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Dark Hope
by Lendren Starfall
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Cast (in order of appearance)

Maura ............................. a dark-skinned, haunted young woman
Ling ............................................ an athletic young man
Lisha ............................................. a savvy young woman
Leopold ........................ an aristocratic fae of the Night Court
Marielle .................................. a troubled young changeling
Tildeman ....................................... a punctilious guardian
The Faceless Man ..................... a mysterious, threatening figure

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Produced in association with the Seeds of Change Repertory Company.

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Act I: A Greater Calling
Scene 1: Why Us?
Scene 2: Finding The Scent
Act II: Children Are The Future
Scene 1: Innocence of Youth
Scene 2: But What Will It Cost?
Act III: Sinking Into Darkness
Scene 1: Sight Without Seeing
Scene 2: Forgetting And Remembering

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Act I: A Greater Calling
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Scene 1: Why Us?
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SCENE Schoolyard: A layer of green silk covers the stage, suggesting with its
stippled pattern of painting a field of grass. Here and there, splotches of mud
suggest that the field is well-used in athletics; there are hallmarks of several
of the games favored by the young folk of the village of Rincemark. Depicted on
a drop at the back of the stage is the imposing brick structure of Rincemark's
schoolhouse.

EFFECT S1Q1 (6): The parting curtains reveal a simple schoolyard in the village
of Rincemark, with the school itself, an imposing brick building, defining its
edge at the rear of the stage. The schoolyard is a field of grass that is
well-used in the athletic games of the young adults that attend the school.

ROLE Maura (F): Maura

COSTUME MauraCostume (Maura): A young human girl just coming of age, Maura is a
lovely lass, with dark skin, hair, and eyes lending an exotic air to her lush
curves. Despite the fecund loveliness of her blossoming beauty, she has a
haunted air about her, a pain seen in her eyes, that makes her curiously
off-putting. Clearly, she tries to hide it with a veneer of confidence, putting
on airs of imperiousness, but this does little to hide the pain that surrounds
her and pervades her thoughts. She wears a lengthy black dress trimmed in
argent-sheened white lace.

ROLE Ling (M): Ling

COSTUME LingCostume (Ling): Tall, willowy, and slender, Ling looks like a
natural-born athlete, and the scuffs on his Rincemark athletics uniform suggest
that he lives up to his natural talent. He walks with a casual confidence,
wholly unconcerned with things, simply allowing the world to happen around him
as if certain it will all work out. The only thing which belies this cavalier
attitude is how he always keeps Maura in his sight, watching protectively,
though attempting to draw no attention to this habit.

ROLE Lisha (F): Lisha

COSTUME LishaCostume (Lisha): Having recently come into her womanhood, Lisha has
an air of confidence about her that most of her classmates lack. She is slender
and lacks the full curves that would make her turn the heads of the men and boys
around her, though she is certainly attractive in her own way, with long,
inky-black hair and striking green eyes, and a charming smile that invites
sympathy. Her deep blue sari shifts as she moves as if it were part of her.

Maura: ENTER steps through a doorway in the school building onto the grass, her
haunted eyes sweeping the field as if expecting to see demons haunting it.

Ling: ENTER saunters in behind Maura with a jaunty, unconcerned air, laughing at
something.

Lisha: ENTER follows Ling onto the field, her keen eyes sweeping the field.

Ling: So what do you want to do? We've got three days until classes start
again.

Lisha: We probably should be studying.

Ling: (with a snort) Doing what we probably should do never got us any fun.

Maura: (leading the way across the field) I have a feeling... someone is here.

Ling: Probably just one of the teachers.

ROLE Leopold (M): Leopold

COSTUME LeopoldCostume (Leopold): Though to a superficial glance Leopold looks
like a stately, elder human man, his fae heritage is evident at even a brief
consideration, in the way the shadows seem to hang around him, concealing any
clear idea of his appearance while still emphasizing the sense that he is of
noble heritage, a man of power. His clothes are impeccably tailored, a suit cut
from the firmament of night itself, adorned with stars plucked from the heavens
for its buttons, and he leans on a cane hewn from stone that shines with a
silvered glow which seems to obscure, not illuminate, things around it.

