Wolf Of The Plains Part 26

"You can still fight?" Temujin asked.

Yuan's voice was strained as he spat a reply. "Try me."

Temujin chuckled at the anger he saw. The man had great courage and Temujin clapped him on the back. He peered closer at the hole left by the arrow.

"The tunic of silk has not torn," he said, fingering the spot of blood.

"It is a very strong weave," Yuan replied. "I have seen wounds where the silk was carried deep into the body without being holed."

"Where can I find shirts of it?" Temujin murmured.

Yuan looked at him. "Only in the Chin cities."

"Perhaps I will send for some," Temujin said. "Our own boiled leather does not stop arrows as well as this. We can make use of your armor." He turned to Togrul, who still stood in shock at what he had witnessed. "The Kerait have a forge? Iron?"

Togrul nodded mutely and Temujin looked at Arslan.

"Can you make this armor?"

Arslan stood to inspect Yuan as Temujin had, pulling the arrow from where it had lodged and examining the torn square of gray metal. The lacquer had fallen away in flakes and the metal had buckled before allowing the arrow through. Under the pressure of Arslan's fingers, the last of the st.i.tching fell away and it came free in his hand.

"We could carry replacements," Arslan said. "This one cannot be used again." Yuan's eyes followed the broken piece of iron as Arslan moved it. His breathing had steadied and Temujin could not help but be impressed by the man's personal discipline.

"If we stay with the Kerait for five days, how many sets can I have?" Temujin said, pressing him.

Arslan shook his head as he thought. "These thin iron plates are not difficult to forge, though each one must be finished by hand. If I leave them rough and have helpers in the forge and women to sew them..." He paused to think it through. "Perhaps three, maybe more."

"Then that is your task," Temujin said. "If Wen Chao will lend us more from his guards, we will have a force of men the Tartars cannot kill. We will make them fear us."

Wen pursed his mouth as he considered. It was true that the first minister would send gold and horses if he asked. The court did not stint on the materials to bribe the tribes. He was not certain they would be so generous with weapons and armor. Only a fool gave away his advantages in war, for all the promises Wen had made to the young raider. If he allowed Temujin to take his men's armor, he did not doubt it would raise an eyebrow in the court if they ever heard of it, but what choice did he have? He inclined his head, forcing a smile.

"They are yours, my lord. I will have them brought to you tonight." He repressed a shudder at the thought of Temujin's men going as well armored as any soldier of the Chin. Perhaps in time he would have to court the Tartars to have them curb the Mongol tribes. He wondered if he might have extended his stay in the plains, his heart sinking at the thought.

In the gers of the Kerait the following night, Khasar cuffed his youngest brother, sending Temuge spinning. At thirteen years of age, the boy had none of the fire of his older brethren and tears sparkled in his eyes as he steadied himself.

"What was that for?" Temuge demanded.

Khasar sighed. "How is it that you are our father's son, little man?" he demanded. "Kachiun would have taken my head off if I tried to hit him like that, and he is only a couple of years older than you."

With a shout, Temuge launched himself at Khasar, only to be knocked flat as his brother cuffed him again.

"That was a little better," Khasar admitted grudgingly. "I had killed a man by the time I was your age..." He stopped, shocked to see that Temuge was sniveling, tears running down his cheeks. "You're not crying? Kachiun, can you believe this little sc.r.a.p?"

Kachiun lay on a bed in the corner of the ger, ignoring them as he applied a layer of oil to his bow. He paused at the question, looking over to where Temuge was rubbing at his nose and eyes.

"He's just a child, still," he said, returning to his task.

"I am not!" Temuge shouted, red in the face.

Khasar grinned at him. "You cry like one," he said, taunting. "If Temujin saw you like that, he'd leave you for the dogs."

"He would not," Temuge said, tears appearing in his eyes again.

"He would, you know. He'd strip you naked and leave you on a hill for the wolves to bite," Khasar continued, looking sad. "They like the young ones, for the tender meat."

Temuge snorted in disdain. "He said I could ride with him against the Tartars, if I wanted," he announced.

Khasar knew Temujin had made the offer, but he feigned amazement. "What, a little sc.r.a.p like you? Against those great hairy Tartars? They're worse than wolves, boy, those warriors. Taller than us and white-skinned, like ghosts. Some people say they are ghosts and they come for you when you fall asleep."

