The Great Khan Ch. 02

Sal'juq groaned and stirred while Tolon hobbled up to him, wincing as he put pressure on his right leg, the one he had tripped his opponent with. Gritting his teeth, he helped Sal'juq to his feet and both men embraced before Tolon finally collapsed, sitting and groaning while clutching his leg. Members of his family huddled around him while one trained with wounds gingerly removed his boot. The shin was cracked, the yellowish-white bone peeking through a grisly punture in the skin.

Boldbator approached, assessing the situation, his face grim. It was doubtful Tolon would ever be able to ride in battle again. It was a slave dearly bought. Sal'juq magnanimously gave one of his other slaves to Tolon, since he had won the bout on a broken leg and brought honour to his family. Tolon thanked him for the gesture and was carried away by some of his family members, to a ger where they would see if he could be healed.

"That bout was too long by a half," Kula grunted as he walked beside his brother. "I don't care how much yak fat he was covered in, Tolon shouldn't have lasted that long."

"You speak that way only because no one in the clan is stupid enough to contest your strength in the ring, brother," Boldbator reminded him. "Even I would think twice about that."

Kula grunted again. "You exceed me in all other areas, perhaps it's only fair I am your equal in Khalkha bokh."

"And our sister matches us with her skill in the bow," Boldbator agreed. "The next week should prove interesting indeed."

"Why do you say that, brother?" Kula asked.

"Because a standing ordu must be raised," the older brother said. "Commanders must be chosen, bahatur selected and weapons readied."

"A gorugen?" Kula breathed.

"Yes," Boldbator confirmed. "The Great Hunt is on."

***

Toragana knelt on the carpet in front of the dais inside Boldbator's ger. Still dirty and ragged, she said nothing but stayed still in sullen silence. The khan looked down at her with interest, realizing that he knew nothing about her and yet perhaps needed her. Killing her was absolutely a last resort, no matter how petulant or disrespectful she became, daring him to slay her.

"Why do you think your family has fallen?" he asked finally, once he was done observing her. She was no doubt pleasant enough to look at, when she was cleaned up and not covered in disgrace and defeat. He sensed a keen defiance in her, something he wished to see in full flight.

She said nothing.

"This petulence does not suit me," Boldbator growled, hoping to get her attention. "I could easily have your sister Solongo and her child put to the sword if you cannot show simple courtesy."

"Kill them, then." Toragana said dully, still looking straight ahead at nothing. "They are dead anyway."

"Maybe," Boldbator said evenly. "But the method of their death could be mitigated by you. Would you see that child die in drawn-out agony for your spite?"

"You're no coward, lord of the Tengger," she said, her eyes now raising to look up at him. "Only cowards torture and murder children and the Heavens see it all. I'll spit in your face right now and defy you to do as you've threatened to a child who simply had the misfortune of being born into a doomed clan."

Boldbator did not allow the flash of anger to control him, knowing that was exactly what she wanted. If he gave into his threat to kill the sister and child, he would never truly control the Sukh clan. He rested his chin on his hand, hopefully controlling his scowl.

"What good are the remonstrances of a defeated clan anyway?" he poined out. "What legitimacy could their words ever have?"

"You bore me with your words, Tengger," she said, her voice growing dull and her eyes returning to staring dead ahead with no regard for him. "Do what thou wilt and let Heaven judge you for it, I have no interest in it."

"You are unlike your father, Delger," he mused. "And you fought better than he did. He died quickly and his skull now sits with those of the others who have fallen to me."

"You must be very proud." Toragana sneered, still refusing to look at him.

"My deeds will be remembered amongst our people," Boldbator said evenly, still not rising to her bait. "Would you see all memory of the Sukh erased for your father's stupidity?"

Her eyes flashed up to his and she glared at him. "What do you care of the fate of my fate or that of my clan?"

"Mostly I don't," he replied honestly. "They can, of course, simply be another name on the honour list of families that have fallen to the Tengger, to be heard no more in history and to be discounted. I am just surprised you are willing to settle for that."

"What choice do I have?" she snarled, her eyes flashing with fury. "I led my clan to its destruction and am now simply a slave, waiting to die at the hands of my enemy! What possible alternative is there for me?"

