The Great Khan Ch. 06

She rode at the front, along with Khorijin, followed by Solongo, Mai, and the Uyghur scribes, while her sister-wife's arvahn of warriors was spread out around them, watching for trouble. The wagon carrying their treasure was with the scribes. She could see the guards in the towers eyeing them, but felt as if many, many more unseen eyes were observing them as well. She fought down a chill of discomfort.

"Fear not, sister," Khorijin said, still looking straight ahead. "If they had wanted us dead, we would have been slaughtered some time ago. They wish to speak with us, clearly."

"I am glad you understand these things, because I did not share your confidence until you said so," Toragana murmured, as if worried that the Kyrgyz would hear her and change their mind. "What happens next?"

Khorijin shrugged. "We approach the gates, wait patiently, and let these fat Uyghur sages speak on our behalf. They were selected by my brother because they all have some facility with the Kyrgyz tongue."

She turned in her saddle and looked at the Uyghur scribes, her eyes narrowing. "And if they wish to keep their tongues, they will do a very good job in representing us, and my brother's interests."

The scribes and bowed hastily, promising to do their very best. They all knew that Khorijin was not to be trifled with, and would kill each and every one of them happily, not to mention slowly. Any less than complete success in this mission by her standards on her brother the khan's behalf would result in death. None of them doubted this, and Mai had confirmed as much. It was their intention to perform well beyond expectations.

Silence reigned in the vale, except for the wind whistling through the pines, and the call of many birds. The Mongols present tried to contain there are at the sights and sounds around them. The smell of countless pines, of the nearby blue waters, it was almost overwhelming. Khorijin bit her lip, trying not to frown. This different world almost made her... angry.

The guards in the many towers now shifted their stance to something more ready, their hands now resting on their bows, although the weapons had not been drawn. Khorijin held up her hand in response, and the little caravan came to a halt. After several seconds of silence, letting the Kyrgyz observe that their weapons were not drawn, she turned to look at the Uyghurs and tilted her head toward the settlement.

The senior scribes cleared his throat and now rode forward, coming to a stop just in front of Khorijin and Toragana. He called out in a loud but measured tone in the language of the Kyrgyz, and Toragana, Khorijin, Solongo, and even Mai had to trust that he was doing as instructed. If he was betraying them, they would not know until it was too late, and they were all dead.

A guard in the watch tower called back, and there was a brief exchange between them, but Toragana did not detect tension or hostility in the way either party spoke. That was something of a relief. Still, trusting people of other cultures was not something any Mongol did easily.

The Uyghur scribe, whose name was Nur, continued talking, gesturing back to the little group, often specifically to Toragana and Khorijin. He also seemed to point to the ponies who were pulling the small cart that carried their gold, silver, and other commodities. He laughed about something, and the response from the guards watching was also one of levity. Toragana didn't know what to make of that, but she could feel Khorijin tensing slightly, as if expecting to fight.

But then Nur turned around to face them, and he smiled, nodding his head. "They will speak with us, and hear our offers. They remember the Sukh clan, and have heard of the Tengger, and our khan. We are safe now."

Toragana breathed a sigh of relief, and Khorijin relaxed visibly. They waited while the gates of the palisade opened, allow them to come through. While Nur rejoined Mai and the other Uyghurs, Khorijin waved the little group forward, and led them toward the settlement, riding slowly. Toragana fell into line just behind her sister-wife and looked around intently once they had entered the settlement.

"Nur, attend to my sister and I," Khorijin called, prompting the Uyghur to ride up, bowing his head once he rode beside them. Khorijin gave him a terse look. "Perhaps you would care to explain what it to happen next?"

The scribe bowed as he rode. "Forgive me, mistress, I did not want to be the first to enter their settlement. But as to your question, we will be greeted by the local elders, those we will negotiate with, and then we will be allowed to organize ourselves and rest. They asked if we wished to use their settlements to rest, but also saw that we came with our own ger and supplies. I explained that we might feel most comfortable if they set apart space for us."

