stood beside John,
the older of the two. She wore a stiff, brocaded blue gown, and her hair
was tightly wrapped in a net of gold thread.

"Madonna Ana," said Fra Tomasso, "ask Messer John Chagan for me whether
the city called Karakorum is still the capital of the Tartar empire."

The woman turned to the white-bearded John and repeated the question in
rapid-flowing Tartar speech.

John bowed and smiled to Fra Tomasso and spoke to the woman. Daoud
almost felt envy at the sight of John's gorgeous ankle-length silk
robe--white, printed with flowers having massive, many-petaled crimson
and purple heads, along with clusters of green leaves and wispy gold
clouds. He gestured as he spoke, and his hands were square,
short-nailed, and hard-looking. Daoud had no doubt that those hands had
taken many lives.

"Messer John says the capital of their empire is wherever the Great Khan
makes his home," said the Bulgarian woman in a flat tone. "It used to be
Karakorum. But now the Great Khan is building a city in the land of
Cathay. The city is called--Xanadu."

"And how long would it take to travel from Baghdad to this Xanadu?" Fra
Tomasso asked.

"Messer John says for a party of Christians to go to Xanadu from Baghdad
might take as long as a year. But for the Tartar post riders it takes
two months."

"Two months!" exclaimed Fra Tomasso. "For a journey that would take
ordinary men a year? How far is it?"

"Permit me to answer that, Father," Daoud interrupted, "because the
Tartars do not know your system of measurements. The roads between
Baghdad and the great cities of Cathay are tortuous, and vast deserts
and huge mountains stand in the way. But our geographers in Trebizond
estimate that a caravan going over that route would travel a distance of
three thousand leagues."

"And the Tartars cover that in two months? Do they fly?" The fat monk's
jowls quivered. Daoud noticed that the front of his white tunic was
stained with what appeared to be spots of gravy and wine.

Daoud turned to Ana. "Kindly ask the ambassadors to explain to Fra
Tomasso how their riders cover such a distance so quickly."

After some conversation between Ana and the Tartars, Fra Tomasso had his
answer. "The fastest riders and horses in our empire carry messages in
relays over the major routes. A message never stops traveling, night and
day, until it reaches its destination. At night, runners with torches
guide the riders."

The Italians looked awed. D