Lily felt like a different person after a good night's sleep. She was a different person. When she had woken up yesterday she had only even known the Steppe; now she was staying with strangers in a hidden corner of Baatarulaan. She felt oddly liberated. After checking on Lucky, who had evidently slept as well as she had, Lily went in search of breakfast. As she ascended the stairs a scent she had not known hit her.
‘Good morning,’ said Lily. Both men were already waiting for her at the table. ‘What on earth is that wonderful smell?’
‘That'll be the coffee then,’ said Drudger. ‘Watch yourself, though, it's strong stuff.’ He poured Lily half a mug. She tasted it. She loved it. ‘So what are you doing in Baatarulaan? I know Danyal is too polite to ask but I ain't.’
Two strangers had taken her in, fed her, stabled her horse and given her a safe roof to sleep under; the least Lily could do was talk to them. She figured that if they had been untoward characters that her person and few belongings would have been taken before now.
‘I am a herder,’ said Lily. Both men looked at her, astonished. They had never seen one before. ‘I'm not a freak,’ remarked Lily. She felt as though she was being examined a little too closely and she didn't like feeling like a specimen of sorts.
‘I'm sorry,’ said Danyal. ‘We've never seen a real herder before. We hear stories about them but they don't seem to come to Baatarulaan often since they were outlawed. Why the Khadists want to keep everyone within the city limits is beyond me. I always felt there were far too many people in too small a space with no room to breathe. The only herder I've heard about in recent times was Baatar. They say he would sneak into Baatarulaan in the dead of night and pilfer goods and belongings for his people. He was popular in the taverns. They say he could drink like a camel, eat like a yak and sing like a wolf. Word is he got captured, though.’
‘That would be my father,’ said Lily. The men looked shocked. ‘It certainly sounds like him and he was, rather is, called Baatar. Do you know where he is now?’ Both men looked at her pityingly and shook their heads.
‘I'm afraid he got taken to the House of Fun,’ said Drudger. He took a sharp intake of breath as he said the words.
‘What's that?’ asked Lily. ‘It doesn't sound so bad.’
‘What do you know about this place?’ asked Danyal. Lily confirmed their suspicions that she knew very little. They felt it was important she did know what sort of place she was visiting and set about informing her of the Khadist regime and the city Khad had created, not omitting any of the fun elements the bureaucrats felt were so important.
‘But you don't laugh like that five times a day,’ said Lily, ‘do you?’
‘Absolutely not. We keep away from most people,’ said Danyal. ‘We help out with things here and there.’
‘You could say we live on the fringes of society,’ said Drudger. He nudged Danyal knowingly. His friend ignored him.
‘You must be careful,’ said Danyal. ‘There is nothing but evil in this place. Especially now.’
‘Why?’ asked Lily. ‘What's going on at the moment?’
‘As I said earlier,’ continued Danyal, ‘the Khadists have been running the show here for centuries. People have never really liked them but they were told by the Khadists they had been given so much freedom it was difficult for them to fight back. They were told that it was they who had made the rules, that it was they who had insisted that life be full of fun and laughter. The Khadists were smart when they started. If the people had fought back they would have felt that they were fighting themselves. Instead they put up with it. They put up with all the discipline, all the things that are wrong with this city. Instead, they made things worse. The people figured that, if they could live as they wanted to, then they would live for themselves – greedily, hungrily, evilly. Control people too much and they are so afraid they'll commit suicide. Give them enough rope and they will also hang themselves. Those bureaucrats knew exactly what they were doing. By giving them freedom they “permitted” the people of Baatarulaan to become addicted to living as they wanted, addicted to gambling, to prostitution, murder, rape, drinking, disrespect and, of course, Khem.’
‘I can't believe it is human nature to act like that,’ said Lily. ‘And what's Khem?’
Danyal explained that it wasn't human nature to behave like that but, if those in charge manipulated people the right way, then they could force them to behave that way. Those in charge had found the people easier to manipulate if they were living by their own self-proclaimed freedom, and of course the people in charge had also invented Khem.
