In MAIDEN FORGOTTEN I tell the story of Genghis Khan’s daughter Alakhai Bekhi. As her name is not easy to remember, I refer to her as Ambiguity.
Burkhan Khaldun was the sacred mountain for Genghis Khan. It was where he went when he needed some space, when things were not going well, where he could practice his spiritual beliefs.
Suppose Ambiguity shared her father’s spiritual beliefs? How would that manifest in 1200s Mongolia?
The following is an excerpt from a scene where Ambiguity and her family are preparing for their father’s enthronement as Great Khan in 1206.
Treasure turns to skip away in the direction of Father’s tent. “They will come!” she calls over her shoulder. “Just you wait and see!”
I look after her as she disappears inside Father’s tent. Has she received any signs of what might happen? Swiftly, I shrug this thought away. Treasure has many gifts, but they are all of this earth. She has never shown any signs that she possesses any kind of celestial power.
I, on the other hand… On an impulse, I lift my face towards Burkhan Khaldun, closing my eyes. The faint heat of the rising sun penetrates my lids, followed by a chill breeze that makes me shiver.
But…what is that? I cock my head. Yes, I can hear a sound. But it is faint, so faint, as ephemeral as a spider’s web coated in the dew of the dawn. Slowly, I turn, my face lifted heavenward.
Yes! That sound! I hear it again!
I stare.
For that sound comes from the sacred mountain.
A smile overspreads my face as I wheel in place allowing my arms to open in an expression of joy. It is true! For Mother told me recently I have special gifts. She told me Father has them too. They are, she explained, an ability to sense beyond. A way of expanding our senses so that we can see beyond, hear beyond, sense beyond.
And now, in answer to my recent request, our sacred Burkhan Khaldun is ringing out a welcome.
I feel the truth of it, just here. And so, I place my hands together in front of my thrumming heart and bow my head, suddenly understanding why Father chose this place.
I breathe in.
I breathe out, letting the grains of my mind settle, so that instead of flinging themselves around as if driven by the fierce winds of the high plateau, they sink peacefully to the bottom of my mind.
Yes, my inner voice says. The people will come.
Yes, it says again. This meeting will change our lives.
For all of us.
Forever.
