Daughter of Xanadu - Dori Jones Yang [99]
“Yes!” I said, with more enthusiasm. “Since the Khan entrusted me—”
The Khan cut me off. “Your grandmother has suggested a role for you, and I agree. You are aware of this Chinese boy who dared to call himself Emperor of China?”
I nodded, wondering what this could have to do with my future.
“This boy’s mother is young, like you. Your assignment is to become her companion, to teach her the ways of the Mongols. You did well civilizing that young Latin. The Empress believes you could civilize this Chinese woman as well.”
I was shocked. They had thought this through, and he had made a decision. Chabi’s eyes shone with pride and satisfaction. Was this what she had meant by being a messenger of peace?
“Your Majesty honors me,” I said, the right words. “But I … I had another idea.” How could I dare suggest a different assignment? And yet I had to speak now.
The Khan’s eyebrows rose again. “Tell me,” he commanded.
I swallowed hard. “Last summer, Your Majesty entrusted me with the task of spying on the Latins, Marco Polo and his father and uncle. I gathered much knowledge about their homeland’s kings and armies. I even learned a few words of their language.”
The Khan and his empress remained silent.
“The most important thing I learned is that Christendom is weak, a group of small countries with no strong central government or army. But it has many smart people and much potential. There is no need to send our army to invade it.”
There! I had said it. The Khan narrowed his eyes with suspicion. I knew he would think that I was siding with the foreigner. I went on, needing to speak my piece.
“I am but a woman, and not skilled in great matters. But perhaps you could send me, as your emissary, to their leader, the Pope … with a letter from you. My very presence, as a granddaughter of the Khan of all Khans, could convince the Pope that the countries of Christendom should be friendly subjects.”
The Khan’s head jerked back at this remarkable idea. Yet his first reaction was not to reject it, as I had feared. “I have already deigned to communicate with their Pope,” he said. “I sent him a letter, through the Polos, ten years ago.”
“And their Pope wrote back, expressing a desire for peace,” I said. “It should not be hard to convince their leaders to cooperate with us. If you were to send me to Christendom, as your envoy, I could convey your goodwill and establish friendly relations with the Pope and his people. Sending a member of the Golden Family would be a stronger message than sending a letter with merchants. Marco and his father could tell the Pope of the Great Khan’s power, wealth, and wise rule. Perhaps the Pope would agree to join the Mongol Empire by sending gifts of tribute, with no need to engage in battle.”
It was foolhardy to give unsolicited advice to the Khan of all Khans. But I felt strongly about traveling to Marco’s homeland as an emissary of the Great Khan. I could meet the Pope of the Latins, who was, after all, a man who knew Marco and his father. Then he could send the one hundred Christian scholars the Great Khan had requested. Perhaps I could visit Venezia, to see its streets of water. Back in my own chambers, I had imagined the entire journey. It had seemed possible, this plan of mine.
The Khan frowned. “You would travel with this foreign family? The Khan of all Khans does not entrust his granddaughter’s virtue to foreign merchants.”
I tried to keep my emotions from my face. “We would travel with an armed escort, of course.”
His frown deepened. “No one sends a woman to do such work.”
“I watched my best friend die in battle,” I said. “I wish to serve you in a different way, to bring your wisdom to others in this world.”
He rubbed his thin beard.
“Perhaps this is the plan of Eternal Heaven, the reason that you chose me to learn Latin,” I said.
The Khan of all Khans seemed taken aback by my idea. He frowned at me while he contemplated its implications.
“Tengri,” I said, “appointed you to fulfill the Great Ancestor’s mandate, to unify the world. But not