"The Khan." "Forget him." "Brilliant." "It's brilliant." "Genghis." "He never did it with horses." "Do you think the Christians had better luck finding the Latins?" "I don't care." "Niccolò is their burden." "We outnumber them two to one." "The whites wanna fight us?" "They best hope Jesus comes to their rescue." "How did we get here?" " Father?" " One bad choice after another." "That's what got us here, isn't it?" "We face down what's in front of us." "Win the Kurultai." "Avoid war." "That's our mission." "What in God's name is that?" "The Khan is here!" "Sound the alarm!" "Sound the goddamn alarm!" "The black powder!" "The black powder!" "Sound the alarm!" "Sound the alarm!" "Run!" "Run!" "Run!" "Get away from there!" "Run!" "We have to go." "Hyah!" "Where's your father?" "He escaped back to his men." "Good." "Let him burn with them." "A Mongol without a horse... is like a hawk without wings!" "The bodies of those mighty mares may burn in the fire below." "But their noble souls look down on each and every one of you... from the Eternal Blue Sky above." "They look down, and they demand their sacrifice was not in vain." "Ride down there and prove it!" "Attack!" "Hyah!" "Niccolò!" "You've returned." "By the grace of God." " What are your orders?" " We fight back." "You must leave." "What?" "Ride back to Karakorum." "Your betrayal has been uncovered." "You must win at the Kurultai." "It's the only way." "It ends here." "One rules, one dies." "If you die, it's over." "Do you understand?" "We'll make Genghis proud, Father." "Go!" "Let's go." "Jingim." "Cousins." "Stop dancing, Prince... and fight me!" "Attack!" "How does your Chinese god look to you now?" "Go!" "This is over!" "You don't have to die tonight." "Come with me." "Come home." "Kaidu?" "We're searching." "And Nayan?" "I had to make a choice." "I chose my faith." "What god asks you to choose between himself and your blood?" "Then asks you to turn my son against me?" "Your son?" "Ahmad." "You don't know?" "It was not I who recruited Kaidu, nor was it Kaidu who came to see me." "It was Ahmad that brought us together." "Who brought all of this together." "Your Vice Regent." "Your son... as you call him." " I am..." " Dead." "As it should be." "You were given choice in life." "I give you the honor to choose how you wish to leave it." "Take a regiment." "Lead them." "Find Ahmad." "Whatever it takes, just bring him to me." " It is done, my Khan." " Mmm." "Thank you, my son." "Kublai, the baby is coming." " The baby comes now?" " Early." "Two moons early." "So, even this may end terribly." "You are a man of many faces, Kublai." "But to mope and moon with self-pity is not the Kublai I know." "Or wish to." "Forgive me for not knowing the proper remedy." "My first sampling of betrayal by a son." "Try this for remedy." "Tend to your other son." "The one on the brink of fatherhood himself." "Wash up, get dressed." "Pretend if you must... but go to Jingim, and show him you still care about the future of this family." "No!" "No!" "What is it, my child?" "She refuses the calming herbs." " Her heart beat is rapid?" " Very rapid." "Don't speak of me as though I'm not here... or don't exist." "She's fighting her instincts, and hurting the child." "I am not!" "Stop." "Stop fighting." "Breathe." "Breathe." "In and out." "There you go." "It's too early, Mother." "It's too early." "This is how babies are born." "Early or not, it is time." "No." " It's too soon." " Look at me." "I'm here." "Just listen to me one last time." "Yes?" "What did she say?" "Tell me what to do." "You are going to have to start to push." "You were an impatient child." "Why should your offspring be any different?" "Do you remember on my wedding night when you said you hadn't any secrets to share on marriage?" "Was this before or after the wine?" "Remarkably, you seem to have even less to offer on childbirth." "May I?" "Of course." "My feelings have never swung so wildly before." "Not even in battle." "I've heard some call that fatherhood." "The Khan?" "In seclusion?" "Still." "We can't blame him." "He won the battle at the cost of a son." "And the Khan's impatience for gain is rivaled only by his sluggishness with which he handles loss." "Well, his heir is coming." "With or without him." "I take all comers." "Push." "No." "It hurts, it hurts, it hurts!" "We know, child." "Be prepared to push again." "Good girl." "In and out... in and out." "And now push!" "It doesn't feel right." " Push." " Now, push!" "You're very close." "Something feels wrong." "I know." "I remember this." " You do?" " Yes." "The hardest part is at the end." "You must relax, take deep breaths, and make it easy for the baby." "All right." "When you feel the pain again, you must push." "I feel it!" "I feel it, I feel it." "Again, push!" "I see the head!" "Next." "Preferably someone that can see... and isn't Latin." "You nervous?" " Very." " You should be." "Fatherhood is nothing to take lightly." "And yet there are few joys in life as complete as the welcoming of your first child." "Even