"Gently." "I can't do this." "Yes, you can." "Feel the layers." "A man's flesh will give to the blade." "Too much force." "A gentler hand." "Come." "Morning, my lady." "Good morning, Isabel." "I think I would like something with a bit more color." "My mourning time is finished." "Then let's find something cheerful." "_" "You have never asked me how I gained these skills." "Are you not curious about my knowledge in the remedies of the body?" "I know there are many things about you to be revealed." "Perhaps I fear the truth each burden will bring." "Yes." "Sometimes, a past life exposed can change our living in the present." "And what of my past life?" "Do you know about me?" "My secrets?" "When I was an infant, a young woman-- a nun-- left me with the monks." "Told them I was fatherless." "Was she my mother?" "Yes." "Her journey is finished." "She is gone now and watches over you with the angels." "I am sorry, Wilkin." "And how is the boy?" " Lost." " Hmm." "Full of doubt." "Yea." "As were we." "Yes." "As were we." "♪ 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?" "♪" "Secured to travel?" "_" "They approach!" "A dozen furlongs." "Wipe that color from your face, Nia." "I was firm." "You only keep watch." "Watch what?" "The lot of you failing without my help?" "Enough prattle, little sister." "Hold yourself here." "I hold for no one." "We should return to the castle before the good Chamberlain wonders where we ride." "Yea." "Good morning." "Morning, Berber, Calo." "Where's Ash?" "Our question as well." "He went out for the hunt yesterday; not shown since." "Ah." "Perhaps he traveled too far, made camp in midshire." "If he snares rabbits, his traps will be to the south." "I have traveled these dead oaks many times." "Then we venture." "Find the furry poc." "Go well-armed." "These sea caves hide the banished and thieving." "We also hide like the banished, all in need of a hasty revenge." "Any gains on finding the guilty?" "We've learned there were four other knights, along with our new reeve." "He is the key to finding the guilty." "Leon Tell led the company of noble savages that wracked our village." "Yea, and when we gain his trust, we will pry from his lips the names of the murderers." "My patience may run dry before his trust sets in." "You gave me your oath." "Leon torments me." "Petra's cross hung about his noble neck." "Every glint of that sapphire mocks my hesitation to plunge a blade into his heart." "As I want to plunge a blade into the man who slaughtered my wife and son." "And for my grandfather." "And my mother, too, deserves to be avenged." "We all need to close this pain." "We don't have a proof of a decorated neck, as you do." "The reeve must stay alive until we all have our truth." "And would you be able to hold your rage if you had certainty of the man who slit your boy's throat?" "Stop this!" "The anger is for the guilty." "You need each other." "At least he listens to the witch." "Hyah." "Hyah!" "Noble cowards!" "You're on a fool's errand." " Yah!" " Yah!" "Yah!" "After them!" "Run!" "Get back here!" "Go on!" "Shit." "Where have you been, Maddy?" "_" "Marshal and I had court business." "And what task covers your boots in clay?" "It's best I don't bother you with the points of my trade." "I've known you since I was nine, husband." "There's nothing you can say that would be a bother to me." "I've tried to speak of this before, but your devotion to this farce..." "What farce, my love?" "I understand the danger that your generous rescue puts on you and your children." "But when we are alone, we can be in the truth of who I am." "You are my husband." "And I love you deeply." "Is that not the truth?" "Father?" "Yea?" "Services are needed, punisher." "The color of your dress would suggest it is time for less..." "weighted thought." "No thoughts of weight, just distance." "I travel to Windsor in two weeks' time, summoned by His Majesty." "I assume to receive guidance on how we govern." "Or, perhaps, to offer condolences." "We often find much of ourselves in the grief of others." "God has a plan for this noble woman." "Stay inside your truth, Lady Love." "I am afraid that is a very uncomfortable place, dear Father." "Pardon, Baroness." "There's been another act of rebellion." "Byth Encil." "The effigy of your husband, attacked on the north forest trail." "Children with yellow-painted faces." "We've captured one of the offenders." "A girl." "Not yet 16." "Could it not just be the foolishness of youth?" "Painting their faces, acting like their misguided