LITMIR.BIZ

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another beating. Temujin shook his head to clear it. His path was set and he would not turn from it now.

      He heard low voices ahead and froze, straining to see the source. With the mountain blocking the moon, he was almost blind, and sweat broke out on his skin as each careful step brought him closer. He could hear Koke’s low laugh and then another voice responded, lighter in tone. Temujin smiled to himself. Koke had found himself a girl willing to risk the anger of her parents. Perhaps they would be rutting and he could catch them unawares. He mastered the desire to stride in and attack, deciding to wait until Koke took the path back to the encampment. Battles could be won with stealth as well as speed and strength, he knew. He could not tell exactly where the couple lay, but they were close enough for him to hear Koke begin to grunt rhythmically. Temujin grinned at the sound, leaning back against a rock and waiting patiently to strike.

      It did not take long. The moon shadow had moved a hand’s breadth, lengthening the dark bar at the foot of the hill as Temujin heard the sounds of talking once more, followed by the girl’s low laugh. He wondered which of the young women had come out into the darkness, and found himself imagining the faces of those he had come to know during the felting. One or two were agile and brown from the sun. He had found them strangely unsettling when they looked at him, though he supposed it was only what all men felt for a pretty woman. It was a shame he couldn’t feel it for Borte, who seemed only irritated in his presence. If she had been long-limbed and supple, he might have found some small pleasure in his father’s choice.

      Temujin heard footsteps and held his breath. Someone was coming along the path and he pressed himself against the rock, willing them not to sense him. He knew too late that he should have hidden himself in the long grass. If they came together, he would have to attack them both or let them pass. His lungs began to pound and he could feel his pulse like a great drum in his ears. The breath seemed to expand inside him as his body cried out for air and the unseen figure came closer.

      Temujin watched in excruciating discomfort as the walker passed within a few feet of him. He was almost certain it could not be Koke. The steps were too light and he sensed that the shadow was not large enough to be his enemy. His heart hammered as the girl passed and he was able to release his breath slowly. For a moment, he felt dizzy with the exertion and then he turned to where he knew Koke would come, stepping out into the path to wait for him.

      He heard more steps and let the older boy come close before he spoke, relishing the shock his voice would cause.

      ‘Koke!’ Temujin whispered.

      The moving shadow jumped in terror.

      ‘Who is it?’ Koke hissed, his voice breaking in fear and guilt.

      Temujin did not let him recover and swung the fist with the stone. It was a poor blow in the dark, but it made Koke stagger. Temujin felt an impact, perhaps an elbow into his stomach, and then he was punching in a wild fury, released at last. He could not see his enemy, but the blindness gave him power as his fists and feet connected again and again in a flurry until Koke fell and Temujin knelt on his chest.

      He had lost the stone in the silent struggle and scrabbled for it while he held the dark figure down. Koke tried to call for help, but Temujin hit him twice in the face, then resumed his search for the stone. His fingers found it and curled around. He felt his anger surge as he lifted it, ready to smash the life out of his tormentor.

      ‘Temujin!’ a voice said out of the darkness.

      Both boys froze, though Koke moaned at the name. Temujin reacted instinctively, rolling off his enemy and launching himself at the new threat. He thumped into a small body and sent it sprawling with a yelp he recognised. Behind him, he heard Koke come to his feet and sprint away, his steps rattling loose stones on the path.

      Temujin held the arms of the new figure, feeling their wiry thinness. He cursed under his breath.

      ‘Borte?’ he whispered, knowing the answer. ‘What are you doing here?’

      ‘I followed you,’ she said.

      He thought he could see her eyes shining, catching some dim ray the mountain could not smother. She was panting with fear or exertion and he wondered how she had been able to remain on his trail without him seeing her.

      ‘You let him get away,’ Temujin said. For a moment, he continued to press her down, furious with what she had taken from him. When Koke told the rest of the Olkhun’ut what had happened, he would be beaten or even sent home in shame. His future had been changed with a single word. With a curse, he let her go and heard her sit up and rub her arms. He could feel her accusing gaze on him, and in response, he threw the stone as far as he could, listening as it clicked somewhere in the distance.

      ‘Why did you follow me?’ he said in a more normal voice. He wanted to hear her speak again. In the darkness, he had noticed her voice was warm and low, sweeter without the distracting scrawniness and glaring eyes.

      ‘I thought you were escaping,’ she replied.

      She stood and he rose with her, unwilling to lose the closeness, though he could not have explained why.

      ‘I would have thought you’d be pleased to see me run,’ he said.

      ‘I … I don’t know. You haven’t said a kind word to me since you came to the families. Why should I want you to stay?’

      Temujin blinked. In just a few heartbeats they had said more to each other than in the days before. He did not want it to end.

      ‘Why did you stop me? Koke will run back to Enq and your father. When they find we’re gone, they’ll spread out to find us. It will be hard when they do.’

      ‘He is a fool, that one. But killing him would have been an evil thing.’

      In the darkness, he reached out blindly and found her arm. The touch comforted both of them and she spoke again to cover her confusion.

      ‘Your brother beat him almost to death, Temujin. He held him and kicked him until he cried like a child. He is afraid of you, so he hates you. It would be wrong to hurt him again. It would be like beating a dog after it has loosed its bladder. The spirit is already broken in him.’

      Temujin took a slow breath, letting it shudder out of him.

      ‘I did not know,’ he said, though many things had fallen into place at her words, like bones clicking in his memory. Koke had been vicious, but when Temujin thought about it, the older boy had a look in his eyes that was always close to fear. For an instant, he did not care and wished he had brought the stone down, but then Borte reached up and placed her hand against his cheek.

      ‘You are … strange, Temujin,’ she said. Before he could respond, she stepped away from him into the darkness.

      ‘Wait!’ he called after her. ‘We may as well walk back together.’

      ‘They will beat us both,’ she said. ‘Perhaps I will run away instead. Perhaps I will not go back at all.’

      He found he could not bear the thought of Sholoi hitting her and wondered what his father would say if he brought her back early to the gers of the Wolves.

      ‘Then come with me. We’ll take my horse and ride home.’

      He listened for her answer but it did not come.

      ‘Borte?’ he called.

      He broke into a run and passed back into the starlight with a pounding heart. He saw her darting figure already far ahead and increased his pace until he was flying across the grass. A memory came to him of being forced to run up and down hills with a mouthful of water, spitting it out at the end to show he had breathed through his nose in the proper way. He ran easily and without effort, his mind dwelling on the day ahead. He did not know what he could do, but he had found something valuable that night. Whatever happened, he knew he could not let her be hurt again. As he ran, he heard the lookouts sound their horns on the hills all around, calling an alarm to the warriors in the gers.

      The encampment was in chaos as Temujin reached it. Dawn was coming, but torches

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