"Leave him alone," Kachiun murmured.

Khasar considered, subsiding reluctantly. Kachiun took his silence for a.s.sent and sat up on the bed.

"They are not ghosts, Temuge, but they are hard men and good with the bow and the sword. You are not strong enough yet to stand against them."

"You were, at my age," Temuge said.

There was a line of shining mucus under his nose, and Khasar wondered if it would drip down to the boy's mouth. He watched it with interest as Kachiun swung his legs to the floor to address Temuge.

"I could fire a bow better than you at your age, yes. I practiced every day until my hands were cramped and my fingers bled." He patted his right shoulder with his left hand, indicating the compact muscle there. It was larger than his left and writhed whenever he moved.

"It built my strength, Temuge. Have you done the same? Whenever I see you, you are playing with the children, or talking to our mother."

"I have practiced," Temuge said sullenly, though they both knew he was lying, or at least skirting the truth. Even with a bone ring to protect his fingers, he was a hopeless archer. Kachiun had taken him out many times and run with him, building his stamina. It did not seem to make the boy's wind any better. At the end of only a mile, he would be puffing and gasping.

Khasar shook his head, as if weary. "If you cannot fire a bow and you are not strong enough to use a sword, will you kick them to death?" he said. He thought the little boy might leap at him again, but Temuge had given up.

"I hate you," he said. "I hope the Tartars kill you both." He would have stormed out of the ger, but Khasar deliberately tripped him as he pa.s.sed, so that he fell flat in the doorway. Temuge ran off without looking back.

"You are too hard on him," Kachiun said, reaching for his bow again.

"No. If I hear one more time that he is such a sensitive boy,' I think I will lose my dinner. Do you know who he was talking to today? The Chin, Wen Chao. I heard them chattering about birds or something as I went by. You tell me what that was about."

"I can't, but he is my baby brother and I want you to stop nagging at him like an old woman; is that too much to ask?"

Kachiun's voice contained a little heat and Khasar considered his response. He could still win their fights, but the last few had resulted in so many painful bruises that he did not provoke one lightly.

"We all treat him differently, and what sort of a warrior is he as a result?" Khasar said.

Kachiun looked up. "Perhaps he will be a shaman, or a storyteller like old Chagatai."

Khasar snorted. "Chagatai was a warrior when he was young, or so he always said. It's no task for a young man."

"Let him find his own path, Khasar," Kachiun said. "It may not be where we lead him."

Borte and Temujin lay together without touching. With blood fresh on their mouths, they had made love on the first night of the punishment raid against the Tartars, though she had cried out in grief and pain as his weight came down on her. He might have stopped then, but she had gripped his b.u.t.tocks, holding him in her while tears streamed down her face.

It had been the only time. Since that day, she could not bring herself to let him touch her again. Whenever he came to the furs, she would kiss him and curl into his arms, but nothing more. Her monthly blood had not come since leaving the Olkhun'ut, but now she feared for the child. It had to be his, she was almost certain. She had seen the way many dogs would mount a b.i.t.c.h in the camp of the Olkhun'ut. Sometimes the puppies would show the colors of more than one of the fathers. She did not know if the same could apply to her, and she did not dare ask Hoelun.

In the darkness of an unfamiliar ger, she wept again while her husband slept, and did not know why.

Chapter 28.

TEMUJIN RUBBED ANGRILY at the sweat in his eyes. The armored cloth Arslan had made was far heavier than he had realized. It felt as if he were rolled in a carpet, and his sword arm seemed to have lost half its speed. He faced Yuan as the sun rose, seeing to his irritation how the man wore the same armor without even a trace of perspiration on his forehead.

"Again," Temujin snapped.

Yuan's eyes sparkled with amus.e.m.e.nt and he bowed before bringing his sword up. He had told them to wear the armor at all times, until it became a second skin. Even after a week on the route back to the Tartar camp, they were still too slow. Temujin forced his men to practice for two hours at dawn and dusk, whether they wore the armor or not. It slowed the progress of the sixty who had ridden out from the Kerait, but Yuan approved of the effort. Without it, the armored men would be like the turtles he remembered from home. They might survive the first arrows of the Tartars, but on the ground, they would be easy prey.

