LITMIR.BIZ

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they merely looked at each other. Temujin’s hands were hidden beneath the furs and, when he moved, Yuan saw he held his father’s sword. The young man was naked, but he sprang out of the bed and threw the scabbard to one side. Borte opened her eyes at the movement and Yuan heard her gasp in fear.

      ‘I could have killed you,’ Yuan said quietly to the naked man before him. ‘A life for a life, as you once granted me mine. There is no debt between us now.’

      ‘Who sent you? Wen Chao? Togrul? Who?’ Temujin shook his head, but the room seemed to lurch. He struggled to clear his mind.

      ‘My master had no part in this,’ Yuan continued. ‘We will leave in the morning and return home.’

      ‘It was Togrul, then,’ Temujin said. ‘Why does he turn on me now?’

      Yuan shrugged. ‘He fears you. Perhaps he is right to. Remember that your life was mine to take tonight. I have dealt honourably with you.’

      Temujin sighed, his pounding heart beginning to ease. He felt dizzy and sick and wondered if he would vomit. Sour airag churned in his stomach and, despite the few hours of sleep, he was still exhausted. He did not doubt Yuan could have killed him cleanly if he had wished. For a moment, he considered calling his warriors from their gers and dragging Togrul out. Perhaps it was simple weariness, but he had seen too much of death and Eeluk’s blood still itched on his skin.

      ‘Before the sun is up, you will leave,’ he said. ‘Take Wen Chao and Togrul with you.’ Temujin looked at the two men who had entered with Yuan. They stood stunned at this development, unable to meet his eye. ‘His guards can accompany him. I do not want them here after what they tried to do.’

      ‘He will want the Kerait,’ Yuan said.

      Temujin shook his head. ‘If he wishes, I can summon them all and tell them of this act of cowardice. They will not follow a fool. The tribes are mine, Yuan, the Kerait with them.’ He stood a little straighter as he spoke and Yuan saw the wolf’s-head sword glint in the dim light of the stove.

      ‘Tell him I will not take his life if he leaves before dawn. If I find him here, I will challenge him in front of his warriors.’ His gaze was dark and hard as he regarded the Chin soldier.

      ‘Every family riding on the sea of grass will acknowledge me as khan. Tell your master Wen Chao that, when you return to him. He is safe from me now, but I will see him again.’

      His words echoed Yuan’s own, but the Chin lands were a thousand miles away. Even the tribes gathered in Temujin’s name were a tiny part of the armies Yuan had seen. He did not fear the man’s ambition.

      ‘The camp will wake as we leave,’ Yuan said.

      Temujin looked at him, then clambered back into bed without bothering to respond. He saw Borte was wide-eyed in fear and reached out to smooth her hair back from her face. She allowed his touch, hardly seeming to feel it.

      ‘Just go, Yuan,’ Temujin said softly. He was about to pull the furs over his body again when he paused. ‘And thank you.’

      Yuan ushered the two guards back into the chill night air. When they had left the ger behind, he stopped them again and sensed them turn to him questioningly in the darkness. They did not see the knife he drew from his belt and, even if they had, they were no match for a man who had been first sword in Kaifeng. Two quick blows left them on their knees and he waited until they had fallen and were still. He had disobeyed his orders, but he felt light-hearted and now there were no witnesses to tell Wen Chao what he had done. The camp was silent, frozen under the stars. The only sound was his own crunching footsteps as he returned to his master to tell him that Temujin had been too well guarded. Yuan glanced back only once at the khan’s ger as he walked away under the moonlight, fixing it in his mind. He had paid his debt.

      When the moon was dipping down towards the hills, Temujin woke a second time as Khasar entered the ger. Before he was fully alert, Temujin had grabbed his father’s sword and sprung up. Borte stirred, moaning in her sleep and Temujin turned to her, reaching out to stroke her cheek.

      ‘It is all right, it is just my brother,’ he murmured. Borte murmured something, but this time she did not come out of her sleep. Temujin sighed, looking down at her.

      ‘I see you have been dreaming of attractive women,’ Khasar said, chuckling.

      Temujin blushed, pulling the furs around his waist as he sat down on the bed.

      ‘Keep your voice down before you wake her,’ he whispered. ‘What do you want?’ He saw Kachiun enter behind Khasar and wondered if he would ever have peace that night.

      ‘I thought you might like to know that there are two bodies outside on the ground.’

      Temujin nodded sleepily. He had expected it. Khasar frowned at his lack of reaction.

      ‘Togrul and Wen Chao seem to be readying themselves to ride,’ Khasar said, still amused. ‘Their guards have gathered horses and that ridiculous box Wen Chao uses. Do you want me to stop them?’

      Temujin placed his father’s sword back on the furs, thinking.

      ‘How many men are they taking with them?’ he asked.

      ‘Perhaps three dozen,’ Kachiun said from the doorway, ‘including Togrul’s wife and daughters. With Yuan and the Chin guards, it makes a large group. Togrul has a cart for his bulk. Do you know something we don’t?’

      ‘Togrul sent men to kill me, but he chose Yuan,’ Temujin said.

      Khasar let out a hiss of indignation. ‘I can get the Wolves out after him before he’s gone a mile. They’re closest and they have no allegiance to Togrul.’ He watched in surprise as Temujin shook his head.

      ‘Let them go. We have the Kerait. I would have had to kill him anyway.’

      Kachiun whistled softly under his breath. ‘How many more will you bring in, brother? It was not that long ago that you were khan of a few raiders in the north.’

      Temujin did not reply for a long time. At last he raised his head, talking without looking at his brothers.

      ‘I will be khan of them all. We are one people and one man can lead them. How else can we take the cities of the Chin?’

      Khasar looked at his brother and a slow smile spread across his face.

      ‘There are tribes who took no part in the battle against the Tartars,’ Kachiun reminded them both. ‘The Naimans, the Oirat …’

      ‘They cannot stand alone against us,’ Temujin said. ‘We will take them one by one.’

      ‘Are we to be Wolves again, then?’ Khasar asked, his eyes bright.

      Temujin thought for a time.

      ‘We are the silver people, the Mongols. When they ask, tell them there are no tribes. Tell them I am khan of the sea of grass, and they will know me by that name, as Genghis. Yes, tell them that. Tell them that I am Genghis and I will ride.’

      EPILOGUE

      The fort at the border of Chin lands was a massive construction of wood and stone. The few men of the Kerait who had come with their khan into exile looked nervous as they approached. They had seen nothing like the huge building, with its wings and courtyards. The entrance was a great gate of wood studded with iron into which a smaller door had been set. Two guards stood there, dressed in armour very like that worn by Wen Chao’s men. They resembled statues in the morning sun, polished and perfect.

      Togrul glanced up at the high walls, seeing more armed soldiers watching them. The border itself was no more than a simple track. On the journey, Wen Chao had boasted of a great wall across thousands of miles, but that was far to the south. He had made straight for the fort as soon as they sighted it, knowing that to

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