William: I'm dreaming.
Murron: Yes you are, and you must wake.
William: (looking around a moment, then back to her with pleading eyes) I don't want to wake. I want to stay here with you.
Murron: And I with you. But you must wake now. Wake up, William. Wake up. William, wake up.
(It's morning. The vision of Murron is gone; her words now an echo. William wakes.)
Campbell: (from the battlement of York's fortress) William, a royal entourage comes, flying banners of truce, with the standards of Longshanks himself.
(William and his captains step off a ferry and are at once surrounded by English soldiers. His men stay behind while he is led to a large, ornate tent. Princess Isabella watches his approach with curiosity. Then she walks out to meet him.)
Isabella: I am the Princess of Wales. I come as the king's servant and with his authority.
William: To do what?
Isabella: To discuss the king's proposals. Will you speak with a woman?
(She turns and leads the way into the tent. Lord Hamilton and the princess's maid, Nicolette, are there. As Isabella sits, her eyes catch the suggestive look on Nicolette's face, but the princess hurriedly looks away as William looks around suspiciously.)
Isabella: I understand you have recently been given the rank of knight.
William: I have been given nothing. God makes men what they are.
Isabella: (with indignation) Did God make you the sacker of peaceful cities, the executioner of the king's nephew, my husband's own cousin?
William: York was the staging point for every invasion of my country. And that royal cousin hanged innocent Scots, even women and children, from the city walls. (noticing the exchange of glances between the princess and Hamilton) Well, Longshanks did far worse the last time he took a Scottish city.
Hamilton: (snidely to the Princess in Latin) Sanguinarius homo indomitus est. {He is a bloody murdering savage.} And he's telling lies.
William: (to Hamilton in Latin, startling both the English Lord and the Princess) Ego numquam pronuciare mendacium, sed ego sum homo indomitus. {I never lie, but I am a savage.} (in French for the princess's benefit) Ou en Français si vous préférez. {Or in French if you prefer.}
(Isabella is pleased, but then remembers herself and once again she becomes serious and dignified.)
William: (in English, looking only at Isabella) You ask your king to his face, ask him, and see if his eyes can convince you of the truth.
Isabella: (after a pause) Hamilton, leave us.
Hamilton: My lady?
Isabella: Leave us. Now.
(All leave except Nicolette, who hides behind a curtain to eavesdrop.)
Isabella: Let us talk plainly. You invade England, but you cannot complete the conquest so far from your shelter and supply. The king desires peace.
William: Longshanks desires peace?
Isabella: (in innocent sincerity) He declares it to me, I swear it. He proposes that you withdraw your attack. In return he grants you title, estates, and this chest of gold which I am to pay to you personally.
William: A lordship and titles. Gold. That I should become Judas?
Isabella: Peace is made in such ways.
William: Slaves are made in such ways. The last time Longshanks spoke of peace I was a boy. And many Scottish nobles, who would not be slaves, were lured by him under a flag of truce to a barn where he had them hanged. I was very young, but I remember Longshank's notion of peace.
Isabella: I understand you have suffered. I know about your woman.
William: She was my wife. We married in secret because I would not share her with an English Lord. They killed her to get to me. I have never spoken of it. I don't know why I tell you now except I see her strength in you. One day you'll be a queen, and you must open your eyes. You tell your king that William Wallace will not be ruled, and nor will any Scot while I live.
(Isabella's wagon departs. The Princess looks out at William as he stands watching with Hamish.)
(Longshanks in his castle, conferring with his war counsel.)
Longshanks: (noticing Isabella enter) Ah, my son's loyal wife returns unkilled by the heathen. So he accepted our bribe?
Isabella: No, he did not.
Longshanks: Then why does he stay? My scouts tell me that he has not advanced.
Isabella: He waits for you at York. He says he will attack no more towns or cities, if you are man enough to come and face him.
Longshanks: Did he?
(He returns to the map on the table, where Prince Edward in sitting. The king moves the pieces as he speaks.)
Longshanks: The Welsh bowmen will not be detected arriving so far around his flank. The main force of our armies from France will land here to the north of Edinburgh. Conscripts from Ireland will approach from the southwest to here.