heroes?" "Foolishness or not, it will be perceived as an act of treason." "Penalty of death." "I pray you stay mindful, my lady." "With our baron's passing, all eyes are on us, from London to Pryceshire." "We must make swift, sound and strong decisions." "I believe that all my decisions are made with those intentions." "Indeed." "Where is the girl from?" "She is a most stubborn thing, Baroness." "She gives up nothing." "The punisher's been summoned." "He will find ways to break her silence." "I will speak to the girl before anyone breaks anything." "Baroness." "Whoa. _" "There's another one of Ash's traps." "Come on." "These beasts have all been maimed." "Wolves?" "This wasn't wolves." "_" "The Byth Encil starts them young." "We need to know who she is and where the other rebels are." "Open the cage." "You'll need more than a persuasive tongue." "Pull the fingernails." "The pear will be quicker." "I'll" " I'll get it, Father." "With haste." "You stick it in her slot." "God in heaven." "Listen to me, child." "You need to tell them what you know." "This isn't a game." "They want me to torture you, bring unbearable pain." "I will get your truth." "Don't make me do it that way." "You don't know truth." "Mine or anyone's." "We've no choice, brother." "The punisher is with her, Chamberlain." "The baroness wants no harm done until she speaks with the girl." "Oh, well." "I guess we blame the new reeve." "Yeah, and we know how well that went for the last one." "I have 17." "Is that enough..." "Twins." "A condolence gift from the king, along with six horses and a baker." "Twins." "That will be fun." "This one, however... not so much." "Baroness." "The Chamberlain delivered your need after we had begun, my lady." "We ceased immediately." "Deepest apologies." "I need a private moment." "Do you know who I am?" "Then you hold the advantage." "I do not even know what to call you." "Giving me your name will bring no harm to anyone." "I can't tell you anything." "You can torture me if you want." "What I want is the truth." "Why did you attack our wagon?" "Was it a childish dare?" "Or are these rebel colors on your face your true purpose?" "The Byth Encil will take back our country." "What is it that you want for Wales?" "I want it to be quiet." "As do I." "I will have someone tend to that finger." "Did she confide?" "No, she's hardened in her silence." "The we apply harsh measures until her words spill more than blood." "Words rarely give truth, Chamberlain." "One must be aware of all the other things that speak to us." "Her dress is salt-washed and waxed." "Her skin red with the burn of coastal winds." "She's from a fishing village." "If you caught her on the north trail, it is most likely Penfras Mawr." "Very impressive, my lady." "Very simple, good Chamberlain." "Assemble a caravan, fair number of knights." "I want to go to the village, find her family." "If they can make recompense, we can spare the girl." "You should let our soldiers bring the family here, Baroness." "Your safety is imperative." "The risk is too severe to leave in God's hands alone." "Then we shall bring the good priest and Master Gawain." "Clergy and a punisher." "All hands will be with us." "Ecce..." "Crúcem Dómini, fúgite pártes adversae." "Mother." "Nobles are here, looking for the family of a young girl caught attacking one of the baron's wagons with a painted face." "Has to be Nia." "I didn't know they caught her." "Piss-witted fool." "I..." "I wanted to prove myself, Mother." " Nia wasn't supposed..." " Hold your tongue." "Ride to our friends." "Have them tell the Wolf we need help." "Yea." "Take the catch to the village." "I'm sorry, Mother." "That noble waif is the only thing stopping me from gutting you like a cod." "Baroness, what brings you to our simple village?" "I'll not waste your working daylight telling you things you already know." "So what then?" "Your brawn are here to punish us?" "No." "To offer fair trade." "We will spare your daughter's life if you give us something in return." "Oh, you can have all I possess-- fish and poverty." "I wish to meet this rebel leader, the one you call the Wolf." "Can you arrange that?" "Baroness." "I want to understand his need for revolution, what inspires him, perhaps find a peaceful solution." "I will not waste your leisure daylight telling you things you already know." "I do not know this Wolf." "You're willing to sacrifice the life of your child?" "That's one less mouth to feed." "Are you finished, my lady?" "Your eyes remain hard, but I know your