"I will do what I can," said the man. Both men slapped their horses' flanks and rode away as Kati dismounted Sushua and tethered her.

Da stalked back inside the ger. Ma took Kati's hand, and whispered, "be careful with your father. This day has been very bad for him."

"I will be quiet," said Kati.Bread and cheese had been put out on their low table in the center of the ger. Da sat cross-legged by it, and he was drinking ayrog very early in the day. Kati sat down beside him, Ma opposite them. Baber was missing, but Kati didn't ask why.

Da turned to Kati, and touched her cheek. "And where did you go to while all of us were yelling at each

other today?"

Kati looked up at him, and smiled as sweetly as she could. "Sushua and I rode the plateau by The Thumb, and we went very fast."

Da smoothed her hair gently with his hand. "My little warrior. How quickly you've become such a fine

rider. In a few years, only a horse like Kaidu will be good enough for you."He took a long sip of ayrog, and wiped his mouth on his sleeve. "If the Emperor doesn't burn us out first, that is."

"Temujin!" said Ma.Da sighed. "I'm sorry. But the other ordus are too far removed to understand how uncertain our safety is here. They make fun of the Emperor, and forget his power. Toregene, I can wait no longer. I must go to Manlee right away. I know she doesn't approve of what's going on, and she has influence with the women. The men see her as an old woman making promises that haven't been kept, but they will bend to the will of their wives."

Ma looked at him calmly. "I understand. When will you leave?"

"Tomorrow morning, early. I will ride through the night."

"Alone?"

"No. Kuchlug will ride with me, and-and I'd like to take Baber along, too."

"It will be difficult for him," said Ma quietly.

"I have a reason for taking him," said Da, smiling. He turned to Kati. "Now, this is a secret. Do not say

anything to your brother."

Kati looked up at him with wide eyes.

"Festival is over two years away, and Baber is more than ready for riding. I will find a pony for him on the coast, and he can ride it home. We should be back in six or seven days."

Kati gasped, and whispered, "Baber will get his first horse! Oh, Ma! We can ride together!"

Ma smiled. "I'm outnumbered at this table. Very well, take Baber with you, but remember to feed him."

And at dinner that evening, after Baber had returned from playing with friends, Kati could barely restrain herself from giving away the secret, or from laughing when her brother made a mess of himself while eating his soup.

Da and Baber had already left by the time Kati was fully awake the following morning. She vaguely remembered the touch of Da's hand on her forehead when it was still dark, the sound of his soft voice in her ear. "May Tengri care for my little Empress," he'd said, and then he was gone.

Kati missed them both within hours, and wished she could be there to see Baber's face when he was given his horse. But in a few days, they would be riding together, and she would be his teacher.

In the meantime, there were ch.o.r.es to do. She milked three goats, swept out the ger, and carried feed for the sheep in the holding pen. There were only three animals, but within a week the pen would be full, for there was now a bite in the morning air, and winter was only weeks away. Kati did not like winter, with cold that froze her nostrils shut in minutes and burned her face. The only good day in winter was her birthday.

By noon her ch.o.r.es were finished, and Kati was bored. So when Abaka came by and asked Ma if Kati would like to join him and four other boys in chasing down strays, she was immediately excited and pleading with Ma to let her go. Ma relented, for Abaka had become fond of Kati, and with two younger brothers in his family treated her like the little sister he would never have. So Kati rushed to saddle Sushua, and caught up to them by the time they'd reached the Emperor's Thumb.

In two hours they found one group of four stray sheep, herded them back to the holding pen near the Thumb, then went out again, this time searching the many hanging canyons and gullies dropping down from the pinnacles. There was nothing to find, and Kati was suddenly bored again. She traversed a slope, saw the boys below her, heading down, but Abaka had remained on a ridge not far from her. He had a hand up to shade his eyes, and was looking south towards the Emperor's valley. She rode up to him, and he turned, startled.

"What is it?" she asked.

"Nothing. I thought I saw some riders down there, near the trees. Probably another one of the Emperor's patrols. They're all over the place, now. I wish they'd leave us alone." He turned his horse. "We'd better go. There are no more strays, and your mother will worry if we're late."

Abaka started down the slope, Kati right behind him. But Sushua's nose banged into the rump of Abaka's horse when he suddenly stopped and pointed below. Five mounted troopers had suddenly come from nowhere, and were surrounding the boys waiting on the trail below. They trotted quickly down the slope to join them, and Kati saw that one of the troopers was a Searcher.

