack's coronation begins] I read from the benediction of the Reverend Ephram Samuels: Our cause is just; our union is perfect. As we unified our lands, unify our purpose.

[cut to Rev. Samuels praying at the altar of his church]

Rev. Ephram Samuels:
Forgive my eyes, for what they have overlooked. Forgive my mouth, for its pride. Forgive these hands... for works done and works unfinished. If I die today, I die knowing my offense.

Chancellor Hanson:
Guide his eyes, mouth, hands - that they see Your goals, speak Your words, build monuments to Your gifts.

William Cross:
[whispering to Queen Rose at the coronation, about Silas] Still think he's coming?

Rev. Ephram Samuels:
Only let me live long enough to see my wrongs righted. I have walked before You, from the time of my youth... here I am.

[Rev. Samuels is shot in the back by William's assassin]

King Silas Benjamin:
[finding the substitute crown on his throne] You were gonna put this on Jack?

Chancellor Hanson:
[terrified] Sir...

King Silas Benjamin:
Say there was a gun to your head, and I won't have to put one there.

King Silas Benjamin:
[to the coronation guests] So - where are they? William Cross, Jack Benjamin... where are they?... I ask once more with words, and then with blood.

Jack Benjamin:
[entering the room] I'm here... I'm not gonna run - not anymore... You said I couldn't be what I was; God said I couldn't be what I wanted. There's nothing left for me... but to die... Do it. Go on; finish it - I'm ready.

King Silas Benjamin:
We can think of worse things for you than death... You could have had *everything*.

Andrew Cross:
When I came back, my father told me to watch and learn. I learned who should be king - and who shouldn't.

King Silas Benjamin:
Anything else?

Andrew Cross:
You lost a son; I lost a father. Maybe I could be a part of the family.

Michelle Benjamin:
[disappointed] You're leaving.

David Shepherd:
All I did was replace one corrupt king for another.

Michelle Benjamin:
You stopped a war; who knows how many lives you saved?

David Shepherd:
I can't live here. Back home, things were either right - or wrong.

King Silas Benjamin:
[praying from the rooftop] Not bad, right? Even You must be impressed today.

[thunder rolls across the sky]

King Silas Benjamin:
You're welcome. I give, and I am thankful - for giving is a need; we understand each other on the point. It was a mad idea You had in the first place - kings, a monarchy? In this day and age? I'm looking out at a city that I built in Your name; this is what you wanted. Deny it?

[subdued thunder]

King Silas Benjamin:
Then you *can* forgive me; then I still have some role yet to play?

King Silas Benjamin:
[as a soft rain begins to fall] Oh, thank you! Thank you! Whatever You want, I am ready!

King Silas Benjamin:
[loud thunder roars through the sky] Him? But why? No - no, what about me? What am *I* supposed to do?

King Silas Benjamin:
[seeing the clouds break and dissipate] Don't go! Don't go!...

King Silas Benjamin:
[to Thomasina] Find Shepherd - bring him to the mansion... Tell him I listened.

David Shepherd:
You said I could go home.

King Silas Benjamin:
You were asked for... It seems God has plans other than you might have wanted; get used to that... He spoke to me again; He told me... you were meant to take my place.

David Shepherd:
Me?

[Silas nods]

David Shepherd:
No... no, I - I'm no king.

King Silas Benjamin:
It's not up to you, either.

David Shepherd:
But why?

King Silas Benjamin:
[exasperated] I don't know why. Because you're good? I've been good. Because you're young? I was young too; oh, I gave Him that - everything He ever asked for. But now He turns away, loves *you*.

David Shepherd:
I don't know that He does.

King Silas Benjamin:
...You have His favor! I doubt I could have escaped the traps I laid for you. You never knew what you were being given; but now - now I see. How long has He been whispering in your ear?

David Shepherd:
He hasn't.

King Silas Benjamin:
No? You didn't feel anything? Hm? Before your butterfly crown? After? Don't lie to me!

David Shepherd:
I never asked for anything!

King Silas Benjamin:
...He did come to you - offered himself behind my back, yours for the taking. Shameful - the two of you laughing at me.

David Shepherd:
No; God loved you - and so did I!

King Silas Benjamin:
[he throws his drink at Shepherd and tackles him] Listen to your lies? While you were playing me? The old fool - huh? Is that what you thought? Huh? Is that what you thought? God looked me in the eye - and lied to me! You backstabbing, cheating whore!

[David gets out from under Silas and begins punching him]

David Shepherd:
You're jealous! That's why He left you! Maybe I *should* be king! Maybe I should!

