David Gemmell - The King Beyond the Gate

To the east and west of the tomb camped the armies of the two enemy kinsmen: Shirrat Knifes-peaks and Tsuboy Saddleskull. More than 150,000 men waited for the outcome of the Shamen Quest.

Tenaka led his people down into the valley. Ramrod-straight on his Drenai stallion he rode, and beside him Gitasi felt a surge of pride. He was Notas no longer — he was a man again.

Tenaka Khan rode to a point south of the tomb and dismounted. Word of his coming had spread to both camps and hundreds of warriors began to drift towards his camp-site.

The women of Gitasi busied themselves erecting the tents while the men attended to their ponies and settled themselves down around Tenaka Khan. He sat cross-legged on the ground, staring at the great tomb, his eyes distant and his mind closed to the drifters.

A shadow fell across him. He waited for long seconds, letting the insult build, then he smoothly rose to his feet. This moment had to come — it was the opening move in a none-too-subtle game.

'You are the half-blood?' asked the man. He was young, in his middle twenties, and tall for a Nadir. Tenaka Khan looked at him coolly, noting the balanced stance, the slim hips and the wide shoulders, the powerful arms and the depth of chest. The man was a swordsman and confidence blazed from him. He would be the executioner.

'And who would you be, child?' said Tenaka Khan.

'I am a true-born Nadir warrior, the son of a Nadir warrior. It galls me that a mongrel should stand before the tomb of Ulric.'

'Then move away and continue your yapping elsewhere,' said Tenaka Khan. The man smiled.

'Let us cease this nonsense,' he said smoothly. 'I am here to kill you. It is obvious. Let us begin.'

'You are very young to wish for death,' said Tenaka. 'And I am not old enough to refuse you. What is your name?'

'Purtsai. Why do you wish to know it?'

'If I have to kill a brother, I like to know his name. It means that someone will remember him. Draw your sword, child.'

The crowd drew back, forming a giant circle around the combatants. Purtsai drew a curved sabre and a dagger. Tenaka Khan drew his own shortsword, and deftly caught the knife Subodai tossed to him.

And so the duel began.

Purtsai was good, skilled beyond the vast majority of tribesmen. His footwork was extraordinary and he had a suppleness unseen among the squat, bulky warriors of the Nadir. His speed was dazzling and his nerve cool.

He was dead within two minutes.

Subodai swaggered forward and stood with hands on hips, staring down at the body. He kicked it savagely, then spat upon it. Then he grinned at the watching warriors and spat again. Tucking his toe under the body, he flipped the corpse on to its back.

'This was the best of you?' he asked the crowd. He shook his head in mock sorrow. 'Whatever will become of you?'

Tenaka Khan walked to his tent and ducked under the flap. Inside Ingis was waiting, seated cross-legged on a fur rug and drinking a goblet of Nyis, a spirit distilled from goats' milk. Tenaka seated himself opposite the warlord.

'That did not take you long,' said Ingis.

'He was young, with much to learn.'

Ingis nodded. 'I advised Saddleskull against sending him.'

'He had no choice.'

'No. So… you are here.'

'Did you doubt it?'

Ingis shook his head. He removed his bronze helm and scratched at the skin beneath his thinning, iron-grey hair. 'The question is, Bladedancer, what am I to do about you?'

'Does it trouble you?'

'Yes.'

'Why?'

'Because I am trapped. I want to support you, for I believe you are the future. Yet I cannot, for I have sworn to uphold Saddleskull.'

'A thorny problem,' agreed Tenaka Khan, helping himself to a goblet of Nyis.

'What shall I do?' asked Ingis and Tenaka Khan stared at his strong honest face. He had only to ask and the man was his — he would break his oath to Saddleskull and pledge his warriors to Tenaka instead. Tenaka was tempted, but he resisted with ease. Ingis would not be the same man if he broke his oath for it would haunt him for the rest of his life.

'Tonight,' said Tenaka, 'the Shamen Quest begins. Those who stand for leadership will be tested and Asta Khan will name the Warlord. That is the man you are pledged to follow. Until that time you are bound to Saddleskull.'

'And what if he commands that I kill you?'

'Then you must kill me, Ingis.'

'We are all fools,' said the Nadir general bitterly. 'Honour? What does Saddleskull know of honour? I curse the day I swore to serve him!'

'Go now. Put these thoughts from your mind,' ordered Tenaka Khan. 'A man makes mistakes, but he lives by them. Foolish it may be, on occasion. But in the main it is the only way to live. We are what we say, only so long as our words are iron.'

Ingis rose and bowed. After he had gone Tenaka refilled his goblet and leaned back on the thick cushions scattered round the rug.

'Come out, Renya!' he called. She stepped from the shadows of the sleeping section and sat beside him, taking his hand.

'I feared for you when the warrior made his challenge.'

'My time is not yet.'

'He would have answered the same,' she pointed out.

'Yes, but he was wrong.'

'And have you so changed? Are you now infallible?'

'I am home, Renya. I feel different. I cannot explain it, and I have not yet tried to rationalise it. But it is wonderful. Before I came here I was incomplete. Lonely. Here I am whole.'

'I see.'

'No, I do not think that you do. You think I criticise you; you hear me talking of loneliness and you wonder. Do not misunderstand me. I love you and you have been a source of constant joy. But my purpose was not clear, and therefore I was what the shamen called me as a child: the Prince of Shadows. I was a shadow in the world of stone reality. Now I am a shadow no longer. I have a purpose.'

'You want to be a king,' she said sadly.

'Yes.'

'You want to conquer the world.'

He did not answer.

'You have seen Ceska's terror and the folly of ambition. You have seen the horror that war brings. Now you will bring a greater horror than Ceska could ever dream of.'

'It does not have to be horror.'

'Do not fool yourself, Tenaka Khan. You have merely to look beyond this tent. They are savages — they live to fight… to kill. I don't know why I'm talking like this. You are beyond my words. After all, I am just a woman.'

'You are my woman.'

'I was. Not any longer. You have another woman now. Her breasts are mountains, and her seed waits out there to spill across the world. What a hero you are, great Khan! Your friend is waiting for you. In the blindness of his loyalty, he expects to see you riding on a white horse at the head of your Nadir. Then the evil will fall and the Drenai will be free. Imagine his surprise when you rape his nation!'

'You have said enough, Renya. I will not betray Ananais. I will not invade the Drenai.'

'Not now, maybe. But one day you will have no choice. There won't be anywhere else.'

'I am not yet the Khan.'

'Do you believe in prayer, Tenaka?' she asked suddenly, tears in her eyes.

'Sometimes.'

'Then think on this: I pray that you lose tonight, even if it means your death.'

'If I lose, it will,' said Tenaka Khan.

But she had already moved away from him.

The ancient shaman squatted in the dust, staring intently into a brazier of coals on an iron stand. Around him sat the chieftains of the Nadir, the warlords, the masters of the Horde.

Away from the crowd, within a circle of stones, sat the three kinsmen: Tsuboy Saddleskull, Shirrat Knifespeaks and Tenaka Khan.

The warlords studied each other with rare interest. Saddleskull was a blocky, powerful figure, with a braided top-knot and a wispy forked beard. He was stripped to the waist and his body gleamed with oil.