"The troops are quartered." "Burial preparations are underway for those we were able to retrieve." "I have ordered scouting parties to sweep the grasslands a week's ride away in case Sidao is... audacious enough to siege Cambulac." "Finally, we are conscripting new troops from the north." "I have begun preparations for training." "I fear they may be less compliant now, but we shall do what is necessary to bend the willful." "My Lord." "Is that truly all?" "Do you not wish to discuss your counsel?" "And my disregard of it?" "The Polo matter, are you prepared to proceed?" "Master Marco, in his infinite wisdom and compassion, the Khan of Khans grants you a final audience to plead for mercy." "I will not plead for mercy." "But I will defend myself." "May I seek clarity as to the charges levied against me?" "Treason." "I take no pleasure in this, Master Marco." "But it seems great misfortune has descended upon our kingdom on your arrival." "I did not choose to remain here." "I chose to be released to my father." "Your time in the Kochkor region." "Your ability to enter and leave without repercussion." "And do you suspect Byamba, son of the Khan, to have blood on his hands?" "We traveled side by side." "Is that accurate, Byamba?" "Were you always at the Latin's side on your journey?" "I was asked to be here and I came." "But you cannot compel me to be party to this." "No, we were not side by side." "There was a point where he was negotiating for my life while I sat captive, preparing to die." "And if I remember, you sent the Latin with me on my journey." "After he convinced me to do so." "How does your body stand straight without a spine?" "Xiangyang." "The loss." "Your journey there." "Your time with the whore's whore-friend." "Sanctioned by the Khan of Khans." "You alerted the Song to our pending attack." "You conspired to lead us into the slaughter." "What need would they of warning?" "They knew we were descending at a week's distance." "As to the wall..." "I am guilty." "I founder in the blood of the thousands who perished for my error." "I have no defense." "But right or wrong, I have done nothing but serve my captor and Khan." "And only him?" "Yes." "Is that all?" "Nothing you have presented is punishable by the laws of the Khan of Khans." "I had this translated." "Would you care to share with the Khan the words that you keep so closely to your still-beating heart?" ""All kings shall fall before him."" ""All kings... shall fall before him."" "It was a gift." "From father to son?" "Yes." "A verse from the scriptures of a religion welcomed, like all the others, within the walls of Cambulac." "A faith with designs on our kingdom." "I know nothing of that." "But I do believe you have designs on the Vatican." "What of it?" "Respectfully, Lord Khan... we reap what we sow." "You speak recklessly." "I speak honestly." "You deserve honesty." "You believe I should not conquer the West?" "On the contrary, Lord Khan." "The most common law of nature and of man... is to take what has been mandated by God or by the swords and arrows you command." "You claim both." "But you must be prepared for the resistance of the lionhearted." "And the West is not weak." "Have you nothing more to say to champion your cause?" "It seems my end is guaranteed no matter what words I sound." "Indeed." "Mmm." "The Imperial Seal is yours, Chancellor." "And with it, the dynasty." "Chancellor... even still?" "Unless your birthright has altered." "The Seven Families are arriving." "Songs of your victory have carried far and wide." "How you eviscerated the Mongol horde, body and soul." "They are prepared to pledge their fealty to the Emperor." "They're going to want to see the boy." "That is assured." "No one truly believes the boy guides his own hand." "Yet the sheep elevate him." "I must stand behind him." "A wise tactic, my Chancellor." "I suppose I couldn't simply imprint this on his skull and float him down the Yangtze?" "Tell me your name." "You need not fear me." "It is Judar, my Princess." "You may call me Kokachin." "No, Princess." "Do you defy me?" "In this, I do." "If you defy this simple request, how am I to know you will not defy a greater one?" "The truest of servants knows our needs better than we do." "Leave us." "I was your age when I was promised to Kublai." "It was terrifying." "I knew he would be Khan even if he himself did not." "At the time..." "I felt as if I was unworthy, that a mistake had surely been made and at a moment's notice someone would unveil me as a fraud." "It was not until Kublai's mother gifted me this, the finest of silks, to be woven into my presentational gown, that I knew it was true." "I kept what remained to one day gift to a daughter of my own." "It is lovely." "A mere