LITMIR.BIZ

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rubbed angrily at the sweat in his eyes. The armoured cloth Arslan had made was far heavier than he had realised. It felt as if he was rolled in a carpet, and his sword arm seemed to have lost half its speed. He faced Yuan as the sun rose, seeing to his irritation how the man wore the same armour without even a trace of perspiration on his forehead.

      ‘Again,’ Temujin snapped.

      Yuan’s eyes sparkled with amusement and he bowed before bringing his sword up. He had told them to wear the armour at all times, until it became a second skin. Even after a week on the route back to the Tartar camp, they were still too slow. Temujin forced his men to practise for two hours at dawn and dusk, whether they wore the armour or not. It slowed the progress of the sixty who had ridden out from the Kerait, but Yuan approved of the effort. Without it, the armoured men would be like the turtles he remembered from home. They might survive the first arrows of the Tartars, but on the ground, they would be easy prey.

      With the help of the Kerait swordsmiths, Arslan had made five sets of the plated robes. In addition, Wen had made good his promise and delivered ten more, keeping only one back for his new personal guard. Yuan had chosen the man himself, making sure he understood his responsibilities before he left.

      Temujin wore one of the new sets, with the plating on a long chest piece as well as another to cover his groin and two more on his thighs. Shoulder guards reached from his neck to his elbow, and it was those that caused him the most difficulty. Time and again, Yuan simply stepped aside from blows, dodging their slow speed easily.

      He watched Temujin move towards him, reading his intentions from the way he stepped. The young khan’s weight was more strongly on the left foot, and Yuan suspected he would begin the blow from the low left, rising upwards. They used sharp steel blades, but so far there had been little real danger for either of them. Yuan was too much a perfectionist to cut the man in a practice bout and Temujin never came close.

      At the last second, Temujin shifted his weight again, turning the sweep into a lunge. Yuan dropped his right leg back to shift out of the way, letting the blade rasp along the scales of his own armour. He did not fear a cut without force behind it, and that too Temujin was having to learn. Many more blows could be ignored or merely turned with a little delicacy.

      As the sword slid past, Yuan stepped forward briskly and brought his hilt up to touch Temujin lightly on the nose. At the same time, he let air explode from his lungs, calling ‘Hei!’ before stepping back.

      ‘Again,’ Temujin said irritably, moving before Yuan had taken position. This time he held the blade above his head, bringing it down in a chopping motion. Yuan caught the blade on his own and they came chest to chest in a clash of armour. Temujin had placed his leading foot behind Yuan’s and the soldier found himself falling backwards.

      He regarded Temujin from the ground, waiting for the next strike.

      ‘Well?’

      ‘Well, what?’ Temujin said. ‘Now I would plunge the sword through your chest.’

      Yuan did not move. ‘You would not. I have been trained to fight from any position.’ As he spoke, he kicked out with one leg, dropping Temujin neatly.

      Temujin leapt up, his face strained.

      ‘If I was not wearing this heavy armour, you would not find this so easy,’ he said.

      ‘I would shoot you from far away,’ Yuan replied. ‘Or shoot your horse, if I saw that you were armoured.’

      Temujin was in the process of raising his sword again. His wrists burned with fatigue, but he was determined to get in one solid blow before mounting up for the day’s ride. Instead, he paused.

      ‘We must armour the ponies, then, just the heads and chest.’

      Yuan nodded. ‘I have seen it done. The iron plates can be sewn into a leather harness just as easily as your armour.’

      ‘You are a skilled teacher, Yuan, have I told you?’ Temujin said.

      Yuan watched him carefully, knowing a sudden strike was possible. In truth, he was still amazed that Temujin did not appear to mind being beaten time and time again in front of his men. Yuan could not imagine his old officers ever allowing such a display. The humiliation would have been too much for them, but Temujin seemed unaware, or uncaring. The tribesmen were a strange breed, but they soaked up whatever Yuan could tell them about their new armour. He had even taken to discussing tactics with Temujin and his brothers. It was a new experience for Yuan to have younger men listening so intently. When he was guarding Wen Chao, he knew he existed to give his life for the ambassador, or at least to kill as many enemies as he could before falling. The men who had come into the plains with him all knew their work and rarely did Yuan have to correct them. He had found that he enjoyed the teaching.

      ‘Once more,’ he heard Temujin say. ‘I am going to come from your left.’

      Yuan smiled. The last two times Temujin had thought to warn him, the attack had come from the right. It did not matter particularly, but he was amused at the attempts to cloud his judgement.

      Temujin came in fast, his sword darting with greater speed than Yuan had seen before. He saw the right shoulder dip and brought his blade up. Too late to correct, he saw Temujin had followed through on the left, deliberately. Yuan could still have spoiled the blow, but he chose not to, letting the blade tip touch his throat as Temujin stood panting and exhilarated.

      ‘That was better,’ Yuan said. ‘You are getting faster in the armour.’

      Temujin nodded. ‘You let the blade through, didn’t you?’

      Yuan allowed a smile to show.

      ‘When you are better still, you will know,’ he said.

      At full gallop, Yuan looked right and left, seeing how Temujin’s brothers kept the line solid. The exercises went on all day and Yuan found himself involved in solving the problems of a massed attack. He rode with his bow strapped on his saddle, but the archery of the sixty men was not in question. Togrul had given twenty of his personal bondsmen to the group. They were fit and skilled, but they were not experienced in war and Temujin was scathing at first with them. His own raiders followed his orders with instant obedience, but the new men were always slow.

      Yuan had been surprised to be given command of the left wing. The position called for a senior officer and he had expected it to go to Khasar. Certainly Khasar had thought so. Yuan had not missed the glowering looks coming his way from Temujin’s brother as he rode with his own ten just inside. After the training bouts each evening, Temujin would gather them around a small fire and give his orders for the following day. It was a small thing perhaps, but he included Yuan in his council, along with Jelme and Arslan, asking a thousand questions. When Yuan could answer from experience, they listened intently. Sometimes, Temujin would shake his head halfway through and Yuan understood his reasoning. The men Temujin commanded had not fought together for years. There was a limit to what could be taught in a short time, even with ruthless discipline.

      Yuan heard Temujin’s horn sound two short blasts. It meant the left wing were to ride ahead of the rest of them, skewing the line. Over the pounding of hooves, Yuan shared a glance with Khasar and both groups of ten accelerated to their new position.

      Yuan looked around him. It had been neatly done, and this time even Togrul’s bondsmen had heard the call and responded. They were improving and Yuan felt a spark of pride in his heart. If his old officers could see him, they would laugh themselves sick. First sword in Kaifeng and here he was riding with wild savages. He tried to mock himself as the soldiers at home would have done, but somehow his heart wasn’t in it.

      Temujin blew a single note and the right wing moved up alongside, leaving the centre behind. Yuan looked across at Kachiun and Jelme riding there, grim-faced in their armour. The riders around Temujin’s brother were a little more ragged, but they dressed the line as Yuan watched, thundering forward as one. He nodded to himself, beginning to relish the battle to come.

      From behind, Temujin blew a long note, falling. They slowed together, each of the officers

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