of a gigantic babbling idiot."
Growl. "Creation was His drool."
Later, after a lavish meal, Theodora's spirits improved.
She lifted her wine cup in salutation.
"I congratulate you, Maurice," she said. "You have succeeded in bringing the provincial tractator to the brink of death. By apoplexy."
Maurice grunted. "Still peeved, is he, about the taxes?"
"He complained to me for hours, from the moment I got off the ship. This large estate represents quite a bit for him in the way of lost income, you know. Mostly, though, he's agitated about the tax collectors."
Maurice said nothing beyond a noncommittal: "Your Majesty."
Smiling, the Empress shook her head.
"You really shouldn't have beaten them quite so badly. They were only doing their job, after all."
"They were not!" snapped Antonina. "This estate is legally exempt from the general indiction, and they know it perfectly well!"
"So it is," agreed Cassian. "Res privata, technically. Part of—"
Theodora waved him down.
"Please, Bishop! Since when has a provincial 引越し見積もり tractator cared about the picayune details of an estate's legal tax status? Squeeze, squeeze, squeeze. Let them complain to Constantinople. By the time the bureaucrats get around to ruling on the matter, everyone'll be dead of old age anyhow."
Maurice nodded sagely. "Quite nicely put, Your Majesty. Those are indeed the usual tactics of tractators."
He took a sip of his wine. "Excellent tactics. Provided you pick the right sponge."
Theodora shook her head. "Which does not, I assume, include an estate inhabited by several hundred Thracian cataphracts?"
Maurice cleared his throat. "Actually, Your Majesty—no. I would recommend against it. Especially when those cataphracts have secrets to keep hidden from the prying eyes of tax collectors."
Theodora now beamed upon the Bishop. Again, she
Growl. "Creation was His drool."
Later, after a lavish meal, Theodora's spirits improved.
She lifted her wine cup in salutation.
"I congratulate you, Maurice," she said. "You have succeeded in bringing the provincial tractator to the brink of death. By apoplexy."
Maurice grunted. "Still peeved, is he, about the taxes?"
"He complained to me for hours, from the moment I got off the ship. This large estate represents quite a bit for him in the way of lost income, you know. Mostly, though, he's agitated about the tax collectors."
Maurice said nothing beyond a noncommittal: "Your Majesty."
Smiling, the Empress shook her head.
"You really shouldn't have beaten them quite so badly. They were only doing their job, after all."
"They were not!" snapped Antonina. "This estate is legally exempt from the general indiction, and they know it perfectly well!"
"So it is," agreed Cassian. "Res privata, technically. Part of—"
Theodora waved him down.
"Please, Bishop! Since when has a provincial 引越し見積もり tractator cared about the picayune details of an estate's legal tax status? Squeeze, squeeze, squeeze. Let them complain to Constantinople. By the time the bureaucrats get around to ruling on the matter, everyone'll be dead of old age anyhow."
Maurice nodded sagely. "Quite nicely put, Your Majesty. Those are indeed the usual tactics of tractators."
He took a sip of his wine. "Excellent tactics. Provided you pick the right sponge."
Theodora shook her head. "Which does not, I assume, include an estate inhabited by several hundred Thracian cataphracts?"
Maurice cleared his throat. "Actually, Your Majesty—no. I would recommend against it. Especially when those cataphracts have secrets to keep hidden from the prying eyes of tax collectors."
Theodora now beamed upon the Bishop. Again, she