Bones of the Hills by Conn Iggulden Read Free Book Online Page A

his fingers closed on nothing, making him sigh. The boys and girls of the camps would now run in with hammers and knives to finish the slaughter and begin preparing the carcasses for a great feast.
    The scouts for the khan had reported that the armies of Khasar and Tsubodai were only a few days’ ride away. His generals would be honored with rice wine and black airag when they returned. Genghis wondered how his sons would have grown in the years apart. It was exciting to think of riding to war with Chagatai and Ogedai, taking new lands so that they too could be khans. He knew that Jochi was returning, but that was an old wound and he did not dwell on it. He was done with peaceful years with his wives and the young children. If the sky father had a purpose for him, it was not to spend his time quietly while the world slept.
    Genghis rode to Kachiun as his brother clapped Arslan on theshoulders. Between them, the ground was red with blood and fur, and boys darted almost under the hooves as they yelled and called to each other in excitement.
    “Did you see the great cat I brought down?” Genghis said to the two men. “It took two arrows just to slow it.”
    “It was a fine kill,” Kachiun shouted, his face glowing with sweat. One scrawny boy came too close to Kachiun’s stirrups as he spoke, and he reached down to cuff the lad, knocking him sprawling to the amusement of his companions.
    Arslan smiled as the little boy picked himself up and glared at the khan’s brother before racing off.
    “They are so young, this new generation,” he said. “I can hardly remember being so small.”
    Genghis nodded. The children of the tribes would never know the fear of being hunted as he and his brothers had. Listening to their laughter and high-pitched voices, he could only wonder at what he had achieved. Just a few herdsmen roamed the valleys and mountains of his homeland now. He had gathered the rest and made them a nation under one man and the sky father. Perhaps that was why he yearned to answer the challenge from the desert tribes. A man without enemies grew quickly soft and fat. A nation would fare badly without someone peering into their camps. He smiled at the thought. There was no shortage of enemies in the world, and he thanked the spirits that they teemed in their millions. He could not imagine a better way of spending a life, and he had good years ahead.
    Arslan spoke again and the lightness had gone from his voice.
    “I have thought for many months, lord, that it is time I gave up my position as general. I am getting too old to stand a campaign in winter and perhaps too cautious. The men need someone younger who can risk it all on a single throw of the bones.”
    “You have years in you yet,” Kachiun replied as seriously.
    Arslan shook his head, looking to see how Genghis reacted to his words. “It is time. I will wait for my son Jelme to return, but I do not wish to leave my homeland again. My oath is to you, Genghis, and I will not see it broken. If you say ride, I will ride until I fall.” He spoke of death. No warrior could fall from a saddle while he still lived. Arslan paused to see the khan understood his loyalty before going on.
    “No man can ride forever. My hips and shoulders ache and my hands are stiff at the first touch of cold. Perhaps it is all the years of beating metal, I do not know.”
    Genghis pursed his mouth, edging his mount closer so that he could grip his general’s shoulder.
    “You have been with me from the first days,” he said softly. “No one has served with more honor. If you want to see your final years out in peace, I will release you from your oath.”
    Arslan bowed his head, visibly relieved. “Thank you, my lord khan.” When he looked up, his face was flushed with emotion. “I knew you when you were alone and hunted. I saw greatness in you then when I pledged my life. I have known this day would come and prepared my second for command of my
tuman.
It is your decision, but