The Tiger-Headed Horseman (20 page)

Lily needed something to occupy her time. Two things came
to mind. She had a puzzle that she still remained some way away from solving – the strange ornate box and its nonsensical riddle.

She had seen a tiger. It was apparently meant to signify Tengis and the future, although other than being a strong marketing tool Lily saw little connection between the two and there had been no sign of any tigers wearing a bell. It all felt a little bit like it lacked real substance. The cats Lily had quickly identified as the rich, opulent and lazy Khadists living in Baatarulaan, but there were no fish. During the time Lily had spent in Baatarulaan she had seen people eating many weird and wonderful things but never once fish. There was also hardly any fresh water to speak of. The river near the city was dreadfully polluted and not even Lucky would think about drinking from it. This brought Lily to the Heaven and Earth conundrum. It had to have something to do with her shawomanism, but again she was unsure what. Altogether she surmised that, while she had learned many things from her first experience of Baatarulaan, she had moved no further in understanding the riddle of the box.

Deflated, she jumped down from Lucky and walked beside him. The horse stopped almost immediately. Lily saw that he was looking to rest. He wandered down to the banks of the river that flowed nearby and drank deeply. Lily was utterly exhausted. Dusk was fast approaching, which meant the chill cold of the Ongolian night would soon be upon her. Where they stood was as good a place as any to set up camp. After starting a suitable fire Lily set up camp. The tent covering Danyal had provided was oddly shaped yet enabled both Lily and Lucky to snuggle up against one another. It was a blustery frozen night but the pair remained warm. Lily dreamed about Baatarulaan and the strange way city people lived. It differed so greatly from the herder life she had grown accustomed to. She could not understand
why people lived in such confined spaces so close to one another. It didn't feel natural.

Lucky dreamed about carrots and a warm bed of hay, snoring noisily as he did so.

19

Lily awoke sometime in the middle of the night. She had no idea what time it was but it was almost pitch-dark. The moon was only midway through waxing and its bulging illumination was not yet at its full power. Lily knew from her lunar charts that it had something to do with gibbons or monkeys of some sort. Lucky still lay snoring next to her. He was the largest and warmest hot-water bottle she had ever enjoyed. She made a mental note to build a ger that she could share with her steed; it was odd but it made sense, even with the fruity aromas. Stretching her arms wide and yawning she ventured outside the tent into the chill night air.

Lily knew almost every constellation in the Ongolian sky. As she wrapped a blanket around her shoulders, she sought out the Big Dipper and Carousel – they were her favourites. Settling down on to the ground, she stoked up the fire to create some additional warmth. She felt empty. Lily had so many questions yet no answers. She feared she really was turning into the idiot with so many questions that Danyal had referred to. How was
she
to know everything, though? She considered herself to be relatively young. She had never heard of any twenty-two-year-olds who really knew how the world worked despite their constant refrains claiming the opposite. Why should she have been any different? She had spent her life moving between the Steppe and the spirit world; living among her simple herder family; and sharing friendship with no other soul than a
particularly grumpy yet loyal horse. Why did people have such great expectations of her? She had been made leader of her herder group simply because she was her father's daughter. The elders had confounded her by trusting and presenting her with the ornate box containing Chinggis's words. Danyal and Drudger had trusted her and taken her to meet Mille and the Hairy Hordes, who instantly knew she was the one to help them return Baatarulaan to the civic glory it had once known. Even her nemesis, Tengis, had somehow known she was his arch foe. Why else would he have acted so dastardly towards her? Why else would he have unleashed the Leggie on her and sworn to kill her if at least some small part of him hadn't realised the threat she posed to his odious plans? Even Lucky willingly carried and cared for his mistress; his equine instincts apparently sensed that she was a valuable cargo.

Lily seemed to be the only one who had not come to terms with the fact that she was destined for something more than being the daughter of a herder group leader and shawoman. She simply could not accept that she was in the middle of things. Her life had always been spent skulking around the periphery. Why should that have changed? More importantly, she was just small fry; she couldn't comprehend how she now suddenly found herself immersed in a conflict that looked set to define her entire nation. How she was at the forefront of Tengis's evil intentions was beyond her.