"That remains to be seen," the khan pointed out. "Can you answer a question honestly and objectively? If you do so, I will ask you no more questions unless you allow them. I will simply return you to the ger where my slaves are held and you will disappear into anonymity, if that is your wish. Will you answer one question with complete honesty?"

She didn't speak but looked up at him and subtly nodded.

"Why do you hate me?" he asked.

The question seemed to take her off-guard. It was at first glance possibly the stupidest question ever asked with the most obvious answer, glaring like the sun. But something in the way he asked it caused her to look inward and delve before answering. It was some minutes before she spoke and he gave her all the time she needed, pleased that she was at least considering her response.

"It is not a fair question," she said finally. "You are the enemy of my blood and we have hated you as rivals. But fighting between our clans is our way, begrudging you victory because you fought harder and better than we did is nonsensical. If I could step back and observe what had happened in that battle, I would be in awe of what you accomplished, khan of the Tengger. The... the only reason I can possibly have to hate you personally is that you have spared my life thus far."

"Is that enough?" he queried.

"It can be and it should be," she said, her countenence darkening as the obligation of honesty wore off. "I owe you nothing except my blade through your throat, as my heritage demands."

"But you do not hate me."

"That is no concern of yours, o khan," she growled.

"If you could save what remains of the Sukh, would you?" Boldbator asked.

She looked up at him again. "You seek to toy with me for your own amusement, make me dance and squirm. I'll have none of your games, Tengger."

"And if I'm not playing a game?" he replied, standing and coming down off the dais. She stayed kneeling but he now sat in front of her, cross-legged. "If I were completely serious, what would you have to say?"

Her eyes narrowed and she looked at him suspiciously. "What do you mean?"

He nodded. "I have a vision, daughter of the Sukh. I have been spoken to by the stars and a great grey wolf about our people, united and strong, stronger than ever, beneath a nine-tailed banner that none could stand against. The tribes of the steppes came together for united purpose under one khan and rode out even to the Yangtze and toppled the Song."

Toragana's eyes widened at his words.

"I believe the Tengri have allowed me this chance, to unite all the Mongols and lead them to a glory we have never known before and create an empire like no one under Heaven has ever seen. But if this is to pass, I must unite the tribes as one, not merely destroy my enemies, like your clan."

She said nothing but merely listened.

"I have defeated the Sukh, but rather than kill you all, I would see what remains rally beneath my banner, ready to march for glory heretofore unknown. I want you, as their khan, to bring them to me willingly, so that I need not march against them."

She blinked and looked skeptical. "And you would have me accomplish this how, oh mighty khan of all the tribes? I led my people to defeat."

"Yet you were still their best option, seemingly." Boldbator said. "Were you to become my wife, equal in rank to Sarantuya, my First, then your position as their leader would be more legitimate than ever. You will be my wife and lead the Sukh as orKhan, my vassal. Your clan will survive and grow to live in fame and glory. What say you?"

Her eyes were distant as she considered. "To marry the enemy of my blood..."

Boldbator shrugged. "Solongo has already consented to marrying my brother Kula and will one day bear him a son. He is adopting her girl as his own. Your family is already becoming mine."

"Well that makes this question rather academic, doesn't it?" she pointed out.

"Nothing ever is when you deal with Mongols." Boldbator muttered.

***

Boldbator took Toragana of the Sukh clan as his wife while Kula claimed Solongo as a bride. Both girls were given lavish gifts by their new husbands and taken to bed to consumate their marriages. The woman who was khan of the Sukh stood now before her husband inside his tent, naked and allowing him to observe her.

"Are you unspoiled?" he asked as he walked around her slowly.

"If you mean am I a virgin, then I must answer no," Torgana replied. "But speaking objectively, I am less unspoiled than my sister, whom you took so savagely, because I gave myself willingly to the first man."

"Do you not give yourself willingly to me now?" Boldbator mused, noting her fine form. It reminded him of Galina, although Toragana was predictably darker of skin due to her life on the steppe. Still, a fine figure indeed.

"As willingly as one may, my khan, when the alternative is death and the redemption of one's clan hangs in the balance..." she said quietly. She may have acquiesed to marrying him, but she didn't have to make things easy. All he could do was disgrace himself by killing her, a price she was willing to pay.