Toragana was trying to listen as the scribe and Khorijin talked, but mostly she was looking around in nothing short of amazement. Within the great palisade, which extended many ald in each direction, she now saw organized rows of low wooden buildings. She understood the concept of one, and had seen tiny, ramshackle huts made of wood, but to see so many was stunning to her. Solongo also gaped, and even the two junior scribes could not hold back their awe. Only Mai, who had lived in the great cities of the Song, was not fazed by what they saw. She rode along placidly, paying no particular attention to the settlement. It must have seemed rustic to her.

"They will allow us to rest and prepare, and then we can speak with them in earnest and negotiate," Nur explained, still talking with Khorijin. "It is seemingly favourable that the lady Toragana is along as negotiator, since they remember the Sukh fondly, as Mongols go. And the fact that Boldbator Khan has show interest in them is intriguing, since his reputation as a warlord of no small skill precedes him."

Khorijin smiled grimly. "Meaning they want him to be well-disposed toward them if he succeeds in conquering the steppe," she mused. "They are not a powerful people, are they? Not militarily."

Nur shook his head. "Not for some time, my lady. My people conquered them some centuries ago, and when our empire fell to the Khitans, they suffered greatly under them. The Khitans gave way before the Muhammadan forces of the Khwarazm sultans, and many are now adherents of the Islamic faith."

Khorijin sniffed, but kept listening. She heard of these Muhammadans, and she considered them almost as unfit to be warriors as the Nestorian Christians who occasionally visited the steppe for trade.

"But their strength lies in trade, my lady, for they lie astride the trade routes of the Silk Road, between the Song, and the fabled lands beyond the steppe and the mighty Barrier Mountains," the scribe continued. "They are strong enough to protect their interests in that capacity, though they are no threat to anyone militarily. They can restrict and choke trade, if one incurs their wrath, and the common wisdom is that it is easiest and best to deal with them fairly."

"As it should be," Toragana said firmly, now joining the conversation, her curiosity about their surroundings momentarily sated. "Our lord the khan will need trade and allies if his ambitions are to succeed without undue difficulty."

Khorijin did not know if that was a warning from her sister-wife to keep her temper and refrain from making threats, but she now chose to believe otherwise. Toragana seemed to hold no interest in antagonizing anyone, no matter how much Khorijin normally might have wanted to take offense. She simply nodded in agreement. "I have complete faith my sister-wife will represent us well."

They were all tired, because the ride from the steppes had been a long one, and hard. Skirting the deadly expanses of the Taklamakan, and then turning south, their journey had taken a month of solid riding, and even Khorijin the warrior was weary. The stops in safe areas with allies had helped, but the bone-deep weariness remained. The journey back would be even longer.

A Kyrgyz soldier briskly rode up beside them on a small pony, and spoke to Nur, instructing them to follow him. They approached yet another palisade, this one leading them into the inner part of the settlement. Toragana perceived the entire settlement to be a great rectangle in shape, surrounded on all sides by the stout wood that protected the buildings. While strong-seeming, based on the number of people she could see observing them curiously, the population could not have exceeded more than a thousand or so.

They passed through the inner gates, and onward toward some larger buildings, on which the town seemed to be centered. As they approached a large structure, they could see a group of men waiting, most of them elderly. Their clothing was long, often lined with skins. Khorijin frowned slightly.

"These are the masters of the Silk Road?" she muttered just loud enough for Toragana to hear her.

"Oh, indeed not, my lady," Nur said, bowing his head. "This is but a small outpost, rather removed from that famed trade route. Cities such as Kashgar, and Balkh, those are the true hubs of the Silk Road in the north. No, this settlement is dedicated to trading timber, but that is about all."

Khorijin shrugged. "It is timber that we came for, so that suits me well. Anything else is a distraction, I figure."

Toragana agreed. She wanted to get back to Boldbator. She also wanted to confront those of the Sukh clan who had betrayed them on their way here. She would not let that treachery stand. They approached the elders, finally coming to a stop in front of them when their lone guard indicated the need to do so. The group of old men observed them intently.

"I think your time is now," Khorijin whispered to Toragana. The Sukh girl cleared her throat and moved forward slightly, joined by Nur. She nodded to their hosts as she began speaking slowly, allowing the Uyghur time to translate.

