"Previously, on The Bastard Executioner..." "Noble whore!" "He is my husband!" "He is mine!" "There are nine scriptures." "Jesus... son of Joseph." "That is Robinus and his army pursue us." "Piers Gaveston shall be cast out and exiled." "And it is my mission, for both God and country, to make certain that his third banishment be his last." "If my men could deliver Gaveston, might that beg compensation?" "Your source, Chamberlain?" "The twin maidens." "Gaveston's half-sisters and conspirators." "Your mother's taken ill, boy." "Our good priest will care for you." "It's time to travel, good soldiers." "Justice waits in the marshes." "Get yourself cleaned up." "No!" "_" "Seeing to our morning meal, Maddox?" "Your appetite's not my concern." "Well, this is exhilarating, is it not?" "Band of skilled soldiers on a mission to capture a French traitor." "Risking all to save their shire." "Perhaps someday they'll sing songs of our bravery." "And it will be a short and clumsy tune." "Full of sour notes and harsh rhymes." "No, you're such a beautiful girl." "Aren't you?" "Yes, you are." "You have a way with them." "It is the oat slop that makes these girls happy." "And the other animals?" "The brutes who bind me?" "What makes them friendly?" "Their tempers are nothing I tend to." "You are very wise." "And such a kind face." "May I have a better look?" "Like an angel." "No." "Although I will have wings someday." "Of course you will..." "Ash." "Ash." "May I ask a favor," "Ash the angel?" "My ties pull so tightly after yesterday's ride," "I can barely feel my hands and feet." "Might you loosen them a bit... allow the color to return?" "Yea." "If you promise not to run away." "Of course." "Thank you." "Sorry, girl, I didn't forget about you." "Where were we?" "You want some more oat slop?" "Yeah, that's nice." "Aw, there's a good girl." "There's a..." "What are these quarters?" "They are my maiden's." "I am a prisoner." "You are restrained because of your misguided rage." "But no one other than the priest, my maiden and Wilkin know this." "Wilkin?" "Yes." "That is the name of the man claiming the identity of your husband, Gawain, who I've learned was killed in the same battle as my husband." "Killed?" "I doubt my lady would try to lay claim to a dead man." "Gawain Maddox was slain in battle." "You opened your heart to save a stranger, claiming he was your husband." "You took that risk, hoping to create a better... kinder family." "But the grip of that illusion must be broken." "You are the one in need of breaking illusion." " I know my husband..." " Stop!" "You have two choices, woman." "If you stay lost in this distorted dream, you will face the claim of assault on a baroness." "No one will believe what you say about Wilkin and myself." "It'll be taken as the madness of a tortured woman." "You will be put to death, and your children turned over to servitude." "Let that harshness settle in you, Jessamy." "Use it to tear down the wall between you and God's truth." "They have the priest." "They took an innocent." "The boy." "You must eat, child." "No more." "He is fortified with faith." "The pain just strengthens that." "Tend to his wounds." "Nourish him." "Then I will begin my work." "Yes, master." "Sirs!" "Sirs!" "The maiden, she worked her binds free." "She's gone." "How?" "!" "I was out gathering grass for the steeds." "Who tied the weak binds?" "I did..." "Chamberlain." "She may have had others aid her escape-- they will warn Gaveston." "Yes." "We need to make haste to Pembroke's Manor." "♪ 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 same four knights hold the front." "Change at the hour." "Perhaps keeping more sizable forces within." "Yea." "How are we to know they hold the Frenchman?" "He is there." "I can smell the arrogance." "The door on the north side is fortified." "Wagons block the entry." "This is the only ingress." "Seems our fugitive twin has yet to find her way here." " There's no sign of readiness." " Yea." "We need to get a better sense of their true number." "Draw them out somehow." "Ash." "Oh." "Sorry." "This is Bernadette." "We met at the stream." "Lovely girl." "Not much of a talker." "Which I have to admit," "I rather like." "It's the desire of every man." "A beautiful, silent doe." "Bernadette!" "Come on." "Behave." "Come on." "Hold there." "Ah." "Yea, good knights." "I come bearing fresh meat." "I trap these woods." "I see that you have many hungry men within." "We've not enough mouths to feed on a full cow." "Ah." "Then smoke the rest." "She's thick with fat." "Keeps till winter." "Sounds like Pembroke travels with no more than half a legion." "Not to call attention to the transport of an exiled noble." "Crafty trapper." "We move off in the morning, but the steward will take it to travel." "Tie her up with our spare steeds." "Yea?" "That seems