Bones of the Hills by Conn Iggulden Page B

new way stations that stretched in lines into the east and south, manned by crippled warriors and the elderly. A scout could change horses at a dozen of those places, covering land faster than Genghis would once have believed possible. They had come a long way from the hungry, quarreling tribes he had known as a boy, but they were still the same.
    In a mass of carts and animals, Genghis dismounted at last, having ridden more than a mile from the head of the column. His sister Temulun was there, she who had been a babe in arms when his own tribe had abandoned him years before. She had grown into a fine young woman and married a warrior from the Olkhun’ut. Genghis had met the man only once, at the wedding, but he had seemed healthy and Temulun was pleased with the match.
    As he adjusted the belly strap on his pony, she was ordering Chin servants to collect the last of her belongings. Her ger had been stored before dawn, leaving a black circle on the grass. As she saw Genghis, Temulun smiled and went to him, taking his reins.
    “Don’t worry, brother, we are ready, though I cannot find my best iron pot. No doubt it is at the bottom of the packs, under everything else.” She spoke lightly, but her eyes were questioning. The khan had not visited her even once since she had been properly married. For him to come as they rode to war made her uneasy.
    “It will not be long now,” Genghis told her, losing some of his stiffness. He liked Temulun, though she would always be a child to him in some ways. She could not remember the first winters alone, when the brothers and their mother were hunted and starving.
    “Is my husband well?” she asked. “I have not seen Palchuk in three days now.”
    “I don’t know,” Genghis admitted. “He is with Jebe. I have decided to have Palchuk command a thousand and carry the gold paitze.”
    Temulun clapped her hands with pleasure. “You are a good brother, Genghis. He will be pleased.” A slight frown crossed her face as she considered giving her husband the good news. “Is it for him you have done this, or for me?”
    Genghis blinked at her changing moods. “For you, sister. Should I not raise my own family? Can I have my only sister’s husband in the ranks?” He saw her expression remained troubled. This sort of thing was beyond him, though he struggled to understand.
    “He will not refuse, Temulun,” Genghis said.
    “I know
that!”
she replied. “But he will worry that the promotion comes from you.”
    “It does,” Genghis replied.
    Temulun raised her eyes at her brother’s failings for an instant. “I mean it will matter to him that he did not earn the new rank.”
    “Let him prove he is worthy of it then,” Genghis said with a shrug. “I can always take the paitze back.”
    Temulun glared at her brother. “You wouldn’t dare. Better not to raise him at all, than lift and drop him as you please.”
    Genghis sighed to himself. “I will have Jebe tell him. He is still reordering Arslan’s tuman. It will not be so strange, unless your precious husband is an idiot.”
    “You are a good man, Genghis,” Temulun replied.
    Genghis looked around to see who was close enough to hear.
    “Keep it quiet, woman!” He chuckled to himself, remounting and taking back the reins.
    “Leave the pot behind if you cannot find it, Temulun. It is time to go.”
    The restless urge that had made him tour the carts faded away as he rode back to the front. He nodded to his generals and saw that they too felt the same simple pleasure. Their people were on the move again and every day would bring a new horizon. There was nothing like the sense of freedom it brought, with all the world before them. As he reached his brothers and his generals, Genghis blew a long note on a scout horn and urged his pony to a trot. Slowly, the nation moved behind him.

CHAPTER SEVEN
    IT WAS SNOWING in the high passes. The Altai mountains were further west than most of the families had ever traveled. Only the