The guests had departed, returning back to their respective homes, and the detritus left by the celebrations had been cleared away and disposed of. Once again, Slenna was just a provincial capital with neat, tidy streets and brand new walls. Jorqel had shown Sannia the office he normally worked from and the ledgers that listed everything of importance from farms to tax, from households to rent and from tolls to costs of current and future projects. Sannia was interested in the total income flowing into the Slenna treasury. It seemed that most of the funding was coming from taxes from farms, while the estate taxes were lower than she had expected. It took a little pressure and questioning before Jorqel admitted that he had done a deal the previous year with some of the nobility in return for a supply of food to Slenna and free wood to build the new walls. Sannia then understood how it had been possible to fund the new projects so readily. Jorqel assured her that the deal had been only for one year and that the new tax period would see a rise in income from the large estates along the coastal plains of the province.
