The bells were silent, but the air inside the palace screamed of treason.

  Shi Dao, the usurper who had poisoned the gentle Poet Song Emperor, held a knife to Sky Master Tenger’s throat. The shadows of the room seemed to stretch, suffocating the flickering candlelight.

  "Bells must toll, Master Tenger," Shi Dao hissed, his voice tight with adrenaline. "The Emperor is dead. From now on... I rule."

  "But this is out of order!" Tenger stammered, sweat beading on his forehead. "You have no mandate..."

  "I am shadow, Master Sky. I wish to hide. But I wish to rule."

  Shi Dao believed he was the only predator in the room. He was wrong.

  High above, perched on the lacquered rafters like a gargoyle, was the Khan. He and his Kheshig—his elite shadow guard—had infiltrated the palace countless times before. Khubilai had spent years spying on the Song, learning to respect the gentle King he watched from the dark. He had heard poetry at festivals that reduced him—a man of iron—to tears.

  Shi Dao seated himself in the Ante Room, reclining on the raised dais meant for the Emperor. His black-clad goons forced Tenger to kneel. The toddler King Huaizong and the Empress Mother were dragged in, shivering in their nightclothes.

  "I rule," Shi told Tenger again.

  "The Temple will never have it."

  "I'll kill the toddler King," Shi said casually. "Kill his grandmother first."

  "Your Highness, forgive me!" Tenger sobbed.

  Then, the shadows detached themselves from the walls.

  Eight burly Kharaks Batu-Khan the Mountain, Jochi the Alien Temur Heavy Set, Khamar the Deliverer, Master Spy Subotai and Arghun Frost Bite emerged from the darkness. Then, before a cry for help could be uttered, Khublai dropped from the rafters. He landed softly, but his grip was hard as steel. He seized Shi's arm, twisting it with a sickening crack.

  "Stop! Stop!" shouted Chancellor Shi Dao in pain.

  Something snapped. Blood splattered the polished floor. Shi went limp.

  Khubilai kicked the body aside and sat on the dais, reclining exactly as Chancellor Shi Dao had done before him. Copying him.

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  Tenger turns pale. There is a dead mangled body in front of him. Blood every where, blood splattered on Tenger’s white robes. Khublai is indifferent to the gruesome ghastly cadaver twisted like pretzel. The Empress dowager’s knees give in and she buckles to the floor. Huaizong is on the floor beside her. Little Huaizong embracing his grandmother.

  "Is this little thing your King?" asked Khan, pointing at the toddler Huaizong. Eight big Kharaks geared

  "Yes," replied the Empress Mother. She hugs Huaizong.

  Khan looked at her. "You have my condolences. It is hard to lose a son," Khan said with true sympathy.

  "But he was killed by Shi Dao, and now you have killed Shi. My son is avenged." She’s on the floor and she bows low head almost to the floor. Huaizong copies her bowing head to floor.

  "He is expected to rule? He is next in line?" Khan asked, pointing at Huaizong.

  "Through his Heavenly Mandate," replied Tenger.

  "And you? Where do they house the mother of the dead King?" asked Khan.

  "She joins the new King's harem," replied Tenger.

  "Go there with your grandson. We will talk later," Khan said, surprisingly gentle toward the dead emperor's mother.

  As they are hurried away, Tenger, still on his knees, dared to speak. "Please... Great Khan. Do not kill our Emperor. He has the Heavenly Mandate"

  "I like the sound of 'Great Khan' coming from you. Sky Master, what is a Heavenly Mandate, and how do I acquire one?"

  "It is given by the sun, the moon, and the stars," Tenger recited, trembling. "So that all plants and activities thrive in harmony throughout the Middle Kingdom. The rhythm of the moon... the five planets... the bureaucracy depends on the body of the Emperor."

  Khubilai leaned forward, his eyes sharp.

  "The body of the Emperor... Sky Master, your last Emperor was a hobbled hunchback. He was sickly. Had Shi not poisoned him, he'd have died soon. You knew he was dying. Certainly, this Heavenly Mandate could fall on a handsomer, more manly man?"

  Khubilai gestured to the Eight Kharaks standing around him. Tenger begins to shake

  "Master Tenger, throughout our history, every time we broke through your walls, raped, pillaged, and devastated the countryside, we experienced famine. Your people starved... and so did mine. But if I rule..."

  He paused, a wry smile touching his lips.

  "I heard this very same line earlier this evening from the dead man on the floor," Master Tenger mumbled disconcertedly. The smell of blood is making him quesy.

  "But I mean it differently," Khubilai insisted. "If I rule, I wouldn't have to rape, kill, pillage, and devastate the countryside of my own empire for grain, right? That is... if I rule."

  “But you have no heavenly mandate….” Tenger opposed.

  “But you have one. I didn’t kill him. I just want to control the grain.”, returns Khublai unsure exactly of these strange terms of negotiation. “But how will you manage the grain? Master Tenger, you manage the grain. It has always been you and the 4 other temple masters that run Xina. Your Emperor is a toddler. At least I’m a full grown man. I’m a warrior. I can protect you. Khublai flashed a smile at Tenger to assure him. I didn’t kill your Heavenly Mandate

  Tenger's mind raced. He saw a solution that saved his life, the monks, and the city. In front of him was the most virile man he had ever encountered

  "No more raping, killing, and leveling?" Tenger asked incredulously, looking at the eight battle ready giants geared in leather brigantines.

  "None. You are my people. If I rule." Khan smiled with a twinkle in his eye.

  Tenger erupted in sudden, desperate jubilation. "The Sun, the Stars, and the Moon shine upon the Great Khan! Upon his shoulders falls the Heavenly Mandate! Spread the word to the four winds!"

  And truly, as the sun rose over the Forbidden City, the new Emperor met the day. The evil Shi Dao clan fled into the dawn.

  The Austronesian Empire has always fascinated me. We know very little as so much has perished by fire , erosion etc.