A Kiss of Fire: A Kiss of Magic Book 2 by Jacquelyn Frank

Author:Jacquelyn Frank [Frank, Jacquelyn]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: UNKNOWN
Published: 2016-09-05T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter Sixteen

Sin wore away at her defenses.

The next day he took her for another tour of the countryside that was now Kilt. It began to snow while they were out, but they kept each other warm in the saddle of Sin’s stallion. When they returned he brought her back to his mother’s salon where she was given books and stitching, whichever she pleased, to entertain herself. Later that afternoon he brought her into his study and they poured over the ledgers together. She was impressed that he trusted her figures when she needed scratch paper to do her tallying, whereas he kept it all in his head. He didn’t keep her just doing the tariff tallies. He made certain she had a look at every government run account Kilt had. He was exposing himself completely to her, trusting her in a way she would never have trusted anyone. Was he truly that confident that she would never see her home country again?

She wasn’t sure.

They were alone together only when they were in his study doing the ledgers, and even then he left the door ajar where anyone could see in as they passed. And there was a lot of traffic in these halls, she noticed. Mothers and children. Servants. Ambassadors and diplomats. They all seemed to have free reign over the temple. However, no one ever came into Sin’s study. It was clear it was out of bounds to others.

That night, at dinner, she took control of the conversation, refusing to let Raj Vich get a word in edgewise. Whenever he went to speak, she would jump in over him and say something, anything, to turn the conversation away from him or his opinions. At one point she saw Sin lift his napkin to his lips and heard him smother a chuckle under an affected cough. Vich’s frustration at this tactic became more and more clear at the meal wore on.

“Well you know what I think—“, Vich interrupted the conversation loudly.

“Oh yes. I'm sure I do,” Ariana cut him off once again. “You are going to say that the government should not be simply handing out supplies to the people. That it will bankrupt the crown. But I agree with Raja Sin on this matter. And investment today will pay off in the long run and the crown will be the richer for it.”

The courtiers all sent murmurs of agreement up the table.

“But I—“, Vich began again.

“Oh of course. There should be some repayment. Perhaps in seed or returned crop. Yes, that is very wise. I am glad your brother has already thought of that and made arrangements accordingly.”

“Indeed I have,” Sin said amicably. “We stake each farmer land and seed, and they then owe the crown a portion of crop or proceeds of crop in a yearly tithe until the startup costs have been repaid. The money we invest today will not only come back to us in repaid debt, but the economy will be fortified with working farms and domestic grains…rather than imports.

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