Daughter of Xanadu - Dori Jones Yang [49]
“Keep moving!”
“I …” I was puffing heavily, holding my side.
“So, you cannot keep up with the men, even on your first day?”
I stood straight, willing the pain to go away. He expected me to fail. They all did. I began running again.
That afternoon, we were given blunt sabers for practice. Many of the new soldiers had never used a sword before. Suren had taught me the rules for practicing with swords—how to thrust and parry without hurting your opponent. Some soldiers did not know those rules and drew blood, hitting arms and legs of their opponents not covered by armor. One nicked Suren in the lower arm.
At first, no one would practice fighting me. Finally, one of the smaller men, egged on by his comrades, shyly agreed. “Don’t make her look bad. Let her win,” I heard one say to him. Within a few minutes I had pinned the short man down with my sword.
A large well-muscled man swaggered up to take his place. I could tell by his stance that he expected to humiliate me. I heard someone call him Bartan. I bowed to him before the practice fight. This time, the match went on a little longer, but I defeated him, too, using a swift, dexterous move Suren had taught me. A small group of men gathered around us. Bartan rose from the mud. He looked at me with narrowed eyes, as if I were the enemy. When he walked away, others went with him. “She cheats,” I heard one say.
After that, the men were reluctant to fight against me. Suren saw this and challenged me. We fought a good fight, using the skills we had practiced in Xanadu, each of us carefully avoiding a victory so that the other would not be humiliated. When the other soldiers saw how skilled we were, some stopped to watch.
Distracted by the attention, I missed a move, and Suren won the match.
“Ah, see? She’s human,” I heard one man say. Had they thought me a goddess?
After that, it was easier to find men to fight during practice. There always seemed to be others watching, offering advice for my opponents. Some liked the novelty of clashing swords with a woman.
Chilagun wandered the field, observing us without comment. When I felt his eyes on me, I put in extra effort, hoping to win his respect. The exertion and sun built up heat under my armor, and lines of sweat dripped down my face.
At the end of the day, my arms ached but I had held my own. Chimkin commanded us to stand at attention in rows once again. He was joined by a white-haired portly man, whom he introduced as General Abaji, one of the Khan’s top military advisers. I recognized him from the Khan’s banquets. He outranked even Chimkin, as I could tell from Chimkin’s deferential manner toward him.
“Soldiers of the Great Khan’s army!” General Abaji’s voice was firm and loud. He was still vigorous despite his age, which must have been over fifty years.
“Listen well. On the first day of Tenth Moon, we will divide you into three groups. Most will stay in Khanbalik for further training. A company of thirty soldiers will travel with me on a reconnaissance mission, to gather intelligence. Another thirty men will go with General Chimkin on another journey, in a different direction. Learn well and prepare for the day when we select the best among you for these two missions.”
My heart pounded. Surely, Chimkin’s journey would be to the West. Even though it was only for reconnaissance, I now wanted to avoid it. It would be easy for the generals to insist that I stay safe in the capital. I assumed that Marco, his father, and his uncle had also returned to the capital from Xanadu. So if I stayed, I might be able to see Marco again before he left for home. But that assignment would be humiliating. The best option would be to join Abaji’s mission, whatever that was. I had one month to prove myself.
After Abaji finished, Chilagun led us to our quarters. We were to stay at the army’s training camp every day of Ninth Moon, with no more than half a day’s rest every ten days. The soldiers were to sleep on pallets in long, low