Swords From the West (70 page)

"Yah khawand," greeted a Kankali beg in a sleeved cloak of red satin, "by order of Jahan Khan do we, thy slaves, attend thee."

"0 emir!" growled a bearded Turani. "We also be here! Command us!"

They held his stirrup, then raced to their horses, and Robert rode off musing upon the power of an emperor that could raise an unknown warrior to such dignity. From his talk with the mullah he suspected that NurAnim was well acquainted with the hiding -place of the treasure-if he was not actually its keeper.

If Muhammad remained away from Bokhara and the city should be besieged for a long time, the possession of the treasure would mean power to the holder. Robert did not intend to let Osman put his hand on it. One thing puzzled him; if Osman knew where it was hidden, what had kept the wazir from seizing the treasure? And who was the Manslayer, that men who had never set eyes upon him should fear him?

This question was answered for him sooner than he expected.

It was sunset before he left the atabegs after issuing his orders and finding out that they knew less than he did about the Mongols. In the courtyard a familiar voice hailed him.

"Now by the shank-bone of the blessed St. Dunstan, here be Master Robert!"

Will Bunsley sprang forward and grasped the knight's hand in both fists, grinning hugely. His hood and hose were somewhat the worse for wear, but he looked fat and hale; in fact a strong odor of wine of Shiraz hung about him.

"Praise be to St. Bacchus-who was a fair trencherman if he lacked of sainthood-that I ha' found thee. Abdullah brought me hither with tidings-"

"How left you Ellen and the blind priest?"

"Safe as an arrow in quiver, and chattering like magpies, God wot! Has Gabriel sounded his trump, lordling, or is the day of miracles at hand again?"

"Yah khawand," spoke up Abdullah impatiently, "the Mongols are within the gate."

"How?" The knight's eyes narrowed. "Where?"

"An envoy came to the Otrar gate to have speech with the ruler of the city."

"Ha-and no word from our outposts?"

The minstrel snapped his fingers significantly and pointed to where in the gathering darkness red glows were visible in the distance-the reflection of fire upon rising columns of smoke. Bunsley followed his gesture with an appraising eye and explained cheerily.

"Abdullah doth fret because the light horsemen sent out from this citadel be somewhat heavy this night. Methinks they are, in a manner of speaking, dead, my lord, and divers paynim villages aflare on the horizon; by which token are we beset, and the goodly walls of this town invested, and I lack a bow, Master Robert. A fair long bow, seest thou, is a goodly thing when a siege is toward, and I pray thee-"

But the knight waited not to hear how Bunsley had managed to gather his tidings. Putting his horse to a gallop, followed by his escort and the minstrel and archer, he made for the eastern gate. Riding with loose rein, he glanced about him and saw that in the bazaar the merchants were hurrying to gather the goods from their stalls and that men ran about shouting aimlessly. As when the shah passed through, crowds of slaves and women lined the housetops to stare at the fires on the skyline. Torches were lighted by the Otrar gate, and here a body of Kankalis stood beyond spear-throw of three men.

At first sight of the three Robert thought that Abdullah and Will had jested.

They were mounted on shaggy ponies not much larger than donkeys. They were clad in coarse wool and leather, loosened over their bare chests for coolness in the windless evening. Only one, the most powerful of the three, wore mail of sorts-a haburgeon of iron plates knotted together with leather thongs.

The face of this rider was dark as burnished bronze and clean-cut as iron. His bare right arm was heavy with corded sinews, and the sword at his thigh was broad as an English battle-ax. He spoke in explosive gutturals, barely moving his lips, and one of the Moslems interpreted.

"The Mongol says he is Chatagai, a commander of a hundred. He says Genghis Khan offers the people of the city their lives."

The envoy glanced once at the crusader and his horse and spoke again.

"You are to bring the people from the walls to the plain," explained the Kankali, "with food and forage for a hundred thousand men and double that number of horses. He has gifts-a bow and an arrow. Look upon them; such bows are strong, such arrows shoot far."

Robert took the weapons in his hand and found the bow to be massive indeed, as heavy as a spear and as long as the English bows. The arrow was of cloth-yard length, its solid silver head pierced with holes.

"He says you cannot cope with such weapons. If the gates are opened to Genghis Khan he will slay no man; if the gates are shut no man will live."

