LITMIR.BIZ

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showing him nothing.

      ‘We have been enemies in the past,’ Eeluk said when he had drained the bowl.

      ‘We are enemies still,’ Temujin replied immediately, released.

      Eeluk turned his flat face to him and sat very still. With so many men ready to leap at his throat, he seemed calm, though his eyes were bloodshot, as if he had been drinking before the meeting.

      ‘That may be true, though it is not why I have come here now,’ Eeluk said quietly. ‘The tribes are busy chattering about the Tartar army coming south, an army you provoked into existence with your raids.’

      ‘What of it?’ Temujin snapped.

      Eeluk smiled tightly, his temper rising. It had been many years since another man had dared to take such a harsh tone with him.

      ‘The plains have emptied of wanderers,’ Eeluk continued. ‘They have come to join you against a common enemy.’

      Temujin suddenly understood why Eeluk had brought the Wolves. His mouth opened slightly, but he said nothing, letting Eeluk go on as he thought.

      ‘I have heard many times about the young Wolf who raided the Tartars again and again,’ Eeluk said. ‘Your name is known on the plains, now. Your father would be proud of you.’

      Temujin almost leaped at him then, fury rising in his throat like red bile. It took a huge effort to master himself, and Eeluk watched him carefully, sensing it.

      ‘I did not know you had joined the Olkhun’ut with the Kerait warriors until I was already moving the Wolves. Still, I think you will need my men if you are to crush the Tartars and drive them back into the north.’

      ‘How many do you have?’ Togrul asked.

      Eeluk shrugged. ‘A hundred and forty.’ He looked at Temujin. ‘You know their quality.’

      ‘We do not need them,’ Temujin said. ‘I lead the Olkhun’ut now. We do not need you.’

      Eeluk smiled. ‘It is true that you are not as desperate as I thought you would be. Still, you need every rider you can find, if the numbers I heard are true. Having the Wolves with you will mean more of … your tribe are alive at the end. You know it.’

      ‘And in return? You are not here for nothing,’ Temujin said.

      ‘The Tartars have silver and horses,’ Eeluk said. ‘They have women. This army is the movement of many tribes together. They will have things of value.’

      ‘So it is greed that has drawn you forth,’ Temujin said, sneering.

      Eeluk coloured slightly in anger and Tolui shifted at his shoulder, irritated at the insult.

      ‘The Wolves could not face them alone,’ Eeluk replied. ‘We would have had to retreat south as they came. When I heard the Kerait would stand and that your raiders had joined them, I took the chance that you would be able to put aside our history. Nothing I have seen here changes that. You need the Wolves. You need me to stand with you.’

      ‘For a sixth of their riches,’ Togrul murmured.

      Eeluk glanced at him, masking his distaste at the fleshy khan of the Kerait. ‘If three khans meet them, any spoils should be divided in thirds.’

      ‘I will not bargain like a merchant,’ Temujin said curtly before Togrul could reply. ‘I have not yet said I will have you here.’

      ‘You cannot stop me from fighting against the Tartars if I choose to,’ Eeluk said softly. ‘There is no shame in discussing the split, for when they are beaten.’

      ‘I could stop you with a single order,’ Temujin said. ‘I could have the Wolves broken first.’ His temper had taken control of him and a small part knew he was raging like a fool, but his calm was a memory. Almost without noticing, he began to rise.

      ‘You would not do that to the families,’ Eeluk said with certainty, stopping him. ‘Even if you could, it would be a waste of lives you need to fight the Tartars. Where is the sense in struggling amongst ourselves? I have been told you are a man of vision, Temujin. Show it now.’

      All the men present looked to Temujin to see how he would respond. He felt their gaze and unclenched his cramped fists as he settled himself once more, taking his hand away from where it had fallen to his sword hilt. Eeluk had not moved in response. If he had, he would have died. His enemy’s courage in coming there shamed Temujin, bringing back memories of being a boy amongst men. He knew he needed the warriors Eeluk had brought, if he could only stomach the alliance.

      ‘Will they take my orders, these Wolves? Will you?’ he said.

      ‘There can be only one leader in battle,’ Eeluk said. ‘Give us a wing and let me command it. I will ride as hard as any man you have.’

      Temujin shook his head. ‘You will need to know the horn signals, the formations I have made with the others. There is more to this than riding in and killing as many as you can reach.’

      Eeluk looked away. He had not known exactly what he would find when he told the Wolves to pack their gers and ride. He had considered the chances of wresting spoils from the battered tribes who faced the Tartars, but in his most secret heart, he had smelled blood on the wind like a true wolf and he could not resist it. There had been nothing on the plains like the army of the Tartars in his lifetime. Yesugei would have ridden against them, and it had scalded Eeluk’s soul to hear that the sons of the old khan were challenging the army coming south.

      Still, he had expected to be welcomed by fearful men. Finding the Olkhun’ut already in alliance had changed the value of his warriors. He had been going to demand a full half of the spoils and, instead, he found the sons of Yesugei were coolly arrogant towards him. Yet he had committed himself. He could not simply leave them on the plain and take the Wolves back. His control of the tribe would suffer after seeing him turned away. In the flickering torches, he could see dozens of gers stretching around him into darkness. Just the sight of so many warriors matched his dreams. What could a man achieve with so many at his back? If Yesugei’s sons died in the battle, their men would be lost and frightened. They could swell the ranks of the Wolves.

      ‘My men will follow your orders, through me,’ he said at last.

      Temujin leaned forward. ‘But afterwards, when the Tartars have been gutted, we will settle an older debt between us. I claim the Wolves, as the oldest surviving son of Yesugei. Will you meet me with that sword you wear as if it were your own?’

      ‘It is my own,’ Eeluk replied, his face tightening.

      A hush fell on the camp around them. Togrul glanced at the two men, observing the hatred barely masked by civility. Eeluk forced himself to stillness as he pretended to consider. He had known Temujin would want him dead. He had considered the chance of absorbing surviving raiders into the Wolves, taken from Temujin’s dead hands. Instead, he faced the khan of the Olkhun’ut and the prize was a hundred times greater. Perhaps the spirits were with him as they had not been before.

      ‘When the Tartars are broken, I will meet you,’ he said, his eyes gleaming. ‘I will welcome the chance.’

      Temujin stood suddenly, causing many hands to reach for their swords. Eeluk sat like stone and looked up at him, but Temujin’s gaze was elsewhere.

      Hoelun walked slowly towards the gathering, as if in a trance. Eeluk turned to see who had captured Temujin’s attention, and when he saw Yesugei’s wife, he too rose with Tolui to face her.

      Hoelun was pale and Eeluk saw how she ran the point of her tongue over her bottom lip, a sliver of red like a snake’s warning. As he met her eyes, she rushed forward, holding up her arm to strike.

      Kachiun stepped between them before she could reach the khan of the Wolves. He held his mother firmly as she swiped her hand out like a claw, straining for Eeluk’s face. The nails did not touch him and Eeluk said nothing, sensing Temujin standing ready at his back. Hoelun struggled, her gaze finding her eldest son.

      ‘How

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