The Fire Queen

Chapter 54

These new laws would create fair uniform tax rates, imbue the citizens with inalienable rights and create avenues of recourse that they could pursue if ever an injustice was committed against them. This legal code would make Aseron the first kingdom in the realm to guarantee fairness and equality before the law and I was excited to begin the process of drafting the laws that would comprise the legal code but it had to wait until after we had concluded our visit to Theran. Uraia and I reached the convoy that was travelling south Theran just before nightfall having left the palace at dawn. The convoy had already entered Theran lands and at the pace they were traveling they would reach Avondrea in a week. At the center of the convoy was the royal carriage, a large, plush and ornate carriage that I was supposed to be traveling in. When Uraia and I arrived at the convoy we were exhausted from flying all day. I instructed the convoy to stop for the day so that we could rest. It wasn't just me and Uraia who needed to rest, but Myra and Igor as well. The next morning Ferland and I talked in the royal carriage about my decision to create a new legal code for the kingdom. He felt that my sentiment was the right one but cautioned me that I was likely going to face opposition from the Governing Council members, who weren't going to like the idea of the palace arrogating so much authority, especially over taxation.

"All of the projects that I've initiated across the kingdom are being directly funded by the Royal Treasury, if they insist on being uncooperative we can threaten to put a stop to the funding for those initiatives, that should soften their resistance."

My conversation with Ferland was followed by a conversation with Alfred about the budgetary implications of my proposal for kingdom wide general rates of taxation.

"Certainly it will increase our revenues; in the past the nobles had the peasants do whatever work needed to be done in their fiefdoms and compensated them by providing them with food, clothing and shelter, and the only revenue that the palace received was the annual fee that the nobles paid to the palace for its continued recognition of their fiefdoms."

"The peasants' labor was worth a great deal more than what they were receiving from the nobles for their labor."

"Yes; by moving to a system of direct taxation the peasants can keep the majority of the income that they generate with their labor and they'll get to enjoy the benefits of the services that the taxes would provide for."

I was confident that once we explained the details of the taxation system to the Governing Council that we would encounter little resistance from them. Of course, the Governing Council had no actual authority, if they strenuously objected to my proposal I could still implement it regardless, but showing deference to the Governing Council was important for illustrating to the citizens that as queen I was proceeding on issues in a manner that reflected their concerns, so Ferland, Alfred and I would do our best to gain their support.

Uraia and I didn't travel with the convoy during the day while it was moving. We took Myra and Igor and flew around Theran to get a look at as much of the kingdom as we could. Theran's lands were mostly flat with few mountains and hills. No matter how far we flew in whatever direction, all we saw beneath us were fields and fields of crops. The stories that were told about Theran's vast fields did not do justice to the sheer endlessness of them. Three things made these endless fields possible: the first was the two rivers that flowed through Theran from the great lakes in Gronden, whose tributaries snaked all throughout Theran, the second was Theran's temperate climate and the third were the tens of thousands of Undrian slaves that worked the fields. The Undrian slaves were similar in appearance to the Okwari; they were large and had swarthy skin, the only difference was that they had curly hair similar to the Kandalarians. It pained me to see the Undrian slaves toiling in the fields under the hot sun; more painful was my powerlessness to do anything about it.