The Conqueror series

BONES OF THE HILLS

Conn Iggulden

Copyright

Published by HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd. 1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF

www.harpercollins.co.uk

Published by HarperCollinsPublishers 2008

Copyright © Conn Iggulden 2008

Conn Iggulden asserts the moral right to

be identified as the author of this work

Internal artwork by Andrew Ashton from an original idea

by Neil Marriot-Smith © HaperCollinsPublishers 2008

A catalogue record for this book

is available from the British Library

This novel is entirely a work of fiction.

The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are

the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to

actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is

entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be

reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted,

in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,

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HarperCollinsPublishers has made every reasonable effort to ensure that any picture content and written content in this ebook has been included or removed in accordance with the contractual and technological constraints in operation at the time of publication.

Source ISBN: 9780007201785

Ebook Edition © 2008 ISBN: 9780007285419

Version: 2018-05-23

Dedication

To my son, Arthur

CONTENTS

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

Map

Prologue

PART ONE

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER TWELVE

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

CHAPTER NINETEEN

PART TWO

CHAPTER TWENTY

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

CHAPTER THIRTY

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

PART THREE

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

EPILOGUE

HISTORICAL NOTE

SAMPLE

PROLOGUE

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

About the Author

Also by Conn Iggulden

About the Publisher

MAP

Prologue

The fire roared at the centre of the circle. Shadows flickered around it as dark figures leapt and danced with swords. Their robes swirled as they howled over other voices raised in ululating song. Men sat with stringed instruments across their knees, plucking out tunes and rhythms while they stamped their feet.

At the edges of the fire, a line of Mongol warriors knelt bare-chested with their hands bound behind them. As one, they showed the cold face to their triumphant captors. Their officer, Kurkhask, had been beaten savagely in the battle. Blood caked his mouth and his right eye was swollen shut. He had known worse. Kurkhask was proud of the way the others refused to show fear. He watched the dark-skinned desert warriors shouting and chanting to the stars, waving curved blades marked with the blood of men he had known. They were a strange breed, Kurkhask thought, these men who wore their heads bound in many thicknesses of cloth and loose tunics over wide-legged trousers. Most were bearded, so that their mouths were just a red slash in black bristles. As a group, they were taller and more heavily muscled than the largest of the Mongol warriors. They reeked of strange spices and many of the men chewed at dark roots, spitting brown clots on the ground at their feet. Kurkhask hid his distaste for them as they jerked and yelped and danced, building themselves into a frenzy.

The Mongol officer shook his head wearily. He had been too confident, he knew that now. The twenty men Temuge had sent with him were all seasoned warriors, but they were not a raiding party. By trying to protect the carts of gifts and bribes, they had reacted too slowly and been caught. Kurkhask thought back to the months before and knew the peaceful mission had lulled him, made him drop his guard. He and his men had found themselves in a hard land of dizzying mountain passes. They had passed valleys set to straggling crops and traded simple gifts with farmers as poor as any they had ever seen. Yet game was plentiful and his men had roasted fat deer on their fires. Perhaps that had been a mistake. The farmers had pointed to the mountains in warning, but he had not understood. He had no quarrel with the hill tribes, but in the night a host of warriors had overtaken them, coming out of the darkness with wild cries and slashing at the sleeping men. Kurkhask closed his eyes briefly. Only eight of his companions had survived the struggle, though he had not seen his oldest son since the first clash of arms. The boy had been scouting the path ahead and Kurkhask hoped he had survived to carry word back to the khan. That thought alone gave him pleasure to set against his vicious resentment.

The carts had been looted of their trinkets, the silver and jade stolen by the tribesmen. As Kurkhask watched from under lowered brows, he saw many of them now dressed in Mongol deels with dark splashes of blood on the cloth.

The chanting intensified until Kurkhask could see white spittle gather at the edges of the men’s mouths. He held his back very straight as the leader of the tribe drew a blade and advanced on the line, screaming. Kurkhask exchanged glances with the others.

‘After tonight, we will be with the spirits and see the hills of home,’ he called to them. ‘The khan will hear. He will sweep this land clean.’

His calm tone seemed to drive the Arab swordsman to an even higher pitch of fury. Shadows flickered across his face as he whirled the blade over a Mongol warrior. Kurkhask watched without expression. When death was inevitable, when he felt its breath on his neck, he had found all fear could be put aside and he could meet it calmly. That at least gave him some satisfaction. He hoped his wives would shed many tears when they heard.

‘Be strong, brother,’ Kurkhask called.

Before he could reply, the sword took the warrior’s head. Blood gouted and the Arabs hooted and beat their feet on the ground in appreciation. The swordsman grinned, his teeth very white against dark skin. Again, the sword fell and another Mongol toppled sideways on the dusty ground. Kurkhask felt his throat constrict in anger until he could almost choke on it. This was a land of lakes and clear mountain rivers, two thousand miles west of Yenking. The villagers they had met were in awe of their strange faces, yet friendly. That very morning, Kurkhask had been sent on his way with blessings and sticky sweets that gummed his teeth together. He had ridden under a blue sky and never guessed the hill tribes were passing word of his presence. He still did not know why they had been attacked, unless it was simply to steal the gifts and trade goods they carried. He searched the hills for some glimpse of his son, hoping again that his death would be witnessed. He could not die badly if the boy watched. It was the last gift he could give him.

The swordsman needed three blows to take the third head. When it finally came free, he held it up by the hair to his companions, laughing and chanting in their strange language. Kurkhask had begun to learn a few words of the Pashto tongue, but the stream of sound was beyond him. He watched in grim silence as the killing continued until, at last, he was the only man still alive.

Kurkhask raised his head to stare up without fear. Relief filled him as he caught a movement far beyond the firelight. Something white shifted in the gloom and Kurkhask smiled. His son was out there, signalling. Before the boy gave himself away, Kurkhask dipped his head. The distant flicker vanished, but Kurkhask relaxed, all the tension flowing out of him. The khan would be told.

He looked up at the Arab warrior as he drew back the bloody length of steel.

‘My people will see you again,’ Kurkhask said.

The Afghan swordsman hesitated, unable to understand.

‘Dust be in thy mouth, infidel!’ he shouted, the words a babble of sound to the Mongol officer.

Kurkhask shrugged wearily.

‘You have no idea what you have done,’ he said. The sword swept down.

PART ONE

CHAPTER ONE

The wind had fallen on the high ridge. Dark clouds drifted above, making bands of shadow march across the earth. The morning was quiet and the land seemed empty as the two men rode at the head of a narrow column, a jagun of a hundred young warriors. The Mongols could have been alone for a thousand miles, with just creaking leather and snorting ponies to break the stillness. When they halted to listen, it was as if silence rolled back in over the dusty ground.

Tsubodai was a general to the great khan and it showed in the way he held himself. His armour of iron scales over leather was well-worn, with holes and rust in many places. His helmet was marked where it had saved his life more than once. All his equipment was battered, but the man himself remained as hard and unforgiving as the winter earth. In three years of raiding the north, he had lost only one minor skirmish and returned the following day to destroy the tribe before word could spread. He had mastered his trade in a land that seemed to grow colder with each mile into the wastes. He had no maps for his journey, just rumours of distant cities built on rivers frozen so solid that oxen could be roasted on the ice.

At his right shoulder rode Jochi, the eldest son of the khan himself. Barely seventeen, he was yet a warrior who might inherit the nation and perhaps command even Tsubodai in war. Jochi wore a similar set of greased leather and iron, as well as the saddle packs and weapons all the warriors carried. Tsubodai knew without asking that Jochi would have his ration of dried blood and milk, needing only water to make a nourishing broth. The land did not forgive those who took survival lightly and both men had learned the lessons of winter.

Jochi sensed the scrutiny and his dark eyes flickered up, always guarded. He had spent more time with the young general than he ever had with his father, but old habits were hard to break. It was difficult for him to trust, though his respect for Tsubodai knew no limit. The general of the Young Wolves had a feel for war, though he denied it. Tsubodai believed in scouts, training, tactics and archery above all else, but the men who followed him saw only that he won, no matter what the odds. As others could fashion a sword or a saddle, Tsubodai fashioned armies, and Jochi knew he was privileged to learn at his side. He wondered if his brother Chagatai had fared as well in the east. It was easy to daydream as he rode the hills, imagining his brothers and father struck dumb at the sight of how Jochi had grown and become strong.

‘What is the most important item in your packs?’ Tsubodai said suddenly. Jochi raised his eyes to the brooding sky for an instant. Tsubodai delighted in testing him.

‘Meat, general. Without meat, I cannot fight.’

‘Not your bow?’ Tsubodai said. ‘Without a bow, what are you?’

‘Nothing, general, but without meat, I am too weak to use the bow.’

Tsubodai grunted at hearing his own words repeated.

‘When the meat is all gone, how long can you live off blood and milk?’

‘Sixteen days at most, with three mounts to share the wounds.’ Jochi did not have to think. He had been drilled in the answers ever since he and Tsubodai had ridden with ten thousand men from the shadow of the Chin emperor’s city.

‘How far could you travel in such a time?’ Tsubodai said.

Jochi shrugged.

‘Sixteen hundred miles with fresh remounts. Half as far again if I slept and ate in the saddle.’

Tsubodai saw that the young man was hardly concentrating and his eyes glinted as he changed tack.

‘What is wrong with the ridge ahead?’ he snapped.

Jochi raised his head, startled. ‘I …’

‘Quickly! Men are looking to you for a decision. Lives wait on your word.’

Jochi swallowed, but in Tsubodai he had learned from a master.

‘The sun is behind us, so we will be visible for miles as we reach the crest.’ Tsubodai began to nod, but Jochi went on. ‘The ground is dusty. If we cross the high point of the ridge at any speed, we will raise a cloud into the air.’

‘That is good, Jochi,’ Tsubodai said. As he spoke, he dug in his heels and rode hard at the crest ahead. As Jochi had predicted, the hundred riders released a mist of reddish grit that billowed above their heads. Someone would surely see and report their position.

Tsubodai did not pause as he reached the ridge. He sent his mare over the edge, the rear legs skittering on loose stones. Jochi matched him and then took a sharp breath of dust that made him cough into his hand. Tsubodai had come to a halt fifty paces beyond the ridge, where the broken ground began to dip to the valley. Without orders, his men formed a wide double rank around him, like a bow drawn on the ground. They were long familiar with the firebrand of a general who had been placed over them.

Tsubodai stared into the distance, frowning. The hills surrounded a flat plain through which a river ran, swollen with spring rain. Along its banks, a slow-moving column trotted, bright with flags and banners. In other circumstances, it would have been a sight to take the breath, and even as his stomach clenched, Jochi felt a touch of admiration. Ten, perhaps eleven thousand Russian knights rode together, house colours in gold and red streaming back over their heads. Almost as many followed them in a baggage train of carts and remounts, women, boys and servants. The sun chose that moment to break through the dark clouds in a great beam that lit the valley. The knights shone.

Their horses were massive, shaggy animals, almost twice the weight of the Mongol ponies. Even the men who rode them were a strange breed to Jochi’s eyes. They sat as if they were made of stone, solid and heavy in metal cloth from their cheeks to their knees. Only their blue eyes and hands were unprotected. The armoured knights had come prepared for battle, carrying long spears like lances, but tipped in steel. They rode with the weapons upright, the butts held in leather cups close behind the stirrups. Jochi could see axes and swords hanging down from waist belts and every man rode with a leaf-shaped shield hooked to his saddle. The pennants streamed back over their heads and they looked very fine in the bands of gold and shadow.

‘They must see us,’ Jochi murmured, glancing at the plume of dust above his head.

The general heard him speak and turned in the saddle.

‘They are not men of the plains, Jochi. They are half-blind over such a distance. Are you afraid? They are so large, these knights. I would be afraid.’

For an instant, Jochi glowered. From his father, it would have been mockery. Yet Tsubodai spoke with a light in his eyes. The general was still in his twenties, young to command so many. Tsubodai was not afraid, though. Jochi knew the general cared nothing for the massive warhorses or the men who rode them. Instead, he placed his faith in the speed and arrows of his Young Wolves.

The jagun was made up of ten arbans, each commanded by an officer. By Tsubodai’s order, only those ten men wore heavy armour. The rest had leather tunics under padded deels. Jochi knew Genghis preferred the heavy charge to the light, but Tsubodai’s men seemed to survive. They could hit and gallop faster than the ponderous Russian warriors and there was no fear in their ranks. Like Tsubodai, they looked hungrily down the slope at the column and waited to be seen.

‘You know your father sent a rider to bring me home?’ Tsubodai said.

Jochi nodded. ‘All the men know.’

‘I had hoped to go further north than this, but I am your father’s man. He speaks and I obey; do you understand?’

Jochi stared at the young general, forgetting for a moment the knights who rode in the valley below.

‘Of course,’ he said, his face showing nothing.

Tsubodai glanced back at him, amused.

‘I hope you do, Jochi. He is a man to follow, your father. I wonder how he will respond when he sees how well you have grown.’

For a moment, anger twisted Jochi’s face before he smoothed his features and took a deep breath. Tsubodai had been more like a father than his own in many ways, but he did not forget the man’s true loyalty. At an order from Genghis, Tsubodai would kill him. As he looked at the young general, he thought there would be some regret, but not enough to hold the blow.

‘He will need loyal men, Tsubodai,’ Jochi said. ‘My father would not call us back to build or rest. He will have found some new land to tear to pieces. Like the wolf, he is always hungry, even to the point of bursting his own stomach.’

Tsubodai frowned to hear the khan described in such a way. In three years, he had seen no affection when Jochi spoke of his father, though sometimes there was a wistfulness, which showed less and less as the seasons passed. Genghis had sent away a boy, but a man would return to him, Tsubodai had made certain of that. For all his bitterness, Jochi was a cool head in battle and the men looked on him with pride. He would do.

‘I have another question for you, Jochi,’ Tsubodai said.

Jochi smiled for an instant.

‘You always have, general,’ he replied.

‘We have drawn these iron knights after us for hundreds of miles, exhausting their horses. We have captured their scouts and put them to the question, though I do not know of this “Jerusalem” they seek, or who this “white Christ” is.’ Tsubodai shrugged. ‘Perhaps I will meet him one day over the length of my sword, but the world is large and I am but one man.’

As he spoke, he watched the armoured knights and the trailing baggage lines behind it, waiting to be seen.

‘My question, Jochi, is this. These knights are nothing to me. Your father has called me back and I could ride now, while the ponies are fat with summer grass. Why then are we here, waiting for the challenge?’

Jochi’s eyes were cold as he replied.

‘My father would say it is what we do, that there is no better way for a man to spend his years than at war with enemies. He might also say you enjoy it, general, and that is all the reason you need.’

Tsubodai’s gaze did not waver.

‘Perhaps he would say that, but you hide behind his words. Why are we here, Jochi? We do not want their big horses, even for meat. Why will I risk the lives of warriors to smash the column you see?’

Jochi shrugged irritably.

‘If it is not that, I do not know.’

‘For you, Jochi,’ Tsubodai said seriously. ‘When you return to your father, you will have seen all forms of battle, in all seasons. You and I have captured towns and raided cities; ridden desert and forests so thick we could hardly cut our way through. Genghis will find no weakness in you.’ Tsubodai smiled briefly at Jochi’s stony expression. ‘I will be proud when men say you learned your skill under Tsubodai the Valiant.’

Jochi had to grin at hearing the nickname from Tsubodai himself. There were no secrets in the camps.

‘There it is,’ Tsubodai muttered, pointing to a distant messenger racing to the head of the Russian column. ‘We have an enemy who leads from the front, a very brave man.’

Jochi could imagine the sudden dismay among the knights as they looked into the bowl of hills and saw the Mongol warriors. Tsubodai grunted softly as an entire rank peeled off the column and began trotting up the slopes, the long spears ready. He showed his teeth as the gap began to narrow. They were charging uphill, in their arrogance. He longed to teach them their error.

‘Do you have your paitze, Jochi? Show it to me.’

Jochi reached behind him to where his bow holder was strapped to the saddle. He lifted a flap in the stiff leather and pulled out a plaque of solid gold, stamped with a wolf’s head. At twenty ounces, it was heavy, but small enough for him to grip in his hand.

Tsubodai ignored the men rising doggedly up the hill to face the eldest son of Genghis.

‘You have that and the right to command a thousand by my hand, Jochi. Those who command a jagun have one of mere silver, like this.’ Tsubodai held up a larger block of the whitish metal. ‘The difference is that the silver paitze is given to a man elected by the officers of each arban below him.’

‘I know this,’ Jochi said.

Tsubodai glanced back at the knights labouring closer.

‘The officers of this jagun have asked to have you lead them, Jochi. I had no part in it.’ He held out the silver paitze and Jochi took it joyfully, passing back the plaque of gold. Tsubodai was solemn and deliberately formal, but his eyes were bright.

‘When you return to your father, Jochi, you will have known all ranks and positions.’ The general gestured, cutting the air with his hand. ‘On the right, the left and the centre.’ He looked over the heads of the straining knights cantering up the hill, seeing a flicker of movement on a crag in the distance. Tsubodai nodded sharply.

‘It is time. You know what you have to do, Jochi. Command is yours.’ Without another word, Tsubodai clapped the younger man on the shoulder and rode back over the ridge, leaving the jagun of riders in the care of one suddenly nervous leader.

Jochi could feel the combined stares of the hundred men on his back as he struggled to hide his pleasure. Each arban of ten elected one man to lead them, then those men elected one of their number to lead the hundred in war. To be so chosen was an honour. A voice in his mind whispered that they only honoured his father, but he crushed it, refusing to doubt. He had earned the right and confidence swelled in him.

‘Bow lines!’ Jochi called. He gripped his reins tightly to hide his tension as the men formed a wider line so that every bow could bear. Jochi glanced over his shoulder, but Tsubodai had truly gone, leaving him alone. The men still watched and he forced the cold face, knowing they would remember his calm. As they raised their bows, he held up a clenched fist, waiting while his heart thumped painfully in his chest.

At four hundred paces, Jochi dropped his arm and the first flight of arrows whipped into the air. It was too far and those that reached the knights splintered on their shields, now held high and forward, so that almost the entire man was protected. The long shields showed their purpose as a second flight struck the ranks without a single rider going down.

The powerful horses were not fast, but still the gap closed and Jochi only watched. At two hundred paces, he raised his fist once more and another hundred arrows waited on creaking strings. At such a distance, he did not know if the knights’ armour would save them. Nothing ever had.

‘Shoot as if you have never owned a bow,’ he shouted.

The men around him grinned and the arrows snapped out. Jochi winced instinctively at shafts that went clear over the enemy heads, as if loosed by panicking fools. Only a few struck and, of those, still fewer brought a horse or man down. They could hear the thunder of the charge now and saw the front ranks begin to lower their spears in anticipation.

Facing them, Jochi smothered his fear in a sudden bloom of rage. He wanted nothing more than to draw his sword and kick his mount down the slope at the enemy. Shaking with frustration, he gave a different order.

‘Retreat over the ridge,’ Jochi shouted. He wrenched at his reins and his horse jerked into a run. His jagun shouted incoherently, turning in chaos after their general. Behind him, he heard guttural voices yelling in triumph and acid rose in his throat, though whether it was from fear or anger, he did not know.

Ilya Majaev blinked sweat out of his eyes when he saw the Mongols turn like the filthy cowards they were. As he had a thousand times before, he took a loose grip on his reins and tapped himself on his chest, praying to St Sophia to bring enemies of the faith under his hooves. Beneath the chain mail and padded tunic lay a fragment of her fingerbone in a locket of gold, the most precious thing he possessed. The monks at Novgorod had assured him he would not be killed while he wore it and he felt strong as his knights hammered over the ridge. His men had left the cathedral city two years before, carrying messages east for the prince before they finally turned south and began the long trek that would take them to Jerusalem. Ilya had pledged his life with the others to defend that holy place from the unbelievers who sought to destroy her monuments.

It should have been a journey of prayer and fasting before they brought their skill in arms against godless men. Instead, they had been stung over and over by the Mongol army raiding the area. Ilya ached to have them close enough to kill and he leaned forward in the saddle as his mount lunged after the fleeing riders.

‘Give them unto me, O lord, and I will break their bones and trample on their false gods,’ he whispered to himself.

The Mongols were racing wildly down the far slope, but the Russian horses were powerful and the gap closed steadily. Ilya sensed the mood of the men around him as they snarled and called to each other. They had lost companions to flights of arrows in the darkness. Scouts had vanished without a trace, or worse, been found with wounds to make a man vomit. In a year, Ilya had seen more towns burned than he could remember, the plumes of black smoke drawing him in desperate pursuit. The marauding Mongols were always gone by the time he arrived. He urged his mount to gallop, though the weary animal’s sides were already heaving and clots of white saliva flicked up to strike his arms and chest.

‘On, brothers!’ Ilya shouted to the rest. He knew they would not tire with the tribesmen at last within reach. The Mongols were an affront to everything Ilya valued, from the peaceful streets of Novgorod, to the quiet calm and dignity of the cathedral to his blessed saint.

Ahead, the Mongol warriors raced in disarray through a cloud of their own dust. Ilya snapped orders and his men closed into a solid column, fifty ranks of twenty abreast. They tied their reins to the saddle horns and leaned forward over the horses’ necks with shield and spear, urging the animals on with just their knees. Surely there had never been such a force of men and iron in the history of the world! Ilya showed his teeth in anticipation of first blood.

The route of the fleeing Mongols took them past a hill shrouded in ancient beech and elm trees. As Ilya thundered by, he saw something move in the green gloom. He barely had time to shout a warning before the air was filled with whining shafts. Even then, he did not hesitate. He had seen the arrows break on his men’s shields. He bawled an order to hold formation, knowing they could smash their way through.

A horse screamed and thumped into him from his left, crushing his leg and almost unseating him. Ilya cursed in pain, taking a sharp breath as he saw the rider hanging limp. Flight after flight of arrows came from the dark trees and, in horror, he saw his men falling from their saddles. Arrows passed through chain mail as if it were linen, punching out in a spray of blood. Ilya shouted wildly, kicking his exhausted mount on. Ahead, he saw the Mongols wheel in perfect unison, their commander staring straight at him. The Mongols did not stop to bend their bows. Their ponies lunged forward as one, the warriors loosing shafts as they rode.

Ilya felt an arrow pluck at his arm, then the two forces clashed together and he braced himself. His long spear took a warrior in the chest, only to be wrenched from his grasp so quickly he thought he had broken his fingers. He drew his sword with a hand almost too numb to grip. Red dust was everywhere and, in the midst, the Mongols rode like devils, calmly sending arrows into the packed ranks of his men.

Ilya raised his shield and was knocked backwards as an arrow struck it, the head showing clearly through the wood. His right foot came out of the stirrup and he swayed, all balance lost. Another shaft hit him in the thigh before he could recover and he cried out in pain, raising his sword as he rode at the archer.

The Mongol watched him come, his face blank of any emotion. He was little more than a beardless boy, Ilya saw. The Russian swung his blade, but the Mongol ducked under the blow and shoved him as he passed. The world spun in silence for a moment and then Ilya crashed to the ground, stunned.

The nosepiece of his helmet was jammed in with the impact, breaking his front teeth. Ilya rose, blind with tears and spitting blood and fragments. His left leg buckled and he fell clumsily, desperate to find the sword that had fallen from his hand.

He heard hoofbeats behind just as he saw the weapon lying on the dusty ground. He reached for the relic at his chest and murmured a prayer as the Mongol blade came down on his neck, almost severing his head. He did not live to see the rest of his men slaughtered, too heavy and slow to defend against the warriors of Tsubodai, general to Genghis Khan.

Jochi dismounted to examine the dead, once he had ordered a dozen of his men to sweep the area and report the movement of the main column. The Russian chain mail had not saved them. Many of the sprawling bodies were struck through more than once. Only the helmets had held. Jochi could not find a single man brought down with a shaft to the head. He picked up a helm and rubbed a finger over a bright slash of metal where an arrow had glanced away. It was a good design.