We waste our time. There is no problem here.

A thought clear and loud, in her head. Kati pulled up beside Abaka and gazed at the Searcher, a young man with the characteristic, lightly veined bulge on his forehead, the finely arched nose.

"Ah," said the man, "there are more of you. I'm told you search for strays before winter arrives."

"That is true," said Abaka.

"We found four," said Kati, brightly.

The Searcher smiled faintly at her, then looked at Abaka. "You have seen something from the ridge.

Some riders, down near the valley, correct?"

Abaka swallowed hard. "Yes."

"How many?"

"I didn't have time to count. They disappeared in the trees."

The Searcher paused. "Also correct. You would be wise to return home now. We're searching for some

troublemakers, and you wouldn't want to be mistaken for them."

We just want to be left alone. The troublemakers come from the west, not our ordu.

The Searchers eyes widened, darted from person to person, but Kati just sat there, a pa.s.sive look on her face.

How useful. Reveal yourself, and I will thank you personally.

Kati felt his mental probe sweep over her, but she was alone, in the darkness of a cave.

No.

The Searcher chuckled, turned to his comrades. "There is nothing here. We ride west." He turned his horse, and the rest of the troopers followed him away without a word. Kati and the boys followed the troopers for several minutes before the men turned off onto another trail heading along a ridge towards the west, and then they quickened their pace.

When they reached the ordu, Abaka told Ma about seeing the riders, and then the questioning by the troopers. "There could be more trouble soon," said Ma. "Go to your gerts, and stay there. And tether your horses where they can be seen from the air. Kati, get inside."

Kati helped her mother make the barley cakes, and swept the floor while Ma cooked. They ate in silence, Ma deep within herself, and Kati could see nothing there. And their meal was only half finished when there was a commotion outside: the trampling of horses' hooves, and a shout.

"h.e.l.lo! We need help here!"

Ma got up from table, pulled the door flap aside, and peered cautiously outside. "What do you want?" she said.

"We've lost a horse, and have a long ride ahead. Do you have an animal we could borrow? I'll sign a note for it."

A boy's voice. Kati went to the doorway, peered out around her mother. There were six boys, Tumatsin, all around Abaka's age, and they looked frightened. Two of them were doubled up on one horse. All the animals were glistening with sweat, their breath great puffs of fog. They looked exhausted.

"What is your ordu?" asked Ma.

"We come from the coast," said the oldest boy, thin faced, with hard eyes.

"I asked the name of your ordu," said Ma.

"It's enough that we're Tumatsin," the boy said angrily. "You are a living presence of our Empress, and our parents honor you. Do you refuse to aid us? Please, we have little time to wait."

He is from the Merkit ordu, and the boys have done mischief to the Emperor's machines. They flee from his troopers.

Ma sucked in her breath, and cast a glance at Kati, who looked at her calmly. "Never mind," she said. "Your ordu has been revealed to me, and we have no horse for you. Now leave us, before the Emperor's troopers come and think we are responsible for your thoughtless actions. Go!"

The older boy looked at her with wide eyes, frightened by her knowledge. He said nothing, but jerked hard on the reins to turn his horse, and galloped away, the others close behind him.

Faces appeared from the doorway flaps of other gerts. "Stay inside!" shouted Ma. "Troopers will be coming!"

Ma brushed past Kati and went inside. Kati followed her, and they sat down again at the table. Ma's eyes were suddenly red. "I fear I've sent them to their deaths," she said. "The children of my own people." She looked at Kati, and tears were in her eyes. "Your powers have grown."

"Yes," said Kati. "But I have learned how to hide it. I even talked to the Searcher on the trail today, but he didn't know it was me. They don't expect such a thing from a little girl. Why am I different, Ma? Why is it I can do things even you cannot do?"

Ma reached across the table, and clutched Kati's hand. "There are so many things I want to tell you, but I cannot. Perhaps when you are older. The blood of our Empress is in you, and your life must be preserved at any cost. I fear for you. I fear for us all, because we are now in great danger. If troopers come, I want you to remain inside. Do not show yourself to them. And do not think you are clever in the presence of a Searcher. They see deeper than you think, and being a child will not fool them. Please, Kati, believe what I say!"

"I do, Ma. I promise I'll be careful."

Ma sighed. "I wish your father were here, but maybe it's best he isn't. He should have reached Manlee by now."

