"Sara Douglass - Redemption 1 - Sinner" - читать интересную книгу автора (Douglass Sara)

speaking distance of Zared, let alone bedding distance!
Frustrated with herself for allowing her emotions to so carry her away, Leagh
smoothed out the silken patch and laid it with the others. The political problems
were only the start of Askam's objections, for Askam not only disliked Zared
personally, but resented and felt threatened by Zared's success in the North. The
West encompassed much of the old Achar - the provinces of Romsdale,
Avonsdale and Aldeni. Each year the lands produced rich harvests, and for
decades Carlon had grown fat on the trade with the rest of Tencendor and the
Corolean Empire to the far south. But despite its natural abundance, the West
was riven with huge economic problems. As Prince of the West, Askam had
managed to mire himself deep in debt over the past seven years. For three years
he had entertained the entire eight-score strong retinue of the Corolean
Ambassador while, on Caelum's behalf, he had thrashed out an agreement for
Tencendorian fishing rights in the Sea of Tyrre. When the agreement had finally
been concluded, and the Ambassador and his well-fattened train once more in
Coroleas, Askam had personally funded the outfit of a massive fishing fleet, only
to have three-quarters of the boats lost in a devastating storm in their first
season. Thinking to recoup his losses, Askam had loaned the King of Escator, a
small kingdom across the Widowmaker Sea, a vast sum to refurbish the
Escatorian gloam mines in return for half the profit from the sale of gloam, only
to have the mines flooded in a disaster of epic proportions, and the new king -
the previous having drowned in the mine itself - completely repudiate any
monies his predecessor had borrowed.
These were only two of the investment disasters Askam had made over the
past few years. There were a score of others, if not so large. Smaller projects
had failed, other deals had fallen through after considerable cash outlay. Askam
had been forced to raise taxes within the West over the past two years which,
though they made but a small dent into the amount he owed, had caused
hardship among farmers and traders alike. Yet who could blame Askam for the
economic misfortune of the West? Sheer bad luck seemed to dog his best
endeavours.
In total contrast, Zared's North - the old province of Ichtar - had blossomed
in unrivalled prosperity. In the days before Axis had reunited Tencendor, the old
Ichtar had been rich, true, but it had relied mainly on its gem mines for wealth.
The gem mines still produced - and a dozen more had opened in the past ten
years - but Zared had also opened up vast amounts of previous wasteland for
cropping and grazing. Zared had enticed the most skilled engineers to his capital
of Severin, in the elbow of the Ichtar and Azle Rivers, with high wages and the
promise of roomy housing and good schooling for their children. These engineers
had designed, and then caused to be built, massive irrigation systems in the
western and northern parts of the realm. Zared had then attracted settlers from
all over Tencendor to these vast and newly watered lands by offering them
generous land leases and the promise of minimal - and in some cases no -
taxation for the first twenty-five years of their lease. Unlike the West, all farmers,
traders and craftsmen in the North were free to dispose of their surplus as they
chose. As a result, a brisk trade in furs had grown with the Ravensbundmen in
the extreme north, which were then re-traded to the southern regions of
Tencendor. And add to that the trade in beef, lamb, gems and grain…
 The mood of the North was buoyant and optimistic. The income of families
grew each year, and men and women knew their futures were strong and