Daughter of Xanadu - Dori Jones Yang [111]
He stopped when the water lapped just below our chests. He turned to me in the moonlight, his eyes bright and clear. He caressed my face, embraced me, kissed me, there in the water, in that most dangerous of elements. I relaxed and gave in to him.
He lifted me, and my body strangely floated. I closed my eyes and pretended I was in a dream, secure in his arms. I laid my head against his chest. My legs floated like fishes’ tails. My arms clung to him like the weeds in the sea around me.
I tossed my head back and opened my eyes. Marco smiled playfully at me and tugged at my trousers.
“No need to fear the sea,” he said.
I smiled back. He gently lifted my legs and wrapped them around his hips. We glided together like creatures of the sea. Our bodies, our destinies, were entwined. Together, we would be heading to the West.
GLOSSARY
AI-JARUK: Also known by her Mongolian name of Khutulun, daughter of Khaidu. She was famous for defeating her suitors in wrestling. Her dramatic story was told by Marco Polo in his book.
AIRAG: Mongolians’ favorite alcoholic drink, fermented mare’s milk.
ANDA: In Mongolian, closest friend, like a blood brother, with a vow of lifelong loyalty.
BATTLE OF VOCHAN: A battle between the Mongols and the Burmese that took place in 1277, although the exact date is unclear. In his book, Marco described the battle, saying that twelve thousand Mongol horsemen fought a Burmese army of sixty thousand soldiers and two thousand elephants. He did not mention gunpowder, the use of which is fictional here. Vochan is believed to be the city today known as Baoshan, in Yunnan Province.
BEKI: Mongolian for “princess.”
BURMA: A country southwest of China, now called Myanmar. The Mongols conquered and sacked Burma’s capital at Pagan in 1287.
CARAJAN: Mongol-era name of Yunnan Province, in southwest China.
CATHAY: Name used for North China during the thirteenth century; it may be a corruption of the spelling of “Khitai,” a group of nomadic people from Manchuria who ruled this part of China from 907 to 1125.
CHABI: Chief wife of Khubilai Khan and a devout Buddhist.
CHIMKIN: Khubilai Khan’s second son, who became heir apparent. He died before his father, so he never became Great Khan. The Chinese name of Chimkin, sometimes spelled Zhenjin, means “True Gold,” and his father ensured that he was educated in Chinese.
CHINGGIS KHAN: Known in the West as Genghis Khan, the Mongol leader who conquered much of the known world during his lifetime, from 1162 (estimated) to 1227, and founded the Mongol Empire. His birth name was Temujin.
CHRISTENDOM: Europe was known by this name in Marco Polo’s era. The word “Europe” was not widely used until centuries later.
DA-LI: A city in Yunnan Province, then known as Carajan. The ancient capital of the Nanzhao Kingdom and the Da-li Kingdom, conquered by the Mongols in 1253. Also spelled Ta-li Fu, and known today as Dali.
DEL: Mongolian clothing, a long-sleeved robe that crosses over in the front and is secured with a sash at the waist. Worn by men and women in summer and winter.
DORJI: Khubilai Khan’s eldest son, who was passed over as heir apparent. Little is known about him. His name is sometimes spelled Jurji. Dorji is a Tibetan Buddhist name.
DRAGONS: The creatures described here are crocodiles. Marco Polo called them “great serpents.”
DROLMA: Fictional younger sister of Emmajin.
EMMAJIN: Fictional daughter of Dorji, Khubilai Khan’s eldest son. Born in 1260, the year her grandfather became Great Khan. In 1275, she would have been fifteen by today’s reckoning, but she was then considered sixteen by Chinese and Mongolian reckoning. Her name, more properly spelled Emujin, is the female form of Temujin, the birth name of Chinggis Khan.
GER: A round, collapsible Mongolian tent, known in the West as a yurt.
GOLDEN HORDE: The name