a girl." "Of course, if it is a boy... life is far more blessed." "The future secured, everyone happy." "But, son or daughter... that baby is born of you." "Your seed, your blood, your heart." "Thank you, Father." "Your words give me strength." "Kaidu understands this." "Love of one's child is sacred." "Kaidu understands many things." "The world gets bigger... you open your arms wider." "Is that not the Genghis way?" "You let in the outsiders, with their sad eyes and wounded hearts." "The orphaned, the abandoned." "Let them in your home." "Learn from them, yes... but raise and love them." "Offer them all the magic the whole world has to offer." "Then they fuck you." "Oaths?" "Meaningless." "Love in their eyes, worthless." "Heart they promise you... will never be." "You did it." "What is it?" "You did it." "Is it a boy?" "It's a healthy girl." "She's healthy." "That matters." "What is it?" "It hurts." "It hurts!" "There is another." " Another?" " Yes." "It comes now!" "Don't let it out!" "Girl or boy, once it's out, you're finished." "Marco." "I want Marco." "Oh, they'll stare, plead..." "Love mixed with awe, and mixed with coquetry, and mixed with an insatiable, festering need." "Need of a home, need of a father, need of a fucking place in the world." "Give them all of this, then more, and then what do they do?" "They scurry back to their dubious relations, despite their meager characters that lack entirely of heart." " Father?" " Great Khan..." "Blood protects blood." "To the detriment of the very oath they've sworn to." " May we speak, sire?" " Kaidu knows." "Knows what?" "The worthiest of strangers can be nothing more but eventual deceptors, betrayers, and ultimately, traitors." "What news?" "A healthy girl." "And Kokachin?" "She is well, but another comes." " Another?" " Is it a boy?" "I must go back." "Master Polo... a word?" "You have word for him and not for me?" "I just gave you word." "Celebrate your daughter." "Do not concern yourself with insignificant things." "Perhaps she needed help setting water to boil." "Get out." "Joyfully." "Is there something to which I am not aware?" "Obviously." "No!" "No!" " Push!" " No!" "No!" "You must promise me something." "Anything." "You must always come when I call." "Of course." "Of course." "Always." "Not only for me... but for them as well." "I will, yes." "I promise." "Promise me, Nergüi." "I promise you, Nergüi." "Your word is all I have." "It's all you ever need." "It doesn't matter." " It doesn't matter?" " No." " I feel like a fool." " You're no fool." "The Latin is with my wife as she births my child." "It doesn't matter." "You're son to the Khan." "No round-eyed Latin is gonna make you a fool." "We'll deal with him when the time is right." "Good." "Good." "You're doing good." "Keep pushing, my daughter." "Father." "Brother." " Ahmad's in Cambulac." " He hides in plain sight?" "In a way." "And why doesn't his scalp hang from your belt?" "Because he's seized the city in your name." "Thousands are gathered, stuck on the outskirts." "No one allowed in, no one allowed out." "He has sealed the walls." " A coup." " No." "The army believes they act on the Khan's orders." "Ahmad's convinced them you gave him the authority." "I gave him all the authority." "He's my Vice Regent." "He controls the army." "And he's cut all lines of communication." "There's nothing to contradict his orders." "Except me." "I'll leave." "Show myself, order them to stand down." "The Kurultai..." "Fuck the Kurultai!" "Ahmad's stolen my throne, my city..." "Kaidu only needs one vote to win in your absence." "What if that's his plan?" "Draw you away from your chieftains, defeat you fairly by the laws of the land." "Ahmad has defied you." "He has committed the most heinous acts of treason, yes." "But he has not stolen your throne." "You are still the Khan of Khans." "I'll go." "I will defeat him in your name." "I will show your people that the Vice Regent is not your son and never was." "That he was never made of what you are." "But I am." "Your eyes are my eyes." "Your hands are my hands." "I speak the truth with your voice." "I will rally the army." "I will pacify the people." "And they will know, as will the chieftains, that this House of Tolui, this bloodline, is strong and worthy." "A boy." "Healthy baby boy." "A boy." "We have a boy." "You did it." "You will go with Jingim." "Yes, sire." "Take back the throne." "Take back the city." "Find Ahmad, rip his heart out from his body, and bring it to me." "Until she is ready." "Marco." "He is perfect." "He's not." "The baby's not Jingim's." "I want to see my children." "A boy and a girl." "What a gift." "I am so proud of you." "Do you not wish to hold him?" "She's much weakened by the labor." "Perhaps it is time for your father to meet his heir." "I knew you would come." "I knew... always." "We meet the Kurultai with a true symbol of hope." "Now you must go, my son." "What is this?" "Ahmad." "Has been found?" "Father." "Your service is complete." "Your service is complete." "Blood only."