The ambush had gone just as Tsubodai had planned, Jochi thought wryly. The general seemed to read the minds of their enemies. Jochi breathed deeply, making an effort to control the trembling that beset him after each battle. It would not do for the men to see him shake. He did not know they watched him stride with clenched fists and saw only that he was still hungry, a man never satisfied no matter what he had achieved.

Three other jaguns had taken part in the ambush. Jochi saw the officers ride out of the trees where they had lain in wait all night. After years with Tsubodai, he knew each man like a brother, as Genghis had once told him to do. Mekhali and Altan were solid men, loyal but unimaginative. Jochi nodded to them both as they trotted their ponies to the field of the dead. The last of them, Qara, was a short, sinewy warrior with a face scarred from an old wound. Though he was faultlessly formal, Jochi sensed a dislike he could not understand. Perhaps the glowering man resented him for his father. Jochi had met many suspicious of his rise in the ranks. Tsubodai was not subtle in the way he included Jochi in every plan and stratagem, just as Genghis had once done with the young boy from the Uriankhai who had become his general. Tsubodai looked to the future while men like Qara imagined they saw only a spoiled young prince, promoted beyond his skill.

As Qara rode up and grunted at the sight of the dead knights, Jochi realised he was no longer the man’s superior. He had accepted the silver with a battle looming and still felt the honour of being trusted with a hundred lives. Yet it meant that, for a time at least, Qara no longer had to watch himself around the khan’s son. One glance told Jochi the wiry little warrior had already thought it through.

‘Why are we waiting here?’ Qara said suddenly. ‘Tsubodai will be attacking as we smell the grass and stand idle.’

Jochi resented the words, but he spoke lightly, as if Qara had merely greeted him. If the man had been a true leader, he would already have begun the ride back to Tsubodai. In a flash of insight, Jochi understood that Qara still looked to him for orders, despite his drop in rank. Glancing at Mekhali and Altan, he found they too were watching. Perhaps it was just their habit, but he felt an idea begin to form and knew he would not waste the moment.

‘Do you see their armour, Qara?’ he said. ‘The first piece hangs from the helmet, covering their faces except for the eyes. The second cloth of iron rings reaches right to their knees.’

‘It did not stop our shafts,’ Qara replied with a shrug. ‘When they are unhorsed, they move so slowly it is easy to bring them down. We do not need such poor protection, I think.’

Jochi grinned up at the man, enjoying the confusion it brought.

‘We do need it, Qara.’

High in the hills above the valley, Tsubodai waited on foot, his pony snuffling among dead pine needles. Almost five thousand men rested around him, waiting for his decision. He waited on the scouts he had sent out. Two hundred had ridden in all directions, their reports allowing the general to form a picture of the area for many miles around.

He knew Jochi’s ambush had been a success almost before it was over. One thousand fewer of the enemy left only ten, but it was still too many. The column of knights moved slowly through the river valley, waiting for the attack group to return victorious. They had not brought bowmen into the wilderness, a mistake that would cost them dearly. Yet they were large men and so strong that Tsubodai could not risk a simple frontal assault. He had seen knights stuck with arrows who had still fought through to kill two or even three of his. They were warriors of great courage, but he thought it would not be enough. Brave men come forward when they are attacked and Tsubodai planned accordingly. Any army could be routed in the right conditions, he was certain of it. Not his own, of course, but that of any enemy.

Two of the scouts galloped in to mark the latest position of the Russian force. Tsubodai made them dismount and draw on the ground with sticks so he could be sure there was no misunderstanding.

‘How many scouts do they have out?’ he asked.

The warrior drawing with a stick replied without hesitation.

‘Ten in the rear, general, on a wide sweep. Twenty to the front and flanks.’

Tsubodai nodded. He knew enough to move at last.

‘They must be killed, especially the ones behind the knights’ column. Take them when the sun is highest and do not let even one escape. I will attack as soon as you signal by flag that the scouts are down. Repeat your orders.’

The warrior spoke quickly, word-perfect as he had been trained to be. Tsubodai allowed no confusion in the field. For all the use of flags to communicate over vast distances, he was still forced to rely on dawn, noon and sunset as the only markers for time. He looked up through the trees at the thought, seeing that the sun was not far off midday. It would not be long and he felt the familiar flutter in his stomach that came before a battle. He had told Jochi it was to train him and that was true, but not the whole truth. Tsubodai had held back that the knights travelled with portable forges in their baggage train. Blacksmiths were more valuable than any other artisan they could capture and Tsubodai had been intrigued by reports of iron carts belching smoke as they rolled.

Tsubodai smiled to himself, enjoying the rising excitement. Like Genghis, he could find no love for the sacking of towns and cities. It was something that had to be done, of course, as a man would pour boiling water on a nest of ants. It was the battles Tsubodai wanted, each one proving or increasing his mastery. He had found no greater joy than out-thinking his enemies, confounding and destroying them. He had heard of the strange quest the knights were on, to a land so distant that no one knew its name. It did not matter. Genghis would not allow armed men to ride his lands — and all lands were his.

Tsubodai scuffed the drawings in the dirt with the toe of his boot. He turned to the second scout who waited patiently, in awe of the general.

‘Ride to Jochi and find what has delayed him,’ Tsubodai ordered. ‘He will sit at my right hand for this attack.’

‘Your will, lord,’ the scout said, bowing before he scrambled to his horse and went careering through the trees at breakneck speed. Tsubodai squinted through the branches at the sun. He would move very soon.

In the thump and thunder of ten thousand horses, Anatoly Majaev glanced over his shoulder at the ridge little Ilya had disappeared behind. Where had his brother gone? He still thought of him as little Ilya, despite the fact that his brother outweighed him in both muscle and faith. Anatoly shook his head wearily. He had promised their mother he would look after him. Ilya would catch up, he was certain. He had not dared halt the column now the Mongols had shown they were in the area. Anatoly had sent scouts all around, but they too seemed to have vanished. He looked behind again, straining his eyes for the banners of a thousand men.

Ahead, the valley narrowed in a pass through hills that could have been part of the Garden of Eden. The slopes were green with grass so thick a man could not hack through the roots in half a day. Anatoly loved this land, but his eyes were always on the horizon, and one day he would see Jerusalem. He muttered a prayer to the Virgin under his breath and at that moment the pass darkened and he saw the Mongol army riding out against him.

The scouts were dead then, as he had feared. Anatoly cursed and could not help but look back for Ilya once more.

Shouts came from behind and Anatoly turned completely in the saddle, swearing at the sight of another dark mass of riders coming up fast. How had they gone around him without being spotted? It defied belief to have the enemy move like ghosts through the hills.

He knew his men could scatter the Mongols in a charge. Already, they had unhooked their shields and raised them, looking to him for orders. As the eldest son of a baron, Anatoly was the most senior officer. Indeed, it had been his family who had financed the entire trip, using some of their vast fortune to earn the goodwill of the monasteries that had become so powerful in Russia.

Anatoly knew he could not charge with the entire baggage train and rear ranks exposed. Nothing unnerved fighting men more than being struck from before and behind at the same time. He began to shout an order for three of his officers to take their centuries and wheel around to charge the rear. As he turned, a movement on the hills caught his eye and he grinned in relief. In the distance, a line of Russian heavy horse came back over the ridge, banners flying lightly in the breeze. Anatoly judged the distances and made his decision. He called a scout over to him.

‘Ride to my brother and tell him to hit the force at our rear. He must prevent them from joining the battle.’

The young man raced away, unencumbered by armour or weapons. Anatoly turned to the front, his confidence swelling. With the rear secured, he outnumbered those who were galloping towards him. His orders had taken only moments and he knew he could punch through the Mongols like an armoured fist.

Anatoly pointed his long spear over his horse’s ears.

‘Charge formation! For the white Christ, onward!’

Anatoly’s scout raced at full gallop across the dusty ground. Speed was everything with two armies converging on the column. He rode with his body pressed as low as he could go, the horse’s head lunging up and down by his own. He was young and excited and rode almost to Ilya Majaev’s men before pulling up in shock. Only four hundred had come back over the crest and they had been through hell. Brown slicks of blood showed on many men as they approached and there was something odd about the way they rode.

The scout suddenly understood and heaved at his reins in panic. He was too late. An arrow took him under a flailing arm and he tumbled over the horse’s ears, making the animal bolt.

Jochi and the other Mongols did not look at the prone figure as they galloped past. It had taken a long time to pull the chain mail off the dead, but the ruse was working. No force rode out to cut them off and, though the Russians didn’t know it, they were being attacked on three sides. As the slope lessened, Jochi dug in his heels and brought the heavy spear out of its leather socket. It was a cumbersome thing and he had to strain to hold it steady as he and his men thundered towards the Russian flank.

Anatoly was at full gallop, more than half a ton of flesh and iron focused on a spear point. He saw the front ranks shudder as the Mongol archers loosed their first shafts. The enemy were fast, but the column could not be held back or even turned at that speed. The noise of shield impacts and hooves was deafening, but he heard screams behind him and wrenched himself back to clarity. He was in command and, as his mind cleared, he shook his head in horror. He watched Ilya strike the main flank, cutting into the very men who had pledged themselves to the Majaev family on the pilgrimage.

As he gaped, Anatoly saw the men were smaller and wore bloody iron. Some had lost their helmets in the first clash to reveal yelling Mongol faces. He blanched then, knowing his brother was dead and the twin attack would crush the rear ranks. He could not turn and, though he bawled frantic orders, no one heard him.

Ahead, the Mongols let them come in, loosing shafts by the thousand into the Russian horsemen. The shields were battered and the column jerked like a wounded animal. Men fell by the hundred. It was as if a scythe had been drawn across the face of the column, cutting through living men.

Behind, the Mongols rolled up the baggage train, killing anyone on the carts who raised a weapon. Anatoly strained to think, to make out details, but he was in among the enemy. His spear ripped along a horse’s neck, opening a great gash that spattered him in warm blood. A sword flashed and Anatoly took the blow on his helmet, almost losing consciousness. Something hit him in the chest and suddenly he could not breathe, even to call for help. He strained for just a cupful of air, just a sip, but it did not come and he collapsed, hitting the ground hard enough to numb his final agony.

At the fires that evening, Tsubodai rode through the camp of his ten thousand. The dead knights had been stripped of anything valuable and the general had pleased the men by refusing his personal tithe. For those who received no pay for their battles, the collection of bloodstained lockets, rings and gems was something to covet in the new society Genghis was creating. A man could become wealthy in the army of the tribes, though they thought always in terms of the horses they could buy with their riches. The knights’ forges were of more interest to Tsubodai, as were the spoked cartwheels themselves, ringed in iron and easier to repair than the solid discs the Mongols used. Tsubodai had already instructed the captured armourers to demonstrate the skill to his carpenters.

Jochi was examining the forehoof of his favourite pony when Tsubodai trotted up to him. Before the younger man could bow, Tsubodai inclined his head, giving him honour. The jagun Jochi had commanded stood with pride.

Tsubodai lifted his hand to show Jochi the gold paitze he had taken from him before noon.

‘You had me wondering how Russians could come back from the dead,’ Tsubodai said. ‘It was a bold stroke. Take this back, Jochi. You are worth more than silver.’

He tossed the gold plaque through the air and Jochi caught it, struggling to keep his composure. Only the praise of Genghis himself would have meant more at that moment.

‘We will ride home tomorrow,’ Tsubodai said, as much for the men as Jochi. ‘Be ready at dawn.’

CHAPTER TWO

Chagatai felt an itch in his left armpit, where sweat dribbled under his best armour. Though he was the second son of the khan, he sensed it would not be right to give the spot a good scratch while he waited for the king of Koryo.

He risked a quick glance at the man who had brought him to the distant, walled city of Songdo. The hall of kings was stifling in the midday heat, but Jelme showed no discomfort in his lacquered armour. Like the courtiers and the royal guards, the Mongol general could have been carved out of wood.

Chagatai could hear water running in the far distance, the gentle sound somehow magnified in the oppressive heat and silence. The itch became maddening and he struggled to think of something else. As his gaze rested on a high ceiling of white plaster and ancient pine beams, he reminded himself that he had no reason to feel intimidated. For all their dignity, the Wang dynasty had not been able to crush the Khara-Kitai when those people came into their land from Chin territory and built fortresses. If Jelme had not volunteered his army to burn them out, the Koryon king would still be a near prisoner in his own palace. At fifteen years old, Chagatai felt a vague smugness at the thought. He had all the pride and arrogance of a young warrior, yet in this case he knew it was justified. Jelme and his warriors had come into the east to see what armies might stand against them and view the ocean for the first time. They had found enemies in the Khara-Kitai and driven them out of Koryo like whipped dogs. Chagatai knew it was only just that the king pay a tribute, whether he had asked for help or not.

Sweating in the heavy air, Chagatai tortured himself with memory of the breeze off the sea in the south. The cool wind had been the only good thing about that blue vastness, in his opinion. Jelme had been fascinated by the Koryon ships, but the thought of wanting to travel on water baffled Chagatai. If it could not be ridden, he had no use for it. Even the memory of the royal barge swaying at anchor made his stomach clench.

A bell sounded out in the courtyard, the tone echoing through gardens where bees buzzed in hives around acacia blossoms. Chagatai pictured the Buddhist monks heaving on the log that struck the great bell and he straightened, once more aware of how he stood. The king would be on his way and his torment would come to an end. He could stand an itch a little longer: just the thought of relief made it seem bearable.

The bell boomed again and servants slid back screens, opening the hall to the scent of pines from the surrounding hills. Despite himself, Chagatai let out a sigh as the intense heat began to lessen. The crowd moved subtly as they strained to see the king and Chagatai used the distraction to dig two fingers into his armpit and scratch vigorously. He sensed Jelme’s gaze flicker to him and resumed his impassive expression as the king of the Koryo people entered at last.

None of them were tall, Chagatai thought, as he saw the diminutive monarch waft through a carved doorway. He supposed the man’s name was Wang, after his family, but who knew or cared how these wiry little people named each other? Chagatai looked instead at a pair of serving girls in the king’s retinue. With their delicate golden skin, they were far more interesting than the man they served. The young warrior stared as the women fussed around their master, arranging his robes as he seated himself.

The king did not seem aware of the watching Mongols as he waited for his attendants to finish. His eyes were almost the same dark yellow as Genghis’, though they lacked his father’s ability to inspire terror. Compared with the khan, the Koryon king was just a lamb.

The servants finished their tasks at last and the king’s gaze finally focused on the arban of ten warriors Jelme had brought. Chagatai wondered how the man could bear such thick cloth on a summer’s day.

When the king spoke, Chagatai could not understand a word. Like Jelme, he had to wait for the translation into the Chin language he had struggled to master. Even then, he could hardly catch the meaning and listened in growing frustration. He disliked foreign languages. Once a man knew the word for a horse, why use another? Obviously Chagatai understood that men from far lands might not know the right way of speaking, but he felt they owed it to themselves to learn and not continue their gibberish, as if all tongues were of equal value.

‘You have kept your promises,’ the translator said solemnly, interrupting Chagatai’s thoughts. ‘The Khara-Kitai fortresses have burned for many days and that foul people have gone from the high and beautiful land.’

Silence fell again and Chagatai shifted uncomfortably. The court of the Koryo seemed to delight in slowness. He recalled his experience of the drink they called ‘nok cha’. Jelme had frowned at the way Chagatai emptied his cup in a gulp and held it out for another. Apparently, the pale green liquid was too valuable to be drunk like water. As if one warrior should care how another ate or drank! Chagatai ate when he was hungry and often forgot to attend the elaborate meals of the court. He could not understand Jelme’s interest in pointless rituals, but he had not spoken his thoughts aloud. When he ruled the Mongol nation, he would not allow pretension, he vowed to himself. Food was not something to linger over, or prepare in a thousand flavours. It was no wonder that the Koryon people had come so close to being conquered. They would be required to speak one language and eat perhaps no more than two or three different dishes, prepared quickly and without fuss. It would leave more time for training with weapons and exercise to make the body strong.

Chagatai’s wandering thoughts stilled as Jelme spoke at last, apparently having weighed every word.

‘It is fortunate that the Khara-Kitai chose to attack my scouts. Our needs met in their destruction. I speak now for the great khan, whose warriors have saved your country from a terrible enemy. Where is the tribute promised by your ministers?’

As the translation droned, the king stiffened slightly in his seat. Chagatai wondered if the fool took some insult from the words. Perhaps he had forgotten the army camped outside the city. At a single command from Jelme, they would burn the polished beams around the king’s head. It was still a mystery to Chagatai why they had not. Surely Genghis had sent them out to hone their skills? Chagatai appreciated distantly that there was an art in negotiating that he had yet to learn. Jelme had tried to explain the need to deal with foreign powers, but Chagatai could not see it. A man was either an enemy or a friend. If he was an enemy, everything he owned could be taken. Chagatai smiled as he completed the thought. A khan needed no friends, only servants.

Once more, he daydreamed about ruling his people. The tribes would never accept his brother, Jochi, if he was even the khan’s son at all. Chagatai had done his part in spreading the rumour that Jochi was the result of a rape, many years before. Genghis had allowed the whispers to grow deep roots by his distant manner towards the boy. Chagatai smiled to himself at the memories, allowing his hand to drift to the hilt of his sword. His father had given it to him rather than Jochi, a blade that had seen the birth of a nation. In his most private heart, Chagatai knew he would never take an oath to Jochi.

One of the king’s ministers leaned close to the throne to exchange whispered words. It went on long enough for the ranks of courtiers to wilt visibly in their robes and jewels, but at last the minister retreated. Once more the king spoke, his words translated smoothly.

‘Honoured allies may accept gifts in token of a new friendship, as has been discussed,’ the king said. ‘One hundred thousand sheets of oiled paper have been prepared for you, the labour of many moons.’ The assembled crowd of Koryon nobles murmured at the words, though Chagatai could not imagine why paper would be seen as valuable. ‘Ten thousand silk vests have been sewn and the same weight added in jade and silver. Two hundred thousand kwan of iron and the same in bronze have come from the mines and the guild of metalworkers. From my own stores, sixty tiger skins have been wrapped in silk and made ready to travel with you. Finally, eight hundred cartloads of oak and beech are the gift of the Wang dynasty, in thanks for the victory you have brought to the Koryon people. Go now in peace and honour and count us always as allies.’

Jelme nodded stiffly as the translator finished.

‘I accept your tribute, majesty.’

A slight flush had appeared on his neck. Chagatai wondered if the general would ignore the king’s attempt to save face. Tribute was given to conquerors and Jelme stood in silence for a long time as he considered the king’s words. When he spoke again, his voice was firm.

‘I ask only that six hundred young men between the ages of twelve and sixteen be added to it. I will train them in the skills of my people and they will know many battles and great honour.’

Chagatai struggled not to show his approval. Let them choke on that, with their talk of gifts and honoured allies. Jelme’s demand had revealed the true balance of power in the room and the courtiers were visibly distressed. The silence stretched in the hall and Chagatai watched with interest as the king’s minister bowed close once more. He saw the king’s knuckles whiten as his grip on the armrest tightened. Chagatai was tired of their posturing. Even the smooth-limbed women at the king’s feet had lost their allure. He wanted to get out into the cool air and perhaps bathe in the river before the sun lost its heat.

Yet Jelme did not move a muscle and his glare seemed to make the men around the king nervous. Their darting glances were wasted on the silent warriors as they stood and waited for a certain outcome. The city of Songdo had fewer than sixty thousand inhabitants and an army of no more than three thousand. The king could assume whatever airs he wanted, but Chagatai knew the truth of the situation. When the answer came at last, it was no surprise.

‘We are honoured that you would accept so many young men into your service, general,’ the king said.

His expression was sour, but Jelme responded to the interpreter, mouthing further expressions of goodwill that Chagatai drowned out. His father had called Jelme home after three years of scouting the east. It would be good to see the mountains again and Chagatai could barely restrain his impatience at the thought. Jelme seemed to think this paper would be important, though Chagatai doubted Genghis would value it. In that, at least, his father was predictable. It was a good thing Jelme had demanded silk and hard woods as well. Those things were worth having.

Without an obvious signal, the bell sounded again in the courtyard outside, ending the audience. Chagatai watched the servant girls as they readied their master to stand and fell in behind him. He sighed as the room relaxed subtly around him, taking pleasure in scratching his armpit once more. Home. Jochi would be coming back as well, with Tsubodai. Chagatai wondered how his brother would have changed in three years. At seventeen, he would be fully grown and no doubt Tsubodai had trained him well. Chagatai cracked his neck with his hands, relishing the challenges to come.

In the southern half of Chin lands, warriors of the third army of Genghis were drinking themselves senseless. At their backs, the citizens of Kaifeng waited behind high walls and gates, already despairing. Some of the Chin had accompanied the emperor himself as he had come south from Yenking three years before. They had seen the smoke in the northern sky as that city burned. For a time, they thought the Mongols had passed them by, but then the army of Khasar came after them, drawing lines of destruction across the ground like a hot iron across flesh.

The streets of Kaifeng had become lawless even in the heart of the city. Those who had armed guards could climb to the walls and look down on the besieging army. What they saw brought no comfort or hope. To the Chin, even the casual nature of Khasar’s siege was an insult.

On this day, the great khan’s brother was amusing himself with a wrestling competition amongst his men. Khasar’s host of gers lacked a clear pattern and his vast herds of animals wandered aimlessly over the land, only rarely disturbed by the long whips of herdsmen. The Mongols had not so much surrounded Kaifeng as made camp there. To the Chin who hated and feared them, it was galling to see the enemy enjoying games and sports while Kaifeng began to go hungry. Though the Chin were no strangers to cruelty, the Mongols were more callous than they could comprehend. Khasar’s army cared nothing at all for the suffering inhabitants of Kaifeng and only resented them for delaying the fall of the city. They had been there for three months and they showed a terrible, limitless patience.

The emperor’s city of Yenking had fallen to these primitive horsemen. Its great armies had not held them. With that example, no one in Kaifeng had real hope. The streets were ruled by ruthless gangs and only the strong dared go out at all. Food was distributed from a central store, but some days they had nothing. No one could know if the food was running out, or if it had been stolen on the way.

In the camp, Khasar rose to his feet, roaring in excitement with Ho Sa as the wrestler known as Baabgai, the Bear, heaved his opponent up over his head. The vanquished man struggled at first, but Baabgai stood unmoving, beaming like a stupid child at his general. The bets dwindled to a trickle and then nothing. The man he held was so battered and exhausted that he only tugged feebly at Baabgai’s square fingertips.

Khasar had found the wrestler among his Chin recruits, marking him apart immediately for his size and strength. He looked forward to having the massive idiot challenge one of the champions at home. If he judged the wagers well, he could beggar a few men in one match, his brother Temuge among them.

Baabgai waited impassively for Khasar’s order. Few others could have supported a grown warrior for so long and Baabgai’s face was pink and shiny with sweat.

Khasar stared through the big wrestler, his thoughts returning to the message from Genghis. The scout his brother had sent still stood where Khasar had placed him hours before. Flies were sucking at the salt on the scout’s skin, but the young man dared not move.

Khasar’s good mood vanished and he gestured irritably to his wrestling champion.

‘Break him,’ he snapped.

The crowd took a sharp breath as Baabgai dropped suddenly to one knee, bringing his opponent down on the outstretched thigh. The crack of a broken spine sounded across the clearing and all the men roared and exchanged betting tokens. Baabgai beamed toothlessly at them. Khasar looked away as the crippled man’s throat was cut. It was a kindness not to leave him alive for dogs and rats.

Sensing his thoughts turning darker, Khasar signalled for the next bout and a skin of black airag: anything to distract him from his gloom. If he’d known Genghis would be recalling the armies, he’d have made better time heading into Chin lands. With Ho Sa and Genghis’ son Ogedai, he’d spent leisurely years burning cities and executing their populations, all the time moving closer to where the boy emperor had taken refuge. It had been a very happy time for him.