Lily sat and stared into the fire, huddling against the chill wind. There had to be a reason. There had to be an answer. But she felt powerless. She began to sob gently. It was the first time she had shed a tear since her father had been taken prisoner. The gentleness of her tears gave way to a heavy outpour.

Presently Lily stopped weeping. She dried her eyes with a corner of the blanket and focused on the flames in front of her. Throughout her life she knew there was only one place where
she could find refuge when life became too complicated. However, her last visit to the spirit world had proved less than fruitful. She may have left there feeling confused, but all the same it was time to go back. Weeks had passed since her last visit. Her world had exploded. Her life was in danger. If she was to fulfil the destiny everybody seemed to have in mind for her, she needed to find strength from somewhere. The spirit world had always been that place. It was to the spirit world she needed to return.

She placed more fuel on the fire, hoping that it would keep her warm during her inner journey. As she settled into a comfortable position, she looked behind her. Lucky had woken up and was peering at her from the tent. He nodded knowingly and winked. Lily knew that horses weren't supposed to wink, so she put it down to the bad light. Lucky seeming approval, however, had given her confidence that he would protect her while she was away. He was the only friend she could rely upon. Lily crossed her legs and lifted her face to the sky. Closing her eyes, she cleared her mind of all thoughts. Inhaling through her nose, she began to steady her breathing. Exhaling through her mouth, she found long, measured breaths. She could feel an invisible ethereal shroud surround her, enveloping her in a mysterious warmth. Clapping her hands, Lily began to beat out a regular rhythm. Opening her voice, she began to chant: ‘Oohhmmmmmmmmmmmmm . . .’

Opening her eyes Lily lifted her hands to shield them from the white glare that flooded them. It was several moments before her sight adjusted itself. Her hearing had not caught up yet and all that sounded was her steady heartbeat and deep breathing. The ground was covered in crisp icy snow, although it was not at all cold; Lily seemed to be wearing little more than light clothing. As she stood up, blood coursed through her body. Lily had never quite got used to the physical rush that came
with entering the spirit world. It always gave her a sensation of great elation. She lifted her arms and turned her hands in the air. Everything seemed different here – lighter and somehow fluffy.

Once all of Lily's senses had been restored, she looked around her. As usual, she was standing near the large gate that always began her visits here. She walked along the riverside road to the half-finished bridge. Her friendly puppies bounded across to see her. She was always pleased to see them and they licked her hands and nibbled at her feet playfully.

While Lily was stroking the dogs she heard familiar footsteps walking quietly through the snow behind her. As they got near to her, she turned to face her spirit friend.

‘How are you?’ asked her friend.

‘I have so much to tell you!’ exclaimed Lily. ‘I have been to the city. It is both horrible and exciting. I have met some strange yet compelling people and I seem to have somehow started a battle!’

‘I know,’ replied her friend, ‘I have been watching you with great interest. You certainly have been busy, but are you any closer to solving your riddle or finding your father?’

‘I have even more questions now than I had when we last spoke,’ said Lily. ‘I know you told me to stop looking for answers and to start believing in my instincts, but I'm afraid that when I've done that it has resulted in me following two swarthy, grubby-looking men into a dark tunnel, and also in my attacking a relative stranger on a gut feel that he was a really horrid person. Surely that cannot be right?’

‘Did any real harm come from following your heart?’ asked her friend.

‘No,’ answered Lily, ‘not really, but I did almost get burned at the stake. Does that count?’

‘I think you are underestimating your intuition,’ said her
friend softly. ‘Within the space of weeks you have gained a fuller understanding of your nation. You now comprehend more clearly the various factions that exist within Ongolium. You can empathise with those you feel are being treated unfairly. You have been accepted for yourself by a powerful group of strangers. They believe in you as much as I do. Most importantly, you have looked into the face of evil and survived.’