reflection of the beauty who wears it." "I also come to pay condolences and to inquire as to your heart." "I lost a good friend." "Your only friend, if I recall." "I hope it's no longer the case, my Queen." "If you speak of me... speak with certainty." "I'm afraid loss has infected the kingdom of late." "With more on the horizon." "So I've heard." "You've heard?" "The Latin is to be executed." "At dawn." "A seamstress will pay you a visit shortly." "Master Polo." "I came to inquire as to your state of mind." "My thanks for your concern, Jingim." "Prince." "Prince Jingim." "I know this seems unjust, and it's hard for you to see, sitting where you are." "But understand... that this is entirely for the good of the kingdom." "Do you hunt?" "In our culture, your first hunt, as in many things in life, is a very lonely enterprise." "You're cast into the wilderness with nothing more than a bow and an arrow and instructed not to return without meat." "For the kingdom." "It can take a day, a week." "Some never return." "What do you think is the most vital trait for the hunter to possess?" "Please, Jingim, do not mar my final hours." "Patience." "I saw its horns first." "Grand, stretching to the heavens and catching the morning light." "A mighty trophy." "I set my arrow, took aim." "He was gone." "But I had a feeling about him... and so I waited another night." "It was so cold, I wanted to run home." "A handful of kills passed me by." "I could have slain them all, returned triumphant, dipped my finger in the fat of the kill, been deemed a man and slept in my own bed." "But I waited." "As I felt the sun warm me the next morning... there it was, passing between the trees." "My father was so proud." "Patience." "Patience to ensure that true aim finds the true target." "An innocent target, whose offense was crossing paths at the wrong time," "with the wrong person." "Death." "Another lonely enterprise." "May your God accompany you, Master Polo." "You will need it more than I." "Let us not build strife where none should exist." "Pride and hope have filled the coffers of the people's spirits." "Those coffers were never depleted." "You simply convinced yourself otherwise to support your own machinations." "Why am I your enemy when you're the one prepared to bury our culture in history's potter's field?" "The landed gentry of the south prepare to meet." "Are these the same landed gentry whose land you stripped against my husband's wishes not long ago?" "The proceeds from the fields helped fund our defenses." "And each now pledges their support for an assault on Cambulac." "My compliments, Jia Sidao." "Insincerity still." "I am nothing but sincere." "You set out to undermine the council and retain the chancellorate." "Fang Zhen fell." "You sought to repel the Mongol horde and masterfully lured them into a hornet's nest of sharpened steel." "You wish to gather Southern China into one indomitable force and gird them for the final unification." "I have no doubt you will succeed in that as well." "But you will do so without the support you are about to ask of me." "How might I convince you of the folly of your decision?" "Stop tinkering with that and look at me." "There is nothing you might say or do." "Ever." "I assumed that would be your answer." "Very well." "I shall go it alone." "Yet again." "You need the Emperor in order to accomplish your final design." "You cannot lock me away from him forever." "My dear Empress..." "I never considered that an option." "You're here to defend him?" "Lord Khan, years ago, you took my eyes." "Today..." "I offer you the rest of me." "What do you speak of?" "If the boy is culpable as you say, and I have no reason to doubt the Khan's good judgment on such matters, then I am equally culpable." "You entrusted the Latin to me." "I trained him, fought beside him." "How can you not believe me complicit?" " Get out!" " Lord Khan..." "Guards!" "Escort the monk out of my sight." "Do not allow him to return." " Where do you intend to go?" " The Ministry of Justice." " For what purpose?" " None of your concern." "My apologies, but you may not leave, Princess." "Pardon me?" "I cannot allow you to leave." "You're my servant." "As well as your defender." "Whom do you take orders from?" "The Blue Princess commands me as dictated by the Great Khan." "You had best remember that." "Stand aside!" "Empress Chabi has instructed that you remain in your quarters." " Until?" " We receive further orders." "Hello, Ling Ling." "I appreciate your regard, child, but sit with me." "You're beyond your years in grace and training." "Regrettably, that is found far too infrequently in children your age." "My thanks, My Lady." "When I was a young girl, my mother told me it was as if I had been raised by