Prince: Welsh bowmen, troops from France, Irish conscripts. Even if you dispatch them today they will take weeks to assemble.
Longshanks: (to his son) I dispatched them before I sent your wife. (to Isabella) So our little ruse succeeded. Thank you. And while this upstart awaits my arrival in York, my forces will have arrived in Edinburgh behind him. You spoke with this Wallace in private? Tell me, what kind of man is he?
Isabella: (coming out of her shock of realizing how the king used her, says with dignity, lying) A mindless barbarian, not a king like you, my lord.
Longshanks: You may return to your embroidery.
Isabella: (with subtle indignation) Humbly, my lord.
Prince: You brought back the money, of course.
Isabella: (turns around to face the Prince) No, I gave it to ease the suffering of the children of this war.
Longshanks: (to his son) Ha! That's what happens when you send a woman.
Isabella: Forgive me, sire. I thought that generosity might demonstrate your greatness to those you mean to rule.
Longshanks: (coughing) My greatness will be better demonstrated when Wallace returns to Scotland and finds his country in ashes.
(In the yard of the fortress of York. Day.)
Stewart: (from the battlement) William, there's riders approaching.
(William sets down his bucket and walks to the gate. Hamish follows. They see Nicolette arriving on horseback with a mounted escort.)
Hamish: Personal escort of the princess. You must have made an impression.
William: Aye.
Hamish: I didn't think you were in the tent that long.
William: Aye.
(William and Hamish walk out to meet Nicolette.)
William: Mademoiselle. {Miss.}
Nicolette: Un message de ma maitresse. {A message from my mistress.}
(She gives him a paper.)
William: Merci. {Thank you.}
(He takes the note and reads it. In disbelief, he looks quickly at Nicolette then at Hamish, then hurries back to the fortress, leaving Hamish and Nicolette staring and smiling at each other. Hamish, remembering, hurriedly follows William.)
(In the woods, Stephen rides up as William's army runs past. William and Hamish, on horseback, stop.)
Stephen: It's true. The English ships are moving up from the south. I don't know about the Welsh yet, but the Irish have landed. I had to see it with me own eyes before I could believe it.
Hamish: What the hell are the Irish doing fighting with the English?
Stephen: I wouldn't worry about them. Didn't I tell you before, it's my island.
William: Hamish, ride ahead to Edinburgh and assemble the council. Order it.
Hamish: Aye.
William: (to Stephen) Your island?
Stephen: (proudly smiling) My island! (urging his horse onward) Yup!
(The hall of Edinburgh castle. The Scottish Council is seated around the table discussing as Hamish looks on. Robert the Bruce listens. He's troubled, but doesn't comment.)
Craig: Our butts in a bush.
Mornay: No, please. Gentlemen. Lords, Craig is right. This time our only option is to negotiate. Not unless you want to see Edinburgh razed to the ground.
(William marches in the door.)
William: My army has marched for more days than I can remember, and we still have preparations to make. So I'll make this plain. We require every soldier you can summon. Your personal escorts, even yourselves. And we need them now.
Craig: With such a force arrayed against us, it is time to discuss other options.
William: (growing angrier) Other options? Don't you wish at least to lead your men onto the field and barter a better deal with Longshanks before you tuck tail and run?
Robert: Sir William.
Craig: We cannot defeat this army.
William: We can.
Robert: Sir William.
William: And we will. We won at Stirling, and still you quibble. We won at York and you would not support us. If you will not stand up with us now then I say you're cowards.
(The nobles jump to their feet. Lochlan draws his sword, but Hamish crashes his battle axe down on the table, shocking the Nobles into silence.)
William: And if you are Scotsmen, I am ashamed to call myself one.
Robert: Please, Sir William. Speak with me alone. I beg you.
(William and Robert walk away from the table together.)
Robert: Now you've achieved more than anyone ever dreamed, but fighting these odds it looks like rage, not courage.