He was not a man given to thinking too hard about himself, but Khasar had come to enjoy being in command. For men like Genghis, it came naturally. Khasar could not imagine Genghis allowing anyone to lead him to a toilet pit, never mind a battle. For Khasar, it had come slowly, the need growing like moss. For three years, he had not spoken to any of his brothers, Genghis, Kachiun or Temuge. His warriors had expected him to know where to ride and what to do once they arrived. Khasar had found it exhausting at first, just as a lead dog will last only so long at the head of a pack. He knew that well, but he discovered another truth, that leading was as exciting as it was exhausting. His mistakes were his own, but his triumphs were also his own. As the seasons passed, Khasar had changed subtly and he did not want to go home. Waiting for Kaifeng to fall, he was father to ten thousand sons.

He looked around at the men he had brought so far from home. His second in command, Samuka, was sober as always, watching the wrestling with detached amusement. Ogedai was yelling and sweating with drink, looking small at the shoulder of warriors. Khasar let his gaze drift over the boy, wondering how he would take the news of their return. At Ogedai’s age, everything was new and exciting and Khasar thought he would be pleased. His mood soured further as he studied his men. Every one of them had proved his worth. They had taken women by the thousand, horses, coins and weapons, too much to spend a lifetime cataloguing. Khasar let out a long sigh. Yet Genghis was the great khan and Khasar could no more imagine rebelling against his older brother than he could sprout wings and fly across the walls of Kaifeng.

Ho Sa seemed to sense the general’s mood and raised a skin of black airag to him, the noise of the wrestling bout swelling around them both. Khasar smiled tightly, without pleasure. With Samuka, Ho Sa had heard the scout’s message. The day had been ruined and both men knew it.

The Xi Xia officer would once have shuddered at the thought of drinking with lice-ridden tribesmen. Before the Mongols had come, Ho Sa had lived a life of simple austerity, proud of his place in his king’s army. He had woken each dawn for an hour of exercise before bathing, then begun the day with black tea and bread dipped in honey. Ho Sa’s life had been almost perfect and he sometimes longed for it, while dreading its dullness at the same time.

On very dark nights, when all the pretences of men are laid bare, Ho Sa knew he had found a place and a life he would never have enjoyed in the Xi Xia. He had risen to third in command of a Mongol army and men like Khasar trusted him with their lives. The bites of fleas and lice were a small price to pay in return. Following Khasar’s black gaze, Ho Sa too glowered drunkenly at Kaifeng. If all an emperor could do was cower behind high walls, he was no emperor as far as Ho Sa could see. He took another gulp of the clear airag and winced as it stung a cut on his gums.

Ho Sa did sometimes miss the peace and routines of his old life, but he knew they continued somewhere. That thought brought him comfort when he was tired or wounded. It also helped that he had a fortune in gold and silver. If he ever did return home, he would have wives, slaves and wealth.

The second match finished with a broken arm and both men bowed to Khasar before he gave them leave to have their wounds treated. The day’s events would cost him perhaps a dozen injured and a few killed, but it was worth it to inspire the others. They were not delicate young girls, after all.

Khasar glared at the scout. It had been Khasar himself who had taken the lonely forts the Mongols now used as way stations for their messengers. They stretched in an unbroken line all the way back to the charred remains of Yenking in the north. If Khasar had realised the new trade road would enable Genghis to send a recall order only eighteen days before, he might not have done it. Would his brother understand if he waited another year for the fortress city to fall? Khasar kicked at a stone, startling the scout as he stood there. He knew the answer. Genghis would expect him to drop everything and return, bringing the khan’s son, Ogedai, with him. It was galling and Khasar stared at Kaifeng as if he could bring the walls down with anger alone. He hardly saw the third bout of wrestling, though the hard-drinking crowd appreciated it.

‘Recite the orders again,’ Khasar said suddenly. Over the yelling warriors, he had to repeat himself twice to be heard.

The scout bowed his head, at a loss to understand the mood his message had created.

‘Come home and drink black airag with our people, my brother. In the spring, we will drink milk and blood.’

‘That is all?’ Khasar snapped. ‘Tell me how he looked when he sent you out.’

The scout shifted uncomfortably.

‘The Great Khan was discussing plans, lord, with his senior men. They had maps weighted with stones of lead, but I did not hear what they said before I was summoned.’

Ho Sa raised his head at that, his eyes glassy with drink.

‘Milk and blood will mean he plans a new war,’ he called.

The noise of the crowd dropped suddenly at his words. Ogedai had frozen to listen. Even the wrestlers paused, unsure whether they should go on. Khasar blinked and then shrugged. He didn’t care who heard.

‘If my brother had his precious maps out, that must be it.’ He sighed to himself. If Genghis knew he stood before the walls of Kaifeng, surely he would wait. The boy emperor had escaped them at Yenking. The thought of the Imperial Chin court watching the Mongols leave was almost unbearable.

‘Has my brother summoned Tsubodai and Jelme?’ Khasar said.

The messenger swallowed nervously under the eyes of so many.

‘I did not carry the messages, lord.’

‘You know, though. Scouts always know. Tell me, or I will have your tongue.’

The young messenger swallowed his doubts and spoke quickly.

‘Two other men rode out to bring the generals back to the khan, lord. This I heard.’

‘And the armies at home? Are they drilling and making ready, or just waiting?’

‘They are under orders to train the winter fat off them, lord.’

Khasar saw Samuka grin and he cursed under his breath.

‘Then it is war. Go back along the path I made and tell my brother “I am coming”. It is enough.’

‘Shall I say you will be there before the end of summer, lord?’ the scout asked.

‘Yes,’ Khasar replied. He spat on the ground as the scout raced away. He had taken every city for a hundred miles around Kaifeng, surrounding the emperor with destruction and cutting his supplies. Yet he would leave just when victory was assured. He saw Ogedai’s eyes were wide with excitement and Khasar looked away.

It would be good to see his brothers again, he realised. He wondered idly if Jelme or Tsubodai could match the wealth he had taken from the Chin cities. Whole forests had been cut to provide carts enough to carry it all. He had even recruited from among the Chin, so that he returned with two thousand more men than he had taken with him. He sighed to himself. What he had wanted was to bring Genghis the bones of an emperor. He cared nothing for the other spoils of war.

CHAPTER THREE

Genghis let his mare have her head on the open plain, hitting full gallop so that the warm air rushed by him and sent his long, black hair streaming in the wind. He wore only a light tunic that left his arms bare, revealing a dense web of white scars. The trousers that gripped the mare’s flanks were old and dark with mutton fat, as were the soft boots in the stirrups. He carried no sword, though a leather bowcase rested behind his thigh and a small hunting quiver bounced on his shoulders, its leather strap running across his chest.

The air was black with birds overhead, the noise of their wings clattering as hawks tore through them, bringing prey back to their masters. In the distance, three thousand warriors had formed an unbroken ring, riding slowly and driving every living thing before them. It would not be long before the centre was filled with marmots, deer, foxes, rats, wild dogs and a thousand other small animals. Genghis could see the ground was dark with them and he grinned in anticipation of the killing ahead. A deer ran bucking and snorting in panic through the circle and Genghis took it easily, sending a shaft into its chest behind the foreleg. The buck collapsed, kicking, and he turned to see if his brother Kachiun had witnessed the shot.

There was little true sport in the circle hunt, though it helped to feed the tribes when meat was running low. Nevertheless, Genghis enjoyed it and awarded places at the centre to men he wished to honour. As well as Kachiun, Arslan was there, the first man to take an oath to him. The old swordsman was sixty years of age and knife-thin. He rode well, if stiffly, and Genghis saw him take a pigeon from the air as the bird flew overhead.

The wrestler Tolui galloped across his vision, leaning low on the saddle to drop a fat marmot as it streaked across the grass in panic. A wolf came from a patch of long grass and made Tolui’s pony shy, almost unseating him. Genghis laughed as the massive warrior struggled upright. It was a good day and the circle was almost upon them. A hundred of his most valued officers raced here and there as the ground darkened into a solid stream of animals. They swarmed so thickly that more were crushed by hooves than spitted on killing shafts. The circle of riders closed until they stood shoulder to shoulder and the men in the middle emptied their quivers, enjoying themselves.

Genghis spotted a mountain cat in the press and kicked his heels in after it. He saw Kachiun on the same run and was pleased when his brother wheeled away to leave him the shot. Both men were in their late thirties, strong and supremely fit. With the armies returning, they would take the nation into new lands and Genghis was glad of it.

He had come back from the Chin capital worn out and racked by illness. It had taken almost a year for him to regain his health, but the weakness was now only a memory. As the end of summer approached, he felt his old strength and, with it, the desire to crush those who had dared to kill his men. He wanted his enemies proud and strong, so that he could cast them further down in his vengeance.

Genghis reached for another arrow and his fingers closed on nothing, making him sigh. The boys and girls of the camps would now run in with hammers and knives to finish the slaughter and begin preparing the carcases for a great feast.

The scouts for the khan had reported the armies of Khasar and Tsubodai only a few days’ ride away. His generals would be honoured with rice wine and black airag when they returned. Genghis wondered how his sons would have grown in the years apart. It was exciting to think of riding to war with Chagatai and Ogedai, taking new lands so that they too could be khans. He knew that Jochi was returning, but that was an old wound and he did not dwell on it. He had enjoyed peaceful years with his wives and young children, but if the sky father had a purpose for him, he knew it was not to spend his time quietly while the world slept.

Genghis rode to Kachiun as his brother clapped Arslan on the shoulders. Between them, the ground was red with blood and fur, and boys darted almost under the hooves as they yelled and called to each other in excitement.

‘Did you see the great cat I brought down?’ Genghis said to the two men. ‘It took two arrows just to slow it.’

‘It was a fine kill,’ Kachiun shouted, his face glowing with sweat. One scrawny boy came too close to Kachiun’s stirrups as he spoke and he reached down to cuff the lad, knocking him sprawling, to the amusement of his companions.

Arslan smiled as the little boy picked himself up and glared at the khan’s brother before racing off.

‘They are so young, this new generation,’ he said. ‘I can hardly remember being so small.’

Genghis nodded. The children of the tribes would never know the fear of being hunted as he and his brothers had. Listening to their laughter and high-pitched voices, he could only wonder at what he had achieved. Just a few herdsmen still roamed the valleys and mountains of his homeland. He had gathered the rest and made them a nation under one man and the sky father. Perhaps that was why he yearned to answer the challenge from the desert tribes. A man without enemies grew quickly soft and fat. A nation would fare badly without someone peering into their camps. He smiled at the thought. There was no shortage of enemies in the world and he thanked the spirits that they teemed in their millions. He could not imagine a better way of spending a life and he had good years ahead.

Arslan spoke again and the lightness had gone from his voice.

‘I have thought for many months, lord, that it is time I gave up my position as general. I am getting too old to stand a campaign in winter and perhaps too cautious. The men need someone younger who can risk it all on a single throw of the bones.’

‘You have years in you yet,’ Kachiun replied as seriously.

Arslan shook his head, looking to see how Genghis reacted to his words.

‘It is time. I will wait for my son Jelme to return, but I do not wish to leave my homeland again. My oath is to you, Genghis, and I will not see it broken. If you say ride, I will ride until I fall.’ He spoke of death. No warrior could fall from a saddle while he still lived. Arslan paused to see the khan understood his loyalty before going on.

‘No man can ride for ever. My hips and shoulders ache and my hands are stiff at the first touch of cold. Perhaps it is all the years of beating metal; I do not know.’

Genghis pursed his mouth, edging his mount closer so that he could grip his general’s shoulder.

‘You have been with me from the first days,’ he said softly. ‘No one has served with more honour. If you want to see your final years out in peace, I will release you from your oath.’

Arslan bowed his head, visibly relieved.

‘Thank you, my lord khan.’ When he looked up, his face was flushed with emotion. ‘I knew you when you were alone and hunted. I saw greatness in you then when I pledged my life. I have known this day would come and prepared my second for command of my tuman. It is your decision, but I recommend Zurgadai to replace me.’

‘No one could replace you,’ Genghis said immediately. ‘But I will honour your choice and your wisdom this last time. I know this Zurgadai, the one they call “Jebe”, the arrow.’

Arslan grimaced slightly. ‘As you say. You met him first when we rode against the Besud clan years ago. He killed your horse.’

Genghis let out a surprised exclamation.

‘I thought I knew the name! By the spirits, he could shoot a bow. Was it three hundred paces? I remember I almost broke my head open.’

‘He has mellowed a little, lord, but not too much. He has been loyal to you ever since you spared him that day.’

Genghis nodded.

‘Then pass your gold paitze to him and invite him to my council tent. We will make the feast a celebration of your life. The storytellers will sing your praises to the sky father and all the young warriors will know a great man is gone from the ranks.’

He thought for a moment as Arslan coloured in pride.

‘You will have a thousand horses from my own herd and a dozen women as servants for your wife. I will send three young men to guard you in your old age. You will not be lonely in your retirement, general. You will have sheep and goats enough to make you fat for a hundred years.’

Arslan dismounted and touched his head to Genghis’ foot in the stirrup.

‘You honour me, lord, but I need very little. With your permission, I will take my wife and just a small herd of breeding goats and horses. Together, we will find a quiet place by a stream and there remain. There are no thieves in the hills any longer and if by chance there are, my bow and sword still speak for me.’ He smiled at the man he had seen grow from a boy to a conqueror of nations. ‘Perhaps I will build a small forge and make one last sword to be buried with me. I hear the sounds of the hammer in my mind even now and I am at peace.’

Genghis found tears in his eyes as he viewed the man who had been like a second father to him. He too dismounted and embraced Arslan briefly, causing the shouting children around them to fall silent.

‘It is a good dream, old man.’

The lands around the Orkhon river were a deeper green than could be found anywhere else. The river itself was wide and clear. It had to be to support two hundred thousand men and women, with twice that number of horses when Khasar and Tsubodai arrived within a day of each other. Under the khan’s ruling hand, the nation had grown and there were always children squalling somewhere. Since his return from the Chin capital, Genghis had made a near permanent camp at the river, rejecting the plain of Avraga. It was true that Avraga would always be sacred as the place he had forged a nation, but it was a dry, flat land. In comparison, a nearby waterfall beat the waters of the Orkhon into white spray and the horses and sheep could drink their fill. Genghis had swum many times in its deep pools, regaining his strength.

Khasar had come in first and embraced his brothers: Genghis, Kachiun, even Temuge, who was no warrior, but ran the camps and settled disputes between families. Khasar brought Ogedai with him. The boy was barely thirteen years old, but stood muscular and long-limbed, with the promise of his father’s height. In the sharp planes of Ogedai’s face, the brothers could see an echo of the boy who had once kept them alive when they were banished and alone, just a few scraps of food away from starvation and death. Khasar gripped the back of Ogedai’s neck as he sent him forward to see his father, showing his pride.

‘He is a good hand with a bow and sword, brother,’ Khasar said, tilting a skin of black airag and directing a line of the spirit down his throat.

Genghis heard the delighted cry of his wife Borte from the family ger and knew his son would be surrounded by women in just a few moments.

‘You have grown, Ogedai,’ he said awkwardly. ‘I will want to hear all about your travels tonight.’ He watched as Ogedai bowed formally, the boy’s face hiding any emotion. Three years was a long time to be away, but Genghis was pleased with the stripling warrior who had returned to him. Ogedai had the same yellow eyes and Genghis approved of his stillness and calm. He did not test it by embracing him, not with so many warriors watching who would perhaps follow Ogedai in a charge one day.

‘Are you old enough to drink, boy?’ Genghis asked, hefting a skin in his hands. When his son nodded, he tossed it over and Ogedai took it cleanly, overwhelmed with the sights and sounds of his people all around. As his mother came forward and embraced him, he remained stiff, trying to show his father that he was not a little boy to melt into her arms. Borte hardly seemed to notice and held his face in both hands, weeping at his safe return.

‘Let him stand, Borte,’ Genghis muttered at her shoulder. ‘He is old enough to fight and ride with me.’ His wife ignored him and Genghis sighed to himself, his mood mellow.

Genghis felt his chest tighten as he saw Tsubodai trotting through the crowded plain towards him, Jochi at his side. Both men dismounted and Genghis saw that Jochi walked with the springy step of a natural warrior. He had grown an inch taller than the khan, though his dark eyes still reminded Genghis that some other man may have fathered him. He had not known how he would react to Jochi, but on instinct Genghis spoke directly to Tsubodai, ignoring him.

‘Have you carried them all before you, general?’ he said.

Tsubodai responded with a chuckle.

‘I have seen many strange things, my lord khan. I would have gone further if you had not called us back. Is it war, then?’

A shadow crossed Genghis’ face, but he shook his head.

‘Later, Tsubodai, later. I’ll have dogs for you to whip, but Arslan is stepping down as my general and when Jelme comes in, we will feast his life.’

Tsubodai showed sadness as he heard the news.

‘I owe him a great deal, lord. My poet is a fine man. May I offer his service?’

Genghis grinned.

‘For the swordsmith general, I have a dozen poets and storytellers fighting like cats for the honour, but your man may as well join them.’

Genghis could feel Jochi’s mother watching him as he spoke. Borte would be looking for some public acceptance of her first-born son before she too welcomed him home. As silence fell, Genghis turned at last to Jochi. It was hard not to bristle under that flat, black stare. It had been a long time in the camps since any man dared to meet the eyes of the khan in such a way and Genghis felt his heart thump faster, as if he faced an enemy.

‘I am pleased to see you well and strong, father,’ Jochi said, his voice deeper than Genghis had expected. ‘When I left, you were still weak from the assassin’s poison.’

Genghis saw Tsubodai’s hand twitch, as if he wanted to raise it to Jochi in warning. The general had sharper wits than Jochi, it seemed. The young warrior stood proudly before him as if he were not a rape-born whelp, barely welcome in the gers of his family.

Genghis struggled with his temper, very aware of the silent presence of his wife.

‘It seems I am a difficult man to kill,’ he said softly. ‘You are welcome in my camp, Jochi.’

His son remained still, though for Genghis to grant him guest rights like any common warrior was a subtle barb. He had not said the words to Tsubodai or Khasar; they were not needed between friends.

‘You honour me, my lord khan,’ Jochi said, bowing his head so that his father could not see his furious eyes.

Genghis nodded, weighing the young man as Jochi took his mother’s hands gently in his own and bowed, his face pale and strained. Borte’s eyes filled with tears of joy, but there was more restraint between mother and son than there had been with Ogedai. In such an atmosphere, she could not embrace the tall young warrior. Before Genghis could speak again, Jochi turned to his younger brother and all the stiffness left him in a rush.

‘I see you, little man,’ Jochi said.

Ogedai grinned and came forward to punch Jochi on the shoulder, prompting a brief wrestling match that ended with his head jammed into Jochi’s armpit. Genghis watched irritably, wanting to say something else that would prick Jochi’s easy manner. Instead, Jochi walked Ogedai away over his muffled protests at having his head rubbed. The khan had not actually dismissed his son, and Genghis opened his mouth to have him brought back.

‘Your son has learned well, lord,’ Tsubodai said before he could speak. ‘He has commanded a thousand in battles against the warriors of Russia and the men respect him.’

Genghis scowled, knowing the moment had somehow escaped him.

‘You have not raised him too fast?’ he said.

A weaker man might have agreed, but Tsubodai shook his head immediately, loyal to the young man he had fostered for three years.

‘He learned quickly what it means to command, lord, to have every man look to you alone for strength. My poet has many verses about Jochi and the men speak well of the khan’s son. He can lead. I have no greater praise.’

Genghis glanced over to where Jochi was laughing with Ogedai. Together, they looked younger, more like the boys who had grown in his ger. He nodded grudgingly, but when he spoke again, Tsubodai’s hopes fell.

‘Bad blood may come to the surface at any time, general. In a charge, or a battle, he could turn. Be careful not to risk your life on that one.’

Tsubodai could not contradict the khan without giving insult, though he burned to speak against the unfairness. In the end, his struggle remained internal and he bowed his head.

‘Jelme and Chagatai are only three days away,’ Genghis said, his expression lightening. ‘You will see a son of mine then, Tsubodai, and know why I am proud of him. We will light the land with lamps and eat and drink enough so that men will talk of it for years.’

‘As you say, lord,’ Tsubodai replied, hiding his distress. Over three years, he had seen Jochi grow into a fine man, one capable of leading armies. Tsubodai had seen no weaknesses in him and he knew he was a good judge of men. As he followed the khan’s gaze to his oldest son, Tsubodai grieved for the hurt Jochi must feel. No man should ever be rejected by his father. If Jochi had every other general at his feet and the scorn of Genghis, he would feel only the scorn. As Genghis turned away with Khasar and Kachiun, Tsubodai shook his head slightly before he reasserted the cold face and joined the other men in preparing for the feast. Jelme and Chagatai were coming and Tsubodai did not look forward to seeing Genghis praise his second son over the first.

CHAPTER FOUR

Something wrenched Jelme from a deep sleep. In complete darkness, he sat up, listening intently. The smoke hole in his ger was covered and his eyes could not adjust to the lack of light. At his side, a Chin woman stirred and he reached out to touch her face.

‘Be quiet,’ he whispered. He knew the sounds of the camp: the whickering of ponies, the laughter or weeping in the night that eased him into sleep. He knew the sounds of his people and the slightest change in them. Like a wild dog, some part of him never fully slept. He was too much of an old hand to dismiss the prickling sense of danger as a bad dream. In silence, he threw back his furs and stood bare-chested, wearing just an old pair of leggings.

It was low and distant, but the sound of a scout’s horn was unmistakable. As the note died away, Jelme grabbed for a sword hanging from the central pole. He pulled on soft boots, threw a heavy coat over his shoulders and ducked out into the night.

The camp was already waking around him, warriors mounting with murmurs and clicks to their animals. They were barely a day’s ride from Genghis and Jelme had no idea who could be mad enough to risk the legs of precious horses in the dark. One marmot hole in the wrong place and a foreleg could snap. Jelme could not imagine an enemy on the empty plains, not one who would dare to attack him. Still, he would make ready. He would not be surprised in his own camp.

Chagatai came running across the black grass, his stumbling gait showing the quantity of airag he had put away that evening. The young man winced as lamps were lit around Jelme’s ger, but the general had no sympathy. A warrior should always be ready to ride and he ignored the sallow features of Genghis’ son.

‘Take a hundred men, Chagatai,’ he snapped, his strain showing. ‘Scout around for an enemy, anything. Someone is out tonight.’

The young prince moved away quickly, already whistling for his sub-officers. Jelme drew men in, organising them without hesitation. The scouts had given him time and he did not waste it. Ranks coalesced in the blackness and the night was suddenly noisy as every man, woman and child prepared weapons or stowed supplies and bound up carts. Heavily armed guards ran in pairs through the camp, looking for attackers or thieves.

Jelme sat at the centre of the storm, sensing the swirl of movement all around him. There were no cries of alarm, not yet, though he heard the distant scout’s horn sound once more. In the flickering, hissing light of mutton-fat lamps, his servants brought his favourite gelding and he took the full quiver handed up to him.

By the time Jelme trotted out into the darkness, his army was alert and ready. The first five thousand warriors rode with him, a force of blooded men, well practised in battle. No one liked to fight in the dark and if they had to charge, men and horses would be killed. Jelme clenched his jaw against the cold, feeling it for the first time since he had woken.

Genghis galloped in the darkness, blind drunk and so light he felt the stirrups served a purpose in preventing him from floating away. As tradition demanded, he had begun each skin of airag by flicking a few drops for the spirits that guarded his people. He had spat more over the feast fires, so that the flash sent him reeling in sweet smoke. Despite all that, a fair amount had reached his throat and he had lost count of the skins he had thrown down.

