His seven generals waited patiently for him, chewing noisily on pouches of bread and meat and passing a fat skin to take gulps of airag that kept them warm.
Kachiun's senior minghaan, Ilugei, had taken over the tuman. In time, a new general would be appointed at the khan's order, but in the field, Tsubodai had raised Ilugei. It was no coincidence that the man was grey-haired and wiry, almost forty years of age and one of those trained in the personal guard of Genghis. Tsubodai had had enough of the young lions Batu had gathered around him. He would have preferred Khasar, if he had not been almost five thousand miles away in Karakorum. He needed dependable men if he was to take the army on to the sea.
'Attend me,' Tsubodai said, without preamble. He paused only for a beat as the generals stopped eating and came closer to hear. 'The further we go west, the more danger comes from the flanks. If we drive on, it is as a spear thrust into the centre of an army: every step is greater risk.'
He did not look at Batu as he spoke, though the prince smiled. Tsubodai paused to take a draught of airag, feeling the warmth spread in his stomach.
'I am splitting the army in three. Baidur and Ilugei will strike north. My scouts tell me there is an army near a city named Krakow. Your orders are to remove it from the field and burn the city. The small kings there cannot be allowed to form up on our flank.'
He looked Ilugei in the eye.
'You have more years of experience than Baidur, who is new to the role.' Tsubodai sensed Baidur stiffen as the younger man saw his authority threatened before his eyes. He went on. 'Can you accept his command over you, Ilugei?'
'I can, orlok,' Ilugei replied, bowing his head.
Baidur let out a breath. It was a small thing, but Tsubodai had taken one of Batu's supporters and deliberately favoured him.
'Guyuk and Mongke, the lands to the south must be laid waste. You will take your tumans to the south of us. Sweep the land clear of anyone capable of fielding a force of men or horses. When you have scorched the earth, return and support me.'
'What about me, orlok?' Batu said softly. He was frowning deeply at the news that Guyuk would be sent to the south, well away from him. 'Where would you have me stand?'
'At my side, of course,' Tsubodai replied with a smile. 'You and I will strike west with Jebe, Chulgetei and the ragged army we command on foot. With three tumans, we will raze Hungary together, while our brothers clear the flanks.'
There was no ceremony as the men walked away from the old barn. Tsubodai noticed how Batu made a point of clapping Guyuk on the back, but there was strain in both men's faces. They had fought and ridden with Tsubodai's eyes on them and other tumans ready to ride in support. They were not afraid of the responsibility. Each man there welcomed the chance to act on his own. It was why they had sought power and it had come upon them in the foothills of the Carpathians, from the hand of Tsubodai. Only Batu, Jebe and Chulgetei would remain. The three men were a little wistful as they watched the others break into a jog to reach their warriors quickly.
'It feels like a race, does it not?' Jebe said.
Batu turned cold eyes on him. 'Not to me. It seems I am to stay with my wet nurse and you.'
Jebe laughed and stretched the stiffness out of his back.
'You think too much, Batu, do you know that?' he said and walked away, still smiling. Ogedai was in the gardens of Karakorum, watching the sun set from a stone bench. He felt at peace there in a way he could never have explained to his father. He chuckled softly. Even the thought of Genghis was like bringing darker shadows into the groves of trees. Ogedai loved the gardens in summer, but in winter they had a different beauty. The trees stood bare, their branches outstretched and waiting silently for green life. It was a time of darkness and yearning, of snug gers and heated airag, of being wrapped tight against the wind. Life in the gers was one thing he missed in the palace of Karakorum. He had even considered having one built in a courtyard before he dismissed the idea as foolishness. He could not go back to a simpler life, not now he had left it behind. It was the longing of a child, for the days when his mother and father were still alive. His grandmother Hoelun had lived long enough to lose her mind and memories and he shuddered at the thought of her last days. The first mother of the nation had become a babbling child at the end, unable even to clean herself. No one would wish such a fate on an enemy, never mind someone they loved.