William: It's well beyond rage. Help me. In the name of Christ help yourselves. Now is our chance, now. If we join, we can win. If we win, well then we'll have what none of us have ever had before: a country of our own. You are the rightful leader, and there is strength in you. I see it. Unite us. Unite us. Unite the clans. (Robert and William shake hands in agreement) Alright.
Robert: Right.
(Wallace walks out without a second glance, confident that he can rely on the Bruce.)
(Later, in the Leper's room.)
Robert: (upset) This cannot be the way.
Leper: You said yourself, the nobles will not support Wallace. So how does it help us to join the side that is slaughtered?
Robert: I gave him my word.
Leper: I know it is hard. Being a leader is. Now son, son, look at me. I cannot be king. You, and you alone can rule Scotland. What I tell you, you must do. Not for me, not for yourself, but for your country.
(Battlefield at Falkirk. In the early morning the Scots pour oil and tar on the battlefield. By mid-morning the Scottish army has already assembled on the field. MacGregor, Hamish, Stewart, and others arrive, easing their way forward.)
MacGregor: Eh, lads. Make way. Coming through here. Make way lads. Make--.
Hamish: (falling in next to William, who is already there) The Bruce is not coming, William.
William: He'll come. Mornay and Lochlan have come. So will the Bruce.
(On the other side of the battlefield, the English army, with Longshanks in command, is waiting. All his officers and guards are mounted, as is he.)
Longshanks: Quite a lovely gathering. (Turning to an unidentifiable knight.) Wouldn't you agree?
(The knight nods.)
English General: The archers are ready, sire.
Longshanks: Not the archers. My scouts tell me their archers are miles away and no threat to us. Arrows cost money. Use up the Irish. Their dead cost nothing. And send in the infantry and cavalry.
English General: Infantry, cavalry, advance.
(The Irish charge across the field, weapons at ready. The English infantry and cavalry slowly follow. Seeing their approach, the Scots charge out to meet them. The Irish and Scottish lower their weapons and greet each other like old friends.)
Stephen: Ah, good to see you this morning.
Longshanks: (shocked, looking at his general) Irish!
William: (stabbing his sword into the ground, to the Irish) Glad to have you with us. Watch this.
(William grabs a banner and waves it, signaling the concealed Scottish archers, who shoot flaming arrows into the oil-soaked battlefield. The English cavalry and soldiers get burnt by the fire. William leads his men into hand to hand fighting. It is fierce, with many getting hurt or killed. William then waves another banner, this time signaling the Scottish nobles, who are still at the rear, to join in. Mornay and Lochlan look at each other, silently understanding each other's intent. They ride off the field with their men as William watches with helplessness which quickly turns to bitter hatred.)
English General: Mornay, Lochlan?
Longshanks: I gave Mornay double his lands in Scotland and matching estates in England. Lochlan turned for much less. Archers.
English General: I beg your pardon, sire. Won't we hit our own troops?
Longshanks: Yes, but we'll hit theirs as well. We have reserves. Attack.
English General: Archers. (signals)
Archer commander: Loose!
(Arrows fall on many English, Scots, and Irish, too busy fighting to shield themselves from the arrows. One hits Morrison in the chest.)
Longshanks: Send in our reinforcements.
English General: (calls out) Send in the rest.
(More English soldiers rush to battle.)
Longshanks: Bring me Wallace. Alive if possible. Dead, just as good. Send us news of our victory. (to the unidentifiable knight) Shall we retire?
(William is hit by an arrow, but breaking it off, continues to fight with all his might though his troops are nearly wiped out. Longshanks rides off the field with his knights and staff. William observes Longshanks' departure. In a rage, he pulls an English soldier off his horse, jumps on the animal and rides after the king. Stephen notices Wallace's mad pursuit. The English General accompanying Longshanks notices that Wallace in riding up behind them.)
General: (to the unidentifiable knight) Protect the king.