The feast had begun two days before. Genghis had welcomed his returning sons and generals formally, honouring them all before the people. Even Jochi’s constant glower had softened as great platters of meat from the hunt were served. Khasar and Ogedai too had fallen on the best cuts with a cry of pleasure. They had eaten many strange things in the years away, but no one in Koryo or Chin lands could have brought a platter of green earth mutton to the groaning tables. That meat had been buried the previous winter and brought out whole for the return of the generals. Khasar’s eyes had filled with tears, though he claimed it was the bitterness of the rotted meat rather than nostalgia for the rare delicacy. No one believed him, but it did not matter.

The feast had built to a climax of noise and debauchery. The strongest warriors prowled through the gers, looking for women. Those of the people were safe, but Chin slaves or captured Russian women were fair game. Their cries were loud in the night, almost drowned by the drums and horns around the fires.

Poems had begun that would take a full day to finish. Some were sung in the ancient style of two tones from the same throat. Others were spoken aloud, competing in the chaos for any who would listen. The fires around Genghis grew more crowded as the first night wore into dawn.

Khasar had not slept even then, Genghis thought, looking for his brother’s shadow in the dark. As the second day came to an end, Genghis had seen how the poets kept back their ballads for Arslan, waiting on the general’s son. It had been then that Genghis refilled Arslan’s cup with his own hand.

‘Chagatai and Jelme are just a short ride from here, Arslan,’ he had said over the twang and screech of wind and string. ‘Will you come with me to meet our sons?’

Arslan had smiled drunkenly, nodding.

‘I will take the poets to them to hear the tales of you, old man,’ Genghis told him, slurring his words. It was a grand idea and, with a warm feeling, he summoned his council of generals to him. Tsubodai and Jochi called for horses as Khasar and Ogedai came staggering up. Ogedai had looked a little green and Genghis had ignored the sour smell of vomit around his son.

It was Kachiun who had brought the khan’s grey mare, a fine animal.

‘This is madness, brother!’ Kachiun called to him cheerfully. ‘Who rides fast at night? Someone will go down.’

Genghis gestured at the darkness and then his companions.

‘We are not afraid!’ he had declared, the drunken men around him cheering the sentiment. ‘I have my family and my generals. I have the swordsmith Arslan and Tsubodai the Valiant. Let the ground fear us if we fall. We will crack it open with our hard heads! Are you ready?’

‘I will match you, brother,’ Kachiun had replied, catching the wild mood. Both men trotted to the head of their small column. It grew by the moment as others joined them. The shaman, Kokchu, was there, one of the few who seemed sober. Genghis had looked for his last brother, Temuge, and saw him on foot, shaking his round head in disapproval. It did not matter, Genghis thought. The useless bastard never could ride.

He had looked around him, at his family, checking to see they all had full skins of airag and rice wine. It would not do to run short. A dozen poets had joined them, their faces bright with excitement. One had already begun declaiming lines and Genghis was tempted to kick him off his pony and leave him behind.

There was a little starlight and he could see his sons, brothers and generals. He chuckled for an instant at the idea of some poor thief stepping out in front of this group of cut-throats.

‘I will give a white mare to any man who beats me into the camp of Jelme and my son Chagatai.’ He had paused a heartbeat to let this sink in and catch the wild grins of the men.

‘Ride hard, if you have the heart!’ he had roared then, thumping in his heels and jerking his mare into a gallop through the camp. The others were almost as quick, yelling as they raced in pursuit. Perhaps two thousand had followed the khan into the deep darkness, all those who had been within reach of their horses as the khan leapt up. Not one faltered, though the ground was hard and to fall was to throw a life and not know if it would come down.

Riding at full speed over rushing black ground helped to clear Genghis’ head a little, though an ache had come to throb behind his left eye. There was a river somewhere near, he recalled. The thought of dipping his head into the freezing water was very tempting.

His light mood tore into shreds as he sensed a flanking movement in the darkness. For a single heartbeat, he wondered if he had risked his life, without banners, drums or anything else that marked him out as khan. Then he kicked his mount forward and yelled madly. It had to be Jelme’s men forming horns on either side of him. He rode like a maniac towards the centre of the line, where he knew he would find his general.

Khasar and Kachiun were close behind and then Genghis saw Jochi come past, riding flat on the saddle and yipping to his mount as he went, urging the animal on.

Together the spear point of the ragged column plunged towards Jelme’s lines, taking their lead from the khan. Two fell as their horses struck unseen obstacles. More crashed into the sprawling men and ponies in the darkness, unable to stop. Another three broke legs and were thrown. Some of the men bounced to their feet laughing and unhurt while others would not rise again. Genghis knew none of it, so intent was he on the menace of Jelme’s men and catching his own errant son.

Jochi did not call out a warning to Jelme’s lines, so Genghis could not. If his son chose to ride right down the throats of nervous men with drawn bows, Genghis could only swallow the sudden chill tugging at his drunkenness. He could only ride.

Jelme squinted into the blackness, his men ready. The warriors who rode like madmen in the dark were almost upon him. He had extended the wings around their column, so that they rode into a deepening cup. Though he could hardly see more than a black mass in the starlight, he could fill the air with shafts in a heartbeat.

He hesitated. It had to be Genghis, riding at the front. Who else could be so reckless? Yet no warning had been called. Jelme knew he would not let an enemy crash straight into his best men. He would send a storm of arrows first.

He squinted, turning his head left and right to make the moving shadows clear. Could it be the khan? He could have sworn he heard someone singing in the column that was charging right at him. In the dark, he alone stood in the light of a torch, to be seen. He raised his arm and all along the lines thousands of bows bent as one.

‘On my order!’ Jelme bellowed, as loud as he could. He could feel sweat chilling in the wind on his face, but he was not afraid. There was no one to ask, no one to tell him what to do. It was his decision alone. Jelme took one last look at the black riders coming and he smiled tightly, shaking his head like a nervous twitch. He could not know.

‘Stand down!’ he roared suddenly. ‘Let them come in! Wide formation.’

His officers repeated the orders down the line. Jelme could only wait to see whether the riders would stop, or hit his lines and begin the killing. He watched the blur of shadows come to a hundred paces, deep in the cup made by the wings. Fifty paces and still they followed the man who led them, into the mouth of their destruction.

Jelme saw some of them slow and men in the wings began calling out as they heard the voices of friends and family. Jelme relaxed, thanking the sky father that his instinct had been correct. He turned back to the front and his jaw dropped open as the tight-knit front rank punched into his own men with a crash loud enough to hurt the ears. Horses and warriors went down and suddenly every hand held a sword or a drawn bow once again.

‘Torches! Bring torches there!’ Jelme snapped. Slaves ran up through the ranks to light the scene of groaning men and kicking, sprawling horses.

Jelme recognised Genghis in the heart of it and he paled slightly, wondering if the khan would demand his head. Should he have fallen back or opened a path for them through the host? He let out a slow breath as Genghis opened his eyes and swore, sitting up with an effort. Jelme gestured for two warriors to help the khan to his feet, though he batted away their arms.

‘Where are you, general?’ Genghis called, shaking his head.

Jelme stood forward, swallowing nervously as he saw Genghis touch his jaw and come away with a smear of blood.

‘I am here, my lord khan,’ he said, standing painfully straight. He dared not look at the other men lying around and groaning, though he recognised Khasar’s angry voice as he tried to get someone unconscious off him.

Genghis turned to Jelme and his eyes focused at last.

‘You will note, general, that no other man reached your lines before me?’

Jelme blinked. ‘I believe so, my lord khan,’ he said.

Genghis nodded blearily to those behind him, satisfied.

‘The night is barely begun and already I have a sore head.’

Genghis grinned and Jelme saw he had broken a tooth on the right side of his face. He watched as Genghis spat blood onto the grass, glaring at a nearby warrior who shrank back visibly.

‘Light fires, Jelme. Your father is somewhere around, though he was not as quick as me, not even close. If Arslan is still alive, we will toast his life in rice wine and airag and whatever food you have.’

‘You are welcome in my camp, my lord khan,’ Jelme said formally. As he caught the riotous mood of the men who had ridden in, he began to grin. Even his father was chuckling in disbelief as he pulled himself upright and leaned on a stoic young warrior for support.

‘You didn’t stop, then?’ Jelme murmured wryly to his father.

Arslan shrugged and shook his head, his eyes shining at the memory.

‘Who could stop? He pulls us all in.’

Jelme’s ten thousand continued the feast in the wilderness. Even the youngest children were woken and brought to see the great khan as he strode through the camp. Genghis made a point of laying his hand on the heads of young ones, but he was distracted and impatient. He had heard horns sound the recall to the flanking riders and knew Chagatai was coming in. He could not fault Jelme for his preparations, but he wanted to see his son.

Jelme’s servants brought wine and cold food to the newcomers as huge fires of fine Koryon lumber were built and lit, casting pools of gold and darkness. The damp grass was covered in heavy sheets of felt and linen. When he took his place of honour, Genghis sat cross-legged, with Arslan on his right hand. Kachiun, Khasar and Tsubodai joined him in front of the roaring flames, passing a skin of rice wine from one to the other. As the circle filled, Jochi secured a place on Khasar’s right, so that Ogedai was further down the line. The senior men did not seem to notice, though Jochi thought Kachiun saw everything. The shaman, Kokchu, gave thanks to the sky father for the conquests Jelme had made and the riches he had brought back. Jochi watched the shaman spin and shriek, throwing drops of airag to the winds and spirits. Jochi felt one droplet touch his face and trickle down his chin.

As Kokchu sank back to his place, musicians cracked out rhythms across the camp, as if released. The thump of sticks blurred and wailing notes mingled and turned around each other, calling back and forth across the flames. Men and women pounded out songs and poems in the firelight, dancing until sweat spattered off them. Those who had come in with Jelme were pleased to honour the great khan.

The fire’s heat was strong on Jochi’s face, licking out from a heart of orange embers and strange paths to the core. As he sat, Jochi stared at his father’s generals and met Kachiun’s eyes for an instant before sliding away. Even in that brief contact, there had been some communication. Jochi did not look back, knowing that Kachiun would be watching him with sharp interest. The eyes showed the soul and they were always hardest to mask.

When Chagatai rode in, it was to the yelling accompaniment of his jagun of warriors. Jelme was pleased to see Chagatai’s drunken stupor had vanished with a bit of fast riding. Genghis’ second son looked vital and strong as he jumped down over the horse’s shoulder.

Genghis rose to greet him and the warriors shouted in appreciation as the father took his son’s arm and pounded him on the back.

‘You have grown tall, boy,’ Genghis said. His eyes were glassy from drink and his face was mottled and puffy. Chagatai bowed deeply to his father, the model of a perfect son.

Chagatai maintained a cool manner as he gripped hands and clapped shoulders with his father’s men. To Jochi’s slow-burning irritation, his brother walked well, his back straight and white teeth flashing as he laughed and smiled. At fifteen, his skin was barely scarred beyond the wrists and forearms and unmarked by disease. Genghis looked upon him with visible pride. When Jochi saw Chagatai welcomed to a seat close to Genghis, he was glad that the great fire hid his flush of anger. Chagatai had glanced at Jochi for an instant of cold recognition. He had not bothered to find words for his older brother, even after three years. Jochi’s face remained calm, but it was astonishing how anger sprang in him from just that glance. For a few heartbeats, he wanted nothing more than to stride through the drunken fools and strike Chagatai to the ground. He could feel his own strength swell in his shoulders as he imagined the blow. Yet he had learned patience with Tsubodai. As Genghis filled Chagatai’s cup, Jochi sat and dreamed of murder, smiling with all the rest.

CHAPTER FIVE

As dawn came, Tsubodai’s poet was in the middle of telling the tale of the Badger’s Mouth, where Arslan had fought the largest army ever seen by any of the people. With Genghis and the generals watching, the poet was more honest than usual as he told Arslan’s exploits. They had all done well in that mountain pass before Yenking. Each man recalled those bloody days, with pride and awe mingling with the wine in their blood. No one else would ever understand what it had meant to stand together there against the Chin empire — and see it humbled. The Badger’s Mouth had been the womb that shoved them out into a new world: stronger and more dangerous. They had gone east and Yenking had burned.

The rising sun brought sight of thousands of riders streaming across the land from the camp by the Orkhon river, many with women and children on the saddles. Genghis was the khan and could ride where he wished, but they all wanted to hear the stories of Arslan. As the morning sun rose in the sky, poems and tales were declaimed from a hundred throats, over and over until the poets and shamans were hoarse.

Even Genghis had not realised so many would want to hear of the early days, but his people sat rapt for the performances, including those who were drinking heavily and stuffing their faces with greasy mutton and goat meat. He heard again how Arslan had rescued him from a pit and he blinked in painful memory at names he had not recalled for years. Arslan had been the first man to take an oath to him, to promise horses, gers, salt and blood, when Genghis had nothing but his mother and sister, a few wild brothers and starvation as his companions. It had been an immense act of trust and Genghis found himself reminded and moved once more by the changes Arslan had wrought and witnessed. That was the purpose of the truth-telling of a man’s life, that all those who heard would remember what he had meant to them and what he had accomplished as he flung the years.

The recitals broke off for the storytellers to rest their throats in preparation for the evening performances. By then it was clear that the entire Mongol nation would drift into that place.

It was not where Genghis had intended to honour his first general. The river was too far away, the grazing was sparse and the ground itself was rocky and dry. Yet it was that lack of permanence that made him grunt in satisfaction as he peed into the earth. His people should not become used to comfort, he told himself blearily. Their hard lives kept them stronger than those who lived in cities.

His thoughts were interrupted by shouts and cheers nearby. Warriors seemed to be clustering around one spot like a swarm of bees. As Genghis blinked, he saw Chagatai climb a cart to address them. Genghis frowned as another sound stilled the crowd, a yowling, coughing roar that made the hairs on his neck bristle. Genghis dropped his hand to his sword hilt as he strode through his people, letting them fall back before him rather than touch the khan and lose a hand or a head.

His generals had gathered around an iron cage on the cart, but Genghis did not look at them, nor at Chagatai, who stood like a proud owner. The animal behind the bars was larger than any great cat he had ever seen. Genghis could only shake his head in amazement, closing one eye against the ache from his broken tooth and a throbbing headache. To numb the pain, he gestured for more airag and scored his throat with a line of it. Even then, his eyes did not leave the beast that prowled back and forth, showing its curved white teeth in a display of anger. He had heard of the orange and black striped tiger, but to see its jaws and hear the thump of its tail as it padded back and forth in the cage set his own heart beating quickly. There was a challenge in its yellow eyes that raked the awed crowd.

‘Is it not a gift for a khan?’ Chagatai said.

Genghis merely glanced at him, but Chagatai lost some of his cockiness in that warning. The crowd around them had fallen silent as they waited for the khan’s reaction. Jelme was visibly uncomfortable and Genghis nodded to him in appreciation.

‘I have never seen such an animal, general. How did you capture him?’

‘The tiger is a gift to you, lord, from the king of Koryo. It was raised from a cub, but they cannot be tamed. I am told it will run down even a man on a horse and kill both the mount and the rider.’

Genghis stood very close to the bars, staring into the tiger’s eyes. As they met his, the animal moved without warning, its weight rocking the cage as it hit the bars. Genghis was too drunk to dodge and felt a tearing impact on his arm as a paw lunged at him. He looked in dim surprise at the blood on his torn sleeve. A single claw had caught him and gashed his flesh deeply.

‘So fast …’ he said in wonder. ‘I have seen slower snakes. And at such a size! I can believe the tale of it killing a man and his horse. Those jaws could break a skull.’ He swayed slightly as he spoke, but no one there mentioned the wound in case it shamed the khan.

‘In Koryo, there are warriors who hunt the tigers,’ Chagatai said more humbly, ‘though they work in groups and use bows, spears and nets.’ Chagatai’s gaze fell on Jochi as he spoke and his expression became thoughtful. His older brother was as fascinated by the beast as Genghis himself and stood too close to the bars.

‘Be careful, Jochi,’ Chagatai warned him loudly. ‘He will strike you too.’

Jochi glared. He wanted to contradict him, but he could not boast of his speed while his father stood and bled.

‘Have you hunted one of these tigers, in Koryon land?’ Jochi asked.

Chagatai shrugged.

‘They are not common around the king’s palaces.’ Under Jochi’s flat stare, he could not help going on. ‘I would have taken part, if one had been found.’

‘Perhaps,’ Jochi said, frowning. ‘Though I doubt Jelme would have risked the life of a young boy against such a monster.’

Chagatai’s whole face flushed as some of the men chuckled. Moments before, he had been the master of the crowd. Somehow, his father and Jochi had stolen his moment from him, so that he had to defend his pride. At fifteen years old, he had only spite and he lashed out without a thought at the only one he dared challenge.

‘You think you could face a tiger, Jochi? I would wager a fortune to see that.’

Jelme opened his mouth, but Jochi’s anger leapt and he spoke rashly.

‘Name your terms, brother,’ he said. ‘I will consider teaching your cat a little respect. He has shed my father’s blood, after all.’

‘This is drunken foolishness,’ Jelme snapped.

‘No, let him try,’ Chagatai replied as fast. ‘I will wager a hundred cartloads of my share of the Koryon tribute. Ivory, metal, gold and lumber.’ He waved a hand as if it mattered nothing. ‘If you kill the tiger, it will be yours.’

‘And you will kneel to me, in front of all the tribes,’ Jochi said. Anger consumed him, making him reckless. His eyes glittered as he stared up at Chagatai, but the younger man still sneered.

‘For that, you will have to do more than kill a tiger, brother. For that you will have to be khan. Perhaps not even that will be enough.’

Jochi’s hand dropped to his sword hilt and he would have drawn if Jelme had not laid a hand on his wrist.

‘Will you fight like children in front of the camp? On the night my father is honoured? The tiger is a king’s gift to the khan. No one else may decide what is to be done with him.’ His eyes were furious and Chagatai dipped his gaze, instantly meek. During his training, he had endured harsh punishments and scathing lectures from the general. The habit of obedience ran deep.

Genghis spoke at last, having watched the entire exchange.

‘I accept the gift,’ he said. His yellow eyes seemed the same colour as those of the big cat yowling at their backs. Jochi and Chagatai bowed their heads low rather than have the khan’s temper erupt. When he was drunk, Genghis was likely to knock a man down for staring.

‘We could pack a circle with armed warriors,’ Genghis said thoughtfully, ‘pointing swords and lances to the centre. One man could face the beast then, if he wanted.’

‘These animals are more dangerous than anything else I have seen,’ Jelme said, his voice strained. ‘With women and children all around…’ He was caught between the need to obey his khan and the madness of what Genghis seemed to be considering.

‘Move the women and children back, general,’ Genghis replied with a shrug.

Jelme’s training was too ingrained to argue and he bowed his head to the inevitable. Chagatai did not dare look at him.

‘Very well, lord. I could have my men tie heavy planks together all the way around. We could use the catapults to form the structure.’

Genghis nodded, not caring how the problems were solved. He turned to Jochi as the young man stood stunned at where his bickering and pride had led. Even Chagatai seemed awed, but Genghis was making all the decisions and they could only look on.

‘Kill this beast and perhaps your brother will bend a knee to you,’ Genghis said softly. ‘The tribes will be watching, boy. Will they see a khan in you?’

‘Or a corpse, or both,’ Jochi said without hesitation. He could not back down, not with his father and Chagatai waiting for it. He looked up at the tiger in its cage and knew it would kill him, but somehow he could not care. He had ridden with death before, in Tsubodai’s charges. At seventeen, he could gamble with his life and think nothing of it. He took a deep breath and shrugged.

‘I am ready,’ Jochi said.

‘Then form the circle, and place the cage within it,’ Genghis said.

As Jelme began to send his men for wood and ropes, Jochi beckoned to Chagatai. Still stunned, the younger brother leapt lightly down, rocking the cart and bringing a snarl from the tiger that scraped along the nerves.

‘I will need a good sword if I am to face that animal,’ Jochi said. ‘Yours.’

Chagatai narrowed his eyes, fighting to hide his triumph. Jochi could not survive against a tiger. He knew the Koryons would not hunt one without at least eight men and those well trained. He was staring into the eyes of a dead man and he could not believe his luck. On a sudden impulse, he unstrapped the sword Genghis had given him three years before. He felt the loss as its weight left him, but still his heart was full.

‘I will have it back when that beast has torn your head off,’ he murmured. No one else could hear.

‘Perhaps,’ Jochi said. He could not resist a glance at the animal in the cage. Chagatai saw the look and chuckled aloud.

‘It is only fitting, Jochi. I could never have accepted a rape-born bastard as khan.’ He walked away, leaving Jochi staring at his back in rage.

As the sun set, the circle took shape on the plains grass. Under Jelme’s watchful eye, it was a solid construction of oak and beech brought from Koryo, bound with heavy ropes and buttressed at all points by catapult platforms. Forty paces across, there was no entrance and no escape from the ring. Jochi would have to climb over the barricades and open the cage himself.

As Jelme ordered torches lit all round the circle, the entire nation pressed as close as they could. At first, it looked as if only those who could climb the walls would have a view, but Genghis wanted the people to see, so Jelme had used carts as platforms in an outer ring, raising men on pyramids of pine ladders, nailed roughly together. They swarmed over the towers like ants and more than one drunken fool fell onto the heads of those below, packed so tightly that the ground was hidden from sight.

Genghis and his generals had the best places on the ring and the khan had led them in drinking themselves almost blind as the third day wore on. Arslan had been toasted and honoured, but by then the whole camp knew a khan’s son would fight a foreign beast and they were excited at the closeness of death. Temuge had come with the last of the carts from the camp by the Orkhon river. He took most of the bets from the warriors, though only on the length of the fight to come. No one gambled on Jochi to win against the striped horror that lashed its tail and padded back and forth, staring out at them.

As night fell, the only light on the plains was that circle, a golden eye surrounded by the heaving mass of the Mongol nation. Without being asked, the drummer boys had begun to beat the rhythms of war. Jochi had retired to Jelme’s own ger to rest that afternoon and they waited on him, eyes turning constantly to catch the first glimpse of the khan’s son coming out.

Jelme stood and looked down on the young man seated on a low bed, his father’s sword across his knees. Jochi wore the heavy armour Tsubodai had given him, layered in finger-width scales of iron over thick cloth, from his neck to his knees. The smell of sour sweat was strong in the ger.

‘They’re calling for you,’ Jelme said.

‘I hear,’ Jochi replied, his mouth tightening.

‘I can’t say you don’t have to go. You do.’ Jelme began to reach out with his hand, intending to place it on the younger man’s shoulder. Instead, he let it fall and sighed. ‘I can say that this is a stupid thing to be doing. If I’d known how it would turn out, I’d have turned the cat loose in the Koryon forests.’

‘It’s done,’ Jochi murmured. He looked up at his father’s general with a bitter twist to his mouth. ‘I’ll just have to kill that great cat now, won’t I?’

Jelme smiled tightly. Outside, the noise of the crowd had grown in volume and now he could hear Jochi’s name being chanted. It would be a glorious moment, but Jelme knew the boy could not survive it. As the circle was being constructed and the cage lifted down from the cart, he had studied the animal and seen the smooth power of its muscles. Faster than a man and four times as heavy, it would be impossible to stop. He was silent with foreboding as Jochi came to his feet and flexed his shoulders. The khan’s first son had inherited his father’s blinding speed, but it would not be enough. The general saw sweat dripping down Jochi’s face in a fat bead. Genghis had not allowed him room to interpret his orders, but he still struggled against ingrained obedience. Jelme had brought the tiger to the khan. He could not simply send a boy to his death. When he spoke at last, his voice was barely a murmur.

‘I will be on the walls with a good bow. If you fall, try to hang on and I’ll kill it.’ He saw a flicker of hope in the young man’s eyes at that. Jelme recalled the only hunt he had seen in Koryo, when a tiger had taken a shaft in the heart and still disembowelled an experienced net man.

‘You cannot show fear,’ Jelme said softly. ‘No matter what happens. If you are to die tonight, die well. For your father’s honour.’