They were startled by the sound of many screaming turbines. The ger walls shook as several flyers pa.s.sed overhead at low alt.i.tude, heading west. Ma looked at Kati with eyes blazing red.

"They have seen the boys. They will kill them," she said.

And just before dusk, Kati saw their bodies.

A line of troopers came down the trail from the Emperor's Thumb and into the ordu. At the end of the line were three horses led by a trooper, and draped across the saddle of each horse were two bodies blackened beyond recognition. The leader of the troopers was an older man with grey streaks in his hair, and on the horse next to his was a Searcher. They stopped before Kati's ger, and the leader called out so all could hear.

"Come out here, all of you! I want you to see what treachery can bring to you! Everyone out! NOW!"

Ma went outside with the others, while Kati peeped through a slit between tent flap and wall. At the sight of the blackened bodies, some of the women began sobbing. The horses carrying the bodies were brought before Kati's ger, so all could see, and she could smell the stench of burned meat.

"These young boys have committed sabotage against property of the Emperor. They have paid for it with their lives! Our Emperor grieves with you, for he knows personally the hurt of losing a child. But your people have left him no choice. Sabotage, and destruction of property, is an act the Emperor does not tolerate among his own people. Hansui criminals are executed for such acts, and though you are not the Emperor's people, you are not exempt from his justice!"

"The boys are not from our ordu," said Ma. "They are from the west, and when they came here to obtain a new horse we refused them. We are not responsible for what they've done."

"We are aware of that," said the Emperor's soldier. "But your presence here encourages their foolishness, or else they would not have come to you for help. I will be blunt with you, woman. There is talk that the Emperor does not desire your presence here, that he would have you move to the west with the rest of your kind. Why do you remain here? The weather is harsh, and life would be more comfortable for you by the sea. Do you remain here to spy on the Emperor's city and lands?

"NO!" cried Ma. "This is our home! We have been here for generations! The land on which you grow your barley was once ours!"

Kati was watching the young Searcher. He was frowning, his hands clenching hard on the reins of his horse. Now he looked at Ma. "But there was a time when you did spy on what was happening in the valley."

Ma was suddenly rigid. "Yes, but that was years ago, when the land was being taken from us. We are resigned to that loss, now, and we want no trouble. My husband is meeting at this moment with our leader Manlee and others from the western ordus to stop the troublemakers. We can do no more than that."

Kati had felt nothing. The Searcher must be concentrating on Ma, and she was opening herself to him.

"She speaks the truth, Quan," said the Searcher.

"I sympathize," said the soldier, "but we follow the Emperor's will, and this latest incident may very well trigger a final judgment regarding this ordu. You would be well advised to begin packing your things, and to be ready to move quickly."

"But we are innocent!" cried Ma.

"I will speak to that innocence with my superiors," said the Searcher. "They have some influence with the Emperor." He looked directly at Ma, and she stiffened.

"I understand," she said. "Thank you."

Something was going on between Ma and the Searcher. But Kati could hear nothing pa.s.sing between them. Perhaps it was drowned out by the hostile feelings of the Emperor's soldier, who now glanced darkly at the Searcher, then looked back at Ma.

"Influence, or not, I know what I've heard, and I'm generous to give you this warning. Pack your things, and be prepared to move. The Emperor has had enough with this trouble."

"We will follow your advice," said Ma, "and we do appreciate the warning." Her voice was calm, and she pleaded no further. The Searcher had told her something, and Kati had not sensed it. How could that be, when the soldier's desire to burn down her ordu was so clear in her head? For only one instant, she had felt something pa.s.s through her without dwelling there. And she had been concentrating so hard!

Ma shouted to the other people gathered near the doorways to their gerts. "You've heard the warning! Now saddle your horses, and pack only what you need for travel. We need to be ready to leave at a moment's notice."

Some of the women broke into open sobbing. Ma looked back at the soldier, and said, "Though we are innocent of wrongdoing, we will await final judgment of the Emperor, and have trust in his wisdom."

The soldier put his hand on his hip, and struck an arrogant pose. "You are wise, woman. I, myself, will speak to your likely innocence, and also your cooperative nature. This could go well for your ordu. But even if you remain here, remember what you've seen today, and tell it to all your people. Tell them that opposition to the Emperor is futile, and that they live on their lands only by his grace. He is the ruler over all the lands, the mountains, the sea, and beyond the sea. He is the ruler of Shanji!"