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There is heathen blood in the grass now. A dozen Gryphon Guard can take out a small tribe in the dead of night, before they can even mount their khiroi. These herders know only to look to the horizon, never thinking to turn their eyes to loftier heights. There is more than one lesson in that, I think.

But this war will not be won by striking these pitiful bands that scratch out an existence in this barren place. Hell, most did not even know we were here before the gryphons ripped their livers out.

Now they do more than harry my supply trains. Twice now, we have awaited replenishment, only to be greeted by the smoke of their smouldering wagons in the skies. They are as jackals; but they know not the lion lies in wait.

We have not enough Gryphon Knights to both protect our supply lines and hunt the smaller tribes of the Great Steppe. So I have spoken with the traders that have experience in these matters. Fine wine loosened their lips, and I have gleaned much.

There is a second caste among these so-called Sithians, though few use that name in parlance, preferring the banner of their tribe to identify their peoples. Indeed, it appears my Gryphon Knights have laid waste to this second caste, for they travel in smaller groups, rejected from any society but their own. Tainted, the Sithians call them.

These Tainted tribes follow no laws but their own, and will rob the traders that frequent this place. So these traders have devised a way to defend themselves, alongside the Phoenixian mercenaries that accompany them.

Their wagon trains form a square, such that their khiroi cannot ride through, slaughtering with their blades as they are wont to. Within, the traders form a circle, where every man, woman and child that can hold a pole brandish pike, or halberd, or spear. Wherever a rider might penetrate, swinging with their long blades, a row of sharp points greets them.

This tactic has improved things, and given the Gryphon Guard time to hunt. Rufinus’s nephew, Magnus, has made a name for himself already. He bandies around with a string of bloodied ears about his neck. Even I can see that some are no smaller than an infant’s. Such brutality is a necessary antagonism of my enemy, but I cannot say I am glad of it.

Even Rufinus cannot stomach such slaughter, for his men kill them by the hundreds. Only time will tell if Rohan’s can stomach the same.

‘F orm up, form up!’ Harleen’s command echoed across the bustling plaza, cutting the morning air. Men, women and children darted to their designated spots – the able-bodied members of the tribe taking the front in a neat formation, the elders and little ones filling in behind in haphazard fashion.

Jai oversaw the proceedings from a platform cobbled together from crates and draped with cloths bearing his house’s sigils. It was a makeshift affair, reflecting their current state. Teji had stripped them of everything else.

Feng and Jai’s remaining nobles stood alongside them, surveying their tribe the morning after the split. Many of these nobles Jai had met already, for they had accompanied Harleen and Gurveer into his tent that first day. But the multitude of new faces among them heartened him; the Kidaran nobles did not betray their khan so easily.

As the Kidaran subjects gathered in what remained of the plaza, Jai couldn’t help but compare them against his uncle’s new tribe, who were gathered a few hundred feet from the edge of camp. Their numbers looked to be the same as his – roughly two thousand each, according to Harleen’s estimation – but Jai knew that much of the wealth of the tribe was with Teji.

Even now, his uncle’s followers milled about, sorting through furniture piled high. In truth, he was glad of it. Teji had been foolish, taking everything that could not be nailed down. Sure, it meant more riches, but it also meant more to be carried by their khiroi. Harleen, in her wisdom, had focused on retaining those above all else and her efforts were rewarded, for she had reported they had succeeded in retaining two hundred of them, along with a glut of doe calves. Teji had a hundred more, but considering the disparities in the herds’ burdens between the two factions, Jai felt they had come out the better in that exchange.

Even now, Jai’s tribe’s khiroi stood, lowing loudly, unhappy to have their herd divided in two. Despite them being split up, Jai had still never seen so many, particularly up close. The grooms were visibly on edge, striving to keep the massive animals from breaking away to join their brethren in Teji’s camp. Across the way, Jai was certain Teji’s grooms did the same.

It was clear they would soon need to embark on their journey.

‘Khan Jai of the Kidara, first of his name!’

Jai started at Harleen’s words. Last night, he had thought he’d spend it tossing and turning, meticulously crafting his speech. Instead, he’d been jostled awake by Feng from the Kidaran throne, with little more than a sore back to show for it.

Now there was no applause, nor had he expected it. The mood was sombre, and there was a chill to the spring air.

He cleared his throat, his mind a blank. He looked to Feng and Harleen, and both subtly nodded.

