Is he Saint Tchingis? Has he grown a monster? Perceptions differ. From the arse end of the steppe, out of nowhere, now he towers over other kings.

The other kings club together, as he threatens the very idea of aristocracy, in a last stand of the steppe against Tchingis. Where does old Toghrul stand, the Hirai king who has been to him as a father? And Jamuqa – the only one to have beaten him in battle, a man Temujin is said to be in awe of – Jamuqa is quite a catch for the enemy side, even brainsick, even with his ambivalent past.

Because Temujin knows, although he'd never say, there are two great men on the steppe.