Empire of Silver Read Free Page B

talk of for years.’
    Temuge studied the younger man before him. The unlined face looked weary and stern. Ogedai had chosen a strange burden for himself, with this city. Temuge knew there were only a handful of men in the camps who cared more than a bronze coin for Karakorum. To the Mongol generals who had known Genghis, it was a colossal conceit of white marble and Chin design. Temuge wished he could tell the young man how much he loved the creation without it seeming like greasy flattery. Yet he did love it. It was the city he had once dreamed of building, a place of wide streets and courtyards and even a library, with thousands of clean oak shelves lying empty for the treasures they would one day hold.
    ‘You are not a fool, Ogedai,’ Temuge said. ‘It was not by chance that your father chose you over older brothers.’ Ogedai looked up sharply and Temuge nodded to him. ‘At times I wonder if you are a strategist like General Tsubodai. For two years, the nation has been without a leader, without a path, yet there has been no civil war, no struggle between princes.’
    ‘Perhaps they saw my personal tuman riding among them, my scribes and spies,’ Ogedai replied softly. ‘There were always men in red and black watching them for treachery.’
    Temuge snorted. ‘It was not fear but confusion that held them. They could not see your plan, so they did nothing. You are your father’s heir, but you did not call them to take the oath. No one understands it, so they wait and watch. They still wait to see what you will do next.’
    Temuge saw Ogedai’s mouth twitch as if he wanted to smile. He longed to know his nephew’s mind, but with this new generation, who knew how they thought?
    ‘You have built your city on the plains, Ogedai. The armies have gathered at your call, but now they are here and many of them have seen this glorious place for the first time. Doyou expect them simply to bend the knee and give their oath? Because you are your father’s son? He has other surviving sons, Ogedai. Have you considered them at all?’
    Ogedai smiled at his uncle, amused at the way the man seemed to be trying to pierce his secrets with his gaze. There was one he would not find, no matter how closely he peered. He felt the wine spread its glow inside him, easing his pain like a caress.
    ‘If that was my intention, uncle – to win two years of peace for myself and build a city – well, I have done it, have I not? Perhaps that is all I wanted.’
    Temuge spread his hands. ‘You do not trust me,’ he said, genuine hurt in his voice.
    Ogedai chuckled. ‘As much as I trust anyone, I promise you.’
    ‘A clever answer,’ Temuge said coldly.
    ‘Well, you are a clever man. It’s what you deserve,’ Ogedai snapped. All the lightness had gone from his manner as he leaned forward. Imperceptibly, his uncle eased himself back.
    ‘At the new moon,’ Ogedai went on, ‘I will take the khan’s oath of every officer and prince of the blood in the nation. I do not have to explain myself, uncle. They will bend the knee to me. Not because I am my father’s son, but because I am my father’s chosen heir and the leader of the nation.’
    He caught himself, as if he was about to say too much, and Temuge watched a shutter drop over his emotions. Here was one son who had learned the cold face early.
    ‘You did not tell me why you came to me tonight, uncle,’ Ogedai went on.
    Temuge let out a sigh, knowing the moment had slipped away.
    ‘I came to make sure you understood the danger, Ogedai.’
    ‘You are frightening me,’ Ogedai said with a smile.
    Temuge flushed. ‘I am not threatening you.’
    ‘Where can this terrible danger spring from then, in my city of cities?’
    ‘You mock me, though I travelled here to help you and to see this thing you have built.’
    ‘It is beautiful, is it not?’ Ogedai said.
    ‘It is wonderful,’ Temuge said, with such transparent honesty that Ogedai looked more thoughtfully at his uncle.
    ‘In