The Laurel and the Lyre

A lighthearted, poetic comedy in the Alendrian tradition. It follows the demi-god hero Thalos of the Winded Shore, who seeks to rescue the nymph Callianeira, stolen away by the jealous sorcerer Vexor of the Hollow Flame.

🎭 Scene IV: “The Garden of Echoes”

Setting: A moonlit glade within the Garden of Echoes, where voices of the past linger in the air like perfume. Marble columns lean like tired dancers, and the trees hum softly with Eremos’ Song. Thalos enters, carrying a lyre strung with silver hair from the Muse of Memory.

THALOS (to himself)
They said she sang here once.
Not with voice, but with breath —
the kind that bends rivers and stirs sleeping leaves.
Callianeira, daughter of mist and melody.
If I play true, she may answer.

(He strums the lyre. A soft chord ripples through the garden. Echoes stir.)

ECHO (whispering)
Thalos… Thalos… brave and foolish…

THALOS (smiling)
Foolish, aye. But brave enough to love a voice.
And chase it through fire, storm, and imperial border.

(He plays again. A shimmer appears — Callianeira, half-formed from moonlight and memory.)

CALLIANEIRA (dreamlike)
You play like a man who’s lost something.

THALOS
Only everything.
My ship, my sword, my sandals.
But mostly, you.

CALLIANEIRA (laughing gently)
You speak like a poet.
Did you eat one?

THALOS
Only his scrolls.
They tasted of ink and regret.

(She steps closer. The garden brightens. The echoes hush.)

CALLIANEIRA
Vexor holds me in a tower of flame.
But he cannot bind my voice.
Sing me free, Thalos.
Not with fire — with foolishness.

THALOS
Then I shall be the most foolish man in Alendria.
And let every young heart remember:
That love, like song, needs no permission.

(He plays. The garden blooms. The echoes weep. She vanishes — but a petal falls into his hand.)

THALOS (softly)
A promise.
Or a prank.
Either way, I’ll follow.

Curtain.

🎭 Scene VI: “Vexor’s Mirror”

Setting: A high chamber of obsidian and firelight. Vexor stands before a mirror that reflects not his face, but his reputation. The mirror shows him as others see him — villain, sorcerer, thief of nymphs. He is robed in flame, but his slippers are embroidered with daisies.

VEXOR (to the mirror)
Ah, there he is.
The dread Vexor.
Scourge of the Singing Coast.
Thief of beauty.
Collector of sighs.

(He turns, dramatically.)

But do they ever ask why I stole her?
Do they ever wonder what it is to live in a tower of flame,
where even your dreams sweat?

(He gestures, and a flame turns into a bouquet. It wilts instantly.)

I did not steal Callianeira for power.
I stole her for poetry.
For the way she said “no” like it was a sonnet.
For the way her silence made me feel like a question.

(He approaches the mirror again. It now shows Thalos — handsome, windswept, heroic.)

And then he came.
With his lyre and his jawline.
With his metaphors and his sandals.

(He sighs.)

I hate sandals.

(He sits on a throne made of molten books.)

Let them call me villain.
Let them write plays where I fall into lava.
But I will say this —
I loved her first.
And I loved her worst.
And sometimes, that is the truest kind.

(He conjures a tiny flame that dances like a ballerina. He watches it, wistful.)

If she chooses him, I will not stop her.
But I will curse his sandals.
And maybe his metaphors.

Curtain.

🎭 Scene VIII: “The Mask and the Flame”

Setting: Vexor’s tower, a chamber of molten glass and whispering fire. He lounges on a chaise of obsidian, dictating a love poem to a floating quill. A cloaked figure enters — Callianeira, veiled in mortal glamour.

CALLIANEIRA (softly)
Is this the house of Vexor, the flame-born?

VEXOR (without looking)
It is the house of regret, ambition, and excellent acoustics.
Who asks?

CALLIANEIRA
A traveler.
I heard he once loved a nymph.
And lost her.

VEXOR (sits up)
Lost?
No, no. Misplaced.
Like a stanza that refuses to rhyme.

CALLIANEIRA
And if she returned?

VEXOR
I would ask her why.
Why come back to the villain?
To the tower?
To the man who tried to turn her into a metaphor?

CALLIANEIRA
Perhaps she was tired of being divine.
Perhaps she wanted to be understood.

VEXOR (rising)
Then I would say:
I never understood you.
But I remembered you.
Every day.
Even when I cursed your name, I spelled it correctly.

(She steps closer. The fire dims.)

CALLIANEIRA
And if she stood before you now,
not as a nymph, but as a woman —
would you still try to keep her?

VEXOR
No.
I would ask her to stay.
And if she said no,
I would let her go.
But I would write a thousand poems about the way she said it.

(She removes her veil. He sees her. The fire flares, then softens.)

VEXOR (quietly)
You came back.

CALLIANEIRA
Only to see if you’d changed.

VEXOR
I haven’t.
But I’ve learned how to lose beautifully.

(They stand in silence. The floating quill begins to write again — this time, without dictation.)

Curtain.

Scene IX: “The Hero Arrives Too Soon”

Setting: Vexor’s tower, still glowing from the quiet moment between him and Callianeira. She stands unveiled, radiant. Vexor is stunned, halfway between hope and heartbreak. The silence is tender — until the door explodes open.

THALOS (bursting in)
Aha!
Sorcerer!
Villain!
Flame-footed thief of nymphs!

(He poses heroically, one sandal slightly askew.)

CALLIANEIRA (startled)
Thalos?

VEXOR (dryly)
Ah. The metaphor arrives.

THALOS (brandishing his lyre like a sword)
Unhand her!
Or… unheart her!
Or whatever it is you’re doing!

CALLIANEIRA (amused)
He wasn’t doing anything.

THALOS
Then I’ve come just in time.

VEXOR
You’ve come just in time to ruin the mood.

THALOS (to Callianeira)
I scaled the tower.
I fought three illusions, two riddles, and one very sarcastic gargoyle.

CALLIANEIRA
Did you answer the riddle?

THALOS
No. I punched it.

VEXOR (aside)
Alendrian education.

THALOS (to Vexor)
I challenge you to a duel!

VEXOR
I challenge you to a nap.

CALLIANEIRA (stepping between them)
Enough.
Thalos, I came here on my own.
Vexor, I came to see if you’d changed.
And now I see you both haven’t.

(She turns to leave. Both men follow, sheepish.)

THALOS
Wait — I brought you a flower!

VEXOR
I wrote you a poem!

CALLIANEIRA
I am a nymph.
I am the flower.
And the poem.

(She exits. The two men stare at each other.)

THALOS
So… duel?

VEXOR
Tea?

Curtain.