My name is Talon.
I'm the last Blackblood, or so I've been told.
I escaped when Everit Dred killed all my people.
I cut off the points of my ears to hide in plain sight.
A tiny creature lives inside me,
passed to me by my dying mother.
It gives me the power to open portals to another world
and summon powerful demons called Lu-Qiri.
But I can only summon them when I have their names,
something that's proving to be a challenge.
The Prime Order wants me dead, but I've found sanctuary
at the farthest edge of the Realm in a place known as the Outpost.
Previously on "The Outpost"...
You are now the Blade of The Three.
- My purpose is clear. - I thought you were dead.
Garret, put the sword down!
What have I done?
You're making colipsum inside the Outpost walls
- with live Plaguelings? - Tell me where Talon is.
She left for the Shrine of Vor-Anden.
The key should unlock what we came for.
- Is that what I think it was? - It's a Kinj.
I've held up my end. I'm here for my family.
I killed them years ago.
- Open the portal. - Mind control?
So that's what your Kinj does.
I can't believe I've been so stupid.
A woman traveling alone at the border road.
That's not very smart.
I'm just resting. I'll be on my way soon.
We'll escort you to the way station.
Thank you, but I'm heading the other way.
The next border camp is two days from here.
It's a dangerous country.
I'm fine on my own.
Arrest her.
The Three are looking for a woman with black blood.
There's a reward and promotion.
I guess it's my lucky day.
The reward is the same dead or alive.
It's your choice.
- Synced and corrected by Firefly - - www.addic7ed.com -
Mother's going to kill me when she finds out
I'm leading you straight to her colipsum farm.
May I ask why you're doing so against your own mother?
You outlawed colipsum for good reason, Your Majesty.
It's a scourge that must be stopped,
which is more important to me than pleasing that woman.
Yes, well, knowing Elinor as I do,
- it's very brave of you. - Not so brave.
Didn't you say she has the plague now?
Yes, Baron, but I have every intention of finding a cure.
And when I do, she'll kill me.
Here it is.
Look at this.
- Hey, look here. - It's Mother's vault.
Send for the mining foreman.
He'll have a way to drill it open.
I hereby claim every piece of dirty money
illegally profited at the expense of my people.
And burn the rest.
Don't look so glum, Janzo. You've done well.
Can I at least do my research more freely now
without some stupid guard watching over me?
The charges against you for freeing Naya remain,
but I suppose the guards are unnecessary.
Hail to The Three.
Well done, Captain.
You apprehended my prisoner.
- Your prisoner? - The Blade of the Three.
- Are you now? - Mm.
The east wind is cold.
But it clears the morning mist.
Welcome, Covenant brother.
We'll bring her in together and share in the glory.
It doesn't say who sent it.
It is addressed to Her Majesty, Queen Rosmund.
Hmm. Exactly how an enemy might label a box of poison
or a deadly snake.
I'll open it. Stand back.
"Loyal to the crown".
A wolf.
It's the symbol of the Moor clans.
Must be from Baroness Winnowmere.
We have another ally.
The mountains are only just beginning to thaw.
- She can't march to us yet. - Nonetheless, it's working.
With Milus's men added,
people are starting to have hope that we might win.
And still others will follow, Your Majesty.
Yes.
I'm starting to believe they will.
How could you let your mother
sleep in this hovel?
Bedding's about as soft as daggers.
It's just a necessary precaution, Mother,
in case you turn.
About that...
- will it hurt? - No idea.
Never done it before to myself.
Probably, it will hurt a lot.
Crikey, Janzo, it's been two days.
When are you gonna cure me?
It's not so simple.
You cured two Plaguelings simply enough,
and they weren't even relatives.
Mm, well, neither am I, remember?
Technically, I'm still adopted.
Don't tempt me to regret that.
- Fix me! - I am trying.
Janzo, I can feel it in my throat.
It's taking over, I know it is.
Stop being so dramatic, Mother.
I only checked on you an hour ago.
You paid off, you know?
You're a good investment.
Good investment?
That's just the words a boy longs to hear from his mother, isn't it?
You think it was easy raising you in this place?
