“At the level of the Empire, no, but at the level of your individual household, yes, actually,” Sami said.
“With some sort of gambler’s shell-game?” Hoda-auntie asked suspiciously. “I had thought better of you before you declared yourself of such questionable morals.”
“In a manner of speaking, I suppose,” Sami said, glancing up at Shai Vishal beside his cauldron. “Your Reverence, whatpercentage of the goods donated to your Temple for tithed tax relief are unusable by the time you receive them? Fifteen percent? Twenty?”
“It depends on both the goods and the donor,” Shai Vishal said, leaning into hispaltato stir all the way to the bottom of the cauldron. “But in that vicinity, yes.”
“Suppose that percentage holds true for other endeavors as well,” Sami said, “and that a fifth of taxes levied are never received to apply to the services needed. Whether they were never paid or waylaid in transit or a dishonest soul falsified the records, the resources are predictably lower than the number expected on the page. And the Empire has calculated this into its levies, just as I am certain his Reverence Shai Vishal has calculated this into his cauldrons.”
“Your ‘disobedience’ stinks of spying on our neighbors to make them pay more to the Empire,” Mreret growled.
“Oh, no, no, I’m sorry, I meant much more the opposite!” Sami stammered. “I meant — I — theshahzadaforesees trouble. At the whole city’s scale, that means disasters.And disasters are expensive to mend. Now, some things simply can’t be averted. None of us control how far the river will rise. But some things can be avertedbeforethey become disasters, if more of the mice that foul the grain are caught by cats, or if the collapsed gravel filter that clogged the intake of theqanatis cleared before the unfiltered debris blocks the water supply for a quarter of the city. All of those averted difficulties become savings to us all. They offset the expected losses with unexpected reductions in future expenses that will not occur. And theshahzadacould calculate the value of those savings, to your credit, if you brought him a bit of evidence for his foresights to focus from.”
“He’s not a young man,” Hoda-auntie said. “What happens to the tax credits when, may it be years from now, but…”
“The God-Emperor always has Hisnadhir,”Sami said. “Another will be called in due time.”
“Years from now,” Geeta-auntie said firmly. “I like this one.”
“I shall convey the honor of your regard to his Highness,” Sami told her, warmly.
“Oh, my goodness, would you?” Geeta-auntie fluttered. “Ishta will choke on her teeth!”
“…Oh, dear.”
“I could be persuaded of the amusement in bringing a pile of dead rats to drop in a prince’s bed,” Mreret said, examining her claws.
“I imagine we should standardize the value of rats’ tails at a number which can be fairly reckoned by the tax collectors!” Sami told her hastily. “What a nuisance it would be to have your entire tax collected at once and then to be refunded a fewdaniqat a time!”
“If all we need are the tails, do we leave the rest of the rats in the linens? Or in the wine cellar? And where is the best sunbeam where we can overhear the screaming?”
“The Imperials who cast the cat-warding upon thehavelimay have had reasonable cause to do so,” Shai Vishal observed.
“Did I mention the collars?” Sami asked, a bit desperate.
Ears laid back, Mreret hissed.
“We identify those who are trusted in sensitive areas such as the guards’ quarters and the Archives,” Sami explained. “Humans carry identifying passes attesting to their good behavior in order to visit the Archives. They agree that they will behave in a civilized manner, a domesticated manner, around the irreplaceable historic creations for which we are still our grandchildren’s custodians. Both catfolk and cats and even familiars could agree to good behavior as well, it seems to me, whether they came in a two-legged figure or a four-legged one. And in any case, it would be necessary for everyoneto have equitable access to the tax collectors of the Ministry of Finance, for their contributions to be justly recorded and justly rewarded.”
“Bored again,” Mreret declared.
“I’m not,” Basima-auntie said. “Not if your Ministry is going to give us a fifth of our taxes back and I don’t have to tell my husband about it.”
“That would be between you and your husband, I fear.”
Mreret yawned extravagantly, dropping her latest broadleaf on Sami’s pile and curling up. “Wake me when the disobedience gets interesting again.”
“Well.” Sami fussed delicately with the folds of his latest bowl. “I expect that I am soon to be put to trial for heresy, and I would like to make it a usefully troublesome trial?”
“WHAT?”they all yowled at once, including Ashar.
He took a sharp breath, trying not to clutch at Sami too hard, scrambling for anything to say that wasn’thow can they accuse the God-Emperor’s own brother of heresy?Nothing that implied they had known each other before today, or so intimately, or?—
Mreret scratched vigorously behind her ear and shook her head. “Notthat muchdisobedience! We want the God-Emperor toignore us ignoring him,not start throwing around heresy-trials!”
“Oh, no, it’s much more personal than that,” Sami assured her.
“That’s not better!”Basima-auntie howled, both hands knotted in her head-scarf to make sure her head was still attached. “Personally offending a god isnot in any way better!”