wild yaks, spitting and kicking everyone around me." "How are you feeling?" "My feet hurt less, My Lady." "Good news." "How are you finding your time in Cambulac?" "I enjoy it greatly." "You miss your home?" "Your family?" "Tell me of your mother." "To have a daughter such as yourself, she must be lovely." "She is." "She's a dancer." "A dancer?" "Does she dance for you?" "For my father." "I am quite sure he enjoys that." "She was his favorite." "His favorite?" "Did your father have many dancers?" "Does your father still live?" "Did your father sit on a throne?" "We own Chinese royalty?" "That's more precious than anything that surrounds us in this moment." "The question is, how best to use it?" "We own nothing." "The daughter rightfully does not trust me." "The mother less so." "Her mother's like a wounded animal, desperate for kindness." "One which will lick your hand simply to get a taste before biting." "Some men pay good coin for such pleasures." "I wonder sometimes about that mind of yours." "Clear in intent, Lady Empress." "Then be intent on this matter." "To tame an animal, it must fear the raising of your hand." "I may be just ahead of you at this moment." "How so?" "I planted a seed in the mother's head that her daughter is... closer than she first envisioned." "I imagine it may have sprouted as a weed." "Hmm." "I value your friendship, Sifu." "As I have stated time and again, I am not your friend." "Far from it." "I know you wish to believe that, but you cared for me, taught me, protected me." "What would you call that, if not friendship?" "An onerous burden." "In few hours' time, that burden will be lifted." "And I will have lost a friend." "Is there no escape?" "From you leaving this mortal body?" "Yes." "None." "Unless you can find something to gift to him that is more valuable than your life." "Why?" "She missed your father so much." "Sometimes, hearts are broken and they cannot be pieced together again." "Will mine break?" "No... because you do not need her." "You do not need me or anyone." "You need only this." "What do you see?" "A bug." "You're most correct, but it is so much more." "This mantis that I give to you was one of 300 nymphs, babies... about this big." "Imagine that, 300." "The strongest among them kill the weakest among them until the very best are left." "A mere handful." "Now, this mantis will leave this life within 10 months of today." "You must take this time as an opportunity to learn everything you can." "To study, to practice, to absorb all the lessons of the mantis, for there are many." "Patience, speed, adaptability, ruthlessness." "The traits of a warrior king." "Heed my words, my Emperor... and you will become as the mantis." "Judar?" "Yes, Princess?" "Fetch me some sandalwood for my bath." "Yes, Princess." "What are your thoughts?" "I do not know." "Is it my doing?" "Are you frustrated with me?" "No." "No, never." "I need you here." "I am." "Why am I not relieved?" "You are sensitive to the grief of others, no matter their transgressions." "Every breath the Latin takes is a burden on your soul." "At sun's light... you will find relief." "Did I introduce a curse into our bed?" "You are the son of a Khan... a Khan in waiting." "The fault rests with me and me alone." "Do not make your presence known." "I wanted you to see that she lives." "As you wished." "She will always be here, under my watchful eye, under my tutelage." "I will care for her as my own." "Look at her, remember her." "You will never see her again." "But if you do what I say, when I say it, you can be secure in the knowledge that her days will stretch long before her." "Come now." "What is the benefit of being a princess if your lord requires you to perform your own labor?" "We will do the same to our children one day." "Where are your belongings?" "I looked for what I should pack and realized everything I need is here." "In a week's time, we will be home." "Is this as foreign to you as it is to me?" "More so." "Do you think we will ever settle into it?" "I hope not." "Minister." "Is this what you summoned me down here for?" "You oversee war." "And I am going to tell you how to win it." "Thank you for coming." "Do you think I would deny a dying man an audience?" "I know nothing of you." "In this, you are at a decided advantage." "Your journal." "It is most enlightening when one has unfettered access inside a person's thoughts." "Warrantless access." "To be fair, you were an enigma." "One that had grown close to my Khan." "You could have sat with me prior to my last night of life... and asked." "I am certain you would not have granted me the insight I required." "But..." "I procured the journal prior to your writing of one curiosity." "What made you cease your attempts at