kawa~ inspiration #56
May. 6th, 2005 01:20 am![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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yrae
Title~ Royal Meeting
Author~ Annarti
Disclaimer~ Still mine
Notes~ kawa~ inspiration 56. Shizaaqa = empress of Kazin, which becomes obvious pretty early on, but there you go. People have been attacking Raykinian caravans, oh noes! So Mithé's decided to go right to the top to try and get her to do something. Pfft, not gonna happen.
~ ~ ~
“These attacks are helping neither of our economies,” Mithé was saying. He was trying to remain calm, but Nolryn could see the signs that his temper was rising. He’d been on the receiving end often enough to know. The king’s voice was shaking just a fraction, his hand gestures were becoming wider and more vigorous, and he wiped his palms on his robes more often. The casual observer may have put that down to the northern kingdom’s humidity, but Nol knew better.
“Oh?” The Kazinian empress reclined with exaggerated casualness in her throne, picking the hairy skin from her rambutan with claw-like fingernails. “How have you arrived at this conclusion?” Shizaaqa pressed, “Goods and coin which would otherwise leave Kazin’s borders instead stay within the empire.”
“That may be so,” Mithé went on, “But it is in the hands of bandits, killers, people who steal for a living. The coin that should be taken by your Houses and given to the treasury.”
Shizaaqa shook her head, her high, copper-coloured pony tail brushing her shoulders. “The coin collected from the Houses goes to the queen of the region, not the empress.”
Mithé frowned. “Silrona’s queen told us it all went to her.”
Shizaaqa shrugged and cast her eyes faintly skyward. “Yes, well, she would. She hasn’t the faintest idea how her own economy runs.”
“And that doesn’t bother you?”
“There is a standard amount that is paid by the separate states each new moon to the Kazinian treasury. It is the task of the states to raise that sum each month in whichever way seems most effective to them. So long as the respective coin reaches me, I couldn’t care less. It’s really a very effective method. You might like to implement it yourself, Mithé. It certainly cuts down on the workload.”
The Raykinian king ignored her. “These bandits are currently only attacking Raykinian caravans.” Nol recognised the same tone Mithé often used on him when explaining something he considered to be simple. “If you don’t step in, they’ll soon start attacking Llayan caravans, then even Kazinian. It would not take long then for Tsayth to retaliate on Llayad’s behalf, or for Silrona to turn on their queen, or even their empress. You’ve said yourself you have tenuous control of your own army.”
Shizaaqa raised an eyebrow and bit into the fleshy white of her rambutan. “That’s a rather longwinded threat, Mithé. Would it not be a simpler task to threaten me with the might of Raykin’s army?”
Nolryn had to privately agree with her there. The longwinded threat would probably work on another Raykinian, most certainly on a Llayan, but not a Kazinian.
Mithé merely shrugged. “I’m only being realistic, Shizaaqa. I prefer to keep at least some peace between our kingdoms, if not entirely sincere.”
The Kazinian empress gave a dangerous grin. “And that, Mithé, is why nothing will ever change in this empire.” She bit again into the rambutan, picking the flesh from its stone with her teeth. “I should imagine that the relationship between Kazin and Raykin will be considerably more… exciting, shall we say, with your passing.”
Nol returned the grin. “Rather a longwinded threat, Empress. Might it not be easier to threaten invasion outright?”
Mithé sighed and put his forehead in one hand, then muttered to himself in Raykinian. “Thank the goddesses I won’t see the day.”
Author~ Annarti
Disclaimer~ Still mine
Notes~ kawa~ inspiration 56. Shizaaqa = empress of Kazin, which becomes obvious pretty early on, but there you go. People have been attacking Raykinian caravans, oh noes! So Mithé's decided to go right to the top to try and get her to do something. Pfft, not gonna happen.
“These attacks are helping neither of our economies,” Mithé was saying. He was trying to remain calm, but Nolryn could see the signs that his temper was rising. He’d been on the receiving end often enough to know. The king’s voice was shaking just a fraction, his hand gestures were becoming wider and more vigorous, and he wiped his palms on his robes more often. The casual observer may have put that down to the northern kingdom’s humidity, but Nol knew better.
“Oh?” The Kazinian empress reclined with exaggerated casualness in her throne, picking the hairy skin from her rambutan with claw-like fingernails. “How have you arrived at this conclusion?” Shizaaqa pressed, “Goods and coin which would otherwise leave Kazin’s borders instead stay within the empire.”
“That may be so,” Mithé went on, “But it is in the hands of bandits, killers, people who steal for a living. The coin that should be taken by your Houses and given to the treasury.”
Shizaaqa shook her head, her high, copper-coloured pony tail brushing her shoulders. “The coin collected from the Houses goes to the queen of the region, not the empress.”
Mithé frowned. “Silrona’s queen told us it all went to her.”
Shizaaqa shrugged and cast her eyes faintly skyward. “Yes, well, she would. She hasn’t the faintest idea how her own economy runs.”
“And that doesn’t bother you?”
“There is a standard amount that is paid by the separate states each new moon to the Kazinian treasury. It is the task of the states to raise that sum each month in whichever way seems most effective to them. So long as the respective coin reaches me, I couldn’t care less. It’s really a very effective method. You might like to implement it yourself, Mithé. It certainly cuts down on the workload.”
The Raykinian king ignored her. “These bandits are currently only attacking Raykinian caravans.” Nol recognised the same tone Mithé often used on him when explaining something he considered to be simple. “If you don’t step in, they’ll soon start attacking Llayan caravans, then even Kazinian. It would not take long then for Tsayth to retaliate on Llayad’s behalf, or for Silrona to turn on their queen, or even their empress. You’ve said yourself you have tenuous control of your own army.”
Shizaaqa raised an eyebrow and bit into the fleshy white of her rambutan. “That’s a rather longwinded threat, Mithé. Would it not be a simpler task to threaten me with the might of Raykin’s army?”
Nolryn had to privately agree with her there. The longwinded threat would probably work on another Raykinian, most certainly on a Llayan, but not a Kazinian.
Mithé merely shrugged. “I’m only being realistic, Shizaaqa. I prefer to keep at least some peace between our kingdoms, if not entirely sincere.”
The Kazinian empress gave a dangerous grin. “And that, Mithé, is why nothing will ever change in this empire.” She bit again into the rambutan, picking the flesh from its stone with her teeth. “I should imagine that the relationship between Kazin and Raykin will be considerably more… exciting, shall we say, with your passing.”
Nol returned the grin. “Rather a longwinded threat, Empress. Might it not be easier to threaten invasion outright?”
Mithé sighed and put his forehead in one hand, then muttered to himself in Raykinian. “Thank the goddesses I won’t see the day.”