Chapter - 79 Decoy Deployment On the Cliff (9) (2/2)

”I beseech you, brother, do not let your anger get the better of you; release Dukhsh, and Senggum and I will guarantee to let you leave safely.”

”I have no confidence in Senggum; now I have no confidence in you!”

”Hear the words of Senggum,” Jamuka said. ”If a son dies, other sons will be born. If Temujin dies, there will never be another Temujin! If you do not release Dukhsh, you will not see another sunrise!”

Temujin knew well the characters of Senggum and Jamuka. If left in their hands, he knew that he would have no chance of survival. If Ong Khan was there, he might possibly live. He brandished his saber and whirled around.

”I would rather die in battle,” he cried, ”than to surrender! Under heaven, there is a Temujin who will die on the field of honour and no Temujin that flees!”

Jamuka said, ”You give all of the loot to the warriors, saying that it belongs to them and not to the whole tribe. The chieftains of the tribes say that you do wrong; that you run counter to our traditions.”

”But the young warriors are delighted!” Temujin said harshly. ”The chieftains pretend that the treasures of war cannot be distributed equitably to each warrior, so they keep it all for themselves. Such practices insult the warriors who risked their lives to support them. When we are at war, do we need stupid and greedy chieftains, or do we need young courageous warriors?”

”Brother,” Jamuka said, ”You've always acted on your own and never listened to the leaders of the other tribes. Don't call me ungrateful or traitor. These past days, you've been sending people to convince my soldiers to join your army by telling them that, once back home, the resources gained in battle belong to the ones that fought for them. They won't be distributed amongst all the tribe's members. Did you think that I didn't know of it?”

”If you are aware of it,” Temujin thought, ”then we won't ever live in peace with each other.” He then took a small bag out of his clothing and threw it at the feet of Jamuka. ”Here are the gifts that you offered me when we swore, three times, loyalty to each other. Take them. Later, when you cut off my head with your saber, you will only kill an enemy and not a sworn brother. I am a hero, you are also a hero. The plains of Mongolia are vast, but it cannot contain two heroes.”

Jamuka picked up the bag. He then took a small leather bag from his own clothing, dropped it at Temujin's feet in silence, and moved down the hill.

Temujin looked at him as he moved away; then he stood a long time in silence. He slowly opened the bag, withdrew the stones and the arrowheads from it, and remembered the games that they'd played when they were children. He sighed, dug a hole with a dagger and buried the gifts he'd given to his former sworn brother in it.

Guo Jing was next to him, also feeling heart-broken. What Temujin buried, he well knew, was an infinitely precious childhood friendship.

The Khan stood up and studied the scene. As far as he could see there were fires lit by the armies of Senggum and Jamuka illuminating the plain, looking like the myriads of stars in the sky. He remained divided in his thoughts. He turned around and saw Guo Jing close to him. ”Are you afraid?” he asked.

”I was thinking about my mother,” answered the young man.

”Indeed, you are a brave son,” said Temujin, ”a true brave son!”

He pointed to the thousands of fires on the plain, ”They also,” he continued, ”are brave! We Mongols have so many brave sons, but we spend time making wars on ourselves. If we could unite them, we could take over the world and make it a huge field for our herds!”

Guo Jing, hearing these very ambitious words, felt even more admiration for Temujin. He stuck out his chest and said, ”Great Khan, we are surely going to win, because we cannot be beaten by a coward like Senggum!”

”Precisely,” Temujin answered with a smile. ”Let's remember what we say tonight. If we manage to survive, henceforth I will consider you as my own son.” He then hugged the young man.

As they spoke, the new day had begun. Horns sounded repeatedly in the ranks of the enemy.