Shike, p.36
Shike, page 36
"Your answer to her was splendid," Taniko said. "I wouldn't know how to talk like that to anyone."
"In my country that would be considered a passing pleasantry," said Seremeter. "When the people of Persia really insult each other, the earth shakes."
"In my land men are polite even when they are about to kill each other. Especially then."
It was amazing, Taniko thought, the freedoms people of other countries allowed themselves. One of the delights of living among the Mongols was the liberty she enjoyed. She did not have to stay cooped up in her house, hiding behind a screen whenever a man appeared. The Mongol women came and went as they pleased in Shangtu; indeed, throughout the Mongol empire women went about without fear. So rigorously did the Mongols enforce their laws that it was said a virgin with a sack of gold could ride from Korea to Russia without being molested. Warriors might rape and loot in newly invaded territories, but where the Mongol peace was established, it was absolute.
Taniko made full use of her freedom. There was so much to be seen. The Persian princess, Seremeter, ten years younger than she and eager for good company, followed Taniko eagerly as she explored the city Kublai Khan was building as headquarters and resort on the edge of the steppes.
Seremeter had been sent to Kublai by his brother Hulagu, campaigning far away to the south-west in the lands of peoples called Persians, Turks and Arabians. She traced her lineage back to Cyrus the Great, founder of her country, but her family was Zoroastrian, she explained, not Moslem. These were two religions, Taniko gathered, but in the West religions did not blend with one another as Buddhism and Shinto did in the Sacred Islands. The Moslems ruled Persia, and families like Seremeter's, who belonged to a rival religion, had been stripped of their position. Seremeter's family welcomed the Mongols as deliverers and gladly married their daughters to the family of the Great Khans. Seremeter had lived with the Mongols for three years now and spoke passable Chinese.
"Look." Seremeter pointed to a procession of mounted warriors winding slowly towards the palace, through the rows of tents. Crowds gathered along the way to cheer them.
"That must be Bayan of the Hundred Eyes," Taniko said. "I heard that he arrived this morning from Shensi. He and Uriangkatai, the son of the great general Subotai Baghadur, are the best generals in Kublai's service. But Bayan is much younger than Uriangkatai, and-"
"How do you know so much?" Seremeter interrupted her.
"I ask a lot of questions, princess."
They turned their horses and started riding back towards Shangtu. "Perhaps that's why Kublai sends for you so often," Seremeter said. "Most of his women don't understand what he does. He can talk to you about it."
"Oh yes," said Taniko. "That must be it. I can't imagine why else he would want to spend time with a withered hag like me."
Seremeter waved Taniko's mock modesty away. "In my country we have a story about a sultan who used to behead his wives after spending one night with them. One wife kept herself alive by telling him stories that were so good, he couldn't bear to kill her. You are somewhat like that. Kublai doesn't behead his women, but he does forget them. Of course, it is important to be beautiful, too, and you are. But Kublai has his pick of all the beautiful women in the world. Yet you are among the women he sees most often."
They were closer to the city now, and Taniko noticed a woman coming towards them, riding out on the road they had taken. "He hasn't sent for anyone in days and days," Taniko said.
Seremeter nodded. "The kuriltai."
"Most of the officers and nobles seem to think a kuriltai is a fine time for sport with women," said Taniko.
"Some men, at times like this, are overwhelmed with excitement and must lie with a woman before they can sleep," said Seremeter. "If they can sleep at all. Other men put all their powers into thinking and acting. They have no interest in women at such times. Kublai is that kind of man. Once the succession is settled, he'll wear us all out with his demands."
Bourkina, lightly dressed in bright blue coat and trousers, galloped up to them. "Ladies, there is to be a great gathering today, starting at the Hour of the Rooster. Everyone will be there, including the wives and consorts of Kublai Khan. You will want to return to our quarters and begin dressing now, if you are to be ready on time."
"What has he decided, Bourkina?"
The round-faced woman shrugged. "I don't know. He whispers his secrets to you ladies under the quilts, if he tells them to anyone at all."
"He will have himself proclaimed Great Khan tonight," said Sere-meter. "I'm sure of it."
