Daughter of Xanadu Part 21

I tried not to glance at his feet, since I knew he was sensitive about them.

"I am pleased with the Latin. I have given him the honor of telling the story of the battle of Vochan. If he does well, I plan to reward him with another a.s.signment, to send him south, to Kinsay. He can report to me about conditions there."

Marco would not be pleased with such an a.s.signment. He wanted to go home. In fact, my new plan required him to return to Christendom.

"I believe that..." I stumbled over my words. I had not planned to discuss Marco's future with the Khan. "That Latin is a mere merchant. He, his father, and his uncle wish to return to their homeland, laden with goods to trade. If he pleases you, the best reward might be to grant him the goods they need and let them return."

The Khan's intense look jabbed into my face. "Nesruddin has rewarded him well. You wish for him to leave?"

I did not want to make my request in the context of Marco's future. "I...I think...he wants to go home."

"I have a question for you, Emmajin Beki. I a.s.signed you to report on the foreigner, not to befriend him. Abaji tells me you became too friendly with him."

I sputtered. What else had Abaji seen or reported to the Khan?

The Khan kept me off balance. "I trust you kept your virtue, as a princess of the royal family."

I looked him straight in the eye, glad I could rea.s.sure him. "Yes, I did. Of course."

"And what of the Latin's behavior? Did he act honorably toward you?"

I straightened my back. "Indeed, he did. His actions are the most honorable. Did Abaji tell you of his intelligence, how he helped to win the battle, using fire medicine?"

"Yes. Most admirable." The Khan still examined my face.

"Messer Marco also showed generosity. After the battle, when many of our Mongol soldiers lay gravely wounded, he offered precious medicine to help our soldiers."

The Khan's thin eyebrows rose. "So I have been told."

"His action showed bravery, even heroism, though in a quiet way."

"I am glad to hear it. I had some concerns, sending him to the South in your company. Clearly, you admire him. And trust him."

I tried not to blush. The Khan's concerns were justified, and I had trouble concealing that. My grandfather was known as a good judge of character, and I feared he could see right through me.

"Still, I did not summon you to discuss the future of Messer Marco. I wish to discuss your future, Emmajin."

I swallowed hard and rehea.r.s.ed my words again in my head.

But the Khan seized momentum. "General Abaji is willing to have you remain under his command."

"I am honored. I have great respect for General Abaji." Now was the time to speak up. Still in awe of the Khan, I scrambled to recall the words I had rehea.r.s.ed.

"I understand Suren's death affected you sorely," he said.

That familiar pang pierced my gut. "I am sorry I could not prevent it," I said.

"Have you had enough of battles?"

The right answer was no; my heart said yes, but I could not find my voice.

The Khan heard much in my silence. "Do you wish to leave the army?"

My eyes flitted to Chabi. What had she told him? Her face was impa.s.sive.

My highest dream had been to join the army. How could I leave it after just one battle? I hung my head in shame. "Yes," I said quietly.

"I have had an offer of marriage for you," the Khan continued before I could collect my words. "This is an attractive offer that would be of service to our family. My daughter Yurak, married to the king of Togtoh, has a son who will soon be of marriageable age. This is an alliance I wish to strengthen."

My breath caught in my throat and my eyes s.h.i.+fted to my grandmother again. Is this what she had planned? If the Khan had made up his mind, it was over for me.

"Once, you told me you did not wish to marry," he said.

"That remains true," I said. I was supposed to add, but I will do whatever the Great Khan commands but I will do whatever the Great Khan commands, but could not bring myself to do so. "But I..."

"You wish to make a difference?" So Chabi had spoken to him.

"Yes!" I said, with more enthusiasm. "Since the Khan entrusted me-"

The Khan cut me off. "Your grandmother has suggested a role for you, and I agree. You are aware of this Chinese boy who dared to call himself Emperor of China?"

I nodded, wondering what this could have to do with my future.

"This boy's mother is young, like you. Your a.s.signment is to become her companion, to teach her the ways of the Mongols. You did well civilizing that young Latin. The Empress believes you could civilize this Chinese woman as well."

I was shocked. They had thought this through, and he had made a decision. Chabi's eyes shone with pride and satisfaction. Was this what she had meant by being a messenger of peace?

