The Skull and the Speech

The final day of filming. The death of Malakor.

The scene was set in the "Throne Room of Bone." Sebastian was supposed to stand before the Golden Knight (Chad) and Lady Elara (Clarissa), give a speech about power, and then be struck down.

The cameras rolled. The crew watched. Penny stood in the back, holding her clipboard, trying not to cry.

"Action!"

Sebastian stood on the throne dais. He looked at Chad. He looked at Clarissa.

He held the prop skull of his ancestors in his hand.

"You think you have won," Sebastian said, delivering his line. "But power is not in the sword. It is in the..."

He stopped.

He looked at Clarissa. She was preening, waiting for her close-up.

"I can't do this," Sebastian said.

"Cut!" the Director yelled. "Sebastian, what the hell?"

Sebastian walked down the steps of the dais. He walked past Chad. He walked past Clarissa.

He walked straight toward the back of the room, toward the shadows where the crew stood.

The extras parted like the Red Sea.

Sebastian stopped in front of Penny. He was wearing his full villain armor—spikes, leather, cape. But his face was open. Vulnerable. Terrified.

"Mr. Vane, we are rolling," the 1st AD hissed.

"Let them roll," Sebastian said. He looked at Penny. "I am tired of this script, Penny."

"Sebastian, go back to your mark," Penny whispered, looking around frantically. "You're going to get fired."

"I don't care," Sebastian said. "I tried to be the Villain. It was lonely. I tried to be the Golden Retriever. It was itchy."

He held out the prop skull.

"I just want to be the Dork," he said. "The one who eats donuts with you in the rain. The one who knows that you take your coffee with oat milk because dairy makes you sleepy. The one who burns when he looks at you."

The entire soundstage was silent. Three hundred people were watching.

"Clarissa is the lead," Sebastian said, his voice ringing out. "But she is not the heroine. You are. You saved me, Penny. You found me under a table and you didn't look away."

He offered the skull to her like a bouquet of flowers.

"I love you," he said. "Will you please take this skull and... perhaps go to dinner with me? As a human person?"

Penny looked at the plastic skull. She looked at the man in the ridiculous costume who was looking at her with his heart in his eyes.

She laughed. It was a bright, sunny sound that broke the tension in the room.

"You're so dramatic," she said.

"I am an actor," he replied solemnly. "It is a terminal condition."

"I love you too, you weirdo," Penny said.

She took the skull.

Sebastian smiled. It wasn't a wolf smile. It wasn't a fake smile. It was real, crooked, and radiant.

He grabbed her face and kissed her.

The crew erupted into applause. Chad looked confused. Clarissa looked furious.

The Director sighed. "Keep rolling! We can use this for the behind-the-scenes documentary!"

\---

**Epilogue**

*Six Months Later.*

The snow was fake, made of biodegradable potato flakes, but the sentiment was real.

Sebastian Vane stood on the porch of a picturesque cottage in Vermont (actually a soundstage in Burbank). He was wearing a bright red Christmas sweater with a reindeer on it.

"Cut! That’s a wrap!"

Sebastian relaxed, dropping his "jolly" persona. He walked off the set of *The Christmas Prince of Poughkeepsie*.

Penny was waiting for him by the monitors. She was now the 1st AD of this production.

"You were great," she said, handing him a water bottle. "Very festive."

"I feel ridiculous," Sebastian admitted, pulling at the reindeer collar. "I miss the spikes."

"The spikes scared the children," Penny reminded him. She kissed his cheek. "Besides, you promised. One Hallmark movie, then you can go back to playing a wizard. But a nice wizard."

"A morally grey wizard," Sebastian negotiated, taking her hand.

"Deal."

They walked toward the exit, hand in hand.

"What's for dinner?" Sebastian asked.

"Quiche?" Penny suggested.

Sebastian shuddered. "Never again. Donuts?"

"Donuts," Penny agreed.

And as they walked out into the California sun, the former Dark Lord and the girl who saved him looked like they were walking into their own happily ever after. No script required.