“No, sir,” said Xiao Sung. “No reward is offered, but the more superstitious people in this part of the city are looking for him.”
“Doyou believe in evil spirits?” Steve grinned at Xiao Sung. “Does everybody?”
“Of course, sir,” said Xiao Sung, frowning in puzzlement. “But I do not confuse every foreign guest with visitors from the spirit world.”
“Good,” said Steve.
“Would it be possible to receive a letter of introduction from you?” Hunter asked. “I must go to the palace and see this new courier for myself.”
“I will do more than that,” said Polo. “Several days ago, I reported to the khan on my most recent trip out to the provinces. Now I am taking a week or so to relax, which leaves me free today. I, too, amcurious about this mysterious stranger, so I will take you to the palace myself.”
“I am imposing on you,” said Hunter.
“Nonsense. I will enjoy the walk.”
“Then I am in your debt.”
Polo glanced up at this servants. “You will accompany us,” he said in Mongol.
The servants left the house first, followed by Polo and Hunter. Steve and Marcia walked behind them. The young woman servant followed, first closing the front door behind them and then the gate in the wall.
“Hunter is going to be worried even more about altering Polo’s actions,” Steve said quietly.
“That’s true. Well, Polo was always welcome at court, so this isn’t likely to be too significant.” Marcia took a deep breath. “I can hardly believe it. I’m about to see the palace of Kublai Khan…’
Ishihara waited as Wayne and Jane took a break under a large tree on the edge of a city street.
“Look,” said Xiao Li. “One of my cousins is running through the crowd toward us.” He pointed.
Ishihara looked. A young man from the village dodged around a peddler’s cart and stopped, breathing hard. “Your friend has been seen.”
“Where?” Ishihara asked.
Beside him, both Wayne and Jane tensed.
“A man saw him deliver a message from the palace of the Emperor to the home of a general, then return again.”
“What did he say?” Wayne asked in English, impatiently. “Does he know something?”
“He went to work in the palace,” said Ishihara in English. “The seat of power.”
“You will come?” The man looked back and forth between Wayne and Ishihara. “If an evil spirit is working in the court, he may cause harm for everyone.”
“He isnot an evil spirit, remember,” said Ishihara. “He is merely a misguided spirit who belongs with us. We will take him away from the court if someone will take us inside the palace grounds.”
“My mother’s cousin is a minor attendant to one of the princes in the court. He will come to the gate if I ask the guard to call him.”
“Can he let us in?” Ishihara asked.
“I believe so,” the other man said slowly. “I have never tried before.”
“Will we be stopped inside?” Ishihara asked. “We cannot disturb the palace routine.”
“That’s right,” said Jane. “We can’t afford to cause any trouble, remember?”
“My mother’s cousin has often said that the palace grounds are like a separate city within Khanbaliq. Thousands of bureaucrats, servants, and other workers do their daily duties inside the walls.”
“This is acceptable,” said Ishihara. “A few more people can get lost in the crowd during the day. Will you take us to the palace?”
“I am at your service.”
“Good.”
“Are we going?” Wayne asked in English again. “Can we get to MC 5?”
“Yes,” said Ishihara.
Steve stared at the towering walls around the palace grounds as he drew near behind Polo and Hunter. The grounds covered the equivalent of many city blocks, though Steve could not judge how many from this perspective. The walls rose up at least as high as the Great Wall. Sentries stood guard outside the closed gates. When they recognized Marco Polo, however, they bowed and opened the gates without comment.
Within the walls, the palace grounds were also laid out in the manner of a city. Broad walkways and large buildings lined up on a right -angle grid. Trees shaded the walks and the buildings. Marcia took his arm and pointed.
“See that long building with the statues by the entrance and the wooden threshold? By the architecture and the statues, I think that’s a temple of some kind.”
Steve nodded. “How about the other buildings?”
“I can’t be sure of most of them. These buildings did not last into our time. Too many are made of wood, and they were replaced one by one as the centuries went by.” Marcia looked to each side, then into the distance. She pointed to a huge edifice topped by a roof of vermilion, yellow, green, blue, and red, shimmering in the sunlight. “The largest building is the palace itself. In Marco Polo’s book, he says the palace is the greatest that ever existed. He wrote that the largest hall can hold six thousand people at dinner. The khan’s quarters are there, and those of his four wives.”
“Yeah?”
“And the other buildings must house various bureaucratic offices.”
“I wonder if there’s any chance we could see Kublai Khan himself.”
In front of them, Polo and his entourage came to a halt. Polo spoke briefly to a young man in a long, black robe who bowed deeply and hurried away. Then Polo turned to Hunter with an amused smile.
“I have been fortunate to enjoy the khan’s favor ever since we arrived here. Many of the attendants know me; that man recently passed the examinations necessary to enter government service. He will speak to the chief of the palace couriers, and bring MC 5 to us.”
“Thank you,” said Hunter.
“It’s going to be that easy?” Steve muttered to Marcia. “Hard to believe.”
“Dr. Nystrom sent us on a long detour to the Great Wall. I just hope Jane’s all right.”
“Of course she is, in Ishihara’s company.” Steve shrugged. “Well, MC 5 isn’t here yet. So our search hasn’t exactly succeeded.”
“Come,” Polo said to Hunter. “Now we will sit down and wait.” He gestured forward, and his servants led the small entourage again.
This time the group walked to a shaded garden with a lawn and a hedge of flowering shrubs. Carved stone chairs surrounded a round table of matching stone. The servants stood under a nearby tree, waiting patiently as the others sat around the table.
“If we must wait long, I shall send for tea,” said Polo. He leaned back in his chair. “What do you think of the palace grounds so far?”
“It is very impressive,” said Hunter. “Efficiently laid out and well tended.”
Polo laughed lightly. “You have an odd way of speaking, my friend. It is beautiful here, is it not?”
“Yes,” said Hunter.
“You know, in the spring-” Suddenly Polo stopped talking, his eyes on a small group of people approaching them. “The khan! Do as I do.” Polo leaped to his feet. He bowed very low from the waist and held the position. “Speak only if he bids you. Do not address him directly. Say, ‘the khan,’ or the ‘great khan,’ as though you are talking about someone not here.”
Hunter rose and imitated Polo precisely.
Steve, startled, also got up and bowed; next to him, Marcia did the same. Around them, the servants had reacted more Quickly and also stood motionless in their position. Steve sneaked a glance at the khan.
The man who stopped in front of Polo, frowning, had sharp, dark eyes and a ruddy complexion. His long, narrow mustache and wispy beard were gray. On his head, he wore a white cloth hat that angled down around his neck. His plain white robe was held by a tasseled belt of gold braid. Of medium height, he was stout but not flabby. Four grim-faced men in elaborate embroidered robes stood behind him.
“Marco, I did not know you were coming to the palace today. Why did you not have yourself announced to me?”
Polo did not move. “I did not wish to disturb the khan.”
“Rise, Marco. Your companions, as well.”
Polo straightened; his servants did so just a moment afterward.
Steve and Marcia also stood erect again.
“I am always pleased to see you, Marco,” said Kublai Khan. “You have business here today?”