CASSANDRA: Scene Two Continued
Here’s another installment of Bryce Duzan’s CASSANDRA play, which we’re serializing this year to help build your appetite for the festival in November. Enjoy!
CASSANDRA by Bryce Duzan
Scene Two (cont.)
CASSANDRA
…indeed it is. I pay the price now for what I did not do, rather than what I did.
HELEN
I see. But I still do not understand. Why do you come to me?
CASSANDRA
I seek…finality.
HELEN
What?
CASSANDRA
I…have evaded fate. I should have died at the hands of Agamemnon’s scorned wife. Now I am lost. Stuck between what is and what should have been.
HELEN\
I’m not sure I understand…
CASSANDRA
Fate wove me a web, and I fell off of it, tricky fly that I am. But all I have known is that insidious spider’s home. This place in the fog is new to me, alien and unknown.
HELEN
Cassandra, I…
(MENELAUS can be heard from offstage.)
MENELAUS
Helen!
HELEN
Ugh, the bastard returns.
(CASSANDRA replaces her veil as MENELAUS enters.)
MENELAUS
Helen, are you still sulking here? (He sees CASSANDRA.) Oh! (His demeanor immediately changes.) My sweet, you did not tell me you were expecting guests!
HELEN
My dear, this is…a traveler. From a distant land.
MENELAUS
A traveler, hm? What’s your name, traveler?
CASSANDRA
…Athena.
MENELAUS
Ha! A god walks amongst us, my sweet!
CASSANDRA
I tell fortunes.
MENELAUS
Oh? I have heard of a fortune teller from the now destroyed Troy, a mad prophetess whom my brother took as a trophy. Know you of Cassandra?
CASSANDRA
…The only one I know of that holds the gift of prophecy is myself.
MENELAUS
Hm, I see. Well then, Athena, tell me my fortune!
(HELEN steals a pleading look at CASSANDRA.)
CASSANDRA
As you wish, my lord.
(CASSANDRA makes a show of feeling MENELAUS’ temples and chanting loudly. She then stops and withdraws.)
CASSANDRA
I see…I see a green garden under a cloudless, blue sky. I see your enemies all around you, knees bent as they pay homage. I see a feast, with each of your friends and loved ones, past, present, and some you do not yet even know seated at the table, all toasting your name. I see you, aged but still full of health, laughing and drinking, never a smile fading from your lips. Then…I see you close your eyes and drift into an eternal sleep, still smiling.
MENELAUS
You see all of that?
CASSANDRA
Indeed. I see a life never devoid of happiness.
MENELAUS
Incredible! You hear that, my queen? A life full of happiness. Surely then this Trojan War was the last of my troubles!
CASSANDRA
It would seem so, my lord.
MENELAUS
Truly a remarkable gift you have, dear Athena. Go on, then! Divine my queen’s fate.
(CASSANDRA and HELEN exchange a glance.)
HELEN
My husband, surely our fates are intertwined-
MENELAUS
Oh come, my love, don’t be so bashful! Athena, read her fortune.
CASSANDRA
…very well, my lord.
(CASSANDRA goes to HELEN, again making a spectacle of chanting and feeling HELEN’s temples. Then she takes a step back and clears her throat.)
CASSANDRA
I see…I see dear Queen Helen falling in love…with the one she has married. Too often royal marriages are out of pacts of power and land rather than the true value of love, but Helen and Menelaus soon will find a way to claim the heart of the other.
MENELAUS
Is that so? Truly a happy fortune then! I already love my dear Helen, but it is heartening to hear that she will feel the same soon enough. What do you see after that?
CASSANDRA
I…am unsure. It would appear that the rest of Helen’s fate is untold.
MENELAUS
What do you mean? The gods divine our fates the moments we are born. How can Helen’s fate be in question?
CASSANDRA
Perhaps she has the chance to change it.
MENELAUS
Why would she want to change it? She is the queen to the most powerful king in the world! She has everything she would ever want here!
CASSANDRA
Forgive me, my lord. I did not mean to say that Helen would want to change her fate, only that she the ability to do so.
MENELAUS
And I do not?
