"_" "_" "_" "_" "_" "_" "_" "_" "_" "_" "_" "_" "I am devoted." "Your servant." "You have a destiny to claim." "Tell me... heavenly one." "Tell me what you will have me do." "It is time to lay down the sword, Wilkin Brattle." "Your savior needs you to live the life of a different man." "Yes." "I will." "I understand." "I will." "_" "The dream?" "You're my only dream." "Will you ever tell me what you see?" "I see only my lovely Petra." "Oh, please." "How can you desire such a cow?" "Oh, but a beautiful cow it is." "Oh, he kicks fierce as his father this morning." "How do you know it's a he?" "Annora insists your firstborn will be an heir." "Ah, we're taking divine council from the Slavic witch now, are we?" "She's a healer, not a witch." "Her herbs help my weakness and sleep." "And the silent hooded one..." "does he offer dirt scratch visions of our son's fate?" "Yea." "Insists he'll be as pious and mule-headed as his father." "I'm not mule-headed." " I just devote to the thing at hand." " Good." "Get your breeches up and devote to filling the barrels." "We're near out of water." "Think that would be a task for a strong cow." "Oh, no!" "Oh!" "_" "I'm sure they're wasted seeds." "Like the rest." "God will bestow us with a child in his time, Erik." "Then let God waste his hours chasing a barren hole with swollen meat." "Come." "Morning, Baroness." "Morning." "Should I draw a bath, milady?" "I need more than a bath, sweet Isabel." "So much more." "♪ 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?" "♪" "It is time." "Your pagan confidant awaits you." "As does your fur-covered squire." "I'm looking." "Calm yourself." "You're such an impatient ewe." "I'll sheer you raw, throwing that in my face." "It was but one time." "Very dark." "She had familiar wool." "I am true." "And you're one to talk." "Yeah, I see you in the fields." "Your tartish play." "Catching a rub on every buck and ram." "Mutton troubles, my friend?" "Good day, Wilk, Petra." "She's a bit of crankypox." "I know." "Perhaps Miriam needs a little rest." "That's all she does is sleep." "Sleep, eat and shit." "That's because it's a sheep." "Oh, wit." "Yeah." "And a beautiful one." "Yeah, I'm sorry, honeypot." "I know." "My fault." "Love spreads like a sweet healing balm." "Yea." "How many troops with the tax collector?" "Three knights of the familia, five horsemen." "All skilled." "These hooded thieves will meet a fierce surprise." "And if their hoods hide the faces of rebels?" "They would ride in numbers with their wolf." "The Byth Encil wouldn't just steal a mere piece of your bounty, my lord." "These attacks are an assertion of condition." "It's righteous peasants setting their own rule of tribute." "Then crush them, Milus." "They ignite the rabble." "If they steal from us again, we'll have more aspiring outlaws than servants to wipe my shit." "Take care, fool." "You're not scrubbing a floor." "Mes plus sincÃ¨res excuses, mon Leige." "Brother Wilk." "We've heard from our friends in Glen Darby Birch." "Ventris comes again." "Collectors." " Already?" " More brutal than ever." "Doubled the tax, doubled the guards." "They'll be at our door by daybreak." "Our journey is longer traveling off the main trails." "We need to ride now if we want to catch them in darkness." "His troops will be ready for us." "The risk grows too great." "They'll take what little stock and harvest we have left." "A winter of starvation is the greater risk." "We can't do this without you." "Yea." "Gather supplies." "We'll need to ride before midday." " I want to fight, Wilk." " No, Ash." " You're of better use here." " But I'm of proper age." "It's a proper mind we're in need of." "I'm clever." "Please, I want to help." "If we need to make haste off beaten paths, no one knows the woods" " better than our clever trapper." " Yeah." "True." "I know every twig from here to the sea caverns." " Please." " You can ride with us, but you don't fight." "And the sheep stays here." "I get a hood though, right?" "Yea." "I'll make you one out of sheepskin." "You can leave Miriam in our pen;" "she'll be safe there." "You're a cruel one, Toran Prichard." "He's tupping mindless beasts, and I'm the cruel one?" "Come on." "Come on there, boys." "I know that look." "You should." "I wear it often." "Ventris is sly and brutal." "It's only time and chance before you feel his blade." "You're not a rebel, Wilkin." "Let the band of Byth Encil take their defiant vengeance to our baron." "This isn't about vengeance." "You heard your father." "We take this risk to survive." "The baron's tax leech comes twice a season now." "We've barely stock and food to live." "You're the only stock I can't live without!" "Good morning, farmer." "Fair dame." "And how is our gentle lytling doing today?" "Very active." "A life eager to begin a greater journey." "Yea." "You must cover this wound." "The spill layer of the river swims with sickness." "I'm fine." "And in three days' time, you will be weak and fevered." "Boil these." "Soak the wound in the broth." "Yea." "Thank you." "The other man." "God has put him on our path." "Quarter rips for the other two quaints." "_" "It's