GENGHIS-KHAN: Not a fury or an angel, God knows what she is! (He shakes his head in distress)
* * *
Jamukha makes an assault on the horde with a detachment of soldiers. There are screams and the crackling noise of battle. Together with four or five thugs, he breaks into the part of the horde where Genghis Khan usually resides, but he does not find him. JAMUKHA: (Addressing the servants) Where is Temujin? Where is he hiding? SERVANT: He left with the military units to resolve a supply issue. He will not be here today. Jamukha clutches at her hair in a rage and almost falls on the seat. JAMUKHA: Clearly, there is a traitor among us. Temujin will come soon and arrest us all. SOLDIER: What do we do? JAMUKHA: We only have one path. SOLDIER: What is it? JAMUKHA: Withdraw two tumens from Temujin’s troops and go with them to the Naiman. SOLDIER: (Surprised) Does that mean we’re going to fight Genghis Khan? JAMUKHA: We have no other choice. If we withdraw two tumens from Temujin, he will have only twenty-thousand, and we have forty-thousand. We can easily bring him to his knees. Dawn is already approaching. We must get out of here quickly.
* * *
The courtyard behind the Khan’s palace. Genghis Khan sits on a throne. Jamukha is kneeling in front of him with his hands tied. GENGHIS KHAN: What punishment do you deserve, Jamukha? JAMUKHA: Death. GENGHIS KHAN: Will you plead for forgiveness? JAMUKHA: There is no forgiveness in such matters. GENGHIS KHAN: What kind of death do you prefer? Breaking your spine as in Mongolia, hanging you on the gallows as in China, or chopping off your head as in Persia? Choose one of them. That’s all I can do to help. JAMUKHA: Death is also divided into nationalities. If I must choose, then I choose the Mongolian death. GENGHIS KHAN: Words of a sincere patriot… Be it your way. Tell me, my friend, Jamukha, why did you want to kill me? JAMUKHA: It was out of envy. GENGHIS KHAN: Envy… Of what exactly? JAMUKHA: Everything. For your imperious appearance, posture, authority, your rising strength, your endless stream of riches, your khanate which is growing not by the year but by the day… and for Borte. GENGHIS KHAN: For Borte? When
Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241