Tengis stood surveying the Steppe that lay out before him. To his right two thousand archers stood ready to rain hellishness upon the enemy. To his left four thousand foot soldiers stood itching to fight. Ahead of them four thousand pike men stood formed in twenty rows, their pikes already dipped to meet their foes. Across the plain stood his nemesis.
‘Look at her,’ said Tengis. ‘Who does she think she is?’
‘She is just a girl,’ replied Oldortar. ‘We shall make short shrift of them and be back here in time for sundowners!’
‘Do not underestimate that girl,’ said Odval, who had accompanied her lover. ‘We women are more powerful than you men believe. You can stand here with your troops and mock her but she is dangerous. What is a joke for a cat will be death for a mouse.’
‘Yeah right,’ answered Oldortar, ‘a powerful woman; just like a watery desert. An interesting prospect, possibly imaginative, but definitely non-existent!’
‘Quiet!’ demanded Tengis. ‘We must crush these upstarts. They must know who their emperor is and they must learn how to love him, or at least fear him.’
‘There are so few of them,’ said Mr Enkh. ‘I calculate you only need to use half of your troops. You could have the others start digging for you. Where was it that you said that substance was? Somewhere in these mountains, wasn't it?’
Odval glared at her father. Since he had first set eyes on the glimmering metal he had become increasingly deranged. She had barely spoken to him in the last ten days. Everything he said or did related to his getting hold of some of Tengis's wealth. She knew that her lover was no fool and that his patience would run out soon enough; though not as soon as it did. Without saying a word Tengis pulled his sabre from its scabbard. Without speaking to him or even looking in his direction, he cleanly relieved Mr Enkh of his head.
‘Insubordination will not be tolerated,’ said Tengis. He wiped the blood from his sabre on Oldortar's sleeve. ‘Neither shall greed.’
He looked at Odval. She bit hard on the inside of her lip. Tasting blood in her mouth, she widened her gaze to prevent any tears from welling up. Odval knew that to show emotion at this moment could leave her feeling several kilograms lighter.
‘Give us the word and we will attack,’ said Tchoo. ‘See the men? The Leggy is eager to please you.’
‘They are eager for this more like,’ said Tengis. He held a huge shard of the glimmering metal substance above his head. To a person every one of his troops ogled the metal and drooled before shouting out inanely. ‘While I control it I control them. Very well, Tchoo, you may start.’
Tchoo raised his hand; an action that was repeated by more junior soldiers down the ranks towards the pike ranks, most of whom were scarcely fourteen years old and began to march badly forward.
‘It is time,’ cried Tchoo, ‘for us to destroy them!’
‘A great general once asked whether people should know when they are conquered,’ said Tengis. ‘The general answered “Would you? Would I?” but I simply say: “yes, they should.” He pulled down the visor of his helmet and walked towards his command post overlooking the Steppe below. His Council stood nearby awaiting his orders; all except Mr Enkh who lay with a look of eternal bewilderment upon his face as it looked at the body it recognised lying nearby.