Read Legon Awakening: Book One in the Legon Series for Free Online Page B

still lived at home, you had to pay considerably
more on your taxes, and if you could not pay that amount, the
member of the family that was the cause of the increase went into
the queen’s care. The queen’s care was slavery; people could rent
you for a price from the empire, or you were sold to Iumenta for
their own uses. This exact thing happened just a few months ago to
Sasha’s friend when her family couldn’t afford her. When it was
time to pay the annual taxes, the queen’s tax collectors took her
into the queen’s care and she had not been seen since.
    The problem now was not Legon; he made the family a
good sum of money and his mother, who was the town healer, did
decently enough. The problem was that Sasha was overage already and
the family would have to pay a lot for her again this year. Because
the townspeople didn’t care for her, she had a hard time making any
money, and her condition prevented her from becoming a certified
healer. This coming January when the collectors came, the family
would now have to pay for both Sasha and Legon, and they could not
do it. In fact, Legon was going to be forced to leave solely due to
the fact that the town was not big enough for two butchers. The
family’s best hope was for Legon to make as much as he could and
bring it to his family to continue paying the taxes for Sasha, but
he couldn’t see how it could be done. “ I will not allow them to
take her ,” he said to himself. He could feel his face flush
with anger as he thought of Moleth’s comment that morning.
    Something of his thoughts must have shown on his
face, because Edis said, “Son, we’ll find a way. We won’t let her
go.”
    “I hope so.”
    As if in answer to their conversation, the door
tinkled again. Legon turned to look at the newcomers and he felt
his heart drop just a bit. Because of the type of work their family
did, they were subject to quarterly tax appraisals and inspections.
These were, in short, a chance for the government to come in and
make sure Edis and Laura were fulfilling their requirements as a
healer and a butcher. The inspections and appraisals weren’t
pleasant, but not that bad either.
    The two men stood side by side, and Legon could tell
who was who right away. The one on the right had greasy hair and a
bent nose that looked to have been broken on several occasions.
This man was the collector; it was his job to secure payment. His
deep blue robes were slightly disheveled, showing the slightly
physical part of his job. The other man’s robes looked brand new.
He was shorter than the first and had a round face. It looked like
he took the time to part each hair on its own every morning. This
man was the appraiser. The collector spoke first. His voice also
sounded greasy and unclean.
    “Edis I take it? We are here for your quarterly
appraisal.”
    Edis spoke. “Oh, I wasn’t expecting you for a
week or so…”
    The appraiser cut across him calmly. “Sorry, do
forgive us, we are running a bit ahead of schedule. If you are not
ready for us we could come by tomorrow.” There could not be more of
a difference in the two men, as Legon knew. He liked the appraisers
for the most part; they had the personality of bricks, but they
were a lot more polite.
    The collector looked scandalized. “I have things to
do, Harper. This is only a quarterly, anyhow. Do you really need to
look at their books and all that stuff?”
    Harper looked irritated. “Fine, but we have more to
cover this time than normal.” He pulled a piece of parchment from a
shoulder bag. “This says here that you have a son coming of age
this year?”
    “Yes, my boy Legon here,” he said as he patted
Legon’s arm.
    Harper went on. “Very well. We have a bit of
paperwork then. May we sit down somewhere?”
    Edis took them into the house and with the rest of
the family sat at the table. Laura looked flustered at the
unexpected visit.
    “I have records of treatments, if you would like. It
shouldn’t take me