He stretched his back, loosening the cramps from a day of sitting and talking. There was so much talking in a city. It was almost as if the streets were built on words. He smiled at the thought of his father's reaction to all the meetings he had attended that day. The problems of clean water and sewage pipes would have driven Genghis to apoplexy.
Ogedai shaded his eyes as the sunlight struck across Karakorum. The city was washed in dark gold, making every line of it stand out with extraordinary clarity. His eyes were not as sharp as they had once been and he relished the light and what it revealed. He had made Karakorum, no one else, certainly not his father. The palace tower cast a long shadow across the city in the wilderness. It was young yet, but in time it would be the true heart of the nation, the seat of khans. He wondered how they would remember him in the centuries to come.
He shivered slightly as the evening breeze picked up. With a quick gesture, he pulled his deel tighter over his chest, but then let it fall open again. What would his life have been without the weakness of the flesh? He sighed slowly, feeling the erratic thumping in his chest. He had grown weary waiting. He had thrown himself into battle to conquer the terror, ridden into an enemy army as if fear was a snake to be crushed under his sandal. In response, it had sunk its fangs into his heel and dropped him into darkness. There were times when he thought he had not yet climbed out of that pit.
He shook his head in memory, trying not to think of Tolui and what he had done for him. A brave man could conquer fear, he had learned that, but perhaps only for a time. It was something the young did not understand, the way it could gnaw at a man, the way it came back stronger every time, until you were alone and gasping for breath.
He had smothered himself in despair, giving up the struggle; giving in. Sorhatani had pulled him back and given him hope again, though she could never know how it was an agony to hope. How could he live with death crouched on his shoulders, gripping him from behind, weighing him down? He had faced it. He had summoned his courage and raised his head, but it had not looked away. No man could be strong all day, all night. It had worn him down to nothing.
Ogedai rested his hands on his knees, turning them upwards so he could see the palms. The callus had begun to return, though he had experienced blisters for the first time in years. One or two were still weeping from just an hour with the sword and bow that afternoon. He could feel his strength coming back, but too slowly. In his youth, he had been able to call on his body without thought, but his heart had been weak even then. He raised a hand to his neck and pushed his fingers under his silk tunic over his chest, feeling the thready beat there. It seemed such a fragile thing, like a bird.
A sudden pain made him start. It was as if he had been struck, and as his vision blurred, he turned to see whatever had hit him. He felt his head for blood, bringing his hands close to his eyes. His hands were clean. Another spasm made him hunch over, leaning against his knees as if he could press it away. He gasped aloud, panting. His pulse thumped in his ears, a hammer that throbbed through him.
'Stop,' he snapped, furious. His body was the enemy, his heart the betrayer. He would command it. He clenched his fist and pressed it against his chest, still bent over to his knees. Another pain hit him then, even worse than the last. He groaned and threw back his head, staring at the darkening sky. He had survived before. He would wait it out.
He did not feel himself slump, slipping sideways off the bench so that the stones of the path pressed against his cheek. He could hear his heart beat in great, slow thumps, then nothing, just an awful silence that went on and on. He thought he could hear his father's voice and
he wanted to weep, but there were no tears left in him, just darkness and cold.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Sorhatani was tugged from sleep by the creak of the floor. She woke with a start to see Kublai standing by her bed, his expression grim. His eyes were red and she was suddenly afraid of what he would say. Though years had passed, the memory of Tolui's death was still painfully fresh. She sat up sharply, pulling the blankets around her.
'What is it?' she demanded.
'It seems your sons are cursed to bear bad news, mother,' Kublai replied. He looked away as she stood and removed her shapeless nightdress, pulling on clothes from the day before.
'Tell me,' she said, yanking at a tunic's buttons.
'The khan is dead. Ogedai is dead,' Kublai replied, staring out of the window at the night outside the city. 'His Guards found him. I heard them and I went to see.'
'Who else knows?' Sorhatani said, all sleep forgotten as the news sank in.
