I've seen that look before. Something troubles you.
Spare me your concern for my well-being and say what you have come to say.
Our child. She was kind, clever, loving.
I read her words again. It's agony to remember.
If I could have saved her, I would have.
You didn't even try.
I was wrong. My rage, it wasn't meant for you, but for me.
I'm sorry.
Words I never thought you'd say. You asked what troubles me. Regret.
Fear I may have wronged someone close to me.
Pain. Someone tugs at your heart.
After a thousand years alone,
who could have imagined it would be possible?
Yes, the girl who started all of this,
who put her faith in a dream and inherited a nightmare.
The girl who will replace you.
Mommy! Help!
Gods help us. Oh…
Stay here. Stay quiet.
Stop, please! These people are harmless.
Help us or get out the way.
They're just travelers. Nowhere near the enclaves.
Leave them alone!
Human stains.
You. You're one of them. You liar. Murderer.
-I let you hold her. -No, I'm not like them at all.
You stay away. Stay away!
Please.
"Who wants to play with me?"
"I do! I do!"
"No, you're just a peasant." "But…"
"I'm the princess. I tell you what to do."
-We send more troops. -With our forces spread so thin,
we must pull the honor guard protecting the rectory.
The honor guard? They're not just protecting the rectory.
-They're protecting me.
Know your place, Shabarra.
"Know your place, little rabbit."
Will Mirana do this all day?
You're too old to play with dolls.
My girl, you are the Princess of the Sun.
Mousey?
I didn't hurt her. I would never hurt her.
-Asar. Explain yourself.
-By the Dawn Star. -We've summoned the healers.
This man was holding the Princess when we arrived.
Let him go, Asar.
-But, Slayer… -Let him go!
Luna said the shot came from that direction.
Probably that rooftop, maybe 600 lengths.
I've never seen anyone make a shot that long, except Mirana.
Davion.
I thought… I was afraid she was dead for so long. And then I found her.
-You thought it was fate. -Yeah.
Fate is strange.
Horrible spider. Had the nerve to bite me. Me! Can you imagine?
The servants should keep them away.
Of course, I should scratch it. It itches.
Excuse me, I'm speaking to you.
You can't ignore me, girl. I'm the Princess.
She must answer me.
Leave her, Princess. The girl cannot speak.
She was injured. Other children took her voice.
Over thousands of years, I've seen wonders and horrors, never this.
The arrow was meant to kill her. It should have killed her.
So it missed some vital target.
No. The Princess is somehow dead and alive, all at once.
Like a dream of death. Like a poem.
Just tell me if there's anything you can do or not.
Hope yet remains.
The girl saw other servant children steal them from us.
One overheard her tell her mother.
She's small, weak. So, they punished her. They hurt her.
You must do something, Father.
The throne should not abide thieves or cruelty.
There are many things the throne should not abide, but must.
Anyway, you can't fight every battle,
nor can you win every battle you must fight.
Most of all, you can have all the power in the world,
but you cannot protect the people from themselves.
Even when you want to. Even when it breaks your heart.
Your father shouldn't be bothered with the business of servants.
But if you like, I can help.
My bedclothes, please.
You.
Hurry downstairs before you're noticed.
She is your handmaid. Her family was promoted.
Those that harmed her have been demoted or cast out.
The worst face punishment akin to what the girl endured.
They had power over her. They overstepped it. There was a cost.
There is always a cost.
Good night, my Sunbeam.
Propriety demands I call you "girl" or "handmaid."
I'd rather call you by your name, Marci.
She was so young, Kashurra. So full of promise.
It's as though someone pulled the sun down from the sky.
The Praetorian Guard scoured the city for Princess Mirana's assassin.
-And the Scourge of the Plains? -Somewhere out there.
Blame her. Find her. Execute her.
Forgive me, Your Radiance,
but it is quite unlikely the Scourge would--
Think about how this looks for me. I brought the Princess here.
One of my enemies clearly wants me to look weak and incompetent.
-But the actual-- -Irrelevant. We need a villain.
I insist you find me a good one, then publicly remove her head.
I'll lift the sewer grate, uh, then we run downhill.
We'll be out of the Imperial City in an hour.
Not running. Collecting a head.
Ah! Revenge.
There's no flower more lovely, nor more dangerous to its admirers.
Good luck in the sewer.
Luna, you cannot collect what you cannot find.
If you want revenge, you need to play clever.
Lucky for you, there are none more clever than Hieronimo.
This is where swords are bought and sold. I come here for work.
Work.
I also enjoy the view.
Blu bari chu taka, bish?
The boss. He will know.
We have questions.
Uh, darling, he is the boss. The, uh, the tiny one.
The blood that flows into your brains must be constricted.
We're looking for a bounty hunter.
There are a dozen blades for hire out there right now.
Take your pick of trained life extinguishers.
I have very specific tastes.
I want Princess Mirana's assassin, Vanari.
Ah, the Scourge. Yes. You fail to grasp your own foolishness.
My establishment is filled with bounty hunters.
You are escaped convicts.
Blame for the Princess has fallen on you.
I hope this clarifies the mathematics of your circumstances.
I was never so good at the mathematics.
But even I can add one and one.
Roughhousing is forbidden the Shoehorn, but money clouds better judgment.
If I were you, I would depart with haste.
Not yet. I need a weapon.
And my compensation?
You never paid me for Kinski.
Ah, Kinski.