‘I know I am not the returned khan you expected,’ Jai called out. ‘Nor was this how I intended to start my reign. But I promise you this: we are the stronger for it.’

The crowd was restless, but silent. He could feel the weight of their eyes upon him, and still more words tripped from his mouth unbidden.

‘We have cast out the traitors,’ he called out, stabbing a finger in Teji’s direction. ‘And you see what kind they are. They took everything they could. Not from me. From us . From their brothers and sisters.’

He paused. There was anger in their eyes. But he could not tell where it was directed, even if those eyes stared at him now. He was in it now, though, and pressed on.

‘Too long, Teji has hidden in his chamber. He cares only for the wine in his belly, and the gold in his coffers. When did he last walk among you?’ Jai demanded.

He could sense it now. That simmering resentment. Almost smell it.

‘He has not ruled you in years, not truly. No, he sits upon the throne like a child upon a calf. And lets a snake in the grass, Nazeem, take the reins.’

‘Tainted prick!’ a woman screamed.

Jai winced at that, but stilled his tongue, because he could sense others held the same sentiment as that woman. The crowd began to stir, their passion ignited. It was time to steer the course of their burgeoning fury.

‘ We are the true tribe. We, who bear the khiroi’s mark. Who know our strength is in the blood of our khiroi, in the arms of our kin, in the unity of our tribe. We do not follow the ways of the Sabines. We do not crawl towards the wealth of the Phoenixians. We are Sithians. We are the Kidara!’

Their cheers responded to his rallying cry. It was not a deafening roar, but it was enough.

‘We ride east,’ Jai bellowed. ‘Steward! Give the command.’

Harleen leaped into action, her words cracking like a whip. The camp dissolved into a frenzy of activity, though the khiroi had long been loaded up for the journey. Already, the grooms were clucking their beasts into position, as men and women vaulted into saddles. Still more khiroi, mostly the old and the calves, were already loaded up with the belongings of the Kidara, but they were not overburdened. They would travel light... and that was how Jai liked it.

‘Your ride, my king,’ Harleen’s voice interrupted his thoughts.

Jai turned to see an enormous Alkhara, one so tall he’d have to leap from the crates to get into the saddle. Winter could pass beneath its belly, and not even have to duck. His dragon chirred from his feet, as if she heard him thinking of her.

‘Have no fear,’ she reassured. ‘He is an old soul. No bucking to worry of.’

Indeed, the giant khiro was an ancient thing, almost as old as Navi, if he had to guess. And as scarred to boot, though these were not the crisscrosses of a cruel man with a whip. Its face and shoulders were etched with the legacy of swords, and uneven sutures. It was a beast that had ridden into battle, many times before. A charger. A war khiro.

‘I couldn’t take the Alkhara of another,’ Jai said.

Harleen smiled.

‘He belonged to your father, Jai,’ she said. ‘This is Chak. Even Teji could not lay claim to him, try as his men did last night. He is your Alkhara, by right. No khan of the Kidara should be without one.’

A surge of pride filled Jai as he rested a hand on Chak’s saddle. Even Winter’s pang of envy couldn’t dampen his exhilaration.

Jai mounted his khiro – their one remaining Alkhara, Chak – climbing what might well have been a small rope ladder down the great beast’s side. He knew Teji had three such animals: Priya’s, his own and Nazeem’s, but it was no matter. One was enough... for now. The other khiroi followed it, and soon the Kidara were on the move, leaving behind nothing but the flattened grass, and the detritus of Teji’s leaving. Beyond, Jai could see Teji’s khiroi straining to join, and one calf broke free, scampering to join its mother within their herd.

Jai smiled to himself, his gaze lingering on the scene. Teji could pursue with his warriors, but it would leave their tribe and supply train vulnerable. And as the thought crossed his mind, he found himself laughing. He kicked his heels, riding to the head of the tribe, Winter scampering alongside him. Behind, he could hear the thunder of his tribe’s khiroi, smell the fresh scent of broken grass.

Jai felt the Alkhara shuddering beneath him, the rising sun kissing his face, the wind lifting his hair. Ahead, the Great Steppe stretched out, in an endless sea of green.

Khan Jai rode east. And his tribe followed.

JAI WAS PLEASED TO see Feng riding up by his side upon Navi’s back, with a sleeping Sum cradled to his chest by a curled arm. Jai had been worried for the little girl, but there had been no time that morning to check on her. He was glad to see she was okay.

