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woman was assignee to cook tor them, a meal consisting of beef boiled and beef
roasted, of curds, of airag flavored with beets, and of honey-sweetened tea,
which seemed to be regarded as a special delicacy. Achikh explained that honey
and tea were produced far to the south; and gotten in trade from the Chinese.
Then Mongol clothing was brought for them --
silk for Achikh as the chief s brother, and woolen for his guests. Clearly
they d been worn by others earlier, and not washed, but Baver was much less
fastidious these days. They had nothing that fitted Nils; he would wear what
he d come in, dirt and all. Before they changed, water was brought to them,
and bowls, though no soap, and they all stripped and washed. The nearby river
invited, but they remembered Achikh s lessons on taboos and lesser
injunctions.
When the council adjourned in midafternoon, the four newcomers were taken to
the great ger of Kaidu, the chief, where guards took their weapons before they
went in.
They entered bent low, especially Nils; the doorway required it. Svartvinge
rode through on Nils s forearm. Kaidu sat waiting on an actual chair, carved
from a single great block of wood. At each side of him, others sat on thick
felt cushions, while before him, nearly twenty sat crosslegged on the floor
mats.
 Kaidu Long Nose was the chief s complete appellation, Achikh had told them.
On that basis, Baver had expected someone with a long nose, but on New Home or
among the Northmen, Kaidu s nose would have been considered quite modest. Only
by Mongol standards was it long.
He d been told of their arrival, and had prepared for them. A cushion
immediately next to him was vacant, and there was room for more to sit on the
floor in front of him. Baver kept an eye on both
Achikh and Nils, for clues on what to do. Kaidu stood up when they entered.
The rest turned to look. For a long moment it seemed to Baver that everyone s
attention was stuck on Nils, his size, physique, and eyes, and perhaps on
Svartvinge, whom he d transferred to his shoulder.
Kaidu beckoned them to the front, where he embraced Achikh, then stepped back
to arm s length, beaming at him.  Little brother! he said.  You ve grown.
You ve become a powerful warrior, and I see scars where there were none
before. After they d embraced again, he looked once more at his brother s
companions.  Who are these others? he asked.
Achikh introduced them, speaking formally, giving them their appropriate
surnames, titles, and group affinities. Kaidu gazed long at each of them, but
especially at the giant Northman with the uncanny eyes. Then he in turn
introduced the men who sat on cushions. One was
Fong Jung Hing, ambassador from the Emperor of China, a calm-seeming, quiet
man whose aristocratic, fine-featured face seemed as foreign among the Buriat
as Nils s Scandinavian features. Another was Teb-Tengri, whom he introduced as
the principal shaman of Kaidu s tribe, the Black Stallion Tribe. Baver
recognized the name Teb-Tengri as meaning something like  Most Heavenly. The
shaman was a rather tall man of perhaps twenty-five or thirty years, and gaunt
for a Buriat, with an arrogant face and bearing. Baver wondered if he was
unwell, or if his gauntness was due to fasting; Achikh had once said that
shamans sometimes fasted to sharpen their powers.
The introductions over, Kaidu seated his new guests, Achikh on his right, and
the three foreigners in the back row among those on the floor. The chief moved
his gaze first to Nils, then to
Svartvinge, and finally to his shaman, to whom he spoke now.  Tell me,
Teb-Tengri, what you see in this great raven and its master.
The shaman stared long at Svartvinge, then more briefly at Nils. Finally he
spoke. Declaimed.  The bird is a great devil, Kaidu son of Kokchü, and the
yellow-haired foreigner another. They have come here to do you great ill.
The ger became silent for a long moment. Baver
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felt his heart thudding, and realized he d stopped breathing. The chief,
however, had lost none of his poise. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]