The Mongoliad: Book Three

Fieschi grimaced. “I don’t care what sort of ethical justification you want to give it, just as long as we get what we need.” Ocyrhoe noticed that his distaste did not extend to his eyes. He was watching them carefully. Too carefully.

“Fine. Leave. Now.”

Orsini was the more startled of the two by her command, and as he huffed with indignity, she fixed him with a withering stare. Wanting to make himself larger before feeling diminished by letting a woman order him around, but when he noticed Fieschi’s lack of outrage he deflated-slowly-as he departed.

“Speak,” Lena said sharply as soon as they were alone.

Ocyrhoe shrugged. “The priest asked me to help him escape, and Ferenc wanted to go with him. I drew a map for them to get out of the city, and I distracted the guard at the door so they could get out. But once they were out, I was stuck inside, and Fieschi found me.”

Lena made an aggrieved noise. “Why did he want to escape? Why did you help him? Where was he going? How could you possibly consider this appropriate behavior for a Binder?”

Ocyrhoe held her hands up in weak protest. “I was not behaving as a Binder; I was behaving as a friend.”

“Once you become a Binder, you are always a Binder. Especially when your friend is the Pope. Your actions will bring chaos upon the city, little one. You have interfered with matters that you had no right-”

Desperate for justification, Ocyrhoe interrupted, “What if he had employed me as a Binder?”

Lena blinked, surprised. “To do what, exactly?”

“I… I was to carry the message of his departure to the Cardinals. As indeed I did, the moment Fieschi opened the door. I did not even have to tell him verbally; my presence was enough.”

“Such flippancy is dangerous, girl,” she warned, punctuating her words with the same glare she had used on Orsini.

“I truly have no information beyond what I’ve told you,” Ocyrhoe said, less ruffled by the look than Orsini had been. “I don’t know why he left or where he was headed. He said he was a prisoner, and that he shouldn’t be. He asked for my help. Ferenc is my friend, and I wanted to help him. And Ferenc wanted whatever Father Rodrigo wanted. So…”

“So you decided to take matters into your own hands, regardless of how much pain and suffering that might cause others. Is that it?” Lena stared at her. “If he is truly mad, then you have set him loose in the world. Do you understand the folly you’ve committed?” Her voice was softer, though no less stern.

Ocyrhoe looked down, her cheeks flushing. “Yes,” she said in a small voice. “I’m so very sorry. But there is nothing I can do to help you find him.”

“I know, child.” Lena placed her hands on the sides of Ocyrhoe’s head and kissed her lightly on the crown of her skull. “But that doesn’t mean you don’t know where he has gone.”

Ocyrhoe looked up at Lena. “I don’t understand,” she said.

Lena brushed Ocyrhoe’s hair back from her face. “Which gate did you send them to?”

“Flamina. I thought the sooner he got out of the city, the better.”

“Give them that much,” Lena said.

“What will they do to him if they catch him?” Ocyrhoe asked.

“What do you think they will do?” Lena asked. “He is Pope. Why should he fear the people who serve him?”

Ocyrhoe shook her head. “I think Fieschi wants to kill him.”

“Would you dare say as much to the Senator?” Lena asked. “While the Cardinal was standing next to him, in the same room?”

Ocyrhoe froze. All of a sudden she couldn’t breathe, much less shake her head. The Bear had taken my sisters, she thought frantically. How could Lena have forgotten that?

“You must consider your actions carefully,” Lena said softly, and the woman’s words released Ocyrhoe from the terror that had gripped her. “You must know the repercussions of what you do before you act. Regardless of your concerns about the Cardinal, is the priest not safer here than out in the wilderness where any brigand or ruffian could harm him? He only has Ferenc to watch over him. That may have been enough before, but now Father Rodrigo wants to preach to the people. Is that not dangerous for him in his state?” She stared at Ocyrhoe for a moment, waiting for her to nod in agreement. “When I call in the Cardinal and the Senator, you will tell them which gate. Yes?”

“And then what?” Ocyrhoe asked, panic twisting in her belly. This time she got the words out. “Orsini silenced our sisters. I see how he looks at me. He wants to do the same again.”

Her outburst gave Lena pause. “I will make sure he doesn’t hurt you.”

“How can you do that?” Ocyrhoe demanded, trying to stall the inevitable. “He took all of them, even when we realized they were disappearing. He still got everyone except me. They were my family and they could not protect me. How can you assure me otherwise?”

An odd look came across Lena’s face. “Trust me, little one,” she said. Her expression melted into a soft smile. “I will have a talk with the Senator soon. That’s all it will take. Just a little chat.”

CHAPTER FORTY-SIX

To Eternal Glory

Ogedei Khan took his morning meal late and alone in his ger. After Alchiq’s visit he had spent the remainder of the day in repose, mostly napping off the effects of the copious amounts of wine he had drunk, but some introspection had flitted across his mind during the long afternoon. It was the sort of post-drinking binge thinking he avoided as much as possible, as it was full of all manner of recriminations and self-loathing, but this time he let it run its course. When it was gone, he had fallen into a deep, dreamless slumber and had woken this morning feeling quite rested.

Still, he did not rush into the hunt. Now that his brain was free of the fog of the wine, the importance of this hunt was that much more evident. He wouldn’t go so far as to admit that the health of the empire rested upon the death of the Great Bear, but the symbolism of the hunt was significant. He was not superstitious-the empire had left all that behind when the clans came together and formed one people-but he understood the value in giving his subjects an event they could claim as a watershed moment in their lives. A token of the empire’s strength and everlasting value. It was best to delay such rewards, to further emblazon their reception with as much gravity as possible.

The Darkhat scouts knew where the Great Bear roamed-less than a day’s ride to the north. Master Chucai had suggested he take a jaghun with him, but Ogedei had scoffed at such an idea. What beast would not flee in terror before a hundred men? Half as many might still be too many-surely his trackers alone could find the bear’s den-but to take less would be to incite Chucai, and he was not in the mood to suffer that man’s persistent disappointment. It was his hunt, after all.

I will take four arban, he decided. Two would be his strongest guards, including the new Torguud captain. The other group of men would mostly be trackers, including both Chagatai’s envoy and Alchiq. One cook, Master Chucai, and the shaman would make up the remainder of his hunting party.

He would have preferred to leave Master Chucai behind. His advisor was beginning to annoy him again and, much like the previous time when their relationship had become antagonistic, Ogedei knew Chucai’s mood would only improve when the Khagan’s drinking lessened. Of course, knowing this only made him want to drink more, and it would be so easy to lay the blame for his drunkenness at Master Chucai’s feet. But it wouldn’t change anything. Chucai would still be an arrogant son of a whore, and Ogedei