The Silk Tree

by Julian Stockwin

  They were led forward to the most ornamented one of all where a number of richly robed Mongols stood on each side of the entrance.

  By this time there were hundreds of onlookers, agog to see what would happen to these brazen intruders.

  A majestic figure in green satin emerged from the grand yurt. All around bowed low until a lordly wave released them.

  Their captor scurried forward and prostrated himself, reporting in a staccato series of grunts.

  The grand figure came forward. It seemed prudent to bow low as well, and when Nicander looked up again a statuesque woman, in turquoise silk and with a headdress of gold and pearls had appeared by the figure’s side.

  He spoke, gesturing to Ying Mei’s yak-tail.

  ‘He asks your origin, your business.’ It was the woman, speaking in perfect Chinese.

  Ying Mei, in faultless courtly phrases, answered that they were innocent and harmless travellers and were perplexed by their treatment.

  The woman smiled coldly. ‘I knew you were Chinese, my dear. You speak to the Wei princess Chang Le as was, and this is my Lord Bumin, Khagan of the Gokturks, who you’d do well to fear.’

  Nicander froze. A Chinese princess, sacrificed in years past to seal some barbarian alliance.

  She was either for them … or against. Only Ying Mei could …

  ‘You know why you were brought here and not slaughtered outright?’

  ‘No, Your Highness.’

  ‘You flaunt the sign of an ambassador.’

  ‘It was given to me by my father who trusted that the mighty Khagan would respect it and allow me free passage.’

  ‘The penalty for falsely going under the sign is to be torn asunder by four horses!’

  ‘Is the great Khagan so fearful of we few that he must forbid us his realm? That he needs to—’

  ‘Enough!’ She drew away to one side and beckoned Ying Mei. ‘Come here, child!’

  The two spoke together for some time and the noble lady returned to her husband, whispering something in his ear.

  He held up his hand and in ringing tones made a pronouncement.

  Nicander tensed at the answering roar but saw that the princess had the glimmer of a smile on her face.

  Relief rushed in – but why had they escaped?

  Ying Mei hurriedly explained that Princess Chang Le had extracted a promise from her to get a reassuring message back to her family in China. In return, she had reported that they were indeed ambassadors, from a mysterious kingdom over the mountains to the east to one in the west, where she, like her, was to be wed. They had been set upon by brigands and rather than turn back begged the great Khagan for his protection.

  A small polished bronze plate was produced with jagged lettering incised upon it. ‘This is a diplomatic pass of sacred power,’ Princess Chang Le told them solemnly. ‘Whenever a Gokturk sees this, in the name of the Khagan Bumin he is enjoined to render all assistance to you. You’re free to go on your way!’

  CHAPTER SIXTY-TWO

  Nicander’s eyes misted as he took in the rumpled green plain far below and in the extreme distance the lazy sparkle of a great sea. It had happened – this was the actuality of what he had thought could never be. He was gazing at Europa once again!

  He looked down to where, on the other side, ancient Greek settlements had been since time began – the shores of the Black Sea.

  ‘This … this is it,’ he breathed. ‘Colchis, the land of the Golden Fleece! The hero Jason and his Argonauts – but we’ve travelled infinitely further and have …’

  ‘Forget your history! It’s what it’s now, that’s the wonder of it all!’ Marius triumphantly punched the air.

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘Ha! This is Lazica, the furthest out of all Justinian’s outposts. Nico, this means … we’ve done it! This is Byzantine territory!’

  ‘Well, nearly,’ Nicander said, orienting himself. ‘It’s still on a bit to the trading port of Trebizond. That’s the place we take ship to Constantinople!’

  Ying Mei gave a squeal of joy. ‘After all our journeying – to be here … it’s …’

  Their winding progress passed quickly and they found themselves threading through well-wooded meadows and fields of corn.

  In the little town nestling in the foothills it seemed not worthy of remark, colourful strangers in barbarous dress coming down from the mountains, and they wasted no time finding a place to stay for the night. In the morning they went to the market and procured clothing more in keeping before setting out on their last journey.