"Your Majesty honors me," I said, the right words. "But I...I had another idea." How could I dare suggest a different a.s.signment? And yet I had to speak now.

The Khan's eyebrows rose again. "Tell me," he commanded.

I swallowed hard. "Last summer, Your Majesty entrusted me with the task of spying on the Latins, Marco Polo and his father and uncle. I gathered much knowledge about their homeland's kings and armies. I even learned a few words of their language."

The Khan and his empress remained silent.

"The most important thing I learned is that Christendom is weak, a group of small countries with no strong central government or army. But it has many smart people and much potential. There is no need to send our army to invade it."

There! I had said it. The Khan narrowed his eyes with suspicion. I knew he would think that I was siding with the foreigner. I went on, needing to speak my piece. I had said it. The Khan narrowed his eyes with suspicion. I knew he would think that I was siding with the foreigner. I went on, needing to speak my piece.

"I am but a woman, and not skilled in great matters. But perhaps you could send me, as your emissary, to their leader, the Pope...with a letter from you. My very presence, as a granddaughter of the Khan of all Khans, could convince the Pope that the countries of Christendom should be friendly subjects."

The Khan's head jerked back at this remarkable idea. Yet his first reaction was not to reject it, as I had feared. "I have already deigned to communicate with their Pope," he said. "I sent him a letter, through the Polos, ten years ago."

"And their Pope wrote back, expressing a desire for peace," I said. "It should not be hard to convince their leaders to cooperate with us. If you were to send me to Christendom, as your envoy, I could convey your goodwill and establish friendly relations with the Pope and his people. Sending a member of the Golden Family would be a stronger message than sending a letter with merchants. Marco and his father could tell the Pope of the Great Khan's power, wealth, and wise rule. Perhaps the Pope would agree to join the Mongol Empire by sending gifts of tribute, with no need to engage in battle."

It was foolhardy to give unsolicited advice to the Khan of all Khans. But I felt strongly about traveling to Marco's homeland as an emissary of the Great Khan. I could meet the Pope of the Latins, who was, after all, a man who knew Marco and his father. Then he could send the one hundred Christian scholars the Great Khan had requested. Perhaps I could visit Venezia, to see its streets of water. Back in my own chambers, I had imagined the entire journey. It had seemed possible, this plan of mine.

The Khan frowned. "You would travel with this foreign family? The Khan of all Khans does not entrust his granddaughter's virtue to foreign merchants."

I tried to keep my emotions from my face. "We would travel with an armed escort, of course."

His frown deepened. "No one sends a woman to do such work."

"I watched my best friend die in battle," I said. "I wish to serve you in a different way, to bring your wisdom to others in this world."

He rubbed his thin beard.

"Perhaps this is the plan of Eternal Heaven, the reason that you chose me to learn Latin," I said.

The Khan of all Khans seemed taken aback by my idea. He frowned at me while he contemplated its implications.

"Tengri," I said, "appointed you to fulfill the Great Ancestor's mandate, to unify the world. But not every country needs to be conquered. Even the Great Ancestor promised leniency to those foreigners who cooperated."

The Khan's eyes flashed at the gall I showed by interpreting Eternal Heaven's commands to the Son of Heaven.

An endless moment pa.s.sed. I looked at Chabi, who was regarding him steadily. Couldn't she see that this was a much more important way for me to make a difference than civilizing the Chinese empress?

Finally, the Khan responded: "This is not part of my plan. But I will consider it."

My heart flooded with joy.

"But it is unlikely. The khan of the Golden Horde in Russia and the Il-khan of Persia expect me to send troops to aid in the conquest of the Holy Land and Christendom. A promise to the Pope might disrupt those plans."

I shuddered. How could I stop those plans, which I had set in motion?

"As for you," continued the Khan, "my preference is that you accept the a.s.signment I gave you."

I was beaten. I bowed my head. "The Great Khan is the wisest of all rulers," I said. "Whatever you decide, I will obey your commands."

The Khan continued, as if aware of my disappointment. "However, I will allow Marco Polo to return to his homeland, if he so requests."