Curiously Robert studied the Mongol, the first of that race he had seen. The warrior was strongly built, and horse and man remained as tranquil as if the rider had never known any other seat than the saddle. Chatagai stared for a long time at a dried and wrinkled head stuck upon a spear by the gate, seeming to take especial interest in this one grim remnant among the many skulls about the gate.

"Can you bend this bow?" Robert asked the archer.

"That can I," assented Will, who had been circling around the weapon like a dog that had sighted a side of venison.

He dismounted, examined the double stringing of twisted gut, and, exerting his strength in knee and arm, strung it swiftly.

"The bow is an honest longbow, but the arrow hath a lewd hammer head. Natheless if yonder churl can loose it, loose it I will-"

Planting his feet he gripped the feathered tip between fore and middle finger upon the string and drew it to his ear. The arrow flashed up into the night with a shrill, tuneful whistling that dwindled and passed beyond hearing. Chatagai grunted in approval.

"Now that is a pretty conceit!" observed the archer in surprise. "The holes i' the silver made a fair flute-sa ha! Master Robert, grant me the bow for mine own, an' it please thee."

The knight nodded, wishing that he could find a weapon to fit his own hand as easily, and turned to the Mongol.

"Tell him we can handle his weapons. Bid him say to his king that I hold Bokhara for Muhammad Shah, and the gates are closed to him."

Chatagai pointed at the head on the spear and spoke vehemently.

"Yah khawand," explained the Kankali, "this barbarian reminds you that the man whose head stands there was an envoy sent by Genghis Khan to Otrar. He dares to titter the warning that the person of an envoy was sacred before the time of Muhammad the Slave; he says God alone knows what will be the issue of this. Ai-a, shall we cut him down?"

"He goes free!" growled Robert.

The Mongol glanced briefly at the tall crusader and at Abdullah. Then, lifting his hand to his forehead and lips, he jerked the pony about in its tracks and swept through the gate with his men after him.

In an instant they had vanished into the dust and the night.

"That was ill done, my Frank," quoth the minstrel. "Until now you have walked forward through peril with a sure step, but now you have stumbled. Would you know the reason? Then dismiss your men beyond earshot, and we will talk-you and I alone-of the fate of an empire and the souls of a million men."

Chapter X

In the temples sit the priests, seeing all things, for they are slaves of the gods. Aye, the wisdom of the gods is one with Fate. Yet the lips of the priests are locked.

In the palace are the rose-faced women. Their hair is fragrant as a garden at dusk, and their fingers are like silver, for they are the slaves of a king. They have covered their lips with perfume and their hearts with secrecy.

One key only will unlock the hearts of the slaves, and that is Fear.

-Persian proverb

Robert ordered his followers to remain where they were and reined his horse through the gate after Abdullah until they were a stone's throw beyond the wall but still within the glow of the torches. The minstrel bore himself like a new man. Lute and pack were gone, and the good nature had faded from his broad face; he sat restlessly in the high-peaked saddle, peering into the maw of the dark plain as if watching the retreating Mongols and eager to be after them.

"My quest is ended, 0 companion of the road. I have found you and brought you hither with honor enough for us both."

The crusader nodded and laughed.

"Verily you are something of a wizard, Abdullah. You led me hither to serve-as you said-the master of all men. And I serve Muhammad in a high place."

"My master-" Abdullah glanced on all sides-"is not Muhammad, who is a slave, served by slaves. I follow the Manslayer."

"Genghis Khan?"

"Aye."

Robert's eyes narrowed. Here was a riddle, and he waited for the minstrel to explain it. And after perceiving that his friend would not speak, Abdullah went on.

"Hear then, lord companion, one last tale from the teller of tales. Before your mother bore you, there lived a tribal chief in the Gobi Desert, which is beyond the Roof of the World. This man came to be called Genghis Khan later, but at that time he herded sheep and cattle and fought with the other tribes. One day there came to him a youth who could sing the hero songs of the tribes, whose tongue was quick to boast, yet who drew back from no man's sword. This was Chepe Noyon, and they called him the Tiger.