  Trebizond was a small, pleasant town, which as a Greek colony had been trading for many centuries, and there had been no difficulty in finding a place aboard a fat trader bound for Constantinople.

  There had been curious questions but Nicander was ready with an answer. This was an exotic lady from far parts, accompanied by her attendant and two monks for the sake of propriety, destined for the household of a well-placed Byzantine noble whose name need not concern the enquirer.

  It had the merit that it was not at all an unusual import for the pretentious wealthy, and there were no more questions.

  Marius was beside himself with impatience. Less than a week’s voyage and they would sight the marble dome of Hagia Sophia, the towers, the palace – all of which now had a very different meaning to two returning with the prospect of riches beyond anyone’s dreaming!

  The ship was not due to sail until the next afternoon. The ladies made free with the baths in their rooming house, and with Marius a caged bear, Nicander found himself wandering down to the harbour.

  He sat on a bollard and looked across at their ship, still loading.

  It was a fairly ordinary Black Sea corbita of medium tonnage, trading mainly in grain and wine. Their quarters were as might be expected: for the ladies a poky cabin aft and for himself and Marius the usual temporary cloth deckhouse. But – in less than a week those dull black timbered sides would be touching port in Constantinople!

  Emotion began to wash over him as for the first time he had the leisure to contemplate things, to get to grips with all that it meant to have left the known world and gone to unimaginable realms of the perilous and exotic – and returned.

  Now, the great adventure was over. No more torrid heat, bone-chilling cold or lying under the stars on a stony desert floor; no more fear and terror, fatigue and pain, thirst and hunger. And no more fireside companionship, the sharing of trials and triumphs – that had brought them all so close.

  And his beloved. She had been right to insist they keep their distance while the final journey was completed.

  But she had seen him in the most demeaning and wretched circumstances during their long odyssey: had she since cooled in her feeling for him?

  And if she still cared for him, that would mean setting up their lives together in Constantinople. It was of course Ying Mei who would have to do all the adjusting – would she turn her back on the rowdy circus that was the city and set up as an exile until she could return to her own kind?

  How would she take to the rude, thrusting nature of Byzantium, so unlike the studied, contemplative subtleties of the Chinese? He remembered the dignified elegance of Grand Chamberlain Kuo with a stab of poignancy, and what he had learnt at Dao Pa’s feet showed that the ancient Greeks had no monopoly on pure thought.

  But then he knew that Ying Mei was made of stronger stuff. If she gave him her heart, she would give soul and body too, and would become a Byzantine herself. Had not women since the beginning of time cleaved to their menfolk? Her exotic appearance would cause no comment, for this was the biggest metropolis in the Roman world, where so many races were to be seen.

  And Tai Yi? When she heard about their plans would she be shocked – or heartbroken – at what her charge had become? No more in temporary exile, she might decide to set out alone and return to her homeland.

  And, of course, Marius. Bluff, great-hearted Marius, to whom they all owed their lives. How would he fare, with h
is greatest friend taken by a woman? What would be his role in any economic and political convulsions caused by their introduction of silk production? His direct thinking and forthright ways could damn him …

  And who knew what position he would find himself in. As outsiders in the maelstrom of intrigue and treachery that was Imperial Byzantium he and Marius could both be easy targets in the struggle for power in the new world of silk. In fact there was every chance …

  He threw off the dark thoughts. He should be rejoicing at their homecoming, not letting imagined conspiracies spoil it.

  When he got back Ying Mei chided him for being a dreamer and told him that he was to get himself ready – everyone was going for a splendid celebration dinner the night before they sailed.

  They were given a room to themselves and the ladies were introduced to their first taste of Greek cuisine, slow-baked lamb with garlic and lemon.

  The country wine was robust and dark and went far in adding to the jollity.

  The dishes were cleared away but no one seemed to wish to leave. Another jug of wine was summoned.

  ‘Our first good meal since … when was it …?’ Ying Mei asked happily. She was looking more beautiful than he had ever seen her, thought Nicander.