With the help of the Kerait swordsmiths, Arslan had made five sets of the plated robes. In addition, Wen had made good his promise and delivered ten more, keeping only one back for his new personal guard. Yuan had chosen the man himself, making sure he understood his responsibilities before he left.

Temujin wore one of the new sets, with the plating on a long chest piece as well as another to cover his groin and two more on his thighs. Shoulder guards reached from his neck to his elbow, and it was those that caused him the most difficulty. Time and again, Yuan simply stepped aside from blows, dodging their slow speed easily.

He watched Temujin move toward him, reading his intentions from the way he stepped. The young khan's weight was more strongly on the left foot, and Yuan suspected he would begin the blow from the low left, rising upwards. They used sharp steel blades, but so far there had been little real danger for either of them. Yuan was too much a perfectionist to cut the man in a practice bout, and Temujin never came close.

At the last second, Temujin shifted his weight again, turning the sweep into a lunge. Yuan dropped his right leg back to shift out of the way, letting the blade rasp along the scales of his own armor. He did not fear a cut without force behind it, and that too Temujin was having to learn. Many more blows could be ignored or merely turned with a little delicacy.

As the sword slid past, Yuan stepped forward briskly and brought his hilt up to touch Temujin lightly on the nose. At the same time, he let air explode from his lungs, calling "Hei!" before stepping back.

"Again," Temujin said irritably, moving before Yuan had taken position. This time he held the blade above his head, bringing it down in a chopping motion. Yuan caught the blade on his own and they came chest to chest in a clash of armor. Temujin had placed his leading foot behind Yuan's, and the soldier found himself falling backwards.

He regarded Temujin from the ground, waiting for the next strike.

"Well?"

"Well, what?" Temujin said. "Now I would plunge the sword through your chest."

Yuan did not move. "You would not. I have been trained to fight from any position." As he spoke, he kicked out with one leg, dropping Temujin neatly.

Temujin leapt up, his face strained.

"If I were not wearing this heavy armor, you would not find this so easy," he said.

"I would shoot you from far away," Yuan replied. "Or shoot your horse, if I saw that you were armored."

Temujin was in the process of raising his sword again. His wrists burned with fatigue, but he was determined to get in one solid blow before mounting up for the day's ride. Instead, he paused.

"We must armor the ponies, then, just the heads and chest."

Yuan nodded. "I have seen it done. The iron plates can be sewn into a leather harness just as easily as your armor."

"You are a skilled teacher, Yuan, have I told you?" Temujin said.

Yuan watched him carefully, knowing a sudden strike was possible. In truth, he was still amazed that Temujin did not appear to mind being beaten time and time again in front of his men. Yuan could not imagine his old officers ever allowing such a display. The humiliation would have been too much for them, but Temujin seemed unaware, or uncaring. The tribesmen were a strange breed, but they soaked up whatever Yuan could tell them about their new armor. He had even taken to discussing tactics with Temujin and his brothers. It was a new experience for Yuan to have younger men listening so intently. When he was guarding Wen Chao, he knew he existed to give his life for the amba.s.sador, or at least to kill as many enemies as he could before falling. The men who had come into the plains with him all knew their work, and rarely did Yuan have to correct them. He had found that he enjoyed the teaching.

"Once more," he heard Temujin say. "I am going to come from your left."

Yuan smiled. The last two times Temujin had thought to warn him, the attack had come from the right. It did not matter particularly, but he was amused at the attempts to cloud his judgment.

Temujin came in fast, his sword darting with greater speed than Yuan had seen before. He saw the right shoulder dip and brought his blade up. Too late to correct, he saw Temujin had followed through on the left, deliberately. Yuan could still have spoiled the blow, but he chose not to, letting the blade tip touch his throat as Temujin stood panting and exhilarated.

"That was better," Yuan said. "You are getting faster in the armor."

Temujin nodded. "You let the blade through, didn't you?"

Yuan allowed a smile to show. "When you are better still, you will know," he said.

At full gallop, Yuan looked right and left, seeing how Temujin's brothers kept the line solid. The exercises went on all day and Yuan found himself involved in solving the problems of a ma.s.sed attack. He rode with his bow strapped on his saddle, but the archery of the sixty men was not in question. Togrul had given twenty of his personal bondsmen to the group. They were fit and skilled, but they were not experienced in war and Temujin was scathing at first with them. His own raiders followed his orders with instant obedience, but the new men were always slow.

