Lord of Samarcand

Book Excerpt: ...wolfish hardness that suggested the nomad. He was closer to the basic Turanian rootstock than was the Turk; nearer to the wolfish, wandering Mongols who were his ancestors."Speak, Ak Boga," said the Amir in a deep powerful voice. "Ravens have flown westward, but there has come no word.""We rode before the word, my lord," answered the warrior. "The news is at our heels, traveling swift on the caravan roads. Soon the couriers, and after them the traders and the merchants, will bring to you the news that a great battle has been fought in the west; that Bayazid has broken the hosts of the Christians, and the wolves howl over the corpses of the kings of Frankistan.""And who stands beside you?" asked Timour, resting his chin on his hand and fixing his deep somber eyes on the Scotsman."A chief of the Franks who escaped the slaughter," answered Ak Boga. "Single-handed he cut his way through the melee, and in his flight paused to slay a Frankish lord who had put shame upon him aforetim...