Two weeks later most of the expected Russian dignitaries, Dukes, Princes, and the Boyars, from the neighboring lands had arrived. There were a hundred and two of them and about two thousand servants and bodyguards. The Mongols hosted all of them equally with the show of great respect and the desire for peace. Peace and prosperity were in the air. For two days the Russians saw some kind of construction going on. The Mongols were building a stage on the hill not too far from the Kiev gates. It looked like a platform large and strong enough for a few hundred people to sit, eat, drink, and be entertained. When asked, they stated that it was a stage for all of them to celebrate after negotiations were completed. They said that there would be a feast and the dancers and the parade, and they all would become the best of friends and the brothers. Well, the mutual feeling, considering the hospitality of the last two weeks, was that the Mongols really knew how to show respect and to entertain the guests. Everything demonstrated goodwill, and everyone looked happy.
Everybody made promises to invite the Mongols for a similar treatment. The Mongols politely smiled promising to visit their lands at the earliest convenience. The Mongols stated time and time again that they could hardly wait to visit all these cities, towns, villages, and hamlets. Subutai personally promised to start right after this affair was over, and traveling was safer for both sides. He was known among the Mongols for keeping his promises, and they all smiled and promised the same. After all, they may come together and even earlier than expected. It was an excellent time for festivities and making friends. Friendship was in the air, and gifts were exchanged freely. Brotherhood was in the air, and everyone had a few brothers on the other side already. No, it was the air of goodwill, and everyone wished well to everyone. The Russians were convinced that the Mongols were the best people the earth could produce. The war was just a colossal misunderstanding they were destined to correct. And why not. Why war? Why kill each other? What is wrong with peace and friendship? Well, if not friendship but at least tolerance. There was no reason to fight, and there was enough of everything for everyone. Just slide over and let the other guy sit at the table. There was plenty of room for everyone. Even the kids could squeeze in. Tomorrow morning the negotiations would commence, and all the grievances would get sorted out in no time.
I met with many of the Russians personally. Listening to the complaints and the grievances directed at us, Swedes, Germans, and each other, I made promises to consider all of it in our negotiations. I was going to review all the information if I was to rule this vast land. How else could you rule there with them? What I heard and what I saw that there was no unity among these people and that was extremely important to us. That could be the biggest key to that vast land. They gave the words and made the alliances with the same speed they broke them, if not faster. They hated each other more than they hated us, which was hard to believe. After all, they were all related. They reminded me of the spiders in a jar, killing and eating each other trying to climb up using the bodies of the others as the ladders. What a nation of vultures, spiders, and snakes. Are we the same, in any way? I would not feel anything destroying them and taking over the land, the riches, and the people. They should not live, and as slaves, they were useless. So, I gave the order, and my guards moved in to fulfill it. I had never done anything like that before, but it seemed a good idea considering the situation and the people I was dealing with. We needed to speed up the war, and it was time for it. We decided to cut off the heads of the opposition in one powerful stroke. All at once. We had no time to wait and wait for what. So, we would deal with whomever we have right now, and the rest of the opposition will find it out soon enough. After all, Subutai conceived it, and all my advisors supported it. They knew the business of treachery so well that I could learn a thing or two. This was going to be an exciting lesson.
At the crack of dawn, my bodyguards and two hundred Tatars went into the tents of the Russian dignitaries. The Russians slept like babies. Idiots. They trusted us. We gave them plenty of wine spiked with the juice of the poppy seed. Also, each of them was given a slave girl to be entertained at night. They liked it so much. So, the combination of wine, the sleep-inducing juice, fatty food, and the slave girls from the Orient, made them soft and tired. It worked like a charm. It always did. They lost the caution and fell asleep as deep as the Dnepr River our camp was on. Fools. My guards went in all their tents at once, grabbing the Russians and tying them up. They had no chance. Then, the guards drugged the Russians to the wooden platform we finished building just the day before. We invited them to the feast, and they would be present at the feast. That will be our entertainment. That was going to be a historical one. The banquet was set for the afternoon, but the Russians were there early in the morning, and this was a hot, humid day. It happens in this area quite often, and people survived by drinking a lot of water. Subutai gave an order to pure water over them every two hours, just to keep them alive.
By the late morning, all Russians were piled up in the mount of bodies, and the platform was situated on top of them. We could hear pleadings, angry cries, sighs, and sobs. It did not bother us at all. Why should it bother us? They were the enemies. Around noon, about two hundred of my closest associates, including Subutai, the advisors, relatives, and the Tumen commanders were seated on the platform enjoying the feast. Many of the slave girls were there to serve our needs and to entertain us with singing and dancing. The servants were taking care of food and cleaning after us. Even our pets were there. I do not know precisely how many people and animals were on the platform at the pick but could be as many as five hundred. Adding the weight of food, drinks, and the weapons, the pressure on the mount of live bodies beneath the platform was tremendous.
They moaned and cried. The harts were giving out. They asked for mercy, but in response, we relieved ourselves right on their heads through the holes cut in the platform. Are you thirsty? Drink this. Are you hungry? Eat that. We laughed. I don’t think we ever had so much fun as during that feast. We decided not to attack Kiev for a few days and just eat, drink, and sleep on the platform. Even we needed some rest. The screams from the human mount became louder as the weight of us was going through the Russians squeezing the flesh and breaking the bones. They were slowly dying but dying for sure. We were going to do this for as long as it took for all of them to die. We had plenty of time. As usual, time was on our side, and we could manage it on our terms. We wanted the citizens of Kiev to see it to the end so, they would understand the whole depth of the situation their land was in. And, the city saw everything from the walls. We were not going to interrupt the show. We were not shooting, and they could see everything in peace and as it really was. We were the new Dukes and the Boyars, and this was our land now. All Russians were destined to become our slaves or die. Soon, as soon as we get there, to your land. We had no mercy, and we would not stop until the entire world was enslaved by us. Only the Mongols and the tribes of the Golden Horde were chosen to live in freedom and to be the masters. It was for the better. That was our destiny yet, their tragedy.