heart struggles." "And what of your heart, Lowry Love Aberffraw?" "Does it struggle?" "The daughter of a beloved Welsh lord, lying next to English war dogs." "Insolence." "No." "What I have done... what I do from here forth is driven by only one intention-- to stop the bloodshed and oppression of my people." "I do not understand your hatred of me." "And clearly you do not understand my love for you." "My lady, the boy there, seems he caught his mother's wrath as we rode in." "Perhaps he knows of something." "Don't trouble the baroness with the whims of a child, executioner." "But if the boy holds some knowledge of rebel movements, it would allow his sister a lesser sentence." "Yes, manor law would allow that." "Please, see what the boy knows." "What's your name?" "Mabon." "That didn't take much." "I ripped out your sister's fingernail;" "she still didn't give us her name." "Is it only the women in your family that hang with balls?" "Do you know what will happen to your little sister?" "Manor law says she must be put to death." "Treason." "I told her to stay." "But she got caught because you didn't protect her." " She's a child." " Indeed." "And you can save her." "Be the big brother she needs." "If we give the baroness some tellings of the rebels-- any movement or plans-- it will save your sister from my ax." "I don't know anything." "Then you are a coward for letting a girl take the blade for your mistake." "Let her death haunt your soul." "If-- if I tell of something... will you keep that truth from my mother?" "I'll say it came from some other village." "Don't make us cut it from your lips." "At the entrance of our village... down trail, there are three smoke hovels." "The third contains no fish." "The rebels store supplies and weapons there." "Good lad." "You have our word no one will know it came from you." "Gruffudd will learn of our presence here." "Our reeve already delivers the news." "Get word to the Wolf." "Tell him of our need to save the girl." "Perhaps he'll have more compassion than her mother." "I'll secure him more weapons and goods." "He has my word." "I've caught our meal." "Where are your thousand loaves?" "I assume you encountered a miracle being as you return with enough fish for a legion of men." "I have a deep hunger in the morning." "I will collect deeper wood." "Calo has returned with our meal." "It will require a week's worth of wood." "What you have seen... word of it..." "Your devotion is your concern." "Even if that devotion is seen as heresy?" "God answers to many names, good Moor." "Only the fearful and the ignorant attempt to judge which is right and wrong." "What of your devotion, Annora?" "Your way with nature leans towards a pagan faith." ""My Lord hath given me a way that is straight, a religion of right, the path that is true in faith."" "From the scripture of the king's god?" "No." "Your book" " Quran." "Chapter six, verse 161." "Rebels!" "Protect the baroness!" "Get her safe!" "My lady." "Take this." "Are you harmed?" "Um... my nerves are a shudder, but, no, I am not harmed." "I thank you," "Master Gawain." "Baroness!" "Thanks for that swift blade, Marshal." "My lady." "Thank God you are safe, Baroness." "And you and my knights?" "Several injured, no fatal wounds." "Good." "Well, I believe that is a sufficient amount of excitement for one day." "Night falls quickly." "Indeed, my lady." "Let us travel." "Come on." "My lady." "Thank you." "Are you sure you won't eat anything heartier, my lady?" "This is fine, thank you." "One never knows when they'll need the strength to fight off more rebels." "You cannot take those kinds of risks, my lady." "It's lunacy." "Do you remember that I had a mother, Isabel?" "Of course." "A lovely one." "I'm relieved." "I thought, perhaps, you woke up this morning and thought that you were her." "It is my duty to see to your well-being, Love." "Good morning, my lady." "May I have your ear for a moment?" "You may, good Chamberlain." "I'll meet you in the garden, Mother." "We have found the supplies and weapons the rebels hid in Penfras Mawr." "Good." "We can spare the girl's life." "An agreement made before the rebels attacked, my lady." "A new level of impiety, where your life was put in peril." "Anything less than her head sends a message of weakness." "And trust that I, indeed, feel the weight of all that I put at risk, Milus." "I will give it deep thought." "Is something else weighing on you?" "Yes, Baroness." "As to the point of the rebels, your demands yesterday." "Were you in earnest about