Leopold: ENTER seems to appear suddenly, as if materializing from the shadows,
on the edge of the stage ahead of the trio of students.

Maura: draws up short, wary.

Ling: steps immediately in front of Maura protectively.

Lisha: (eyes narrowing shrewdly) Pardon us, sir, we have studying to do.

Leopold: (eyes fixed on Maura) You have a greater calling to occupy you this
night. You are chosen for a matter of the gravest importance.

Maura: We're just students, you must not mean us.

Leopold: waves his hands, causing a wave of darkness to engulf the entire stage,
and when it clears, leaving no trace of the school or field.

SCENE Darkness: The entire stage is concealed in shadow, with the only light
being a faint sheen that barely shows the faces of the four people, but nothing
around them.

Ling: (lifting his hands in a defensive pose) Leave us alone, man.

Leopold: In time you will come to see why this is necessary. I cannot allow you
to return to your home until you've completed your calling. What do you know of
the courts of the fae?

Lisha: That's not a subject our teachers spend much time on, sir.

Leopold: Have you read of the death of the Maeve, and the founding of the four
Courts and their nobility?

Maura: (warily) The kings of Moon, Night, Sun, and Lake, fragments of the Maeve,
of course.

Leopold: Night King Irium is old and will pass on soon. His son Ilion is like
him: wantonly cruel, destructive, spiteful. Under his reign, the Court of Night
will remain weak, opposed by the other three courts, lost from its true role.

Lisha: What role is that?

Leopold: There is strength in the cunning of night, the cruelty of the predator,
the strength of doing what life requires be done, within the balance of the
courts. Irium has lost sight of that, and doles out hurt for its own sake.

Ling: This has nothing to do with us. Let us go or I'll make you regret it, old
man.

Maura: nudges Ling with a shushing gesture.

Leopold: Some of the Court of Night hope to restore it to its old purpose, to
the balance. One of these was a woman named Moira who ingratiated herself with
Irium to gain influence. Of their union came a child, who would be the rightful
heir to Irium's crown.

Lisha: Would be?

Leopold: Irium and Ilion would have her slain in an instant if they knew she
existed. Moira already paid the price for her sympathies. The girl was hidden
away as a changeling in the remote human village of Shelton.

Maura: Shelton, I haven't been there in years. So she's a changeling? She can
change shape?

Leopold: (with a knowing smile) Not that sort. She is concealed with a glamour
and looks like a human girl. Even she does not know of her fae heritage, nor
can she. If she knew, she would reveal herself, and Irium would find her.

Ling: So what?

Leopold: Tonight, by chance, agents of Irium will happen upon her. They won't
know what she is, but within two days, one of his agents, investigating the
reports, will discover her. She will either be slain, or will discover her
heritage, ultimately leading to her death.

Lisha: How can you know that?

Leopold: We have those amongst the crystal city, skilled in the ways of bending
time, over whom we have some power.

Maura: Who's this "we"?

Leopold: Associates of Moira, those who slipped the girl into safety. She was
secreted there, and a fae of Sun, bound to service through a chain of favors
owed, keeps her warded against discovery. But this fae cannot, indeed will not
have, protected against this threat.

Ling: Poor girl. Why should we care?

Leopold: Several reasons, not least of which is the fact that, if the girl dies,
Ilion's ascension will have repercussions on this world in which you now dwell.
Cruelty and spite will tear down many, including Rincedale and your families,
before it tears itself asunder. Unless you save her.

Maura: But how can we help? Why us?

Leopold: There are many reasons why you were chosen. One is that, like her, you
were raised as orphans, and can understand her, convince her to trust you enough
to protect her. There is no time to discuss the others, but they will become
clear to you later.

Lisha: What must we do?

Leopold: Find Marielle, gain her trust, protect her. Keep her from realizing
the truth about herself, for if she does, the cost will be far too great.

Ling: What cost?

Leopold: The Sun fae who wards her caused her to forget her past once before,
and can again. But he will ask of you a price that will be much greater than it
seems. Call on the Rite of Grey Mists as a last resort only.

Maura: What if we do not agree to this task?

Leopold: You will not be able to return to your home in safety until it is done.
The moment approaches. Seek the hounds that scent the girl.

