Kings of the Sun Page #3

BALAM:
Go back to what?

An honorable death.

Once we both wanted that.

Must we all die for you, Balam?

Women and children, too?

(ALL SHOUTlNG)

There is new land beneath our feet

and a new life lies before us.

Let us then begin

with new feelings in our hearts,

old fears and old memories

to be forgotten.

From this time on,

it shall be as though we are reborn.

Before we left the old land, l made a vow,

that if we arrived here safely,

l would make lxchel my queen.

Now, before all of you, l keep my word.

Priest, as the first act in this new land,

prepare to perform this marriage

as soon as possible.

There will be no need.

You were forced to take that vow.

Nonetheless it is sacred.

And that vow was made to my father.

And to these people

who bore witness to it.

lt was made to everyone but me.

But no longer need you feel

the prisoner of a promise.

My father is dead,

and l release you from that vow.

There is much to be done.

We must clear the land,

build a temple to our gods

and houses for ourselves.

Our task will be hard.

But with faith, we shall endure.

Oh, God, lord of hills and valleys,

be patient with us

for we are about to destroy your beauty.

Suffer it, we pray you,

so that we may dwell here

and obtain our daily bread,

for in us there is a great hunger.

Send us the many blessings of thy bounty,

the life-giving sun,

the blessed rain, the fertility of the soil.

We pray you to suffer

no animal to attack us,

nor enemy to kill us.

lt is a sense l have.

Because we saw one canoe

does not mean invaders have come.

The canoe is like none we've ever seen.

Where there is one there could be many.

As your chief,

l say strange boats carry strange people.

lf the council agrees,

l will search for these strangers.

lf l find them, l will bring back one.

lsatai, you will come with me.

One may have to watch,

the other must return

with word to the council.

We have been looking for these strangers

for more than five times

this number of days.

-And we'll look more.

-Maybe there are no strangers.

Maybe there was nothing more

than a big canoe.

Then we'll find that out.

-There is no need for you to do this.

-My place is with my people.

Now they're Balam's people.

You should be their queen.

lxchel, your father was wiser than that.

A king is a lonely man,

perhaps the loneliest man on earth.

Your father understood that.

He knew that for Balam to rule wisely

he needed someone at his side.

Someone he could confide in,

trust and love.

Both of you are lonely.

lf he is lonely,

why doesn't he tell me himself?

How much longer

must you keep our farmers piling dirt

when they should be planting corn?

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