(The knight turns and charges Wallace, his lance leveled. Wallace charges the knight, his sword raised. The knight's lance snaps as it is driven into the chest of William's horse. William is thrown off his horse and lands face down on the grass. The knight throws down the broken lance, dismounts and approaches the lifeless William. But William suddenly grabs him and flips him over, unsheathes his knife, removes the knight's helmet and starts to slit the screaming man's throat, but stops when he realizes to his dismay that the knight is Robert the Bruce. With confusion and disbelief William backs away and falls to the ground. Sitting there, it is clear from his face that all hope is gone. William watches as English infantrymen run toward him across the field. He can take no more. He lays back on the grass, giving up. Robert sees the approaching English, and runs to William, concerned for his life.)
Robert: (to William) Get up! Get up!
(Stephen, on horseback, arrives ahead of the English soldiers. Robert recognizes Stephen as one of William's captains.)
Robert: (to Stephen) Get him out of here!
Stephen: (recognizing Robert, is shocked) Jesus!
Robert: (lifting William onto Stephens's horse, shouts) Go!
Stephen: (giving Robert a long stare, then urging his horse onward) Ah!
(Stephen rides off to safety with William as the English chase after, leaving Robert on the field alone. Robert, seeing something, walks over and picks up the thistle embroidery Murron gave William on their wedding night. Robert realizes it's William's.)
(Night falls at William's camp by the waterside. The survivors among William's men tend their wounds. Stephen brings water to Hamish, who offers it to his badly wounded father.)
Campbell: (to his son) I'm dying. Let me be.
Hamish: No, you're going to live.
Campbell: I've lived long enough to live free; proud to see you become the man you are. I'm a happy man.
(Hamish cries as his father dies.)
(Dusk on the field of Falkirk. Robert the Bruce walks among the hundreds of dead and dying soldiers. Children are there grieving for their fathers; wives search for their husbands. In his own grief, feeling responsible for all this suffering, Robert falls to his knees, resting his head on the hilt of his unused sword.)
(In Edinburgh, Robert is in the Leper's room.)
Leper: I'm the one who's rotting but I think your face looks graver than mine. Son, we must have alliance with England to prevail here. You achieved that. You saved your family, increased your land. In time, you will have all the power in Scotland.
Robert: Lands, titles, men, power, nothing.
Leper: Nothing?
Robert: I have nothing. Men fight for me, because if they do not, I throw them off my land and I starve their wives and their children. Those men who bled the ground red at Falkirk, they fought for William Wallace, and he fights for something that I've never had. And I took it from him when I betrayed him and I saw it in his face on the battlefield, and it's tearing me apart.
Leper: Well, all men betray. All lose heart.
Robert: (shouting in anger) I don't want to lose heart. (with passion) I want to believe as he does. (pauses as a tear rolls down his cheek) I will never be on the wrong side again.
(Robert turns his back on his father and walks away.)
(Mornay, in bed, dreams of Wallace. Flames burn behind him, in ghostly appearance, as William rides nearer. Mornay's fear wakes him up. He is alone in bed. Just as he begins to shake off the terror of the dream, Wallace, on horseback, rides into the room and up onto the bed, dangling a ball and chain.)
Mornay: No! Please!
(William guides his horse to Mornay's bed and crushes his skull with a ball and chain. Hearing his scream, guards rush toward the room. Hearing them approaching, William looks for a way out. He guides his horse up some stone steps. The horse kicks opens the double doors. William looks down alarmed. Below is the moat. He turns his horse back into the room just as Mornay's men run in.)
Mornay's men: There he is. After him!
(William turns the horse around again, knocking over many of the men. With a running start, rider and horse leap from the room and plunge into the moat.)
(Later, Craig, Robert, and other Scottish nobles are gathered at a table, eating as they discuss their situation.)
Scottish noble: Lord Craig, is it true about Mornay?
Craig: Aye, Wallace rode into his bed chamber and killed him. More a liability now then ever he was. And there's no telling who'll be next.
Robert: (smiling, to Craig) Maybe you, (seriously) maybe me. (laughing) It doesn't matter.
Craig: I'm serious, Robert.
Robert: (slamming his fist on the table) So am I!
((Craig is puzzled and irritated by his behavior. Red liquid drops on Craig's food. Lochlan's dead body drops on the table)
Craig: (jumping up) Christ! Shit! Search the place.