"Again there came one who had the strength of a buffalo, who quaffed a cask of wine before setting it down, and Genghis Khan named him Subotai, or the Buffalo. When the other chiefs of the Mongols were in tatters and saw their herds thinned and their women carried off by their foes, they hung their heads and rode away to another place; then Genghis Khan said to these two, the Tiger and the Buffalo, that they should be his chief men, and they kept at his side to spy out the way in front of him and to guard his back against arrows. Sometimes when they were stiff with wounds they fled to the mountains; they tasted the dregs of treachery, which was worse than the buran-the black wind-storm that sweeps the high desert and freezes men in the saddle."

The minstrel folded his arms and thought for a moment. "When the dust rose from the plain or the mist descended from the sky these three did not lose the path they followed. In time came reward. The other tribes were trampled down. So they joined the Mongol standard, and Genghis Khan became leader of the Horde-the riders of the Gobi. They counted their herds by the hundred, and friends came to them from the white world of the north*
and from the west and the south.

"When Cathay sent its bannermen against them they rode over the Great Wall, which was stronger than this."

The minstrel nodded at the wall of the city.

"So in time they humbled Cathay and rode their horses into the palaces of Yen-king, which is as great as three Bokharas. The wise men of Cathay served them, and they sat at table with Prester John of Asia. But Genghis Khan always kept the Tiger and the Buffalo near him and gave them honor. They were three brothers who would give up their horses, one to the other, in a battle.

"Then the Gur-khan, who was lord of the Roof of the World,,
mustered his warriors, and Genghis Khan mounted his horse and went up against him. The Horde did not sit again upon the carpets of ease until they took the tents of the Gur-khan.

"I am Chepe Noyon, the orkhon, leader of the right wing of the Horde, and brother-in-arms to Genghis Khan."

The minstrel drawled his name, and his eyes twinkled.

"From the Uighurs, who are Turks and scholars, I learned Arabic and heard of Khar; and the desire came upon me to ride down and look upon this shah who was himself a slave.

"And I came because at the table of Prester John my master had heard of a race of Franks who had landed on the Moslem shores and made havoc with their swords. Hearing of their deeds, Genghis Khan laid a command on me. And the command was to fetch to him one of the Christian Franks who had a strong arm and a stout heart. This was because Genghis Khan wished to see for himself one of these warriors who had come over the seas, to overthrow all of the Moslems as he had struck the Cathayans. And I went, for a command is a command, even from a brother.

"Aye, the orkhon became a minstrel, and good sport was his. Muhammad, the shah, after seeing him ride and shoot an arrow and empty a flagon of wine without setting it down, took him into favor-not knowing his name or race. Abdullah became the cup-companion of an emperor's revels-and bethought him of his mission. So he asked the way to the strongholds of the Franks, and Muhammad gave him a chain of jewels."

The Mongol-Robert still thought of him as Abdullah-laughed heartily at the jest, probably aware of what kind of a chain Muhammad would have set upon him if his true name had been known.

"Why," asked Robert, frowning, "did you bring me with you? There were greater knights in Syria."

"Of the very few who could have made the journey and lived, none except you had the heart to set forth. Oh, I have watched you and tested you, and my choice was good."

Chepe Noyon nodded reflectively and continued:

"When we drew our reins to the Sialak I first heard of the war between Muhammad and Genghis Khan, and many lies were told me. But while you were a captive here I rode to Otrar and there learned the truth, and this is it:

"The Moslems, being traders and traffickers by nature, sent caravans to the Mongol empire to sell their wares. And so Genghis Khan sent an embassy to Muhammad to greet him. The governor of Otrar was a fool, and he mistook the envoys for common men."

Robert thought of his first impression of Chatagai, and judged that this might easily happen.

"First the governor of Otrar cut off their beards and then their heads," went on Chepe Noyon carelessly, "and kept their goods, to win Muhammad's favor. The head that hangs by this gate-" he pointed to the wall behind them-"was the brother of Chatagai. Genghis Khan will let no man of the Horde suffer injury unavenged. Aye, in our land a young woman might carry a sack of gold in her hand from Bishbalik to Kambalu, and she and the gold would be untouched. Nay, can there be two suns in the sky? War between the shah and the khan was certain, and now it has come to pass. Muhammad thought he was dealing with a nomad-a herdsman. So he was. But he thinks otherwise."