by Tony Roberts
“Subedei, stop!” Casca called out to him.
“Yes, Old Young One? Not a good evening. I am not inclined to discuss anything with you at this time.”
Casca frowned. There was an edge to his voice. “Meaning?”
Subedei paused, then set is mouth firm and strode up to Casca. He grabbed his jacket and pulled it wide apart at the neck. He pointed to Casca’s bare neck. “This!”
Casca looked and saw his bare neck. “Ah, yes. That. I can explain.”
“No explanation necessary! It seems not only Batu makes errors of judgment. I hope in your case you can correct what has been done, unlike Batu! Good night.”
Casca was left standing with Kaidur. They slowly made their way back to Casca’s yurt and asked the guards if anything had happened. The guards said that the only thing of note had been during the last half hour or so. Plenty of people had passed by and there’d been an altercation over by Kaidur’s tent which had threatened to knock it over. A camel had broken loose and had to be restrained. Kaidur and Casca exchanged looks. “Come with me, Kaidur.” The two went round the rear of Casca’s yurt and there it was, a slit flap. It was two feet high. “Someone’s been busy, haven’t they?”
They returned to the front and made their way in. There wasn’t much disturbed, as that would have been noisy and there had been guards outside. What had been was the trunk of clothes Casca had. The lid was open and the contents strewn about the carpets. He went over to it and searched through the fabric. Finally he stood up and sighed. He looked into the empty trunk, a curious feeling in his stomach.
“What is it, Old Young One?”
“I left the necklace in here. It’s gone.”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Subedei, predictably, was furious. Coming on top of the bust up at the banquet and the desertion of one fifth of his army, it was the last thing he needed. He sat still, his pudgy face tensing and trembling. “I shall not speak to you now of this,” he finally said, his voice tight and barely under control. “Come to me tomorrow after breakfast. You may go.”
Casca returned to his yurt and threw himself onto his fur bed. Kaidur stood awkwardly by the cloth screen that marked off the sleeping area from the rest of the yurt. “Is there anything you require of me before I retire to my yurt?” he asked.
“No, my friend, you may go. Sleep well.”
“Ha! I shall worry too much to do that.”
“It’s not worth worrying about, Kaidur. Believe me.”
The Mongol shook his head. “I wish I had that attitude, but I fear I’m too much of a Mongol not to. Good night.”
Casca slapped his furs. Even Kaidur was pissed at him. Ah well. He sat up and called Tatiana to join him. She pushed past the screen and stood dutifully in front of him, dressed in an ankle-length kaftan of felt and sable fur. It looked perfect on her. “Are you wearing any clothes underneath that, little one?”
“No, Casca.”
Casca smiled and stood up, reaching for her buttons. He slowly undid them. “You are as naughty and devious as me, you know, Tatiana.”
The Russian smiled. Casca thought she really was a very pretty young thing. He finally undid the last button and slipped her kaftan off, revealing her pale white nakedness. He gloried in looking over her. “By the gods you certainly excite a man. But there’s one more thing I have to do before I let you in my bed.”
“Please hurry, it’s cold standing like this!”
“As you say, it’s cold.” He reached over her neck and undid the golden necklace she was wearing. The dragon nestled comfortably between her breasts. “This suits you, you know.” Casca lifted the necklace and Stone and examined it. “Get into bed, my little conspirator.”
Tatiana giggled and slipped under the furs, sighing in relief. Casca placed the necklace back round his neck and joined her in bed. “Well, it seems to have worked. Everyone’s swallowed the deception. That copy the jeweler in Periaslavl made for me was good enough to fool the thief. It’ll be a shock to whoever took it when they find it to be a fake.”
“What do you think will happen?”
“I expect someone will go absolutely berserk. It won’t be for a while yet, I think. Someone will now try to take power in a coup, thinking they have the coronation Stone. It’ll be a slap and a loss of face when they find it’s a fake.”
“Won’t they be angry at you?”
“Oh yes. I think they’ll come for me with blood in their eye.”
“So who is it?”
Casca grinned and wagged his finger. “I’m not telling.”