‘She suits you well,’ Jai said, nodding to the khiro.

Ahead, Chak paused in his lumbering to inspect a flowering plant. Navi snuffled, and nudged Chak aside, chomping down. The old khiro let out a grumble, and waited for her to finish before ripping the whole plant from the earth, swallowing it down, soil and all.

‘I’m sorry,’ Feng said hurriedly. ‘I only thought to bring her to you.’

Jai shook his head, and gave Feng a smile. ‘You misunderstand me. She’s yours. I can think of no better an owner,’ Jai said. ‘You checked on her last night, did you not? I didn’t ask you to do that. And after all, what vizier can be without a steed of their own?’

Feng looked at Jai in astonishment and let out a stream of thanks. Jai had to hold up a hand, embarrassed.

‘You just take good care of her,’ he said. ‘And me. That’s all the thanks I need.’

Feng turned away from Jai, his eyes welling with tears.

Jai looked down to Sum, and smiled.

‘Lai look after her, then?’

Feng sniffed, and wiped at his face before turning back. ‘That she did,’ he said.

Behind Jai, some hundred Kidaran warriors rode their khiroi, each armed with a falx and lamellar armour made up of metal or leather squares. At their head, the nobles who had chosen to follow him rode, resplendent in the respective emblems of their houses, but all upon the rich blues of his lineage. It was a sight to behold, and Jai was honoured by it. He doubted the Kidara typically travelled outfitted in all their war regalia, and appreciated the show of force.

Seeing Harleen at their head, Jai beckoned for her to join him, and she clucked her khiro nearer with a gentle knock of her heels.

‘My khan,’ she said, keeping her head low, and her gaze to the ground.

‘Harleen,’ Jai said softly, ‘I am not my uncle. I have said this before and I will not say it again. When I am not on the throne, we will not stand on ceremony.’

She glanced up, a smile touching the corners of her lips, and spurred her khiro to ride alongside him.

‘When we make camp tonight, I wish to summon my nobles,’ Jai said. ‘Just leaders of the great houses, and their heirs.’

‘The Small Council,’ Feng muttered.

‘As you wish,’ Harleen said. ‘It will be good for you to meet them and I think they will in turn be happy by your call.’

‘Why do you say that?’

‘You will find, most of those who came with us were never privy to Teji’s Small Councils.’

‘Something I am sure he regrets. Let them know I will hear all voices, so long as they wait their turn to speak.’

‘I will make it so,’ Harleen said, turning. She smiled suddenly, and motioned with her head.

‘Looks like you’ve made a friend... or three.’

Jai turned to see that they were not alone in their journey across the steppe. A half-dozen wagons were trailing behind them, their horses picking their way over the flattened grass.

Jai had not given the traders much thought, for it had seemed the vast majority of them had remained with Teji. So it was a surprise to see some coming with them.

And yet maybe it wasn’t so surprising, as he could see Lai was among the trade caravan, Jai recognising the rich multicolours of her caravan.

‘I wish to speak with them,’ Jai said. ‘If I leave the head of the column, the tribe won’t stop, will they?’

Harleen shook her head with a wry smile, as if surprised by Jai’s ignorance, and switched her gaze to a young squire, riding a few steps back from Jai.

‘Keep on,’ she barked.

The groom was swift to respond, ripping a coloured cloth of green, and binding it with practised speed to a bamboo pole. He raised it high above his head and bellowed.

‘Keep on!’

The pennant fluttered in the breeze, and Jai grinned. Leonid had used much the same to control his armies, back when his legions had marched in their tens of thousands, and battlefields spanned many miles. It was interesting to see the Kidara use the same.

‘You tell your flag bearer what you wish, and it will be so,’ Harleen said.

‘Thank you,’ Jai said, surprised to learn he had a flag bearer. Then he started turning Chak with a flick of his reins. ‘Will you both join me?’

Jai chose to loop around the tribe rather than ride through it. It felt strange to be up so high upon his Alkhara’s back. Stranger still to have the great horn bisecting his view, like a captain at the wheel, staring through the mast of his ship.

As he passed, those men and women would stop and bow. Jai could only incline his head, unsure of how to respond.

He still wore his bloodstained shirt, and he wished he’d had time to change. He imagined he looked a fierce, wild man, and he knew this could not continue.

‘What more have I inherited?’ Jai asked of Harleen, as they began to near the traders. ‘Do I have any gold?’

Harleen grimaced, as if she had been dreading that question.