Yuan had been surprised to be given command of the left wing. The position called for a senior officer and he had expected it to go to Khasar. Certainly Khasar had thought so. Yuan had not missed the glowering looks coming his way from Temujin's brother as he rode with his own ten just inside. After the training bouts each evening, Temujin would gather them around a small fire and give his orders for the following day. It was a small thing perhaps, but he included Yuan in his council, along with Jelme and Arslan, asking a thousand questions. When Yuan could answer from experience, they listened intently. Sometimes Temujin would shake his head halfway through, and Yuan understood his reasoning. The men Temujin commanded had not fought together for years. There was a limit to what could be taught in a short time, even with ruthless discipline.

Yuan heard Temujin's horn sound two short blasts. It meant the left wing was to ride ahead of the rest of them, skewing the line. Over the pounding of hooves, Yuan shared a glance with Khasar and both groups of ten accelerated to their new position.

Yuan looked around him. It had been neatly done, and this time even Togrul's bondsmen had heard the call and responded. They were improving and Yuan felt a spark of pride in his heart. If his old officers could see him, they would laugh themselves sick. First sword in Kaifeng and here he was riding with wild savages. He tried to mock himself as the soldiers at home would have done, but somehow his heart wasn't in it.

Temujin blew a single note and the right wing moved up alongside, leaving the center behind. Yuan looked across at Kachiun and Jelme riding there, grim-faced in their armor. The riders around Temujin's brother were a little more ragged, but they dressed the line as Yuan watched, thundering forward as one. He nodded to himself, beginning to relish the battle to come.

From behind, Temujin blew a long note, falling. They slowed together, each of the officers shouting orders at the men in their groups of ten. The rugged ponies slowed to a canter, then a trot, and Temujin moved up the center group with Arslan.

Temujin rode ahead as the line re-formed, swinging his mount across to the left wing. He allowed them to catch him and Yuan saw his face was flushed with excitement, his eyes bright.

"Send the scouts on ahead, Yuan," Temujin called. "We will rest the ponies while they search."

"Your will, my lord," Yuan replied automatically. He caught himself as he turned in the saddle to two young warriors, then shrugged. He had been a soldier too long to change his habits, and in truth, he was enjoying the task of shaping the tribesmen into a battle group.

"Tayan, Rulakh, move ahead until sunset. If you see anything more than a few wanderers, ride back." By now, he knew all sixty names, forcing them to memory, a matter of personal habit. Both of the men were from Temujin's raiders. They bowed their heads as they pa.s.sed him, kicking their mounts forward. Yuan showed nothing of his hidden satisfaction, though Temujin seemed to sense it from the grin that came to his face.

"I think you have missed this, Teacher," Temujin called. "The spring is rising in your blood."

Yuan did not respond as Temujin rejoined the line. He had been two years with Wen Chao on guard duty. The oath he had given to the emperor bound him to follow any order given by a lawful authority. In his deepest heart, he acknowledged the truth of Temujin's words. He had missed the comradeship of a campaign, though the tribesmen were nothing like the men he had known. He hoped the brothers would live past the first clash of arms.

The moon was full again a month out from the Kerait. The exuberance of the first weeks had been replaced by a grim purpose. There was not so much chatter round the fires as there had been, and the scouts were on edge. They had found the site where Temujin and his brothers had seen the large group of Tartars. The blackened circles of gra.s.s brought back dark memories for the men who had been there. Kachiun and Khasar were particularly quiet as they remounted. The night they had rescued Borte had been burnt into them, too deep to forget Temujin's chant, or the burst of light they had felt as they swallowed the flesh of their enemies. They did not speak of what they had done. That night had seemed endless, but when the dawn had finally come, they had scouted the area, trying to see where the small group had been taking her. The main Tartar camp had not been far away. The last of the raiders could have reached it in a morning's ride, and Borte would have been lost for months, if not forever.

Temujin pressed his hand into the ashes of a fire and grimaced. It was cold.

"Send the scouts out wider," he said to his brothers. "If we catch them on the move, it will be quick."