You know, Munt was bigger than me when I took him on,
which meant that he could feed himself,
he could put himself to bed, he could bathe himself.
Not that he really bathed, but you get what I mean.
He was useful, whereas you... you were a useless baby.
All you ever did was eat and puke and scream your bloody lungs out.
There was many a time when I thought I should sell you off.
- As you so often remind me. - Yeah, but the point is...
I didn't.
I saw something in you.
There was this one time I remember when you were,
oh, you were about six, and you caught the swine pox.
Covered in sores, you were. Sick as a dog.
All the other kids in all the other towns, they're all dying of it.
Imagine what I thought. What a waste.
Six years of puke and vomit,
and just nothing but a dead boy to bury.
I remember that.
The sores itched and burned so badly
I thought I was going to die.
What I'm saying is, though, is that you didn't.
All those other kids, they laid down and died, but not you.
You didn't sit down or lie down at all.
'Cause it hurt too much.
You don't remember, do you?
- Remember what? - You roamed the Nightshade
looking for something, anything to make it go away.
You poured booze and broth all over yourself.
You went... you went searching for...
for leaves and weed and dirt.
I thought you'd gone mad.
And then one morning... one morning, you turn up
covered head to toe in...
Horse manure.
Yeah, you remember? Horse manure.
You smelled like a sick horse.
You'd smeared it all over your body.
You made me sit outside in the stables.
Well, I couldn't very well let you in the bar, could I?
It would be bad for business.
The thing is, those sores, they went away
that very same day. You got better.
Do you remember what I did then?
Then I spread the horse manure on all of my friends.
Yeah, you made all of them better as well!
Because it's the germs in the fecal matter,
well, then they overpower the swine pox...
You see? Yes, you see?
Clever brain.
It was then that I decided not to sell you,
and you trained.
You trained with Tunney the master brewer,
and the rest is history.
Your ale made the Nightshade famous,
and I made you my master brewer.
A ten-year-old boy!
"He's a good investment", I said to myself.
And that is true now
as the first day I ever said it.
Thank you, Mum.
- Thank you. - Janzo.
What I'm trying to say is I know sometimes
I haven't been very nice to you.
I know sometimes I've said things like I wish you were dead,
or you're not worth your weight in straw,
or you're as ugly as a cockroach.
But I never really meant those things.
Yes, you did.
Janzo, if you get me out of this,
I'll be better to you.
- I promise, you'll see. - No, you won't.
Mother, they found your colipsum farm and burned it,
- and then Gwynn took all your money. - What?
- You snitched. - I certainly did.
People are dying from that colipsum.
- You... - Ah!
You wouldn't want to spend the rest of your life in that cage
and turn into a Plagueling, now would you?
You're right, my son, my brilliant boy.
That colipsum absolutely had to be destroyed,
and it took a soul as brave and brilliant as you
to make it happen.
That's why I love you.
Because you're good
and you're scrupulous.
Something I could never be.
Your Majesty.
Your Majesty, we stopped a man at the gate.
He claims to be your close relation.
I have no close relations.
- What's his name? - He calls himself Alton.
Take me to him, immediately.
Sister.
Nothing to say to your long lost baby brother?
My brother was executed along with the rest of my family.
Actually, thank the gods, that's not true.
I was spirited away like you were.
I was swapped for the court scribe's son who looked like me.
But Calkussar never mentioned you.
Surely he would have said something.
I was never told about you, either.
We were probably safer that way.
I only heard about you when you sent word to the Cormacks
calling them to join you against the Prime Order.
You were raised by the Cormacks?
Not quite. As I said, I became the son of a scribe
who took a court position with Regis Cormack.
Well, must we go over the boring details now, Rozie?
Rozie? That's what he used to call me.
He?
It's me, Rozie.
- Is it? - Of course it is.
You say it is. Now what?
I don't know, actually.
I'm just happy to see you.
Give me a hug, sister.
This is all very overwhelming.
I understand.
Take your time. Let it sink in.
Just give me a place to sleep, and we'll get reacquainted.
Is something wrong?
You'll pardon me if I won't simply relinquish my throne
to some stranger.
Who said anything about a throne?
