SCENE FOURTEEN: MARIUS' ISLAND REFUGE — NOT LONG AFTER
Establishing Photograph: A stone fortress perched atop a high rocky cliff
(LESTAT sits in a comfortable chair in a small salon. Open windows look out onto the sea lit by the round moon. In the distance, the dark shapes of other islands rise out of the quiet sea. MARIUS turns from the window. LESTAT is very weak. His body seems broken.)
[Marius:]
Are you feeling stronger tonight?
[Lestat:]
A little.
[Marius:]
Your body suffered such… horrors. Even with my blood, it will take some time.
[Lestat:]
My mind is only now beginning to clear.
[Marius:]
What do you remember?
[Lestat:]
Being lifted off the earth… moving through the air… and stars… a multitude. As it was happening, I remembered feeling the same sensation once before.
[Marius:]
With Magnus… when he took you.
[Lestat:]
[remembering] Yes. With Magnus. Is it flight, Marius? Do we fly?
[Marius:]
Something very like it. It is one of the powers we acquire as we age. But flying even short distances is exhausting. It requires an enormous force of will. I only do it when I must.
(LESTAT motions to the sea beyond the windows.)
[Lestat:]
What sea is this?
[Marius:]
The Aegean. My island is one of thousands in this part if the world. Hence, I can remain unmolested unless, of course, Armand comes to search me out.
(He admonished LESTAT.)
You could not let it be with him. You had to tell him you'd found me… even after I warned you against it.
[Lestat:]
I had to wipe that gloat off his face.
[Marius:]
Was it worth it?
[Lestat:]
Every broken bone.
[Marius:]
And my anger?
[Lestat:]
I could not let him triumph… not after all he'd done. And you know I've never been very good at obeying rules. I had already risked your anger many times over.
[Marius:]
I have not been angry with you, Lestat. I gave you advice from my own experience. You chose not to heed it and you accepted the consequences.
(He picks up a violin case and places it in LESTAT'S lap.)
I believe this belongs to you.
[Lestat:]
Nicolas' violin! I thought I'd lost it.
[Marius:]
I kept it for you. I knew our paths would cross again.
(LESTAT strokes the case lovingly.)
[Lestat:]
Nicolas… where is he now? Has he just stopped? Did he just stop when he went into the fire? Or does his soul live on somewhere?
[Marius:]
I do not know. I have never gone into the fire.
[Lestat:]
I have. I have been in the fire. I will remember those moments for as long as I exist. And I have to thank Claudia for it. She allowed me to know what it is to be the victim. I felt what it was to die a mortal death. And I can tell you, I am cured. I do not envy mortals… their frailty… the knowledge that they will inevitably die. Claudia gave me that.
[Marius:]
Do you regret her?
[Lestat:]
Can I say that I wish I had never seen her… nor held her… nor heard her laughter echo through the rooms of our townhouse? I cannot. But I know I will never do it again.
[Marius:]
You will not make others?
[Lestat:]
To bring this suffering on another… to condemn to death all those men and women whom that vampire must kill? Never again. Loneliness is not a valid reason to grant eternal life… nor is love… not even love.
[Marius:]
So you have solved your dilemma.
[Lestat:]
No. I doubt I ever will. I am not like Gabrielle. I still believe in good and evil. More so now that ever. But I have found the way to live with what I am.
[Marius:]
Tell me.
[Lestat:]
I am more alone than I have ever been. Those I love are gone beyond reprieve. I have the least reason to live than I ever have… and the most desire.
[Marius:]
So you wish to go on.
[Lestat:]
I do. I'm too in love with humankind. If I cannot be part of the world, then I'll be content to stand outside and watch. I'm curious. I want to see how it all unfolds. I'll applaud and I will weep…
[Marius:]
Oh yes.
[Lestat:]
And if I must kill to live, then I will only take those who do harm to others. It is the way I can hold onto goodness in this dark existence. And holding onto goodness, I know I will never go into the fire.
(MARIUS smiles. He stands up and holds out his hand to LESTAT.)
[Marius:]
Come. It is time for me to take you down.
[Lestat:]
Down?
(Holding the violin to his chest, LESTAT allows Marius to help him up. He leads him to stone stairway that leads down into the earth. LESTAT hesitates.)
[Marius:]
[amused] Don't be afraid. It is very unlike you.
(As they begin to descend, the set transforms to an underground vault.)