Greywolf

  The guard went in first and held open the inner flap: a woven carpet, made with intricate designs and rich colors. Karl entered first, handing his steel sword to a second guard standing just inside. Asena unbuckled her heavy steel great sword and handed it to him as Greywolf did the same with his Artifact katana, before pulling out the Artifact dagger Alexina had given him, with its elk horn hilt, from his belt as well. The second guard began setting all the weapons onto a wooden rack as the first guard waved them on.

  Light shone down from the oil lamps suspended from the wooden supports holding the tent up as Greywolf’s nose picked up the scent of almond oil coming off them. More brightly colored carpets lined the tent walls, more for warmth than decoration, and still more carpets were draped over the large wooden chests set along the sides in a haphazard fashion. In one spot sat a rack of battered, painted shields, each with a different design on the front, set up like a shrine... Defeated enemies, maybe? Must be, because some of the shields have elephants on them.

  Straight in front of them ran a well worn, dark red carpet, all the way through the center of the tent. Several feet wide, the carpet ended not far from the opposite side in front of an elevated seat completely covered in carpets and cushions. Behind the Great Khan’s throne was a huge banner of a red boar, with long white tusks and black hooves, running alone on a field of green. At least twenty or more wide cushions lined the edges of the carpet near the throne, which itself was guarded by four Tartaros warriors in leather and steel.

  An old man sitting on the throne watched as the group approached. "Great Khan," Karl said as he got close and bowed, "I heard your summons and came as quickly as I could."

  Khan Khingla had black hair gone mostly to grey, his beard and drooping mustache almost white. His face drew a leathery map of a hard life lived under the sun. But instead of armor, as Greywolf expected him to be wearing, the Khan wore a long blue tunic extending down past his knees, with a wide band of swirling embroidery running along his collar and across his chest like a baldric, and more embroidery on the hems of his sleeves. He motioned at the third cushion down from him. "Karl the Outlander, sit close so you and your companion can advise me as I speak with our guests." He looked beyond the mercenary at us as Karl bowed again with his fist to his chest, and got Princess settled. "The three of you have been granted guest-right,” the Great Khan continued, “which holds until I decide otherwise. I know Titan and Asena from the stories told around the fires by the shaman elders, and while I do not know Greywolf, the Shadow Fae Lys has taken his measure and shall provide me good counsel."

  The Shadow Fae? Greywolf’s eyes went wide as Princess stood up and let her robes fall to the floor. She was a mirror image of the Winter Fae, Yrg, even down to the black leather clothing, but where Yrg's skin was obsidian black, Lys' skin was white as fresh fallen snow, her hair black and shiny as if each strand had been transmuted into Artifact. She flashed him a grin like glittering shards of black ice. "I told you Karl calls me Princess to make fun of me."

  Titan gave Lys a dark look as she sat down next to Karl. "Great Khan, you have a necromancer in your court, a poisoner who can kill with a touch, known to have caused the dead to rise up and fight for her in times past."

  The Great Khan regarded Titan for a moment. "I have never seen Lys animate the dead to have them fight. But I watched her speak to the corpse of a murdered man, who named his killer... the real killer and not the man's wife, as everyone suspected after the killer cast blame upon her. When the corpse pointed at the murderer before sinking back into death, the man was so unnerved that he confessed the deed to all of us without the need for torture."

  The Great Khan shifted on his throne. "Let me tell you more. I have never watched her poison another or kill with a touch. Yet Lys brewed a potion for my wife that took away the crushing pain of her illness and allowed her to die a dignified death, as befits the wife of a Khan. Lys also killed a large growth on one of my daughters, which the healers were then able to cut away without the risk of my daughter bleeding to death, and has done similar things for other members of the noble families. Lys also gives me good advice without ever scheming to advance herself." He regarded Titan again. "So, noble Ogri, tell me of a good reason why I should send this Fae of the Shadows away from my court?"

  "That's easy," Asena growled before Titan could speak. "Lys wants Yrg's head on the end of a spear, and doesn't care who gets killed while she's doing it."

  "I want her heart, actually," Lys said, "so I can extract its mana and use it however the Great Khan sees fit. Asena, I learned patience as a captive of the Etruscans, and while I admit I want revenge for what was done to me, it shall be done with all the coldness of the Winter Fae herself."