Tatiana pouted. “Why won’t you tell me? I’m grown up.”
Casca eyed her body. “Mmm, you sure are.”
“Oh, don’t you think of anything else?”
“Not when I’m in bed with you.” He kissed her and began feeling her smooth skin. She gasped, then tried again to get him to speak. “I’m as much involved as you are…”
“Mmm, I’m glad you are; I’m getting fairly involved now; aren’t you?”
Tatiana shuddered and closed her eyes. She forgot to try to get him to talk; it was plain he wasn’t going to, so she sank into the exquisite pleasures he was giving her, surrendering once again to his touch.
The next morning Casca presented himself to Subedei, once again wearing the high-necked shirt. The aged commander took one long look at him, then waved dismissively at the shirt. “There’s no further need for you to wear that, is there?”
Casca grinned and looked at the guards to either side of him. Subedei went pale, then leaned forward. “Everyone except the Old Young One is to leave, now!” The bark he emitted on the last word send all scurrying out of the yurt.
Subedei leaned back and put a finger to his chin. “Show me.”
Casca unfastened the top few buttons and popped the Stone out, showed it briefly, then replaced it and redid his shirt up. Subedei remained sat, looking at Casca for a long time before speaking. “You have your reasons, Old Young One.”
It was both a statement and a question. Casca nodded. “Look, you put me up as prime target for whoever wants this and I’ve had two attempts on my life already. As both of us know it could have been any one of ten, and I’m including Batu. So I had to start working out who it was, and narrowing down the candidates.
“It was a risk, but one I thought was worth it. I had a fake made in Periaslavl and left it in my yurt for whoever it was to take it. They wouldn’t break in unless they knew I wasn’t wearing it, so at last night’s banquet I made it obvious I didn’t have it on. Nine of them would not notice anything, but the tenth would and probably make the attempt there and then. Opportunity.”
Subedei played with the arms of his chair. “And did you find out who it was?”
“Not really. One of the princes must have noticed, and passed a message to a guard who must have taken it outside. The next thing my yurt gets raided and the fake gets stolen.”
“Who was it?” Subedei snapped.
“I wish I knew for certain, but wouldn’t you return to Karakorum once you had it, rather than remain here with the army risking it being found or losing it in battle and so on?”
“You mean Kuyuk or Buri? They should be stopped and searched before they go too far!”
“Not so hasty, old friend.” Casca was thinking hard. “They’ve gone back to Karakorum. They won’t get there for weeks. I’m willing to bet either Buri took it to present Kuyuk with it as a gift, a sign of loyalty, in return for some high position once Kuyuk is crowned, or Kuyuk did it himself to seize power sooner rather than wait for his father to die.”
“But you said it’s a fake.”
“It is. Chaghadai will know it is, but Buri’s a kid; he won’t know the difference. Kuyuk might know it’s a fake, but it was taken at night and I bet it’s hidden away so nobody sees it, and so he won’t realize it’s not the real thing until he picks it up. It certainly isn’t gold! Is Batu going to write to Ogedei about what happened at the banquet?”
“Y
es. Kuyuk’s conduct was wrong. He should have accepted the apology. He has also endangered the chances of this invasion continuing. That won’t go down well with the Khan.”
Casca shrugged. “Then write to Chaghadai. Warn him there’s a fake Stone and it might be used to foment a revolt.”
Subedei shook his head slowly. “That might not be wise. It may or may not be them. To accuse them of something that cannot be proved would be dangerous for me and my family. I shall send a message to Chaghadai but to tell him of a fake Stone that was stolen and to warn Kuyuk to watch out for anyone trying to fool him with it. I shall of course caution him not to say where he got his information.”
“Yeah, you’re right,” Casca admitted, “but I’m willing to bet once this is known to be a fake whoever it is will come for me big time. The loss of face will be too much. It was all I could think of, throwing them off my back. Things were getting a bit uncomfortable for me, and all I could think of was how I could get out of it fast. And I’m always mindful of Sun Tzu; ‘all war is deception’.”
“Indeed it is. I bow to the master,” Subedei bowed and then laughed. “It is a weight off my mind. Come, we must see Batu; he is depressed. We must cheer him up.”