CASSANDRA
The vision I received of your fate was complete, my king. The messages of the gods are…often inscrutable.
MENELAUS
(Quickly regaining his composure.)…you are right, my dear. The gods are strange and incomprehensible, and it is a rare gift indeed that you are to interpret their messages as well as you can. (He digs into his pockets and presses a few coins into CASSANDRA’s hand.) Thank you for your gift, Athena. May the gods bless you on your wanderings. (He turns to HELEN.) Helen, I am going to retire now. I expect you will be joining me soon, so ah…please do not tarry too long.
HELEN
As you wish, my king.
(MENELAUS takes another look at CASSANDRA, then exits. CASSANDRA slowly removes her veil.)
HELEN
None of that was true, was it?
CASSANDRA
Of course not. How ironic that the only time someone believes my visions is the time that I have told an utter lie.
HELEN
What did you really see?
CASSANDRA
(A slight smile.) You wouldn’t believe me.
HELEN
No, I…suppose I wouldn’t. I do not, however, see myself falling in love with that man.
CASSANDRA
Neither do I. Even a lie can have truth in it. Your fate is indeed your own if you wish to change it.
HELEN
Change it? But the last time I tried to change it, terrible things happened.
CASSANDRA
The last time the gods were involved. This time it is just you and me. Helen…I changed my fate. You can as well. I can’t tell you what I saw, but I can assure you that your happiness was not a part of it.
HELEN
Will I become like you? Out of sorts with the world? Why are you trying to help me, Cassandra? I, the reason for your people’s demise?
CASSANDRA
I…want to help…because…
HELEN
Because you couldn’t help them. Is that it? You couldn’t help the people of Troy, because they would not believe you. Now you want to help me, because I do believe you?
CASSANDRA
Yes! How do you think it feels, to plead with your own family until your throat is raw and your voice gone just to be laughed at? I tried! I tried to help! I saw the flames approaching, the murder and blood, and I could do nothing!
HELEN
…you blame yourself, don’t you? For what happened?
CASSANDRA
No. What happened was not my fault. I blame myself because I did nothing to prevent it.
HELEN
Cassandra, what could you have done? The people did not, could not believe you. What more-
CASSANDRA
I could have tried! I could have done something, anything! Instead I hid, sunk into insanity and depression. When I emerged from my haze, my people were decimated. I…failed.
HELEN
What happened was not your fault, Cassandra. If anyone is to blame, it is me.
CASSANDRA
I could have made them believe! Like you!
HELEN
I only believe you because I have proof, Cassandra. If I did not have that, I wouldn’t be able to believe you either. (CASSANDRA is silent.) Cassandra…what happened in Troy…whether you want to change it or not, it is done. It is in the past and cannot be changed.
CASSANDRA
I know, Helen…but I only wish…if I could so easily read the future, why is it I cannot also change the past?
HELEN
You have a gift, Cassandra, a strange and powerful gift. Unfortunately, that gift only works one way. Your people…they are gone now. But their spirits do not resent you. They do not blame you for what happened. You were merely a bystander, a survivor of a terrible tragedy. Do not blame yourself.
CASSANDRA
…you are right. I cannot change the past…but I can influence the future, if I put my mind to it. Helen…thank you.
(CASSANDRA embraces HELEN.)
HELEN
You are welcome…Cassandra.
CASSANDRA
You were once my sister, Helen. In my mind…you still are.
HELEN
I…thank you.
CASSANDRA
I should go now. Menelaus is expecting you.
HELEN
Where shall you go, Cassandra?
CASSANDRA
I am not sure where my path leads. However, I wish to return to Troy, to pay my respects.
HELEN
A pleasant journey to you, then. If you need my help, never fear to ask me. I will do everything in my power to assist you.
(CASSANDRA bows slightly.)
CASSANDRA
Thank you, sister. And farewell.
HELEN
Farewell…sister.
(HELEN exits. CASSANDRA turns to leave, then suddenly turns back.)
CASSANDRA
What was that, sister? (Pause.) She is gone. Strange, I thought I heard…
(CASSANDRA suddenly looks afraid. She hurriedly exits. BLACKOUT)
More to come!