Kublai shrugged. 'They sent someone to tell Torogene. The palace is still quiet, at least for the moment. They found him in the gardens, mother, without a mark on him.'
'Thank God for that at least. His heart was weak, Kublai. Those of us who knew have feared this day for a long time. Have you seen the body?' she asked.
He winced at such a question and the memory it evoked. 'I did. Then I left and came to tell you.'
'You were right. Now listen to me. There are things we must do now, Kublai, as the news begins to spread. Or before summer you will see your uncle Chagatai come riding through the gates of Karakorum to claim his birthright.'
Her son stared at her, unable to comprehend her sudden coldness.
'How can we stop him now?' he asked. 'How can anyone stop him?'
Sorhatani was already moving towards the door.
'He is not the heir, Kublai. Guyuk stands in line and in his way. We must send a fast rider to Tsubodai's army. Guyuk is in danger from this moment until he is declared khan by an assembly of the nation, just as his father was.'
Kublai gaped at her. 'Have you any idea how far away they are?' he said.
She halted, with her hand on the door.
'It does not matter if Guyuk stands at the end of the world, my son. He must be told. The yam, Kublai, the way stations. There are enough horses between us and Tsubodai, are there not?'
'Mother, you don't understand. It is more than four thousand miles, maybe even five thousand. It would take months to bring word.'
'Well? Write the news on parchment,' she snapped. 'Is that not how it works? Send a rider with a sealed message for Guyuk alone. Can these messengers hand a private letter over such a distance?'
'Yes,' Kublai replied, shocked by her intensity. 'Yes, of course.'
'Then run, boy! Run to Yao Shu's offices and write the news down. Get the news moving to the one who must have it.' She wrestled a ring from her hand and shoved it into his palm.
'Use your father's ring to seal it in wax and get the first rider on his way. Make him understand there has never been a message as important as this one. If there was ever a reason to create the scout line, this is it.'
Kublai broke into a sprint down the corridors. Sorhatani bit her lip as she watched him go before turning the other way, towards Torogene's rooms. Already, she could hear raised voices somewhere nearby. The news would not be kept in the city. As the sun rose, it would fly from Karakorum in all directions. She felt sadness swell in her at the thought of Ogedai, but pressed it down, clenching her fists. There was no time to grieve. The world would never be the same after the day to come. Kublai had cause to thank his mother as he sat at Yao Shu's writing desk. The door to the chancellor's workrooms had been replaced by carpenters, but the holes for the new locks still sat ready, clean and sanded. It had swung open at just a push and Kublai had shivered in the cold as he took a Chin tinderbox and scratched sparks with a flint and iron until a wisp of tinder blew into flame. The lamp was small and he kept it well shuttered, but there were already voices and movements in the palace. He looked for water, but there was nothing, so he spat on the inkstone and blackened his fingers rubbing a paste. Yao Shu kept his badger-hair brushes neatly and Kublai worked fast with the thinnest of them, marking the Chin characters on the parchment with delicate precision.
He had barely finished a few stark lines and sanded them dry when the door creaked open and he looked up nervously to see Yao Shu standing there in a sleeping robe.
'I do not have time to explain,' Kublai said curtly as he stood. He folded the vellum parchment, goatskin beaten and stretched until it was as thin as yellow silk. The lines that would change the nation were hidden, and before Yao Shu could speak, Kublai dripped wax and jammed his father's ring down, leaving a deep impression. He faced Ogedai's chancellor with a strained expression. Yao Shu stared at the neat package and the glistening wax as Kublai fanned it in the air to dry. He could not understand the tension he saw in the younger man.
'I saw the light. Half the palace is awake, it seems,' Yao Shu said, deliberately blocking the door as Kublai moved towards it. 'You know what is happening?'
'It is not my place to tell you, chancellor,' Kublai replied. 'I am on the khan's business.' He met Yao Shu's eyes steadily, refusing to be cowed.
'I'm afraid I must insist on an explanation for this…intrusion before I let you go,' Yao Shu replied.
