Daughter of Xanadu - Dori Jones Yang [23]
Marco gingerly touched the bird’s still-warm chest. He stroked the wing and carefully plucked out one of the longest, most golden of its tail feathers.
I, too, could not help admiring the glorious creature. Even its legs were covered with feathers. I had ended the life of this magnificent bird. Why had I needed to prove my strength to this man? Why should I care what he thought of me?
Gently, I placed the eagle into the hole and covered it with dirt. When I finished, I realized that Marco was standing over me, holding the long golden feather.
My hands in the dirt—Mongols don’t dig in the dirt—I caught his eye. Perhaps now he would fear and respect me. But he knew about something that he could use against me. Perhaps he would blackmail me. He knew where I had buried the eagle, and he had a feather to prove it. Fear flooded me.
I stood and looked him in the eyes, as threatening as I could be. “Tell no one.”
He silently nodded.
As I turned to head toward the horses, Marco Polo lightly touched the back of my shoulder. His fingers sent a startling sensation through my body. I jumped.
He pulled back, aware of his mistake. In his hand, offered to me, was the eagle’s splendid feather.
Eyes focused on his, I closed my fingers over the feather, nodding my gratitude. His eyes, somber, sealed our secret pact. I hid the feather inside the front of my del.
We mounted our horses and rode back down the hill in silence. That spot on my shoulder tingled.
When we reached the valley and returned to the tethers, I told him I would show him the gardens the next day—in the afternoon.
He bowed his head slightly. “I would be honored.”
I had made the worst mistake of my life, and this foreigner knew about it. What was it about him that had distracted me from common sense? He was a mere foreign merchant, and I the granddaughter of the Khan. Now he had power over me but had offered not to wield it. I wondered if I was a fool to trust him.
The heavy sword wobbled as Suren raised it above his head. He could not control its weight as it crashed down. Its tip hit the ground, far from the spot he aimed to hit.
Suren was preparing to join the army, so he was finally allowed to learn to use a sword. I found him early the next morning in a glade in the Khan’s woods, practicing.
My heart fell when I saw that he was sparring with Temur, who also held a sword. I had hoped to confide in Suren about my foreigner, to get his advice. But I could not speak freely in front of his brother. Temur would not be sixteen for another year, so he should not be allowed to touch a sword till his time to join the army came.
“I thought you were supposed to start with wooden swords,” I said.
Suren grinned when he saw me. “That’s what the sword master said yesterday when we started to train with him. But we couldn’t resist.”
“Don’t tell anyone!” Temur glowered at me. As if I could not be trusted!
I ignored him. “He won’t be joining the army?” I asked Suren.
He pressed his lips, which were beginning to show a mustache. “In Ninth Moon.”
“But why?”
“The Great Khan awards winners,” Temur answered, gloating.
I clenched my fists. It wasn’t fair. After the summer ended, when military training began in Ninth Moon, both Suren and Temur would be joining the army. I would have to watch them both receive their uniforms and ride off. After all the years of outperforming them, even training them, I would have to stay at court with the women.
Suren raised his sword, grasping it with two hands, and stood, feet apart, in a ready stance. His broad shoulders were steady; his lips were firm. The girls at court whispered about how good-looking Temur was, but the girl who married Suren would be the lucky one. A princess from a distant tribe had been chosen for him but no date had been set for the marriage. I hoped she would be lively