In response, Jochi turned a furious gaze on the general.

‘If he depends on me for his honour, he is weaker than I realised,’ Jochi snapped.

‘Nevertheless, all men die,’ Jelme went on, ignoring the outburst. ‘It could be tonight, next year or in forty years, when you are toothless and weak. All you can do is choose how you stand when it comes.’

For an instant, Jochi’s face cracked into a smile.

‘You are not building my confidence, general. I would value those forty years.’

Jelme shrugged, touched at the way Jochi showed courage.

‘Then I should say this: kill it and your brother will kneel to you in front of the tribes. Your name will be known and, when you wear its skin, all men will look on you with awe. Is that better?’

‘Yes, it is,’ Jochi replied. ‘If I am killed, be ready with your bow. I do not want to be eaten.’ With a deep breath, he showed his teeth for an instant, then ducked under the low doorway and out into the night. His people roared to see him, the sound filling the plains and drowning the growls of the waiting tiger.

The crowd parted to let him through and Jochi did not see their staring, cheering faces as he approached the walls of the ring. The light from torches fluttered and spat as he climbed lithely to the top, then leapt to the grass below. The tiger watched him with a terrifying focus and he did not want to open the cage. Jochi looked up at the faces of his people. His mother was the only woman he could see and he could barely meet her eyes in case it unmanned him. As his gaze drifted over her, he saw Borte’s hands twitch on the wood, as if she wanted to reach out to her first-born son.

His father’s face was set and unreadable, but his uncle Kachiun nodded to him as their eyes met. Tsubodai wore the cold face and, in doing so, hid the pain Jochi knew he would be feeling. The general could do nothing to thwart the khan’s will, but Jochi knew he at least would not relish the fight. On instinct, Jochi bowed his head to the general and Tsubodai returned the gesture. The tiger roared and opened his great mouth to gnaw at a bar in frustration, angered by the ring of baying men. The animal was a young male, Jochi saw, unscarred and inexperienced. He felt his hands shake and the familiar dry mouth before battle. His bladder made itself felt and he took a strong grip on the wolf’s-head sword of his father. It was a fine blade and he had wanted it for a long time. He had not known his grandfather Yesugei and only hoped the old man’s spirit would give him strength. He stood tall and another deep breath brought calm.

Chagatai watched him with eyes that shone in the torchlight. Jochi held his gaze for a time, showing the boy his contempt before he turned to the cage. The noise of the warriors swelled as he approached the bars and raised his hand to the iron pin that held the door shut. The tiger seemed to sense his intention and stood waiting. Their eyes met and Jochi murmured a greeting to the big cat.

‘You are strong and fast,’ he said under his breath, ‘and so am I. If I kill you, I will carry your skin in pride to the end of my days.’ He yanked on the pin and threw back the cage door, moving quickly away. The crowd fell silent, every warrior staring at the striped shape that came sliding out like oil.

Jochi backed for six long strides and stood with his sword held forwards and down, ready to lunge. His heart hammered in his chest and he felt heavy-footed and clumsy in comparison with this beast he had come to kill.

At first, the tiger ignored him. It padded around the walls, looking for a way out. Its tail twitched in irritation and discomfort as the crowd resumed their roaring. Jochi looked on as the animal stretched to its full length against a wall, its clawed feet digging furrows in the hard wood. In the cage, its strength and grace had been less obvious. Moving, it was simply deadly and Jochi swallowed nervously, waiting to be attacked.

It was aware of him. He saw its golden eyes pass over his and then fasten as it sank into a crouch, its head up. Its tail lashed on the grass and once more the crowd fell silent.

Jochi offered up his soul to the sky father. No man could stand against such a monster, he was certain. The shaking in his hands died away and he stood waiting.

The tiger attacked. When it came, it was with such an explosion of speed that Jochi was almost caught motionless. In three steps, it went from a statue to a blur and leapt straight at him.

Jochi did not try to use the sword. He threw himself to one side and was still too slow. The shoulder of the beast caught him and sent him rolling on the grass, desperate to regain his feet. He caught a glimpse of the animal landing and turning at impossible speed before it was on him once more. A jaw larger than his head clamped on his armoured left arm and he cried out in pain and shock as the pressure came on. He brought his right arm forward, thrusting the blade into the tawny chest as he went over backwards. They rolled together and the crowd went berserk, bellowing encouragement to the brave man fighting below.

Jochi felt pummelling blows as the cat’s rear paws raked him. His armour protected his belly, though the iron scales went flying as they caught in claws as long as his fingers. He felt the bones in his arm grind and the lower limbs of the tiger kept up their strikes, thumping and battering him on the grass. The animal’s breath was hot on his face as he shoved his sword in again and again, stronger in his terror than he had ever been. He could not rise with its weight on him and when the tiger tried to release his arm to bite again, he jammed the armoured sleeve deeper into its throat despite the pain.

The tiger coughed around the obstruction, wrenching its head from side to side to free its teeth. Jochi hung on as tendons tore, tears of agony filling his eyes. Had he hurt it? He did not know. The steel blade stabbed and stabbed, lost in the thick fur. He felt new pain in his legs as the beast clawed his armour to tatters. His sword was knocked from his hand and he drew a knife, plunging it into the matted neck as his left arm gave way.

Jochi screamed as stinking blood fountained over his face, blinding him. He could see nothing and the watching warriors were far away, their voices like the whispering of leaves. He felt death coming in a great wind, but he still worked the knife in deeper, sawing back and forth.

The tiger slumped suddenly, its weight pinning him. Jochi was lost in a world of pain and he did not see Tsubodai and Jelme leap down into the circle, bows drawn. He heard his father’s voice, but he could not make out the words over the rasping breath of the tiger so close to his face. It still lived, but the blows to his belly and legs had stopped. Its panting filled the world and he worked his blade mindlessly even then.

As Jelme covered him with a bow, Tsubodai used his foot to shove the tiger off the broken warrior. The great head lolled as it fell on its side, but the chest still rose and fell and the eyes sparkled with rage and hatred. Blood gouted from its throat and the white chest was slick and foul with it. All those around the ring watched as the animal struggled to regain its feet, then collapsed, falling still at last.

Tsubodai reached down to Jochi, knocking away the hand that came blindly at him with a knife. The young man’s left arm hung limp and his legs were gouged and dribbling blood from gashes right to his calves and feet. Not an inch of skin showed under the mask of blood that had almost drowned him. Tsubodai took away Jochi’s knife and cleared his eyes with his thumbs, so that Jochi could see. Even then, the young man was clearly dazed, unaware that he had survived.

‘Can you stand? Can you hear me?’ Tsubodai shouted to him.

Jochi flailed, leaving a bloody print on the general’s deel robe. Tsubodai took his wrist and lifted him to his feet. Jochi could not stand on his own and he was a dead weight on the general until Jelme dropped his bow and took him under an armpit. The two generals supported the khan’s son between them and turned him to face his father.

‘He lives, my lord khan!’ Tsubodai declared in triumph.

There was awe in the faces around the circle, as Jelme had predicted. Only Chagatai struggled to hide his fury. Jelme saw the bitterness in the young man he had trained for three years and his mouth became hard. Jochi deserved much honour for his courage and Jelme conferred briefly with Tsubodai, letting him take the full weight as he stepped away. The general reached down to the bloody sword that lay on the grass, taking it in his hand.

‘He has earned this blade, my lord, has he not?’ he said, holding it up so that the wolf’s-head hilt was visible to all. The warriors bellowed their approval, thumping the sides of the ring. Genghis showed them nothing, his face a mask.

Jelme stood waiting as the khan’s son bled. The khan’s thoughts swirled, pride and bloodlust mingling with irritation. He too had expected Jochi to die and he had not planned for this outcome. His headache returned as he stared down into the circle and his mouth tasted sour. At last, he nodded and Jelme bowed to his will.

Unheard by those around the ring, Jelme spoke to Jochi as he pressed the blade into unfeeling fingers.

‘They will remember this, boy,’ he said into Jochi’s ear. The young man gave no sign that he heard and Jelme realised he was unconscious.

‘His wounds may kill him yet,’ Tsubodai said to Jelme.

The general shrugged.

‘That is in the hands of the sky father. What matters is that he stood face to face with that beast. No one who saw it will forget.’

As he spoke, Jelme looked up once more to Chagatai. The bitter face had vanished and he sighed. He was shifting his grip on Jochi’s limp form when voices were raised outside the rim. Genghis had snapped an order into the darkness and the crowd swirled around a point hidden from those who stood in the ring. As Jelme looked to Genghis, the khan raised a hand, keeping him there with Tsubodai and his burden.

Chagatai appeared once more at his father’s side, staggering as warriors pressed him forward. They had all heard his terms and it seemed Genghis would not let him vanish into the darkness. The khan didn’t look at him, but a muttered order made Chagatai flush and climb over the wooden barrier. Jelme and Tsubodai watched in silence as Chagatai leapt down and approached them. An older man could have done it with a flourish, giving and receiving honour in a grand gesture. Chagatai lacked the skill to turn the situation to his advantage. He stood before his unconscious brother, shaking with anger and humiliation.

In silence, Chagatai looked up once more at his father. There was no reprieve. He dropped quickly to one knee and the crowd roared and hooted. Chagatai rose more slowly, his face cold as he stalked to the wooden walls and accepted a hand to heave him back over.

Jelme nodded wearily to himself.

‘I think you had the better son to train, my friend,’ he murmured to Tsubodai.

‘I hope his father knows it,’ Tsubodai replied.

The two men shared a glance of understanding before they called warriors down to begin skinning the tiger. The meat would feed as many as possible, half-burned scraps forced into the mouths of warriors. There were many who desired the speed and ferocity of such an animal. Jelme wondered if Chagatai would taste the meat that night, or just his own rage.

CHAPTER SIX

It was another three days before Genghis came to see Jochi. After the riotous night that followed the fight with the tiger, almost all the camp had slept and Genghis himself had risen only to vomit for an entire day and night after three spent solidly drinking. Another day had been spent in moving the great host back to the banks of the river Orkhon. Jelme’s camp had been a fine place to feast Arslan’s life, but the herds and horses needed water and sweet grass. With his customary vitality, Genghis had recovered during the ride, though his bowels remained watery as he stood before the ger of the shaman, Kokchu. It depressed him to think he would once have thrown off the effects of so much drink in just a night’s sleep.

Genghis opened the small door onto a peaceful scene that reminded him of the death of his father. He swallowed acid and ducked inside, his gaze hard as he looked over the bandaged figure in the shadows. Kokchu was washing Jochi and he twisted round in irritation before he saw who it was. The shaman came to his feet and bowed low before the khan.

The shade was a relief after the hard sunlight and Genghis relaxed slightly, pleased to be away from the bustling camp.

‘Has he woken?’ he asked.

Kokchu shook his head solemnly.

‘Only for moments, lord. His wounds have let a fever into his body and he wakes and cries out before sleeping once more.’

Genghis came closer, drawn by memories. At Jochi’s side lay the sword he had won, a blade that Genghis himself had inherited. In its scabbard, it brought back many memories and he could not help but sniff the air for the scent of rot. It was painful to recall the time he had come to his father as he died, the wasted body racked with poison. Genghis breathed deeply over the supine form of his son. Kokchu watched him closely and Genghis returned the stare rather than let it rest on him unchallenged.

‘Will he live, shaman? I have lost count of the times I have been asked.’

Kokchu looked back at the young warrior lying so still. The chest barely rose and fell, and he could not say. He gestured at the bandages wrapping both legs and the splinted arm.

‘You see his wounds, lord. The beast broke two bones in his lower arm as well as three ribs. He has dislocated a finger on his right hand, though that is minor enough. The gashes have swollen and weep pus.’ He shook his head. ‘I have seen men recover from worse.’

‘Have you sealed the cuts?’ Genghis asked.

Kokchu hesitated, before speaking too quickly. In the fall of Yenking, he had taken books on medicine and magic that were worth more than all the gold and jade. He had not expected to have his treatment challenged and spoke without his usual confidence.

‘I have Chin texts that are astonishing, lord, for what they know of the body. Their practice is to pour boiling wine into a gash before stitching. I have done that, as well as poultices to bring out the fever.’

‘Then you have not sealed them in the manner of our people,’ Genghis replied, his eyes cold. ‘Have an iron brazier brought to the ger and burn the cuts properly. I have seen it work.’

Kokchu knew better than to argue further.

‘Your will, lord.’ For the father, he would press red iron against each wound, though he now considered it a crude practice, beneath a man of his learning. He hid his distaste and Genghis seemed satisfied. Kokchu saw that the khan intended to leave and spoke again, still trying to understand the man who led the tribes.

‘The pain will be intense, lord. If it wakes him, shall I give him a message from you?’

Genghis turned his pale eyes on the shaman. He left without another word.

The generals gathered in the khan’s ger, half as high again and twice as wide as any other in the camp. Khasar and Kachiun had come with Temuge, though he would only be responsible for the camp itself and would not ride with them. Tsubodai, Jelme and Chagatai had been summoned and took their places on the ring of low beds that served as couches for the khan’s council. The ger was as bare as that of the poorest herder and they were all reminded that Genghis cared nothing for wealth or its trappings.

The last pair to enter before Genghis was Arslan and the young man he had chosen as his successor. Jebe, the arrow, seemed unimpressed by the presence of so many leaders of his people in one place. As Arslan gestured for him to take a seat, he nodded to them as if he had every right to be there. The other men merely watched him, though they greeted Arslan openly, putting aside the cold face to show their appreciation of the old man. He also would not ride with them. All the men present knew that Arslan had tied packs to three mares and three stallions and that his wife and a small herd would travel into the wilderness.

Jelme’s eyes were bright with pride for his father and he made a point of vacating his seat for Arslan. The two men exchanged glances, and though they did not speak, Arslan too seemed moved that the moment was finally upon him.

When Genghis entered the ger, the men within sat subtly straighter. He took his place on a pile of saddles and blankets facing the door and gestured to a servant for a cup of goat’s milk to calm his stomach.

Arslan waited until the khan had finished the drink before speaking.

‘My lord, I commend this man to you, Jebe, whom you named.’

Genghis looked across the ger at the new face, taking in his breadth of shoulder. Jebe wore an open robe over a bare chest and his reddish skin shone with health and mutton fat. Even sitting, he seemed poised and alert, a warrior born. He made Genghis feel old.

‘You are welcome in my ger, Jebe. With Arslan to speak for you, you will always be welcome. In the days to come you will be tested. Be sure you honour his name in all that you do.’

‘I will, lord,’ Jebe replied. His confidence was obvious and Khasar grinned to himself as Genghis looked away.

Genghis took a deep breath and rested his hands on his knees. He knew as well as anyone that this meeting of generals would change the world, and he enjoyed the quiet moment while they waited for him to speak.

‘When you left me to finish the siege of Yenking, I sent envoys to far lands. Some brought back trade goods and made alliances in my name. Others were attacked or have simply not returned.’ He paused, but no man spoke. They were hardly breathing as they listened to the man who would send them out like wolves on the hunt. The entire camp knew war was coming and it was a pleasure to be the first to hear the details.

‘One group went into the west, more than two thousand miles. A single scout returned when the rest were slaughtered. At first, I did not think too much of it. It was not so long ago that a raiding party in our own land would have been killed by whichever tribe came first upon them.’

Some of the older men nodded, though Tsubodai and Jebe could barely recall those times.

‘I learned from the scout that the leader of that land is one who calls himself Shah Ala-ud-Din Mohammed.’ Genghis pronounced the name with difficulty, then gestured to Temuge. ‘On my brother’s advice, I sent a group of four hundred warriors, well armed, but only as a threat. They travelled to the closest city, Otrar, and met the governor there. They took letters with my words on them for the shah.’ Genghis grimaced at the memory. ‘I expected him to hand over the men involved, or at least to send word of where they had their camp. I called him “beloved son” and mentioned only trade and friendship.’ At that, he stared coldly at Temuge until his brother looked away. It had been his advice that had failed so spectacularly.

‘The bazaar in Otrar is a public place. I sent three spies with the warriors to witness their treatment.’ He showed his teeth for an instant as anger swelled in him. ‘The governor commands a garrison of twenty thousand. They arrested my men and tore up my words in a gesture for the crowd.’ Once more he glared at Temuge.

‘Even then, I did not react! This shah is served by a fool, but I thought perhaps he could yet be made to walk a straight path. I learned of greater cities than Otrar in the east and I sent three senior officers to the shah himself, demanding that the governor be bound and handed over to me for punishment and my men freed. In this too, I was scorned.’ His face had grown flushed and the men in the ger felt their own hearts beat faster in response.

‘Shah Mohammed sent their heads back to me,’ Genghis went on. He clenched his right fist slowly. ‘I am not the author of this trouble, but I have prayed to the sky father to give me the strength to exact vengeance.’

In the distance, they heard a man’s voice screaming and more than one head jerked at hearing it. Genghis too listened and nodded, satisfied.

‘It is Jochi. My shaman is tending his wounds.’ He looked at Chagatai as he spoke and his son blurted out a question.

‘Will he too ride with us?’

Genghis’ eyes turned distant.

‘He killed the tiger, in front of the people. And our numbers have grown.’ His expression hardened at the memory of Chagatai kneeling. ‘As you have a place, so will he, if he lives. We will cross the Altai mountains to the west and show these desert men whom they have chosen to insult.’

‘And the Chin lands?’ Khasar said. ‘There are cities more wealthy than any we have seen yet and they lie untouched in the south.’

Genghis was quiet at that. He still dreamed of bringing the southern Chin empire under his feet. Taking his nation into the west had its risks and it was tempting to send at least one of the men in the ger to crush his ancestral enemy. He remembered the estimates of Chin numbers and grimaced again. Against millions, one tuman would not be enough. Reluctantly, he had decided the Chin must wait to see him on their horizon.

‘They will still be there, my brother, when we come back for them. You will see Chin lands again, I promise you.’

Khasar frowned at that and would have spoken again, but Genghis went on.

‘Ask yourself this: for what purpose do we go to war and risk our lives? Is it for gold coins and to build the sort of palaces we tear down? I cannot care for those things. A man spends his life in struggle, from the pain of birth to the last breath.’ He looked round at them all then, his gaze falling finally on Jebe and Chagatai.

‘There are some who will tell you they seek happiness, that there is nothing more to our lives than that simple aim. I tell you now that the sheep are happy on the plains and the hawks are happy in the air. For us, happiness is a small thing, one to be discounted in a man’s life. We strive and we suffer because we know through those things that we are alive.’ He snorted. ‘You may want to see the Chin cities humbled, Khasar, but can I let this challenge go unanswered? How long will it be before every small king dares to spit on my shadow?’ His voice grew harder as he spoke, so that it filled the ger. Outside, they could hear another scream from Jochi and it seemed a fitting counterpoint under those yellow eyes. ‘Can I let my people’s deaths go unavenged? Never in this world.’

He had them all. He knew it, as he had always known.

‘When I am gone, I do not want men to say, “Look at his piles of wealth, his cities, his palaces and fine clothes.”’ Genghis paused for a moment. ‘Instead I want them to say, “Make sure he is truly dead. He is a vicious old man and he conquered half the world.”’ He chuckled at the idea and some of the tension went out of the group.

‘We are not here to earn riches with a bow. The wolf does not think of fine things, only that his pack is strong and no other wolf dares to cross his path. That is enough.’

His gaze swept them and he was satisfied. Genghis stood and his manner changed to one of respect as he gestured to Arslan.

‘Your horses are ready, general,’ he said. ‘I will think of you resting your bones as we ride.’

‘Long life and victory, my lord,’ Arslan said.

As they all stood, the ger became suddenly crowded. Having the highest rank, Genghis could have left first, but he stood back for Arslan to step out into the light. One by one, they followed until only Jebe remained to stare round at the khan’s ger. The young warrior took it all in and nodded to himself, strangely satisfied at the lack of ornament. He felt the khan was a man to follow and everything Arslan had told him had been confirmed. Jebe grinned lightly with no one to see him. He had been born on a hillside and raised in winters so terrible that his father brought the sheep into the only ger to protect them. His eyes were bright at the memory. Now he would lead a tuman for the khan. If Genghis only knew it, he had loosed a wolf. Jebe nodded to himself, satisfied. He would show the khan what he could do. In time, every man and woman of the tribes would know his name.

Outside, Arslan checked his packs and mounts one more time, refusing to let the seriousness of the moment alter his routines. Genghis watched him test each knot and give instructions to three herd boys who would accompany him to his first camp. No one spoke until the old man was ready. When he was satisfied, Arslan embraced Jelme and they could all see the son’s eyes were proud. Finally, Arslan stood before Genghis.

‘I was there at the beginning, lord,’ Arslan said. ‘If I were younger, I would ride with you to the end.’

‘I know it, general,’ Genghis replied. He gestured to the vast camp on the banks of the river. ‘Without you, none of this would be here. I will honour your name always.’

Arslan had never been a man who enjoyed physical contact, but he took Genghis’ hand in the warrior’s grip and then mounted. His young wife looked up at her husband, proud to see great men honour him with their presence.

‘Goodbye, old friend,’ Genghis called as Arslan clicked his tongue and the ponies moved away. The herd boys used their sticks to move the animals with their master.

In the distance, they could hear the khan’s son crying out, a mournful wail that seemed to go on and on.

Moving such a vast host of people and animals was no small task. As well as a hundred thousand warriors, a quarter of a million ponies had to be herded, with as many again of sheep, goats, yaks, camels and oxen. The need for grazing land had grown to the point that the nation could only remain in one place for a month at a time.

On a frozen dawn, with the sun barely touching the east, Genghis rode through the busy camp, noting every detail of the cart lines with the huddled figures of women and young children on them. The column stretched for miles, always surrounded by the herds. He had lived with the sounds of animals all his life and barely noticed the constant bleating of goats and sheep. His generals were ready; his sons were. It remained to be seen whether the Arab nations were ready to meet them in war. In their arrogance, they had invited annihilation.

Jochi had survived having his wounds burned. As Genghis had promoted Chagatai to lead a tuman of ten thousand warriors, he could hardly do less for an older son, especially one who had triumphed against a savage beast. The people talked of it still. Yet it would be months before Jochi was able to take his place at their head. Until then, he would travel with the women and children, tended by servants while he healed.

In the middle of the host, Genghis trotted past the ger of his second wife, Chakahai, who had once been a princess of the Xi Xia kingdom. Her father had remained a loyal vassal for almost a decade and the tribute kept the Mongols in silk and valuable timber. Genghis cursed softly to himself as he realised he had not arranged a way for the tribute to follow him into the west. He could not trust the king to hold it for him. It was one more thing to tell Temuge before the tribes moved. Genghis passed the cart where Chakahai sat in furs with the three children she had borne. His oldest daughter bowed her head and smiled to see her father.

He did not leave the path to find the carts of Borte and his mother, Hoelun. The two women had become inseparable over the years and would be together somewhere. Genghis grimaced at the thought.

He passed two men boiling goat meat on a small fire while they waited. They had a stack of unleavened bread pouches ready to pack with meat for the trip. Seeing the khan himself, one of the men offered up a wooden platter with the head on it, touching the white eyes with a finger to make sure Genghis saw them. Genghis shook his head and the man bowed deeply. As the khan moved on, the warrior threw one of the eyes into the air for the sky father before popping the other in his mouth and chewing lustily. Genghis smiled at the sight. His people had not yet forgotten the old ways, or been spoiled by looted riches. He thought of the new way stations that stretched in lines into the east and south, manned by crippled warriors and the elderly. A scout could change horses at a dozen of those places, covering land faster than Genghis would once have believed possible. They had come a long way from the hungry, quarrelling tribes he had known as a boy, but they were still the same.

In a mass of carts and animals, Genghis dismounted at last, having ridden more than a mile from the head of the column. His sister Temulun was there, she who had been a babe in arms when his own tribe had abandoned him years before. She had grown into a fine young woman and married a warrior from the Olkhun’ut. Genghis had met the man only once at the wedding, but he had seemed healthy and Temulun was pleased with the match.

