"Genghis." "From death, Genghis travels to your dreams... to voice his great displeasure." "He does not." "Then why visit you night after night?" "To laud your actions?" "And now, the people riot." "They shut down your Chinese streets." "It is the Song that riot from grief over their Emperor." "I have torn from them their last remaining hope." "Exactly as I wished to." "We'll see how your brothers cast their votes." "Kaidu could die as well." "Die very easily." "How many elections will you run off with?" "How many opponents murdered?" "And all for what?" "That you may kill children with impunity?" "Think, my Chabi, think." " When was the last time?" " Last time what?" "Last time you did something hard?" "Something that made your delicate stomach turn?" "Something that you did not think could ever, ever be forgiven?" " Kublai..." " You did not." "Because it is only I." "I, I, I." "I took the wall, I executed my brother," "I do what must be done for our empire." "Please, Kublai..." "I don't care what you say." "I don't care what you object to." "Get out!" "At once, Sire." "I'm done listening to you!" "Done taking your advice!" "I'm done, Chabi, done!" "Then who will you listen to, my Great Khan?" "Who will you ask if Kaidu lives or dies?" " Tell me I'm wrong." " I cannot." "For weeks, he made them stare at that little boy's body until they rioted and burned their own streets." "I'm glad they took him down." "He has always heeded Ahmad over me." " It doesn't matter." " It doesn't?" "Your advice wasn't followed." "Well, don't rub it in." "Someday you'll be Khan, someone else is going to question your decision and be certain their advice was the best advice." "That's not the job of the Khan." "And what is the job, oh, wise one?" "To make a decision... forget about the outcome of other possibilities." "And who was right, and who was wrong, and... who is the brother your father most heeds." "You are the heir." "And you are most splendid, aren't you?" "This is a place of sacred training." "Not a drunk hole." "I must have fallen asleep... after the wine." "How are you upright?" "I'm a man." "I haven't quite determined what you are." "If you wish to lecture me again on drunken disillusionment..." "I don't... or care to listen to your childish outrage, or pitiful hero worship, or little-boy troubles." "It was your emperor he murdered, not mine." "Why should this upset me more than you?" "A man wishing to be unhappy finds many ways to prove his course." "And what do you wish for, Sifu?" "What is your desire that makes palatable a child's murder?" "Yes, tell us, monk." "What is it you wish?" "I have no goal, Sire, but peace." "You, with me." "Go." "Is that wise?" "We are climbing, yes?" "To the top." "May I know why?" "Word of our impending arrival?" "Hello, brother." "Yes." "We should go." "My actions proved out too severe." "Your thoughts regarding the boy might have been more correct." "We do not know whose advice was more correct," " because mine was not followed." " That is very kind, brother, but we know mine was not, because it was." "And now, weeks of needless violence have ensued as outcome." "Perhaps this journey we can work to be as one mind." "I would like that." "So, words of advice?" "Diplomacy is your strength." "You don't need my words." "Just be yourself." "You mean the "Chinese Prince"?" "I assure you, I've been called much worse." "Give me his name." "The white devil you traveled with." "My brother sent me here as spy long before these animals shattered the wall of the Song." "I've been a prisoner ever since." "Yes." "You look like a prisoner." "The Khan also holds my daughter." "I had no choice." "I didn't know they would kill him." "I swear to you, I didn't know." "You have access still to the underground of the Song and all their resources south?" "I am the underground." "We share a common enemy." "There's much we can do for each other." "Do for you." "What if I could give you both the man and the vengeance you seek?" "Do for me and I'll do for you." "I wish to know the purpose of this climb." "To ask Tengri if Kaidu lives or dies." " Your enemy is on the steppe." " What enemy?" "Kublai travels to the heartland?" "Never." "It is he, or one of his blood." "The prince, most likely." "How do you know?" "To ask is to make obvious your ignorance." "But to accept your witchery is to trot out my smarts?" "Finally, Kublai sees my challenge must be answered." "And what of the eight heads he sent back with his bastard?" "His name is Byamba." "Will that go unanswered as well?" "Kublai made a display of strength to show he took my challenge seriously." "Whereas you display weakness by letting it pass." "I'm sure your father would do just the same." "Gather your brother." " To do what?" " Send a message." "Byamba returned with heads and so will you." "Why don't I just go to Cambulac and take Kublai's head as well?" "If only." "Go." "What do I tell Byamba?" "Go!" "Did you bring it?" "You are ready to name an heir?" "Why do you think I asked you to bring it, Mother?" "Orus will be so pleased." "Six months before you shred enough sinew for that bow, if it's gonna have the proper spring." "Worry not." "It will have explosive power." "Too bad you broke the old one." "Too bad for Arban's fat head." "Orus, get your things." "We're going." " Where?" " Now!" " You're leaving?" " We've been through this." "There's things you can't talk about with me." "Yes." "With you." "Because you don't want to know." "Patience." "Just