No amount of debate was going to sway Jad, so Koja resigned himself to the meeting. Perhaps the prince was right, he thought. Things were getting out of control. He had heard the rumors among the guards. There was already talk of choosing a new khahan. They needed a plan.
In a short time, Jad, Goyuk, and Koja presented themselves to the khahan. Yamun looked stronger and there was more color in his cheek, but his voice was still shaky and weak. He was sitting up in his bed when they entered, wearing an ermine-trimmed robe lined with yellow silk. Koja had insisted that he put on clean clothes as part of the healing process. In truth, the priest only wanted to get rid of the smell.
Jad wasted little time with ceremony. 'Father, your death's gone on long enough,' he began, almost as soon as everyone was seated. 'The khans are talking, demanding a couralitai. They're stirring up the men. I cannot hold the army together any longer.'
Yamun looked surprised by the news. 'A couralitai takes many months to prepare. My time of mourning isn't even over.'
'They want one now,' Goyuk explained, his wrinkled face lined even more deeply with concern. 'They say the army needs a leader.' His gums smacked together as if to accentuate the point.
'It's worse, Father,' added Jad, bowing his head. 'The envoys from Manass have come and are impatient to begin negotiations. That's given the khans more to complain about. Already Chagadai and Tanjin have threatened to return to their pastures. That's four minghans, four thousand men, Father.'
Yamun considered the situation, absentmindedly twisting the sheets. 'Anda, is my mother still in camp?'
'Yes, Yamun,' answered Koja.
'Could this be Bayalun's doing?' the khahan feebly growled as he slapped the bed with a resounding thud. 'Or is it spies from Shou Lung?'
There was silence from the group as they mulled over the possibilities. No one offered any answers.
'Yamun, you cannot sit here waiting for something to happen. You should make a plan,' Koja suggested, speaking hesitantly.
'My anda is right. Tell them to call a couralitai,' the khahan announced. He choked back a small cough.
'What?' sputtered Jad. 'Why not just appear? Show you're alive?'
'Someone is manipulating all this,' Yamun declared with certainty. 'I'll show myself, but only after they make their move. Let's give our mysterious enemy what he wants, then see what happens. Call it for tomorrow.'
'Lord Yamun, if there is a couralitai, you must appear-to prove you are not dead. Otherwise they will pick a new khahan,' Koja pointed out.
'I know this. Don't worry, anda. I'll rest. Now go.' With a tired wave, Koja and the others were dismissed from the khahan's presence.
As he stepped into the afternoon sunlight, Koja realized that it had been days since he'd last made any notes for Yamun's chronicle. He wondered how much he could remember. As a historian, he was doing a poor job. Wearily, the lama wandered to his tent to fulfill his duty as grand historian.
12
By the earliest light of the next dawn, word of the couralitai had spread throughout the camp. Already the khans were gathering for the meeting, moving from yurt to yurt to share the rumors and gossip that would affect the day's business.
Standing near the Great Yurt, Koja could almost hear the chorus of speculation and rumors. With keen, patient interest, the priest watched the ebb and flow of the khans. General Chanar emerged from the yurt of Tanjin Khan and exchanged friendly banter with the minghan commander. Koja watched him next cross the camp to another tent, that of Unyaid, a minor commander in the Kashik. Even earlier, Bayalun had been moving about, her staff echoing with its distinctive thunk on the hard ground. The priest had not seen her for some time.
As Koja watched, Jad and Goyuk came his way. They had been out that morning, probing the khans and listening to the rumors. The three shared their information. Koja described Bayalun's movements and noted Chanar's with curiosity. Goyuk and Jad outlined the mood of the khans, who would side with them and who would not. After making new plans, Jad and Goyuk returned to their rounds, sounding out the khans. Koja maintained his watch of Bayalun's movements.
As the lama waited, the quiverbearers began preparing for the grand meeting. The gathering was to take place inside Yamun's compound, about one hundred feet from the khahan's yurt, in a large open area surrounded by the tents of the Kashik khans. A bonfire, mounded with valuable pieces of wood, was built at the far side of the clearing. The khahan's death banner was moved from Yamun's yurt and staked on the side of the circle opposite the bonfire. Young boys carefully swept the ground with broad brushes, and others rolled out rugs in two arcs to provide seating. Beyond the circle of the couralitai, servants were brewing tea at small fires, preparing for the arrival of the khans. Leather bags, fashioned from the skins of horses' heads, were filled with kumiss and set out along with ladles. Special seats for Bayalun and Jad were put up beneath the black yak-tail standard. Between these was a special, vacant seat for the departed khahan.
A horn blew a wheezing, off-key note. It sounded easily over the subdued clatter of the quiverbearers. They quickly finished their tasks and faded to the edges of the circle. The khans began to arrive and take seats. Those khans friendly to Bayalun sat on the left of the banner, near her seat, while Jad's supporters filled the places to the right. Most of the khans took places far from both the prince and the khadun, declaring their current neutrality.
The spaces on the rugs began to get crowded. Deciding there was no more he could do where he was, Koja hurried to find a spot with a good view of the action, before it was too late. The priest squeezed in, finding a space among the densely packed Tuigan. As a foreigner, he had no vote in the the proceedings, but even being allowed to watch was a great privilege.
The horn blew again. From the far side of the assembly entered Mother Bayalun, Chanar following a few paces behind. The khadun was dressed in white robes, her long, loose hair half-hidden by a white shawl. A broad sash, woven with stripes of blue and red, hung around her neck. She walked slowly but firmly across the circle to take her seat at the head of the assembly. Chanar took a position among the khans sitting on the left.
The horn blew for a third time. Koja, sitting between a stiff-backed, black-robed commander of the Kashik and a belching, greasy-haired khan whose name he did not know, tensed in anticipation. Instead of the surprise he expected, however, Koja was disappointed to see only Jad and Goyuk venture out to join the couralitai. The prince took his seat, barely acknowledging his stepmother. Goyuk stood quietly behind him, ready to advise the khahan's son.
The khans fell silent, expecting the first words of the session. By tradition, these were spoken by the son of the departed. Jad raised his hand and waited for the last murmuring khans to fall quiet. Satisfied that he had their attention, the prince stood up before the assembled nobles.
'Jadaran of the Hoekun welcomes you. As khan of the Tuigan, he welcomes you. Let this council begin.'
With these words, the council was open. Custom gave the honor of the next speech to the commander of the Kashik.
A strong, clear voice suddenly rang out. 'Illustrious youth, son of our beloved khahan, commander of forty thousand, this one requests that he may be heard.' There was a buzz of excitement at these words. The speaker had made the request in most respectful language, using all the proper forms and inflections-but it was not the commander of the Kashik. At the far side of the council, the wolf-faced Chagadai, dressed in a ragged and filthy kalat, stood to address the prince. He wore a dirty white turban in the style of the western clans. Without waiting to be recognized, he pushed his way to the center of the circle.
The Kashik commander, sitting near Jad, glared at the speaker. The upstart had deliberately insulted him. The commander looked to Jad for guidance, but the prince was in as much consternation as he. Goyuk leaned forward and whispered in the prince's ear. Jad spoke a few words in response, obviously debating with the old man about what could be done. Next to him, Bayalun sat, unmoved by the startling turn. A faint smile played across her lips. Finally, Jadaran looked toward the upstart khan. Throwing a resigned look the commander's way, the prince