Noble: Lochlan!
(The Bruce, in shock, gets slowly to his feet and stares in fear at the corpse.)
(Wallace runs along a mountain path, high above a valley. In a Scottish street commoners talk.)
Farmer: (seated, surrounded by curious listeners) William Wallace killed 50 men. 50 as if it was one.
Drinker No 1: (surrounded by a different group of listeners) 100 men, with his own sword. Cut through them like--
Drinker No 2: (inside, at a table) Moses through the Red Sea.
(William stands on top of a mountain, looking out across the land he loves, Scotland.)
(London, in Longshank's castle. Coughing frequently, it is apparent that Longshanks is now in poor health.)
Longshanks: His legend grows. It will be worse than before.
Hamilton: He rallies new volunteers in every Scottish town. And when he replenishes his numbers, --
Longshanks: (having difficulty speaking) They're sheep, mere sheep. Easily dispersed if we strike the shepherd. Very well. Take a flock of your finest assassins and set a meeting.
Advisor: My lord, Wallace is renowned for his ability to smell an ambush.
Longshanks: If what Lord Hamilton tells me is correct, he warmed to our future queen and would trust her. So we'll dispatch her with the notion that she comes in peace.
Hamilton: My Lord, the princess might be taken hostage, or her life be put in jeopardy.
Longshanks: My son would be most distressed by that.
(Prince Edward looks doubtful and confused by this statement. The King sits down. Around a corner, in the shadows, is Nicolette, eavesdropping.)
Longshanks: But in truth, if she were to be killed, we would soon find the King of France a useful ally against the Scots. (to his son) You see, as king, you must find the good in any situation.
(William, Hamish, and Stephen stand in front of an isolated hut in Scotland. Nearby sits Princess Isabella's wagon. Two French soldiers stands outside the door as guards. Concealed inside are the English assassins.)
Chief Assassin: (to his accomplices) It's William Wallace sure. And he's given up his sword. Be ready.
(William and Hamish approach the guards and push them into the hut, closing the door behind them. Then William and Stephen push a cart up to the door as a barricade. Finally, they douse the thatched roof with tar and ignite it with torches that Stephen hands them. The hut burns with the assassins trapped inside.)
(That night Wallace rides up to a single dwelling somewhere in Scotland. He looks around cautiously before riding closer. Princess Isabella is inside. She hears something outside and goes to the window, but sees nothing in the moonlight. Turning back into the room, she begins to pace anxiously. Behind her, unnoticed, Wallace enters, removing the tartan from his head. He approaches the now sitting princess.)
William: My lady.
(Isabella, startled, jumps to her feet.)
William: I received your message. This is the second time you've warned me of danger. Why?
Isabella: (nervously) There will be a new shipment of supplies coming north next month. Food and weapons, they will travel--
William: No, stop. Why do you help me? (in a whisper) Why do you help me?
Isabella: (turning away) Because of the way you are looking at me now.
(William kisses her and they embrace. He lays her down on a bed. Next morning, outside, William and Isabella kiss again. William then mounts his horse and rides away as Isabella stands alone, watching. William, Hamish and Stephen ride down a country road. Time progresses. At the bedside of his dying father, Robert the Bruce reaches out to comfort him. Longshanks sits alone as his own death draws near. His breathing is now very labored. Princess Isabella strolls the castle colonnades, in love and feeling loved at last. In a remote camp in the Highlands, Stephen, leading horses of hooded riders, walks up a path toward William, Hamish, and the other men.)
Stephen: (calling out) Just when we thought all hope was lost, our noble saviors have arrived. Off with their . . . hoods!
(William removes one hood. The arrivals are Craig and another Scottish lord.)
Craig: Sir William, we've come to seek a meeting.
William: Well, what's the point? You've all sworn loyalty to Longshanks.
Craig: An oath to a liar is no oath at all. Every man of us is ready to swear loyalty to you.
William: So let the council swear it publicly.
Craig: We cannot. Some scarcely believe you are alive. Others think you'll pay them Mornay's wages. So we bid you to Edinburgh. Meet us two days from now. Give us your pardon and we'll unite behind you. Scotland will be one.
