to get adjusted. Still, the khahan knew better than to argue with the devotion and loyalty of his own men.
The guard finally finished straightening the gear and quietly took his place along the wall of the Great Yurt. The other guards stood silently in their positions. Satisfied that there would be no more disturbances, Yamun resumed his conversation.
Sitting at the foot of Yamun's throne was his anda, the grand historian, Koja. 'Well, anda,' Yamun said to him, 'soon there'll be more to write in your histories, if you have the time. There's much to be done before we march on Shou Lung.'
The priest looked at Yamun sharply, still puzzled by the events of the couralitai. 'Why have you done this?' he finally asked. 'You attack Shou Lung and ignore Bayalun. Is this wise?'
Yamun scowled. 'Anda, I did what I must.' He held out his fists. 'Someone seeks to kill me: Bayalun-' He closed one fist. 'And Shou Lung.' He closed the other. 'I will not ignore this insult.'
'But Shou Lung is the mightiest of nations!' protested Koja. 'Why them and not Bayalun?'
'Bayalun is one of my people. If I strike at her, there will be dissension among the khans. They will demand proof and the wizards will turn against me,' the khahan predicted. 'Then my empire would be nothing.' He lowered his fists. 'But, if I attack Shou Lung, my people will stand united in battle, and I will be rid of one enemy. Better one foe than two. That is ruling, is it not?'
Koja swallowed, hearing the determination in Yamun's voice. 'But Shou Lung is huge!'
'And their emperor is afraid of me. Scared men can be beaten,' Yamun confidently predicted.
Koja resigned himself to Yamun's decision. 'What of Bayalun?' he asked as an afterthought.
Yamun dismissed her name with casual wave. 'Now that I know her tricks, she will be watched. We will keep her here with us so she can't cause problems. We will keep the snake under our heel.
'I have decided,' Yamun noted idly, abruptly changing the subject, 'you'll meet with these envoys from Khazari and handle the details of their surrender. I've got to make plans for our conquest of Shou Lung.'
'Me, Yamun? Have you forgotten that I am a Khazari? I can't negotiate the surrender,' Koja protested.
'Who said negotiate?' the khahan replied sharply. 'Just accept their surrender.'
'But, there must be terms. I can't just tell them to give up.'
'Why not?' Yamun asked, stroking the fine point of his mustache. 'They've got no army to protect Manass. I can destroy anything they send. You tell them that. There are too many things for me to do here. There are orders to give, and reports have just arrived from Hubadai in Semphar.' He pointed to the royal scribe, next to whom sat a bundle of papers tied with yellow silk ribbons.
'But, they want my head!' the little lama sputtered, nervously rubbing his scalp.
An ironic smile twisted the khahan's scarred lips. 'You will do this because I have ordered it. They want your head, so they no longer consider you a countryman. You see, you are no longer a Khazari.'
Koja swallowed at Yamun's words. 'What can I do?' Although he did not want this task at all, it was clear that he had to accept the khahan's will.
'I want them to surrender,' Yamun repeated, knowing that Koja expected more. 'Very well, I want goods equal to ten thousand bars of silver to be paid on the first moon of every new year. Then, they must turn over this governor, his wizard, and the Shou officials you described. They escaped the battlefield and I want them-or their heads and hands.'
Koja waited for Yamun to outline more, but the khahan had finished his demands. 'That is not all,' the priest enjoined.
Yamun counted out his terms on his fingers. 'Surrender, goods, and prisoners. What else is there?'
Exasperated, Koja took paper and pen from the scribe, spreading the sheet between himself and Yamun. Koja quickly drew Khazari's borders.
'Yamun, these are not wandering tribesmen you have conquered. The Khazari will not surrender and obey you just because you are khahan-'
'Then I'll destroy their homes and scatter the people among my khans. Tell them that,' Yamun threatened.
'No, Yamun, that will not do. The Khazari are not like the tribes.' Koja dotted the map with the towns and cities of Khazari. 'They have stone towns and fields. They do not travel from camp to camp. You must set someone to rule them, pass laws, and make judgments.'
Yamun leaned forward to study Koja's map. 'This is not our way,' he grumbled. 'But because you say it must be done, I will consider it. For now, tell the envoys they must give me Manass as my own. Then, they must tear down the walls around all their other ordus.' The khahan pushed the crude map away with his toe. 'Make me a good map of Khazari, anda.'
Koja sighed and thought through the list of demands that Yamun had made. 'And what can you negotiate on?'
'My anda, there will be no negotiation.' Yamun loomed over the priest to add emphasis to his words.
'And if they refuse?' Koja asked softly.
Yamun casually sipped from a cup of kumiss. 'As I said: I will destroy every ordu in Khazari. Every male taller than the yoke of an oxcart will be put to the sword, and all their wives and little children will be scattered as slaves among my people. Their nation will be no more. That I can do, anda.' The khahan settled back into his seat. 'Scribe, write out my demands. I'll put my seal to it. Anda, you can take that with you as proof.'
The demands written, Yamun turned to his scribe and ordered him to begin reading the stack of reports that sat beside him. Koja rose to one knee and made a brief bow to the khahan before slowly backing out of his presence. Rapt in Hubadai's account of the fall of Semphar, Yamun didn't even notice his departure.
* * * * *
In her commandeered yurt, Mother Bayalun worked alone, preparing to cast her magical spells. The door to the yurt was carefully fastened, sealing out all light, and her guard had instructions not to let anyone disturb her, not even Chanar, her current paramour. Her hands moving quickly, the khadun set out the materials she needed: a brazier containing a small glowing coal and a small pouch of powdered incense. Softly, in case anyone might be listening, she muttered the incantation, passing her hands over the brazier.
The words finished, Bayalun flung a pinch of incense into the coals. There was a brilliant puff, and smoke coiled thickly into the air, writhing and turning, forming into the face of a Shou mandarin. The smoke made the man's forehead appear soft and puffy, like bread dough, but his dark eyes shone clearly. The smoky face blinked a few times in surprise, as if the mandarin had been awoken by the spell.
'Khadun of the Tuigan,' it rumbled in surprise with a hollow-sounding voice, 'you called me?'
'Indeed. We must speak.' Her breath caused the outlines of the wraith to waver and shift.
'Now is not the best time, Eke Bayalun Khadun,' the face said, the puffy features forming into something that looked like a scowl. 'The emperor is giving a poetry reading. It is difficult for me to concentrate on both.' As if to illustrate the point, the cloud-face's eyes rolled back into its head. The outlines started to spread and rise, breaking up as the contact was momentarily lost. Then the head began to reform as the speaker refocused his thoughts toward Bayalun and the barren steppes. 'Speak quickly, Khadun. My time is short.'
'Do not order me, Ju-Hai Chou. I am not one of your dog-people,' the second empress snapped. She reached for a small fan, a gift from the Shou emperor, to dispel the smoky form.
'Most humble apologies, wise one,' said the face with an expression of diplomatic regret. The head tilted a little to bow toward her. 'Please inform this simple servant why you have summoned him. You did summon me.'
Bayalun was accustomed to the mandarin's impatience and paid it no attention. Slowly, the khadun smoothed her robes, adjusting the jupon, the overrobe, so that it hung straight from her shoulders. 'The Tuigan army is in Khazari.'
'This we know through our spies. Is that all?' There was a trace of annoyance in the mandarin's voice at being disturbed over such petty news.
'The khahan lives. The creature you sent failed.' Although the assassination attempt had been a near disaster, she relished telling the Shou minister of state the news. The image's eyes widened in surprise, then quickly became blank.
'Is it alive or dead?' His words were quick and clipped.
'Dead.'
'Do they suspect?'
