'Who then?' asked a khan.
'Do you want to see my assassins?' Yamun asked, feigning reluctance. Weakened by the effort of speaking, the khahan closed his eyes. The wave of shouted approval from the khans rocked him slightly. Slowly, he took the empty seat between Jad and Bayalun.
'The bodies! Yes, we will see the bodies,' the commander next to Koja shouted, urging the khans around him to add their voices to the cry. It quickly swelled and grew as khans from both sides expressed their outrage. Yamun settled back, confident that the khans still followed him.
'The bodies, bring the bodies!' went up the chant.
Yamun raised his hand, commanding silence. 'Loyal khans,' he shouted over the dying rumble, drawing deeper on his reserves of strength. 'You shall see them. Sechen, bring the assassins here.'
In the brief moments it took to fetch the grim bundle, Yamun sagged back in his seat. The khahan, Jad, and Goyuk conferred quickly amongst themselves.
Sechen returned, carrying the bloodstained rug, and dropped it with a thud at Yamun's feet. A wave of anticipation rippled through the nobles.
'Now, see who attacked your khahan,' Yamun solemnly announced. 'An unclean creature and a man!' With the tip of his boot, the khahan carefully pushed a fold of the rug aside. A visible wave of pollution and decay, marked by a cloud of flies, rose up from the rotting bodies. A gasp of astonishment came spontaneously from the assembled group. 'A beast!' hissed a voice filled with disgust. 'They send beasts to kill our khahan!'
There were two bodies in the rug: the hu hsien and the wizard. The once-bright fur of the fox creature was stiff and dull-colored. Its wounds, more fearsome in death, were sunken, the edges soft and black. Dark patches of decay spread from these, mottling the skin beneath the bristling fur. The eyes were gone, pecked out by birds. A purplish tongue, dry and cracked, lolled out of its mouth. The human next to it was equally decayed, the slashed throat gray and crusted.
Bayalun choked, 'Afrasib!' She quickly clamped her mouth shut and avoided Yamun's gaze. Her face was pale. Leaning over, she whispered a word to one of the khans beside her. He nodded and slid back out of sight.
'Who are they?' cried out a thin, pock-marked khan, pushing his way through his fellows to get a closer look at the corpses. The other khans surged forward behind him.
'The beast is a hu hsien, a creature of Shou Lung,' Jad explained. 'The other is the wizard, Afrasib.' The prince stopped, letting the khans form their own conclusions.
Eyes, suspicious and hard, started to turn toward Bayalun. She met their gaze firmly, not showing any fear. Slowly and regally, the khadun stood and walked to the dead bodies. She studied the corpses, poking at them with her staff. The khans stepped back, creating a circle around her. She rolled Afrasib's head to the side. 'Traitor!' she hissed. Leaning over, she spat onto the dead wizard's face.
'He has betrayed the khahan. The Shou emperor must have bought his loyalty,' Bayalun announced, turning back to her seat.
'But who sent these killers?' the pock-faced khan asked, his questions still not satisfied.
'Who, indeed?' Jad asked, looking toward Bayalun.
'The emperor of Shou uses things like the hu hsien as spies,' Bayalun countered as she stiffly sat down. 'Ask Yamun's priest if this is not so.'
'It is true,' Yamun said. In the crowd, Koja started at the statement. He didn't see why the khahan was siding with the khadun. He must be must be planning something, the lama decided.
'This is what Shou Lung thinks of us,' sneered Yamun, still talking. 'Their emperor fears us, so he sends evil spirits to kill me. Do we fear the dogs of Shou?'
'No!' came the cry. Even Chanar seemed roused by the khahan's passionate boast.
'Shall we sit here while they send killers-like this-' Yamun jabbed a finger toward the dead hu hsien. 'He sends beasts to stalk us. Are we deer before the hunter?'
'No!' came the shout again. The khans were gripped by rage. Koja was amazed; Yamun showed no sign of the wounds that weakened him only a few minutes before. The khahan stood tall, his legs spread and set solidly.
'Do we wait for them to destroy us all or do we act?' Yamun demanded, raising his arms to the sky. His eyes were fiery, energetic, and powerful, filled with a blaze of blood-lust. Koja gaped. He'd seen the khahan like this only once before, during the great storm at Quaraband.
The khans responded with an inarticulate roar, too many voices trying to shout out their answer all at once. There were those who dissented, but their words were drowned out by the furious outrage of their fellows.
The flood of rage and anger seemed to invigorate Yamun even further. He surveyed the khans with pride, reveling in their fire and adulation. He let the warriors have their way for a while, then raised his hands for silence. Reluctantly, they hushed to hear his words.
Yamun pushed the khans back from the bodies, clearing himself some space. 'This Shou emperor has declared war on us. What shall we do?'
'We must teach them a lesson!' roared out one of the khans, Mongke by name-a thin, bony man with a powerful voice that belied his meager frame.
'How?' demanded Koja, boldly stepping into the circle. 'What about the Dragonwall, the great fortification that protects their border? It has never been broken. How will you get through that?' Irritated at the priest's outburst, some of the khans began to shout down his concerns.
'We will conquer Shou because the emperor fears us,' Yamun stated with utter conviction. 'If this Dragonwall was invincible, the emperor would not fear me. Teylas must have spared me to become a scourge on the emperor, to break his unbreakable wall!'
'A raid!' suggested one of the Kashik khans.
'No, not a raid,' Yamun answered coolly. 'More than a raid. We'll teach this emperor to fear. We will conquer Shou Lung! I, Yamun Khahan, will be the Illustrious Emperor of All People!' The khahan roared out the last words to the sky, threatening as much as promising. 'It is our destiny.'
Yamun's eyes blazed. He panted, lustful for the challenge. His heart longed for the fury of battle and the greatness conquest would bring to him.
The excitement of the khans formed into a chant. It was as if Yamun's vision of conquest spread from him to them. It leaped to the khans, took possession of their spirit. Even Koja felt the wild passion, the lust to act that flowed from Yamun.
The khahan stepped back to his seat and surveyed the khans. They looked to him in anticipation: some eager, a few fearful. 'Who will go to war with me? Who will share in the riches of Shou Lung?' he shouted to the masses.
The response came in a tumult of yells and clapping from the khans. Koja, in their midst, was almost deafened by the warriors' frantic shouts. Yamun stood before his seat, clearly enjoying the frenzy. His eyes were wild, and his face was flushed and pulsing with energy. It seemed to the priest that the khahan had found his own cure, Here again was the man who could withstand the might of a god's thunderbolts.
'By the will of Teylas, my khans, we will ride to victory!' proclaimed the khahan. 'The Dragonwall must fall!'
13
Yamun growled at his bodyguards, ten Kashik warriors who circled him at a respectful distance. One of them had clumsily bumped into an armor stand, sending Yamun's gilt mail sprawling. Fumbling to correct his error, man made still more noise. Yamun snarled impatiently for the mortified soldier to stop fussing.
It was one thing to have a bodyguard of ten thousand men who would make camp, patrol at night, and charge boldly into battle; it was quite another thing to have an arban of soldiers hovering around you wherever you went. The Kashik, however, upon learning that morning that their khahan still lived, were determined to protect him at all times. It was a great honor for the men chosen to guard the khahan, but it was going to take time for Yamun