‘Why doesn't someone just stand up to them and tell them that it's not fair?’ asked Lily.
‘People are simply too scared,’ said Danyal. ‘They know that there is every chance they'll end up in the House of Fun.’
‘There is Tengis,’ offered Drudger. Danyal shot him a look of contempt.
‘He is not to be trusted,’ said Danyal spitefully. ‘Nothing can be built upon sand and it is nothing but sand that he buys his power with.’ With that Danyal sloppily scooped brunch into their bowls and they sat eating in silence.
‘I need some fresh air,’ said Lily. Now that her stomach was filled she had time to think. Her fellow herders might live a simple existence when compared to those in Baatarulaan but at least they lived an honest, virtuous and respectful simple life. Lily needed time to absorb what she had heard; everything she had experienced in the preceding twenty-four hours. After petting Lucky and assuring him that they would be going home as soon as she had found some answers, and hopefully her father to boot, she set out through the alleyways. Before leaving, Drudger had messed up her clothes with some oil, fats, mud and blood, then ripped her trousers a little, given her an odd wide-brimmed hat that was slightly crooked and a thickly set wooden walking stick that could double up as a weapon if required. It made her look far more like a city dweller than the Steppe girl she was.
The streets of Baatarulaan were as busy and chaotic as they had been the previous day. Lily may have been awestruck when she had arrived but now that she knew how people behaved in this town she was afraid. However, she was not afraid enough that she would pass up an opportunity to find out what the golden box containing Chinggis's words might have really been saying. People ignored her as she walked along the busier roads. They would have done so normally but now that she had been dressed à la Drudger she was almost invisible. She scoured the city for signs of cats, tigers, bells and fish. Now that Lily knew about Khadism, she also looked for its signs in a bid to better understand the evil.
The more that Lily walked among the people the keener she understood that they weren't naturally aggressive. These people were scared. They were trying to conceal themselves in the crowd. They didn't want to be noticed. Those that did raise their heads above the parapet of people were either in the employ of some group called the Leggie or trying to force others to buy their presumably illegal wares. Lily noticed that some of the salespeople were peddling Khem, and she stayed well away from them. Although she spent the entire day looking, she saw no signs of anything she was looking for.
Arriving at a square she presumed marked the centre of the city, the atmosphere was different. It was more charged. People were talking frantically with one another; speaking close to one another so as not to be overheard. The Leggie were there in great numbers milling and mixing with the throng of city inhabitants. Before she could move away, Lily found herself getting caught up with the movement of the crowd and pulled further into the middle of the square. Oddly-dressed people with frightened faces cast her quick glances. None of the gazes lingered but there was a haunted expression behind every look. Nobody looked healthy. The glowing ruddiness she had grown up accustomed to simply did not exist in this place. City people's pallor paled in comparison.
Lily stepped out of the human current that had swept her into the square and stood next to a group of older residents huddled around a small fire. Two of them grunted to acknowledge her. The other three nodded in her direction. She did likewise. Nobody wore anything other than a deeply fixed frown.
‘Did you hear what he did last night?’ asked one of the group. His fellow conspirators shook their heads. ‘He only went and nailed a copy of the Ten Recommendations to the door of the Khadist Chamber.’ His co-connivers gasped. ‘He wrote something underneath, something along the lines of: “To the Fat Cats of Baatarulaan, this is your Diet of Words; may you choke on them.” Can you believe it? Tengis is really standing up to them. I thought when he came with his Recommendations he was just another lunatic that would surely end up in the House of Fun . . .’
‘Don't you mean the House of Hurt?’ interrupted one of the others.
‘Yes, of course,’ said the original speaker, ‘House of Hurt. Anyway, with that shimmering stuff he seems to have won over a lot of friends. It's a bit like the story of Chinggis and the Five Fish.’ His fellows remained silent. ‘You know, the one where he feeds his entire army with a few enormous fish. Well, Tengis is doing the same. He's managing to win over all the influential and wealthy people of Baatarulaan, as well as us by the way, with just a few lumps of that yellow-brown-orangey substance. I don't know how he's done it but he's got everyone believing those Recommendations of his.’
