"I know now why they call you Lotus." "You are..." "like a flower, coming to bloom." "Teach me the Wudang Crane technique." "I am no teacher." "Merely a disciple." "It is lost." "Where is Li Jinbao?" "Alone, guarding the East Gate." "Li Jinbao!" "Li Jinbao." "Lotus." "You live." "Run!" "One survivor, we agreed." "One survivor to spread word of Kublai's treachery." "Was that not the plan?" "You don't look well." "Should we ride for home?" "Continue as planned." "And, Orus... indulge yourself." "False flags, masks!" "These are the tools of cowards." "Let's end this foolishness, save our arrows for truer enemies." "If you're coming, put it on." "I awoke some time later." "Hours, days." "It might as well have been an eternity." "Everything I once lived for, everyone I knew... gone." "I turned to the only sanctuary I had left... within." "Until the day the grief... the emptiness were complete." "Those souls who perished that day at the Wudang temple would not do so in vain." "I pledged my services to the chancellor." "He entrusted me, handmaiden..." "guardian to the young Emperor." "And in this task..." "I failed." "I could feel you, watching me... following me, that day in my training hall." "Why did you wait?" "I was hoping to see some trace of the man I once loved." "And did you?" "More for Chuleb." "More!" "A very full visit!" "Mmm." "We're honored that you could all make it." "And an honor to return home and sleep." "Further, we look forward to doing this more often." "We shouldn't be brought together by politics alone." "Mmm, agreed." "We would be overwhelmed if the Khan would travel to us on occasion." "And, no, our hunts are not as lavish, but they bring home meat." "Mmm." "The hunt." "Our sacred duty to provide for our wives, our children, our people." "It is appropriate that our hunt seal our partnership moving forward." "Mongolia has slain a mighty beast." "And there are many more to come." "We are coming!" "Great Khan, your dreams of world conquest are already well known to us." "All of us." "We respect the invitation, your generosity of wine and women." "This is only the beginning of a conversation." "No partnership has been sealed." "Conversation?" "No, there's nothing else to talk about any longer." "The differences between myself, my opponent are clear." "You have to decide." "Do you back him or do you back Tengri?" "Lord Khan..." "do you confuse yourself with God?" "Conquering the world is not my wish." "The world I simply inherited from Genghis." "This decree, this mandate... is from nowhere else but from Heaven above." "It is the will of Tengri... the Eternal Blue Sky." "And by whose will... was our sacred capital moved from Karakorum to the Chinese plains?" "Of which Chinese capital do you refer, Arban?" "I built two." "You weren't going to say goodbye?" "I said goodbye the night we met." "Thank you." "Some plead, some barter." "No man has ever thanked me before." "Very genteel." "This time I've had with you..." "I haven't had to think or choose." "It's the most free I've ever been." "I told you, you would fall in love." "No offense, but..." "I haven't." "Not with me." "And now, my leaving has made you think again." "Do you want to come with me?" "I can't leave." "Can't?" "This, coming from the man who has traveled the world since he was 16." "Must be hard." "Small price to pay for the life I lead with the Khan." "Lie to me." "Lie to those around you." "Don't lie to yourself." "It's been fun." "Thank you." "You slept well, Princess?" "Yes, Mother." "And without the bother of dreams." "Then, you feel better this morning?" "I feel quite myself again." "Wonderful news." "Where are my handmaidens this morning?" "And where is Za Bing?" "From now on, I will tend to your needs." " You?" " Yes, daughter." "But... why?" "No handmaidens... no meddling eunuchs, no visitors." "Only your mother to tend to your every need." "Rest, child." "I'll return with the afternoon meal." "I'm not locked up." "She loves me like a daughter." "Don't you see?" "I may come and go as I please." "Our chancellor." "Our emperor." "Do you feel no shame?" "Do you find no tragedy in their deaths?" "I find any loss of life tragic." "Including my own, the day you died." "You asked if I see in you the man I loved." "I do not." "I see a traitor... teaching our arts, our secrets... to barbarians, to foreigners, to round-eyes." "Our empire had drawn its dying breath." "Sidao was a corrupt madman." "The boy?" "A pawn trapped in a game he could not win." "And you, the Khan's puppet." "I had my reasons." "And what reasons have you now?" "I have never loved another... as I loved you." "And I have never loved another." "I offer you a choice." "Leave with me." "Return to the South." "Restore our people, our dynasty." "And we will destroy your Khan together." "I suppose..." "I know the other option." "By Wudang oath... only one of us will walk away." "You have until tonight, Jinbao." "The House of Tolui has brought glory to our land." "I was proud to attend your brother Möngke's Kurultai just as I am now proud to do so for you." "Genghis would be pleased with all you have done." "Not as pleased as I am to have your confidence." "Thank