a little longer, and then..." "We may fuck and hunt and live as we wish." "Just say goodbye, all right?" "Goodbye." "Colder today than yesterday." "Yes, Sire." "And the wind picked up." "Yes, Sire." "You call me "sire" one more time, and I'll throw you down this fucking mountain." "How have I displeased you?" "By being the yellow-livered bitch." "I've displeased you, and we both know it." "We will speak of what you saw." "You were charged with fetching the boy." "You did." "His death indicts you." "Did it never occur to you, day after day, searching the slums of the south, that I would have no choice but to kill the boy?" " It was not for me to think of." " No." "Because then you would have to distend your precious virgin sacs and shoulder the burden for the bloody outcome." "Say it!" "Speak!" "I never thought you would stoop to kill a boy." "That boy was the Emperor of China!" "Good." "He follows." "Look who it is." "It's the son of the Great Khan of Khans." "Arban of the North Horde," "Gerel of the West... we are honored that you would receive us." "The Great Kublai Khan does not come to us, or so much as invite us to him." "Instead, he dispatches his heir." "You would greet us with insults directed at royal blood?" "Vice Regent, we'd befoolish not to expect some disappointment at our arrival." "When one awaits the Great Khan, we must accept our roles as... lesser emissaries." " You take no offense at our letdown?" " None at all." "Nor do we take as treason that you've already convened with Kaidu and troubled yourself to travel to Karakorum for the honor." " We were invited." " Under somewhat false pretenses." "A hunt was all." "Somehow moldered to vote gathering." "Gentlemen." "My cousin Kaidu is a man of heart." "He means what's best for all Mongols by asking this question and forcing its answer." "Who is the rightful Khan of Khans?" "You've listened to his side." "Now I will present my father's case." "And why should we listen to you?" "My father is Khan, but he is also my father." "And no one knows a man like his son." "I can speak of him as no one else can." "A moment." "Is it possible that you enjoyed that?" "Your words were sound." "We will listen, Prince Jingim." "Your arrival is auspicious." "Tonight we enjoy a wrestling competition." "My cousin, Ganzorig, has long been undisputed victor." "Unlike your father." "We wondered if you care to enter the competition." "I would be most honored." "You climb a mountain to ask Tengri of the death of Kaidu... but you execute a child... against the wishes of all you've come to trust." "All?" "Who is all?" "The Empress." "My first wife and myself are as one mind, on all matters." "All and every." "But on this issue, you're not." "Nor your son, the prince." "I followed Ahmad's advice." "What?" "Is he less my son than Jingim?" " Blood is all that matters?" " Of course not." "I pick my family, and isn't it nice?" "Certainly, if you could and did, you'd have fixed upon a much better choice of father." "Or did you hold to the child's wish?" ""He had his reasons." "He meant well at heart."" "Lies we tell ourselves at night so as not to feel in our souls like the shit of pigs." "I owe my father a debt of gratitude." "He was a pig shit and he knew it." " I tell myself no lies about my father." " No." "Only lies about yourself." "He shows himself." "Don't move." "Don't blink." "Don't show your teeth." "You can't retreat." "You can't attack." "You have to stare down the wolf." "It will be dark soon." "Yes." " Good day, Batbayer." " Good day, My Lady." "Her leg is much improved." "You have a way with the mares." "I'm pleased to hear so, My Lady." "And I am very grateful." "What did we say about riding... in your condition?" "I'm in no condition." "I ride to soothe my terrible disappointment." "Well, I have just the thing to cheer you." "I'm glad they took him down." "Thoughts on brighter things." " Yes, Mother." " For the baby." "Yes, Mother." " But, as I said, there is no baby." " Yet." "There will be a baby, Princess Kokachin." "We will see to it." " We?" " Both of us." "Yes, Mother." "They are innocent." "Be grateful you are not." "Innocence in all things is beautiful and terrible." "Where did you send Khutulun?" " Byamba..." " Where did you send her?" "Byamba." "So many secrets." "Small price to pay for the love of a good woman." "And there's no better woman on earth than my daughter." " I meant no disrespect." " Didn't you?" "The gerege of the House of Ögödei." "I'm giving it to Khutulun when I tell her she's my heir." "But Orus?" "She rides as well, fights as well, hunts as well, if not better." "You're a smart and bold warrior, Byamba." "Who would you choose?" "Just think... after a lifetime in Cambulac as the bastard's son." "What an honor." "Husband to the first female Mongol Khan." "What is the price of that?" "You wish to walk the fire?" "I do not." "But I do wish to know how Father does it." "No mystery." "He simply walks." "Why doesn't he burn?" "Is he pure of heart?" "No man who leads is pure of heart." "Will that be the watchword at your first Kurultai?" "I will win based on looks and strength alone." "Looks, strength, and dumber than goat shit." "Better start learning your words of Genghis." "Do you suppose it's possible to be both pure of heart and impure at the same time?" "To order men to death is not the work of the unclouded." "Is that what it is to be leader?" "Ordering men to death?" "You might do well finding ways to avoid it." "A woman's way." "You