The two left for Batu’s quarters, determined to lift his depression. After a while he did bring himself out of his black mood, and composed a long letter to Ogedei Khan complaining at the manner of both Kuyuk and Buri. Then Subedei composed a letter of his own and entrusted both to a messenger. The messenger would use the relay posts that had been set up throughout the Empire in Genghis’ day, so that they could ride hundreds of miles in a couple of days. Messengers either tied bells to their clothes or to the horse’s harness, so that they could be heard approaching, and a replacement horse readied by the time the messenger arrived. That way hardly any time was lost. All that had to be done was to change horses and the message continued.
Over vast distances messages were sent in incredibly short time. Subedei was confident that their letters would be in the hands of Chaghadai and Ogedei within two or three weeks at the most.
“What about Kuyuk and Buri’s men? They’ll be traveling over the same route, won’t they?” Casca asked, concerned.
“Not so. I instructed the messenger to travel further to the north to start with. Our campaigns have removed any hostile tribesmen in the region, and he will ride in safety. Once past Kuyuk’s force he will ride for the first messenger post near the Caspian Sea. From then on it will be fast.”
All they could do after that was wait.
* * *
The winter passed and gave way to spring and the Mongols combated boredom by raiding far and wide, but they avoided the Russian cities. Some of the cities even began to think all was over; they would be spared the wrath of Satan. Kaidur and Ashira duly got married when the snows vanished, and that provoked a great deal of feasting and drunkenness. Mongols did seem to be prone to drinking too much.
Subedei advised Casca that Chaghadai had received his letter and has passed word round that a fake Stone had been seen. Kuyuk and Buri were soon told of this when they arrived back in the capital, and what they said or how they reacted wasn’t told, but no revolt took place.
Casca found that nobody took any interest in him or his possessions in an unpleasant way. It did seem that either Kuyuk or Buri were behind the sinister moves previously. Casca also spoke to Batu about his complaint to Ogedei, and he told Casca that Ogedei had torn a strip off his son and told him to grow up and get back to the army and sort out whatever was between him and Batu and not come sniveling to Daddy. Batu had enjoyed that, but wasn’t looking forward to Kuyuk returning with Buri. Ogedei had put the responsibility in patching up the differences right back in Batu’s lap.
Casca wasn’t thrilled either, but at least they would finally get back to getting on with things. Casca desperately wanted to get to Europe. He thought the Mongols had one good shot at it, but with the huge distances involved and the fact their unity was beginning to fracture, it was now or never. He doubted they could take Europe. There was simply too much to fight and the terrain was against them.
Kuyuk and Buri returned as the autumn was giving way to winter, and nobody said anything that could have been taken the wrong way. It seemed the matter was forgotten.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
They swept through the Russian princedoms as though they weren’t there. They fell one after the other and the Horde moved on, leaving nothing but ashes and ruins in their wake. Chernigov, Periaslavl and Kiev all fell in succession. Casca wandered about what remained of Periaslavl, but Maria the kind-hearted whore was not to be found. Her house, along with the entire street, had been burned to the ground. He sadly kicked a pile of ashes and wondered on her fate; hopefully whatever had happened to her had been quick.
He refused to take part in the sack of Kiev. He’d been there at its founding, and was damned if he were going to oversee its destruction. He later learned of the fate of the population at the victory banquet. The terrified people had fled to the Church of the Virgin and so many had clambered onto its roof that it had collapsed.
Casca got up and left the table as the Mongol princes recounted in glee what had happened. Mongke, who had been in charge of the sack, followed him out into the winter harshness of the western steppe. “You are troubled, Old Young One?”
Casca turned and faced the Mongol prince. “Yes, Mongke Khan. I tire of the slaughter. To me this is not warfare, the wholesale butchery of a people. I live for battle; I’m a warrior, not someone who delights in that sort of thing.” He pulled a face and gazed once more to the west.
Mongke stepped up lightly to him. Kaidur, standing close by, stepped closer. Mongke’s personal guard did likewise. Casca glanced at the two men. “Easy, Kaidur, it’s alright.”