you, Great Khan." "My tribe... my family, massacred... under your banner!" "Curse the many mouths of Kublai Khan!" "One makes peace, while the other thirsts for blood!" "Let him go, let him go." "Why would I make war with the Tsaatan, my relatives?" " It makes no sense." " Yet, somehow, comes as no surprise." "I took no part in this, Arban." "If not by your hand, by your example." "Your followers remind us what happens should we cross you." "I ride for what's left of my home." "Welcome..." "Vice Regent." "Thank you, Master Marco." "Have you just arrived?" "I was still ailing when last we spoke." "My tone reflected that and was quite out of line." "So, tell me... how did you enjoy the hunt?" "Oh, I chose to stay behind." "Really?" "With whom did you fill your days?" "Did you return with news of Quinsai?" "Our army performed admirably." "But as you know all too well, the South will always be a work in progress." "You're early." "A black wolf and a red deer." "A return to our roots." "What are you on about?" "A symbol, to put on our new nation's flag." "I was thinking a... black wolf and a red deer." "Perhaps a cistern of airag might be more fitting." "We're celebrating the next Khan of Khans." "It's the way of the world, isn't it?" "Taking what you want." "Your father... wept openly before me the night his brother, Güyük, took his seat on the Khan's throne." "He wept and cried out for the answer to the question, "Why not me?"" ""Because you were too afraid to contest him," I said." "He beat me." "As the barishis set my nose back in place," "I realized he simply wanted me to stroke his head, take pity, join him in bemoaning his bad luck." "Taking what you want is the way of great men, Kaidu." "Never find solace in settling." "Attain or die exhausted in the endeavor." "You didn't come here to wax nostalgic." "What are the Arab's orders?" "Not the Arab, the Christian." "Nayan sent word." "You ride for his encampment." "To dying exhausted." "The traitors fly a false flag." "Kaidu." "I'd do the same if I weren't playing by the rules." "Why risk the wrath of the Khan's army so close to the Kurultai?" "What wrath?" "Our army's ensnared in South China." "If we choose to engage Kaidu, it will be weeks before they can be redirected East." "And by then... news of the raids will spread to every village and every chieftain faster than we can counter it." "The damage to our name will be irreparable." "My name." "Let stealth and surprise be our weapon." "Assemble the swiftest riders, the best archers, and attack from the shadows." "Have Jingim lead the way, and I will provide a safe path." "I've done what's been asked of me." "I've cajoled, bribed with cunt and drink." "What's it gotten me?" "If you cross paths with Kaidu or any of his kin along the way... tear their livers in half." "With pleasure." "I didn't ride all this way to become prisoner once more." "Did you expect to be bathed and lauded on arrival?" "I've secured your victory." " Our victory..." " I've sealed your victory and now I expect reward." " You wish to see your daughter." " Before she's gifted to Nayan." "She wasn't gifted, Mei Lin." "She was sold." "You cannot see her." "Not until this is all over." "And it is almost over." "Jingim rides to his death in the East... while our storm gathers in the West." "No more than a day's ride from the Khan's heart." "You've been patient up to this point." "Don't lose your resolve now." "You have not graced my training field in many weeks." "Even a golden prince loses his luster without practice." "Forgive me, Sifu, but my days have not been dull." "One of my students, an unbroken colt named Altai, was a master of such flimsy excuses." "And what became of him?" "He died." "It occurs to me that, far too often, a man walks through life without saying that which he really means." "Certainly not you, Sifu." "I remember, as near as yesterday, a time when all reason for living had left me." "And from the pits of this despair, the depths of this disheartenment..." "I was reclaimed." "You saved my life." "You will be a great emperor." "Sifu?" "Yes?" "Why are you saying this?" "Because you deserve to hear it." "I'll tell you everything you need to know." "But first, you must do something for me." "How do I know you'll tell me the truth?" "You came to me." "Hello, Ling Ling." "Good day, Master Polo." "How long will it take Kublai to realize it was us?" "Shorter than it's going to take the chieftains to prove it wasn't." "And by then, Father will be Khan." "Flags and armor." "They only know what they see." "It seems our raids were successful." "Jingim and a contingent of warriors ride our way." "And?" "We're to kill them." "All of them." "Look at the bright side." "No masks." "Ling Ling!" "I'm so sorry." "Let me look at you." "You're just as beautiful as I remember." "Are you well?" "Yeah?" "Don't let the Prince ride East." "He will die." "By whose hand?" "You must say it." "Ahmad." "Ride West." "To the twin rivers." "What's there?" "The answers you seek." "Come on." "Give me your hand." " Some tea to settle you." " Thank you, Lady Chabi." "What are you looking at?" "Nothing, Mother." " Drink up." " Don't drink