"That is a start." Boldbator said, nodding. "To be honest, I am pleased that you are not a virgin, it will be less awkward and there will be less crying."

"I'll try to be gentle, khan of the Tengger." Toragana said, unable to hide an evil smile as she spoke.

His hand clamped around her neck and her eyes went wide as he lifted her off the ground- his strength was terrifying. She had never known anything like it. Cold terror ran down her spine.

"Your resentment I can deal with, woman," he growled, his black eyes blazing like coals as he glared at her. "But mock me again and the horses will enjoy your womanhood several times before trampling you to death. Do you understand me?"

"Y-yessssss..." she gasped, her body shaking.

Boldbator dropped her and turned to stride away while Toragana fell to her knees, wheezing and holding her throat, her eyes spinning. That had been a mistake, she realized. She got ahead of herself. Boldbator was far too dangerous a man to taunt without consequences. He had annihilated her whole army and nearly her whole clan in less than two days. She would not make that error again.

"You need to understand, Toragana," he said quietly, still facing away from her. "Your life is convenient for me. If you live, I might, just might, depending on your skill, be able to bring the Sukh clan and their allies to hand and swell our ranks for the ambitions I have. But if I must kill you because you will not show respect, and then destroy your people, so be it. The way ahead might be harder for it, but the glory all the more and the Sukh will not share in it."

Toragana coughed and wretched, still unable to speak.

"You are no longer my prisoner, you are my wife," he reasoned, turning to look at her. "You shall be given all due respect by me and by my people. Is it too much to ask for you to return the gesture?"

"What real respect will I have?" she finally managed to gasp out. "What if you indeed achieve these lofty ambitions, lord of the Tengger? Will I be khatun before all others? You have three other wives at this point, one of whom is of the Borjigin clan, a yazgartun family of ancient days. Will I exceed her in the estimate of your peoples? Would our son be the jinong, your heir?"

"You will have all the courtesies of a wife of the khan," he said firmly. "If more than that is what you wish, then be the wife that merits it. My sister, star-touched though she is, can never be my khatun and she knows it. Galina is Chinese and she would be murdered the moment I was not protecting her. If you would be first in all things, more than Sarantuya, then be khan of your people and make them mine, Toragana. They must have elected you for a reason, not simply because you were Delger's daughter."

Toragana was still on all fours, her body shaking, but she was breathing deeply and composing herself. Boldbator was right in one thing- she would never get what she wanted or save her people by lashing out in bitterness and griping. This was the lot that Heaven had seen fit to give her, it was now up to her to make use of it.

She stood slowly and faced him, slowly moving her head and neck around to work out the kinks before looking at him. Her dark eyes were not defiant but confident. She was the daughter of a noted khan and she would now act like the wife of a great khan. So be it.

"You are correct, husband," she declared. "We all have our place and our aspirations. If I am to cleave to you, then I will show you my worth. I am not just a Sukh but also Tengger now. In gaining one new part of myself, I would not lose the other. Tonight you shall make me yours and then we shall plan for the future."

Boldbator nodded. "Come then, wife. Show me the glory of my spoils of war."

Toragana walked forward slowly, showing no fear. She knew there would be bruising on her neck because of his savage grip, but maybe that was a badge of honour she could display to the other wives. She controlled a pang of intimidation as she approached him, realizing exactly how much bigger than her he was. He was tall for a Mongol, nearly a head taller than her, and she was tall for a woman.

She removed the ornate robe he was wearing, made of soft lambskin lined with silk, a ceremonial robe that signified importance to the event it was worn for. She then slowly took off the tunic he wore beneath, exposing his powerful torso. She closed her eyes, training herself, willing herself to not see this as the body of her sworn enemy but her husband, the man she had cleaved to willingly. When she opened her eyes, she began memorizing his form.

His bronzed skin sported many scars, trophies of his battles against other clans and even the Khitans beyond the wall. Long scars indicating lacerations, short and ugly puncture scars from arrows or the tips of blades, ragged scars where axes had struck him... and beneath these were muscles and sinews like the strongest cables on a Chinese siege engine.