best." "Yea, there." "We will take your game, trapper." "I'm afraid my girl doesn't much care for the company of horses." "They turn her innards, spoil her meat." "Good day." "I am sure you must be hungry." "Where are my children?" "The baby is with my maiden, and the priest looks after your son." "I cannot eat with hands bound." "I am to be fed like a child?" "Yes." "Or not at all." "You spoke of two choices." "If you accept God's truth in this matter, acknowledge that Wilkin did not betray you, for he is not your husband, if you convince me that you are able to do that, then there will never be mention of your attack" "and I will see to it that you, your son, and daughter will always have a home and work here in Ventrishire." "What ho, good knights." "My little brother often... gets attached to the things we trap." "How many others in your trapper family?" "Just me and the half-wit." "I may be half-witted, but you're halfhearted." "Bernadette doesn't like horses." "She thinks 'em filthy." "The beasts do not talk." "Give some consideration." "He took a mule kick to the head while just a babe." "Yes, he is, indeed, Bernadette." "Father did the same thing." " That's why mother left." " Did what?" "What did that doe say about me?" "Leave the beast and be off with you both." "Yes, sir." "All quiet." "Watch our flank." "Where is Gaveston?" "Is that French pig worth a slice to your throat?" "All the dead ones, pull down their breeches." "I'm gonna kill you, strip you, then cut off all their cocks and stuff them in your mouth." "Then leave you at the door to be found by noble guests." "The lore it will inspire." "Yea." " The naked knight with the cock-stuffed mouth." " That is mad!" "And without honor!" "That is the leverage I am plying." "Chop their meat." "No!" "No!" "Sir Gaveston!" "So sorry to intrude on your supper." "How, uh..." "What is this, Corbett, huh?" "No need for worry, my dear Piers." "We are here to rescue you." "I am impressed with your fortitude, Ronan." "Those years in armor, slaying Normans has served you." "My bygone military service is not what gives me strength, Archdeacon." "Or should I call you "master"?" "Socijs Rosula." "Ah." "I see that the seraphim have shared their interpretation of history." "Am I allowed the same courtesy?" "The Order of the Seraphim carry and protect dangerous and heretical gospels." "If these scriptures were to become known, they would create chaos and unimaginable strife." "I've read some of these scriptures." "They are not heresy." "The only chaos it might stir would be within the walls of the Pope's chambers." "The next time you take a walk through your village, look in the eyes of your followers." "Can they trust their free will, huh?" " They have a right to know the truth." " You know as well as I do that these people are ignorant and lost, driven by fear and fantasy." "Our church gives these simple believers a sound, a moral structure, a divinity they can understand." "Money and influence are needed to provide that foundation." "Even if that foundation corrupts the very teachings of the man at the center of our faith." "The seraphim are misguided zealots." "They would undermine a thousand years of God's work." "The Rosula has a divine purpose." "We must stop the seraphim and destroy these scriptures before they destroy our faith." "You can help me do that, Ronan." "Please." "Tell me where the woman and Templar are hiding." "Countless souls rest in your hands, good priest." "Go home... my lovely." "Ah, Lord Pembroke." "No!" "Do not hurt her!" "Do not!" "Our apologies for rousing you from your lovely dark slumber." "Who are you?" "Under what banner do you seize my home?" " The banner of justice." " We are sent by neither noble nor crown." "What are your intentions, sir?" "Dead knights, a bound criminal." "What is there to be confused about?" "What do you intend to do with our honored earl?" "I swore to the king that no harm would befall Sir Gaveston." "I lead the prisoner safely out of England." "He travels like no prisoner I know." "I am relieved that now you see the foolishness of your oath." "And I thank you for willingly giving us his head." "Any harm put to Gaveston will fall threefold on all of us." "Not if His Majesty knows but a shrouded truth." "You were attacked." "Bandits, and they felled your legion, and took your goods and your noble prisoner." "And then vanished into the swampy darkness." "Edward is not a fool." "That is a sentiment that stirs debate." "I cannot give way to any of this." "My loyalty is to Edward, not to the barons who conspire against him." "Well, that saddens me, Aymer." "Your mistress is quite beautiful." "I can understand why you risk rank and privilege to be with her." "No!" "No!" "Punisher..." "Ready your tools." " Torture his whore." " No." "Slowly." "Make the loyal Lord Pembroke