Requiem for the Sun by Elizabeth Haydon Read Free Book Online

moved aside a half-eaten turkey leg that lay on a plate amid crumpled sheets of parchment and empty cordial glasses on the table before her, eyeing the refuse that was clumped in piles around the rest of the table and other parts of the library.
    Ashe rolled his eyes and sighed dramatically. “Revisions to the Orlandan tariff structure,” he said with mock angst.
    â€œAh. Well, that explains it.” She turned to young Gwydion Navarne, seated to her left. “Where were you in your discussions when I interrupted, Gwydion?”
    â€œThe impasse seems to have occurred in the discussion of the exemption that the province of Yarim has requested on foodstuffs, owing to the drought conditions of the last two growing seasons,” the young man said.
    â€œIndeed,” Ashe agreed. “Canderre, Avonderre, and Bethany oppose the waiver of such tariffs, while Bethe Corbair agrees.”
    â€œBethe Corbair shares a border with Yarim, and does not have the cost of transportation of goods that Avonderre has,” protested Martin Ivenstrand, whose coastal province was the most distant from Yarim.
    â€œNor do I remember Yarim agreeing to reduce tariffs on their opals or their salt in the past when restrictions on sea trade threatened our revenues,” said Cedric Canderre, the older man who was the duke of the province that bore his name, known for its production of luxury goods, fine wines, and rich delicacies. “I am unclear as to why this drought is any different than the obstacles Canderre or the other provinces of Roland have faced.”
    â€œBecause this drought is beggaring my province, you imbecile,” growled Ihrman Karsrick, the Duke of Yarim. “Those so-called obstacles did not make even a nail’s worth of a dent in your fat treasury, and you know it. Yarim, on the other hand, is facing mass starvation.”
    Rhapsody leaned back in her chair and looked to Tristan Steward. “And what is Bethany’s position, Tristan?”
    â€œWe are certainly sympathetic to Yarim’s plight,” said the prince smoothly. “As such, we are more than willing to extend them generous extensions on their tariff payments.”
    Amusement sparkled in Rhapsody’s green eyes, but her face and voice remained passive. “How kind of you.”
    The mild look on Tristan Steward’s face hardened a little. “More than that, m’lady, Bethany is concerned that this matter was brought up for discussion at the level of the Cymrian Alliance at all,” he said, a terse note entering his otherwise warm voice. “Hithertofore each province of Roland has always had the right to set its own tariff rates, as it deemed fit, without interference from any — er, higher authority.” His eyes met Ashe’s. “At the Council that named
you Cymrian lord and lady, we had been assured that the sovereignty of the realms within the Alliance would be respected.”
    â€œYes, that assurance was given, and it has not changed,” said Rhapsody quickly, noting the darkening of her husband’s expression. She turned again to the young man who would soon take a place at this table as the Duke of Navarne. “What is your opinion of this, Gwydion?”
    Gwydion Navarne shifted in his chair, then sat forward.
    â€œI believe that, while the sovereignty of provincial tariff rights is important to observe, there are some things that transcend tariff,” he said simply, his young voice husky with change, “emergency foodstuffs being one of those things. Why should those of us blessed with more fertile lands and plentiful food profit excessively from the suffering of a fellow Orlandan province, rather than going to its aid in a time of need?”
    The Lord Cymrian smiled slightly. “Your father would have proffered the same solution,” he said to Gwydion Navarne, while keeping his eyes locked with Tristan’s. “You are a compassionate man, as he