Early Wisdom

Shulitu was twelve, but he was far frailer than other children his age. That made his head look oversized, with two precocious eyes set in it. Adults rarely welcomed the searching, thoughtful gaze he so often wore.

By the standards of the Northern Court, he was a useless child. If he had not been born into the royal family, he would likely have been abandoned in the wilderness long ago, left to become a little pile of bones.

When he was born, he had been a perfectly normal baby. On the day he turned one month old, he had giggled in the Old Khan King's arms, drawing a chorus of praise and earning the title "early wise." Among the countless flattering words lavished on the Old Khan King, those two words were unusual in being entirely apt.

Shulitu had spoken and walked earlier than other children, but a strange illness when he was three changed the course of his life.

The mysterious disease spread far and wide, and many people on the grasslands died from it. Shulitu's birth mother was among them. He survived, but his health went into a steep decline. When children his age began riding ponies and playing with bows, he lay in his nanny's arms, wrapped in thick blankets, and became a laughingstock.

At the time, King Yue Ying was his grandfather. The old king watched his grandson grow, but his expression grew colder every time they met. Years later, when Shulitu had turned eight, the old king finally lost patience. He hauled his grandson out of the warm nest of nanny and blankets, strode from the tent, and flung him onto the nearest horse. "Prove you have a Khan King's blood in your veins. Your father and I can't afford this humiliation."

For the first