The Last Valley Page #3

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all in debt to him.

What Gruber says must be done, is done.

No one can control this valley as he can.

No one is rich enough or shrewd enough...

or has his courage.

It is not wise to make an enemy of Gruber.

Or you.

Or Graf, Hansen, Hoffman,

the list is endless.

Gruber was right.

We need the counsel of clever men.

From tomorrow, you are appointed judge...

between soldier and peasant for all cases.

I'm the last person to do that.

I've no authority over anyone.

Gruber agrees

that you are the perfect political choice.

We will both back you.

I'll be hated by everybody

and blamed by both sides.

A few days ago, life was impossible.

Now you want it to be easy.

I want a rest. Time.

You're on borrowed time now, Judge.

So is the village, the whole valley.

It's all doomed.

And the girl?

She is trouble.

So are you.

The Captain wants you.

You'll protect me?

I could kill him easily.

But that would destroy our world.

Only he keeps them

from falling on us like wolves.

Then kill them all while they sleep.

We haven't the weapons.

There's too many, they're too clever.

Some patrol while others sleep.

Then put hemlock in their food.

Perhaps.

But not yet, not until the snows.

Why?

They found us, so others can.

We need them to protect us.

Open the door.

Open it.

She will not be one of the women

for the soldiers.

Of course. The others are for my men.

It is a pity that you are involved with her.

However, you are involved.

How do we decide this?

Dice. Fetch them, Erica.

If I win, you'll leave her alone

and protect her from your men.

- Agreed.

- Three throws.

Highest score.

If equal,

one more throw until there is a loser.

If you lose...

you accept that she is mine?

Agreed.

Seven.

Seven and nine are sixteen.

Ten and three are thirteen.

Sixteen and six make twenty-two.

What do the dice read, Erica?

Six and five.

Bar the door.

Father! Quickly!

What happened to your face?

There were some feathers flying last night,

little bird.

We get the women at sunset.

That'll put an end to the violence.

- Who's that?

- Pirelli.

He truly thinks

he's got the voice of an angel.

Father, the Captain's

moving the shrine! Quickly.

The Captain's moving the shrine.

That priest.

This way leads out of the valley.

No one is to leave.

I'm going to the shrine.

You're going back to the village,

black beetle.

Leave it.

Stop, in God's name.

Run.

Stop him.

The next time,

your head leaves your shoulders.

- I'll get them.

- Leave them. They're only fools.

Take this man to the Captain.

Martyrdom is not as useful

as you think, Father.

Christ saved the world by suffering.

And was it necessary?

You blaspheme.

No. The politicians put him to death.

How many men do you think

should die for the shrine?

We're not concerned for the shrine,

for its own sake...

but because it's a symbol of faith.

Beg God's forgiveness.

Does 30 paces make such a difference

to a whole faith?

Yes. And you were warned.

We have not harmed the shrine.

It is exact, stone by stone.

You were warned. Confess your sins.

Prepare for hellfire and God's wrath.

And the devil's.

Any shrine in this world

is a shrine to the devil.

Priests are better on their knees,

in the god-poxed holy dirt.

Idol worshipper.

He's a priest. So he worships nothing.

Can I slit his throat now?

Captain, quick.

They're moving the shrine.

Better cut around them. Too many to stop.

We'll talk. We did what was necessary,

and peasants understand necessity.

Get ready.

Kill Pirelli, Hansen, and Vornez first...

and watch out for that devil's whelp, Julio.

We can cut around and get the horses.

No time. We have the advantage.

You talk. I'll see that he doesn't.

No.

Father...

you will talk on my behalf...

or make your peace with your God

for you and them.

There will be no quarter,

not for man, woman, nor child.

And you will be castrated

before I hack off your feet.

Did they touch the shrine, Father?

Don't be afraid, Father. We are soldiers

of Christ. We will protect you.

Did they touch the shrine?

Yes!

Our Lady has been taken to another place.

You're all going to die...

and Satan walks the earth.

The shrine has not been harmed.

Listen, give thanks to Our Lady.

She protected us again.

Our Lady has protected

our valley for centuries.

We all know that.

But that didn't prevent you

from digging up the track...

nor planting forests,

nor visiting her shrine by a hundred paths...

nor hiding when soldiers came...

nor concealing your fowl,

and cattle, and horses...

nor keeping lookouts at the pass.

I am a Catholic, too.

I had a dream last night.

I dreamed...

that I was near the shrine...

and a regiment of soldiers

came riding up under a full moon.

There was a sprinkling of snow

on the ground.

They were huge and evil...

and they looked towards the shrine.

But as they looked...

the shrine vanished.

So the soldiers went their way

back to Rheinfelden...

and never came back.

By hiding herself,

Our Lady had hidden the village.

I am glad the Captain has moved

Our Lady of the Shrine.

Isn't that what the dream said to do?

You wouldn't defy a dream, would you?

You're lying.

He never had a dream.

Go to the shrine. See for yourselves.

Is he telling the truth, Father,

about the dream?

I don't know.

Do we go to the shrine?

Do we go to the shrine, Father?

Where is there to go?

Pirelli, lead the way.

You are not to be one of the women

for my men.

- She's the one I want.

- You can't have her.

You wanted to see me?

Did you really dream that dream?

What's real, and what isn't?

Once, I thought I knew.

Now I know I don't.

The true church is real.

God is real, and Satan is real.

That we're all going to die soon

and face judgment is real.

Before God, did you tell the truth?

Before God, what is the truth?

That millions are dead and more will die...

because the Pope wars

on the Catholic Emperor...

who wars on the Catholic King of France,

who wars on the Catholic King of Spain...

who wars on Catholic Germany...

all helped by Protestants.

Helped by a hundred other princes,

kings, and bishops...

all for their own rotten purposes.

Nothing is simple.

Nothing except faith in God.

You ask questions only God can answer.

God is an excuse that's used too often.

You blaspheme.

Life exists because of a divine pattern.

You must have faith and believe...

or you will cast your immortal soul

into the pit.

Look at your own soul, priest.

I do. And I look to those in the valley.

All of them.

I am the shepherd of this flock.

Since you came here,

Satan has walked aboard.

I feel it.

But soon, Our Lady will give me a sign...

and then I will know what to do.

Very pretty.

That's mine.

This valley is so peaceful.

It would be easy to become possessed by it.

Does it make you feel

in the presence of God, Captain?

Don't talk to me of God.

We killed God at Magdeburg.

We laid that city flat...

butchered men, women, and children...

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