"Previously on The Bastard Executioner..." "Father Ruskin and Master Gawain's son Luca have been missing for two days now." "The boy was in the priest's charge." "Our priest made no mention of a pilgrimage?" "The boy doesn't know the woman." "Or Templar." "Return him to his village." "We will release the child unharmed, after you lead us to the seraphim." "I will let you both complete your vengeance." "If our reeve and Sir Locke should meet an untimely death," "I will assume it was but a risk of their sworn duty." "What do you know?" "They were taken." "Because of me." "Because of you?" "Who took them?" "!" "Where's Luca?" "Do not howl at me with such anger!" "I will howl like a devil!" "Wilkin, no." "My son." "Sit." "Deadly tools for a priest." "The punisher's wife seems settled for now." "Yes, but my deception will not last beyond sunup." "She will expect the priest and her son to have returned." "Then I will spin a tale that puts her mind at ease, Baroness." "And no better one to spin a tale than my inventive maiden." "Thank you, Isabel." "You care for him deeply." "This man who pretends to be our punisher." "I do." "Well, then it seems you have acquired the adventure your spirit longs for, dear Love." "Yes." "Marshal." "That is not my name." "Toran Pritchard." "A barley farmer from West River Riding." "You killed a woman the night of the raid." "Stabbed her in the belly and slit her throat." "A beautiful, robust woman." "She was my wife." "And the punisher... another hooded bandit as well?" "Hiding behind false faces under our very noses." "Make haste with your vengeance." "No plea for mercy?" "I follow the orders of my commander, but I alone own the blood that my blade spills." "I earned no mercy." "But you have earned a fair fight." "It is most fitting that you be the one to deliver me to my beloved wife and boy." "No plea for mercy?" "This place holds no mercy." "No mercy, perhaps." "But it still holds honor." "Any other attempts on my life, and I will kill you." "But with this, our debt is clear." "And the lie that binds me here?" "If I knew of such a lie and I didn't take your head," "I would stand equally accused." "You and the punisher have earned your place here." "♪ Born with a heart ♪" "♪ That could ache more than beat ♪" "♪ The mind of a killer ♪" "♪ The soul of the meek ♪" "♪ Flock with no shepherd ♪" "♪ Is a vulnerable game ♪" "♪ I can live without a hearth ♪" "♪ Without love ♪" "♪ But I do need a name ♪" "♪ Father, do you burn ♪" "♪ If your hand is in fire?" "♪" "♪ Does your head spin with rage ♪" "♪ When fooled by the liars?" "♪" "♪ King of the kings ♪" "♪ Do you feel any pain?" "♪" "♪ Do you feel any pain?" "♪" "The Book of the Nazarene." "My devotion..." "has it all been a lie?" "No." "Your devotion is true." "That is what the pages reveal." "Jesus was just a man, Wilkin." "But God spoke through him." "Filled his heart with profound love and divine wisdom." "He knew that devotion was a singular experience between man and God." "A church built to glorify that could only lead to greed and destruction." "History has proven that over and over." "Countless lives lost in the service of faith." "How could a loving God ever wish that on his children?" "And the gospels?" "Filled with much of God's truth and much of man's persuasion." "Why does the seraphim keep this a secret?" "The seraphim carries the Nazarene's words on their flesh." "In his original text." "To be passed on from generation to generation, so it can never be lost." "It will be given to man when the truth of the pages can be understood." "The Rosula never want it to be understood." "That is why they hunt you down." "To destroy this truth." "There is always one who carries the blood." "And 12 disciples who guide and protect." "They have already killed four of my 12." "You carry the blood." "It was God's intention to have Jesus deliver these teachings to man." "His blood will be the one to do it, when the time is made clear." "His blood." "The lineage of the Nazarene." "I am his blood." "A descendant of Jesus the Nazarene." "And when my mate was revealed... we passed on the lineage." "Are you the nun and warrior I've seen in my visions?" "We have both been many people with many names." "We have watched you, guided you, loved you from afar." "Am I that blood?" "You have learned much truth... much too soon." "Truth... that is needed to save the boy." "Yea." "Luca." "How are we to fight such a powerful foe?" "You will do as Jesus did." "Reach out your hand to the ones you love and ask for help." "Good morning." "Perhaps." "She awaits you." "If you deceive her or cause her harm in any way, you will be met with the wrath of her maiden." "And I assure you, sir, your torture devices cannot match the pain" "I will bring." "Understood." "Thank you for allowing us the privacy of your chambers." "Yes, of course." "Have you learned anything of the healer?" "Yes." "She knows who holds the priest and the boy." "Although her story is indeed extraordinary, it is the only truth we have." "Extraordinary truth seems to be our fate." "Yes." "Luca and Father Ruskin were taken by men looking for Annora." "They saw the priest visit her cave before she knew there was danger." "They assumed he knew where she fled." "Ruskin was