escape?" "Was it her?" "Under the circumstances, you need not hold your tongue." "Partially." "Significantly." "But not entirely." "Tell me." "The walled Phoenician city of Tyre." "It defied Alexander for 13 long years." "Built on an island, Tyre was walled to the sea, an insurmountable fortress that was key to all of Persia." "He attempted to breach the walls using common instruments of war, arrows, battering rams, catapults." "But three dozen men are needed to load and fire one." "Alexander employed... the trebuchet, a siege engine powered not by men but by a counterweight." "Imagine the weight of 6,000 pounds on one end and a 300-pound rock set on the other." "Imagine firing 1,000 in a single day." "Imagine what even three of these engines could do to the walls of Xiangyang." "And at a distance that keeps the army safe from archers." "Correct." "Altruism still?" "Even in the face of your execution?" "Not purely." "I'm not afraid to die... but I'm terrified to do so while branded a traitor." "What is the entirety you spoke of earlier?" "What else made you stay?" "The moment the Khan gave me the choice to deliver my father from death." "He is a good man." "Grandfather, why couldn't you have taken that?" "Why couldn't you have taken that wall?" "My Emperor, these men are all that remain of the Red Lotus." "Traitors within the kingdom determined to undermine the Emperor's mission, determined to destroy the Emperor and his dynasty." "They are your enemy." "They are weak." "They must be punished." "What does the strong mantis do to its weaker brothers and sisters?" "Kill them." "Hmm." "A catapult?" "Waste of my time." "Lord Khan, with respect, this may very well be the key..." "The key to Xiangyang, finally!" "If only my Vice Regent had attained this key years ago!" "Some magical solution?" "Why did you bring this to me when I know you crave my failure?" "If that is what you believe, then you have not been listening to anything..." "Enough of your insolence!" "You... beg for my pardon, is that your scheme?" "No, Sire." "Begging is for the guilty." "I've seen stronger men than you weep before the rug." "When the time comes, be brave and sure." "For it is coming at dawn... no matter how loud you cry." "Lord Khan..." "Liar!" "You're a liar!" "Remove yourself." "We speak of this lunacy no more." "Tell the kheshig to jail me." "You made your point, take your leave." "There is honest work to be done." "This is merely a statement of facts." "Oh!" "You hired the assassins?" "You manipulated that whore, Mei Lin." "You instructed my brother to withhold his troops from Wuchang?" "You conspired with Jia Sidao?" "I conspired for and with the Khanate." "And you think, what?" "The Khanate does not guide my heart?" "Your mind." "But minds can be easily persuaded of anything." "The reason you do not sleep is because of a longing in your heart" " that will never be sated." " And why should it?" " I know you believe Xiangyang will fall." " It will." "And you fear that once conquered, I turn my aims to lands far reaching?" " I do." " Why should I not?" "Because you know how this will end." "As all other dynasties have." "Am I not different?" "I once believed so." "It is why I stand before you this evening." "Yusuf, you did not do this." "My confession stands." "Be it betrayal by my hands or by my heart," "I am guilty." "What do you want from me?" "To give up Xiangyang?" " You know the answer is yes." " I cannot." "I know that as well." "I should hide behind my wall?" "Take pleasure in the present state?" "While away my days and bury myself here when they're done?" "Where is the fault in that?" "Hmm?" "How many lands must be reaped?" "How many vaults must be filled and young spirits extinguished?" "One." "One last game." "Taken the pieces away." "The boy is guilty." "His only guilt is his blind desire for your love." "You know who he reminds me of?" "Yusuf... my crazed cripple of Khazaria." "Not in mindless bloodletting... but in dedication to your cause." "He does." "You need that dedication at your service at all times." "I am no longer capable of it, nor am I willing." "You have the finest engineers in all the world." "My final counsel to you is that you put them to work." "Construct the Latin's siege engine." "As your Khan, I do not accept your confession." "I have sent messages to every corner of the kingdom outlining my complicity." "In doing so, I have weakened your position before Karakorum and throughout China." "You will be challenged in the Kurultai." "You will lose." "And in that... a dream of this place may endure." "You have no choice, Kublai." "I thought I had until dawn." "The final battle looms." "Be decisive in your victory." "You are released from this prison." "But I am truly free."