Leopold: EXIT gestures with his staff, robbing the stage of the last of its
light.

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Scene 2: Finding The Scent
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SCENE OrphanageOutside: Most of the stage is lined in orange sand and small
rocks, the sere landscape of the badlands within which the village of Shelton is
perched. A winding path of heavily worn stone leads to a door in an adobe wall,
upon which a sign proclaims in faded stencil, "Shelton Orphanage". Beyond the
wall, faint sounds can be heard of children being put to bed, suggesting that
despite the building's battered facade, it is still in use.

EFFECT S2Q1 (6): Muddled shufflings and stumbling sounds echo in the darkness
for a few moments, before a hint of light rises on one end of the stage, slowly
revealing the outer wall of a dilapidated orphanage of pale stucco.

Maura: (just coming into view as she approaches the building) I see something...
the Shelton Orphanage. I haven't been here in... ten years, it must be.

Ling: How did we get here?

Lisha: The old man must have sent us here, but can't we just walk back?

Maura: (staring at the orphanage) It's like nothing has changed at all.

Ling: It's a long walk, but sure, we could do it.

Maura: (abruptly) No, we're going to help this girl.

Lisha: Are you sure that's wise?

Ling: It'll probably be dangerous.

Maura: That doesn't matter.

Lisha: If the old man can be trusted, if we fail, terrible things will happen.

Ling: If the old man can be trusted. Fae of the Court of Night are known for
twisting truth and lies together.

Maura: It doesn't matter. The girl needs help, and we're all she has. We need
to find her.

Lisha: Actually we need to find hounds.

Maura: shudders with a wave of palpable fear.

Ling: (looking at Maura in concern) What's wrong?

Maura: Hounds, they're one of the things in my bad dreams, hounds chasing me,
getting my scent.

Ling: Maybe you should leave them to us, then.

Lisha: (staring off-stage) Too late, I think this is them.

EFFECT S2Q2 (0): A dark figure, low and bestial, lopes across the twilit yard of
the orphanage, followed by two smaller members of its pack, all of them sniffing
keenly at the ground and air.

Ling: (stepping in between the beasts and the girls) The old man could have at
least given me a spear.

Lisha: looks around, then picks up a branch, breaks off the end, and passes it
to Ling.

Ling: hefts the branch like a spear.

Maura: stares in terror at the beasts, paralyzed.

EFFECT S2Q3 (0): One of the smaller hounds, urged on by the larger one, hurls
himself at Ling.

Ling: brings the makeshift spear to meet the beast, causing it to impale itself
on the weapon.

Lisha: Look out, here comes the other one!

Ling: swings the spear, still with a hound on it, to bat the other one away.

Maura: shrieks in fear.

EFFECT S2Q4 (0): The larger hound leaps across dozens of yards and slams into
Ling, toppling him over and snarling.

Lisha: picks up a rock and throws it at the beast, largely ineffectively.

Ling: wrestles with the beast, then howls as it bites deeply into his arm.

EFFECT S2Q5 (0): A warm light appears in one of the windows of the orphanage,
and a shadowy silhouette is seen looking out at the fracas.

Maura: (sees the light and regains a tiny bit of composure) Light, they don't
like light.

Lisha: (wrinkling her nose) Light? I hate that spell, are you sure I have to?

Ling: (through teeth clenched in pain) Do it, please!

EFFECT S2Q6 (0): The beast tears at Ling's arm, pulling off a hunk of warm
flesh.

Lisha: clenches her teeth and wills forth a small crystal which gives off a soft
glow, from which she recoils.

EFFECT S2Q7 (0): The beast yelps and pulls back, then limps away, giving off
hints of smoke.

Ling: stands up, wobbling a bit, and shakes his spear at the beast, the impaled
hound on the end of it melting away into greasy smoke.

Maura, to Ling: Are you... are you all right?

Lisha: holds the light crystal in the air before her a few more moments, then
lets it wink out.

Ling: I, umm, I need some bandages and salves, but I'll be okay.

EFFECT S2Q8 (0): The light in the window winks out, and at the same time, the
door slowly swings open.

Lisha: I think we've been noticed.

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To be continued...