As he adjusted the belly strap on his pony, she was ordering Chin servants to collect the last of her belongings. Her ger had been stored before dawn, leaving a black circle on the grass. When she saw Genghis, Temulun smiled and went to him, taking his reins.

‘Don’t worry, brother, we are ready, though I cannot find my best iron pot. No doubt it is at the bottom of the packs, under everything else.’ She spoke lightly, but her eyes were questioning. The khan had not visited her even once since she had been properly married. For him to come as they rode to war made her uneasy.

‘It will not be long now,’ Genghis told her, losing some of his stiffness. He liked Temulun, though she would always be a child to him in some ways. She could not remember the first winters alone, when the brothers and their mother were hunted and starving.

‘Is my husband well?’ she asked. ‘I have not seen Palchuk in three days now.’

‘I don’t know,’ Genghis admitted. ‘He is with Jebe. I have decided to have Palchuk command a thousand and carry the gold paitze.’

Temulun clapped her hands with pleasure.

‘You are a good brother, Genghis. He will be pleased.’ A slight frown crossed her face as she considered giving her husband the good news.

‘Is it for him you have done this, or for me?’

Genghis blinked at her changing moods.

‘For you, sister. Should I not raise my own family? Can I have my only sister’s husband in the ranks?’ He saw her expression remained troubled. This sort of thing was beyond him, though he struggled to understand.

‘He will not refuse, Temulun,’ Genghis said.

‘I know that!’ she replied. ‘But he will worry that the promotion comes from you.’

‘It does,’ Genghis replied.

Temulun raised her eyes at her brother’s failings for an instant.

‘I mean it will matter to him that he did not earn the new rank.’

‘Let him prove he is worthy of it then,’ Genghis said with a shrug. ‘I can always take the paitze back.’

Temulun glared at her brother.

‘You wouldn’t dare. Better not to raise him at all than lift and drop him as you please.’

Genghis sighed to himself.

‘I will have Jebe tell him. He is still reordering Arslan’s tuman. It will not be so strange, unless your precious husband is an idiot.’

‘You are a good man, Genghis,’ Temulun replied.

Genghis looked around to see who was close enough to hear.

‘Keep it quiet, woman!’ He chuckled to himself, remounting and taking back the reins.

‘Leave the pot behind if you cannot find it, Temulun. It is time to go.’

The restless urge that had made him tour the carts faded away as he rode back to the front. He nodded to his generals and saw that they too felt the same simple pleasure. Their people were on the move again and every day would bring a new horizon. There was nothing like the sense of freedom it brought, with all the world before them. As he reached his brothers and his generals, Genghis blew a long note on a scout horn and urged his pony to a trot. Slowly, the nation moved behind him.

CHAPTER SEVEN

It was snowing in the high passes. The Altai mountains were further west than most of the families had ever travelled. Only the Turkic tribes, the Uighurs and the Uriankhai, knew them well and then as a place to avoid, a place of poor hunting and death in the winter.

Though the mounted warriors could have crossed the range in a single day, the heavily laden carts were ponderous, built for grassy plains and ill-suited to deep snow drifts and goat paths. Tsubodai’s new spoked wheels did better than the solid discs that broke too easily, but only a few carts had been converted and progress was slow. Every day there seemed to be some new obstacle and there were times when the slopes were so steep that the carts had to be lowered on ropes, held by teams of straining warriors. When the air was at its thinnest and men and animals grew exhausted, they were lucky to make five miles in a day. Every peak was followed by a twisting valley and another dogged climb to the best way through. The range seemed to go on endlessly and the families huddled miserably in their furs, exposed to the wind. When they halted, the rush to raise gers before sunset was hampered by frozen fingers. Almost all the people slept under the carts each night, covered in blankets and surrounded by the warm bodies of goats and sheep tethered to the wheels. Goats had to be killed to feed them and the vast herds dwindled as they travelled.

Thirty days out from the river Orkhon, Genghis called a halt early in the day. The clouds had come down so low that they touched the peaks around them. Snow had begun to fall as the tribes made a temporary camp in the lee of a vast cliff, soaring into whiteness above their heads. There was at least some protection from the biting wind in that place and Genghis gave the order rather than take them over an exposed ridge that would see them still travelling as the light faded. He had riders out for a hundred miles and more ahead of them, a stream of young warriors who scouted the best path through and reported on anything they found. The mountains marked the end of the world Genghis knew, and as he watched his servants kill a young goat, he wondered how Arab cities would look. Would they resemble Chin fortresses of stone? Ahead of the scouts, he had sent spies to learn what they could of the markets and defences. Anything could be useful in the campaign to come. The first ones out were beginning to return to him, exhausted and hungry. He had the beginnings of a picture in his head, but it was still in fragments.

His brothers sat with him in the khan’s ger on its cart, above the heads of all the others. Looking out into the whiteness, Genghis could see gers like a host of pale shells, thin trails of smoke rising from them to the skies. It was a cold and hostile place, but he was not discouraged. His nation had no use for cities, and the life of the tribes went on all around him, from feuds and friendship to family celebrations and weddings. They did not have to stop to live: life went on regardless.

Genghis rubbed his hands together, blowing into them as he watched his Chin servants make a cut in the kid goat’s chest before reaching in and squeezing the main vein around the heart. The goat stopped kicking and they began to skin it expertly. Every piece would be used and the skin would wrap one of his young children against the winter cold. Genghis watched as the servants emptied the stomach onto the ground, shoving out a mulch of half-digested grass. Roasting the flesh inside the flaccid white bag was faster than the slow boil the tribes preferred. The meat would be tough and hard on the teeth, but in such cold it was important to eat quickly and take strength. At the thought, Genghis tested the stump he had broken in his drunken ride to Jelme and winced. It hurt constantly and he thought he might have to get Kokchu to pull the root out. His mood grew sour at the prospect.

‘They’ll have it on the fire in a little while,’ Genghis said to his brothers.

‘Not soon enough for me,’ Khasar replied. ‘I haven’t eaten since dawn.’ Around them in the pass, thousands of hot meals were being prepared. The animals themselves would get barely a handful of dry grass, but there was no help for it. Over the constant bleating, they could all hear the sounds and chatter of their people and, despite the cold, there was contentment in it. They rode to war and the mood was light in the camp.

In the distance, the generals heard a thin cheering and they looked at Kachiun, who usually knew everything that went on in the gers. Under the stares of his brothers, he shrugged.

‘Yao Shu is training the young warriors,’ he said.

Temuge tutted under his breath, but Kachiun ignored him. It was no secret that Temuge disliked the Buddhist monk he and Khasar had brought back from Chin lands. Though Yao Shu was ever courteous, he had fallen out with the shaman, Kokchu, when Temuge had been his most willing disciple. Perhaps because of those memories, Temuge regarded him with irritation, especially when he preached his weak Buddhist faith to fighting men. Genghis had ignored Temuge’s protests, seeing only jealousy for a holy man who could fight better with his hands and feet than most men with swords.

They listened as another cheer went up, louder this time, as if more men had gathered to watch. The women would be preparing food in the camp, but it was common enough for the men to wrestle or train when the gers were up. In the high passes, it was often the only way to stay warm.

Khasar stood and dipped his head to Genghis.

‘If that goat won’t be ready for a while, I’ll go and watch, brother. Yao Shu makes our wrestlers look slow and clumsy.’

Genghis nodded, seeing how Temuge grimaced. He looked outside at the bloated goat stomach and sniffed the air, hungrily.

Kachiun saw that Genghis wanted an excuse to watch the training and smiled to himself.

‘It could be Chagatai, brother. He and Ogedai spend a great deal of time with Yao Shu.’

It was enough.

‘We’ll all go,’ Genghis said, his face lighting up. Before Temuge could protest, the khan stepped out into the cold wind. The rest followed, though Temuge looked back at the roasting goat, his mouth watering.

Yao Shu was bare-chested, despite the altitude. He seemed not to feel the cold, and as Chagatai walked in a circle, making him turn, the falling snowflakes rested as they touched the monk’s shoulders. Yao Shu was breathing lightly, though Chagatai was already flushed and bruised from the bout. He eyed the monk’s stick, wary of a sudden strike. Though the little Buddhist disdained swords, he used the stick as if he had been born to it. Chagatai felt stabbing aches in his ribs and left leg where he had been struck. He had not yet landed a blow of his own and his temper simmered close to the surface.

The crowd had grown, swelling with idle warriors. There was little else to do and they were always curious. The pass was too narrow for more than a few hundred of them to watch the practice and they pushed and squabbled amongst themselves as they tried to give the fighters room. Chagatai sensed the movement in the crowd before he saw his father and uncles walking through, the ranks pressing back rather than jostle their generals. He clenched his jaw, resolving to get in at least one good blow while Genghis watched.

To think was to act and Chagatai darted in, bringing his stick around in a short, chopping blow. If Yao Shu had remained still, it would have cracked him on the head, but he ducked and tapped Chagatai sharply in the lower ribs before stepping away.

It was not a hard strike, but Chagatai coloured with anger. Yao Shu shook his head.

‘Remain calm,’ the monk murmured. It was the boy’s chief failing in the practice bouts. There was nothing wrong with his balance or reflexes, but his temper undid him every time. Yao Shu had worked for weeks to get Chagatai to stay cold in battle, to put aside rage as much as fear. The two emotions seemed permanently linked in the young warrior and Yao Shu was resigned to slow progress.

Chagatai circled, reversing his gait just as it looked as if he might attack. Yao Shu swayed back to meet the stick as it came in low. He blocked it with ease, snapping out his left fist against Chagatai’s cheek. He saw the boy’s eyes flare and rage took over, as it had done many times before. Chagatai came in fast, his stick blurring. The crowd whooped at the cracking sounds as he was blocked again and again. Chagatai’s arms were burning when he tried to step away and at that moment the monk trapped his foot under his own, sending Chagatai sprawling.

Their movements had taken them away from the open ground between two gers. Yao Shu would have spoken to Chagatai, but he sensed someone close behind him and turned, always alert.

It was Kachiun who stood there, his face showing nothing. Yao Shu bowed briefly to the general, still listening for the sound of Chagatai coming at him again.

Kachiun bent his head close, though the noisy crowd could hardly have overheard.

‘Will you give him nothing, monk?’ Kachiun murmured. ‘With his father watching and men the boy will command?’

Yao Shu looked up at the Mongol general blankly. He had trained from a little boy to master his body. The thought of letting a blustering child like Chagatai strike him was a strange concept. If it had been a more modest warrior, one who would not crow about it for months, Yao Shu might have agreed. For the khan’s spoiled second son, he only shook his head.

Kachiun would have spoken again, but both of them jerked as Chagatai attacked from behind, desperate for any advantage. Kachiun firmed his mouth in annoyance as he watched Yao Shu step clear with smooth strides, almost sliding across the ground. The monk was always in balance and Kachiun knew Chagatai would not touch him that day. He watched coldly as Yao Shu blocked two more blows, then attacked harder and faster than before, giving Kachiun his answer.

All the warriors heard Chagatai’s ‘oof as the stick thumped air from his lungs. Before he could recover, Yao Shu struck him on the right hand so that it sprang open and the stick fell. Without pausing, the monk passed his weapon through Chagatai’s legs, so that the boy went tumbling on the frozen ground. The crowd did not cheer as Yao Shu bowed to the prostrate son of a khan. They expected Chagatai to return the gesture, but instead he rose with his cheeks flaming and stalked from the open space without looking back.

Yao Shu held the pose longer than necessary, showing his own anger at having been ignored. It was his habit to discuss the bouts with the young warriors, explaining where they had failed and done well. In five years with the tribes, he had trained many of the men Genghis commanded and kept a school of twenty of the most promising. Chagatai was not one of those, but Yao Shu had learned enough of the world to understand his permission to remain came at a price. Today, it had been too high for him. He passed Kachiun without even glancing at the general.

Though many in the crowd looked at Genghis to see how he reacted to his son’s rudeness, the khan showed them the cold face. He turned to Temuge and Khasar after watching the monk pass Kachiun.

‘That goat will be ready by now,’ he said.

Temuge smiled for an instant, though it was not at news of hot food. In his innocence, the monk had made enemies of violent men. Perhaps they would teach him humility. The day had turned out rather better than Temuge could have hoped.

Yao Shu was a small man, but he still had to duck low to pass into the ger of the khan’s second wife. As he entered, he bowed to Chakahai, as befitted a princess of the Xi Xia. In truth, he cared nothing for the titles of men, but he admired the way the woman had made her place in Mongol society. It could not have been more alien to the court she had once known, but she had survived and Yao Shu liked her.

Ho Sa was already there, sipping the black tea her father sent to the camp. Yao Shu nodded to him, accepting a tiny, steaming cup from Chakahai’s own hands before settling himself. The camp was a small place in some ways, despite the vast, sprawling size of it. Yao Shu suspected Kachiun would know exactly how many times the three of them met and perhaps even had listeners outside. The thought made the tea seem sour in his mouth and Yao Shu grimaced lightly. This was not his world. He had come to the camps to spread the gentle teachings of the Buddha. He did not know yet if that had been the right choice. The Mongols were a strange people. They seemed to accept whatever he told them, especially if he phrased the lessons in stories. Yao Shu had passed on much of the wisdom he had learned as a boy, but when the war horns sounded, the Mongols shrugged off his teachings and rushed to kill. There was no understanding them, but he had accepted it as his path. As he sipped, he wondered if Chakahai was so accepting of her role.

Yao Shu hardly spoke for a long time, as Ho Sa and Chakahai discussed the welfare of Chin soldiers in the khan’s tumans. Perhaps eight thousand men in the camp had once lived in Chin cities, or been soldiers for the emperor himself. Yet as many had come from the Turkic tribes in the north. The Chin recruits should have had little influence, but Chakahai had seen to it that all senior men were served by her people. Through them, she knew as well as Kachiun himself what went on in the camps.

Yao Shu watched the delicate woman as she assured Ho Sa she would speak to her husband about the death rites for Chin soldiers. Yao Shu emptied his tea, taking pleasure in the bitter taste and the sound of his own language in his ears. That was something he missed, without a doubt. His drifting thoughts were dragged sharply back at his own name.

‘… perhaps Yao Shu can tell us,’ Chakahai said. ‘He has been with my husband’s sons as much as any other.’

Yao Shu realised he had not heard the question and covered his embarrassment by holding out his bowl to be refilled.

‘What do you want to know?’ he asked.

Chakahai sighed.

‘You have not been listening, my friend. I asked when Jochi would be fit enough to take his place with his men.’

‘In another turn of the moon, perhaps,’ Yao Shu replied immediately. ‘His wounds have remained clear, though his legs and arm will always be scarred from the hot irons. He has to rebuild the muscles there. I can work with him. At least he listens, unlike his foolish brother.’

Both Chakahai and Ho Sa stiffened slightly as he spoke. The servants had been sent away on an errand, but there were always ears to hear.

‘I watched the practice, earlier,’ Ho Sa said. He hesitated, aware of delicate ground. ‘What did General Kachiun say to you?’

Yao Shu looked up, irritated at the way Ho Sa’s voice had dropped to barely above a whisper.

‘It is not important, Ho Sa, any more than it is important to guard my words in this ger. I speak truth as I find it.’ He sighed. ‘And yet, I was once fifteen years old and stupid. Perhaps Chagatai could still grow into a strong man, I do not know. As it stands, he is too much of an angry boy.’

For the monk, it was an astonishing outburst and Ho Sa blinked in surprise.

‘That “angry boy” may lead the tribes one day,’ Chakahai said softly.

Yao Shu snorted into his tea.

‘I think sometimes that I have been among the tribes for too long. I should care nothing for which man inherits the horsetail standard of his father, or even if these new enemies see it trampled into the dirt.’

‘You have friends here, Yao Shu,’ Ho Sa said. ‘Why should you not care what happens to us?’

The monk frowned to himself.

‘I thought once that I could be a voice for reason in this camp, that I might have an influence on the khan and his brothers.’ He made a dismissive sound in his throat. ‘Such is the arrogance of young men. I thought then that I might bring peace to the fierce hearts of the sons.’ Yao Shu’s cheeks flushed slightly under his skin. ‘Instead, perhaps I will watch as Chagatai comes to lead his father’s people and takes them on to more destruction than any of us could imagine.’

‘As you said, he is yet a boy,’ Chakahai murmured, moved to see Yao Shu so distressed. ‘He will learn, or Jochi will lead the tribes.’

The monk’s face softened at her tone and he reached out to pat her on her shoulder.

‘It has been a difficult day, princess. Ignore what I have said. Tomorrow, I will be a different man, with the past gone and the future unknown, as always. I am sorry to have brought my anger here.’ His mouth twisted wryly. ‘At times, I think I am a bad Buddhist, but I would not be anywhere else.’

Chakahai smiled at him, nodding. Ho Sa refilled his own cup with the precious tea, deep in thought. When he spoke, his voice was very low and hard to hear.

‘If Genghis falls in battle, it will be Kachiun who is khan. He has sons of his own and all of this would be like leaves in the wind.’

Chakahai tilted her head to listen. She was beautiful in the lamplight, making Ho Sa think again that the khan was a lucky man to have such a woman waiting in his gers.

‘If my husband named an heir from among his sons, I think Kachiun would honour it.’

‘If you push him to it, he will name Chagatai,’ Ho Sa said. ‘The whole camp knows he does not favour Jochi, while Ogedai and Tolui are still too young.’ He paused, suspecting that Genghis would not be pleased to have other men talking to his wife on such a subject. Still, he was curious. ‘Have you spoken to the khan about it?’

‘Not yet,’ Chakahai replied. ‘But you are right. I do not want Kachiun’s sons to inherit. Where would I be then? It is not so long since the tribes abandoned the families of dead khans.’

‘Genghis knows that better than anyone,’ Ho Sa said. ‘He would not want you to suffer as his mother suffered.’

Chakahai nodded. It was such a pleasure to be able to speak openly in her own language, so far from the guttural breathiness of Mongol speech. She realised she would rather go back to her father than see Chagatai become khan as things stood, yet Ho Sa spoke the truth. Kachiun had his own wives and children. Would any of them treat her with kindness if her husband fell? Kachiun would give her honour, perhaps even send her back to the Xi Xia king. Yet there would always be some who looked to the old khan’s wives and sons for a figurehead. Kachiun would be safest in having them all killed on the same day his brother fell in battle. She bit her lip as she thought it through, disturbed to have such dark thoughts come to her ger. Genghis would not accept Jochi, she was almost certain. He had been laid up to heal for more than a month and a leader needed to be seen by his men if he were not to be forgotten. Even then, she did not know him, only that Chagatai would be a poor choice. Her children would not long survive his rise, she was certain. She wondered if she had the skill to bring Chagatai to her side.

‘I will think about it,’ she told the two men. ‘We will find the right path through.’

Outside the ger, they could hear the wind moaning through the carts and homes of the Mongol nation. Both men heard the sadness in Chakahai’s voice as she dismissed them back to their posts to sleep.

As Yao Shu stepped out into the wind and snow, he shivered, pulling his deel close around his shoulders. It was not just the cold, which he hardly noticed after so many years wearing just a thin robe. At times, he felt he had taken a wrong turn in coming among the people of the horse. He liked them, for all their childlike arrogance and belief that they could order the world to suit them. The khan was a man to follow and Yao Shu had been impressed by him. Yet he had failed to find the right ears for the words of the Buddha. Only little Tolui seemed open to them and then only because he was so young. Chagatai laughed coarsely at any philosophy that did not involve grinding enemies under his heels and Jochi seemed to listen with detached interest, letting the words and ideas flow over him without sinking in.

Yao Shu was lost in thought as he walked the snowy paths through the camp. Even then, he remained aware of his surroundings and he knew the men were there as soon as they began to surround him. He sighed to himself. There was only one foolish boy who would have sent warriors to attack him that night. Yao Shu had not even brought his practice stick to the ger of Chakahai, believing himself safe.

Still, he was not a child to be ambushed by fools. He wondered if Chagatai had told them to kill him, or just break a few bones. It did not matter: his response would be the same. As the snow swirled, Yao Shu darted between two gers and attacked the first dark shape to loom up before him. The man was too slow and Yao Shu dropped him neatly with a strike to the chin while he blocked the back foot with his own. He did not intend to kill in that mountain pass, but he heard other voices answer the sound and knew there were many of them. Footsteps pattered lightly from all directions and Yao Shu controlled the growing anger in his chest. It was unlikely that he knew the men, or they him. There would be no malice in the assault, unless he killed one of them. He shrugged to himself, thinking again that time amongst the tribes had changed him subtly. The Buddha would have let them come in without raising a hand in anger. Yao Shu shrugged as he padded towards another shadow. At least he was no longer cold.

‘Where is he?’ a man hissed, only a pace away.

Yao Shu stepped in behind him, pushing the man down before he could resist and slipping past. The warrior’s surprised yell echoed back from the high hills and Yao Shu heard other men closing fast.

The first to reach him was met with an explosive punch into the lower ribs. Yao Shu felt them break under his hand and drew back before he jammed the shards into vital organs. He ducked on instinct as something else moved, but in the whiteness he had not seen two warriors and one of them tackled him around the waist, throwing him to the hard ground.

Yao Shu kicked out and his foot jarred against something solid, hurting him. He came to his feet as a ring of men closed and looked around at the unsmiling faces. It distressed him to see three of them were from his own training group. They at least would not meet his eyes. The others were strangers carrying heavy sticks.

‘We have you now, monk,’ one of them growled.

Yao Shu readied himself, dropping slightly on bent legs so that he was in perfect balance. He could not defeat so many, but he was once again ready to teach.

Eight men fell into the centre of the circle and Yao Shu almost slipped between two and was away. By chance, one of them snagged his robe. Yao Shu felt fingers slip over the skin of his skull and he brought his head back sharply. The hard fingers vanished and the monk struck out with his right foot. Another man fell back with a cry, his knee shattered, but by then they had struck him many times and Yao Shu was dazed. He still hammered blows with hands, knees and head wherever he could, but they knocked him down. The heavy sticks rose and fell with mindless anger. He did not cry out, even when one of them stamped on his right foot and broke the small bones.

Before he lost consciousness, Yao Shu thought he heard Kachiun’s voice shouting and felt the hands on him falling away. The words of his own teachers spiralled in his mind then as he collapsed in the snow. They had told him that holding on to anger was like grasping a hot coal. Only he would be burned by it. Yet as the men scattered and he felt strong arms lift him up, Yao Shu held the hot coal closely and felt only warmth.

CHAPTER EIGHT

Yao Shu looked up as Kachiun came into the ger where the wounded were treated. By day, sick men and women travelled on the carts, well wrapped in furs. There were always some who needed a poisoned toe lanced or a wound bound. Yao Shu knew three of the men with him. They were the ones he had injured himself. He had not spoken to them and they seemed embarrassed by his silence and would not meet his eyes.

Kachiun brightened as he greeted Jochi, sitting on the edge of his bed and chatting lightly with him. He admired the striped tiger skin at Jochi’s feet, running his hands over the stiff folds and flattened head as they talked. Yao Shu could see the two men were friends. Tsubodai too visited each dawn and, despite his seclusion, Jochi was well informed. Yao Shu watched the pair talk with some curiosity as he tested the splints on his foot and winced.

When conversation died away, Kachiun turned to the monk, visibly searching for words. He knew as well as anyone that it could only have been Chagatai who ordered the beating. He knew also that it would never be proven. Chagatai strutted around the camp and there were more than a few warriors who looked on him with approval. There was no shame for them in taking revenge and Kachiun could guess what Genghis thought about it. The khan would not have relied on others to make his point, but he would not have lost sleep about it if he had. The camp was a hard world and Kachiun wondered how to explain that to Yao Shu.

‘Kokchu says you will be walking in just a few weeks,’ he said.

Yao Shu shrugged.