"Thank you for receiving us," she began, trying to remember everything she'd rehearsed in her head a thousand times over since the beginning of this damned journey. With the Barrier Mountains towering behind them in the east, she felt so very far from home. "I am Toragana, wife of Boldbator, khan of the Tengger."

The man who seemed to be the leader assessed her curiously for several moments while Nur translated her greeting. The man nodded and spoke to her. "Welcome, Toragana of Tengger. Your scribe says you are khan of the Sukh, defeated and now vassal to your husband's clan."

She nodded. "Aye, he speaks the truth. We were enemies of my husband's people, but they proved mightiest. But he appreciates my diplomacy and tact, and would have me negotiate with you. However, if I may..."

She then introduced the members of her little trade mission, starting with Khorijin, as her sister-wife to the khan, but failing to mention their consanguinity. She then introduced her younger sister Solongo, and then Mai.

The man looked at Mai intently for several moments before speaking. "You are not Mongol, you are Chinese."

She nodded her head with unrivaled grace while Nur explained what he'd said, although she could guess. "Yes, sir. I am concubine to Boldbator khan, he took me as his own when he and his father Arslan raided the lands of the Xia-Xia while my family was visiting. He bade me come with his wife to these negotiations."

"You are of the Song, then?" he queried.

She nodded again. "From the great city of Lin'an, sir."

He smiled, not unkindly. "Then our little settlement must seem rude to you indeed."

"I am normally surrounded by endless gers, sir, 'rude' is a relative term," she quipped in Chinese, which Nur translated with a smirk. The Kyrgyz men all chuckled, and even though Toragana and Khorijin did not know exactly what their sister had said, they were reasonably certain it was at the expense of the steppe peoples. No matter. Whatever made these Kyrgyz amenable to the envoy was what counted.

With Mai finished, Toragana once again took over, introducing the other scribes, as well as the members of Khorijin's arvahn. She then explained that they were here to negotiate for timber, which while it seemed rather obvious, she thought best to lay out her intentions. She still had no idea how they would react to the notion of the Tengger clan building bridges and siege machines in any event.

"As you can see, my lady, we have no shortage of that which you would seek." The elder agreed, adjusting his overcoat. "And while we do not often receive visitors from the Khamag, it is far from unheard of. Your people, the Sukh, they came to trade with us not many years ago, and we found their terms generous."

Toragana bowed her head. "I am still Sukh in that regard, sir. Though my husband, the khan is an honourable man, he indeed instructed me to approach you in the spirit of those bygone dealings, and to remember we were honourable in those transactions. The Sukh may fly the Tengger banner, but we are still as we were, in our blood."

"That is indeed good," he mused, nodding. "But you are no doubt tired from your long journey. It is no small thing to have arrived here from the Khamag in a little over a month, so we bid you rest for at least a day. We have an area set up for visitors and traders such as yourself who prefer their own accommodations to our buildings. We will speak soon. May your gods grace you and watch over you..."

And with that, host and visitors parted, at least for now. The little travelling party found itself led to another area, surrounded by a small fence, where dozens of tents and gers were raised They were escorted to a clear area, with enough room to set up four gers, which Khorijin's warriors began doing immediately, while their commander and Toragana took stock of their situation.

"I think we can relax our guard," the Tengger woman said, looking around. Most of these other traders seem to be Kyrgyz, Uyghur, or Tajik. I see no signs of any tribes we should be concerned by. Still, we will keep two men on sentry at all times. It just makes sense."

"I agree," Toragana said, nodding. "It would not suit our hosts to see strife and blades drawn. I think we are safe, as long as we keep their good will, and show no hostility. Let us settle in, and then see if we can negotiate some real food."

It was not long before their shelters were set up, and Toragana slipped inside and sighed as she began to remove her riding clothes. She was suddenly acutely aware of the bone-deep ache she was feeling all over. She had never spent a solid month riding before, and she was worried that her younger sister Solongo must be in agony. And what about poor Galina?

It wasn't long before Solongo entered, and she was indeed groaning as she started stripping off her raiment. Toragana came up behind her and hugged her close, her breasts pressing into the younger woman's back, her hips nestling against her sister's behind.

