Conn Iggulden - Empire of Silver

'Please sit down,' he said. His authority was so deeply ingrained that all four moved to the chairs around the table, though Batu held back, wanting to keep the impetus they had brought with them. Tsubodai spoke again before anyone else.

'Was it his heart?' he said.

Guyuk took in a breath. 'So you knew then? Yes, it was his heart.'

'He told me, when he told his brother Chagatai,' Tsubodai replied. His eyes fell on Baidur as Guyuk turned in the chair.

'I knew nothing,' Baidur said coldly.

Guyuk turned back, but Tsubodai let his eyes remain on Baidur until the young man was shifting uncomfortably.

Tsubodai had a hundred things he wanted to say, but he controlled himself with an effort of will.

'What are your plans?' he asked Guyuk. The more detached part of him was interested to see how Guyuk would respond. Whatever remnant there was left of his youth had been suddenly strangled. Tsubodai looked at the young prince, understanding the quiet reserve he now saw. There was new weight on Guyuk's shoulders, whether he wanted it or not.

'I am my father's heir,' Guyuk said. 'I must return to Karakorum.'

Once more, Tsubodai looked to Baidur. The orlok grimaced, but the words had to be said.

'Are you aware of the threat from your uncle? He has a claim to the khanate.'

Neither man looked directly at Baidur as he flushed.

Guyuk cocked his head slightly in thought and Tsubodai was pleased to see him weigh his response. There was no place for the foolish young man he had been, not any longer.

'The yam rider reached me a month ago. I have had time to consider it,' Guyuk said. 'I will require an oath of allegiance from the tumans here.'

'That will have to wait,' Tsubodai said. 'When we are finished here, you will summon the nation as your father did.'

Baidur shifted again and was ignored. His was an impossible position, but he was growing desperate to speak.

'I can let you have four tumans, leaving me only three,' Tsubodai said. 'You must return in force to secure the khanate. Chagatai cannot put more than two, perhaps three, in the field.' He stared coldly at Baidur. 'It is my recommendation that you have Baidur remain with me, rather than force him to choose between cousin and father.' He dipped his head to Baidur. 'My apologies, general.'

Baidur opened his mouth, but he could not find the words. It was Batu who spoke next, for the first time. Tsubodai's eyes and jaw tightened instantly at his voice, betraying an inner tension.

'You know Chagatai Khan better than any of us, except for Baidur. How do you think he will react when he hears the news?'

Tsubodai did not look at Batu as he replied, keeping his gaze locked on Guyuk. Every word seemed to be dragged out of him.

'If he is rash, he will take his tumans to Karakorum.'

'If he is rash…I see,' Batu replied, enjoying the discomfort he saw. 'And what will follow, when Guyuk Khan returns home?'

'Chagatai will either negotiate, or he will fight. No one can know his mind.' Tsubodai clasped his hands on the table and leaned closer to Guyuk. 'Believe me: Chagatai Khan is not the threat you believe.'

It looked as if he might go on, but then Tsubodai clamped his jaw and waited. The decision was not simply a military one. Batu could hardly control the quirking of his lips at seeing Tsubodai at a loss.

Guyuk let the men at the table sweat for a time before he shook his head.

'If you can offer me no more than that as assurance, orlok, I must take the tumans home. All of them.' He glanced at Jebe and Chulgetei, but the older men were not part of the decision. Tsubodai had ultimate authority over the army, but this was not a military problem.

Tsubodai let out a long breath. 'General, I have new maps that show lands that are not even legends to us. The city of Vienna is but a hundred miles further west. The homeland of the Templar knights is beyond it. Italy is to the south. Already, I have scouts in the mountains there, planning the next stage. This has been my life's achievement.' He stopped himself rather than beg, as Guyuk gazed stonily at him.

'I will need all the tumans, Orlok Tsubodai. All.'

'You do not need the ragged conscripts. Leave me but those and two tumans and I will go on.'

Slowly, Guyuk reached out his hand and gripped Tsubodai's shoulder. The gesture was one he would not have dreamed of making a month before.

'How could I leave you behind, Tsubodai? The general of Genghis Khan, at the time I need him most? Come home with me. You know I cannot allow you to stay. You will come back another year, when there is peace.'

Tsubodai stared at Baidur and his pain was visible to all. Baidur looked away rather than see. When the orlok's gaze swept over Batu, his eyes blazed.

'I am an old man,' Tsubodai said. 'And I saw the beginning of it all, when Genghis himself was young. I will not come back here again. I have spoken to prisoners. There is nothing between us and the ocean, nothing. We have seen their knights, Guyuk, do you understand? They cannot stop us. If we go on, the land is ours to take, sea to sea, for ever. Sea to sea, general. Ours for ten thousand years. Can you imagine such a thing?'

'It is not important,' Guyuk said softly. 'The homeland is where we began. I cannot lose all that for lands here.' He brought his hand back and his voice was steady.

'I will be khan, Orlok Tsubodai. I need you with me.'

Tsubodai slumped slowly in his chair, the energy draining from his face. Even Batu looked uncomfortable at the changes they had wrought in him.

'Very well. I will make them ready to ride home.' Chagatai stood looking out at the river as the sun came up. The room was bare of furniture, the palace itself empty, beyond a few servants who would clean the rooms. He did not know if he would ever come back there again and he felt a pang of loss at the thought. He heard footsteps approaching and turned to see his servant Suntai enter the room. The man's scarred face was welcome, while Chagatai's heart soared with visions.

'It is time, my lord khan,' Suntai said. His gaze fell to the crumpled parchment in Chagatai's hand, read and reread a thousand times since it had come just days before.

'It is time,' Chagatai echoed. He took a last look at the sun rising, lighting the backs of a flight of geese rising from the still waters. In such a mood, he stared straight at the ball of gold on the horizon, daring it to burn him.

'I can be in Karakorum months ahead of him,' Chagatai said. 'I will take the oath of our people as khan, but there will be war when he returns. Unless I take the example of my beloved brother, Ogedai. What do you think, Suntai? Would Guyuk accept my khanate here in exchange for his life? Come, give me your counsel.'

'He may, my lord. After all, you did.'

Chagatai smiled, at peace with the world for the first time in years.

'Perhaps I would be storing up trouble for the future, or for my son, Baidur. I must think of his life now. By the spirits, if Guyuk would just die in his sleep, my path would be clear! Instead, I have sent him a hostage to my goodwill.'

Suntai knew his master well and he smiled as he came to stand behind him.

'Guyuk may believe so, my lord, even Orlok Tsubodai, but will such a hostage truly stay your hand?'

Chagatai shrugged. 'I have other sons. The prize is too great to turn aside for just one. Baidur will have to fight his own way out. After all, Suntai, I gave him my best warriors for his tuman. They have no equal in the nation. If he falls, I will grieve for him, but his fate is in his own hands, as always.'

Chagatai had not noticed Suntai's soft boots in place of his usual sandals. He did not hear the final step. He felt a sting at his neck and choked in surprise, reaching up to his throat. To his astonishment, there was a terrible wrongness there. As he pulled his hand away, he saw it was covered in blood. He tried to speak, but his voice was lost to him and only creaked through the line that striped his skin.