[Rev. Samuels appears to David and Michelle; they do not realize he is dead]

Rev. Ephram Samuels:
Silas did this to you.

David Shepherd:
He thinks I've stolen God's favor.

Rev. Ephram Samuels:
You haven't, David; God gave it freely.

David Shepherd:
I don't want it!

Rev. Ephram Samuels:
David Shepherd, son of Jessie, son of Judah, know this: You *were* chosen... to be the new king.

Michelle Benjamin:
...It's true, isn't it?... Where can I take him?

Rev. Ephram Samuels:
His only place of refuge... you cannot follow - Gath. Silas would never look for you there.

David Shepherd:
Gath?... I'll be alone; I'll have nothing.

Rev. Ephram Samuels:
You need fear no evil; you, David, are never alone.

David Shepherd:
[to Michelle] As long as we're together, you'll be in danger; I can't risk you. You have to stay here.

Michelle Benjamin:
[removing her ring] Take this; wear it... and know that I will always love you, no matter what. Always know that.

David Shepherd:
I will never stop loving you - ever... I'll be back for you.

Michelle Benjamin:
I'll be waiting.

Rev. Ephram Samuels:
Husband and wife, if you like; vows of love, exchanged before God. You two were married long ago, and you will be married forevermore.

Jack Benjamin:
I pictured prison colder.

Jack Benjamin:
[seeing Lucinda at the door] She had no part in this.

Thomasina:
Her part she'll be glad to play... Your father wants for you a living death, to brick you into a wall with someone who loves you - who you can't stand the sight of... until you produce an heir, which Silas will take, and raise right this time.

Lucinda Wolfson:
[embracing Jack] I... don't understand.

Jack Benjamin:
Thomasina, love... please. You've known me since I could crawl.

Thomasina:
You went against the family; you're not charming anymore, Jack.

Jack Benjamin:
Don't do this!

Thomasina:
It's not so hard; just close your eyes, and dream of someone who's dead.

[last lines]

Queen Rose Benjamin:
An issuance of the king: For her acts of treason in support of her brother, Michelle Benjamin is ordered exiled from Gilboa - stripped of any rights as citizen or noble, removed from all our lands, and kept from any company but her own for a period of no less than one year.

Michelle Benjamin:
What are you talking about?

Queen Rose Benjamin:
[whispering] I told you I would take care of everything.

[Michelle is removed by two soldiers]

King Silas Benjamin:
All our plans...

Queen Rose Benjamin:
We'll make new ones... We'll be young again; everything there is to fight for began with you. You're the stone center; you're Silas.

King Silas Benjamin:
Yes...

Queen Rose Benjamin:
And nothing can take the future from this family.

King Silas Benjamin:
Nothing?

[Rose exits]

King Silas Benjamin:
...Least of all David Shepherd.

[Rev. Samuels' ghost appears behind Silas]

Rev. Ephram Samuels:
Let him go, Silas.

King Silas Benjamin:
I will find David; I will hunt him down, and when his dead body lays at my feet I'll come for you for your part in this.

Rev. Ephram Samuels:
Killing David will not keep you king.

King Silas Benjamin:
At least God will know I'm angry.

Rev. Ephram Samuels:
He's gone, Silas - where you can not find him. His family is safe, too. Nothing can stop God's plan.

King Silas Benjamin:
I travel that path no more; I'm a sinner now. He wants peace, I want war - God and I are now constant enemies.

Rev. Ephram Samuels:
Then I bring a message from the enemy: Do not search too hard for my servant, for the day you lay a hand on him... will be the day that you die.

King Silas Benjamin:
Oh, is that what He says? Well, take a message back to Him: We are at war.

Dignitary:
[handing Silas a gift] Happy birthday, sir.

King Silas Benjamin:
A gun from an ally; now, is that a gift, or an invitation to a duel?

Dignitary:
A gift; I know better than to rankle a Silas with a gun in his hand.

Queen Rose Benjamin:
Have you reconsidered inviting Andrew? William was hoping...

King Silas Benjamin:
My birthday, my list. I will endure a party in the company of my choosing, but with none that sour the wine in my cup.

Jack Benjamin:
You remember Lucinda Wolfson; she's making an honest man of me.

Queen Rose Benjamin:
Well, with a face like that, how could she not? How long have you two been seeing each other?

Lucinda Wolfson:
[unsure of how to answer, she reverts to Jack's coached small talk]... Thank you. Happy birthday, sir.

Queen Rose Benjamin:
Oh.

Jack Benjamin:
[to Lucinda] Find us some drinks, would you?