William: One? You mean us and you.
Craig: No, I mean this. (He pulls out Murron's thistle embroidery. William reaches up and grabs it, shocked to see it again.) It's the pledge of Robert the Bruce.
(William looks to Hamish, who turns away skeptically.)
(Near the river. William is preparing his horse to ride to Edinburgh. Stephen and Hamish are the only ones with him.)
Hamish: You do know it's a trap. Tell him.
Stephen: (to William) I think if the Bruce wanted to kill you he'd have done it already at Falkirk.
William: Aye.
Stephen: (to Hamish, empathically) I know, I saw.
Hamish: (trying to appeal to William's common sense) Alright, leaving him aside, what about the others? The nest of scheming bastards couldn't agree on the color of shit. It's a trap, are you blind?
William: Look at this. We've got to try. We can't do this alone. Joining the nobles is the only hope for our people. You know what happens if we don't take that chance?
Hamish: What?
William: Nothing. (walks back to his horse)
Hamish: I don't want to be a martyr.
William: Nor I. I want to live. I want a home, and children, and peace.
Hamish: Do ya?
William: Aye, I do. I've asked God for these things. It's all for nothing if you don't have freedom.
Hamish: That's all a dream, William.
William: A dream? Just a . . .? Huh! What we've been doing all this time; we've lived that dream.
Hamish: You dream isn't about freedom. It's about Murron. You're doing this to be a hero because you think she sees you.
William: I don't think she sees me. I know she does. And your father sees you, too.
(Hamish punches William in the jaw, knocking him to the ground. Hamish walks away in hopelessness.)
Stephen: (looks skyward) Jesus?! (to William) Get up. Give us your hand. Shall I come with you?
William: No, I'll go alone.
Stephen: (shaking William's hand in farewell) I'll see you after.
William: Right.
Stephen: (looking to heaven again) Sooner rather than later, I hope.
(He watches William lead his horse away.)
(Edinburgh hall. Robert the Bruce awaits William's arrival. Craig stands on a platform, looking out the window. Robert paces on the table.)
Craig: He won't come.
Robert: He will. I know he will.
(Wallace rides toward Edinburgh castle, looking around cautiously.)
Guard: (from outside) My Lord, he approaches.
(Robert jumps down off the table and Craig stands. Wallace enters the castle, while Robert and Craig come down the outside stairs. The Bruce raises his hand in greeting. William returns the salute, then dismounts. A stableboy leads the horse away. Suspense mounts with furtive glances. Robert notices something wrong and stares at Craig, whose expression confirms his fears.)
Robert: NO!
(English soldiers ambush Wallace from behind, beating him to the ground. Robert runs to Wallace to help.)
Craig: (pulling Robert away) Stay out of it, Robert.
Robert: Aah! You lied! Get away! Get away!
(He pulls some of the soliders away, then throws himself on top of Wallace to deflect the blows. The men beat Robert also.)
Craig: (running to protect Robert) The Bruce is not to be harmed. That was the arrangement.
(William is beaten unconscious.)
(Later, Robert climbs the stairs to his father's room.)
Robert: (shouting) Father! (bursts into the room and slams his father against a wall) You rotting bastard. Why?! Why?!
Leper: (calmly) Longshanks required Wallace. So did our nobles. That was the price of your crown.
Robert: Die! I want you to die.
Leper: Soon enough I'll be dead. And you'll be king.
Robert: I don't want anything from you. You're not a man, and you're not my father.
(Letting him go, Robert starts to walk away.)
Leper: (grabs Robert) You are my son, and you have always known my mind.
Robert: (shaking himself free) You deceived me.
Leper: You let yourself be deceived. In your heart, you always knew what had to happen here. (Robert walks away) At last, you know what it means to hate. Now you're ready to be king.
(Robert turns and faces him with disgust in his eyes, then starts closing the door.)
Robert: My hate will die with you.
(London. Inside the castle Wallace stands before the Magistrate.)