  "What if Yrg escapes?" Titan asked. "Would you abandon the raid to go after her and make your revenge complete?"

  "If her escaping gives Yrg time to gather allies and attack the Great Khan, then yes, I would. This raid will succeed or fail whether I am part of it or not, but to keep Yrg from causing chaos, you need me along. Believe it or not, I am a servant of the Great Khan and nothing more."

  "If the Great Khan asked you to raise an army of the dead to fight for him, would you do it?"

  Lys gave him a glittering black smile. "I obey the Great Khan in all things."

  "Noble Ogri," Khan Khingla said, "you have touched upon one of my greatest fears. Others in the court have hinted that I could put Lys to much better use than I have, and while I hold firm to the teachings of the shaman, my youngest son and heir could well be led astray. This is the reason I asked you here: to become the teacher of young Avitohol, not only in the art of war but in the noble virtues as well. With your help, Avitohol shall forge the nomadic People of the Eternal Sky into a kingdom, extending from the lands of Indus to the satrapies of the Sasnayam empire. He shall raise crops instead of razing towns, and build cities instead of burning them to the ground. He will usher in a golden age for the People, and his name shall be remembered."

  Titan regarded Khan Khingla for a moment. "You wish me to be your son’s teacher?” The Khan nodded and Titan said, “Does he know of your desire?"

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  The Great Khan chuckled. "Far more than he cares to. Avitohol is young, in love with the legends and the stories of wars long past, told around the fires at night. He wants to be a warrior like his father and all our fathers before him. That is why I am asking you to my court, to forge the iron of my son into steel and polish it into mirror brightness for all the world to see."

  Greywolf couldn’t read the Ogri’s expression, yet did catch a note of wariness in Titan’s rumbling voice. "Great Khan, this is unexpected… though not the first time I have advised a khan of your people.”

  “So the stories have told us.”

  Titan slowly nodded as if warming to the idea. “If I join your court, you must expect blunt questions when we are speaking in private. I have spoken with your eldest son, Prince Timur, and I am not sure that he will accept his younger brother as his Khan."

  "If Timur wishes to remain a member of the Red Boar tribe," Khan Khingla said in a sharp voice, "then he will accept whoever Tengri chooses as Khan of khans. However," his voice becoming more normal, "I am aware of the problem. To that end, I am considering whether or not to make him Battle Commander over the army, as would be traditional, or to give it to another." He motioned to the cushions beside Karl. "Titan, will you sit at my right hand and stay when the others leave, so we may discuss my offer?"

  "There will be much to discuss," Titan replied in his deep bass voice, "but I will gladly sit beside you."

  Titan moved two cushions together and sat as Khan Khingla faced forward again. "Noble Asena—”

  She held up her hand to stop him. "Greywolf and I are here to kill your troll, nothing else. If you want proof, I'll bring its head back and stick it on a spear next to the bridge, but once we leave this camp we're not coming back."

  Khan Khingla frowned. "The remains of the children it killed shall be sufficient, if any can be found intact. Asena, the legends I have heard about you describe your love of battle, and the ferocity of your attacks. I fail to understand your reluctance. Surely you cannot be afraid of the priest-sorcerer Muzen?"

  "I fear nothing," Asena growled. The Khan's guards clapped their hands to their weapon hilts and kept them there as she motioned towards Greywolf. "My son did a foolish thing. Because of that, Muzen became aware of his existence, and now the bastard will do everything in his power to make Greywolf his servant."

  "Because he is a Shadow-walker."

  Asena shook her head. "Because he's a Shadow-walker born to an Oldenblood."

  "No," Titan rumbled, "Asena is worried because he is the son of Ghostdog. Karl, when Greywolf touched the grey tree and entered the Shadowlands, did you see the wolf shaped halo that formed around him?"

  Karl nodded. "Shadow-walkers are so rare these days that I thought them gone forever, but in the stories I've never heard of a halo forming around one."

  "There is only one story," Lys said, "written in the books my race keeps in their great library, that tells of a halo forming around a Shadow-walker. During the war of the Celestials against the Daemo Princes, when the Chaos Dragon was wreaking havoc on both sides and a truce was called to deal with the creature, a Daemo Prince fought alongside several Ogri, three Oldenblood, and a Shadow-walker with the ability to create Shadow creatures and bring them into the real world. According to the story, the halo around him would change into whatever creature he decided on the moment it formed."

