"No less than Queen Isabella sponsored Sir Thomas Langley." "He was stationed at Berkeley Castle where the King was murdered and arrived here shortly afterward, injured and seeking refuge." " Your father died of a fall in prison." " That is a lie!" " Give us land to farm." " You work for Lord Ralph." "You know it's against the law to leave him without his permission." " You're breaking the law." " You all know this is wrong." "If Lord Ralph can do this to Wulfric, then he can hang any of us as he pleases!" "Now we're in for it." " You can't do this, it's my livelihood!" " You are not married." "You cannot run a business without a husband in charge." "My husband is dead!" "Thomas is coming." "Merthin..." "What are you doing?" "We're leaving." "Then you have made your choice." "There's nothing for us here anymore." "With Godwyn as Bishop," " how could we ever be together?" " Where will you go?" "Away from Godwyn." "But what of the hospice?" "Everything you've fought so hard for?" "People like you are the soul of this town of Kingsbridge." "If you leave, who will stand up to Godwyn?" "You could have stood against him years ago." "You chose not to." "I won't see Caris lose her life to him." "When will you leave?" "Tomorrow, early." "I'll see you again before you go." "You won't change our minds." "Ralph's gonna be back soon with more soldiers." "Maybe we should take to the woods." "No." "I won't run any longer." "I ran all my life... until I met you." "Well, if we're gonna stay, then we're gonna have to fight." "And if we fight, then we're probably gonna die." "I'd rather die fighting for something good than live my life running in fear." "You probably think I'm a fool, but I always wanted to change my life." "And yours." "Am I a fool?" "You showed me that if... something means enough to you, then it's worth standing up for." "You're not a fool, Gwenda." "You're a goddess." "Thomas?" "Do you swear fealty and service to Kingsbridge, remembering courtesy and kindness, and prizing justice above personal gain, and do you labour for the common good?" " You know we do." " What is this?" "Your borough charter." "I lettered it this afternoon." "And signed it "Edward II."" "Thank you, Brother, but I don't think it'd do us any good." "This is the seal of King Edward II." "I told you he lives." "Your Majesty." "No, please." "Caris, stand up." "I'm Brother Thomas now." "I never should have been king." "I loved architecture more than war." "And men more than my queen." "I gave her my crown... but she had further plans." "She wanted me dead." "The knight who accepted my execution orders was a man named Thomas Langley." "I killed him, and, with the help of the Head Guard, escaped." "Took Langley's name as my own." "All would have been well had they not wanted to kill Langley too." "Kingsbridge had always been loyal to me, and the Priory was a place where I could repent and pray." "And now it's free." "This charter strips the Priory of all power over Kingsbridge in secular matters." "And therefore Godwyn of any hold he has over you." "Stay, please." "And flourish under it." " Where did this come from?" " The scriptorum." "There were two copies." "The other's in safe hands." "It's too well-preserved." "It was locked safely in a box, hidden by Prior Anthony." "And no wonder." "But Prior Anthony would have told me." "I could have you branded as a forger and a liar." "Check the seal," "Your Eminence." "I think you'll find it authentic." "I don't understand it." "The dead King's seal." "This is sorcery, Mother." "I can smell the Devil's sulphur!" "And he works through that whore Caris." "I don't know about the Devil, but this certainly changes everything." "I think the Queen will not be happy about this." "Merthin." " What do you want?" " Caris Wooler, you're under arrest for practicing witchcraft." " Those charges have been dismissed!" " So long as she remained a nun." " No, let her go!" "You've no right!" " Merthin!" " As bishop, I have every right." " You can't prove she's a witch!" "She was tried and convicted." "I'm simply carrying out the sentence." " Don't, Merthin!" " Let her go, Godwyn!" "You know you've no right." "If you touch a hair on her head..." " Arrest him." " Yes, Your Grace." "And why should a borough charter concern me?" "It's an obvious forgery, Your Majesty." "The wax on the seal is quite fresh, but the seal itself belonged to your late husband, who's been dead these past years." " Where did you get this?" " A monk," "Brother Thomas of Kingsbridge, claims to have found it." "Thomas Langley?" "He