‘You sound like you don't believe in the Ten Recommendations?’ said another man. The group turned to look for the original speaker's reaction; Lily presumed they all felt the same way.
‘Of course I do,’ said the original speaker. ‘Anything is better than the Khadist freedom movement. I would rather have rules and regulations than none. As for the youth of today, if I had my way they would all spend time in the Leggie learning all about discipline.’
‘Who is this Tengis?’ asked Lily. The group turned to look at her more carefully. She pulled the brim of her hat down further over her face and repeated the question in a pretend deep voice.
‘What do you mean?’ asked one of them. ‘How can you not know who Tengis is?’ Her question had made the group suspicious.
‘I know who Tengis is,’ said Lily. ‘I just wonder who Tengis really is; like inside. Who is the man? Where has he come from? That sort of thing.’
‘Oh,’ said the original speaker. ‘They say he was born and raised in Baatarulaan but when he was twelve he was spirited away from the city and schooled in the outside world.’
‘What, in another country?’ asked one of the group.
‘No,’ said the original speaker, ‘somewhere a whole one hundred miles from here. Can you imagine it; being a hundred miles away from Baatarulaan?’ Lily bit her tongue. She knew that she could travel almost that distance in a day if she really pushed Lucky hard. Her home was a good three days’ ride from here. ‘They say he learned how to think for himself; how to debate; he was taught the martial arts that have been forbidden under Khadism; as well as geography, history, literature and woodwork. It was while on a field trip that a voice is said to have spoken to him and taught him about the shimmering glimmering stuff as well as the Ten Recommendations. They even say that Tengis isn't really Tengis anymore. There are rumours that he is . . .’ He beckoned the others to move closer so that he could whisper. ‘They say that he is Chinggis Khaan himself!’ Lily was floored. She could hardly believe what she was hearing.
‘Do you think Chinggis Khaan is really here in Baatarulaan?’ asked Lily. She had pushed herself to the front of the group and was speaking directly with the original speaker. She couldn't accept that she would be able to find answers so easily or that she had a real opportunity to meet Chinggis. He heart exploded in a flurry of excitement. ‘Please, do you believe he is here?’ She grabbed the lapels of the original speaker's coat.
‘No I don't,’ said the original speaker. He took hold of Lily's hands and pushed her away from him. ‘How could he? He has been dead for almost eight hundred years. Tengis is just a shrewd politician who is going to save us from the tyranny of Khadism. What's it to you anyway? Why are you so keen? I haven't seen you here before; are you a Khadist spy or something?’ He made to grab Lily but she narrowly ducked away and was soon lost from him in the crowd which had been swelling further as Lily had been listening to the group.
Wherever she turned, there were faces turned to one side of the square. She was too short to see over the heads in front of her. Standing on tiptoes, Lily could see nothing more than hundreds if not thousands of heads staring at a space that seemed unusually darkened. People jostled her out of the way as they sought to get closer to the front. She lost half of her disguise. It didn't matter; people weren't interested in her. The only thing that mattered was what was in the darkness ahead of them. Lily was confused. She could not imagine what was going on. The crowd was beginning to get out of control. People were pressing hard against one another in a bid for a prime position. Some shouted agitatedly at others who were being overly forceful. Lily felt the pulse of the throng quickening. Violence seemed only a heartbeat away.
From deep within the darkness ahead of the swarming multitude came a noise. It was barely audible above the din of people but they soon quietened in heady anticipation. A steady drum beat quelled the restlessness of the masses. Nothing but a solid beat resonated around the square. Everybody stood stock-still facing the source of the sound. There was a crescendo as the beat sped up. Lily looked around, almost everyone was standing with their mouths gaping, eyes fixed in a glaze that was half panic, half sublimation. Startling white beams shone upwards in four huge columns of light. Enormous flags unfurled all around coloured blue, black and white. The crowd half closed their eyes but were so afraid to miss a thing that they readily risked blindness.
