laughed as they stared at him. “Think about it for a minute. I’ll set up standard agreements with them all—a set amount of their production every year, and no more trying to wheedle extras out of their prince. They tell me what they need, and if I in my wisdom decide they really deserve it, they’ll get it. This bartering back and forth is damned undignified and I won’t stand for it.”
He drained his winecup and held it out to Tobin. She obliged him by pouring more, but her attention was on her husband. Rohan grinned.
“Ah, I see my chief vassal is getting nervous,” he teased.
“Damned right,” Chay agreed. “You’re not making sense. The way things are now, when they want something special—stone for a new keep, for instance—they offer more of their own produce to pay for it.”
“Have you ever noticed how often they fail to deliver? Father would get them what they swore they couldn’t live without, and then their mines would produce less than anticipated, or their crops would mysteriously fail, or any number of other things would happen to get them out of having to pay up. Father never worried about it because he was building a princedom and had more important things to do. But it’s my job to hold onto what he built and make it prosperous. Chay, what I’m proposing is that everyone gives me a fixed amount every year—or I’ll send my stewards to find out why. But in return I’ll give them more than Father ever did, and on a regular basis.”
“And if you can’t give what you’ve pledged?” Tobin asked.
“Then I’ll make up the difference from my own pocket. I want everyone to know exactly where he stands. No more of this bargaining over how many goats or carpets or winecasks.”
“And if they can’t meet their obligations?” she went on warily.
“Then add the delinquent amount to next year.” He rolled his glass between his hands. “I’m only interested in a steady supply of what I’ll need. Tobin, you know how often we’ve ended up with more of one particular thing than we can use, just because a vassal paid for something with it and Father couldn’t trade away the excess at the Rialla.”
She made a face. “I remember the year we ate Lord Baisal’s blushberries in every conceivable form for an entire summer! I’ve never been able to look at one since!”
“That’s the kind of thing I want to avoid. I decide what I need here at Stronghold per year, and arrange with the vassals to supply it. In return, I give them their basic needs that only I can arrange for them—wool, foodstuffs, building stone, things from the other princedoms. I’ll get the precise amounts of what I require, and so will they.”
“They’re likely to get rich, you know,” Chay commented.
“Don’t quote Father at me, that a rich man is a danger to his overlord. Father was wrong. A rich vassal is a loyal one because he needs to protect those riches, and I’m the one who has that responsibility. That’s why he keeps me in food and wine—and horses,” he added, grinning.
“The finest horses, if you please!” Chay retorted, and laughed back.
“Oh, of course,” Rohan agreed. “Your pardon, my lord of Radzyn. But you see that my way, everybody wins. We all get what we need, and they get used to the idea that what they receive comes from me. I’m the only one who can represent them at Waes, and I’m also the only one who can protect their lands.”
“Does the agreement stay the same during war?”
“I’ll pay for what I take, Chay, and that’s the difference between Father and me. He was busy securing the borders and he had the right to demand what he needed to do it. But I want to build a different kind of security, and I can’t do it the way Father did.”
“Are you calling Zehava a thief?” Chay asked, gray eyes dancing.
“The finest kind of thief,” Rohan said, straight-faced.
“Rohan!” Tobin’s fist connected with his arm and he winced. “Oh, stop it. You’ve long since healed—and it was the other arm, in any case. How dare you say Father stole from the vassals?”
“Well, he did. In a good cause, naturally, but what else do you call taking without paying?”
“He repaid them in security, as you yourself pointed out.”
“But they were poorer in the only ways they understand: money, horses, and food.”
She scowled at him. “So you don’t like haggling, and this