double shillings for that." "Finish the task." "Fair rate will follow." "Did you soak the rag in dumb paste?" "I..." "I..." "The pot wouldn't fit in the bags, Father." "But I can..." "Stupid and weak." "Stupid and weak." "God, I hate when she does that." "Milady?" "Lady Love?" "Shit." "Can you please not do that, Love?" "My heart drowns with you every time." "I'm fine, dear Isabel." "I've been swimming in this water since I was born." "The chill refreshes my spirit." "Reminds me of who I am." "The baroness who caught her death?" "The hopeful Welsh girl who knows God holds her close." "He has a journey in mind." "Yes." "I know that girl." "Time is a most aggressive foe, Milus." "Favor of my rule changes with the wind." "The unrest that grows on this damp rock..." "I need to make my gains now, while I still hold the king's trust." "Wealth, my lord, is the foundation of any temple of power." "We need to fortify our resources." "Steeper taxes and tariffs." "Yes, agreed." "Pardon, Lord Ventris, good Chamberlain." "Baron Pryce's emissary waits for you at the market." "He is... quite eager." "I assume Pryce sends no gifts with his eager messenger?" "Gifts, Baron?" "Stuffed pheasant." "Aged wine." "A bevy of virgin whores." "Why would he send such?" "Ballok cod." "Why does he want an audience?" "Oh, yes." "Again, he makes a heated point of the steep tariff." "Asserts that Baron Pryce will refuse payment if it grows again." "If Pryce wants access to the sea, he will pay for it." "And if he refuses, then we have cause to assert power." "Into Pryceshire?" "But his legions outnumber ours." "Pryce is a man of books." "Thinkers die in battle." "Good Baron." "Chamberlain." "What is our passage for today, Father?" "Genesis." "We're learning how God created us in his likeness." "Gave us a perfect world." "Care to join us, Baron?" "Yes." "Another time, Father." "And what of our king?" "Where will Edward sit in this dispute with you and Baron Pryce?" "Where his soft French bottom always sits... in the middle, waiting like a flowered girl to coo the victor." "With a mouth full of noble seed." "Ah, yes." "Because he's a bit fancy." "Tell Pryce's man the tariff just went up again." "A third?" "More than fair." "But, my lord, you..." "you realize you taunt him by raising it yet again?" "The taunt is the message." "Deliver it." "Yes." "Sorry." "Baron." "Chamberlain." "Hello, sir." "Your young brother doubts our methods." "Half my blood." "Quarter the brains." "Give it here." "You carried Da's ax last ride." "Yeah, because you don't have the arm to swing it, puny-kin." "Says you, you fat elf." "Will you two ever grow up?" "You should be whittling me toys, not playing hero, old man." "Whittling is for the lame of mind, motherly daughter." "Be certain that's not how you return." "No need to wear the funeral mask." "I'm not dead yet, wife." "The mask is for me." "You'll be the death of me, you reckless poke." "You keep her heavy on the mead while I'm away, boy." "She's bearable that way." "Am I a ghost without ears?" "I will, Da." "Heaps of it." "We'll be back before half moon." "Yea." "I'll be here." "Twice the cow." "You stay in there." "No catching your mother with a sneakish birth." "Running the laws of nature now, farmer?" "Never, dear Eva." "I leave the control of all things earthly to the women." "God keep you safe." "Always." "Hup." "Hup!" "_" "We meet again, tax man!" "Oh, please." "Oh, please." "Spare me still." "Tell your greedy lord, if he keeps biting like the boar, we keep laying the traps." "Where's your horse, tax man?" "!" "Here." "Yeah, it is true, friend." "I'll own skill of this one day." "I'll make my little wings that vanish on the bark." "I will fly." "Woden has promised me." "Ah, my friends return." "Yah!" "Bag the chattel and furs." "_" "Destiny has met your ambitious young warrior." "Wilkin Brattle will no longer draw favor from the king." "The long blades of the Scots served us well." "An inspired plan, good Marshal." "Send troops for the bodies." "If we bring him back, Constable," "Brattle will be seen as a slain hero who stood up to an army of Scots." "They will immortalize him." "Perhaps we take comfort knowing that we serve God's hungry creatures." "Yes." "Feast on, my friends!" "King-fed meat!" "Forgive me." "_" "Baron Pryce." "Pardon, my lord." "Your emissary has returned from Ventrishire." "Finish with disbursement, Chamberlain." "Of course." "Edwin." "It is much too damp in this room." "Yes, my love." "Take the baroness to the sun room." "Who's next?" "Gawain Maddox!" "The traveling punisher." "You claimed fairness." "This is half my wage." "Do you know how many journeymen pass through this shire every week?" "Blacksmiths, bowmen, even executioners such as yourself." "Many flee the South in search of work." "That doesn't mean we don't deserve our rightful pay." "If you do not find this satisfactory, move on." "Find yourself another shire where you can peddle your brutal gifts." "Next." "Barclay the minstrel." "Ah, the minstrel." "We travel." "But where to, Maddy?" "To the sea." "Ventrishire." "Now!" "Forgive us, Baron." "My lady." "There's been