‘I heal, general. The body is just an animal, after all. Dogs and foxes heal and so do I.’

‘I have not heard anything else about the men who attacked you,’ Kachiun lied. Yao Shu’s eyes drifted to the others in the small ger and Kachiun flushed slightly. ‘There is always someone fighting in the camp,’ he said, spreading his hands.

Yao Shu looked calmly at him, surprised that the general seemed to be feeling guilt. He had played no part in it, after all, and was he responsible for Chagatai? He was not. In fact, the beating could have been much worse if Kachiun had not come and scattered them. The warriors had vanished back to their gers, bearing their wounded away. Yao Shu suspected Kachiun could have named each one if he wanted to, perhaps with the names of their families as well. It did not matter. The Mongols loved revenge, but Yao Shu felt no anger towards young fools following orders. He had vowed to teach Chagatai another lesson in the fullness of time.

It troubled the monk that his faith came second to such a base desire, but he still relished the prospect. He could hardly speak of it with Chagatai’s own men in the ger, but they too were healing and it would not be long before he was alone with Jochi. Though he might have gained an enemy in Chagatai, Yao Shu had seen the fight with the tiger. As he glanced at the great striped skin draped over Jochi’s low bed, he thought he had surely gained an ally as well. The Xi Xia princess would be pleased, he thought wryly.

Kachiun stood automatically when he heard Genghis’ voice outside. The khan entered and Yao Shu saw his whole face was swollen and red, the left eye almost closed.

The khan registered the presence of the men in the ger and nodded to Yao Shu before speaking to Kachiun. He ignored Jochi as if he were not present.

‘Where is Kokchu, brother? I have to get this broken tooth out of my head.’

The shaman came in as he spoke, bringing with him the strange odour that made Yao Shu wrinkle his nose. He could not like the skinny magic worker. He had found the shaman competent at splinting broken bones, but Kokchu treated the sick as if they were an annoyance, then fawned on the generals and Genghis himself without shame.

‘The tooth, Kokchu,’ Genghis growled. ‘It is time.’

Sweat beaded his brow and Yao Shu guessed he was in great pain, though the khan made a fetish of never showing it. Yao Shu sometimes wondered if they were insane, these Mongols. Pain was merely a part of life, to be embraced and understood, not crushed.

‘Yes, lord khan,’ Kokchu replied. ‘I will take it out and give you herbs for the swelling. Lie back, lord, and open your mouth as far as you can.’

With an ill grace, Genghis took the last bed in the ger and tilted his head far enough so that Yao Shu could see inflamed flesh. The Mongols had very good teeth, he thought. The brown stump looked out of place in the white ones. Yao Shu wondered if their diet of meat was responsible for their strength and violence. He shunned flesh himself, believing it to be responsible for bad humours in the blood. Still, the Mongols seemed to thrive on it, bad humours and all.

Kokchu unrolled a leather tube to reveal a small pair of blacksmith’s pincers and a set of narrow knives. Yao Shu saw Genghis’ eyes swivel to see the tools, then the khan met his gaze and a stillness came over him that was impressive to watch. The man had decided to treat the ordeal as a test, Yao Shu could see. The monk wondered if his self-discipline would hold.

Kokchu clacked the ends of the pincers together and took a deep breath to steady his hands. He looked into the khan’s open mouth and pursed his lips.

‘I will be as quick as I can, lord, but I have to take out the root.’

‘Do your work, shaman. Get it out,’ Genghis snapped and again Yao Shu saw the pain must have been immense for him to speak in such a way. As Kokchu probed the broken tooth, the khan clenched his hands then let them fall loose, lying as if he slept.

Yao Shu watched with interest as Kokchu dug deep with the pincers, trying to get a purchase. The metal tool slipped twice as he brought pressure to bear. With a grimace, the shaman turned back to his roll and selected a knife.

‘I have to cut the gum, lord,’ he said nervously.

Yao Shu could see the shaman was shaking as if his own life was at stake. Perhaps it was. Genghis did not bother to reply, though once again the hands tensed and relaxed as he fought his body for control. The khan stiffened as Kokchu leaned on the knife, digging deeply. Genghis choked on a flood of pus and blood, waving Kokchu away so he could spit on the floor before settling back. His eyes were wild, Yao Shu saw, quietly awed at the man’s strength of will.

Once more, Kokchu cut and jerked the blade, then reached in with the pincers, took a grip and heaved. The shaman almost fell as a long shard of root came out and Genghis grunted, rising to spit once more.

‘That is almost all of it, lord,’ the shaman said.

Genghis glared at him, then lay back again. The second piece came out quickly and the khan sat up, holding his aching jaw and clearly relieved to have it end. The rim of his mouth was red and Yao Shu watched as Genghis swallowed bitterness.

Jochi too had observed the extraction, though he had tried to make it look as if he hadn’t. As Genghis rose again, Jochi lay back on his bed and stared at the ribs of birch that made up the ceiling of the ger. Yao Shu thought the khan would leave without speaking to his son and was surprised when Genghis paused and tapped Jochi on the leg.

‘You can walk, can’t you?’ Genghis said.

Jochi turned his head slowly.

‘Yes, I can walk.’

‘Then you can ride.’ Genghis noticed the wolf’s-head sword that Jochi never let out of his sight and his right hand twitched to hold it. It rested on the tiger skin and Genghis ran his fingers through the stiff fur.

‘If you can walk, you can ride,’ Genghis told him again. He might have turned away then, but some impulse held him in place.

‘I thought that cat would kill you,’ Genghis said.

‘It nearly did,’ Jochi replied.

To his surprise, Genghis grinned at him, showing red teeth.

‘Still, you beat it. You have a tuman and we ride to conquer.’

Yao Shu saw that the khan was trying to mend bridges between them. Jochi would command ten thousand men, a position of immense trust and not lightly given. To Yao Shu’s private disappointment, Jochi sneered.

‘What else could I possibly want from you, my lord?’

A stillness came into the ger then, until Genghis shrugged.

‘As you say, boy. I have given you more than enough.’

The stream of carts and animals took days to spill out of the mountains to the plains. To the south and west lay the cities ruled by Shah Mohammed. Every man and woman of the people had heard of the challenge to their khan and the deaths of their envoys. They were impatient to bring vengeance.

Around the core of the people, scouts rode out in wide circles as they moved, leaving the cold mountains behind. The generals had gambled with knuckle bones for the right to take a tuman raiding and it had been Jebe who had thrown four horses and won. When Genghis heard, he summoned Arslan’s replacement to him for orders. Jebe had found the khan with his brothers, deep in conversation as they planned the war to come. When Genghis finally noticed the young man standing by the door, he nodded to him, barely looking up from new maps being drawn with charcoal and ink.

‘I need information more than piles of the dead, general,’ Genghis said. ‘The shah can call on cities as great as any in Chin lands. We must meet his armies, but when we do, it will be on my terms. Until that day, I need everything you can learn. If a town has less than two hundred warriors, let them surrender. Send their traders and merchants to me, men who know a little of the world around them.’

‘And if they will not surrender, lord?’ Jebe asked.

Khasar chuckled without looking up, but the khan’s yellow gaze lifted from the maps.

‘Then clear the way,’ Genghis replied.

As Jebe turned to leave, Genghis whistled softly. Jebe turned to him questioningly.

‘They are your warriors now, Jebe, not mine, nor any other man here. They will look to you first. Remember that. I have seen brave warriors who broke and ran, then stood against impossible odds just a few months later. The only difference was that their officers had changed. Never believe another man can do your job. You understand?’

‘Yes, lord,’ Jebe replied. He had struggled not to show his delight, though he felt light-headed with it. It was his first independent command. Ten thousand men would look to him alone, their lives and honour in his hands. Genghis smiled wryly to himself, fully aware of the young man’s sweating palms and thumping heart.

‘Then go,’ the khan said, returning to his maps.

On a spring morning, Jebe rode out with ten thousand veterans, eager to make his name. Within just a few days, Arab merchants rode into the camp as if the devil himself was behind them. They were willing to barter and sell information to this new force in the land and Genghis welcomed a stream of them to his ger, sending them away with their pouches full of silver. Behind them, distant plumes of smoke rose sluggishly into the heat.

Jochi joined his men two days after he had seen Genghis in the ger for the sick. He was thin and pale from six weeks of seclusion, but he mounted his favourite horse stiffly, setting his jaw against the pain. His left arm was splinted and the wounds on his legs cracked and wept, but he smiled as he trotted to the ranks. His men had been told he was coming and they formed up to greet their general and the khan’s first son. Jochi’s expression remained stern, concentrating on his own weakness. He raised a hand in greeting and they cheered his survival and the tiger skin he had placed between the saddle and the horse’s skin. The dried head would always snarl at his pommel.

When he took his place in the front rank, he turned his pony and looked back at the men his father had given him. Of the ten thousand, more than four were from the Chin cities. They were mounted and armoured in the Mongol style, but he knew they could not shoot arrows as fast or as well as his brethren. Two thousand more were from the Turkic tribes to the north and west, dark-skinned men who knew the Arab lands better than the Mongols themselves. He thought his father had given them to Jochi as those of lesser blood, but they were fierce and they knew the ground and the hunting. Jochi was pleased with them. The last four thousand were of the people: the Naimans, the Oirat and the Jajirat. Jochi cast his gaze over their ranks and it was there that he sensed a weakness in their grim faces. The Mongols knew Jochi was not a favourite son of the khan, perhaps not even his son at all. He read subtle doubt in the way they looked at each other and did not cheer as lustily as the others.

Jochi felt his energy flag and summoned his will. He would have liked longer for his arm to heal. Yet he had seen Tsubodai bind men together and he was eager to begin the work.

‘I see men before me,’ he called to them. His voice was strong and many grinned. ‘I see warriors, but I do not yet see an army.’

The grins faltered and he gestured to the vast array of carts rolling out of the mountains behind them.

‘Our people have enough men to keep out the wolves,’ he said. ‘Ride with me today and I will see what I can make of you.’

He dug in his heels, though his legs had already begun to ache. Behind him, ten thousand men began to trot out onto the plains. He would run them ragged, he told himself, until they were blind with exhaustion, or until his limbs hurt so much he could not stand it any longer. Jochi smiled at the thought. He would endure. He always had.

The city of Otrar was one of the many jewels of Khwarezm, made rich at the crossroads of ancient empires. It had guarded the west for a thousand years, taking a part of the wealth that flowed along the trade roads. Its walls protected thousands of brick houses, some of them three storeys high and painted white against the hard sun. The streets were always busy and a man could buy anything in the world in Otrar, if he had enough gold. Its governor, Inalchuk, gave offerings each day in the mosque and made public displays of his devotion to the teachings of the prophet. In private, he drank forbidden wine and kept a house of women chosen from the slaves of a dozen races, all picked for his pleasure.

As the sun dipped towards the hills, Otrar cooled slowly and the streets lost their mad energy as men and women returned home. Inalchuk wiped sweat from his eyes and lunged at his sword instructor. The man was quick and there were times when Inalchuk thought he allowed his master to take points. He did not mind as long as the instructor was clever. If he left too obvious an opening, Inalchuk struck with greater force, leaving a welt or a bruise. It was a game, as all things were games.

Out of the corner of his eye, Inalchuk saw his chief scribe halt on the edge of the courtyard. His instructor darted at him to punish the moment of inattention and Inalchuk fell back before striking low so that the point of his blunt sword sank into the man’s stomach. The instructor fell heavily and Inalchuk laughed.

‘You will not tempt me to lift you up, Akram. Once is enough for each trick.’

The instructor smiled and leapt to his feet, but the light was fading and Inalchuk bowed to him before handing over the blade.

As the sun set, Inalchuk heard the voices of the muezzins call the greatness of God across Otrar. It was time for evening prayers and the courtyard began to fill with the members of his household. They carried mats and lined up in rows, their heads bowed. Inalchuk led them in the responses, the thoughts and worries of the day vanishing as he took the first position.

As they chanted in unison, Inalchuk looked forward to breaking the day’s fast. Ramadan was close to its end and even he did not dare to ignore its disciplines. Servants chattered like birds and he knew better than to provide them with evidence against him for the shari’a courts. As he prostrated himself, touching his forehead to the ground, he thought of the women he would choose to bathe him. Even in the holy month, all things were possible after sunset, and there at least could a man be king in his own home. He would have honey brought and dribble it onto the back of his current favourite as he enjoyed her.

‘Allahu Akbar!’ he said aloud. God is great. Honey was a wonderful thing, he thought, the gift of Allah to all men. Inalchuk could have eaten it every day if it were not for his expanding waist. There was a price for every pleasure, it seemed.

He prostrated himself once more, a model of piety in front of his household. The sun had set during the ritual and Inalchuk was starving. He rolled up his prayer mat and walked swiftly through the yard, his scribe falling in behind him.

‘Where is the army of the khan?’ Inalchuk called over his shoulder.

His scribe fussed with a sheaf of papers as he always did, though Inalchuk did not doubt he had the answer ready. Zayed bin Saleh had grown old in his service, but age had not dulled his intelligence.

‘The Mongol army moves slowly, master,’ Zayed said. ‘Allah be thanked for that. They darken the earth all the way back to the mountains.’

Inalchuk frowned, the image of honey-covered skin vanishing from his imagination.

‘More than we thought before?’

‘Perhaps a hundred thousand fighting men, master, though I cannot be sure with so many carts. They ride as a great snake on the land.’

Inalchuk smiled at the image.

‘Even such a snake has but one head, Zayed. If the khan is troublesome, I will have the Assassins cut it off.’

The scribe grimaced, showing teeth like yellow ivory.

‘I would rather embrace a scorpion than deal with those Shia mystics, master. They are dangerous in more than just their daggers. Do they not reject the Caliphs? They are not true men of Islam, I think.’

Inalchuk laughed, clapping Zayed on the shoulder.

‘They frighten you, little Zayed, but they can be bought and there is no one as good. Did they not leave a poisoned cake on Saladin’s own chest as he slept? That is what matters. They honour their contracts and all their dark madness is just for show.’

Zayed shuddered delicately. The Assassins ruled in their mountain fortresses and even the shah himself could not command them to come out. They worshipped death and violence and Zayed felt Inalchuk should not be so casual in speaking of them, even in his own home. He hoped his silence would be taken as a subtle reproof, but Inalchuk went on as another thought struck him.

‘You have not mentioned word from Shah Mohammed,’ he said. ‘Can it be that he has not yet answered?’

Zayed shook his head.

‘There are no reinforcements yet, master. I have men waiting for them to the south. I will know as soon as they appear.’

They had reached the bathing complex in the governor’s house. As a male slave, Zayed could not pass through the door and Inalchuk paused with him, thinking through his orders.

‘My cousin has more than a million men under arms, Zayed, more than enough to crush this army of carts and skinny goats. Send another message with my personal seal. Tell him … two hundred thousand Mongol warriors have come through the mountains. Perhaps he will understand my garrison can only retreat before so many.’

‘The shah may not believe they will strike at Otrar, master. There are other cities without our walls.’

Inalchuk made a tutting sound and ran a hand down the oiled curls of his beard.

‘Where else would they come? It was here that I had the khan’s men flogged in the marketplace. Here that we made a pile of hands as high as a man’s waist. Did my cousin not guide me in that? I have followed his orders in the knowledge that his army would be ready to throw these Mongols back on their heels. Now I have called and still he delays.’

Zayed did not respond. The walls of Otrar had never been broken, but Arab merchants were beginning to come in from Chin lands. They talked of the Mongols using machines that could smash cities. It was not beyond possibility that the shah had decided to let the Otrar garrison test the mettle of the Mongol khan. Twenty thousand men rested within the walls, but Zayed did not feel confident.

‘Remind my cousin that I once saved his life when we were boys together,’ Inalchuk said. ‘He has never repaid that debt to me.’

Zayed bowed his head.

‘I will have word sent to him, master, by the fastest horses.’

Inalchuk nodded curtly, disappearing inside the door. Zayed watched him go and frowned to himself. The master would rut like a dog in heat until dawn, leaving the campaign planning to his servants.

Zayed did not understand lust, any more than he understood men like the Assassins who chose to eat the sticky brown lumps of hashish that banished fear and made them writhe with the desire to kill. When he was young his body had tormented him, but one blessing of old age was relief from the demands of flesh. The only true pleasure he had ever known came from planning and scholarship.

Zayed realised dimly that he would need to eat to sustain him in the long night ahead. He had more than a hundred spies in the path of the Mongol army and their reports came in every hour. He heard his master’s rhythmic grunting begin and shook his head as if at a wayward child. To act in such a way when the world was ready to topple mystified him. Zayed did not doubt Shah Mohammed had visions of becoming a new Saladin. Inalchuk had been just a child, but Zayed remembered the reign of the great king. He cherished memories of Saladin’s warriors passing through Bukhara to Jerusalem more than thirty years before. It had been a golden time!

The shah would not let Otrar fall, Zayed was almost certain. There were many leaders who had come to his banners, but they would be watching for weakness. It was the curse of all strong men and the shah could not give up a wealthy city. After all, the Chin had never been weaker. If Genghis could be stopped at Otrar, there was a world to win.

Zayed heard his master’s grunting passion grow in volume and sighed. No doubt Inalchuk had his own eyes on the shah’s throne. If the Mongols could be broken quickly, perhaps it was even in his reach.

The corridor was cool after sunset and Zayed barely noticed the slaves lighting oil lamps along its length. He was not tired. That too was a blessing of old age, that he needed very little sleep. He shuffled away into the gloom, his mind on a thousand things he had to do before dawn.

CHAPTER NINE

Jebe had lost count of the miles he had ridden in a month away from the khan’s army. At first he had headed south, coming across a vast lake in the shape of a crescent. Jebe had never seen such a body of fresh water, so wide that even the sharp-eyed scouts could not see the other side. For days, he and his men had speared fat green fish they could not name, feasting on the flesh before moving on. Jebe had decided against trying to swim the horses across and took his tuman along the clay banks. The land teemed with animals they could eat, from gazelles and ibex to a brown bear that came bellowing out of a copse and almost reached a raiding group before arrows brought it down. Jebe had the bearskin draped over his horse’s back, thick with rotting fat. He hoped to smoke-cure the skin before it was too far gone. Falcons and eagles soared the winds above their heads and the hills and valleys reminded Jebe of home.

As Genghis had ordered, he left small villages alone, his men riding past in a dark mass as farmers ran or stared in dull fear. Such men reminded Jebe of cattle and he could only shudder at living such a life, trapped in one place for all time. He had destroyed four large towns and more than a dozen road forts, leaving the loot buried in marked spots in the hills. His men were coming to know him as leader and they rode with their heads up, enjoying his style of striking fast and covering huge distances in just a few days. Arslan had been more cautious as a general, but he had taught Jebe well and the younger man drove them hard. He had a name to make among the generals and he allowed no weakness or hesitation in those who followed him.

If a town surrendered quickly, Jebe sent its merchants north and east to where he thought Genghis might have reached with the slower carts. He promised them gold and tempted them with Chin coins as proof of the generosity they would receive. Many of them had been forced to watch their homes burned to the ground and had no love for the young Mongol general, but they accepted the gifts and rode away. They could not rebuild with Genghis coming south and Jebe found them more pragmatic than his own people, more accepting of the fate that can raise one man and break another with no cause or reason. He did not admire the attitude, though it suited his own purposes well enough.

By the end of the new moon, which Jebe had learned was the Arab month of Ramadan, he reached a new range of mountains to the south of the crescent lake. Otrar was to the west and further on lay the golden cities of the shah, with names Jebe could hardly pronounce. He learned of Samarkand and Bukhara and had Arab farmers draw their locations on rough maps that Genghis would value. Jebe did not travel to see those walled places. When he did, it would be with the Mongol host at his back.

As the moon vanished, Jebe rode on one last sweep into the hills of the south, mapping sources of water and keeping his men fit. He was almost ready to return and go to war. Though his tuman had stayed out for more than a moon’s turn, he had no gers with him and made his camp in a sheltered valley, with scouts posted on all the peaks around him. It was one of those who rode back into camp, his pony lathered with sweat.

‘I have seen riders, general, in the distance.’

‘Did they spot you?’ Jebe asked.

The young warrior shook his head proudly.

‘Not in this life, general. It was in the last light before the sun set and I came straight back.’ The man hesitated and Jebe waited for him to speak again.

‘I thought… they could have been Mongols, general, from the way they rode. It was just a glimpse before the light went, but there were six men riding together and they could have been ours.’

Jebe stood up, his meal of rabbit forgotten at his feet.

‘Who else would have come so far south?’ he muttered. With a low whistle, he had his men leaving their rations and mounting all around. It was too dark to ride fast, but he had seen a trail leading through the hills before sunset and Jebe could not resist moving closer in the darkness. By dawn, he would be in position. He passed on his orders to his officers and let them inform the men. In no time at all, they were clicking gently to their mounts, moving into a column.

Without a moon, the night was very dark, but they followed his orders and Jebe grinned to himself. If it was Khasar, or better still, Tsubodai, he would like nothing more than to surprise a Mongol force at dawn. As he walked his mount to the head of the line, he sent scouts out with whispered orders, knowing that the khan’s generals would take pleasure in doing the same to him. Unlike the older men, he had a name to win for himself and he relished the challenge of a new land. Tsubodai’s rise had shown Genghis valued talent over blood, every time.

Jochi woke from sleeping like a dead man in pine woods, halfway up a mountain slope. He lay still in pitch darkness, raising his left hand before his face and blinking wearily. The Arabs judged dawn as the time when a black thread could be distinguished from a white one and it was not yet light enough for that. He yawned and knew he would not sleep again now that his battered body had dragged itself awake. His legs were stiff in the mornings and he began each day by rubbing oil into the raised scars from the hot irons and the tiger’s claws. Slowly, he worked the ridged skin with his thumbs, grunting in relief as the muscles relaxed. It was then that he heard hoof-beats in the darkness and one of his scouts calling.

‘Over here,’ he said. The scout dismounted and came to kneel by him. It was one of the Chin recruits and Jochi handed him the pot of oil to continue as he listened. The scout talked quickly in his own language, but Jochi interrupted only once to ask for the meaning of a word.

‘In three weeks, we’ve seen no sign of an armed force and now they come creeping at us in the dark,’ Jochi said, wincing as the Chin warrior’s thumbs worked a tender spot.

‘We could be miles away by dawn, general,’ the scout murmured.

Jochi shook his head. His men would allow him to run if he had some plan to draw an enemy into an ambush. To simply retreat would undermine him among all the groups of his tuman.

He cursed softly. In the moonless night, he could not know where the enemy were or how many came against him. His best trackers would be useless. His one advantage was that he knew the land. The isolated valley to the south had been his training ground for half a month and he had used it to work his men to a new edge of toughness. Along with his scouts, he knew every back trail and piece of cover from one end to the other.

‘Fetch my minghaan officers to me,’ he said to the scout. The ten senior officers could spread his orders quickly to the individual thousands of his tuman. Genghis had created the system and it worked well. Jochi had only added Tsubodai’s idea of naming each thousand and each jagun of a hundred men. It led to less confusion in battle and he was pleased with them.

The Chin scout handed him the pot of oil and bowed his head before scurrying away. Jochi stood and was pleased to find his legs had stopped aching, at least for a while.

By the time his men were walking their mounts up to the ridge that led down into the valley beyond, two more scouts had come in. The sun was not yet up, but the grey light of the wolf dawn was over the hills, when men felt life stir in their limbs. Jochi saw the scouts were chuckling and gestured for them to come to his side. They too were of Chin stock, but the usually impassive warriors were visibly amused at something.

‘What is it?’ Jochi asked impatiently.

The two men exchanged a glance.

‘Those coming are Mongols, general.’

Jochi blinked in confusion. It was true that he could make out the faces of the scouts in the dim light, but they had ridden through darkness to get back to him.

‘How do you know?’ he demanded.

To his surprise, one of them tapped his nose.

