Djerat started to rise, only to be pulled down again by Josha Dar. "I cannot talk hunched over like a hunting mongoose."
"Then stay on your knees and tell me what transpired," said Timur-i.
Feeling both slighted and favored, Djerat did her best to order her thoughts. "It was a terrible thing, to be tossed into the river as we were." She went on to repeat what she had told Keiglu, emphasizing her determination to rejoin the army, and her distrust of all Sanat Ji Mani had done. "So I left them at the cattle-ford village, his imprecations still in my ears, and I came along the old road to Kabul, in the wake of your great army, Exalted Lord."
"At the cost of another of your mules," said Timur-i.
"Yes. My animals are tired and hungry, and so am I," said Djerat, thinking of the food she had been promised but had not yet received.
"Those following armies must expect hardships." Timur-i directed his attention to Josha Dar. "Well, spy? What do you think? Has she reported truly?"
"Perhaps she has, as she sees it," said Josha Dar. "But I suspect her jealousy has colored her account."
"Jealousy?" Djerat repeated incredulously, not allowing Timur-i to speak first. "What makes you say I am jealous?"
"You speak enviously, and you describe a man I have observed in terms intended to add to your consequence at his cost." Josha Dar lifted his head enough to be able to look up at Timur-i. "I do not like Sanat Ji Mani; he is a foreigner and therefore suspect. But I know his qualities, and I will not listen to him being maligned and not speak against such misrepresentations." He pointed to Djerat. "You have tried to make him seem untrustworthy—"
"He
is
untrustworthy!" Djerat shouted. "He is a seducer! He has set the heart of Tulsi Kil against me! He disdains the rule of Timur-i!"
Timur-i gestured her to silence; he sat staring off between his horse's ears, tapping his fly-whisk against his shoulder. The only sound was the jingle of tack and the slapping of banners on the wind. "I will make a decision before nightfall. Feed her and bring her to my tent when the sun is its own width above the mountains." He gestured dismissal, tapped the Red Company leader on his head with his fly-whisk and prepared to move on to the next company drawn up for inspection.
"You cannot listen to him!" Djerat called out, pointing her accusing finger at Josha Dar. "He is serving his own ends!"
"Be silent, hairy woman," Josha Dar ordered her. "He will kill you if you speak again."
Djerat realized this was not an empty threat; she swung around and faced Josha Dar. "You are trying to disgrace me. Why are you doing this, when I have done nothing to deserve it?"
"It is not my decision. You spoke against a man I defended." He rushed on, "If I did not refute what you said, I would be answerable to Timur-i, and I do not wish to be executed over this, so I have done as I must, and challenged your report before him and I have done all that I can to ensure he will not order me killed for telling him untruths, but will decide how your account is to be received in balance against mine." He stopped, and then continued more calmly, "You may not like my doubting you, but you must understand my purpose: you and I cannot both be right, and it is Timur-i who will judge which of us he believes and the one he finds lacking truth will pay
the price of falsehood." Josha Dar shuddered and turned away from the front of the ranked soldiers; the aroma of cooking lamb mixed with the odor of horses' sweat and leather. "Go back to your wagon. Have your meal. I will come to fetch you when it is time to go to Timur-i's tent."
"Keiglu may not allow me to go," said Djerat, holding her head up.
Josha Dar laughed. "If you think the Master of Jugglers is going to defy Timur-i, you have been in the sun too long."
"I have told the truth," Djerat insisted.
"And so have I. So one of us must be mistaken in our truth," said Josha Dar.
Djerat rounded on him. "You defend a scoundrel."
"I would defend Shaitan himself, or Yama, if it would save my skin," said Josha Dar. "I do not like Sanat Ji Mani— I have said so. But I have not seen any of the reprehensible things you describe in all the time I have watched him, and if I do not vindicate my report, I am useless to Timur-i, which means also that I am dead." He laughed. "You have value to him as an oddity. Even if he does not believe you, he may spare you for that."
"You… you
turd
! You
offal
! You are worse than the excrement of pigs and turtles!" She lurched away from him, almost physically ill from his presence.
Josha Dar did not approach her. "Have your meal. Take care of your mules and your wagon. I will come for you later in the day." He offered her an ironic salaam.
She wanted to rail at him, accuse him of every loathsome thing she could think of, but suddenly she was afraid, and for the first time since she had left Sanat Ji Mani and Tulsi Kil in the village at the cattle-ford, she wondered if she had made the right decision to return to Timur-i's army.
* * *
Text of a list of decisions given by Timur-i Lenkh at Kabul.
* * *
Be it known that I, Timur-i Lenkh, Exalted Lord of Samarkand and Ruler of the Middle of the World, favored of Allah and victorious in battle, do give out these decisions before the city of Kabul near the beginning of the 63rd year of my age:
For the crime of horse theft, the archer Sibbu Ali is to be tied between two trees and shot to death with arrows by the archers of his Company, the Azure Company; his own horses will be given to Eshmut Tusi, from whom Sibbu Ali stole. His body is to be left to rot as a warning to others.
For valor on the field, the soldiers of the Green Company are to be given each two pieces of gold and be excused from taxes for a full year, and for the next year, required to pay only half the amount usually required.
For the crime of adultery, the woman of Huf Fasal is to be opened at the belly and her womb removed so that she can never again disgrace what was made sacred by marriage; this to be done in the public eye of all the camp, so that no woman will think her crimes are safe. She is to be given no succor during her death-throes and any attempting to end her suffering shall share her fate. As to her lover, he is to be made a eunuch and sent to the slave-market in Mecca, where he will wear a placard telling how he came to lose his male parts. The monies paid for him are to be donated to the pilgrims at Mecca to ensure their safe return to their families.