His was easily the strongest body she had ever seen, even more so than Dogar, her bahatur that had been slain in battle by Khorijin, Boldbator's sister. The bannerman had also been her lover, but now he was gone, bested and sent beyond by the Tengger clan. She could tell that Boldbator's strength exceeded even his, strongest member of the Sukh clan.

She planted kisses across his chest, tracing her finger over his skin as she knelt slowly, learning every detail she could of him and memorizing it. She reached his breeches and gently undid the cord, taking it in her teeth and pulling back while looking up at him. With practiced hands she helped his breeches to fall, exposing him finally and she could not stifle the gasp that followed. Boldbator's cock was huge.

"By the great worms," she thought to herself. "No wonder he thinks he will be the Kha-Khan..."

Unwilling to show any further astonishment, Toragana slowly placed a hand around the shaft and began massaging slowly, staring intently and taking its measure, deciding what to do next. She leaned in and kissed him next, feeling his warmth and the earthy aroma of his body. His powerful thighs were on either side of her head, one of his hands now tangling in her long, dark hair.

Steeling herself, she slipped the imposing head inside her mouth, even as she felt him swell from her ministrations. She slid her tongue around, lubricating his cock as she fought off the dryness that accompanied her fear. She wrestled with herself silently, forcing herself to imagine what this glorious beast would feel like inside her if she only chose to enjoy it. She pictured herself gasping and bouncing up and down on top of Boldbator, his huge member splitting her and filling her like she had never felt before and how hard he would make her cum.

The thought sent a bloom of wet warmth through her and Toragana hummed around him and slid her mouth further down his length, causing him to tighten his grip in her hair. She reached under and fondled his sac, noting how heavy they were. She'd heard the brother Kula chuckling about how it some nights took all three of Boldbator's wives to sate him and now she believed it.

But she would meet that challenge. She had faced him in battle, she would now meet him in the pillowing chamber.

Her mouth was now good and wet. She held the base of his shaft as she began to bob back and forth slowly along his length. She could feel him hardening in her mouth and breathed deeply through her nose, willing herself not to panic at how quickly he filled her. She could do this. She was Toragana of the Sukh clan.

Of the Tengger clan.

Her fingers continued to caress his sac while she sucked his cock ardently, feeling herself grow wet. Boldbator looked down at his new wife almost in wonder as she managed to get nearly the whole length of him into her mouth. Her throat relaxed and she went further. Even Galina, his most skilled wife when it came to lovemaking, had trouble doing this.

"She might prove a better lover than a fighter. One can only hope."

Toragana pulled her mouth off his cock and looked up at him, her hand pumping along its length rhythmically. She smiled slyly and then stood, still holding onto his throbbing shaft.

"Come, my khan," she said softly. "I do not wish to rut like a yak in the dust on the floor..."

She led Boldbator to the kang, which was piled high with furs, silks and pillows in ornate and festive colours to celebrate a wedding. She stepped up onto the platform and released her hold on him, lying on her back and smiling. Without a word, she opened her legs and then used her fingers to spread her thick netherlips, the black thatch of her pussy pulled aside to reveal an unreal pink within.

"Now, my khan," she purred, smiling at him. "Show me what it is that I have agreed to continue my life for..."

Boldbator nodded and knelt on the bed, but rather than lying between her legs as she'd expected, he picked her up by her hips and rested his new wife on her shoulders, her legs in her air, her wet pussy in front of his face. He pressed his lips against her and began sliding his tongue up and down her sticky slit, causing Toragana to gasp and shudder, still off-balance from her current position.

The khan licked her hungrily, letting her legs hook onto his shoulders to support herself, but even so he almost bent her over. His tongue snaked deep inside her while his fingers gripped her thighs. Toragana moaned loudly as her new husband ravished her. The sheer strength of his body overwhelmed her and he was not afraid to use it. Dogar had seemed almost afraid, like he would break her, but Boldbator showed no such restraint, seeming determined to find out what his new bride could handle.

Toragana squirmed and groaned as his tongue lashed her pussy while she played with her breasts, squeezing them and pinching the nipples. Her body trembled and a sheen of sweat glistened on her soft skin. Through glazed eyes, she looked up at her husband, her voice little more than a whisper.