was once your knight, yes." "Leave me alone." "At once!" "Your Majesty." "Look at the seal." " It's just a good copy." " No copy ever existed." "This seal disappeared when your father died." "Look at his mark!" "You think I don't know it?" "That is every bit your father's." "What are you saying?" "My father's alive?" "Yes, living as Thomas Langley, monk of Kingsbridge." "Kingsbridge Priory." "That Priory gave land to the peasants..." "There has already been a revolt in Wigleigh!" "And now this charter!" "I saw him." "Sire, what is it?" "It seemed impossible." "All these years you have suspected me, but he is the one who was plotting against you." "You cannot be King while he lives." "You know that." " Yes." " But now you have no choice." "Your throne or his life." "So, what will you choose?" "There has been, in the County of Shiring, a bloody insurrection against manorial rule and a threat to the very Crown of England." "Consequently," "I shall, myself, lead the army against it." "All traitors will be put to the sword!" "We will destroy Wigleigh and Kingsbridge!" "Leave not one stone standing nor one renegade breathing!" "God save England!" "God save the King!" "God save England!" "God save the King!" "God save England!" "God save the King!" "That's right, lads, build her up." "Round the sides and the back as well." "Thank you, Brother." "Come on, make it nice and thick." "We're burning a witch, not a sparrow." "You've come to bargain, I suppose." "A borough charter for a life?" "No." "There'll be no bargaining." "You'll be tied to the stake and burned, as befits" " a depraved Devil's Whore." " You're the one who's depraved, cousin." "You've hated me and yet you've wanted me since we were children." "You've tempted me, true, but I never succumbed." "I never succumbed until now." "Only a great witch can seduce" "God's servant on earth." "You've been wanting me, haven't you?" "I'm the innocent victim." "The Devil sent you." "He sent you to look on me." "To look on me and touch me and feel me..." "Is it everything you dreamed of?" "And over so soon." "Aunt!" "Thank God you're here." "Godwyn will listen to you!" "You're the only one that can influence him!" "You flatter me, niece." "How could I possibly influence my son when he's doing God's work?" "But I am not a witch!" "You know that!" "Do I?" "Then why are you here?" "The same reason as everyone else." "To watch a witch burn." "Goodbye, Caris." "People of Kingsbridge!" "God, in His infinite wisdom, has elevated me to Bishop specifically that I may today carry out the sentence passed ten years ago and burn this witch at the stake, burn her as surely she will continue to burn in Hell!" "You should burn in Hell, not her!" "She has sheltered in the guise of a Nun, she has laughed at us all in her affectation as Prior!" "But today... today," "I am the instrument, the instrument of the Lord's justice!" "This is not the Lord's justice, nor is it God's will!" "How dare you speak above your Bishop?" "How dare you speak at all?" "There are pigs of the field I would appoint Bishop before you!" "You are an insult to the purple cloth!" "Caris is not a witch and never was!" "Just as Godwyn is not a Christian" " and never shall be!" " She's innocent!" "This is not justice, but the work of an evil man settling old scores!" " I am the Holy Church!" " Which counts as nothing!" "You have a charter now!" "Kingsbridge is free of the Priory!" "And free of this man's madness!" "Please!" "Get out!" "Get out!" "They're right behind me!" "Run!" "Run," " they're right behind me!" " Quiet!" "Let the boy be heard!" "They attacked Wigleigh!" "They would have killed everyone!" " Who?" " Lord Ralph!" "The King's men!" "They're surrounding the town!" "We have to run for our lives!" "Citizens of Kingsbridge!" "By order of his Majesty Edward the Third you are arrested, having been found guilty of fomenting revolt!" "At dawn, when the King arrives, this town will be razed to the ground and all of you will be put to the sword!" "All are complicit, and all will die." "Surely not the women and children!" "Get away from here!" "Come on!" " Get up there!" " Wulfric!" "Stop!" "I beg you!" "Stop!" "Our plight is grave." "The King's army stands at our walls and we are surrounded." "They say our only choice is to pray for forgiveness, for in the morning they shall show us no mercy." "They say that tomorrow, they will raze this town, our town, our Kingsbridge to the ground!" "They say the King himself seeks to make an example of us." "So shall we throw open our gates, and