Lily tried to see what was on the flags but the light was too strong. The beat intensified. Boom-boom-boom roared the deep drums; and then the drumming stopped dead as the lights became less intense save a solitary focus on the centre ahead. Rising from behind the plinth rose a man. As he ascended he kept his head facing downwards. His face was set in serious contemplation. His hands were stuck to his sides. He wore a black suit and matching cap with a blue armband. The moment he reached the height he hesitated and as the drums beat out a deafening final, one-off ‘boom’ he lifted his head to face his people.
‘I love you, Tengis!’ yelled a girl near to Lily moments before the crowd erupted in a volcano of molten emotion. Tengis theatrically lifted both his arms above his head to embrace the crowd. They responded in kind. Some screamed; others began to chant his name. Then came the drums again, now accompanied by trumpet blasts. The noise built and built until the noise was again deafening. Then it stopped. Tengis stepped forward and there was silence. He was about to speak. There was a universal hush.
‘I am Tengis Khaan,’ said the figure. ‘I represent the Chinggist movement and the Ten Recommendations. I bring you the sparkling metal and I offer you salvation!’ The figure lifted a large piece of shimmering metal above his head. The swarm chanted its approval. Women fainted, men screamed and children picked their pockets. The assembly acted as though under a spell. Tengis continued decanting further vitriolic verbiage. People cried his name and shouted whatever words he orchestrated them to.
After what Lily had heard earlier she had dearly hoped to see Chinggis Khaan. The person presenting himself in front of her was not he. This was a bad man. Once upon a time her stomach had begun to move whenever she was close to Chinggis in mind, body or soul. Tonight she simply felt sick. This person might purport to be Chinggis but he wasn't. Whoever he was, she felt he had to be an imposter. She listened to his words and they were delicately laced with slivers of spitefulness. She knew that Chinggis would never speak of hatred.
‘In a good word there are three winters’ warmth,’ continued Tengis. ‘In one malicious word there is pain for six frosty months. Let us give the Khadists an eternity of frost.’ The figure said nothing of substance. People didn't seem to care. So long as the figure held aloft the glittering metal they would do whatever he wanted. Lily had to get away. She was being filled with a hatred that she knew would consume her absolutely if she didn't leave the rally that moment.
As Lily fought her way through the crowd she glanced above them to the flags that caged the square. Taking in the carefully designed imagery, Lily almost tripped over. She was not certain but she thought she could see the roaring head of a tiger sitting on the back of a horse. She began breathing shallowly. Her palms became hot despite the freezing temperature. Suddenly she burst out of the crowd. Landing on the pavement, she sat looking up at the flags. Lily now had space and time to assess the flags. She had not been mistaken. Atop the body of someone she presumed to be Tengis was the head of a fierce tiger animatedly roaring to the sky. Unless Lily was mistaken, she knew that she had unearthed something important, something that related to Chinggis's words: the real words of Chinggis, not those she had just been forced to listen to. She raced back to Danyal's yard faster than she had ever run before.
‘People say they like change,’ said Danyal a little later as he poured her a cup of delicious coffee, ‘but they don't, not really. They just want to be told what to do and how to live their lives. They just want to belong to the group; they don't want to stick out from the crowd or be noticed. So long as whoever is telling them what to do lets them lead a life that is in some way acceptable then the people will support them. They don't like people that are different; they certainly don't like anyone who doesn't belong to Baatarulaan, so you need to be extra careful. Imagine coming home dressed like that!’ Lily looked down at herself – she had lost all of her disguise and the traditional herder clothing beneath, worn to ward of the cold, was revealed for all to see. She knew that wearing a deel would make her utterly conspicuous.
‘I saw a tiger on a horse,’ said Lily. ‘Can you tell me anything about that?’