watching Luca when they came for him." "Who are these men?" "The Knights Rosula, a clandestine order under the charge of the archdeacon of Windsor." "They believe Annora and others like her pose a threat to the Church." "That is why Robinus was here, not to examine accounts, but to start the search for Annora." "What possible threat could a gentle, aged woman present to the Church?" "She has ancient documents in her possession that cast doubt upon the Church's most significant teachings." "I find it difficult to believe that a man as pious as Archdeacon Robinus would endanger the life of a child." "Yea." "But we must meet Robinus and his Rosula to find out if it is indeed a harsh truth or the delusion of a potion maker." "You do not think it is a delusion." "I do not, my lady." "I believe Annora to be true and deeply pious." "To post a military campaign against the Pope's most trusted archdeacon." "It cannot be the shire's men who take on this task." "That would put you and your reign at risk." "I need men who are willing to fight under no banner but that of friendship and the faith that I lead them to the right cause." "I have that faith." "And so do my friends who are in servitude." "They have fought alongside me many a time." "If they take on this dangerous task, might their sentences be reduced?" "Yes, I will see to that." "Thank you, Love." "I will need Milus." "Acquiring other skilled men." "I have no secrets from our chamberlain." "I will ask but one more time." "Priest to priest, in service of your holy vow, where does the seraphim hide?" "As I've told your most pious master more times than I can recall, this cave is the only place" "I ever met the healer and the scarred Templar." "Taking the life of a child, is that in service of your vows?" "He will be martyred if it forces the truth that gives us what we need." " Cut the boy's throat." " No!" "They hide at Heaven's Eye, in the thick briars of the hillsides." "How do you know this, boy?" "My father, sir." "He buys remedies from the gray woman." "I've traveled with him many times." "Search the briars." "I want them alive." "What favor will you demand of me, Moor?" "Keeping my secret." "A vigil watch as I pray." "What is the price?" "A Koran." "Now you know my secret." "So there is no price I can demand." "We are bound in heresy." "Faiths that have only known discord now serve each other." "An unlikely turn in history." "What of your history, Aiden?" "What crime brought 20 years of slavery to the quill?" "I was the scribe here, a freeman, the baron's first year of rule." "This young" "Teutonic Knight would not cease taunting me." "Mocking my Jew face." "Every day, I let that hatred pass through me like a familiar wind." "The wind that leaves the burn of madness." "I pierced him four times with my dagger." "He lived." "I was tortured, hung from high chains for six months." "Then... sent back to my stacks to die." "Four stabs to the knight..." "In his back?" "No." "Dagger to dagger." "Face to face." "I was raised in a dirt hole, good Moor, by a pack of devout and angry Turkish wolves." "Torah and survival." "Some of the skills I acquired serve me." "Others bring only pain." "Your manner and poise, you come from no dirt hole." "Nobility?" "Scholars." "Gentle and decent." "They taught me to think freely, to question." "To push for truth." "A skill that served me until the conquest." "Then brought pain." "Exiled?" "Escaped." "My wife and daughter with her father, made it out through the Andorran trade routes." "My brother and I... found false passage on a labor ship." "Our final port..." "Paradise." "This is a great risk you propose, Baroness, inspired by the tale of a strange woman you hardly know." "A risk taken to save the lives of our priest and a child." "I have reason to believe her story is true." "Our punisher would be that reason." "Yes." "The man we both know as Wilkin Brattle." "I see your bond has grown to inspire truth." "A truth you have known from the moment he stepped through our gates." "Your ability to turn complications into advantages is what makes you such a valuable chamberlain." "Was that a compliment, my lady?" "I believe it was." "I will provide the men to take back the priest and the boy." "The only thing that I ask in return is that you give heartfelt consideration to Baron Pryce." "That my lady stays open to the prospect of a marriage that will protect our shire." "I will stay open to all... prospects." "Thank you, Baroness." "Despite your aggressive, secretive and often illicit tactics," "I am quite fond of you, Milus." "I believe you left out "godless."" "I'm fond of you as well, dear Love." "Why am I still confined, maiden?" "Lady Love needs to be certain that no one has heard of your attack on her." "Word of such things can spread like a dry fire." "You will be free as soon as she confirms its secrecy." "She promised I could see my boy." "Luca must be deep with worry about his mother." "And you shall see him, as soon as he returns from his hunting venture." "Hunting?" "The baroness said the priest took him fishing." "Yes." "Hunting for fish." "Big fish." "That need to be ripped from the stream by pike and hook, then wrestled to the ground." "Time well spent for a boy." "And you have no doubt that we