Saran had her documents spread before Batu came through.
Khulgen was already there, his case closed and resting on his knee, his hands flat on top of it. The scribes worked in their row beneath the south window. Mahmud stood near the shelving with his document case open.
Through the building's walls came the sounds of Torghul's formation preparations, steady and distant, an army nine days from moving.
Batu sat down.
"The city needs settlers," Saran said. "We have the stalls and the scribes and the market district going up, but we do not have the people who make a market work."
She had a piece of felt set apart from her other documents.
"Three years of exemption from tributary obligation for any household that registers and settles permanently within the first year. Plus a land allocation for what they build on. We invest in early arrivals. The population density is worth three years of foregone levy."
Khulgen did not pick up his case.