I'm just happy to be reunited with my big sister.
Oh, come on.
If you are who you say you are, then the throne belongs to you.
All I ask is that you spend some time with me.
I'm sure you'll see that I'm telling the truth.
You know that if you're lying, you'll die for it.
So think carefully.
I will give you one chance
to change your mind and remove your claim.
I am your brother Alton. I swear it.
- Do you have any proof? - Wait.
I have this.
This was Father's.
He never went anywhere without it.
Yes. I took it with me when I was spirited away.
It can't be.
I thought the same thing when I heard about you.
If you are Alton,
I won't easily forgive myself for being so hard on you,
but you must understand my caution.
Of course. I would do the same.
It's going to take time.
My handmaid will arrange sleeping quarters for you.
Your mind is not on anything but that Blackblood.
She has valuable information about the false queen.
If she dies before I can interrogate her,
I'd hate having to explain that to The Three.
Then go on, interrogate her.
No one's stopping you.
Talon.
You bastard! How did you escape?
I owe you an apology, but we really don't have time right now.
If you so much as laid a finger on Gwynn, I will...
Gwynn is fine. I need you to calm down and listen to me.
Janzo fixed my mind. He told me where you were going.
That's how I found you.
Sorry, Talon.
That punch was weak.
I'm not trying to hurt you, all right?
But you have to help me make it look good.
I'm supposed to be interrogating you.
- Are you able to fight? - Why don't you cut me loose and find out?
Talon, I need to know how badly you're wounded.
- Can you fight? - I heal fast, remember?
Good. Now there are two guards to your left,
and Angbar behind me.
When I cut you loose, you take them.
I will take the three to your right.
Why should I trust you?
You don't have a choice.
This time, help me sell it.
Act like I'm cutting you.
Talon!
- Ow! - All right, don't overdo it.
Okay? I'm supposed to be interrogating you, not hacking you apart.
First you want more, now you want less? Make up your mind.
Just act.
Just so you know,
after I kill all of them, I'm going to kill you.
No, you're not
because you're smarter than that.
I'm either on their side or yours.
It can't be both.
Now, after I cut your wrists, be ready to fight.
You want the sword of the dagger?
You take the sword.
You're no good with a knife.
Same old Talon.
Hey. Hey!
Get them!
Stop them!
Hyah! Hyah!
Gods, Rozie.
Seeing you face to face is bringing all the memories back.
Hm.
Do you remember the gardener had a dog?
- What was his name? - Marbles.
And it was a cat, not a dog.
Hey, do you remember when we tied a fork to his tail?
It drove him batty.
He almost chewed his own tail off
- before Danomar untied it. - Oh, yes. Danomar.
You called for me?
Master Tobin, there's someone I'd like you to meet.
And who is this brawny fellow?
This is Tobin. He's acting as base commander,
and my loyal friend.
Hmm. Well met, Tobin.
Thank you for supporting my sister's claim.
Did you just say "sister"?
Yes. I'm Prince Alton, son of Ranulf.
You have a brother? But how?
He says he survived just like I did.
But how do you know it's really him?
I lied to mother once because you were afraid Father would be angry.
What had you done?
I stole a ham from the quartermaster's cart
and ate it under the stairwell.
- We were awful, weren't we? - Do you remember the coachman
who always gave us sweets from his pocket?
The red ones with a nut in the middle.
Oh, yes. What a strange little man.
But if he's the only son, wouldn't he replace you as heir?
Oh, quite so. Though he's not yet of age.
When will you turn 18?
The ninth of the second moon.
The Festival of Constellations, actually.
And we shall celebrate grandly this season.
But I have scads of orders to get through,
so if it's not too rude, I should get back to it.
Hmm. No problem at all.
Bye, Rozie.
Rozie?
Oh, not now, Tobin. I really do have work to do.
To the postmaster immediately.
Talon, I need you to know
that that was not really me that tried to kill you.
They completely altered my mind.
I know.
You saved me when you could have easily killed me.
- So Janzo really cured you? - Yes, he did.
The man's a genius.
Still makes me uneasy that they turned you into a cold-blooded killer.