will find these Rosula at the coves?" "They will use the boy to pull the truth from the priest." "Then wait for my return at the coves." "We can expect at least two legions of Rosula Knights, all skilled." "And very deadly." "No fear of dying." "And we bring how many men to this fight?" "I can recruit a half legion or more of knights and horsemen that will fight for pay." "No concern for decree." "If I am able to find out their whereabouts," "I should be able to bring some familial help to our table." "I know another who would be willing to trade risk for years of servitude." "Luca." "Son!" "Who are you?" "Where is my son?" "What have you done with my boy?" "!" "Jess..." "Demon!" "Hideous demon!" "I will have my men ready by midday." "We will be ready as well." "You cannot risk a journey that might put you into the mouth of the Rosula." "You will be safe within the walls of our castle." "Thank you." "We will most certainly need the blade of your hooded protector." "A conspiring table." "Full of adulterers, liars and witches!" "No, dear Jessamy." "We do not conspire." "We found no truth at Heaven's Eye." "I will tell you." "What will become of her?" "A mortal assault on a baroness?" "Yea." " With me." " Yea, sir." "Your wife spoke some remarkable things as her mouth was being strapped." "The delusion of madness." "Perhaps..." "Wilkin." "The truth." "Who are you?" "Wilkin Brattle." "Former knight in Longshanks' army, under the high command of Erik Ventris." "Ventris?" "For the last five years, I've been but a barley farmer in West River Riding." "The cross... you wear around your neck belonged to my wife." "She carried our child." "Both were slain by the man who now wears it as a spoil of victory." "I did not kill that pregnant woman, your wife." "I was ordered as such, but I could not." "Now who speaks remarkable things?" "I wear this not as plunder but as a reminder." "God before crown." "No." "No, my love." "I found her on top of the heap of innocent villagers." "Dead." "Our daughter cut from her womb." "Corbett knew his warrior at first glance." "Allowed your deception." "Turned you into his..." "obliging pawn." "The baroness wishes only confinement for the wife of Maddox." "Until a trial can convene." "What happened here, Reeve?" "Nothing you do not already know." "Sire." "A fire burned recently in the hearth." "Provisions and possessions that would not have been left behind." "Good, we will wait." "Post scouts up and down the shoreline." "If this is but another deception, kill the boy." "Slowly." "Ruskin to be witness to the pain he caused." "And kill the heretical priest as well." "Yes, master." "I hope one of those burn for me." "Are you in need of prayers, Sir Brattle?" "From the moment my eyes open till they close again with sleep." "Do you truly believe the vision we shared was that of our child's birth?" "I do." "Does that trouble you?" "No." "It fills me with so many feelings." "None are troubling." "Your arrival at the castle." "The things that led you here..." "Oh, the journey had a greater plan than the man bound to it." "I feel that as well." "Yet I see no clear path for it to travel forward." "The best paths are always cut at a full gallop, my lady." "Even if one gets lost and cannot find their way home?" "Perhaps home was the destination and not the return." "Baroness." "We are ready, brother." "Yea." "All of those candles burn for you and your safe return." "Do not lose your way, dear Wilkin." "Please find your way home." "I will return." "I promise." "Chamberlain." "We have heard of your need for soldiers." "A mission to rescue the punisher's boy and our priest." "A venture not to be penned in any battle journal." "We are prepared." "This fray will not fill anyone's coffers." "We wish to help, not to plunder." "Yea." "We will need your skills." "A forgotten memory." "My father would pluck it on his gusli to ease me into sleep." "He said God used it to call home the angels." "And where was the place that you called home, Annora?" "I was born on a trail outside of..." "Ulichi." "We were on our way to the Black Sea." "Always on our way." "Home was never a place." "It was the comfort of my mother and father." "I miss that." "A comfort that no castle can provide." "I am happy to see the comfort you find spending time with Wilkin." "His presence soothes me." "Makes you feel safe." "And loved." "What is your bond to Wilkin?" "I see the deep affection you share with him." "Answers will come, Love." "Seek out the ones who give you comfort." "They know what is true." "Cliffs begin to rise a mile from the coves." "If the Rosula bring archers, they'll be perched there." "We ride shoulder to shoulder." "A single line." "Stay a slender target." "Yea." "The most armored to the inner flanks." "We should make haste before the tide forces a new plan." "We wait on an ally." "Is this the familiar strength our lady promised?" "Her Welshmen?" "They are most definitely Welsh." "This is the Byth Encil." "Yea." "Led by their Wolf." "Who brings these traitors to our cause?" "A mission without decree has no traitors, Chamberlain." "Only friends and foe." "And the Wolf can be trusted swinging a sword at our side?" "His loyalty may be contrary, but his honor is no different than ours." "Our