Last Knights Page #2

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I look forward to your review

of the new protocols.

Yes, and in addition to that, we'll get

the chance to discuss the challenges

which face the future

of the Bartok lands.

I don't think he liked the color.

If I'd known what you'd intended,

I would've insisted you bring something more.

More? I gave him the box too.

This is not a matter of amusement.

He has taken this as a personal insult.

- Tomorrow I will bring a more suitable gift.

- You will not.

And in my presence, you will refer

to the Minister's demand

as it really is... a bribe.

Adopting the language of the pretense

only serves to ease participation in it.

My Lord, I think that perhaps now

is not the time to take such a hard stand.

And if I ease my approach now,

at what crossing would you recommend

I stand my ground?

When they've taken half my land?

When it comes to a point

where I have to exercise my own tyranny

over those beneath me

to support the bribes of those above?

Who does he think he is?

Perhaps he did not understand

what is expected of him.

He understands perfectly.

Does he arrive here planning to make

a name for himself at my expense?

Or is he so filled up with pride

that he has no room for humility?

Here, dog, a silk for your filth!

Where are we expected?

There is something I wish to show you.

Such a fine sword.

May I?

This is a nobleman's blade.

Where did you come by it?

It was a gift...

from my master.

I have never heard of such generosity

from lord to retainer.

It seems you have won.

It is my favorite room here

because it exemplifies the great virtues

of generosity and humility...

qualities necessary to operate smoothly

within the workings of the capital.

A quality all the other noblemen

whom I have received seem to grasp.

Are you beginning to understand

the points of our talk?

Yes.

Very impressive.

You really intend giving all this away?

I'm reaching the end

of my patience with you.

We can play this game

as long as you like,

but you'll receive no bribe from me.

Is that what this is to you? A game?

How do you think the Emperor would respond

to his command being thought of as a game?

Since you're only threat seems to be running

to the Emperor like a pouting child,

- you should ask him as soon as possible.

- I need not ask.

You were ordered to this review

by the Emperor, and yet you reject his word.

I reject any attempt by you to exert

some delusional power over me.

It is you who live

under illusion, not me.

I offer you no threat but a promise.

I will not only take

your property and standing,

but I will turn everything connected

to the Bartok name into dust.

And when I'm done,

it will be as if neither you nor any

generation before had ever existed.

You should be careful not to overstep.

Something wrong?

I have known many like you, men who...

once their hairs bleed grey

and their spines cut them like daggers,

come to revise their own history.

Truth is that your innermost fear

is in fact your most striking attribute.

You are irrelevant.

You have neither cast a shadow

nor left any footprints

upon the great legacy

of the Bartok clan.

Your only achievement

was being born into nobility...

and you somehow

failed to reproduce even that.

Guards! Guards!

You draw your blade

on a minister of the Emperor?

Minister, your father-in-law approaches.

What happened? All I've been told

is that you were attacked.

I cannot say too much at this time.

But we are about to witness

the wrath of the Emperor.

You have been summoned

before our most glorious

and wise Emperor.

The prisoner who stands

before you is Lord Bartok.

He has committed the crime

of attacking a loyal minister

of the Emperor.

The prisoner will now be permitted

to address his peers

before our master passes judgment.

What has just been said of me is true.

I offer no argument

nor dispute the simple facts.

But they hardly begin to cover

the scope of my true crimes.

Honor requires more than admission,

so I offer a full confession

and the whole truth.

For far too long, I failed to recognize

my own hypocrisy.

I ignored my own cowardice,

conveniently hiding behind a position

of political compromise.

And for what?

To retain the meager wealth

and rank that men desire.

So I come before you a condemned man

for having finally stood up

to injustice.

My shame and regret

is that I failed to do so

before it arrived in my own court.

We supply the armies,

we build the roads,

we employ the nation.

Still, we remain silent

while our coffers are emptied

and our freedoms eroded.

There will be times

where we are powerless to injustice,

but there must never be a time

when we fail to protest.

This man, Gezza Mott,

is a cancer, growing.

And the only proper thing to do

is to cut it out.

You all know what I speak of.

Each one of you has been subjected

to his extortion.

But my words are not in judgment

of my fellow noblemen,

they are a warning.

I urge you to consider

what you are doing,

for we are helping this man

to forge the very chains that bind us.

Which brings me to the confession

of my true crime,

so that I may redeem my honor.

My crime

is only that I failed to kill Gezza Mott

when I had the chance.

We have enjoyed hundreds of years

of peace under my family's rule.

We brought order where there was chaos,

peace where there was nothing

but war and bloodshed.

My subjects accept their roles,

content in the knowledge

they serve the greater good.

If you think your words will move

your fellow noblemen to dissent,

then you're sorely misled.

Are you prepared to receive

my judgment and regain your honor?

I am prepared to receive your judgment,

but my honor is intact.

You dare to contradict

the word of the Emperor?

All those in your house

shall be evicted from your lands.

The Bartok clan is no more.

And your delusions of self

require more extreme measures.

Your crime and defiance

to the ordinances of the capital

shall be repaid with nothing less

than your head.

- You cannot do this!

- How dare you address the Emperor directly!

My Lord, a judgment of this kind

is unprecedented for a nobleman.

This display of arrogance

cannot go unanswered.

What do you suggest?

Your Commander is fiercely loyal

to you, Lord Bartok.

And so it is fitting

that you should meet your end

by his sword.

Should you refuse the order,

all of Lord Bartok's blood relations

shall be executed as well.

- Minister!

- First Council,

the word of the Emperor has been spoken.

Commander!

Let him pass.

- You will do this.

- No.

I'm already dead.

I will take death at your side

rather than participate in this spectacle.

I know you will,

but how will that serve us?

My Lord...

- I cannot do this.

- It's already done.

Think only of what follows.

The spirit of our clan

will endure through you.

Commander Raiden!

The Emperor's word is not a request

that requires your decision.

Remember this, Raiden,

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