The citadel hall had been cleared before Batu entered it, and what remained on the stone were the dark marks at the entrance and at the base of the platform steps where the blood had dried in the spring heat.
The hearth sat cold at the room. The open entrance let the late afternoon light through in a broad column that reached the hearth and stopped there.
Batu sat in the timber throne on the platform and looked down toward the entrance. The hall's length gave him a clear vision to the outer courtyard's far gate and the sky above the walls beyond it.
Suuqai was at the platform's right side and two Khar Kheshig riders stood at the hall's south corners. The room was empty of everyone else and would stay that way until the afternoon required otherwise.
Torghul and Dorbei came through together and stopped below the platform steps. Batu gave them the orders in the sequence they applied.
The city was under Jochid occupation
