"Bokh and Rogue" by Boris Akunin, summary Automatic translate

This collection of short stories, published in 2015, juxtaposes two polar worlds: the brutal, orderly Great Steppe and the fragmented Rus’ of the Mongol era. This book weaves together a bloody tragedy about the destruction of Russian cities and a lighthearted picaresque novel, set against the backdrop of the lead-up to the Battle of Kulikovo. It is part of the larger historical cycle "The History of the Russian State in Short Stories and Novels." The book describes the Golden Horde’s yoke, uniting the two distinct parts with a single historical backdrop.

Starlet

The Mongolian foreman Manul, from the Manul clan, faithfully serves the khan, marching thousands of miles with his army. The old warrior devotes all his affection to his intelligent red horse named Zvezdukha. Manul’s advance detachment approaches the wooden Russian city of Sviristel. The military commander sends the foreman as an ambassador to Prince Ingvar. The wise shaman Kalga-sechen rides with him as an interpreter, attempting to persuade the Rus to surrender peacefully. Prince Ingvar refuses to surrender the fortress, unwilling to enslave a tenth of its inhabitants.

At night, the Mongols storm the city. The cavalry falls into a camouflaged ditch lined with stakes. Zvezdukha is mortally wounded, and Manul personally finishes off his favorite. Seeking death, the enraged foreman bursts into the city’s breach. He kills many defenders, including the old prince Ingvar. The city falls. During the battle, the shaman Kalga-sechen shields the young noyon Gerel and is mortally wounded. The surviving inhabitants are methodically exterminated. Enraged, Gerel orders the throats of hundreds of captives slit. Manul notices the ugly, white-haired princess Philomena, Ingvar’s daughter, with a round birthmark on her forehead. The dead horse had exactly the same mark. The foreman takes the girl for himself, names her Zvezdukha, and makes her his wife. Gradually, Philomena comes to terms with her fate, develops warm feelings for her husband, and gives birth to their daughter, Tsetseg. A year later, Manul sets out on a new campaign. Immediately after saying goodbye to his family, he is killed by a Russian avenger’s arrow.

This avenger turns out to be Prince Ingvar’s youngest son, Solonius. During the massacre at Sviristel, he narrowly escaped Manul’s knife. The young man wandered for a long time through the frozen wastelands, nearly dying from a beating from a Russian marauding warrior from Ryazan. The battered prince is saved by the forest monk and chronicler Agapius. After spending the winter in the hermitage, Solonius becomes embittered, takes the name Oleg, and sets out to seek revenge. After defeating a band of random people, he tracks down his enemies for a long time. After firing a crossbow bolt at Manul, Oleg reveals himself to his sister. Philomena, now the Mongol Odonshiyr, curses her brother for killing her beloved husband. Falling into a rage, Oleg slashes his sister with his sword. Coming to his senses, he takes his infant niece to be baptized and raised in the Russian faith.

God and Rogue

Yakov, nicknamed "Shelma," is a cunning, multilingual rogue. He once attempted to rob his master, the Hanseatic merchant Bokh. As punishment, the terrifying servant-executioner Gabriel branded the Latin letter "S" on the thief’s forehead. Some time later, Shhelma is living a carefree life in Novgorod with the widow Pyshata. Suddenly, he spots old acquaintances on the street. Trying to escape, Yakov nevertheless falls into Gabriel’s hands.

Bokh doesn’t punish the fugitive. The merchant needs a resourceful guide to the capital of the Golden Horde. The German is secretly transporting four iron bombard cannons capable of penetrating fortress walls to the dark lord Mamai. Bokh wishes to arm the Horde to prevent a major war between the three Asian rulers. Rogue agrees to lead the caravan.

The travelers sail along the rivers. During a rest stop, Gabriel slaughters a gang of ferocious forest robbers with incredible ease. At the border with the steppe, the caravan is met by Sharif-murza, Mamai’s adviser. The Germans demonstrate the destructive power of artillery to the Tatars. Rogue overhears a conversation between a merchant and the murza near a tent. Yakov learns that Bokh is bringing a matchmaking gift to the young Khan Muhammad-Bulak — a fabulously expensive gold belt studded with diamonds. The treasure is hidden on Gabriel’s body, who never removes the leather sash.

Snake abduction

In Sarai, Rogue treats the executioner to wine laced with Persian datura. While Gabriel raves, Yakov removes the jewel and replaces it with a heavy lead chain. The thief flees to Kaffa, Genoa, intending to sell the treasure. There, he attempts to sell the belt to the merchant Longo. Accidentally discovering a secret listening room, Rogue watches through the window as the tireless Gabriel runs into the courtyard. Yakov barely manages to escape and gallops north, into Russian lands.

Near Tarusa, Yakov is captured by the miller Sych’s militia. The captive is brought to the local Prince Gleb, who bids farewell to his dazzlingly beautiful bride, Stepania. Yakov disguises himself as a merchant transporting bombards for Grand Duke Dmitry of Moscow. The Ryazan boyar Solotchin, Stepania’s father, persuades Shhelma to steal the cannons from their steppe cache and sell them to Ryazan. Yakov drugges the Ryazan guards and takes the cannons away, but in the steppe at night, he encounters Gabriel. The executioner prepares for exquisite torture, but foolishly sips the poisoned wine. Yakov returns to the Tarusa people with the cannons.

The detachment joins the vast Russian army on the Don. Grand Duke Dmitry Ivanovich admires the German artillery. The gunners are assigned a position at the ford across the Nepryadva River, covering the flank. During the Battle of Kulikovo, the Tatar cavalry attempts to cross the river undetected through an oak grove. The warriors and Prince Gleb perish under a hail of arrows. The dying Sych forces the trembling Rogue to poke the fuse with a poker. The thunder and grapeshot put the Horde to flight, disrupting their flanking maneuver.

Return to Tarusa

After the victory, Prince Dmitry buys the bombards for fifteen poods of chopped silver and grants Yakov a duty-free trade charter. Rogue returns to Tarusa with Gleb’s body. Boyar Solotchin, whose lands have been devastated by the war, cynically proposes his daughter to the now-rich Yakov. Stepania frivolously agrees, charmed by the promise of the good life. Yakov explains his brand on his forehead as the sign of St. Stephanie.

The celebration is interrupted by the arrival of Bokh and Gabriel, who were waiting for Rogue in Tarusa. The German takes the diamond belt and the prince’s silver. Yakov prepares for death, but Bokh bursts into laughter. The merchant forgives the rogue, appreciating his phenomenal tenacity and ability to extricate himself from hopeless situations. Bokh admits that the theft turned out to be a good thing: Mamai has been defeated, and trade alliances will have to be built differently. The German spares Yakov, advising him to trade honestly under the prince’s label and to take care of his beautiful bride. As they part, Yakov asks the merchant about his origins, but the German merely dismisses him dryly and buries himself in his account books.