Royal Magistrate: William Wallace, you stand in taint of High Treason.
William: Against whom?
Royal Magistrate: Against your king. Have you anything to say?
William: Never in my whole life did I swear allegiance to him.
Royal Magistrate: It matters not. He is your king. Confess, and you may receive a quick death. Deny, and you must be purified by pain. Do you confess? Do you confess? (Wallace ignores the executioner.) Then on the morrow you shall receive your purification.
(Dungeon. Footsteps approach the jailer and guard.)
Jailor: Your Highness.
Isabella: I will see the prisoner.
Jailor: We've got orders from the king that no one--
Isabella: (turns sharply to him) The king will be dead in a month and his son is a weakling. Who do you think will rule this kingdom? Now open this door.
Jailor: Majesty.
(They enter the cell. The Princess is saddened by what she sees.)
Jailor: Come on filth, up on your feet.
(The jailor walks up to William, sitting on the floor, and kicks him.)
Isabella: Stop it. Leave me. (shouting) I said leave me.
(The jailor exits.)
William: My lady.
Isabella: Sir, I come to beg you to confess all and swear allegiance to the king, that he might show you mercy.
William: Will he show mercy to my country?
Isabella: Mercy is to die quickly, perhaps even live in a tower. In time, who knows what could happen. If you can only live?
William: If I swear to him, then all that I am is dead already.
Isabella: (starting to cry) You will die. It will be awful.
William: Every man dies, not every man really lives.
(She steps up to him and takes out a small vial.)
Isabella: Drink this. It will dull your pain.
William: No. It will numb my wits, and I must have them all. For if I'm senseless or if I wail, then Longshanks will have broken me.
Isabella: (her tears flowing now, almost unable to speak) I can't bear the thought of your torture. Take it.
William: (looking sadly at her) Alright.
(She puts the vial to his lips and he drinks. They kiss. Once she leaves and the door is locked, William spits out the vial's contents.)
(In his chambers, the king lies in his bed, too ill to speak. The Prince is with him. Isabella enters.)
Isabella: (firmly to the king) I have come to beg for the life of William Wallace.
Prince: (amused) You're quite taken with him, aren't you.
Isabella: (to Prince Edward) I respect him. (to Longshanks) At worst he was a worthy enemy. Show mercy, O thou great king, and win the respect of your own people. (Longshanks does nothing.) Even now you are incapable of mercy. (turning toward the Prince) And you. To you that word is as unfamiliar as love.
Prince: Before he lost his powers of speech he told me his one comfort was that he would live to know Wallace was dead.
Isabella: (bending down to Longshanks' left ear, whispers) You see, death comes to us all. But before it comes to you, know this. Your blood dies with you. A child who is not of your line grows in my belly. Your son will not sit long on the throne, I swear it.
(The Prince approaches. Longshanks is shocked and struggles. Isabella leaves. Prince Edward looks worried.)
(In Aldgate, a crowd has gathered to watch Wallace's "purification." On the grim stage, a pair of midgets entertain the crowd by acting out what is to come. Meanwhile, still in his cell Wallace prays.)
William: I am so afraid. Give me the strength to die well.
(On the stage, the midgets continue their entertainment until the executioners arrive. Accompanied by cries of "boo," the midgets run off the stage.)
Common man: Here he comes!
(Wallace is brought through the crowd on a wagon. He is on his knees. The crowd throws trash and food at him. Princess Isabella sits alone in the palace. William is lifted onto the stage and brought before a covered table behind which stands the Magistrate, watching William closely at he removes most of the cover to reveal the instruments for William's torture. The Magistrate gestures for the crowd to be quiet. Hamish and Stephen can be seen in the crowd.)
Royal Magistrate: Now behold the awful price of treason. You will fall to your knees now. Declare yourself the king's loyal subject, and beg his mercy, (removing the rest of the cover to reveal an axe that will be used to behead William) and you shall have it.
(Wallace does not respond, but only stares at a young child in the crowd.)
Royal Magistrate: Rope.
(A rope loop is slipped over Wallace's head. Wallace continues to look at the child. Longshanks is in his deathbed, his eyes closed.)