  ‘That would be in Samarkand, I’d think,’ Nicander recalled. ‘But it wasn’t as you’d say a good meal, we being so distracted. I think it would have to be that funny little place in Osh.’

  ‘The goat was revolting!’ Tai Yi replied quickly. ‘Not fit for a lady. No – it was over the mountains in Kashgar, at the caravanserai when we arrived.’

  ‘That rice muck?’ Marius spluttered. ‘Queer idea of filling a man’s belly, that crew!’

  ‘Well, it has to be Khotan,’ Nicander said with feeling. ‘Out of the desert and fit to die – and a meal of melon slices and thin-cut mutton. That’s to remember all my life!’

  It was carried unanimously and they drank to Khotan.

  ‘I’m really going to miss us being together like this,’ Ying Mei said quietly. ‘We’ve seen so much and …’

  A hush spread, each deep in their own thoughts.

  Tai Yi was the first to speak. ‘Well, we’ll be going our different ways when we reach Constantinople. You two will be returning to your monastery, Ying Mei and I will have to find somewhere and—’

  ‘Hey, now! We’ll be seeing each other at times, won’t we?’ Marius growled.

  ‘I really don’t think it possible,’ Tai Yi said with a slight edge to her voice. ‘Lady Kuo will be setting up her residence and as you are both holy men it would be unseemly to be seen too often in our company, I believe – however much we’d wish it, that is.’

  Nicander couldn’t catch Ying Mei’s eye. ‘It’s been a great adventure – don’t you think so?’ he said to the table in general.

  ‘No one will forget it,’ Ying Mei said wistfully. ‘It’s all over now.’

  Trying to rescue the mood, Nicander turned to Tai Yi. ‘What do you remember most about it?’

  She frowned. ‘Why, I suppose when we left the imperial court in a hurry and my heart sank so, that we were to be going with a pair of barbarian clowns for company.’

  ‘You still have them!’

  ‘Ah, this is true. Perhaps I’ll change my mind. Is it too late to say I’m sorry for calling you kuei lao then, even if you really are foreign devils?’

  Nicander laughed. ‘Forgiven! And you, Ying Mei? What do you remember?’

  ‘I think it must be that time we were hit by the sandstorm and you had to pull me out.’

  There was a general murmuring of sympathy for she had been all but buried alive.

  ‘No, it wasn’t my nearly dying, it was that when I came out in such a state I knew I couldn’t be a proper lady any more!’

  Nicander led the laughter that followed.

  ‘Marius, tell us your memory of our great adventure.’

  ‘Well, I think the worst of all has to be … let me see … it was when we left the hippodrome after …’

  ‘No, not that,’ Nicander said hastily. ‘The ladies are not interested in chariot racing. What else was a hard time for you?’

  ‘That’s easy. It was playing the fool like that and all the time thinking of my marching comrades in the Pannonian legion, that if they saw me then I’d die o’ shame!’

  It needed translating so the others could appreciate it and join the merriment.

  ‘And what about you, Ah Yung,’ Ying Mei said sweetly. ‘What do you remember?’

  ‘Well, it must be the one who taught me that there are many paths to understanding, that the mysteries of the earth and the heavens are never to be mastered by mortal man, but the aspiring to such is the highest purpose of the human soul.’

  ‘Who was it that brought you to the Tao? You never told me,’ Ying Mei said softly, her eyes wide.

  ‘It was … one called Dao Pa. I don’t know where he came from, or where he went, but I’ll never forget him or his words.’

  Marius stirred impatiently. ‘Damn it all, this is all getting a mite too solemn for me. I want we should drink – to us! To us as came through so much together!’

  CHAPTER SIXTY-THREE

  Nicander stared out over the water in a deep depression. He’d not had a chance to see Ying Mei alone and the talk at the dinner before they sailed had brought something into focus that was a dire threat to their future together.

  He was living a lie. This mission was not the noble one of seeking truths for the Emperor of Byzantium, it was the grubby and shameful stealing of the secret of silk from the land of her birth. And when they arrived and it was revealed that they were the perpetrators …

  The very thing that had set them on their way in this venture, that had served to bring them together, would in the end be the means of destroying their love.