meeting this Wolf?" "I'm always earnest, Milus." "Baroness, at this very moment, our king is deciding the fate of Ventrishire." "If he deems your actions to be guided by... feminine frivolity or Welsh leanings..." "They are not." "No, of course not." "But I must ask, as your trusted advisor, that you allow me to give counsel before making decisions that could lead to deep regret." "The baron always gave me his ear." "I so appreciate that wisdom, Milus, but as you know, I am not my husband." "Thank you for your counsel." "It gives me comfort seeing you on this pew every morning." "Benefits run both ways." "I know it is beyond Lent, but I'm always here if you need examination." "Thank you, but, um," "I'm afraid my sins are between God and my conscience, Father." "You know where to find me if you have a change of heart." "Strong hand for a learned man." "I've never seen a priest wield a mace like that before." "It wasn't learned at the seminary." "We all have a past life, good Maddy." "Good morning, my lady." "Father." "Baroness." "I trust you've rested well after yesterday's excitement." "I have, thank you." "Your way with a sword is exceptional." "I would venture to say you are more skilled than my most honored knights." "Handling a blade is, uh, a task of my trade." "Swinging an ax to punish is brutish." "What I witnessed was refined swordsmanship." "You are a mystery to me, Master Gawain." "As I am to myself, my lady." "My decision." "The girl." "A judgment forced by obligation." "Do you show yourself to help me... or to haunt me?" "We are given that choice with every encounter, my love." "You must decide." "I'm so sorry." "I was brought to my end at the right time for the right reason." "How do I do this?" "When you stop looking for all that is wrong, Wilkin, you will see that what is right was just in your grasp." "Annora?" "Healer!" "What troubles you?" "It all troubles me." "I know you see my angels, but do you see my demons, as well?" "The ones that wrap me in fear nearly every day now?" "We make our own demons." "Then I'm certain to make another." "She's a 15-year-old girl." "You have learned this." "Wilkin!" "Your brothers, they need you." "Disturbing news, brother." "We found Ash's trap camps all strewn with blood and flesh." " His?" " We're not certain." "We did find his herb pouch." "It tells of dread." "God have mercy." "Trapper!" "What, ho." "Where on God's earth have you been?" "West River." "To find my girl." "Give her a fair weather cut." "A nap that becomes, yea?" "Oh, I was looking for this." "Yea, I know." "I'd lose my bobbles if they weren't attached to my dingle." "Heh." "Yes, yes, I hear you." "Mix this with water." "Have the girl drink it an hour before she meets her fate." "It will ease the pain." "Good witch." "Mad trapper." "Drink this." "Do not fight me." "Drink." "Nearly time to work your blade." "Yea." "Your actions yesterday by the coast... directly offering our lady an opinion." "Never let that happen again." "You come to me first." "I will decide if it's worthy of her ear." "I serve the baroness, not you." "Gawain Maddox serves the baroness." "Wilkin Brattle belongs to me." "Do not challenge me, simple man." "I will shred you, body and mind." "I sense a growing fear putting on a face of boldness." "Boldness is my most desirable face." "I have nothing to fear." "Our deep secret can cut both ways." "Are you not a conspirator for keeping forbidden truth from manor law?" "Indeed." "We all are." "I could lose my position." "And you... your soldier, you new wife and children, all of you will most certainly lose your heads." "They're ready for you, Father." "Thank you, my love." "Yea." "Come, Isabel." "Is there anything else you need, Love?" "No." "Thank you." "Good night, Baroness." "Good night, devoted maiden." "Oh, you two can hold your own in the field." "Skills learned only in battle." "Who did you serve under?" "Madog?" "We hold no ill will against Welsh soldiers." "Especially ones we have quashed." "It was another lifetime ago." "We prefer to keep our thoughts in the day at hand." "But we've heard mighty stories of your skills." "Some talk of a barley village and bandits." " Or is that just high rumor?" " Nay." "I was there." "We burned the burg." "We, too... should keep our thoughts in the day." "Enjoy your drink, gentlemen." "Sir Norton... the second guilt confirmed." "Nearly a month to out that truth." "Will the other three require the same?" "If need be." "I have your oath." "Yea." "The reeve will live." "This devil will die."