battle's already lost without them." "Wilkin." "Halt!" "Two legions or more." "Armor from hoof to head." "What is it?" "We will not defeat them on steeds." "You will know what to do." "I don't understand." "You will." "Ich liebe dich." "Templar." "Halt there!" "Do what he says." "The Templar." "A seraphim would not deliver himself to us." "Then it is the gray woman we want." "The Ventrishire chamberlain." "They hide the seraphim at their castle." "Kill the heathens." "Yes, master." "Sanguis enim Dei!" "Ha!" "Go!" "Go!" "With me!" "We must go." "This cannot be." "Master!" "Let's go." "If you kill me, priest, you will secure your place in hell." "Master!" "Master!" "Devil." "Please." "Luca!" "Are you hurt?" "No." "Father, don't go, please." "You risk much and lose many." "Tell me, Wolf... what do you gain from this fight?" "We never fight for gain, sir." "We fight to keep what is already ours." " Baroness." " Chamberlain." "Our mission, completed." "All are safe." "Father." "My lady." "I am so relieved." "And I am deeply sorry this peril came to you." "No, your well-being is my responsibility." "I should be the one to offer contrition." "Thank you." "If you will pardon me, I should retire." "A wash and a change of tunic are due." "Lady Love, good sirs." "You should rest as well, Reeve." "Your bravery today was most admirable." "Your service true." "And service to that which is true is our sworn duty, is it not, good chamberlain?" "Indeed." "Sire." "Baroness." "Thank you, Reeve." "How many men did we lose?" "Four of our soldiers and the healer's mate." "The hooded man?" "That is most sad." "It was a righteous and most fitting death." "The Wolf and his band of yellow faces were an unexpected ally." "The rebels?" "That is highly unexpected." "Perhaps they heard tell of the boy and holy priest." "Put humanity before pride." "That would offer hope and the prospect of peace." "Perhaps." "How long do I have before the truth is known, Milus?" "Our king is in the throes of love lost and baronial persuasion." "I would say two months, three if we avoid missives." "The child of Lady Love and Baron Ventris was so blessed, so special, that God called him to heaven before he was even born." "You will handle it with grace, Love." "Yes." "Our punisher was... on his way to the healer, the music chamber." "Thank you, Milus." "My aggressive, secretive and illicit tactics are always at your service, my lady." "Are they deaf as well as dense?" "Pardon?" "Fresh rags for our punisher." "Yes, a full basket." "Just rags only." "For the torture... cleaning." "So pretty, so dumb." "Another talent of a forgotten lifetime?" "I am so glad you are both safe." "His spirit is still whole." " Yea." " And the priest?" "Safe within these walls." "Will you play it again, please?" "That is enough, little minstrel." "Take you to a bath before your father is forced to cut off your fingers for dirtying the noble organ." "The Rosula legions fell to our swords." "Robinus as well." "One red cloak escaped, but he was wounded." "No horse or provisions." "He will not make it through the harsh coastal night." "Thank you." "Your mate." "I know." "I'm sorry." "I'm so glad you are safe." "I am home, my Love." "There are two more jugs in the back." "A few good swallows every three or four hours will keep her in sleep." "Baron Pryce's scout will meet you at the lime quarry south of the border." "Give him this purse." "He will take her from there." "Yes, mon liege." "The southern trail is whipped by wind." "Do you not have a cloak?" "No." "No, mon liege, I cannot..." "Shh, shh." "Go." "Before the guards wonder why I take such interest in the transport of dead skins." "Merci." "May I ask what will become of her, Chamberlain?" "The punisher's journal will tell how she threw herself into the water pit, never to be seen again." "And what waits for her in Pryceshire?" "She goes to a sanctuary, where they will treat her madness, offer cures." "Is it true they drill into your head, then drive anointed rods through the fresh holes?" "If true, I would rather live with madness." "When was the last time you had an anointed rod in your fresh hole, maiden?" "Please." "We've already thrown away law and status this night." "Then it depends, sir." "How was the rod anointed?" "In size or firmness?" "Before Master Gawain and Sir Brattle arrived at my court," "I was an honest and most pious woman." "Have I ruined you, my lady?" "A part of me." "The part that believed my heart would never be open again." "As well as other things... to be open." "Then you've ruined me as well, my angel." "Tell me, dear man." "Who am I to lay with this night?" "Honored warrior, barley farmer," "Maddox the punisher?" "Which would you prefer?" "Perhaps all three." "♪ Boy aimless and angry ♪" "♪ Ran hard from the day ♪" "♪ Left love at the crossroads ♪" "♪ Into a man that I hate ♪" "♪ I fight for the hope ♪" "♪ That blood has a face ♪" "♪ To give me a kiss ♪" "♪ For the faith that I waste ♪" "Do you love me?" "I have always loved you." "♪ Should I drop to my knees?" "♪" "♪ Scream your name out in vain?" "♪" "♪ Tell me, good teacher ♪" "♪ Are we all just insane?" "♪" "♪ King of the kings ♪" "♪ Do you feel ♪" "♪ Any pain?" "♪" "♪ King of the kings ♪" "♪ Do you feel any pain?" "♪"