'No, you will not insist. This is not your business, chancellor. It is a matter of family.'
Kublai did not let his hand drift to the sword he wore on his hip. He knew the chancellor could not be intimidated with a blade. They locked eyes and Kublai kept silent, waiting.
With a grimace, Yao Shu stepped aside to let him pass, his gaze falling onto the desk with its still-wet inkstone and writing materials scattered in confusion. He opened his mouth to ask another question, but Kublai had already vanished, his footsteps echoing.
It was not far to the yam way station, the central hub of a network that extended as far as Chin lands to the east and beyond. Kublai raced through the palace outbuildings, across a courtyard and along a cloister around a garden, where the wind caught him up and passed him with a cold breath. He could see torches in the garden, lighting a spot in the distance as men gathered by the khan's body. Yao Shu would hear the terrible news soon enough.
Out of the palace, he ran along a street made grey in the dawn. He skidded on the cobbles as he rounded a corner and saw the lamps of the yam. There was always someone awake there, at every hour of the day. He called as he passed under the stone arch into a large yard, with horse stalls on either side. Kublai stood panting, listening as a pony snorted and tapped the door of its stall with its hoof. Perhaps the animal sensed the excitement that gripped him; he did not know.
It was just moments before a burly figure came into the yard. Kublai saw the yam master had only one hand, his job a compensation for losing his ability to fight. He tried not to look at the stump as the man approached.
'I speak with the authority of Sorhatani and Torogene, wife to Ogedai Khan. This has to reach Tsubodai's army as fast as you have ever run before. Kill horses and men if you have to, but get it into the hands of the heir, Guyuk. No other but Guyuk. His hands alone. Do you understand?'
The old warrior gaped at him.
'What is so urgent?' he began. It seemed the news had not yet spread to those who carried it. Kublai made a decision. He needed the man to jump quickly and not waste a moment longer.
'The khan is dead,' he said flatly. 'His heir must be told. Now move, or give up your post.'
The man was already turning away and calling for whoever was on duty that night. Kublai stayed to watch the pony brought out to a taciturn young rider. The scout stiffened as he heard the order to kill horses and men, but he understood and nodded. The papers went deep into a leather satchel that the scout strapped tightly to his back. At a run, yam servants brought a saddle that jingled with every movement.
The pony chosen for the task raised its head at the sound, snorting onc
e more and flicking its ears. It knew the sound of saddle bells meant it would run fast and far. Kublai watched the rider kick in his heels and canter under the arch, out into the waking city. He rubbed his neck, feeling the stiffness there. He had done his part. Torogene was awake and weeping when Sorhatani arrived at her rooms. The Guards at the door let her pass with no more than a glance at her expression.
'You have heard?' Torogene asked.
Sorhatani opened her arms and the older woman came into her embrace. Larger than Sorhatani, her arms came fully round her, so that they clung to one another.
'I'm just going to the gardens,' Torogene said. She was shuddering with grief, close to collapse. 'His Guards are standing over…him there, waiting for me.'
'I must speak to you first,' Sorhatani said.
Torogene shook her head.
'Afterwards. I cannot leave him out there alone.'
Sorhatani weighed her chances of stopping Torogene and gave up.
'Let me walk with you,' she said.
The two women moved quickly along the corridors that led to the open gardens, Torogene's guards and servants falling behind. As they walked, Sorhatani heard Torogene choke into her hands and the sound tore at her own control. She too had lost a husband and the wound was still fresh, ripped open by the news of the khan's passing. She had the unpleasant sensation of events slipping beyond her control. How long would it be before Chagatai heard his brother had fallen at last? How long after that would he come to Karakorum to challenge for the khanate? If he moved quickly, he could bring an army before Guyuk could come home.
Sorhatani lost track of the corners and turns in the palace until she and Torogene felt the breeze on their faces and the gardens lay before them through a cloister. The torches of the Guards still lit the spot, though dawn had come. Torogene gave a cry and broke into a run. Sorhatani stayed with her, knowing she could not interrupt.
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