that." "It's poison." "It's not." "Who are you talking to?" "What?" "No one." " Who is it?" " Nothing." "Don't." "She's trying to kill you." "It's..." " It's her." " Who?" "The Blue Princess!" "Listen to me." "There is no one here." "This is all in your imagination." "You mean nothing to her." "A girl with no name..." "The pregnancy, it has affected you." "It will all go back to normal." "And you will be discarded, just like the stable boy." "No." "My daughter..." "No!" "Take it out of me!" " Kokachin!" " Take it out!" "I want it out!" " Kokachin!" " I want it out!" " Kokachin!" " Please." "I want it out!" "I want it out!" " Get the healer!" "Now!" " I want it out!" "I want it out!" "I want it out!" "Take it out." "I want it out." "I want it out." "I have served you well." "That's for me to say." "And trained all your pets." "For better... or worse." "Delivered you the Song Dynasty and their chancellor's head." "Oh, no." "No, no." "Tell me, monk... this is not some form of farewell?" "You and you alone know why I stayed here." "You and you alone know the price of my enslavement." "Your precious Wudang temples, your Taoist scripts and written histories." "You threatened to wipe a religion off the face of the earth to enslave a single man." "And it worked." "You wish to go?" "Why?" "Why now?" "Is there no time in a man's life when he may live out his days as Khan to his own desires?" "Not in my kingdom." "What is there in this world left for you that it does not include me?" "We're not done, monk." "You and I... we're not done." "The baby's heart is strong." "Baby?" "And what of my wife?" "How is her heart?" "She is fine." "Fortunate, isn't it?" "That my fourth and final wife would be the one to conceive." "Do not mistake fate for fortune." "Princess Kokachin was brought to us for a reason." "To birth your son, the heir to the great Khan of Khans." "Go." "I'll see to her every need." "I must go, Sire." "Why?" "I can't say." " Well, then you can't go." " I swore an oath to you." "And now you must trust in my silence that I can and will protect you." "My brother Möngke was dead." "Kurultai was called in Karakorum." "And I did not attend because..." "I had no hope at winning." "Ariq was elected Khan." "So I held my own Kurultai." "In China." "A place I knew his supporters would not travel to." "I took the throne from under him." "They say I cheated." "I don't think it's wholly the election Kaidu's after, but humiliation." "He wants to shame me." "Disgrace my name." "Would he be justified in his quest?" "I want you to know who it is you're protecting." "I do." "Go." "What is it?" "We're riding the wrong way." "East." "If you go that way, we will die." "They're waiting for us." " Who?" " Kaidu's men." "Kaidu's men?" "How would they know where we're going?" "Ahmad told them." "What are you talking about?" "It's a trap." "All right." "How do you know this?" "The concubine." "You accuse my brother of treason against myself... my father..." "his father, on the word of a whore?" "She has no reason to lie." "She said nothing to me until I went to her." ""Kill the boy."" ""Send the army South."" "Every order, every piece of advice, a dire consequence." "As if that was his intention." "Who hired the Hashshashin to assassinate your father?" "Yusuf..." " Sanga!" " Sanga worked for Ahmad." "What did she tell you?" "Certain death if we ride East." "While a greater peril amasses West." "My father's orders were explicit." "He wants Kaidu." "You have to choose." "You have to give the order." "These men will not follow me." "What if you're wrong?" "Good day for a hunt." " It doesn't bother you, does it?" " No." "One less prince to spoil the broth." "You've been bullying Jingim since we were babies." "He was pretty." "Like a girl." " You were jealous." " I never got jealous." "Not of anyone but you." "He's our cousin, Orus." "Our flesh and blood." "When Genghis shot his brother, Bekter, in the back with an arrow, when he bent his best friend, Jamuka, until his spine snapped in two, when he gave the order to secretly poison his own son, Jochi..." "Genghis never balked, never faltered in his march... never allowed blood to blind him to his enemies." "At some point, Khutulun... you must choose between your heart and your mind." "You're either with us... or against us." "And what if I choose to be against you?" "What then, Orus?" "I won't hesitate to act, little sister." "Return to your positions!" "We wait again." "Li Jinbao." "I am Hundred Eyes, living and loyal servant to the Great Khan Kublai." "I am not going anywhere." "Our old priest who died in the temple, so long ago..." " Yi Shen." " ...he used to say," ""If you choose to fight for revenge..."" ""You must first dig two graves."" "I am prepared to dig three." "You have grown much, Lotus." "Wudang Crane." "The sutras and secrets you guarded... survived the Mongol flame." "I will not let you throw away your life." "Then you have to take it." "Do it." "One will walk away." "You will bury your sword and your vengeance... and leave." "Ahmad." "Hold it there!" "Long way from your palace." "Black powder." "I tracked those barrels all the way from Quinsai." " Nayan." " Kaidu."