kneel, trust in God's mercy, or shall we provide him an example?" "Let us fight, and die, if God's will is so, as free men and women." "Let him find an example of fearless resistance in the face of tyranny!" "An example of the matchless power when the righteous fight for good!" "So that a hundred years from now, people will cry, Let us fight!" "Let us fight!" "Let us fight for good!" "Let us fight for honour!" "Let us fight for freedom, just as they did at Kingsbridge!" "For Kingsbridge!" " For Kingsbridge!" " For Kingsbridge!" "We never did make it to Italy." "This is much better than Italy." "It seems cruel that we wasted so much time being apart." "Now we're finally together and..." "Whatever happens tomorrow, you and I, we will always be together." "I promise." "Holger..." "Are we going to die?" "Of course we are." "Don't you know that yet?" "Nobody lives forever." "I mean tomorrow." "Are we going to die tomorrow?" "Tomorrow, if we fight like lions, we'll do better than die:" "We'll be remembered for ever." "Godwyn, calm yourself." "Lord Ralph will not harm us." " He will kill us." " Calm yourself." "We'll be safe." " How do you know?" " Because Ralph is your brother." "After your father died," "I was still quite young and I fell in love again." "But I was incautious and I bore a child." "Loss can change any woman, but to lose a child can blacken even the purest heart." "It doesn't mean I love you any the less." "It only means that he will love you too." "My magnificent sons." "You whore." "You're a whore!" "A whore!" "God tests me with this tribulation, and I shall not be found wanting." "And as you delight in your carnal pleasures, when this is over," "I swear I shall have you stripped and hanged." "You shouldn't have come." "I want to be sure he's dead this time." "You don't trust me to kill him?" "You have the heart for it, I hope?" "Of course I do." "I'm your son." "He'll be all right." "Stay together." "Go to the Cathedral and stay together." " You best go in as well." " No." "I won't fight well if I have to worry about your safety." "And what if you don't come for me?" "I promise I will." "Break ranks!" "Get ready!" "Forward!" "Hold." " Hold!" " Come on!" "Stay together!" "Hold!" " Yah!" " Come on!" "Stay together!" "Now!" "Go!" "Now!" "Kill everyone!" "Spare no one!" "Burn it to the ground!" "For Kingsbridge!" " All right." " I'm scared!" "My book!" "No!" "Get off me!" "Gwenda!" "I've got you." "Come on!" "Out of my way!" "You won't get to hang me." " Petranilla." " My sons are gone." "The one thinks me a whore." "The other storms these walls as we speak." "And Godwyn's right." "Ralph won't spare me." "If the King says kill them all, he'll kill us all." "Godwyn too." "I can't watch that." "What have you taken?" "Sleeping Nightshade." "Aunt, listen to me." "Listen." "We can save you." "I can make you a purgative." "A Bishop and a Lord." "I did that." "What?" "I'm sorry I never got to see you burn." "You don't need to do this." "How would you ever know what I need?" "Caris, Caris, the Holy Caris." "The detestable Caris..." "I know you're angry, but we don't have much time." "I killed your parents." "Do you still want to save me now?" "Lord, in Thy mercy, have pity on the soul" " of Thy handmaid..." " Don't you dare." "Free her from the perils of this mortal life." "Don't you dare!" "Don't you dare!" "To the path of everlasting salvation." "Through Christ our Lord, Amen." "I forgive you your sins." "Sam!" "Give me some more." "Holger!" "Holger!" "Holger!" "You've come for me, I think." "My son." "Two kings, and only one crown." "If I'm to die today, you must be the one to kill me." "She was a whore anyway." "Death is a blessed relief." "May God have mercy on your soul, Godwyn." "She was your mother." "Of course." "The Devil's fornicator tests me one more time." "But I'm not afraid." "No!" "No!" "Godwyn!" "My Lord, as holy, protect me now in this sacred task." "Let me not flinch and let the blood of Christ stream through me." "I came back from the grave." "And if you're true," "I must return there." "Do you understand me, my son?" "I give you my life that you may be a better King than I ever was." "This fair town has treated me kindly." "I would have you treat it with respect." "I give you my word." "I," "Edward of Caernarfon, son of Edward of England, Prince of Wales," "King of England," "Lord of Ireland and Duke..." "Cease fighting!" "Cease the bloodshed!" "Sound the retreat!" " Sire." " Your Majesty." "Mama!" "Ma!" "Sam!" "Come here." "Come here, Sam!" "Did you hear?" "We did it."