The Silk Road Saga: Part I - Silkworm

40 - Reunion

Relief washed over Yue like a great wave. Relief at his father being alive. Relief at being able to apologise for running away. Relief at being able to say sorry for all the foolish things he'd done. In his father's arms he felt like a child again and he allowed himself to cry and sob and completely bawl his eyes out, his face pressed hard into his father's chest. For three years he had gone without hugging his father, ever since his mother had died, and now he was making up for lost time, letting himself feel secure and protected inside the paternal embrace.

There was a tap on his shoulder, an interruption from the outside world. He wiped away the tears and the snot and turned to face this distraction. It was Erhi. She was trying to say something. He couldn't make sense of her words. She kept repeating the same sentence over and over again.

"What should I say? Yue, snap out of it. What should I say" repeated Erhi, gesturing irately at her fellow warriors.

Say? What does she mean? He's my father. Thought Yue to himself. Why does anything else matter. What Yue didn't notice was the increasing level of agitation among the Mongol's. There was a general agreement that they should kill these Chinese dogs and move on to storming the citadel. Erhi was trying her best to placate them, but although she was currently their unelected leader, her position was precarious and her authority could drain away at any moment. Yue was blind to this, all he saw was Erhi trying to get in the way. He felt his father squeeze his shoulder and move between him and Erhi. He stood up tall, his head held high.

"Tell them I'm a spy and that I know a way into the citadel" said Yuan, his voice booming with authority.

Erhi's gaze flickered between father and son, then she cleared her throat and shouted at the warriors in Mongolian. They roared their approval and she motioned for Yuan to show the way. Yuan brought his head close to Yue and whispered in his ear.

"Trust me, I know a way out of here, a secret tunnel. Just follow my lead and everything will be alright" said his father.

Yue nodded, but inside he was in turmoil. Escape, of course he wanted to escape, but what about Erhi. Before he could give it any further thought they were on the move, making their way up the street towards the citadel. Yue walked side by side with his father, in a state of disbelief. He stared absentmindedly around himself, taking in the city through the smoke. Despite the impending destruction, Yue was struck by the sheer beauty of Samarkand. It was nothing like the Uzbekistan he knew from the present. The whole place reeked of fabulous wealth and the smell of burning spices filled the air: cinnamon, star anise and cloves. Every house had an ornately decorated arch and the streets were firmly cobblestoned and replete with guttering and drainage holes that led down to an underground sewer. Bolts of silk floated across the sky, carried high on the thermal currents of the roaring fires, pirouetting through the air like multicoloured angels soaring away to a better place. Yue started to wonder, with a growing sense of dread, what was about to happen to this fragile pearl of a city. An act so vile, that even eight centuries later, it had still yet to recover its former glory.

As they drew closer to the citadel walls, arrows started to flitter down from up high. There were no concerted volleys, on the odd shot from bored marksman who felt secure inside the safety of their fortress. Each time the tell-tale whoosh of an approach arrow drew near, Yue would duck and twist out of the way. This elicited snigger from the Mongols, including Erhi, who was now firmly one of them. They were content to simply keep on walking, as if the arrows were mere insects that might or might not bite them.

His father led them round the circumference of the citadel and Yue was surprised to see that the city's houses came right up to the wall. Some of them were even built against it. If you climbed up onto the roof with a long ladder you might just be able to reach the lowest rung of the citadel. Clearly the rulers of Samarkand had never envisaged facing an invading army they could never bribe into going away, until now. As they came to stop even Yue began to wonder if his father was telling the truth. In front of them was an empty pig sty filled with a giant heap of compost and a potent scent of pig shit. The Mongols shared at joke at Yuan's expense, but his father ignored them and strode purposefully across the sty, not caring that his boots became caked in foul smelling mud.

He paused by the wall and started rapping it with his knuckles. This elicited more laughter from the Mongols. He carried on knocking the wall until he found what he was looking for. He held his ear against what looked like stone and knocked a few more times. Then he ran his hand along the wall, using his fingers to feel for a near invisible edge. He found it. He motioned to Erhi and Yue to come over. Reluctantly they did so, picking their way tenderly across the sty. He told them to place their ears against the wall. They faced each other, their noses almost touching. For the first time in months Yue felt embarrassed to be this close to Erhi. He found himself unable to look into her eyes, so he shut his and listened. His father rapped the wall and it gave out a hollow knocking sound, like wood. Then he took their hands and moved them along the rough surface until they felt a small hairline crack run under their palms. They felt their way along the fracture that clearly outlined the circumference of a door. Yue opened his eyes and saw Erhi's animated face pressed up close against his. Despite himself, he couldn't help but smile as well, even though through that door was either death of separation.

She relayed the good news to the other Mongols who busied themselves with trying to find a makeshift battering ram. Yue's father marked the outline of the door with mud and drew a great big stinking X in the middle of the hidden entrance, giving the Mongol's a clear target to aim for. By now word had clearly spread that a group of attackers were congregating at the base of the citadel. Arrows started to rain down, thicker than before, and they retreated to the eaves of a nearby house to shade themselves from attack.

The Mongols broke apart a cart in order to utilise the central axel as a battering ram. It was impossible to shield themselves while carrying the axel and they began to stop and falter as their number became injured and fell. But as soon as one man dropped by the wayside another leapt forward to take his place and soon they reached the hidden door. The axel clattered into the door with a loud thud. The defenders grew more frenzied in their attempts to disperse the attackers. Objects were hurled down from up high, rocks and pots. Anything heavy that was close to hand. The Mongols were undeterred. They took a few steps back, slipping and sliding in the sty, and charged forward once more. This time the door crumpled inwards slightly. More and more attackers began to arrive, drawn to the door like wolves to a corpse. Scalding oil sluiced down from the up high and the smell of burnt flesh and deathly screams erupted from the sty, but their momentum didn't falter for a moment. Once more they charged forward and this time they succeeded in lifting the door off its hinges. A roar went up and the Mongols charged through the entrance. Erhi followed them, eager to taste victory and without thinking Yue ran after Erhi. He saw her disappear into the dark well of the wall and he followed suit, crossing the threshold into the citadel. Inside, everything was dark and filled with shouting. Fear clung to the walls along with sweat and condensation. This was the beginning of the end of Samarkand.