only call me female when there's no other way to say I'm wrong." "Either way, I'm a far better choice than our Chinese Prince." "Take him down." "Get him." "What will you tell your father, I wonder, of our warm hospitality?" "And our great goodwill and eagerness to pamper a royal guest?" "Should one ever deign to come to us." "A magnificent feast." "We thank you for your incredible generosity." "Ganzorig!" "Any more advice?" "Sometimes a draw is as good as a victory." "I'm sure you know that certain foods, certain delicacies, assist greatly with the goal of pregnancy." "Are they pleasant?" "No." "Are they sumptuous?" "No, but... we can eat or be eaten." "The Kurultai fast approaches." "Yes, I know." "Do you also know that it is imperative for Jingim to have an heir before then?" "You will swell, Blue Princess... or the Great Khan will surely lose." "I would do anything for my Khan." "Beautiful... and terrible." "Great Khan, you should rest." "We can make camp." "I will keep watch." "I wish not for rest." "He waits for me in my dreams." "Genghis and his fucking words." ""Conquering the world is less an art than conquering a man."" "That's what he says." "Is he saying, in some ways, the wall meant nothing?" "The wall I took?" "The one that stayed beyond Genghis's reach?" "What he's saying is, outcomes good or bad... in war times or peace, a leader can never, ever come out on top." "Kaidu thinks he craves this, the yoke of command... burden of responsibility." "As a child, he pissed himself at thunder!" "He cannot do the hard thing, the necessary thing." "And you know why, oh, pale one?" "Because, like most men, he lacks the strength of heart and mind to bear the consequence." "Just like you." "You don't wish to carry the consequence of finding the boy and bringing him back." "And you don't have to because you have me to blame, to indict." "A living, breathing pin cushion for the sins of all and everyone!" "What Kaidu doesn't know, Latin, what no man knows, is sometimes that's all there is to being Khan." "Terrible things you're required to do, even and especially when you don't want to." "I say without shame, it gave me no pleasure to kill that boy." "No pleasure at all." "Sire, stay back." "Stare back at him." "Don't look away." "Don't move." "You see?" "You see?" "We stared him down." "Let's go home." "What about Tengri and Kaidu?" "I think Tengri has spoken." "We cannot name you victor since most... or all your moves were forbidden." "Of course." "But... you did show admirable bravery and honorable honorableness in gamesmanship." "And a man such as this is, perhaps, not the son of a thief." "You'll meet with my father?" "If he comes to Xanadu." "His summer palace, where we can meet as nomads on Mongol soil." "Not in China, inside his Chinese walls." "If he meets us there, we will hear him out." "Safe travels." "If it's all right, Sire, I will retire to my quarters." "No, it's not all right." "You will come with me to the throne room." " Now?" " You question me?" "Only that there might be sense to sleep." "No." "We have urgent business." "My husband." "My wife." "Let me have a hot bath prepared." "I have matters to see to." "Oh, so you have decided." "And what did Tengri say of Kaidu's fate?" "Do not bother yourself, wife, with such matters of state." "You share with this foreigner, but not with me?" "This foreigner saved my life." "Even when he didn't want to." "Even when he thought my life was worth nothing." "His heart proved out." "He did a hard thing." "Genghis was born with his destiny ordained by heaven above." "He was descended from Börte Üjin... whose name means "blue-gray wolf."" "It was Genghis who founded the Secret Order of the Mongol Knights... picked from the sons of his most loyal generals." "My grandfather's personal guard." "His agents." "His keshig." "But on rare occasions, men of lower blood but of Mongol heart, have achieved rank in the keshig order." "Do you wish to believe in blood, Marco?" "Or something bigger than that?" "Marco Polo, you have proven of great worth to me." "This I wish you to know as truth." "And that is why, by the blood of Genghis and under the Eternal Blue..." "I conscript you into the Order of the Mongol Knights." "You will need the courage of a warrior... and the loyalty of a son." "Wear it." "Walk with me always." "You honor me, Great Khan." "Hmm." "What are your plans for Kaidu?" "We will stare him down." "Protect the prince!" "Protect the prince!" "Protect the prince!" "Protect the prince!" "Your life is in our hands, Prince." "We can get you anytime." "I expected more from you." "You shouldn't have." "Come on." "How dare you?" "Shut your mouth." "You can address me as "Vice Regent."" "Orus!" "Come on." "I can address you as "Sand Worshipper."" "Or "Bastard." Or "Lackey to a fat and useless Khan."" "They got us this time, Ahmad." "Come on." "Let's go." "One more." "Is it punishment enough, I wonder... trying to kill my beloved?" "No, my Emperor." "How does it feel?" "Delivering your Emperor to death?" "My great, great Emperor... stands before me." "Suck my cock." "With pleasure." "Keep lying." "It suits you." "What's wrong?" "What happened?" "My sweet girl." "It is time to see if you really meant it." "You would do anything for your Khan." "Just look at me." "Look at me." "In my eyes." "Just look at me." " Mother." " Just look at me!" "Mother, please." "Shh!" "Shh!" "The child will not have full royal blood." "Actually... the child will have no royal blood."