‘Only just!’ said Lily. ‘If it wasn't for the Hairy Hordes, I would quite literally be toast.’

‘But would they have saved you, had you not already won their hearts to your own?’ said her friend. ‘Would Tengis have been as afraid of you if you were just the simple herder woman you are still trying to convince yourself you are? Would you be here speaking to me in the spirit world if your destiny was merely to milk goats and shave sheep? You may not have unravelled your riddle but you have answered questions about yourself that you had not even begun to ask.’

‘But I have found hatred!’ said Lily. ‘I had never hated anything or anyone before I heard about Tengis. What is that all about?’

‘That is simple,’ said her friend. ‘There are two straightforward explanations. First and foremost, you are a woman for whom justice is all important. You heard Tengis talk, you listened to his Ten Recommendations, you absorbed New Chinggism and immediately you saw straight through it. For you this was not about helping the people and overthrowing Khadism. This was all about Tengis using his sunny substance to attain power and control over the people. He is no different to the Khadists he purports to detest. As soon as he caught a glimpse of the trappings of power, his mind was sullied.

‘Be careful, he is intelligent though. He knows that if he uses the right words and portrays the correct image the people will support him, at least at first. Tengis knows that the shimmering
stuff is only half the battle; to win the people to his cause entirely he realises that he needs to offer them something new, something that promises to improve their quality of life, albeit falsely. He declares that he is at one with the spirit of Chinggis. You and I know that this is not true, but the people of Baatarulaan don't know that. All they see is someone brave enough, and rich enough, to seize control of the Fun Brigade and do so peacefully. All they hear are the words of someone that promises to eradicate a regime that has held them fast for centuries.

‘Although the memory of Chinggis has been outlawed, it yet retains its age-old pull in people's hearts. When the people hear Tengis declare he has the blessing of Chinggis, together with the apparent energy his mined material seems to exude, all they see is hope. You can't blame people for having hope. It has been eight hundred years since hope last walked the streets of Baatarulaan. It has been many generations since the people last had anything to which they could pin their forbidden dreams. You can't blame the people for so readily believing in Tengis. But you
can
blame Tengis for corrupting them. You
can
blame Tengis for abusing the name of Chinggis. You
can
blame Tengis for forgetting that the people deserve justice!’

‘What can I do, though?’ asked Lily. ‘Tengis has everybody's support and if Danyal was right, even though he has set up a coalition with the Khadists, the people are still behind him. They cannot see his duplicitous nature. They forget how almost overnight those whom Tengis had declared the enemy have become his allies. What can I do against his cunningly crafted words and that glistening substance? They have secured him the backing of the most important people in Baatarulaan. When I tried to stand against him, look what happened? I have unwittingly become an enemy of both the state and the most frightening man I have ever met. How can he claim to be in
league with Chinggis? When I remember what he said, I just want to kill him. I have never wanted to harm anything or anybody before. I don't mind admitting that I am more than a little terrified. I am afraid that Tengis and the Leggie want to hunt me down and I am frightened of the violent emotions Tengis has awoken in me.’

‘What if I told you that there was a way to undermine Tengis absolutely?’ said her friend. ‘What if I told you that you could destroy his credibility and win over the support of the people?’

‘How on earth could that be possible?’ asked Lily. ‘When I challenged him before, he claimed that I was a witch; that I was using spells to deceive and mislead. He might have given his disciples hope; what hope do I have to give them?’

‘There is always hope so long as you believe in yourself,’ said her friend. ‘We know that Tengis has nothing to do with Chinggis, don't we?’

‘I do,’ said Lily. ‘You say you do too, so I guess you do, though I can't read your mind.’

‘Let me tell you that I know Chinggis better than anyone,’ said her friend. Lily looked bemused. ‘You have long wondered who it is that I am, have you not?’ Lily nodded in affirmation. ‘What I am about to tell you I have kept secret for eight hundred years. What I am about to tell you I took to my grave.’