From 1331. onward
A heavy wooden door. An armored hand gently knocks.
"Hey Byzantium, it's me, Rashka. Can I come in?" she says in a friendly way. It's quiet.
"I'm sorry but I am currently not accepting any visitors. Please come again another time" the former empire replies.
"Byzantium, please. I simply want to apologize for my behaviour. I was emotional and rash and it wasn't my place to say those awful things" Rashka is persistent.
"I understand that, my dear, and I am not mad because of that. I forgave you a long time ago" Byzantium says through the closed door.
"Then why won't you let me in? Don't make me plead outside your doorstep" she replies.
We see inside the room. Byzantium is standing quiet near the door with her hands folded. She is very sad but still appears elegant and regal. Her dress is somewhat simpler and she has three gold necklaces, one gold bracelet and a pair of large heavy earnings instead of a dozen but they are still lavish and beautifully detailed. "Please understand my sweet child. I am not feeling well. Why don't you come and see me when I am feeling better. Is that alright?" she says in an apologetic way.
On the other side, we see Rashka offended. "Fine" she says "If that is what you want, so be it. Farewell."
Next scene: Extremely grumpy, she comes down a flight of stairs where Romanos is waiting for her. "Told you. She doesn't want to talk to anyone. Just sits in that damn tower and mopes" he says worried.
Rashka sulks and turns to her friend. "Thanks for inviting me but I'll be going now."
"No problem" Romaons says smiling "Please feel free to come by any time." Rashka frowns: "Now that you mentioned it, you are welcome to come by my place any time too. I would love to show you what I have done with it."
Romaonos smiles nervously and says: "I'll think about it." Rashka stares at him as he begins to sweat. "Why do you never want to hang at my place?" she asks bluntly as he places his hands in a defensive position and shakes his head.
"Of course I do. I came plenty of times...Um, like that one time when your boss was Stefan Nemanja" he says still nervous.
"That was two centuries ago! And you only came to take him away in chains*."
{Fun story, don't really have time for it now}
Romaons seems confused. He puts his finger on his chin: "Really. I must have forgotten that part."
At this point, steam starts coming out of Rashka's ears. "I'll come, I promise" he says annoyed.
"See that you do. Bye" she replies and leaves.
Byzantium sees her ride off on her horse from her tower. She observes her until Rashka disappears from her viewpoint. She sighs and looks at her hands. They are dry, grayish and flaky. She sighs deeply and looks out the window again.
Next scene: Back at Rashka's castle, and a sturdy and glorious castle it was, she gets off her horse and walks towards the throne room. "Her current boss, Dušan Nemanjić (Душан Немањић), was not what you would call a saint...In fact, he wasn't even canonized" the narrator speaks.
She enters and the frame turns so we can take a better look at the room. The frame moves slowly from the bottom of the stairs to the man sitting on the throne. We see a few guards standing perfectly still in their shiny metal armors. Rashka's boss, an extremely tall and strong man, leans on the armchair.
"...His father died under suspicious circumstances and he wasn't what you would call 'tolerant' towards the different religious minorities in his kingdom, far from it."
Flashback: A stillshot of lots and lots of fires. He stares into them cold as we hear screaming.
"But he was smart, assertive, a good general, a good husband and had a strong ambition to make this small kingdom into a strong and enormous entity" the narrator continues.
Back at the throne room. "So how is the old empire?" he asks as soon as she comes close enough. "I wouldn't know. She wouldn't let me in" Rashka replies displeased.
"Perhaps, she didn't want you to see her in her weakened state. Seeing a young kingdom on the rise as she withers away would probably be too much for her" he continues.
"Well, I don't want to talk about it" she says "Is there anything else you need from me?"
"Actually, I wanted you to meet the latest addition to my personal guard" he says pointing at the knight at the bottom of the stairs to the right. The knight bows. Rashka does the same.
"Translate to him that this is our representative who has been with us since my royal family came to power" the king orders.
"Longer...I was here longer" Rashka corrects him. As a knight above him translates the knight bows even deeper. "Where are you from?" she asks.
"From the snowy Alps, your immortal kingdom" he says ceremoniously in his own language.
"It has always fascinated me how you can speak so many languages. There wasn't a foreigner who stepped into this castle that you couldn't understand" the king says impressed.
"It's fascinating to me how you humans can't understand each other. You all speak about the same topics and yet your mouths convey them in such different ways" she jokingly replies.
The king smiles: "I actually prefer when they don't speak my language. That way they can't scheme against me." He turns to the guard and speaks again: "Tell him to take his sword and kill the kingdom."
The other guard does so. The new guy seems shocked. The others don't say a word or move a muscle.
Rashka rolls her eyes annoyed. "Please don't...I'm really not in the mood."
The king snickers and signals the pour guard to obey. He takes his sword and charges. Rashka takes out her sword and avoids his attack almost board. The young guard tries again. She dodges his attack, not even lifting her sword. The king observes them amused. After about ten minutes, the man, clearly infuriated and tired, stops to catch his breath. She stands close to him yawning. As she is about to say something to the king, Rashka notices a blade approaching her eyes.
In slow motion, we see her with an enraged look as she hits the opponent's sword making it fall to the ground. The guard realizes that he is done for as her fist approaches his face. At that moment the slow motion stops and we see in normal speed how his face is smashed in as he flies in the opposite direction. The king laughs out hysterically.
"That wasn't funny! He nearly gauged my eyes out. You know how sensitive I am about my eyesight" she yells mad. The king can't catch him breath.
"Seriously, there is something wrong with you. Must you do that with every guard?" she yells mad.
"How else am I going to know, if they're obidient or not" he manages to utter still laughing.
"Well, if you had your fun, I'd like to go to my quarters and rest" she bows almost sarcastically. The king waves approval as he tries to collect his composure. "Get that man a doctor. He deserves a raise!" is the last thing we hear as the room's door closes.