"I'm not," said Taniko. "If he makes himself Great Khan, he may wreck the empire of the Mongols. If he doesn't, whoever becomes Great Khan may destroy him. If I were he, I could never decide what to do."
"His enemies are many and powerful," said Seremeter. "What will happen to us if there is a war and he is defeated?"
"You know what will happen," said Taniko, thinking that if such were the case, Horigawa would have his vengeance on her after all.
"It's better not to talk about it, ladies," said Bourkina briskly. "Let's ride back to the city."
Taniko and Seremeter sat on silk cushions in a gallery overlooking the great hall Kublai Khan had built for the kuriltai. The hall smelled of newly cut wood and fresh paint. There were hundreds of Kublai's women in the gallery, including the great lady herself, the principal wife, Jamui Khatun, a serene women who looked a good deal like Bourkina.
Hotai and several other young Mongol women sat near Taniko and Seremeter. Hotai sighed loudly. "These are strange times indeed, when we must share our places with a cannibal and fire worshipper."
Taniko, who as a good Buddhist had never eaten meat, could not understand how the story had started that her people were cannibals. She wondered what Seremeter's reply to Hotai would be. To disparage Hotai's Mongol background would hardly be politic, especially at a
"You know as much about the customs of our lands as a lump of camel dung knows about the sea," said Seremeter, tossing her head.
Poetry, thought Taniko, sheer poetry. I wish I could teach Seremeter to write tanka. But first she'd have to learn our language.
She turned her attention to the main floor of the hall. In a space as vast as a public square, men from three-quarters of the world were gathered-Kin, Cathayans, Tibetans, Manchus, Koreans, Annamese, Kampuchans, Burmese, Nan Chaoans, Turks, Persians, Arabs, Alans, Kipchaks, Armenians, Bulgars, Russians-, and men of many other nations whose names Taniko had not yet learned. Lording it over all were those of the many northern nomad tribes who now called themselves Mongols-dark Kiraits, broad-shouldered Merkits, talkative Uighurs, tall Kankalis, silent, secretive Reindeer People. The most splendid, in furs, silks and jewels looted from half the kingdoms of the earth, were those whose grandfathers had been Yakka Mongols, the tribe of Genghis Khan himself.
On a raised dais under a cloth of gold canopy was the place, still empty at this hour, where Kublai Khan and his chief advisers would sit. They were meeting elsewhere, Taniko knew, deciding what this gathering of leaders of the Mongol empire should proclaim as its collective decision.
Besides those who had a vote in the kuriltai, there were many who came simply to be present and to observe. There were lamas in red; black-robed monks from the lands of the Eranks, the white-skinned people to the west; men with turbans and long white beards from the Moslem countries where Seremeter's people lived. There was even a sohei from the lands of the Eranks-a warrior-monk with yellow hair who wore a white cross-shaped crest on one shoulder of his black cloak. He reminded her a little bit of Jebu.
The kuriltai was the knot that held together the Mongol empire. At the kuriltai all members of the house of Genghis Khan, all Mongol nobles and generals, all the princes of the kingdoms that had submitted to the Mongols came together in council to vote on great decisions. At a kuriltai, Genghis Khan had proclaimed one government for the warring tribes of Mongolia with himself as its head. At kuriltais his successors, Ogodai, Kuyuk and Mangu had each in turn been elected Great Khan. At a kuriltai the Great Khan Mangu had reopened the war against China that had ended in his untimely death.
Now Kublai Khan, Mangu's younger brother, had called a kuriltai to choose the next Great Khan. Whoever was elected would lay claim to all the lands from Korea in the east to Russia in the west, from Siberia in the north to Burma and Annam in the south. He would rule not only the largest empire in the world, but the largest empire mankind had ever known.
There was a blast of horns and a rumble of drums. Hangings parted, and Kublai Khan, surrounded by noyans, orkhons, and tarkhans, entered the hall. The assembled chieftains, most of whom had been seated on the carpeted floor eating, drinking and talking, rose to their feet.