‘That man disgusts me!’ answered Danyal. ‘He has taken the insignia of Chinggis, the horse, as his own and had the gall to place himself atop our only true emperor. How can he even think of doing that? It is despicable. He clearly sees himself as the new emperor. He thinks he is working with or joined in some way to Chinggis and that together they will forge a new empire. An empire free from Khadism. Now that this shiny new stuff is around, everyone wants a piece of it. From what I can see it's nothing more than a piece of rock but the way that Tengis has been flashing it about it has become invaluable overnight. I don't trust that guy. As for his so-called Ten Recommendations – fluff and nonsense! That Tengis has no substance. He is nothing but a tailored marketing machine, too young, too big for his own boots, too powerful too soon with too little sense of realism. All he's done is ask questions about Khadism. One idiot can ask more questions than ten wise men can answer. How he's done what he's done I have no idea but he has won the support of everyone, especially the elite few. They're scared he will incite theft of their property. They may account for a fractional percentage of Baatarulaan inhabitants, but they hold almost all of the wealth and certainly all of the power. They truly are fat cats.’
For the second time that day Lily checked herself. She wasn't certain but she felt as though the feline factoids that she had heard must surely relate in some way to the words she had received via Elder Chuluun. She made a note to check the scroll when she was alone that night.
‘What can we do about it?’ implored Lily. ‘What I saw tonight was dreadful, truly terrible. If Tengis manages to take over from the Khadists, why don't the people realise that all they'll be doing is swapping one corrupt regime for another? Why isn't anyone trying to do something positive?’
‘Well, we are . . .’ said Drudger before Danyal cut him off mid-sentence. Lily looked at them both perplexedly.
‘We have known one another a mere day,’ said Danyal, ‘I need to know that I can trust you, even though my heart tells me that I can.’
‘Of course you can!’ said Lily. ‘Anyway, you have more on me than I on you. You might be harbouring me but I'm the one that faces arrest simply for being a herder.’ Danyal and Drudger nodded to one another secretly agreeing upon something unseen and unheard.
‘There is a group that is making a stand against both Khadism and New Chinggism,’ said Danyal. He sat down on a stool opposite Lily wearing a serious face and looked deep into her eyes. ‘We are but a few but we have the backing of a secretive and powerful city magnate. We operate outside the boundaries of society, dwell beneath the surface of the city and have faith in matters some deem beyond the realms of reality. If you are introduced to our brethren, you can never leave them; no matter where you are, you will always be one of us. We will always be with you even when you do not see us. We are secretive to others but openly transparent among ourselves. We fight against tyranny and have been fighting against it for almost eight hundred years. My family were all members of the order, as were Drudger's. We both come from a long line of fighters. We might not look like much but we know more than anyone can possibly imagine and thankfully infinitely more than anyone ever suspects. Are you willing to learn more?’
Lily nodded eagerly. Anyone that was against Tengis and the Khadists had to be good news; nothing could be worse.
Lily dutifully followed Danya and Drudger downstairs, out into the yard and into the stable, where Lucky lay snoring. Quietly moving aside some hay they unearthed a trapdoor. Drudger opened the trapdoor and disappeared down inside. Danyal beckoned Lily to follow. She hesitated.
‘Where are we going?’ she asked. Leaving the Steppe had been difficult, growing accustomed to Baatarulaan had been demanding; being asked to go underground for the first time was almost too daunting a prospect.
‘Trust me,’ said Danyal. He reassuringly placed his hand on Lily's shoulder. She glanced across at Lucky who lay obliviously dreaming of the Steppe.
‘Where are we going?’ repeated Lily. She really did not feel comfortable about entering a secret underground tunnel with two men she had only known for a short while. Danyal smiled at her knowingly. He knew exactly where they were heading. He turned and faced her, a broad smile beaming across his face. It immediately relaxed Lily. Even before he spoke she felt comforted. She could tell that wherever they were going it was a good place filled with friends who would help them. He started to speak:
‘We're going to Millie's.’