As we rode West we came upon other villages, and more young warriors joined us eager to earn glory and riches, enthralled by the tales of the elder warriors and the promises the Khan promised, but I felt uneasy. I realised one feast night as the Khan began his promises of fame that I had never heard tales about the Khan, he did not speak of his success in the lands of the Kitad with the other warriors, he would not even share his name. I was young in those days, young and rash, maybe now I would not rush to find secrets that were so guarded, but rush I did, to one of the veteran warriors named Batu and asked him of the Khan's glories. Batu turned to me, his face a mask of anger, he told me to hold my tongue or he would take it himself and use it as an example to those who asked unworthy questions, abashed I slunk back into the shadows. But then another warrior named Koke came and told me to find him on tomorrows ride and he would explain.
Buta was an angry man, but a fierce warrior
Koke was the eldest of all the warriors, his head had been shaved but his beard was grey and his face worn, I knew him only as a background face when the warriors told their tales but he was to teach me so much. The next day I found him, he rode like a man who had lived a life in the saddle, his horse was a magnificent beast and his demeanor spoke of a confidence rare in any man I have seen. I asked him about the nights events and with sorrow he turned to me and told me the tale of our Khan, why he was so far from his home and what secrets he was so unwilling to share.
The Khan that Koke pictured might have once been similar to me, a young steppe warrior, but this was in the days when the tribes still did battle and warfare ruled the steppes, this all changed when the Khan of Khans, Genghis Khan united the tribes and launched his army South to the lands of the Kitad. Our Khan rode in the second wave of horsemen, his purpose was not glory but to find his Father who had ridden with the first hordes. Though he fought in many battles, our Khan did not find his father among the warriors waging war against the Kitad, he would find him on the steppes.
Our Khan, an imposing figure as we traveled west
I learnt then about the Clash of Khans, and how the hordes had turned on each other, in my village I had never heard about the death of Genghis Khan nor the rise of Orda Khan, but I learned of the effect on our Khan. He had originally ridden on the side of Orda Khan, although our Khan was warrior of some renown but not yet a Khan, the horde he rode with would strike into the Mongolian Steppes and there he met his Father. His Father led a horde on the side of Ogedei with warriors such as Batu and others of the Red Horde, when the two hordes clashed my Khan could not bear to fight against his Father, his blood, and so he broke his loyalty changing sides, and with him went many such as Koke who respected the Khan seeing in him greatness though they too stained their honour as traitors. Although the side of Ogedei would win that battle, they would lose the war, our Khans father died in some skirmish that Koke said he had no business being in, our Khan became leader of the horde and immediately found himself exiled. The exile seemed to bring about the end of his father's horde, warriors departed in great numbers leaving but a small core left, it was this core who rode West recruiting new warriors, hungry for glory and success, but most importantly warriors who had not heard of our Khan's failures and exile by the Khan of Khans.
Although I was not to know it, my conversation with Koke although innocuous, would change my life and grant me glories beyond measure, most importantly it would give me the role I hold even today, that of Remember of the Red Horde.
-Tegus Oyugun, Eldest Remember of the Red Horde