Empire of Silver Read Online Free PDF Page A

Khasar said, chewing. ‘Strange-looking place, with those low walls. I could ride right over them.’
    ‘I think that is his point,’ Kachiun replied. He took a pouch of unleavened bread from another pot, waving his hand toclear the steam as he filled it with meat. Khasar looked baffled and Kachiun sighed.
    ‘We are the walls, brother. He wants people to see that he does not have to hide behind stones like the Chin. Do you understand? The tumans of our army are the walls.’
    ‘Clever,’ Khasar said, munching. ‘But he’ll build walls eventually, you watch. Give him a year or two and he’ll be adding stones. Cities make you afraid.’
    Kachiun stared at his brother, wondering if he had managed a bit of real wisdom. Khasar noticed his sudden interest and grinned.
    ‘You’ve seen it. If a man has gold, he lives with the terror that someone will take it away from him, so he builds walls around it. Then everyone knows where the gold is, so they come and take it. That’s the way it always goes, brother. Fools and gold, together.’
    ‘I never know if you think like a child or a very wise man,’ Kachiun said, filling another pouch and chewing.
    Khasar tried to say ‘wise man’ around a large mouthful and choked, so that Kachiun had to pound him on his back. They had been friends for a very long time.
    Khasar wiped tears from his eyes and took a deep breath and a swig of airag from the bulging skin.
    ‘He’ll need walls at the new moon, I should think.’
    Automatically, Kachiun looked to see if anyone could overhear them. They were surrounded by empty grass, with just their two ponies grazing nearby. Beyond them, warriors were busy in the sun, preparing for the great competition Ogedai had promised. There would be prizes of grey horses and armour for wrestlers and archers, even for those who won foot races across the plains. Everywhere they looked, men were training in groups, but there was no one loitering too close. Kachiun relaxed.
    ‘You have heard something?’
    ‘Nothing, but only a fool would expect the oath-taking to go without a hitch. Ogedai’s not a fool and he’s not a coward. He faced me when I was running wild after…’ He hesitated and his eyes grew distant and cold for a moment. ‘After Genghis died.’ He took another swig of the harsh spirit. ‘If he’d taken the oaths immediately, not a man in the tribes would have dared raise a hand to him; but now?’
    Kachiun nodded grimly.
    ‘Now Chagatai has come into his strength and half the nation wonders why he isn’t going to be khan.’
    ‘There will be blood, brother. One way or another,’ Khasar replied. ‘I just hope Ogedai knows when to be forgiving and when to cut throats.’
    ‘He has us,’ Kachiun said. ‘That is why I wanted to meet here, to discuss our plans for seeing him safe as khan.’
    ‘I haven’t been summoned to his white city for my advice, Kachiun, have you? You don’t know whether he trusts us more than anyone else. Why should he? You could be khan if you wanted. You were Genghis’ heir while his sons grew.’ Khasar saw his brother’s irritation. The camp was full of such talk and both men were tired of it, but Khasar just shrugged.
    ‘Better you than Chagatai, anyway. Have you seen him out running, with his bondsmen? So young, so virile .’
    He leaned over the edge of the cart and spat deliberately on the ground. Kachiun smiled.
    ‘Jealous, brother?’
    ‘Not of him, though I do miss being young sometimes. Now some part of me is always aching. Old wounds, old knees, that time when you completely failed to stop me getting speared in my shoulder – it all hurts.’
    ‘It is better than the alternative,’ Kachiun said.
    Khasar snorted.
    They looked round as Jebe approached, with Tsubodai. Both of Genghis’ generals were in their prime and Kachiun andKhasar shared a glance of private humour at the way they came striding confidently across the summer grass.
    ‘Tea in the pot, meat in the bowl,’ Khasar