The Horse Road (28 page)

The wind was gusting harder now, hot then cold, sending shivers running over my sweating skin. My mouth was parched, my eyes straining in my face. Pain shouted in my bruised leg. I sought for Batu and Lila in the crowd and their smiles steadied me.
I can do this, for Swan
, I thought.
I will do better at whatever comes next.

‘Lances,' Sheng Mu said, and men carried forward the long poles with their sharp iron heads. I tucked mine under my arm and held Gryphon between my knees while soldiers ran on to the field to pull the
arrows from the targets. Then I wheeled him around and kicked him into a gallop again, crouching over his neck, balancing the lance along my arm. The heavy metal head seemed to bounce with every stride that Gryphon took.
Higher
, I thought.
Get it higher! Hold it still! Look at the target!

I took one deep breath, waited for Gryphon's leading leg to swing forward, and launched the lance into the air. It whistled ahead of me and struck the target's outer edge; for a moment it wavered there with shaft rocking but then it fell into the grass as Gryphon galloped past. Behind me, the man Chang rode at a furious pace, the dun's hogged mane brushing his cheeks and his eyes narrowed to slits as he flung his lance. It struck the centre of the target and held there, quivering. We rode five more times each, and my lance hit the target each of those times but still, the man Chang had now won two contests and I had won only the archery.

A terrible clawing despair tore at my insides. I stared down at Gryphon's neck as I rode over to Sheng Mu, and willed myself not to cry. Then I remembered that I was leaving behind that timid girl, and I straightened myself in the saddle and met the foreign man's gaze steadily.

‘Pole bending, a race,' he said, and men ran on to the field to impale the ground with two long lines of sticks with their ends whittled into points.

Chang and I held our horses still, side by side.
Wind blew a scrap of cloth across the grass and Gryphon bounded sideways in excitement. I steadied him, pulled him back alongside the dun. My ears strained for the command to start; I willed Gryphon to pay attention, to focus on that line of poles. But he just wanted to be running, skimming the yellow grass, a creature of cloud and storm and fire, wild and free. His head turned, scanning the crowd, the racing cloud shadows, the flapping tents. He snorted.

‘Go!' shouted Sheng Mu, and Gryphon sprang out from under me so fast that I was almost unseated. I swung him between the first poles, tight in the turn. He soared wide on the second turn, then came in closer again for the third turn, my leg brushing against the pole but not knocking it over. At the far end of the line, I swung him around in a tight circle and headed him back between the poles. The dun raced in the corner of my eye and the troops yelled and roared. We were neck and neck now, thundering between the last poles, shooting far out across the grass and skidding to a halt against the wall of spectators who scattered and ran as the horses cut long grooves into the grass with their hard hooves.

‘No winner!' Sheng Mu said as we stood once more before his carved chair.

‘Now each rider must have time in the ring alone, to show us whatever skills they wish.'

Chang took first turn, and hitched the dun to a
chariot beside another horse. He drove in dizzying circles, the light rig tipping over so far that one wheel lifted from the ground, then he ran out along the central shaft while the horses were cantering, and balanced there in his leather-soled boots. The soldiers roared and cheered, and I saw more money changing hands as Chang ran beside his horse, unhitched now, and jumped on and off its back at a trot. He dived off its side, turning a somersault before he touched the ground.

I could taste the oncoming rain now; it tasted like iron and sand, like hot stones and riverbeds and chalk and salt. The clouds raced over the Alay Mountains, building higher and darker, their bellies swollen with moisture. Anahita's grey mares were up there, I thought, driving the demon's black stallion away from our pastures, our orchards and nut groves. Soon, soon, the rain would fall.

It was my turn again. I walked Gryphon to the far end of the grass and then sent him streaking down its length at a gallop. Part way, I dived backwards off him and hung by one foot, my toe looped into a leather thong, my arms loose, and my head rushing inches above the ground. It was the manoeuvre that I had used to escape from the cavalry fight on Mountain. At the end of the field, I pulled myself back into the saddle and turned Gryphon's head around. This time, I jumped off him and ran five strides beside his cantering shoulder before jumping back on. Then I
stood in my foot loops, and trotted the length of the field standing up, praying he wouldn't break into a faster pace.
I must win this
, I thought.