I think if there's one thing I've learned in all this,
maybe I was always a cold-blooded killer.
They just pointed my rage in the wrong direction.
Wait, what are you doing?
The Outpost is that way.
I have to go back to the Capital.
- Why? - I have to stop...
the people who did this to me.
So is that why you came looking for me?
So you could get your revenge?
Someone has to stop them, Talon.
So what are you going to do?
Ride into the Capital and kill everyone yourself?
No. Just the ones who did this to me,
and the ones who tried to get me
to kill Gwynn and you.
The ones who made me kill my own father.
Wythers?
He didn't have your black blood
to help him survive a blade to the gut
wielded by his own son.
I'm sorry, Garret.
I need you to help me make things right.
The Garret I knew wouldn't do something
so rash and stupid to get even.
Then I guess I'm not the Garret you knew.
Talon, I don't think I will ever be the same again.
Certainly not until I can face them once and for all,
and I cannot do that without your help.
- So what's the plan? - Don't really have one.
This keeps getting better and better.
I missed you.
I know.
I'm back, and I brought you your favorites to eat,
and a new idea for treatment options.
Oh, dear.
What am I missing?
- Hmm. - The two Plaguelings I cured
were lying out in the sun for hours.
Something tells me it's these flowers,
although I've tried every combination.
It's not the vines, it's not the flowers,
it's not the soil that was underneath it.
Nothing.
I think it's safe to rule out the sun.
- You asked for me? - Yes, I want to review
a possible strategy with you.
Shouldn't Alton be here to decide,
since he's your future king?
Does it somehow disappoint you that my brother,
my own flesh and blood, might not have been murdered
by the Prime Order after all?
Does that possibility somehow displease you?
Please, Rosmund, I didn't mean it like that. I just find it hard...
Do you feel like your royal legacy is slipping away from you?
Well, perhaps your plan should have been to marry him instead of me.
My plan isn't to marry you,
at least not for the reasons you're implying.
Only for the reason that I've fallen...
I've fallen in love with you.
Well, that's good to know.
Just answer me this.
Do you believe he really is your brother?
I really want him to be.
- That's not what I asked you. - Look, I'm not a fool, Tobin.
There are bound to be pretenders of the throne.
But the things he knows, the way he talks,
he even sound like Alton.
He really knows things that my mother used to say to us.
And, well, he has my father's cane.
I have no more reason to doubt him than he has to doubt me.
You had Calkussar to bolster your claim.
This guy walks into the Outpost alone with a story and a cane?
His adopted father died in a fire.
Who would you expect him to come with?
Why are you so eager to get rid of the only family I have left?
Because whether he is your brother or not,
I do not want him to be king.
I don't want him to be king because I want you to be queen,
whether I'm by your side or not.
You're wise, you're fair,
and you're honorable.
That's another very good answer.
Mm-mm.
It doesn't matter how many times you kiss me.
I'm not gonna risk my life and the lives of my people for a kid that...
Really? No matter how many times?
Well...
never say never.
Mother!
Mother?
- Mum? - Pig's figs, what happened?
- It's you! - Of course it's bloody me.
Who else would it be?
I did it! I found the cure!
What have you done to my face? It's on fire!
It was the sting-flies that feed on the flowers!
That's what it was!
Their venom must be poisonous to Plagueling parasites.
I'm a bloody genius! Boy, do you owe me.
Do you owe me, Mother.
First, I've got to go and tell Gwynn
that I just single-handedly saved
- the entire Outpost kingdom. - Janzo.
Then I've got to go and get
- all of these more flies. - Janzo. Ow.
- I love you. I'll see you in a bit! - Janzo.
- Janzo! - I'll be back!
Janzo!
Damn sting-flies have to sleep at night, don't they?
They can't just conveniently be sleeping during the daytime
when I can come out and grab them then?
No, that would be way too easy.
Where are you?
No.
Elinor?
Oh, cut me loose.
I didn't believe Janzo when he said he'd found a cure.
- I had to see it for myself. - Well, now you've seen it.
Cut me loose.
Your face looks very painful.
Leave it to my genius son
to find the most unpleasant cure in the world.
Thank you very much.
Thank you. Well, I'll be off then.