witness her pain." "No!" "Your learned punisher skills are your service to Lady Love and shire." "To punish the guilty." "The mistress is a play in our game of war." "We do not play your game." "If you need to wrap it in reason, then take her to task for adultery." "A whore who violated a married bed." "And when we return to Ventrishire, do we punish all the nobles who do the same?" "Chamberlain, I dispatched one of our horsemen to inform the Earl of Warwick of our progress." "Good." "Now dispatch yourself out the door." "Yes." "Sir." "Ply the mistress with pain till Pembroke gives way to our need... and 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." "Only you," "Corbett, would use death to buy pain." "I will leave the widowers of West River Riding to make a decision." "Do you love him?" "Knowing my feelings will not serve you in this decision." "Do they serve you?" "Punisher or not, this Wilkin is still but a freeman, and you, a baroness." "Yes." "And Wilkin and I must decide if that challenge is worth the risk." "May I see my children in the morning?" "Of course." "Good night." "There was one with belly straps." "Yea?" "That should work." "Bring in Pembroke." "I'd give fair distance, Sir Locke." "The blood and piss could fly." "I will slide a cold spike between your legs." "But I will not hurt you." "When you feel my pinch, give a bloody scream." "Convince your lord that the wedge is inside you." "This is the only way I can spare your pain." "This is barbaric." "Indeed." " What is this?" " Your pledge." "My assurance." "A writ that tells how you willingly gave over Sir Gaveston to the barons." "When you sign it, you and your lovely brown whore are free to leave." "I will never sign such a thing." "It is not as precise as the pear, but it will serve the same end." "This will do well in ripping the soft flesh from her slot." "Yea." "Ready the rags." "This tear will make the blood gush." "Shh." "No more!" "All that pain, yet not a drop of blood." "Remember when our greatest dread was a weak harvest?" "We are no longer farmers, brother." "Yea." "And I must confess, Wilkin..." "I am more myself inside this turn towards blood." "Thank you." "Are you a descendant of the soldiers blessed by Christ?" "You were a soldier?" "Yes." "The choice of an angry boy." "And a priest-- whose choice was that?" "A man." "Anger replaced by remorse." "How can I ease your spiritual distress, Father?" "Will you tell us where the seraphim hides?" "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." "You have my word." "I will take you to the healer and her scarred knight." "We must leave this place." "A darker journey lies ahead." "Free his binds." "Yes, sir." "Leave us." "You are a leader, Milus." "I am surprised that you blindly follow that flock of noble sheep." "But am I really following them, dear Piers?" "Do not give up hope on my ability to turn a new page." "Please... enlighten my troubled mind." "It seems my tongue only loosens when my cock rests in a handsome mouth." "Yes." "I am sure it does." "It appears I am as limp as a wet palm frond." "You clearly no longer possess the power to arouse, dear Piers." "How can you rally the king when you cannot even excite a simple, dirt-born rod?" "Bind the little French bitch." " Did you find the priest?" " I am sorry, Baroness, but Father Ruskin nor the boy are anywhere in the castle or court." "Where would the priest take the boy?" "He often travels to villages within our shire, to say Mass and offer sacraments." "That service is done at the month's end, and always with my knowledge." "My Lady, should I alert the captain of the guards?" "No." "I will wait till the end of the day." "Let us hope it was a sudden and joyful adventure." "She has settled now that she is with her mother." "Yes." "Where's Luca?" "Fishing." "The priest took him on an outing." "Fishing?" "Odd venture for a priest." "Were not Jesus' disciples fisherman?" "I thought they were carpenters." "Well, like the priest, they were men who returned home at a day's end." "So has sleep and the touch of an innocent given you a clear mind?" "Yea." "I will hold to your truth about my husband... if you can offer proof of your promise." "Proof?" "Forgive me, Baroness, but I have seen the whims of nobles ruin many a lives." "How am I to know that you will truly keep your word and care of my children?" "There is no decree that can be written for our understanding, Jessamy." "You have my word in the presence of God and your child." "I am sorry, my lady." "Thank you." "You have made the right choice." "The choice of a good mother." "Good earl." "A fine day for justice." "Indeed." "How did you come to know that the two-faced Earl of Pembroke was securing the puffed-up worm?" "We turned over the right rock." "And I believe he will keep but one face, now that he has sworn allegiance." "You