JAMES. I’m not King yet, surely.

MURDAC. Aye, man, we had a bishop and everything.

JAMES. You have to kneel. I have to receive your homage. How can I be King without that? You have to kneel to me, and my Queen.

A nasty silence. JAMES walks through it, going to JOAN.

He takes her hand and they face the MEN and WOMEN and CLERGY crowded in the throne room.

You have to kneel.

When you kneel to me, then I’ll say I’m your King.

No one moves.

WALTER. Salup.

MURDAC. Shoosht, Walter… Your Majesty… that’s not how we do it.

JAMES. It’s how they do it in every court in Europe.

BIG JAMES. Va te faire foutre! Get the wine. I’m no going on my knees till I fall over. No way.

MURDAC. Quiet, Big James! That might be the… English way, Your Majesty, but…

WALTER. You’re in Scotland now, man, look about you!

JAMES. Oh. I see. I see. I understand.

WALTER. Good, now fetch the drink and let’s get on. JAMES. You think I’m an Englishman.

BIG JAMES. Yes!

JAMES. Do I sound like an Englishman?

MURDAC. You can sound like anything you like, Your Majesty! You’re our King now! We all agreed on that!

JAMES. All of you?

MURDAC. Aye. Every man and woman here.

JAMES. Some of them don’t look too happy about it.

WALTER. You want us to give you the throne and smile about it too?

JAMES. Yes. Yes that would be good. But you can’t. You don’t know who I am and it looks likely I’m an Englishman… or an English servant anyway. Of course you’re not smiling. I’ve not been here for eighteen years. You think I’ve forgotten who I am. Right enough, I was only a boy when I left.

Shall I tell you who I am now?

(To MURDAC.) We’ve got time for that, haven’t we?

MURDAC. Aye but…

JAMES (cutting him off). Good.

People tell me they don’t know what I’m thinking. That’s because I don’t often tell people what I’m thinking. But I tell you this, I think, I know, I can be a really good king. And I will be. I will be if you help me.

(Searches their faces.) No, no, you don’t think I can do it. That’s alright. I’ll prove that I can.

I am so glad to be back here.

I annoyed you there, with the kneeling thing, eh? Of course I did. I should have known I would. After all, I never forgot the Scottish people, my people.

Not a courtier among you and everyone looking me in the eye. Every one of you kings and queens and every one of us poor as stones and not caring about it. Singing about it. Laughing about it because we can still stamp and shout and breathe in life.

Am I right? Is that who we are?

I don’t want you to kneel to me, to King James. I want you to kneel to Scotland. That’s who I am now, in my body, in my person, I’m the King of Scots. That’s what I was born to. Wasn’t it? Isn’t that why you asked me back? Because of this… (Holds up his wrist.)