When Kublai opened his mouth to speak, a total silence fell. "Ten months have passed since my brother, the Great Khan that was, died of his illness at Hochwan." His voice, deep and powerful, carried to the furthest parts of the hall. "Thirty days ago the summons went out to this kuriltai. Four days we have been meeting here. There has been time for all to come to this kuriltai. The Ancestor said, 'All they who do not come to a kuriltai shall be as arrows shot into reeds. They shall disappear.' So let it be with all those who have not come to this kuriltai."
Though Taniko had by now spent many hours with Kublai Khan, the sight and sound of him appearing before this group of powerful men was breathtaking. He wore robes heavy with gold embroidery, and his shoulders were draped with collars of gold and jade and precious stones; on his head was the jewelled headdress of a Chinese Emperor, making him look even taller than he was. But he would have dominated this gathering physically even without such a display of magnificence. He was a huge man, towering over the Mongol commanders who stood at his side. He was heavy as well, with the build of a wrestler. His broad face was swarthy, his eyes so black they seemed to draw light from the room-light radiated again by his glittering robes.
"I demand the right to speak."
All heads turned to look for the source of this new voice. Taniko saw a man pushing his way forward, striding from the centre of the hall towards Kublai's dais.
"I am of the Yakka Mongols, 0 Khan, and I have served the Golden Family all my life." The descendants of Genghis Khan were known as the Golden Family.
An orkhon beside Kublai called, "Be silent now, Torluk, if you want to be able to speak tomorrow."
"This is no true kuriltai if we cannot make our voices heard," the grey-haired Mongol answered back. Taniko heard a murmur of agreement from other Mongols in the crowd.
Kublai Khan raised a large hand. "The tuman-bashi Torluk is quite right. All men may speak freely at the kuriltai. Torluk's years of service are three times my own, and his words deserve our respect."
Torluk walked up to the dais with the rolling gait of a Mongol horseman and turned so that all in the room could hear and see him.
"I urge the Khan to call an end to this kuriltai at once. This meeting has no right to choose the next Great Khan."
Now there was a shocked murmur. Taniko could see those who did not understand Chinese asking others near them what the tuman-bashi Torluk had said. The orkhon beside Kublai who had spoken before cried, "Treason!"
Taniko felt a chill of fear. Torluk clearly spoke with the voice of those who were in league against Kublai. Everyone in the hall was watching the khan now, waiting to see how he would meet this challenge.
Chapter Fifteen
Taniko had come to know Kublai well, but she had never before seen him presiding as a khan among his chieftains. Always when they met he had been alone, or at most with a few other people, in his chambers.
She had been utterly terrified the first time she had met him. He seemed, at first sight, a monstrous man. Since she expected that he would want to lie with her, she thanked the Buddha that she had known Jebu as a lover; at least she knew it was possible to couple with a man so tall and heavy and not be hurt.
"Sit here beside me," he had said in a rumbling voice, patting a cushion with a large hand. "Will you have wine?"
"Thank you, my lord," she murmured. Wine might make this easier. He picked up a beautiful silver drinking vessel from a low table before him and poured dark yellow wine into an alabaster cup. She took the cup and then held it out to him with her right hand, the left hand underneath to steady it; this was the proper way for a lady to offer wine to a man of rank.
"You must let me serve you, my lord. It is the custom in my country." He took the cup from her, smiling, and drank. She poured a second cup for herself.
His eyes were very narrow and very black-splinters of ebony. The bones of his face were heavy, like the bones of a horse. It was a strong face, but the alertness of the eyes, the mobility of the mouth, suggested an acute intelligence.
"Your country, the Land of the Dwarfs. You may have heard that I- what is your name?"
"Taniko, my lord. I am the daughter of Lord Shima Bokuden of Kamakura."
"You may have heard that I am a very inquisitive man, Taniko. I know nothing about the Land of the Dwarfs, and I would like to know everything."
There could only be one reason why he would ask questions about the Sunrise Land. If she told him anything, she might betray her people. But she dismissed the fear. To get through this night she would have to laugh at everything and be serious about nothing, not even about herself, not even about the Sacred Islands.