"Still convinced you should have come along?" the older girl whispered, caressing her hands over Solongo's tight, sore stomach.

"Barely," Solongo sighed, dropping her clothes on the floor carelessly. "Only the notion of enduring Chambui's hatred and living in terror of my husband's wrath reminds me this is the right choice to have made. That, and to be with you, of course. I have enjoyed our time together, despite the hardship and peril."

"I have as well," Toragana cooed, turning the younger girl around and holding her close, their hands on one another's waists. Their breasts squashed together gently, nipples kissing as they looked into each other's eyes. "And I am glad you came along. You know how much I love you."

"I love you as I have no other, sister," Solongo replied in a voice barely more than a whisper. "Would that you could have made me your wife, and that I had borne Bolorma by you, for only the two of you matter to me."

The sisters kissed, deeply and lovingly, melting into each other, lovers born. They had indeed been lovers since they understood the concept, ferociously attached to one another against all odds. Making love was their greatest pleasure, and Toragana yearned to make proper love to her sister again, free of wariness, of always wondering if they would be attacked by foes or wolves. No, here in the safety of this Kyrgyz hold, they would fuck one another to exhaustion.

"Please forgive my intrusion," intoned Mai as she entered the ger, not at all bothered by the sight of the Sukh girls naked in an amorous embrace. She'd had a sister she loved, after all. "But I thought I might ask you a question."

The sisters slowly ended their kiss, sighing at having to break their craved intimacy. They turned their heads to look at Mai as she approached but stayed in their embrace. There was no need to give that up, after all. Toragana smiled. "What can I do for you, sister?"

"I am still not used to hearing one of your people refer to me as such," Mai admitted, trying to not blush. "I was meaning to ask you... have either of you ever had a proper bath?"

They looked at her, slightly confused. Toragana spoke first. "I cleanse myself when I can, of course. I have even had occasion to bath in a stream we found, when the water was not cold enough to kill us."

The Chinese girl smiled serenely. "I meant a proper bath, but I already know the answer, I was merely being courteous. What I meant, sisters, was that I am reasonably certain that our hosts will doubtless have a proper bathing facility, and I intend to partake of it, if possible. I was asking if you wanted to experience it with me."

Solongo looked especially confused, and Mai stepped closer, taking one of the girl's hands. Toragana did not object. She wanted to hear what Mai had to say as well.

"A bath," the courtesan explained in her lyrical tone. "A real bath, is a pleasure unlike any other, my sisters. A wooden basin, big enough for at least one person, filled with very warm water, often scented. You sit in it, and allow the heat of the water to relax your body, your muscles, and even the weariness in your soul. It cleanses and brightens the skin, making a woman beautiful and desirable."

Solongo made a wry face. "I am not so certain that being desirable to my husband is a good thing, Galina."

Mai giggled. "Then how about more desirable than ever to your loving sister?"

Solongo looked at Toragana. "Oh. Well that I can certainly live with. Will you love me more if I bathe, sister?"

"I cannot say for certain," the older girl replied. "But it could not make me love you less."

"I should mention, it will also ease the bone-deep weariness we all feel from a month's constant riding, I can promise you that," Mai added. "Imagine, if you will, the ache fleeing your muscles as the hot water saps it from you. If they have the right oils and such, we can also smell very pleasant, not like yak chips for a change."

"I will try this bath with you," Toragana said, rather intrigued. "I guess you had these baths in your civilized home?"

Mai nodded. "A woman of my pedigree could bathe as she pleased, certainly daily. I cannot tell you how much I miss them, sister. As much as I miss peaches, or the scent of plum blossoms. Then let the three of us bathe, once I have confirmed that they have such facilities."

Toragana nodded. "I look forward to it, sister."

Mai turned to head back out of the ger when she paused and looked at them again. "There is one other thing I might humbly ask of you."

"What's that?"

"Well, not to be indelicate, but," Mai began, looking slightly embarrassed. "I was wondering if I may could stay with you two while we are here. While you no doubt expect me to stay with our learned scribes, and I do enjoy their discourse, at least one of them is very gassy, and the enclosed space of a ger can get unpleasant."