Royal Magistrate: (to the executioners) Stretch him. That's it, stretch him.
(William is raised into the air hanging by his neck with incredible pain. After a while, the executioner signs Wallace to be let down. He is dropped onto the platform and drops Murron's embroidery.)
Royal Magistrate: (calls out so the crowd hears) Pleasant, yes? (to William) Rise to your knees, kiss the royal emblem on my cloak, and you will feel no more.
(Wallace picks up the embroidery and stands, but gives no response.)
Royal Magistrate: Rack him.
(Wallace is streched in mid-air by ropes tied to his hands and feet, as Hamilton and the king's Advisor watch. Isabella sits alone listening to the cheers on the crowd. Wallace bleeds from his wrists from the great pressure of the ropes. The Magistrate tests the ropes to see how taut they are.)
Royal Magistrate: Enough?
(Wallace resists. After several seconds, the magistrate decides that William will not be broken in this way. He signals his men to drop him again. Then they put William on a heavy cross shaped table, tying down his arms and legs. His shirt is cut open with a hooked blade on a long handle. His face now shows that he is in serious pain as they begin disembowelling him. Still he does not cry out.)
Royal Magistrate: (leaning over to whisper to William) It can all end, right now. Peace. Bliss. Just say it. Cry out mercy.
(In the crowd, Hamish and Stephen are suffering along with William, while around them the women start chanting "mercy." Longshanks and the Prince wait inside the castle. Robert the Bruce leans against a parapet of Edinburgh castle, suffering. A tear falls down Isabella's cheek.)
Royal Magistrate: (still bent over Wallace) Cry out. Just say it. Mercy.
Hamish: Mercy, William, mercy.
Stephen: Jesus, just say it.
Royal Magistrate: (to the crowd) The prisoner wishes to say a word.
William: (after much struggle, shouting with all his might) FREEDOM!
(Longshanks' eyes open, and he appears dead. Prince Edward comes to him, concerned. Stephen closes his eye in regret. Princess Isabella also closes her eyes. In Edinburgh, Robert the Bruce raises his grieved head from his folded hands and looks out as though to see London. William is in great pain as he continues to be disembowelled. The Magistrate gives up all hope of breaking Wallace and signals for the axe. As it is being raised high in the air, Wallace looks out into the crowd. Behind Hamish and Stephen, Murron appears, walking through the crowd. William watches her. As the axe descends, she smiles at William and he smiles back. William drops the embroidery the moment he is beheaded.)
(Years later. On the field at Bannockburn, Robert the Bruce and Lord Craig sit on horseback as the Scots face the English army, positioned across the field. William's men are assembled along with the young Scottish solider and the Veteran.)
Robert (narrator): After the beheading, William Wallace's body was torn to pieces. His head was set on London Bridge, his arms and legs sent to the four corners of Britain as a warning. It did not have the effect that Longshanks planned. And I, Robert the Bruce, rode out to pay homage to the armies of the English king and accept his endorsement of my crown.
English Commander: (to the English Lord on horseback next to him) I hope you've washed your arse this morning. It's about to be kissed by a king.
(Robert takes out Murron's embroidery and looks at it with sorrow, thinking, as MacClannough watches. The Bruce looks at William's men, then puts the embroidery back into his sleeve armour.)
Craig: (to Robert) Come. Let's get it over with.
(Craig rides out and Robert follows. But Robert stops.)
Robert: (to Craig) Stop. (turning to the Scots) You have bled with Wallace, now bleed with me.
Craig: (in pained regret) Ah!
(Hamish drops his axe, and pulls out Wallace's sword. Stepping forward, he screams and throws William's sword out into the field. It stabs into the earth, standing like a cross. Robert the Bruce draws his sword.)
Crowd: WALLACE, WALLACE, WALLACE, WALLACE.
(Robert charges and the screaming Scots follow.)
William (narrating): In the year of our Lord 1314, patriots of Scotland, starving and outnumbered, charged the fields at Bannockburn. They fought like warrior poets. They fought like Scotsmen. And won their freedom.
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