Last Knights Page #4

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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!

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