  It was now the third day since they had left Trebizond and she had kept to her cabin. Had Tai Yi’s talk of setting up a residence swayed her? Why had she not even explained her feelings to him? Perhaps she had decided to end their relationship but was reluctant to tell him.

  He had taken to seeking the very nose of the ship, the rearing curve at the stem and the solitude to be found there.

  Astern, to the east, was the dawn and the blossoming day; ahead to the west, was the dying day, sunset and darkness. Was this a sign, a metaphor for his fated destiny?

  Wrapped in his anxieties he didn’t hear her come up. ‘Ni K’ou – not you too! It’s really so unfair.’

  He swung around.

  ‘You’ve been queasy with the sea? I’ve been so unwell these last three days I couldn’t face anybody. Tai Yi is still lying down, poor thing.’

  ‘So you weren’t …?’

  ‘And now I’m better – and feeling quite hungry, I have to say. How long is it to Constantinople do you think?’

  She was looking so beautiful with her rosy cheeks and the light wind playing with wisps of her hair. It brought a catch to his throat.

  And she was standing uncomfortably close.

  ‘Oh, the captain says after two more sunsets,’ Nicander tried to say matter-of-factly.

  ‘That’s wonderful!’ she exclaimed, then turned grave. ‘It doesn’t leave us much time to plan, does it?’

  ‘Plan?’ he gulped.

  ‘Don’t be a silly, Ni K’ou!’ she teased. ‘We’re to be wed – or had you forgotten?’

  The clouds of gloom and anxiety fled. She still wanted him! Nothing else mattered!

  His grip on the rail tightened as he fought an overwhelming urge to hug and kiss her – but then, like an accusing ghost of the past, came the one thing that could and did matter, the secret he had kept from her, which he could do nothing to prevent coming out in just a few days’ time.

  The only choice left to him was whether she found out from others – or he told her himself.

  ‘Ying Mei, Callista. I think we should talk.’

  She picked up that this was not to be light chit-chat and tensed. ‘If you say
so, Ni K’ou.’

  ‘I have to tell you something. About myself. It’s only fair I reveal it now, before we’re … married.’

  She said nothing, her serious expression deepening.

  ‘I … I’m not who you think I am. I’ve done something that I’m very ashamed of and now …’

  It all came out. Their mission had not been a sacred one. They had been sent by the Emperor, true, but for a quite different purpose – the stealing from China of its most valuable secret; the idea had been his in the first place and the expedition funded on his plans.

  ‘They’re in our box,’ he said in a low voice. ‘Protected and sealed in a secret compartment under the holy scriptures. This is why Marius is so excited, we’re probably going to be very rich indeed. You see, before we were very poor and low people and now …’

  He stopped at the confusion and bewilderment on her face. He couldn’t blame her if now …

  ‘Ni K’ou – I don’t understand.’

  ‘I’m so very sorry to have deceived you, Ying Mei.’

  ‘No, no, not that. What is it you are trying to tell me? I-I …’ she trailed off uncertainly, searching his face.

  ‘Don’t you see?’ he said. ‘We’ve stolen the secret of silk. Nobody in Byzantium knows how to make silk and now they will. It will take all the profit from China and—’

  ‘This is what you are telling me? That you’re a bad man because you brought silk eggs out of China?’ She looked incredulous. ‘Only this? Tell me Ni K’ou, please!’

  ‘Why, yes. Isn’t this an evil enough thing to do to China?’

  She shook her head in disbelief then broke into a delighted smile. ‘My dear Ni K’ou, no! Never! I cannot thank you enough. You’ve given me such a precious gift – you’ve given me revenge on the beast who did all that to my father!’

  Tears sprang while Nicander tried to make sense of it all.

  ‘You see, at one stroke you’ve cut off the riches he makes from sending silk on the caravans. It’s a terrible blow to him, for it’s the major part of his tax revenue. Now he won’t be able to pay his army to attack and plunder and they’ll turn on him!’