another attack." "Hooded thieves." "All eight of our men slain." "Took us in darkness." "Deadly ghosts." " The same ones?" " Yes." "Six, in familiar hoods." "There was another this time, deeper in the woods." "Saw a flash of his face." "A young one." "How do you know he was a bandit?" "He was hooded." "His clothing was different, all hides and furs, but he was with them." "A watcher perhaps." "What kind of fur did he wear?" "It had sheen..." "beaver pelt, I'd say." "Costly vesture for a peasant bandit." "Beavers." "What rivers do they dam?" "I'm not sure." "Colder ones, perhaps." "West to the sea." "West." "Gwynedd and the minor turns." "Here." "Branches of the Dunoding run west." "Touch the far end of the shire." "We've settlers there?" "No, I think..." "Yes." "Yes, we do." "Barley farmers." "West River Riding." "Quarterly collections." "Oh, West River." "Yes, of course." "Half legion and horsemen, my charge." "You ride with us." "Pick out the watcher." "Make sound guesses of the others without their clever hoods." "You as well, Reeve." "Get to know your shire." "Yes, dear brother." "Baron." "My lady." "And what of manor law?" "Is there a mind for fairness in your swift purpose?" "Of course, my love." "Fair process for every man." "I know your distress is undoubtedly about the safety of your husband, my lady, but an ignorant eye may see it as concern for the welfare of outlaws." "Well, I thank my maker that I'm in the presence of a man who never leans towards ignorance." "Indeed." "Knowledge is my service." "Indeed." "Perhaps you should share some of that knowledge with my husband." "Let him know that his thirst to grow this shire should not be quenched with the sweat and blood of its own people." "It is the people's duty to tithe." "Only rebels refuse to honor the rule of law." "No commoner wants rebellion." "It only comes after hope and reason are burned to the ground." "Tell me, Baroness." "How is it that someone of your privilege may come to know the plight of the common man?" "Well, unlike some within these walls," "I live with open eyes and open heart." "You will break them, Milus." "And we both know there's nothing more dangerous than a Welshman who has nothing to lose." "Keep my husband to a safe path." "I'm depending on you, good Chamberlain." "_" "Melt it down, and you shall have whatever you like." "Our brave hunters approach." "Midshire hares!" "Big enough to mount." "We want to skewer them with sticks, not with our pricks, you beast-lover." "Don't listen to him, boy." "We take our comfort wherever we find it." "And what if you find him taking comfort in your pen poking your prize hog?" "I don't fancy hogs." "That's true." "He's a one-sheep man." "Why does Wilk use oak and not a blade?" "There are many things we do not know about our leader." "Even Petra knows little of his life before he came to the river." "Had to be a soldier." "The fight skill he's given you... that was learned on a field of battle, not barley." "We've all tales best kept locked in our head." "More of your song." "♪ Ye talisman give potion... ♪" "You should eat." "Yea." "Ventris will keep doubling his guards." "Yeah, we can't do this alone anymore." "You saw the daffodil hides in the trees." "The Byth Encil rebels would welcome our skill." "I can arrange for a meet, and we can..." "I serve God and family, not cause or crown." "Give straight, brother." "You think the gates of heaven will fly open because you down a man with wood instead of steel?" "Perhaps not." "We've both watched men die by the work of our hands, Wilkin." "In service of gods or king, it doesn't matter." "We're driven by a deeper burn, and we need to feel that or we wither." "Where's your man?" "!" "Where's your right?" "No farmer here." "Only women and useless elders." "Where are your men?" "!" "They're hunting," "Lord Ventris." "Skins for the next harvest." "In the dark?" "Do I seem a fool?" "Slit the boy's throat." "No!" "No!" "No!" "Stop!" "Stop!" "Where are they?" "A lie bleeds two throats." "They... they went to Glen Darby Birch." "With their hoods?" "Yea!" "With hoods!" "How many?" "Seven." "You expect your baron to believe that a pox-dowed band of farmers have skill enough to knell our noble ranks?" "He should." "His ranks seem only fit to strike women and children!" "Kill them all." "Burn it to the ground." "You devils!" "You curs!" "They will hunt you down and cut out your stone hearts!" "Make this one a sight for deep memory." "Brutal." "Let it strike a pain that cannot be hidden with insolent hoods." "Run, Petra!" "Fetch her!" "This is a breach of law." "Both God and king." "It-it..." "This is madness!" "Please, my lord." "Please." "Relieve our collector of his moral conflict." "I beg of you." "Please!" "Find the God you defend." "Have mercy, please." "Not for me, but for the innocent heart beating inside, please." "Please." "Please." "Run." "And don't ever come back here, not anywhere in this shire." "You'll be sure as dead." "Go!" "The farmers will see the smoke." "They won't ride into a waiting attack." "I want them alive." "For now." "Let them suffer this." "You... you." "What are you...?"