"Perhaps, my lord, I can begin by correcting some of the fantastic tales you may have heard. Eirst of all, we are not dwarfs. You and the Chinese are giants. And we do not worship gods with heads of ani mals. Nor does our Emperor live in a palace made of solid gold. Nor are we cannibals."
"Not cannibals?" Kublai's eyebrows went up. "What a pity. I had a fine, fat Chinese sage especially roasted for you. Now I will have to feed him to my hunting dogs. My people are also the subject of many false reports. The stories say we also eat human flesh. They do not say we worship gods with the heads of animals, they say we ourselves have animal heads. We are supposedly not even human, but devils spawned to scourge mankind for its sins. But tell me what is true about your country. What sort of palace does your Emperor really live in?"
The questions went on long into the night. Uneasy about Kublai's purpose, she stressed that hers was a poor land compared to China. The Emperor's palace in Heian Kyo would look small and bare beside the house of any rich man in Linan. Always Kublai pressed her for details of law, of custom, of daily life, details that most people would consider too obvious or trivial to notice. Three times during the evening he struck a small gong with a hammer, and the wine was replenished by a Mongol guard armed with a huge scimitar. Kublai showed her a silver table at the entrance to the tent laden with fruit and meat and pitchers of milk.
"Eat what you want," he said. "No one goes hungry in the khan's tent." She helped herself daintily, never forgetting that this giant had the power of life and death over her. His manner might be gentle and pleasant, but his questions assaulted her mind with the relentlessness of a Mongol army storming a city.
But, she reminded herself, knowledge is the one thing I can still possess, even after another has taken it from me. And I am discovering that I know things about my own land that I never thought were important or did not even realize I knew. Her country reshaped itself in her mind under his questioning. She saw its people and events through the eyes of a master of strategy.
After she explained the complexities of the feud between the Takashi and Muratomo, he commented, "How like my own people yours are. Both peoples live on the edge of China. Both learn from China, both are poor compared to China. Both peoples breed fierce fighters, so fierce that we weaken our nations by fighting among ourselves. With us, the feuding was stopped by the Ancestor, my grandfather Genghis Khan. Perhaps this orkhon Sogamori will do the same for your people."
He stood up, towering over her. Hastily she rose to her feet. He patted her shoulder with a large, brown hand.
"I have had much wine, and I have worked long and hard today. I will sleep now. One of my guards will escort you back to your yurt."
Taniko was startled. No rape of the body to follow the rape of the mind? Perhaps he thought her unattractive.
He seemed to notice her surprise. "That's another tale they tell about us, that we take women brutally, without ceremony. It's not true. Please believe that I find you most attractive. You are an exquisite little creature."
"Thank you, my lord," she said, bowing with apparent shyness and seething inwardly at "little creature."
"If you were to lie with me tonight, you would do so as my prisoner. I know that you are not a courtesan, despite what Prince Horigawa told me when he presented you to me. Bourkina told me your version of the story. It amuses me greatly that giving you to us was the most horrible fate your husband could imagine for you. Tonight, talking to you, I became convinced that you are a lady of rank, as you say. I find you a beautiful and singularly interesting woman. I intend to give you time to become accustomed to me. Go now."
She had seen him about once a month after that. Since there were over four hundred women in his household, and new women were constantly being sent to him, for him to send for her that often was a mark of high favour. He continued to question her about her homeland, but gradually the range of their topics broadened. She had begun to counter with questions of her own. Kublai's answers revealed to her the landscape of a world staggeringly larger than she had ever imagined existed. And much of that world, she learned, was ruled by the family of Genghis Khan.
The Ancestor, Kublai told her, had had four sons by his principal wife. These were his heirs. Each son had been given a separate domain within the empire. Genghis Khan had indicated that he wanted Ogodai, the third son, to reign after him as Great Khan. After the death of Genghis Khan, Ogodai had been elected Great Khan at a kuriltai. The orkhons, tarkhans, noyans and baghadurs swore that the Great Khan would always be a member of the house-of Ogodai. Ogodai commanded the Banners to ride westwards, where they completed the conquest of Russia begun by Genghis Khan and overran lands beyond called Poland and Hungary. The campaign ended when Ogodai died.