I must win! I must do something now that will impress Sheng Mu greatly!

‘I need to borrow your horse,' I called to Chang, and Sayeh translated, her words snatched away on the wind's whistle. Reluctantly, the man climbed from the dun gelding and led him over to me. I had watched the horse running; his stride was very close to being the same length as Gryphon's, and they were almost the same height. Nonetheless, what I was about to do was risky, for I needed to practise it much more, and because the two horses were strangers to one another. ‘Roman riding' my father called it, and my mother forbade me to do it because it was too dangerous; it was for this reason that I had not been able to practise it very often.

I took the dun's reins and positioned him beside Gryphon, who rolled his eyes and snorted at the stranger. I tugged on his rein and he turned his head forward again, his ears swivelling to the sound of my voice as I told him to pay attention to me. I eased him into a walk and the dun kept stride, kept closely against Gryphon with a tight rein. Holding my breath, I eased them both into a trot. The crowd was silent. I stood in my toe loops, kicked my feet free and jumped into the saddle, standing upright on Gryphon. His back undulated below me, swaying, surging. Wind
filled my ears. The crowd floated past, far below, their mouths open in a roar of appreciation. I tugged on Gryphon's reins, slowing his pace, and waiting for the moment when his stride matched the dun's. Then I shifted my weight quickly, and set one foot over on to the dun's blanketed back.

There I was for one heartbeat, two, three – tall and invincible, riding the flow of the world with sun and wind in my eyes and two horses running beneath me.

Gryphon opened his mouth and snaked his head out at the strange dun, teeth flashing. The dun swerved, tearing the reins from my hand. My feet shifted, my bruised leg stiffened, and the world spun. I hit the ground with a blow that darkened my sight and knocked the wind from my lungs. I rolled over and felt the ground vibrating as the horses galloped around, wild with the approaching storm.

Hands pulled at me, rolling me over. ‘That was crazy,' Batu said, grinning in admiration. ‘Are you dead?'

I groaned and pushed him away. ‘Of course I'm dead. Let me stand up.'

The packed ranks of soldiers cheered when I staggered to my feet but I glimpsed Chang scowling as he caught the dun and Gryphon and led them over to Sheng Mu. I stumbled after him and stared into Sheng's dark eyes, willing myself not to show fear although my ribs were tight and my heart was thumping. I could not speak a word, not in that moment of
decision, not while Swan's fate trembled in the balance. At that moment, I could not even have spoken her name to save her.

Sheng Mu smiled. ‘Two skilled riders, both deserving of honour. Great feats of horsemanship have entertained us. Who should win? My rider, Cheng, had more lances hit the targets, and won the swordplay. His chariot driving was magnificent. At the pole bending, there was no winner for the horses raced neck and neck.'

He tapped the roll of parchment, that held our trade agreement, lightly against the palm of one hand as he regarded us.

‘Honourable lady of the House of Iona,' he said at last, ‘you won the archery, and your attempt to ride two horses was magnificent though foolish. Take your white mare and return home. My caravan will come to your doors next spring with silk. You did not win everything, but you rode splendidly although you are young and only a girl. Take your white mare home.'

I fell to my knees as though I had been hit from behind. Batu's hands were under my arms, pulling me up. Lila had her arms around my shoulders. I lifted my chin and stared straight into the eyes of the foreign horseman. ‘I thank you for your trade agreement,' I said. ‘I thank you for the honour of dealing with so noble a man.'

When Swan was led forward, I buried my face in her neck, I ran my hands over every part of her. Then
I had her blanketed, and I pulled my stiff, aching body on to her smooth white back, and turned her head westwards, holding Gryphon alongside on a lead rope. ‘Do you wish still to be my servant, or to go east with these men over the roof of the world to your mother's people?' I asked Sayeh.

She pondered for a moment, her narrow face inscrutable and her eyes like shuttered windows. Then she turned the mule to follow me. ‘I will stay with you and your horses,' she said, and left the camp without a backward glance. We rode until the army camp lay behind us, and then Batu drew rein where the track into the hills swung away from the valley road.

