The light was different now. The winter light had been gone for a few days, the morning coming in more directly through the felt panels, and the room had a warmth that had been absent since the autumn.
Batu had been at the documents since before the camp's first horse line allocation. The stack on the table was partway down when the morning reached its full brightness.
Mahmud's tributary tallies were first in the order. The two-column format was fully implemented, every submission from the Burjin north to the Bashkir line carrying household count and levy in the same row.
The grain reserve instrument had made its first purchase in the winter, when a Tergesh surplus report triggered the buying criterion. Mahmud noted the buying price in the margin and flagged the date.
