205

The two guards collapse against each other, propping each other up like dolls for a moment, before sliding to the ground. You slip past them to the door which opens into a store-room, lined with barrels of Koumiss, fermented mare's milk. A row of carcasses hangs on hooks above a smoking fire. In the corner lies the huddled form of an unconscious mongol, obviously drunk. You open another door opposite into a banqueting hall, the walls of which are lined with gold, the plunder of half the world. It is full of mongols, eating and drinking. To your surprise there are no tables, but a great fire has been lit in the centre of the hall. Musicians are playing fast rhythmic music and some of the mongols strut around the fire, showing off the splendour of their leather coats, decorated and lined with fur. Others are still gorging themselves, tearing chunks of meat from whole carcasses with their hunting knives. As the music quickens, some begin to whirl and leap around the fire, dancing wildly. Opposite you is a door leading outside to the palace courtyard.

There is a wooden stairway just to the left of the store-room door and you decide to climb it, as you guess it leads towards the rooms behind the balcony. Turn to 247.

Turn to 247