For rescuing the armorers stranded on the road, Abaq Rukh shall be given a pearl the size of a pigeon's egg to be set in the hilt of his shimtare as a sign of his service to the armorers and to my cause against the Faithless Ones. His sons may call themselves Abaq's Pearls in commemoration of this laudable act, and to encourage others to be equally scrupulous in their duties.
For the crime of counterfeiting coins, the metal-smith Ankra of Tabriz is to have his hands lopped off, the which he will wear around his neck until they rot away, to show that no one may coat base metal with gold or silver and profit from such deception. His eldest son is to be castrated and sold into slavery, the money from which sale shall go to remunerate those Ankra cheated. His daughters are to be given to my soldiers to be used for their pleasure.
For providing shelter for 20 head of pregnant mares during the severe windstorm of four nights ago, Zhalil Karli shall receive three emeralds from my treasury and his pick of the foals of these mares, limited to one filly and one colt, when the mares shall deliver their young.
For the crime of subversion, the cook Wan Shao-Hsia will be boiled in his own cooking pot; those who have followed his seditious teaching will eat the stew his flesh makes and they will pay two strings of copper cash to my treasury for their lapse. These followers are to witness Wan's execution so that they will not be able to deceive themselves concerning their meal. Should any of them attempt to refuse this punishment, their eyelids shall be cut away and they will be left by the trail to live or die as Allah wills.
For hunting game and providing 33 wild sheep for the army to feast upon, the men of Bronze Company are to share my table tonight, and are to be given each one silver coin from my treasury, in appreciation of their perseverance and purpose. Each man is to receive an extra measure of grain for his horses, and the Bronze Company shall march immediately behind me when the army sets out again in two days.
For the crime of cowardice in battle, Mangu Miran shall be given to the captured women of our Jagatai foes who have brought so much pleasure to my men. These women shall be provided small knives to use in punishing Mangu Miran, which knives are to be confiscated and accounted for when they have done with disposing of this unworthy soldier.
For tending the delivery of 20 foals without the loss of a single animal, Ayjal the farrier is to be given his choice of the foals and the reward of one piece of gold for every foal, that is, 20 pieces of gold from my own treasury. In addition, he is to be allowed to attend the mares of my herd, to supervise their foaling and to tend the dams and foals through the weaning; in recognition of his abilities he may call himself Timur-i's Foaler.
For the crime of lying, the hairy woman, Djerat, is to be flayed and her skin preserved with its hair as a reminder to all, and to entertain the curious.
For the service of leading the Yellow Company away from an ambush, Latif Umar is to be given an emerald from my treasury and two horses from my herd, along with a permanent exemption from all taxation for as long as he shall live.
For the crime of stealing, Ghotar Illish is to have his right hand struck off and his right eye plucked out, so that he will no longer be
able to steal, nor will he be tempted by what he sees.
For the service of exposing falsehood, the Delhi spy, Josha Dar, is to receive five gold pieces from my treasury and be allowed to ride in the wagons accompanying my own wagon.
For the crime of selling spoiled grain, the Kabuli merchant Yusef is to be prepared a double portion of gruel made from the grain, which he shall then eat in total, or be beheaded on the spot.
For providing the horses of Black Company with new saddle-pads, Tuma the saddler is to receive 4 silver pieces from my treasury and the skins of all the sheep killed by Bronze Company.
For winning at chess against me, the foreigner of the Land of Snows, Rje Chilonhgpa, shall be hacked to pieces and his bones made into chessmen for my board.
For bringing me nine bales of fine silk from China, the merchant Sing Tso-Mao, is to be given three asses and a camel to aid him in his travels and to promote his business; also he is to be accorded safe passage to Trebizond so that he might continue his endeavors on my behalf.
This is my judgment. It is balanced, just, in accord with our traditions and our holy religion. I am even-handed in meting out rewards and punishment, as our
Qran
teaches. Let no man question what has been decided. Let all be carried out at once.
Timur-i Lenkh
at Kabul
by the hand of the scribe Yesun Toq
6
"Your foot has not healed yet," Tulsi said to Sanat Ji Mani as they sat by a small lake in the luxuriant light of the full moon. They were far from the Sutlej now, south and east of the city of Samdhar; the arid plain was behind them, and they were in wooded uplands. Traveling by night, they had avoided towns and cities, wanting to leave no record
of their journey; when they encountered villages, they waited until daylight, found a shaded place where they performed for the people— Tulsi doing her acrobatic tumbling, Sanat Ji Mani offering conjuring tricks or medical treatment— in exchange for shelter and a meal for Tulsi. "It is forty-one days since you… pulled out the stirrup." Her voice caught in her throat as she remembered the harrowing event; even the recollection made her feel slightly ill. "There is still an open wound through your foot. It has not knit so far." She glanced down at the boot he had fashioned for himself, and saw the shine of blood on the rough leather.
He shook his head once. "I am not badly hampered." It was not entirely the truth, for he had none of his native earth to restore him which left him vitiated and made his recovery more difficult.
"You say that, but you are exhausted by the sun and your injury continues." She wanted him to see her concern. "I worry for you."
"Thank you; I will recover in time." He realized this was not enough, that she wanted more from him. "I do not mean to cause you apprehension, I apologize for that. I am highly complimented by your concern, though it is unnecessary."
"But you bleed, and the sun burns you," she said. "Say what you will, I am troubled on your behalf. I wish you would mend, and your skin not… char the way it does when you are long in the sun. How can you improve if you continue to be hurt?"
"I told you those of my blood heal very slowly. The cut will close eventually but I will limp for some time." He smiled to solace her; his sack lay on the ground beside him, next to her pack. "And I