  Greywolf hadn’t heard that version of the story before. "Are you talking about papa?"

  Asena cuffed her son just hard enough to sting. "You don't get to speak unless someone asks you a question. Am I clear?"

  She ignored the scowl her son gave her as the Great Khan said, "Greywolf, I do have a question. If you wanted to, could you form what I assume would be a Shadow creature in the shape of a Wolf?"

  Greywolf hesitated. "Papa told me I could, Great Khan, though I’ve never tried. I mean, he said if I create a Shadow Wolf, I can't control it. It just keeps killing whatever it sees until it's destroyed."

  "According to the story," Lys said, "the Daemo Prince and a Shadow creature called a Night Hag mortally wounded the dragon, but then the Night Hag turned on the prince and finished him off before the Shadow-walker killed the creature. I always wondered why the Celestials did nothing to help."

  "Because they were bleeding like stuck pigs while trying to help their dying friend," Asena snapped. "Besides, they trusted the Shadow-walker to take care of the creature after the dragon was dead."

  "If one is to travel the Shadowlands, trusting the Shadow-walker is essential." Lys turned towards the throne. "Great Khan, the Chaldean Daemo Shadow-walker did not do well when she and Greywolf practiced opening and closing a large gate. Might I suggest—”

  "What part of no aren't you getting?" Asena snarled at her. "If I've got to tell you one more time—”

  Lys shot to her feet. "Will you let me finish, or do you want to keep acting like a Warghorse in heat? What I was going to suggest is having your son spend the night with the Daemo, so his seed can strengthen her while the small amount of blood she needs to live can be met as well. This way, she will be more sure of herself when the time comes." Lys looked at Greywolf. "Have you ever done this with a Daemo before?"

  Greywolf couldn’t help but snort. "The Daemo, Lady Alexina. She paid Asena with mana from her familiar in exchange—”

  "Not another word out of you," she snarled at her son, raising her hand again. Greywolf glared up at her, not speaking but not backing down either, and after a moment she lowered her hand. "Fine. We stay the night, Greywolf services your Shadow-walker Daemo, who best not pull any tricks on him as she tried before, and in the morning we go after your troll. Good enough?"

  Khan Khingla leaned forward on his throne. "I would hear it from his own lips. Greywolf, are you willing to undertake this service for my people of your own free will?"

  Greywolf drew himself up. "Great Khan, it would be my pleasure..." Shite, you're an idiot. "Apologies, that didn't come out right."

  "Truly it's a hard task we've thrust upon you," Karl intoned with a twinkle in his eye. "Yet I'm sure you'll rise to the challenge."

  The Great Khan cracked a smile as Titan chuckled, while Asena rolled her eyes. Lys looked at Karl like he was the idiot. "I would say you have turnips for brains, except that would be insulting turnips."

  Karl laughed as the tension around them eased. "Asena, if it's any consolation, I've got a small cask of Western empire red wine from Syracusae I'm willing to broach."

  Asena's ears literally perked up. "Syracusae? Are you certain?"

  "Unless Porthos cheated me, and he knows better." Karl rose to his feet. "Great Khan, permission to show Asena and Greywolf to the guest tent before finding us something to eat." His eyes glanced at Asena. "And drink."

  Khan Khingla frowned. "Perhaps we should assign two tents, given the circumstances."

  Asena began to scowl and Greywolf quickly said without thinking, "Great Khan, there's no need as long as Fox doesn't mind. When I was with Alexina, we performed..."

  Shite, don’t tell them that! The Great Khan looked puzzled as Greywolf trailed off, but Titan’s face became an angry storm ready to cover the sun. "Now I understand where Alexina got the gold to rebuild her amphitheater. Tell me, Asena, how much did the human nobles pay to watch two Xian style sword dancers recreate the… ‘sacred’, dances of the Daemo?"

  "None of your business," Asena growled at him as she grabbed Greywolf by the arm. "From this moment on, I'm not letting him out of my sight, not for you or for anyone. Now, where's the guest tent?"

  Karl bowed with his fist to his chest. "With your permission?" The Great Khan waved his hand in dismissal and Asena marched her son out of the tent as Karl hastened to follow.