Not so fast. Now that you're cured,
you can serve a proper sentence.
What? Oh, come on now.
I mean, all's well that ends well.
Everything turned out for the better, didn't it?
Not for those that lost their life to this Plagueling epidemic.
They knew the risks of taking colipsum, didn't they?
And anyway, Janzo's found a cure.
You will stand trial like any other criminal.
And you colipsum earnings will, of course,
be forfeited to the crown.
That money is mine.
I earned that, every last bead.
I told you from the start
that your criminal days were over.
You are guilty of skimming taxes
and selling and manufacturing a substance
I specifically outlawed.
Take her to prison.
After everything I've done for you?
You cannot do this to me.
You can't do this to me!
No, let me go!
No! Let me go!
Your Majesty, come quickly.
- What is it? - You have to see it.
I've brought you some new recruits,
and a cure for the rest.
- It's remarkable. - Aren't I?
That's not her. Let her through.
We are looking for a young woman... murdered a man.
She's thin, long black hair.
Has anyone seen her?
Let us through.
Covenant Operations. You'll see it's all official.
Is this the device I've been hearing about?
- Just let us pass. - Could I just take a quick peek?
I'll be fast.
Huh. I thought it would be bigger.
A lot of damage wrapped in a small package.
So the sting-fly antidote venom acts very quickly,
so our Plagueling troubles are over.
And I also returned Garret to his typical
boorish mental state for you. You're welcome.
There's one more thing, Your Majesty.
I betrayed my own mother to support the crown.
And your recent work has been nothing short of heroic, Janzo.
I agree.
I assume all is forgiven.
Your efforts don't make up for being a traitor.
- You're lucky to be alive. - I am not a traitor.
Who are you?
You aided the escape of a traitor.
- That in itself is treason. - Your Majesty,
she was only doing it to protect her family.
She freed Everit Dred, our most hated enemy,
and by doing so, cost many lives.
By law, she should pay with her own.
What good is killing someone? How will they ever make amends?
I'm sorry, but I would do it
all over again if I had the chance.
- You're only making it worse for yourself. - Who is he?
Janzo, for all the good you've done for this Outpost,
I will spare your life.
Finally, someone making some sense around here.
I'm assuming I'm free to go.
The impertinent scamp thinks we'll let him off
completely free and clear.
"We" will not be making any decisions.
He committed treason. There is no worse crime.
Oh, I'm not so sure about that.
I mean, I could think of a few things.
Maybe, um, murder, rape, torture!
- Janzo. - Who are you?
What have I ever done to you, you little...
Regardless of all the good you've done for this Outpost,
you still committed treason against the throne.
It can't go completely unpunished.
Take him to prison.
I don't even know who you are anymore, Gwynn.
Actually, I think you'll find her name is Rosmund.
Well, well, well.
Look who's had a taste of his own medicine.
Can you believe it, Mother?
After all I've done for that woman.
Listen, when you pick sides,
make sure you get something out of it.
That is the law of the streets.
I don't choose sides. I just do what's right.
That's why you don't have any friends.
All those years I raised you,
you didn't learn anything, did you?
On the contrary, Mother. You taught me everything.
- Hmm. - By showing me how not to live my life.
You know what, Janzo? I'm the only family you've got.
Just remember that.
It's your fault we're in here.
Put it in there.
Looks like the guards are more focused on people getting out
than getting in.
Do you think anyone will recognize you?
Without my armor? No, not likely.
We'll be fine. Just stick to the story.
- I don't like your story. - Nonsense, it's perfect.
Hold. What's your business in the Capital?
We're getting married.
- Names? - Garrison.
- Teela. - What courthouse? What judge?
My One, why have you brought me here?
Since your weapon failed to rid us of the false queen,
I thought you should see a small demonstration
of the weapon that will replace it.
Watch.
It's the southern... south... um, south courthouse.
- The south, yes. - There is no south courthouse.
What judge is bonding you?
Um, it started with a J, didn't it?
- Yeah, it started... - With a J... a "J".
Or maybe... maybe it was an S.
- Judge... - It started with S.
- "S" name, was the judge. - Uh...
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