‘Teji took the treasury,’ she said. ‘It was the first thing he did. None of us knew how much Rohan had left, when the Great War ended. Certainly, we had very little. When we confronted his men, they claimed it was all his, and there was a lot of it. But we took what we could, before they drew their blades.’

She withdrew a heavy sack from her saddlebags and handed it to Feng.

Jai looked surprised, and Feng caught his expression.

‘The vizier is also the treasurer,’ Feng said hastily, holding it out to Jai.

Jai shrugged and waved the bag away.

‘It is no wonder Nazeem was drawn to that role,’ he said wryly. ‘I wonder how much of Teji’s gold made its way into his pockets.’

‘Not Teji’s,’ Feng reminded. ‘The Kidara’s. Yours.’

By now, they had reached the back of the tribe, where sleds attached to calves dragged much of the tribe’s belongings, as well as the old, the young and the infirm – few of whom Teji had taken with him from the Kidara. Many were empty, testament to just how much Teji’s tribe had taken from them.

In the distance, Jai could still see Teji’s tribe, as yet immobile. Jai wondered now if he’d done the right thing, remaining in his tent while Teji had robbed them of everything of worth. But it was too late now.

He found Lai sitting upon the driver’s seat of her wagon, and she drew her conveyance to a halt. For some reason, she looked apprehensive, her eyes wide in the face of the enormous Alkhara.

‘Teji’s gold not to your liking?’ Jai joked.

Her face broke into a smile.

‘Just common sense,’ she said, stabbing a thumb over her shoulder. ‘Shows what they know about trade.’

‘She’s right,’ Feng said. ‘I’m surprised more didn’t come with you, Lai.’

‘Oh?’ Jai asked.

‘You think Teji wants to buy more stuff, with hardly enough khiroi to carry what they have?’ she asked. ‘It’s the Kidara who will wish to replenish what was taken.’

She looked around, as the other traders trundled by, calling out greetings and tipping their hats to Jai.

He waved, before a look from Feng lowered his hand. Not the most kingly of behaviour, he realised.

‘I have something for you,’ Lai said, ‘but mind, I hope you’ll repay the favour in kind.’

She turned and withdrew a heavy sack from the canvas behind her. It jingled, and she tossed it to Jai.

He caught it, and almost dropped it, for it was as heavy as a sack of bricks, though smaller than the one Feng had tried to hand to him. He looked within, only to see gold glinting there.

‘What is this?’ Jai asked.

‘Your uncle’s payment for your assassination,’ she said. ‘I took it from Wei’s wagon, while all the ruckus was going on. And their wagon too, truth be told.’

She pointed at another wagon passing them by, one driven by a young woman who bore a striking resemblance to Lai. Even from a distance, Jai could see arms and armour piled in the back.

‘Why would you give me this?’ Jai asked, handing it to Feng, whose eyes boggled at the weight of it.

Lai sighed, and pulled open her shirt, revealing the Samarion tattoo just below her collarbone, saying: ‘I cannot lie. Nor steal. Teji would have found out who had taken it eventually. So, I ask you. May I keep the wagon?’

Jai understood as soon as he saw the tattoo. Lai taking the wagon would be stealing, under the laws of her religion. But by bringing it to him, it would be he taking it. Then he could give it to her as thanks, and her conscience would be clear.

‘Fine,’ Jai said. ‘But you can sell back what my tribe needs for half the market price – and I know you won’t lie about that. Feng will be doing the buying.’

Lai broke into a smile, and clapped her hand.

‘Very generous of you, Khan Jai,’ she said. ‘Of course.’

‘And... I have need of more clothing,’ Jai said, looking down at the bloodied top he still wore. ‘I’ll have those at half-price too, fair?’

‘Fair,’ Lai said, nodding profusely. ‘You’ll have an outfit fit for the king you are, and more to spare!’

‘Later, then,’ Jai said. ‘If you can have something ready before the Small Council tonight, though, I would be grateful.’

He looked to Harleen and Feng, whose faces were a picture of bemusement at his generosity – perhaps a strange concept to the guileful tradesfolk. He might not know the value of the coin in his purse, but he had to trust someone, at some point. Harleen and Feng had given him no reason to doubt them – in fact, they had risked a lot for him already.

That settled, it was time to make sure his people were protected.

‘Make an inventory of the weapons we need,’ Jai instructed. ‘We will arm my warriors. It is time to repay their loyalty in kind.’