All the Council needed now were the main actors.
Of those, StarSon Caelum entered first. He wore black, as was his custom, but his face was far more careworn than usual. Without fuss he seated himself at the table. And then, in a procedure initiated by Caelum when he first assumed the Throne of the Stars, the heads of the Five Families entered simultaneously, each from a different door. They strode to the central table, their boot heels clicking, arriving to stand behind their chairs as simultaneously as they had entered the hall. All were unarmed, their swords left back in their chambers.
They waited. From the central doors Isfrael emerged.
As one they all turned to Caelum, and bowed.
“I thank you for your attendance here this day,” he said. “Be seated.”
Askam sat on Caelum’s immediate right, Zared his left. FreeFall sat next to Askam, Isfrael next to Zared. Sa’Domai and Yllgaine took the seats immediately opposite Caelum. There was nothing on the table before the men, save their differences.
“My friends,” Caelum said in a voice that, although soft, was so well modulated it carried easily to the men at the table, and to the notaries and secretaries eight paces away. “I bid you welcome to Sigholt for this Council, and I express my regrets that it should be convened so hastily and so soon after our last Council.
“However, as you are all aware, there are matters which need to be discussed and decided among us. Chief among these matters is the issue of the taxes that Prince Askam has been forced to levy on the West. Over the past few weeks Askam has imposed taxation on goods moved by land or water through his territory, as well as on those families deciding to emigrate to the North.”
“‘Forced’ is hardly the word I’d use,” Zared muttered, his grey eyes on Askam.
“I had every right to impose those taxes -” Askam began, but Caelum silenced them both with an angry look.
“We are all aware of how onerous these taxes are,” he said. “A third of the value of goods is… exorbitant. Ten thousand gold pieces per family moving north is incomprehensible.”
Zared relaxed slightly.
“I wish to hear from the principals involved, then from Duke Theod and Earl Herme who were kind enough to ride to Sigholt to offer their views, then from the rest of you about this table. Askam, will you speak?”
Askam took a deep breath. “My friends, I am as aware as any of you how draconian these taxes sound. However, consider my position. For years I have worked tirelessly on Tencendor’s behalf, and on StarSon Caelum’s behalf. These efforts have cost me dearly. My creditors push for the return of their funds. These taxes will clear the West of debt within two years -”
“And two years is more than enough to drive your people into starvation, Askam!” Zared cried. “Curse you! There are better ways of raising revenue than stealing it from the mouths of those who can least afford to -”
“Oh, god’s arse, Zared!” Askam said. “This is all about you! Have you not been transporting your ore and gems and furs free of charge down to the southern markets at a handsome profit for decades? This talk of starving peasants is nonsense. Your purse has been dented – you who can well afford it – and thus you complain. I have not seen you spend more than a copper piece entertaining diplomats and foreign missions, nor founding the schools or universities that I have.”
“Be quiet, Askam,” Caelum said, then shifted his eyes slightly. “Zared, Askam has got a point there. You have indeed made free use of his extensive system of roads and river boats for many years now.”
“I have paid full price for their passage, StarSon,” Zared said.
“Still, Askam does have the right to impose taxes on external goods moving through his territory. The fact is, he could have levied this tax only on your goods, not on those of his own people.”
Zared held his breath for a moment, then spoke very deliberately. “The fact is, Caelum, that Askam has imposed a tax which directly hurts the West, and indirectly hurts another province. And the… human… populations of the West and North feel that they have been inordinately imposed upon. If these taxes are the result of debt run up in your cause, Caelum, then why do not all the peoples of Tencendor help retrieve the situation?”
“The Avar do not pay taxes,” Isfrael said, very low.
“And yet my people must!” Zared cried. “Can you not all of you see how dangerous this is? One race pays the debts of a nation of three races?”
“Enough,” Caelum said. “Before I ask the views of the Avar, Icarü and Ravensbund, I would have Herme and Theod enter.”
He nodded at the side tables, and one of the secretaries hurried to open the doors, whisper urgently, and escort the Duke and Earl to the table.
Herme and Theod stood slightly to the right of Sa’Domai’s chair, where all could see them. Both wore tightly restrained expressions, both avoided looking at either Askam or Zared.
“Your views, gentlemen?” Caelum asked.
Herme spoke first, detailing how the taxes had impacted upon his own county of Avonsdale. All had been crippled, not only those with business moving goods on the road, but even the lowly farmers or labourers who moved neither stock nor fodder from their land.
“They can hardly afford food now, StarSon,” Herme finished. “If they cannot grow it, then they certainly cannot buy it, for merchants have been forced to increase the cost of all merchandise to cover the taxes.”
Which naturally, Zared thought, then increases the taxes in direct proportion to the inflated value of the goods.
Theod told a similar tale. The people of Jervois Landing, of whom almost all relied on trade to survive, would be destitute within the year. And yet they could look across the Nordra, look into eastern Tencendor under FreeFall’s control, and see free markets, and round, rosy cheeks on the children.
“As, of course, they can in the North,” he said finally. “Many among the people of the West are moving north, and if they cannot afford to pay the border tax, then most of them will become homeless, destitute, and a burden on those already struggling to survive.”
“I thank you, gentlemen,” Caelum said, just as Herme had opened his mouth to say something else. “You may retire.”
He waited until the doors had closed behind them, then he looked at Isfrael, FreeFall, Yllgaine and Sa’Domai. “My friends?”
FreeFall spoke first. “There can be no doubt that these taxes are onerous, StarSon. But…”
“But obviously something must be done to relieve Askam of the burden of debt he ran up in your service, Caelum,” Yllgaine said. “The tax on goods moved through the West seems the best way to do it.”
Zared bit his tongue to keep his anger from spilling out in unreasoned words. Yllgaine undoubtedly would not want his trading rights taxed!
Isfrael’s only comment was to repeat that the Avar had never been taxed, and would not consent to being taxed now. “And how would they pay it? In twigs? In acorns?”
Sa’Domai shrugged. “I can sympathise with Zared in that his people also suffer… but I note Askam’s point that this debt was largely run up in Tencendor’s service -”
Zared could no longer contain himself. “And some appalling investments! Gloam mines, for the gods’ sakes!”
Caelum hit the table with the flat of his hand. “Be still, Zared! Or would you like to entertain the Corolean Ambassador and his train the next time he decides on a three-year stay?”
Zared leaned back in his chair, his eyes carefully blank, listening to the conversation waft about him. Those of the Five not directly affected by the taxes first spoke of the weight of the taxes, then of Askam’s pressing (and understandable) need for money.
Caelum listened, nodded occasionally, and was careful not to give the impression that he was for one side or the other. Finally he held up his hand for silence.
“The issue of placing a border tax on those families wishing to move north must also be resolved.”
“The issue is one of the freedom of a man to move his family to where they can eat, Caelum,” Zared snapped, tired of the discussion, but not willing to let such an important point pass with no debate.
“The issue,” Askam shot back, “is whether or not you have the right to entice the most skilled of my workers and craftsmen north. I hear rumour that you pay well for such men to settle in Severin. Well enough, I think, to levy a tax on each of their departing heads for the troubles their loss causes me.”
“I pay them nothing! They journey north only because they know their families will have a future with -“