Daughter of Xanadu - Dori Jones Yang [100]
The Khan’s eyes flashed at the gall I showed by interpreting Eternal Heaven’s commands to the Son of Heaven.
An endless moment passed. I looked at Chabi, who was regarding him steadily. Couldn’t she see that this was a much more important way for me to make a difference than civilizing the Chinese empress?
Finally, the Khan responded: “This is not part of my plan. But I will consider it.”
My heart flooded with joy.
“But it is unlikely. The khan of the Golden Horde in Russia and the Il-khan of Persia expect me to send troops to aid in the conquest of the Holy Land and Christendom. A promise to the Pope might disrupt those plans.”
I shuddered. How could I stop those plans, which I had set in motion?
“As for you,” continued the Khan, “my preference is that you accept the assignment I gave you.”
I was beaten. I bowed my head. “The Great Khan is the wisest of all rulers,” I said. “Whatever you decide, I will obey your commands.”
The Khan continued, as if aware of my disappointment. “However, I will allow Marco Polo to return to his homeland, if he so requests.”
“As you wish,” I said. “May I make one more small request? I would like to hear Marco Polo tell the story of the battle of Vochan.”
“Granted,” he said. “I will give you my final answer by then. You may go.”
Now that I knew that Marco would be returning to the capital soon, I could not wait to see him. I had been thinking of him, without pause, since leaving him in Carajan. His lopsided smile, that distinctive laugh, that scent of cloves and spice. I wished he had the wings of a dove so that he could fly back to me.
If the Khan refused my request, I would have to say good-bye to Marco forever. But if he said yes, I would need his ideas. I had to find a way to tell Marco about what I had proposed to the Khan. Marco was clever. Maybe he would know how to change our fates.
A few days later, at midmorning, my sister asked if I knew about the dragons from Carajan. The word “dragon” made my heart leap.
“Are they at court?” I demanded.
“They say some foreign men presented them to the Khan this morning,” Drolma reported. “Could that be your foreigner, back from Carajan?”
My foreigner. I ran to the Khan’s audience hall in the public part of the palace. A crowd of onlookers had gathered in one corner of the great courtyard. I could tell by the shrieks and murmurs that the dragons were at the heart of it.
Eagerly, I pushed in. Sure enough, I caught sight of a gold-toothed grin and heard Little Li speaking in accented Mongolian. “Careful! Not so close! They bites!” I guessed that Marco had taught him to speak Mongolian during their journey together.
I worked my way through the crowd until I reached the front. Little Li tossed a live mouse into one of the cages, and the dragon caught it in its long mouth, full of jagged teeth. A huge gasp rose from the crowd.
I looked behind and around Little Li but did not see Marco. “Little Li!” I called. “Where is Messer Marco?”
He smiled when he saw me. “They was here, Marco with father and uncle,” he called back. He pulled a child’s hand away from a dragon cage. “Could you get these people to stand back, lady? They no understand.”
“Stand back!” I shouted in Mongolian in my sternest voice. The women and children immediately pulled back, but the men looked up in curiosity, not used to obeying a woman’s voice. “The dragons will bite you if you get too close.”
I pushed my way through the crowd around the four cages, to stand near Little Li.
“Did Marco leave court?”
“Oh, yes. After the big meeting. Great Khan very happy.” Little Li picked up another mouse by the tail and tossed it into a cage. The dragon snapped at it, missed, and chased it before snatching it. The crowd gasped and cheered at this show.
“Please, I have to know where Marco went.”
“That way,” he said, pointing toward the palace’s main entrance.
Marco had been in that very courtyard, with his father and uncle, and I had missed them. I ran through