do me and all of England honor, good chamberlain." "Thank you, sir." "It was mostly the efforts of my valiant men." "That is bonded by the Royal Bank of Windsor." "Good as silver." "Your funds will arrive by month's end." "Shall we hold a court, then, Sir Corbett?" "It would be the fair and honorable thing to do." "Sir Piers Gaveston," "First Earl of Cornwall, you stand before us accused of treason." "Guilty of deceitful and malicious counsel to Edward II, King of England." "You willfully disregarded the decree of immediate continental exile, thereby condemning yourself to be known as a public enemy to all of England." "You make a mockery of law." "Those here present who find Sir Gaveston guilty of said charges, say to it, aye." "Speaking in proxy for Lowry Love Ventris," "Baroness of Ventrishire, aye." "Aye." "An undisputed verdict." "I will be remembered as a martyr who stood against your diplomatic charade." "A clear voice singing the truth above a choir of ignorance!" "I..." "Guy de Beauchamp, the tenth Earl of Warwick, sentence thee," "Sir Piers Gaveston, to death by beheading." "My blade has the weight to make quick work of it." "You know the swing of your sword best." "I give you the honor." "I only carry the banner of our shire, good earl." "I am not a titled noble." "You pathetic cravens." "All bluster and pomp." "Wanting my head, but too frightened the truth may find its way to Edward." "And he will surely take the head of the man who takes mine." "I expect this weakness from you, Beauchamp." "But you, Corbett, a decorated warrior." "It seems the tiny baroness has bigger balls than you!" "This would be a job for an executioner, would it not?" "There are too many eyes witness to this kill." "Gaveston is right." "This could get back to the king." "And Lady Love needs her chamberlain." "Carry on, executioner." "I do not regret loving someone above my status." "Even if this is the fate." "Where is the boy?" "By the hearth, unharmed." "Did your master tell you what I did in the service of the king's army?" "No." "He should have." "I was an assassin." "You unharmed, lad?" "Yes." "Well, this must be our warrior priest." "This will settle many of our accounts and put us on much firmer ground." "Thank you, Milus." "I'm in your debt." "It is my duty and my honor to serve you, Lady Love." "May I ask what troubles you, my lady?" "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?" "No." "His belongings and steed are all still here." "I will gather our resources at once, my lady." "Scouts, trackers." "We will leave with the sunrise." "Thank you." "Does Maddox know about the boy?" "No." "He does not." "Perhaps it would be best if you were to tell him, my lady." "Your grace and calm manner bring much comfort to our punisher." "He seems a different man when he is near you." "Yes." "I would like to be the one to tell Master Gawain." "Good night, my lady." "Good night, Chamberlain." "Chamberlain." "I spoke to our chamberlain." "Yea, our mission found its proper course." "Sir Gaveston will no longer plague our shire." "Or any shire." "I am so relieved you have returned unharmed, Wilkin." "As I am relieved no more harm has scratched its way at you, my Love." "She sleeps quite peacefully." "Yes." "She has come to accept the truth of her husband." "How?" "I've tried for months to break through to her." "I have promised the wife of Maddox that I will provide for her and her children." "But the priest and the boy are nowhere to be found." "It appears they have been gone for nearly two days." "And Ruskin gave no word of it?" "No." "If she wakes to find the boy still gone, she will think I have deceived her, Wilkin." "It will shatter her fragile state of calm." "Annora." "The priest was with her at the North Coves." " The healer?" " Mm." "Why was the priest with Annora?" "A story that has yet to be told to me." "Fear not, my Love." "We will find them." "And he was..." "I was in haste to come see you at the coves." "Yes." "About the priest and the boy." "What do you know?" "They were taken." "Because of me." "Because of you?" "Sit, Wilkin." "There are things that you are not still ready to learn." "I don't need your lessons!" "Who took them?" " Where is Luca?" " I do not know." "Sit, Wilkin." "I do not need to sit and listen to another parable, woman." "This is not about my damned holy destiny." "I did not know the boy was with the priest." "Oh, you did not know?" "The all-seeing healer?" "You didn't know I'd be slicing heads and noses." "Spilling blood by the buckets." "Turning stout men into crying girls by the pain of hideous devices." "Please do not howl at me with such anger!" "I will howl like a devil!" "For I am weighed in unforgivable sins." "Wilkin." "And they are all on your head." "You are the devil, Annora of the Alders." "Please." "Wil-Wilkin, no!" "My son."