Mongke watched as Kaidur gave him a wary look before stepping back. Mongke flicked a lazy hand at his guard who did likewise. “If we cannot trust each other, then there is no point in us being in the same army,” Mongke said slowly.
“Yes, there’s that, I suppose. I have no stomach for what’s being said in there. Kiev holds a special place for me in my heart, and to see it sacked and burned hurts me deeply.”
“Would you leave an enemy to your rear if you intended continuing on your route deeper into the unknown?”
Casca shook his head. The cold air stung his face and was cold enough to freeze the tears that were running down his face. Mongke spoke the truth, and the terrible thing was that it made sense, in a horrible way. Casca felt angry at himself, for readily joining the Mongols on their campaign. He knew damned well what they were like. Maybe he’d thought he could have the same influence on them as he had in Genghis Khan’s day, but that special hold he’d had was gone.
Yes, he was still honored and revered, but no longer could he make the same tactical and strategic decisions. Subedei and Batu ran this show, and Subedei wasn’t going to take any chances whatsoever. Casca realized he’d been deceiving himself. He’d been too keen to get back to Europe and seen the Mongols as the perfect way. Somehow he had to find the opportunity to leave them and make his way to somewhere else where warfare wasn’t so brutal.
“It is just not my way, Mongke Khan.”
“It is the Mongol way,” the prince said, “and it has served us well. Look how big our empire has grown, and it continues to grow. Is it not justified?”
“Not when it destroys everything,” Casca said. “In Persia I have seen the desert claiming the land because the Mongols have killed the workers who kept the land green. What is there to rule when there is nobody alive? The scorpions? The rocks? You speak of your Empire growing, but what if it’s an empire of death? Who will pay the taxes? Who will work the land? Who will grow the food?” Casca took a deep breath and wiped his face. “It is not an empire if there are no people.”
Mongke looked at Casca for a moment. “You are not of our ways, Old Young One. I can see a time coming very soon when we will part. I sense a great deal of
pain in you.”
Casca snorted. “You could say that, yes. I will retire to my yurt for the evening. I cannot return to the feast and listen to the tales of death any more. I have lost my appetite.”
“Then I trust your pain will subside. Good night.”
“Good night, Mongke Khan.” Casca went with Kaidur to the yurt. Both Karl and Lars were on duty and reported nothing had happened. Casca wasn’t surprised. Since both Kuyuk and Buri had returned from Mongolia there had been no further incidents, and it was easy to guess why. Before they had resumed their westwards march, it had been still possible to ride back to the Mongol empire in two directions, either east through Batu’s homeland, or south through the Caucasus Mountains and then through Chaghadai’s domain. But now they had gone too far for anyone to ride back without being successfully pursued. If anyone were to take the Stone, it would mean them leaving the army and riding back to Mongolia.
The previous times when there had been attempts they had been close to Mongolia or there had been two large detachments riding back at the same time. Not now. The time to strike would be when the entire army was returning. So Casca could relax until that time. But he wanted to be rid of it now. The trouble was, whom could he give it to? He didn’t really trust anyone. More to the point, who did he trust to be the next khan? The hot headed and untrustworthy Kuyuk, or the bloodthirsty Mongke? Neither would be his choice, he decided. But what were the alternatives? Batu seemed to be the only other candidate but the majority of the Mongols wouldn’t accept him.
He threw himself onto his bed and Tatiana came to him, sensing his sour mood. “Things are not well, are they?”
“No, Tatiana. I so dearly want to be rid of this damned thing!” and he unclasped the Stone and threw it onto the corner of the bed where is rested, almost mocking him. “It weighs heavily on me the further we go.”
“Then let whoever who wants it take it and let us be free of it.”
“If only it was that easy, Tatiana.” Casca took her and held her against him, her head against his chest. “Subedei entrusted me to keep it until it was time to give it to whoever I thought was the right one to succeed Ogedei Khan. My problem is I don’t think either Kuyuk or Mongke is. One is treacherous, the other bloodthirsty. The alternative is Batu but he’s not respected and I don’t think he’s got the balls to hold an empire together”