"Three percent!" gasped Alfrahil. "The kingdom is also poor now. We could hardly afford an increase to one and a half percent, much less three."
"You certainly can if you increase taxes," said Rodolphus quietly.
"Our people are already overtaxed for our pacification of Shardan."
"I would relinquish my request for an increase in aid if your King were to withdraw from Shardan and proclaim it publicly. Yes," said Rodolphus, shaking his head sadly, "your “pacification” as you call it, has claimed tens of thousands of innocent lives. You subjugate a people under the studded jackboots of your army, causing misery to nearly a hundred thousand people.’
Purpling with rage, Alfrahil demanded, "Who are you to dictate policy to your King!?" His tact and wisdom from the previous night deserted him
