Wolf of the Plains. Conn Iggulden

him at his moment of weakness. Without warning, Temujin reached out and tugged his reins away from Eeluk’s grip.

      ‘Who is responsible? Has he named them?’

      ‘Not yet, though your mother has asked him whenever he wakes. He does not know her.’

      Eeluk sighed to himself and Temujin saw his own strain mirrored in the man. The Wolves would be stunned and fearful with Yesugei raving and close to death. They would be looking for a strong leader.

      ‘What about my brother Bekter?’ Temujin said.

      Eeluk frowned, perhaps guessing the path of Temujin’s thoughts.

      ‘He has ridden out with the warriors to search the plains.’ He hesitated then, as if deciding how much he should share with the boy. ‘You should not hope to find your father’s enemies now. Those that survived will have scattered days ago. They will not wait for us to find them.’

      His face was a mask, but Temujin sensed some hidden anger in him. Perhaps he did not like the thought of Bekter’s influence on the warriors. The search had to be at least attempted and Bekter was an obvious choice, but Eeluk would not want new loyalties being forged away from him. Temujin thought he could read his father’s bondsman well enough, despite his attempts to hide his private self. A man would have to be a fool not to think of the succession at such a time. Temujin was almost certainly too young and Bekter was on the edge of manhood. With Eeluk’s support, either could rule the Wolves, but the alternative was obvious and chilling. Temujin forced a smile as he faced a man who was more of a threat than any of the Olkhun’ut he had left behind.

      ‘You have loved my father, even as I have, Eeluk. What would he want for the Wolves if he dies? Would he want you to lead them?’

      Eeluk stiffened as if he had been struck, turning a murderous expression on the boy who rode at his side. Temujin did not flinch. He felt almost light-headed, but in that moment, he did not care if Eeluk killed him. No matter what the future held, he found he could return the gaze without a trace of fear.

      ‘I have been loyal all my life,’ Eeluk said, ‘but your father’s day has come and gone. Our enemies will be watching us for weakness as word spreads. The Tartars will come in the winter to raid our herds, perhaps even the Olkhun’ut, or the Kerait, just to see if we can still defend what is ours.’ He took a white-knuckled grip on his reins and turned away from Temujin, unable to go on with the pale yellow eyes watching him.

      ‘You know what he would have wanted, Eeluk. You know what you must do.’

      ‘No. No, I do not know, boy. I do know what you are thinking, and I tell you now, you are too young to lead the families.’

      Temujin swallowed bitterness and pride in a hard knot.

      ‘Bekter, then. Do not betray our father, Eeluk. He treated you like a brother all his life. Honour him now by helping his son.’

      To Temujin’s astonishment, Eeluk kicked his heels in and rode ahead of the group, his face flushed and furious. Temujin did not dare look at the men around him. He did not want to see their expressions and know his world had crumbled. He did not see the questioning glances they shared, nor their sorrow.

      * * *

      The camp of the Wolves was still and quiet as Temujin dismounted by his father’s ger and took a deep breath. He felt as if he had been away for years. The last time he had stood on that spot, his father had been vital and strong, a certainty in all their lives. It was just not possible to think that world had gone and could not be recalled.

      He stood stiffly in the open, looking out over the gers of the families. He could have named every man, woman and child with just a glance at the design of their door. They were his people and he had always known his place amongst them. Uncertainty was a new emotion for him, as if there was a great hole in his chest. He found he had to summon all his courage just to enter the ger. He might have stood there even longer if he had not seen the people beginning to gather as the sun’s rays faded. He could not bear their pity, and with a grimace, he ducked through the low door and closed it against their staring faces.

      The night felt had not yet been placed over the smoke hole above his head, but the ger was stifling with heat and a smell that made him want to gag. He saw his mother’s paleness when she turned to him and his defences crumbled as he rushed to her and fell into her embrace. Tears came beyond his control and she rocked him in silence as he gazed on his father’s withered body.

      Yesugei’s flesh shuddered like a horse twitching at flies. His stomach was bound in crusted bandages, stiff as reeds with old fluids. Temujin saw a line of pus and blood move like a worm across the skin and into the blankets. His father’s hair had been combed and oiled, but it seemed thin and there was more grey than he remembered in the wisps that reached down to his cheekbones. Temujin saw the ribs were starkly outlined. The face was sunken and dark in hollows, a death mask for the man he had known.

      ‘You should speak to him, Temujin,’ his mother said. As he raised his head to respond, he saw her eyes were as red as his own. ‘He has been calling your name and I did not know if you would come in time.’

      He nodded, wiping a silvery trail of mucus from his nose onto his sleeve as he looked at the one man he had thought would live for ever. The fevers had burnt the muscle off his bones and Temujin could hardly believe it was the same powerful warrior who had ridden so confidently into the camp of the Olkhun’ut. He stared for a long time, unable to speak. He hardly noticed his mother wet a cloth in a bucket of cold water and press it into his hand. She guided his fingers to his father’s face and, together, they wiped the eyes and lips. Temujin breathed shallowly, struggling against revulsion. The smell of sick flesh was appalling, but his mother showed no distaste and he tried to be strong for her.