"As you wish," I said. "May I make one more small request? I would like to hear Marco Polo tell the story of the battle of Vochan."

"Granted," he said. "I will give you my final answer by then. You may go."

40 Search for Marco

Now that I knew that Marco would be returning to the capital soon, I could not wait to see him. I had been thinking of him, without pause, since leaving him in Carajan. His lopsided smile, that distinctive laugh, that scent of cloves and spice. I wished he had the wings of a dove so that he could fly back to me.

If the Khan refused my request, I would have to say good-bye to Marco forever. But if he said yes, I would need his ideas. I had to find a way to tell Marco about what I had proposed to the Khan. Marco was clever. Maybe he would know how to change our fates.

A few days later, at midmorning, my sister asked if I knew about the dragons from Carajan. The word "dragon" made my heart leap.

"Are they at court?" I demanded.

"They say some foreign men presented them to the Khan this morning," Drolma reported. "Could that be your foreigner, back from Carajan?"

My foreigner. I ran to the Khan's audience hall in the public part of the palace. A crowd of onlookers had gathered in one corner of the great courtyard. I could tell by the shrieks and murmurs that the dragons were at the heart of it.

Eagerly, I pushed in. Sure enough, I caught sight of a gold-toothed grin and heard Little Li speaking in accented Mongolian. "Careful! Not so close! They bites!" I guessed that Marco had taught him to speak Mongolian during their journey together.

I worked my way through the crowd until I reached the front. Little Li tossed a live mouse into one of the cages, and the dragon caught it in its long mouth, full of jagged teeth. A huge gasp rose from the crowd.

I looked behind and around Little Li but did not see Marco. "Little Li!" I called. "Where is Messer Marco?"

He smiled when he saw me. "They was here, Marco with father and uncle," he called back. He pulled a child's hand away from a dragon cage. "Could you get these people to stand back, lady? They no understand."

"Stand back!" I shouted in Mongolian in my sternest voice. The women and children immediately pulled back, but the men looked up in curiosity, not used to obeying a woman's voice. "The dragons will bite you if you get too close."

I pushed my way through the crowd around the four cages, to stand near Little Li.

"Did Marco leave court?"

"Oh, yes. After the big meeting. Great Khan very happy." Little Li picked up another mouse by the tail and tossed it into a cage. The dragon snapped at it, missed, and chased it before s.n.a.t.c.hing it. The crowd gasped and cheered at this show.

"Please, I have to know where Marco went."

"That way," he said, pointing toward the palace's main entrance.

Marco had been in that very courtyard, with his father and uncle, and I had missed them. I ran through the gate, to the outer courtyard. This place was full of pet.i.tioners waiting to see the Khan. There were so many men-Mongols, Chinese, and foreigners-it was hard to pick out any one individual in the milling crowd, although I was sure I would recognize Marco's reddish curls. I saw no sign of the elephants.

I rushed on to the main palace entrance and questioned the guard. He remembered seeing the dragons come in, but he had not noticed three foreign men leaving.

I felt light-headed. I ran out of the palace, onto the square, then along the avenue leading to the city's west gate. I wished I had thought to get my horse. It was hard to push through crowds of people on foot. A cramp tore through my side, and I stopped to steady myself against a wall. I had to see Marco, as soon as possible.

When I arrived at the city's west gate, a guard stopped me and would not let me exit. He had his orders: women from the palace were not to leave the city without a male escort. When I told him I was a soldier, he smiled in disbelief.

I stood at the gate a long time, watching people go into and out of the city. Everyone seemed to be carrying a lot of goods, either on donkeys or hanging from the two ends of a pole carried on their shoulders, as Chinese do.

Marco, I thought. Please. Come now. I'm here Please. Come now. I'm here.

"Emmajin Beki? Is that you?" A man's voice came from behind me. I whirled around, filled with hope. There stood a tall, big-bellied Latin with pure white hair and beard. It was Marco's uncle.

"Messer Maffeo!" I exclaimed. "Where is Marco?"

The old man smiled broadly under his huge beard. "He met with the Great Khan this morning, with great success."

"Where is he now?"

"He was on his way back to our rooms."

"Can you take me there? I must see him!" He paused.

"The foreigners' section is not fit for a royal princess."