Queen Rose Benjamin:
Usefully quiet... and a Wolfson. She's a little out of her depth, but we can fix that. Well chosen, Jack.

Michelle Benjamin:
Used to be, you'd see me and head towards me.

David Shepherd:
...I'm trying to respect your wishes; you're promised to someone else. What am I supposed to do?

Michelle Benjamin:
David... the world doesn't just stop because we want to be together.

David Shepherd:
We?

Queen Rose Benjamin:
Say something.

King Silas Benjamin:
Oh, I hate public speaking.

[the guests laugh encouragingly]

King Silas Benjamin:
To get old is a terrible thing. We should do it in reverse, so that we can appreciate the strength; the only consolation in the creaks and the limited range of vision is that we don't endure it alone. So I see - well, well, *almost* see - friends, family, blessings. Oh, there have been days - and this, this is one of those days I feel that strength. My heart is filled with richly oxygenated blood from experience, and my mind is clear.

[fireworks go off in the distance]

King Silas Benjamin:
[to his wife] Good timing...

King Silas Benjamin:
To our city... to our people; may we all grow old together.

Queen Rose Benjamin:
We ask the world to watch our skies, and offered them a display of our humiliation. Cause?

Energy Minister:
Cause, not source - eight power plants were ordered serviced simultaneously, creating a demand spike.

Queen Rose Benjamin:
And how did you manage to have eight power plants serviced simultaneously?

Energy Minister:
Uhh, clerical error?

King Silas Benjamin:
Mmm... I'd like to meet this cleric. Every minute the lights stay down powers rumors of our impotence and tempts opportunists; just get the lights on.

Queen Rose Benjamin:
There's a switch, somewhere; flip it.

Michelle Benjamin:
[observing the darkened city] You know what this is? This is time stopped; this is permission.

David Shepherd:
For what?

Michelle Benjamin:
For us; this is our chance. Should we take it?

King Silas Benjamin:
Beautiful princess - friend to elves, and maker of music in the meadow with nothing but her hair.

Michelle Benjamin:
Dad, I'm not five.

King Silas Benjamin:
You're four - you're two; eyes that light up the beltway.

Michelle Benjamin:
Last time we danced, you didn't know how.

David Shepherd:
Last time we danced, I was very nervous. I was wearing a tux for the first time... and I thought you hated me.

Michelle Benjamin:
I just didn't know what to think; people like you aren't supposed to exist.

Michelle Benjamin:
You've been reading me "Harlow" for days, and somehow we never get to the end.

King Silas Benjamin:
I'm a thief and a cheater.

Michelle Benjamin:
You don't want to end it; you don't want things to finish.

King Silas Benjamin:
Only beginnings with you.

[Silas suddenly hears music]

Michelle Benjamin:
Are you OK?

King Silas Benjamin:
*You* ask *me*? I'll start again.

Michelle Benjamin:
Shouldn't we finish it?

King Silas Benjamin:
There's time for that.

Michelle Benjamin:
Is there?

King Silas Benjamin:
...They say no.

Michelle Benjamin:
But you know better?

King Silas Benjamin:
I do.

Michelle Benjamin:
What do you know?

King Silas Benjamin:
You'll live forever.

David Shepherd:
Your favorite painting?

Michelle Benjamin:
No, I hated this; used to give me nightmares. I had my first kiss here... I was twelve, and there was a party on the lawn for Jack, and I was standing here, staring at this - trying to convince myself that I could look at it without getting scared, and failing... and someone came and kissed me.

David Shepherd:
Not very romantic.

Michelle Benjamin:
Not at all.

David Shepherd:
Was it a good one?

Michelle Benjamin:
[laughs] Not at all. My first kiss - stolen, wasted. My whole life has been planned out, and scored in perfect 4/4 time by forces larger than myself. It's OK; I accept it - all the disappointments and wasted moments to come. I won't have any regrets - about anything... except for this one wasted memory. I would have that back... I would have you in the thief's place.

King Silas Benjamin:
You - you make the music that drives me mad.

Death:
A gift; others meet me in silence. Out of deference to those who love you, I give warning.

King Silas Benjamin:
You came for her; you cannot have her.

Death:
Can't I?

King Silas Benjamin:
I was chosen by Him who made you and all things; leave us - you and your music.

Death:
You can't threaten me; He made death even outside his reach.

King Silas Benjamin:
You like to see us suffer.

Death:
It *is* beautiful to see - yours most of all. I come to you sometimes, Silas; I look at you.

King Silas Benjamin:
Then make me suffer more. Give me pain - endless, endless pain; name the knife.

Death:
For this life... I would see you lose what you love more - your crown.

