Khezar Khaganate part 2

The trio was given their own yurt, near the Khagan's mighty hall. Before long the same wise-ass scethain sassan who had previously insulted the queen and blurted out stuff entered the yurt.

"The khagan expects you to arrive at the hall shortly," he said.

"Why does he seem so...."Liana was saying but didn't feel like she didn't want to finish her sentence.

"Kind in the sense he didn't just take the daisy, as he is a mighty khagan," the man quickly finished the sentence with the same sinister smile.

"....yes,"

"Because this is Atil. A bustling trade where laws must be abided by either are you a lowly merchant or the great khagan and taking one property was breaking one of those said laws. Would you enter a city where the leader of the place just takes and grabs whatever he or she wanted from the visitor," he explained and continued," Atil is a safe city, for even though we scethians are...mmmm...more savages and raiders, but we still need to trade and so was this great place built."

"And you are?" Pema asked.

"Oh, I am sorry, for not introducing myself. My name is Kaban Azir, the cousin of the great Khagan Tarhkhan," he said and smiled.

Pema nodded politely. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Kaban Azir. I am Pema, and these are my companions, Liana and Gwon."

"Liana, Gwon," Kaban repeated their names, seemingly committing them to memory. "Well then, I shall leave you to prepare for your meeting with the Khagan.

~~

As the sun began to set, signaling the approach of evening, they made their way to the grand hall of the Khagan. The hall had been decorated with intricate tapestries and elegant chandeliers that bathed the space in a warm, golden glow.

They sat on the floor, on top of cushions, and saw that Kaban was sitting in the corner, far from the Khagan and his wife.

The dinner began, and entertainers danced and entertained everyone as music played loudly. While the evening was proceeding, one of the khagan's advisors crawled close to Pema and whispered, "The great khagan would pay you thirty kilograms of gold for the daisy and let you have any woman you desire here."

Pema looked uncomfortable with Liana answering for him, "That is not actually what we would be needing."

"Needing!" yelled Gwon, "We were about to trade it for fish!"

The advisor looked at the khagan who signaled to give more as the queen looked frustrated.

"We are ready to give fifty kilograms of gold and two slave women of your choosing. Even the ones from the afhanin state," the advisor whispered once more.

"I am sorry, but I can not accept," Pema said with the advisor once more signaling to the khagan no deal had been made.

Then the queen rose and yelled loudly, "Ow, would you then just tell us what you want!"

The entire dinner feast went quiet, with not a single sound heard except a sipping sound from Kaban drinking mead from a cup.

"We just wanted some fish okay!" yelled out Gwon following with both Liana and Pema yelling, "NO!"

"What is your goal? Do you have use for that daisy or something," the queen yelled furiously with the khagan trying to restrain her.

"We are just trying to get to Samarqand," Liana said.

The mood went heavy. Like someone had uttered illegal words.

"For what reason....?" the khagan said in an angry tone releasing a powerful divine aura.

The aura was so powerful that lying felt hard.

"We are to meet friends there," Liana said, as she didn't lie, but also didn't tell the entire truth.

They all murmured. The Khagan rose. 

"Samarqand, is a closed city, with only the scethians allowed to enter. It is the home of our god, our father in the sky, Arslan. No outsider has or ever will step into the city," said the Khagan.

They quickly tried to scramble a response with Gwon saying, "Uhmm, maybe it wasn't Samarqand. Maybe it was like something else. The cities in the world are so hard to pronounce."

"You have no understanding of what times we live in," the khagan said, "War...war is coming and Arslan, the god of the eternal blue skies has called all of the tribes to the great city and the god's home, Samarqand."

Liana, Pema, and Gwon exchanged glances, sensing the gravity of the situation. "We did not know of this," Liana said earnestly.

The Khagan's expression softened slightly as he looked at the trio. "It is true that not everyone in the far reaches of the steppes receives the news immediately. The call to Samarqand was issued not long ago, and perhaps it hasn't reached you yet. I too shall answer this call, for my god has summoned me, and I his loyal subject shall answer."

"Yes, but as soon as you leave the khelians will burn down Atil and salt the grass around it when you leave," Kaban said, making a scene once more.

"KABAN!" the khagan yelled furiously, "Leave immediately!"

Kaban scuffed and left. Before he did, he quickly whispered to the trio, "You better leave."

"I believe that this feast is over for us all. I grow tired and so does my wife," the khagan said.

"I understand, but we have to leave for the place, most likely not Samarqand. We can just exchange the daisy for three mounts and we will be on our way," Liana said.

"No. You will not leave, for I can not now trust you," said Khagan.

Time was of the essence, and they couldn't afford to waste anymore. She desperately tried to find a way to convince him otherwise.

"Please, we mean no harm to your people or your city," Liana implored. "We are just travelers seeking to reunite with friends. We have no part in the conflicts between gods."

The Khagan's expression remained stern.

"No. The entire heaven will stammer when the tribes ride out and take on the god Xerxes and the armies from divine river basin cities. The entire world and heaven of Sassan know this, and now, out of nowhere, three outsiders, who can find the daisy of paroxysm and are heading to Samarqand come to my knowledge. Too many coincidences," Khagan said, "You will now be our prisoners, not our guests!"