Enter Philomele

[shamelessgirl]

(She appears in the main room, her body trembling with anger, her words soft and low and dangerous as she speaks to someone who is no longer there.)

And they obey you? Look up to you? Have the men and women of Thrace seen you naked? Shall I tell them?

(Her words falter, suddenly, as she realizes she is no longer on the shore, and she whirls around,

Comments

[thoselilyhands]

(a look from a lady who sits in a corner, with wings folded around her instead of arms -- and though she knows those names, she cannot answer -- she shivers, and cannot say why)

[shamelessgirl]

(Philomele sees her -- the first person her eyes fall on in this strange place -- and goes to her.)

Lady. Lady, can you tell me where I am? What is this place?

[thoselilyhands]

(she sadly shakes her head, and opens her mouth as though to be speak, but her mouth is empty. no tongue, no voice.)

[shamelessgirl]

No? Why? Do you not know it yourself?

(And then she seems to realize what she is seeing, the empty, silent mouth, and she gasps, shocked and shaken.)

Not simply silent, but silenced. Who would do such a thing?

[priorphilip]

A kind faced monk, younger than he might look at first because of his shaved head, is nearby. He looks up at her calls. "My child... are you lost?"

[shamelessgirl]

(At the sound of a male voice she whirls, instantly on guard, but this is not the man she fears, and so she breathes a little easier and collects herself, hoping to get some information.)

Yes. Maybe. I'm not certain. I wanted to get away and I did -- perhaps that means I'm not lost after all.

[priorphilip]

"Well, it seems most arrive here unintentionally. But perhaps that does not mean you are lost."

[shamelessgirl]

Perhaps not.

(She looks around.) Is it very far to Athens from here?

[not_snake_bite]

He's going to stop and look at her - we're assuming she was already briefed by Philip.

"That's an unusual gown, my lady, but it suits you."

[shamelessgirl]

(Philomele isn't certain how to respond to a compliment from a man right now. The last man who bothered to look at her was a dangerous one. Nevertheless, it isn't rational to treat everyone as a potential threat, and so she tries to smile.)

Thank you. My father had it made as a birthday gift.

[not_snake_bite]

"He was a generous man, then." Steerpike bows. "They call me Squire. Welcome to the Mansion, Lady."

[shamelessgirl]

Athenians are known for their generosity. (She nods, bends her knees a little -- not a curtsy. She is too high in rank to curtsy to many.)I am Philomele. . . . I thank you. But I'm afraid I haven't been invited.

[fair_hero]

"O, soft, my lady!" Hero calls, reassuringly, looking up from Leonato at the sound of her voice.

[shamelessgirl]

(Hero is the first woman to speak to her -- to speak, unlike poor, tongueless Lavinia, and Philomele's relief is tangible.)

Is this your home?

[fair_hero]

"Nay, not my home, but I do live here." And she doesn't seem upset by the fact, either.

[shamelessgirl]

But home is where one lives. Unless -- did you marry a man who lives here? I am told foreign brides often feel they are forever a guest in their husband's home.