Daughter of Xanadu - Dori Jones Yang [102]
After a long embrace, Marco pulled back and examined my face. “You’ve changed.”
I smiled. Yes, after talking to my father, and to Chabi, and even to Tara, I had changed. I was calmer, more confident. Of course Marco would notice.
“Did you hear?” Marco grinned. “The Khan’s medicine is working!”
I nodded happily. “I saw him, too, recently. His feet are not so swollen.”
We sat down in the Chinese chairs. “The Khan said he was pleased with me. Right in front of my father and uncle. He promised us excellent goods to take home.”
“That’s the news you’ve been awaiting. Your father and uncle must be thrilled,” I said.
“They are.” Marco’s face turned serious. “But I’ve made up my mind. You said there was no way for you and me to be together. I understand that. Even so, I cannot leave you here. I will not return to Venezia. I have told my father and uncle already.”
I could see in his somber eyes his determination to stay here with me.
“Wait,” I said, remembering how I had pushed the Khan to let Marco return home. “You haven’t heard my idea.” I told him about my conversation with the Khan and my request to have him send me as an ambassador to the Pope.
Marco leaned toward me as I spoke, as if drinking in every detail. His eyes misted when he heard my proposal. “You would be willing to leave Khanbalik? And travel all the way to Christendom, to make sure that your homeland and mine can live in peace?”
“That is my highest dream,” I said.
“I am astounded.” Marco sat back. “What of that plan to invade Christendom?”
“The Khan is still in discussions with his kinsmen in Persia and Russia.” It was wrong of me to divulge such information, but I wanted to be completely honest with him this time.
Anguish showed on Marco’s face. “I wonder if the Tartar troops will get there before we do.” I knew he was imagining his beloved Venezia in ruins. After witnessing a battle, that image was even more vivid in my mind.
At that moment, though, instead of feeling despair, as I had so often, I could think only of hope and possibilities. There had to be some way we could prevent the Khan from sending our army to Marco’s homeland. “The Khan did not reject my plan. He said he would consider it. We need to think of a way to convince him.”
Marco’s forehead furrowed. “I have done everything I could,” he said. “With every word I have said to him, every action I have taken, I have tried to prove to him that we Latins are a friendly people, not a threat to the Empire. We’re not like the Burmese, who sent an army to invade your country.”
I moved from my chair and sat on his armrest, wrapping my arms around his shoulder. Normally, Marco had such an easy laugh, a ready smile, a clever idea. This time he was relying on me.
“We must think clearly,” I said. “We need to make a plan.”
He sat back and smiled at me, though his face was still sad. “I wish that the Khan would send the army to Burma instead of Christendom. It’s a much richer land than Christendom—and closer.”
I nodded. He was right. That made more sense.
“Maybe,” Marco said, “after the Khan hears my story about the battle of Vochan, he will decide to do that. After all, he would want revenge on the king of Burma for attacking the empire and killing his beloved grandson.”
Revenge. The word jumped out at me. This plan was attractive, but it did not seem right. Saving Christendom at the expense of Burma? It was hardly compassionate. “Remember the people of Little Li’s tribe, in the dragon village?” I said. “They looked a lot like the Burmese.”
Marco nodded, chastened.
Thinking of the dragon hunt reminded me of Suren. I felt his dragon tooth, hot on the skin of my chest. I pulled it out.
“Suren,” said Marco, shaking his head in sadness.
“Suren,” I said, fingering the smooth surface of the tooth. “You know, I think the happiest moments of his life were hunting those dragons, with you and Little Li. You were like brothers.”
Marco smiled with his eyes. “He loved that.”
“Suren would not have wanted the Khan’s army to do harm to your people.”
“Did