King Silas Benjamin:
It's yours.

Death:
Not for me.

King Silas Benjamin:
Who, then? Anyone.

Death:
Not anyone; to the better man. When he's found, when he comes, you stand aside.

King Silas Benjamin:
Yes.

Death:
Willingly, freely; you support his succession - else I come for you, and you live to see your name be cursed, forgotten.

King Silas Benjamin:
Yes.

Death:
Swear it, before all.

King Silas Benjamin:
Evermore.

Death:
Seal the contract.

[she tears the last pages from the book Silas has been reading to Michelle; he smashes the mirror and marks the pages with his bloody hand]

Death:
You'll wish I'd taken her; you'll beg to change now.

William Cross:
Rose! Look - a party *everyone's* invited to.

Queen Rose Benjamin:
[incredulously] Because he was left off a guest list?

William Cross:
Beluga - you want some of this? It'll only spoil.

Queen Rose Benjamin:
[laughing] Shutting down a city for want of an invitation. It's a party!

William Cross:
He's my son... You've done worse for yours. You insist on keeping Andrew in the cold, you'd better learn to live in the dark.

Queen Rose Benjamin:
You have no idea what you're dealing with; turn the lights back on, William.

William Cross:
No; he needs to learn... and so do you.

Queen Rose Benjamin:
You're my brother - but I swear I will have your head.

Queen Rose Benjamin:
The king remains in meditation; on the question of war or not war, I bring you his answer - and I pray with you on his wisdom.

Queen Rose Benjamin:
[reading] "Our hearts armor-heavy, our grief hot as the fire we must bring... and we must. To war, and not lightly."

David Shepherd:
Just tell me who.

Michelle Benjamin:
David...

David Shepherd:
If I lose you to someone, tell me before I read about it in some newspaper... Some alliance? Something to help your father expand his empire?

Michelle Benjamin:
It's not him; it's... a promise I made. It's *my* vow.

David Shepherd:
I don't understand. Who... are you promised to? Who are you supposed to marry?

Michelle Benjamin:
No one... ever. I... I was dying; by all measures gone. I swear I could feel my last breath coming; I could smell death in the room. I prayed to God... and I said, give me one more breath... and I'll give it right back. Let me have another after that, and I'll give it back again. From now on, every breath you give me, I'll use it to serve you - to live for you, for your work... And He listened.

Michelle Benjamin:
[in a flashback, speaking to her father in her hospital bed] From this day forward, I'll earn this gift - helping others, not myself. Witness that I swear.

King Silas Benjamin:
[wide-eyed in shock] No, stop; your debt is payed.

Michelle Benjamin:
I live in service for Him, for them - for no happiness of my own, for no man.

King Silas Benjamin:
I beg you, don't do this.

Michelle Benjamin:
As you live, you cannot let me waver; promise me.

King Silas Benjamin:
Michelle...

Michelle Benjamin:
Promise me!

King Silas Benjamin:
[grieved]... I promise you...

David Shepherd:
[overwhelmed by her story]... How can I compete with God?

King Silas Benjamin:
You come for me in my house... I'm ready. You hear me? I'm ready. Come to me - now! I'm ready!

[the city lights come back on, and Rose's cell phone rings]

Andrew Cross:
Hello, Aunt Rose.

Queen Rose Benjamin:
You brought the lights back on.

Andrew Cross:
I reversed his order in his name. He'll be furious with me, but... not for long. Thought you could use the help.

Queen Rose Benjamin:
I'd rather live in the dark than owe you a thing.

[she hangs up]

Joseph:
[watching Jack get dressed] You have to go?

Jack Benjamin:
...The lights are on.

Joseph:
[as Jack heads for the door] Just tell me, so I know... was it real?

Jack Benjamin:
...You're the only real thing I ever touch.

David Shepherd:
You've made God into my enemy.

Michelle Benjamin:
It would kill me if that were true.

David Shepherd:
I finally fall in love, and He takes you from me.

Michelle Benjamin:
...You love me?

David Shepherd:
I do... I love you. Everyone keeps saying they know what God wants from us; I don't know which of the voices in my head at night is his. God didn't save your life so you could pretend you died; He saved it so you could live.

Michelle Benjamin:
You think He wants this?

David Shepherd:
How does God not want love?

[at the hospital, David is startled to see the king enter the empty hall, and gets up from the piano]

David Shepherd:
Sir - sorry... my father died.

King Silas Benjamin:
...Death took what was near. What is that piece?

David Shepherd:
I don't know... just something he taught me. Now he's gone.

King Silas Benjamin:
You play well for him; play on.