‘The men and I are going back to our tribe now,' he said. ‘Do you remember the eagles we saw nesting in the pass on the day that the army arrived? I am going to return there and catch an eaglet before they grow any older. If they have time to grow much bigger, they will carry me away to their nest and train me to hunt marmots for them!'

Our eyes locked for a long moment. ‘I will come to your pastures soon, to bring back the two-year-old herd,' I replied. ‘Make sure you are in your father's yurt when I come, and not chewing marmot in a nest.'

He laughed, throwing his head back, the wild wind whipping his mane of black hair beneath his hat of wolf fur. Then his gaze sobered. ‘The days will be long until you come,' he said, and leaned from
Rain to kiss my flushed cheek. Then he turned Rain's head towards the foothills.

‘What about Mountain?' I called, realising that Lila was still mounted on the appaloosa.

‘You can bring Mountain with you when you come for your herd,' he called back. ‘I will expect him fat and well-groomed!' He kicked Rain into a trot, the other nomads keeping pace beside him.

‘Aiyee, he is going to try and be a man now!' one of the nomads teased, slapping Batu's shoulder. ‘A real man needs a fast horse, a good hound, and an eagle. He is going to see if he can manage this!'

Their bantering and laughter carried back to us as we watched them dwindle into the distance. When they were almost out of earshot, I raised my voice and cried, ‘The starry sky at night –'

‘– is a black horse decorated with pearls!' Batu called back, our old childhood password.

I smiled to myself, squinting my eyes until the riders passed from sight down a dip in the land and into a grove of windblown willows.

The rain began to fall then, great cool drops that hit my face and hands, and wetted my dry tongue when I stuck it out. Drops shimmered like pearls in Swan's white mane. A thick curtain of rain draped across the valley like a swathe of silk, and the citadel of Ershi lay upon it like an embroidered pattern as we headed our horses for home.

It was still raining three days later when my father's party rode through the western gate of the city and clattered up the streets to pour into our courtyard in a tumult of noise and commotion. I flew down the stairs and into my father's arms, pressing myself against the great barrel of his chest, the curve of his belly beneath a robe stained with mud and smelling of wet camels. His thick fingers stroked my curls and I felt safe for the first time in many weeks.

‘My sweet peach,' he said fondly. ‘What have you been doing?' And he ran a broad thumb across my cheeks, where scratches from thorny branches, falling stones, and baked ground were still visible. But there was no time to reply then, for my mother came down the stairs, pale and queenly, her blue eyes blazing with light, her wide mouth smiling. She held herself so erect and straight that not even my father noticed
how her left arm hung stiff as a dead branch from the tight knitting of her wounds. He took her into his arms and held her for a long time in silence, while I turned to my brothers: dark Petros with his sweet solemn smile, and tall golden Jaison with his boisterous embrace. Fardad ran around flapping his arms, and Marjan stood in the kitchen door watching while camels were commanded to kneel; while Sayeh slipped between the horses and donkeys, removing tack; while bundles of trade goods and bales of fabric and casks of wine were unloaded and dragged into the storage room. My father began striding around, giving orders as the beasts were unloaded. ‘Bring that one, no, not that one – that casket there! And that package! Bring them inside.'

Finally we were all sprawled on divans upstairs, drinking tea and eating sugared almonds while Marjan lit a brazier in the centre of the room to take the dampness from the air. My father was already retelling his many stories, the gossip of the trade routes, the news of the world's great cities and ports, their foreign peoples, their strange customs, and all the amusing and entertaining things that had happened to him. Rivers rolled off my father's tongue, and mountains were scaled in the space of minutes, and exotic foods that were hard to imagine wove their fragrances into the air as he talked. Then there were the gifts to open, to unwrap from their oiled coverings, to take from their caskets: soaps perfumed
with jasmine and sandalwood, perfume in a glass bottle, a red plate decorated with black chariot horses, ivory hair combs, a saddle blanket for Swan with stripes of blue and white. And for my mother, there were tapestries, and plates of chased silver, and a bridle with rubies on the brow band and a gold-plated bit. After all this, my father and brothers went off to the bath house for a long soak for my father said that the dust of the continent was ground into his skin like spices being ground into raw meat.