What price is too great a recompense for heartbreak?
-I'll take it. -Consider it a gift.
Apologies, but the, the boss is correct.
Too much heat, even for you. And we have no leads.
-I may have one.
I'm looking for Vanari. You know her.
Tall, horrifying, bit of a reputation. Just like me.
Ah, the Scourge of the Plains.
You know my name. What you don't know is how I earned it.
The Helio Imperium. You killed a right fucking lot of them.
No. We had a spy. I had questions.
After my own soldiers saw what I did to him, what I enjoyed doing to him,
they named me such.
This is not as we discussed. Nor is this who I think you are.
Others call you Scourge, but does it matter who?
Does it matter why? You name yourself differently.
If there was true cruelty in you once, the taste of it has turned to ash. Hm?
You don't know me.
You two birds need to kiss. Or let me out of this fucking chair.
Shut up!
You can't even be sure if it is this Vanari who killed your Princess.
It was her. I saw what she did at the outpost.
It had to be her. She brought us here. She was…
Vanari brought us here.
She could have killed Mirana at any time.
They wanted her alive and pretty. Can I go now?
All of this was a show.
Unchain the bastard. I want to make a deal.
You must be the Dragon Knight. She spoke of you. She has a fondness.
"A fondness."
I had to see her. I would have come sooner,
but there are things that must be done in these events.
I understand.
You did not expect to find her here.
She did not expect you, or I would have prepared a welcome.
I see the little man couldn't be bothered to visit her himself.
There are security concerns.
Obviously. He summoned half the army. Always overcompensating.
The Dragon Knight has an official request.
Under the circumstances, I think we should expedite it.
I came to see the Emperor. I need to see the Eye.
I will arrange your meeting. Praise the Dawn Star.
You didn't sleep.
No. I, uh, sometimes I have problems sleeping.
This felt like it might be one of those nights.
I don't even understand what she was doing here.
That's a state secret. But at this point, she was going to marry the Emperor.
I need some air.
Shabarra thought that marrying the Princess would solve it all.
In the short run, perhaps.
In the end, it would have only made things worse.
So, a marriage of convenience.
That's one point of view.
You said it was a state secret. Who knew about all this?
Me, Kashurra, Asar, and the Praetorian Guard, the War Council.
Legatus Tihomir funded the effort to return the Princess home.
You mean, kidnap her.
-That's also a point of view. -And what's your point of view?
Princess Mirana should never have left the Nightsilver Woods.
Honestly!
This gown looks like the taffeta came to life and decided to swallow me.
Don't look at me that way, Marci.
Of course, I appreciate the complexities of dressmaking.
I have to wear the dresses after all.
But is it really too much to ask that…
-Ready shield!
Ready shields!
Ready arms!
Your Highness, the Viceroy sent me. We must leave.
Mirana, your parents are dead.
Where is the Princess?
For the Dawn Star.
Marci! Ah!
Remember, make him feel like he holds the cards.
Then he'll listen.
You really think about how this guy ticks. His weaknesses.
He gives you a lot to think about.
The Emperor will see the Dragon Knight. But only the Dragon Knight.
I'll send the Emperor your best.
Davion the Dragon Knight. You have something of a reputation.
I understand you knew the Princess.
No. Not "knew." I know her. The Princess isn't dead.
Nor is she alive. Or so I'm told. And what brings you to my feet?
As I told Viceroy Kashurra when I requested this meeting, I need--
The Eye. A relic so holy no one has touched it in 3,000 years,
other than the God Emperor.
Yet you think I would just hand it over to you, merely because you ask me.
Amuse me with the reason.
-It's complicated. -Simplify it for me.
No king denies a request from our order.
Our protection has always been enough to ensure that.
Dragon Hold is rubble.
You knights couldn't even protect yourselves.
Everyone out.
-I would love to help you. I would.
But you have to give me something more than the Dragon Knight dodge.
There's a demon. Terrorblade.
He's killed all the Eldwyrms and stolen their souls,
all but the one hiding in my body.
I need the Eye so that dragon can travel to the hell of hells and stop Terrorblade
from remaking the entire gods-damned universe in his image.
You could have just told me no.
I'm afraid the Solar Throne must deny your request.
Please convey my kind regards to…
You choose.
Quite an unorthodox proposition.
He collects the bounty on us in exchange for Vanari's head.
-You realize he will betray us. -If he does, he dies first.
Wait for everyone.
You have no idea what you're doing.
This isn't a little fight with a dragon.
Your experience with the nuance of divine power
and executive authority is limited.
There won't be a world. Not for you, not for me, not for anyone.
The Sun always rises.
The Princess. Someone tried to kill her.
I assume you plan to do something about that.
-I've tripled my security. -I mean, the Princess.
You failed to protect her. It should have been you. Pathetic little mouse.
"Mouse"? I am a god.
Even gods stand below the pillars of creation.
Guards.
Majesty, come with me.
The Eye is ours.
Balls.
God Emperor Shabarra.
You don't smell like a god.
I, I can't. I can't give you or anyone the Eye.
Please! When I took the throne, I performed the ritual,
but nothing happened. I wasn't worthy.
If the Imperium learns the truth, there will be civil war.
Slaughter one another.
No, wait!
Traitor.
Did you come looking for answers? Revenge?
Tell me, what do you see?
Stop! It is pointless to flee.
Shit.
You will help me?
You will always be safe here.
In my shadow.
My Princess of the Moon.