‘The smell, general. The breeze is north to south and there is no mistaking it. Arab warriors do not use rancid mutton fat.’

The scouts clearly expected Jochi to be relieved, but instead he narrowed his eyes, dismissing them with a sharp gesture. It could only be Arslan’s tuman, led by the new man his father had promoted. He had not had the chance to know Jebe before Genghis sent him out. Jochi showed his teeth in the darkness. He would meet him on his own terms at least, on land Jebe could not know as well.

Jochi passed on new orders and they increased the pace, needing to be in the valley before dawn. They had all heard the news of another tuman in the area and, like their general, were eager to show what they could do. Destroying Shah Mohammed’s armies could not bring them the satisfaction of confounding their own.

With the sun above the horizon, Jebe moved slowly forward. His warriors had crept through the last of the darkness, moving stealthily to surround a valley where they could hear warriors and horses. The whinnying calls carried far in the bowl of hills and Jebe had left forty mares in season well back, where they would not call to stallions.

The first light made the young general smile to see the terrain ahead. Warriors moved in dark smudges on the land, surrounded on all sides by slopes and crags. The shamans told stories of great stones hurtling from the stars and gouging valleys. This looked like such a place. Jebe spotted a prominent ridge where he could direct the flanking groups and used the tree cover to move towards it, always out of sight from those on the valley floor. He did not intend to take lives, only to show the Mongol tuman that he could have destroyed them. They would not forget the sight of his armed lines thundering down the slopes.

Jebe’s eyes were sharp over distance and he was pleased to see no sign of alarm in those he watched. They were clearly training and he could see a line of distant discs that could only be straw archery targets. Rank after rank galloped and shot their arrows at full speed before looping back for another try. Jebe chuckled as he heard the distant calls of Mongol horns.

With two senior men and two flag-bearers, Jebe tied his reins to a pine tree and crouched, moving slowly to the ridge. For the last few paces, he approached on his stomach, worming forward until he could see the entire green valley. It was still too far to recognise the general, but Jebe nodded at the sharp formations as they wheeled and manoeuvred. Whoever it was had trained his men well.

Half a mile away, Jebe saw a flash of red, gone as quickly as it had appeared on a high crag. His left flank had found themselves a slope they could ride and they were ready. He waited for the right to do the same and his heart beat faster when a flag of blue flickered.

Something nagged at him then, spoiling his concentration. Where were the other scouts, the men who were meant to watch for exactly this sort of attack? The valley floor was vulnerable to any hostile force and Jebe could not think of one of Genghis’ generals who would leave himself blind. His men had orders to disarm the scouts before they could sound their horns, but that was down to luck. Perhaps the sky father was watching over his endeavours this day and the scouts had been taken in silence. He shook his head warily.

‘Where are the scouts?’ he muttered.

The closest man to him was Palchuk, who had married Genghis’ sister, Temulun. Jebe had found him a solid choice, for all he suspected Genghis had broken his own rules to promote him.

‘There is no large army close to this place,’ Palchuk said, shrugging. ‘Perhaps they have brought the scouts further in.’

On the other side of the valley, Jebe saw a twinkle of light. The distance was too far for flags to be seen, but his man carried a piece of Chin glass and used it to reflect the sun. Jebe put aside his doubts and stood. A hundred paces behind the general lay two thousand men with their ponies beside them. The animals were well trained and hardly made a sound as the men removed their arms from the necks and allowed them to stand.

‘Keep the bows in the holders,’ Jebe called. ‘We are training men, not killing them.’

Palchuk chuckled softly as he and Jebe mounted with the rest. They would charge on four fronts, converging in the centre, where Jebe would meet the general. He reminded himself not to gloat when the man acknowledged him.

As Jebe raised his arm to give the order, he saw a red flash on the left, as if his flank were signalling again.

‘What are they doing?’ he said aloud.

Before Palchuk could answer, men erupted from the ground on every side. Jebe’s warriors shouted in confusion as warriors stood up from shallow pits, holding drawn bows. They had waited through the last of the darkness in complete silence, covered in a thick layer of leaf mulch and dead pine needles. In just moments, more and more of them were aiming sharp arrows at Jebe as he turned his mount in amazement.

He saw Jochi come striding out from between the trees and threw his head back to laugh. The khan’s son did not reply until he had walked to Jebe’s stirrup. Jochi dropped his hand to the wolf’s-head sword.

‘Your men are taken, general,’ he said. ‘No one is coming and you are mine.’ Only then did Jochi smile, and those closest surrounded Jebe, grinning evilly.

‘I knew there should have been more scouts out,’ Jebe said. Accepting the mood, he handed over his own sword. Jochi bowed to him and handed it back, his face bright with success. As Jebe watched in amusement, Jochi blew a long note on a scout’s horn that echoed across the valley. Far below, the warriors stopped their manoeuvres and their cheering voices carried even to the heights.

‘You are welcome in my camp, general,’ Jochi said. ‘Will you ride down to the valley with me?’

Jebe bowed to the inevitable. He waited until Jochi’s men had put aside their weapons and horses had been brought up to the ridge.

‘How did you know I would direct my men from here?’ he asked Jochi.

The khan’s son shrugged.

‘It’s where I would have chosen.’

‘And you were trained by Tsubodai,’ Jebe replied wryly.

Jochi smiled, choosing not to mention the men he had hidden at four other places along the ridge. The hours of silent waiting had been damp and cold, but seeing Jebe’s expression when they stood up had made the discomfort worthwhile.

The two generals rode together down the slope to the valley, comfortable in each other’s presence.

‘I have been giving thought to a name for my tuman,’ Jochi said.

Jebe looked at him, raising his eyebrows.

‘Tsubodai has his Young Wolves and it has a better ring than “Jochi’s warriors” or “Jebe’s tuman”, don’t you think?’

Jebe had witnessed this strange young man standing his ground when a tiger leapt at him. The striped skin lay under Jochi’s saddle and Jebe was uncomfortably aware of the rotting bearskin he sat upon. Jochi did not seem to have noticed it.

‘Are you thinking of tigers, or something of that sort?’ Jebe said warily.

‘Oh no, it doesn’t have to be an animal,’ Jochi said, and then he did glance at the bearskin.

Jebe felt his cheeks flush and chuckled again. He liked this khan’s son, no matter what was said of him in the camps. Whether he was truly Genghis’ son or not, Jebe relaxed. He sensed none of the blustering arrogance he had seen in Chagatai and it pleased him.

They had ridden down to where Jochi’s men waited in perfect squares. Jebe inclined his head to the officers, giving them honour in front of their men.

‘They look dangerous enough,’ Jebe said. ‘What about the “iron lance”?’

‘Iron lance,’ Jochi repeated, testing the sound. ‘I like “iron”, but I have too few lances to make the name work. It wouldn’t seem right to make them retrain to fit the name.’

‘Iron horse then,’ Jebe replied, caught up in the game. ‘They all have mounts, at least.’

Jochi reined in.

‘I like that! Tsubodai has the Young Wolves. I have the Iron Horse. Yes, it is very stirring.’ He smiled as he spoke and suddenly both men were laughing, to the confusion of the officers around them.

‘How did you know we were coming?’ Jebe asked.

‘I smelled that bearskin,’ Jochi replied, setting them both off again.

Jochi’s men had hunted well and had meat enough for all Jebe’s warriors. Taking the lead from the two generals who sat together like old friends, the tumans mingled easily and the mood was light. Only the scouts stayed high on the hills and this time Jochi sent men out for miles as he had every day of the training. He could not be surprised in his valley.

Jebe allowed his men to train with Jochi and spent most of the day discussing tactics and the terrain they had covered. He accepted Jochi’s offer to sleep in the makeshift camp and it was not until the following dawn that he decided to leave. It had been a pleasant break from hard riding and trail rations. Jebe had eaten well and Jochi had provided the last of a stock of airag for the senior men. Jochi had not once referred to the way he had surprised the other general on the heights and Jebe knew he was in his debt. The men would be talking about it for months.

‘I will leave you with your Iron Horse, general,’ Jebe said as the sun rose. ‘Perhaps I will find a name for my own men in time.’

‘I will think on it,’ Jochi promised. For a moment, he lost his light manner. ‘I have few friends, Jebe. Shall I call you one of them?’

Jebe did not reply at first. The khan’s son walked a hard path and he felt a chill at the thought of being caught between Genghis and this tall young man. Perhaps it was the debt he owed, or simply because he truly liked Jochi, but he had always been impulsive. With a quick gesture, he drew a knife and gashed his palm, holding it out.

Jochi stared, then nodded. He copied the gesture and the two men clasped their right hands together. It was no small thing and the men around them were silent as they looked on.

In the distance, two scouts were riding in and the moment was broken as they both turned. From the sheer speed, they knew in an instant that the scouts had news and Jebe put aside his plans to leave until he had heard.

They were Jochi’s men and Jebe could only stand and listen as they reported.

‘The enemy are in sight, general. Thirty miles south and coming west.’

‘How many?’ Jebe said, unable to stop himself. The scout saw Jochi nod and answered.

‘I cannot count such a force of men and horses, general. More than all the khan’s warriors, perhaps twice as many. They travel with huge beasts I have not seen before, armoured in gold.’

‘The shah is in the field,’ Jochi said with satisfaction. ‘My Iron Horse will ride to see them. Will your Bearskins come with us?’

‘I do not like “Bearskins” at all’, Jebe replied.

‘It is a fine name, but we will discuss it as we ride,’ Jochi replied, whistling for his horse and bow.

CHAPTER TEN

Though they made good time on the hill trails that Jochi knew well, it took most of the day for the tumans to reach the point where the scout had seen the shah’s army. In mountainous lands, it was sometimes possible for two armies to pass only a valley apart and never know the other was there. Yet if the scout’s estimates were right, such a host could not be hidden. In late afternoon, the generals were close enough to see a trail of reddish dust that hung in the air like a false horizon. Jebe and Jochi came together to discuss a plan for the first contact with the army of the shah. With older men, deciding who would ride to the other might have been delicate. Jochi was the son of the khan, while Jebe was seven years more experienced. With the red lines still fresh on their palms, neither made an issue of it. They rode to a central point to discuss their plans and observe the enemy.

Jebe had lost the light mood of the morning. He nodded to Jochi as they trotted abreast, ahead of twenty thousand. As a man he liked the khan’s son, but he did not know him as a general and Jebe felt the first prickle of annoyance that he had to allow for another force on the field.

The Mongol armies rode through a high pass towards the dust trail. Ahead, the light was brighter as the land opened out and both men aimed their mounts at a ridge that overlooked the plains beyond. Jochi at least had scouted it before. The dust hung like storm clouds in the distance and he could only swallow dryly as he imagined an enemy force large enough to cause such a sight.

At last, the generals halted, both men raising an arm to stop the warriors at their back. Their own dust trail moved in sluggish tails on the warm breeze. The enemy would know they were watched, but it was impossible to move such large forces without being seen in daylight.

Jochi and Jebe sat their mounts in grim silence as they watched a bannered host rumble west, just a mile away. It was an army to dwarf the khan’s tumans, both in foot soldiers and a huge number of mounted men riding the wings. The bottom of the valley was flat for miles, but still seemed too small to hold such a mass.

Jochi could see spears like the pines of a forest even at such a distance. In the brass light of the sun, iron armour glittered in the ranks. He looked across to Jebe to see how he was reacting and found the general leaning low in his saddle, staring in fascination.

‘You see the bows?’ Jebe asked, squinting.

Jochi had not, but he nodded, wishing Tsubodai was there to assess this force they would face in battle.

Jebe spoke as if he was already making his report.

‘Double-curved, like ours. They have good shields as well, larger than our own. So many camels! I have never seen so many in one place, nor seen them ridden to war. They will be faster over rough ground than our horses. We must be sure not to let them use that advantage.’

There was something about Jebe that always lightened Jochi’s mood.

‘Do not forget those huge beasts,’ he said, ‘with horns, or teeth or whatever they are. They too will be new to our men.’

‘Elephants,’ Jebe replied. ‘Jelme talked of seeing one at the Koryon court. They are fearsome animals.’ He gestured at the black wings of the shah’s army, cutting the air with his hands.

‘They use their cavalry on the edges, protecting the centre. That is where we will find their generals.’ From the ridge, he could see the entire structure of the shah’s army laid out before him. A smaller group of horsemen rode in the centre, their ranks perfect. Jebe sucked his teeth while he considered. ‘You see the boxes on the backs of those elephants? Surrounded by riders? Those will be senior men.’ He paused and whistled to himself. ‘They are fine horsemen. See how they keep formation.’

Jochi glanced sideways as he replied.

‘Frightening, aren’t they?’

Jebe chuckled.

‘Do not be afraid, Jochi. I am here now.’

Jochi snorted, though in fact he was afraid. His father’s army could be swallowed up in so many and he could not see a weakness in the dark lines.

Both men were aware that they had been spotted almost as soon as they showed themselves on the ridge. Riders were racing up and down the shah’s lines and the Mongol generals watched with interest, learning everything they could. There was much they did not understand. Though Jebe had heard elephants described, the reality of seeing those huge animals looming over the riders was intimidating. The great heads looked armoured in bone as well as glittering metal. If they could be made to charge, he could not see how to stop them.

As Jebe turned to point out a detail to Jochi, a vast host of Arab horsemen broke away from the main column and formed up in swirling dust. Horn calls brought the rest to a halt and, even in that, they could see the discipline of the shah’s men. Jebe and Jochi looked at each other in wild surmise.

‘They are going to attack us!’ Jebe said. ‘You should withdraw, Jochi, and take word to your father. Everything we have seen here will be useful in the days to come.’

Jochi shook his head. His father would not look kindly on him if he simply left. The information could be carried by a single scout and they had not come to the shah’s lands to retreat before his armies.

Jochi felt a pang of resentment that Jebe was with him. He had come a long way to lead his warriors and it did not sit well with him to defer to a more senior man.

‘We have the high ground at least,’ Jochi said. He remembered the Russian knights who had laboured up a hill at him and knew the worth of such an advantage. In the distance, the massive Arab formations kicked into a fast trot and Jochi felt a sudden panic. He knew he could not lead the tuman straight at the enemy horsemen. There were easier ways to waste lives. He considered a running blow that would lead the Arabs out along the plain. His men were fit as only Mongols knew fitness, but he did not know if the Chin soldiers in his ranks would fall behind and be destroyed.

Jebe seemed blithely unaware of Jochi’s whirling thoughts as he spoke.

‘They will have to come straight up at us, with their shah watching. They will not know how many men we have behind this ridge. I should think they are as surprised as we are to meet in this place, so far from Otrar or the khan. Can you get around to the flank?’

Jochi looked into the distance before nodding. Jebe smiled as if they merely discussed a wrestling match or a wager.

‘Then that will be the plan. I will wait until they have tired themselves riding up, then fall like a mountain on their heads. You will come from the flank and cut a wedge through to the centre. Your lances will be useful there, I think.’

Jochi looked down the steep slope.

‘It is only a shame that we do not have rocks to roll into them,’ he said.

Jebe nodded, surprised.

‘That is an excellent idea! I would give my second wife for pots of oil to roll down as well, but I will see what I can find.’

For an instant, both men sensed the strain in the other and exchanged a glance that had none of the lightness of their words.

‘We cannot take so many if they are as good as their weapons and armour,’ Jochi said. ‘I will hit the flank, but then pull back and let them follow me far from the main force.’

‘Is that Tsubodai’s voice I hear?’ Jebe asked.

Jochi did not smile.

‘It is my voice, general. I will run them to exhaustion, well away from their reinforcements.’

Jebe bowed his head to the khan’s son. He did not mention that almost half of Jochi’s tuman were of Chin stock. Though they rode hardy Mongol ponies, they would not have the endurance of men born to the saddle.

‘Good luck, general,’ he called as he turned his mount.

Jochi did not reply, already issuing orders to his men. Ten thousand of those behind the ridge gathered quickly and rode east to get around the steep slope. It would not be easy to charge over the loose shale, and Jebe honestly did not know which of them had the hardest task.

Khalifa Al-Nayhan was a worried man as he rode up the hill, his fine gelding already labouring in the heat and dust. He had grown up in those very mountains and knew the ridge he was assaulting. The shah had given the order and he had formed his men without hesitation, but his stomach felt hollow. After the first shock of seeing Mongol scouts hundreds of miles from where they should have been, Shah Mohammed had settled into a fury Khalifa knew he could maintain for days or weeks. It was not a time to suggest that they wait for better terrain.

Khalifa urged his mount on over the broken ground, looking up at the ridge that seemed far above his head. Perhaps it was no more than a scout camp at the top. By the time he arrived, they might well have galloped away and then at least the shah would be satisfied. No one knew how these savage Mongols had made a Chin emperor kneel, and the shah needed quick victories to reassure his chieftains.

Khalifa shook the loose thoughts out of his head as he rode, feeling sweat sting his eyes. The summer had been mild so far, but climbing to the ridge was hard work. He trusted the men around him, many of them from his own tribe of desert warriors. The shah had spared nothing in outfitting them for war and, though the new armour and shields were heavy, Khalifa felt the confidence they brought. They were picked men: the first into every battle, the breakers of walls and armies. He felt his bow slapping against his thigh, but they could not bring arrows to bear while riding up such a slope. Once more, he thought of the shah watching and shook his head against weak thoughts. They would win or they would be killed. It was all the same to Allah.

At the steepest point of the slope, Khalifa knew they were committed. The horses plunged on, but the ground was even softer than he remembered and progress was painfully slow. Khalifa felt exposed and made his peace with God as he drew the curved shamsher sabre that had served him for many years. With his left hand, he raised his shield and rode only with his feet in the stirrups. Like many of his men, he secretly despised the metal footholders that made it hard to dismount quickly. Yet they showed their use on such a slope, when he needed both hands for his weapons. A quick tap on his boot showed him his dagger was still there in the leather sheath and he leaned forward into the warm breeze that came over the ridge.

In time of peace, civilisation had no place for butchers like him, but they were still needed, and would always be needed, when the jewelled cities and green parks were threatened. Khalifa had escaped two murder charges by joining the army and assuming a new name. It was what he did best. Sometimes he was paid and other times hunted, depending on how and when he practised his skills. Riding with his men into the teeth of the enemy was what he loved. The shah was watching and if they bloodied their swords, there would be rewards of women and gold for the commanders.

‘Hold the line straight, Ali, or I will see you whipped!’ Khalifa roared across his men. He saw dust still rising from the ridge and knew the enemy had not run. He could hardly see in the clouds that his own men churned up, but there was only one objective and his horse was still strong.

Above him, Khalifa saw rocks grow in size as they were pushed to the edge. He called out a warning, but he could do nothing. He watched in fear as the boulders came bouncing down, ripping through men and horses in a series of sickening cracks. Khalifa cried out as one came close enough for him to feel the wind of its passage. As it passed, it seemed to leap like something alive, striking the man behind with a great crunch. He could see only six of the stones scything through his men, but each one took many lives and left the ground littered with pieces of armour and men. They were riding in close ranks and there was no room to dodge the stones.

When no more boulders came, a ragged cheer went up from those who still laboured on the slope. The ridge was no more than four hundred paces away and Khalifa kicked his mount on, hungry now to bring vengeance to those who killed his men. He saw a dark line of archers ahead and raised his shield instinctively, ducking his head beneath the rim. He was close enough to hear orders called in a strange language and he clenched his teeth. The shah had sent forty thousand men up that slope. No force in the world could do more than thin the ranks before they were among them and killing.

Firing downhill, the Mongol archers could send their shafts further than normal. Khalifa could only keep his head down as arrows thumped against his shield. The one time he raised his head, it was immediately rocked back by a glancing blow that yanked the turban from his head and left it dangling. Rather than have it snag, he cut it free with part of his long hair and it bounded down the hill behind him.

At first, the shields protected his men, but as they reached the last hundred paces, the air was thick with whistling shafts and men died in scores. Khalifa’s shield was of wood, covered in the dried hide of a hippopotamus — the lightest and best of all the shah’s equipment. It held, though the muscles of his arm were bruised and battered until he could barely hold it. Without warning, he felt his horse shudder and begin to die.

Khalifa would have leapt clear, but his feet snagged in the stirrups and, for a breathless moment of panic, his right leg was trapped under the dying horse. Another mount crashed into his as it fell and he jerked free, thanking Allah for his deliverance. He rose on sandy ground, spitting blood and wild with rage.

The entire front rank had been brought down by the archers, fouling those behind. Many of his men were yelling, tugging at shafts through their legs and arms while others lay sprawled and unmoving. Khalifa roared fresh orders and the men behind dismounted to lead their mounts through the broken dead. The gap closed further and Khalifa held his sword high, pointing it at the enemy above. One hundred paces and he was lost in his desire to kill. If anything, he was faster on foot, though every step on loose ground sapped his strength. He scrambled up with his sword ready for the first blow. The shah was watching and Khalifa could almost feel the old man’s eyes on his back.

The Mongols poured over the ridge, straight down the steep slope. Their ponies slid, with front legs straight and stiff while the back legs bunched to keep them upright. The desert warriors strained to take the first impact, but to Khalifa’s shock, another wave of arrows punched them from their feet before the two forces met. He could not understand how the Mongols could draw and loose while guiding their mounts down such a slope, but the volley devastated his men. Hundreds died on foot or leading their mounts and this time the shafts were followed by the Mongol front line crashing down on them. Khalifa heard their yelling swell until it seemed to echo back from the hills all around.

The Mongol horsemen came like a breaking wave, smashing anything in their path by sheer weight. Khalifa was standing behind the bodies of two horses and could only watch in astonishment as the charge roared past him, a wedge tipped with lances that struck deep and deeper into the climbing lines below.

He was left alive, but still they came. Khalifa could not climb further. The way was blocked by thousands of Mongol horsemen, guiding their mounts with just their knees while they loosed arrows at anything that moved. A long shaft ripped through his side, parting the steel links of his armour as if they had been made of paper. He fell, shouting incoherently, and it was then that he glimpsed another force cutting across the face of the slope.

Jochi’s men hit the flank of the Arab riders below Jebe’s charge. Their arrows tore a hole in the ranks and they followed it with lances and swords, cutting men down while they were held in the press. Khalifa stood to see them, fear and bile rising in his throat. Arrows still whirred by his bare head, but he did not flinch. He saw the two forces meet in the centre and the combined mass drove his men further down so that they almost reached the valley floor. Bodies covered the ground behind them and riderless horses ran wild, knocking fresh warriors from their saddles in their panic.

The Mongol charge from the ridge had passed him by and Khalifa saw one horse with its reins trapped under a dead man. He ran to it, ignoring the pain in his side as he mounted, throwing his shield aside with a curse when the arrow shafts snagged. The air was thick with dust and the cries of dying brothers, but he had a horse and a sword and had never asked for more. Perhaps thirty thousand desert men still lived, struggling below to hold back the twin charge. Khalifa could see the Mongols had gambled their full force in the attack and he shouted as he rode wildly down the hill towards the ranks. They could be held. They could be broken, he was sure of it.

As he reached his men, he bellowed commands to the closest officers. A solid square began to form, ringed with shields. The Mongols threw themselves at the edges and began to die as they met the swords of his tribe. Khalifa felt the battle like a live thing and knew he could still turn the losses to triumph. He had his men retreat in order back to the flat ground, harried all the way by the Mongol warriors. He drew them away from the slope they had used to such effect, and when the earth was hard under his mount, Khalifa ordered a charge into them, urging his men on with words of the prophet.

‘They shall be slain or crucified or have their hands and feet cut off on alternate sides, or be banished from the land. They shall be held up to shame in this world and sternly punished in the hereafter!’

His men were true Arabs of the blood. They heard and became fierce once more, taking the fight to the enemy. At the same time, the shah moved at last, sending fresh soldiers racing in squares as the Mongols came within range. The lines met and a roar went up as the Mongols were knocked back, defending desperately as attacks came from more than one direction. Khalifa saw the shah’s ranks move wide to surround them, marching steadily in.

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