The Latin merchants, grieving as if mourning parents, together with their Attendants and servants, were driven out beyond the palace gate by the Varangian Guard brandishing bundled rods.
Their steps faltered, their faces were deathly pale; that Tyrant's cold, harsh voice seemed still to echo in their ears—"From this day forth, all Latin City-State 'concessions,' 'autonomous judicial rights,' 'tariff rights,' 'tax‑exemption privileges,' and the like in Jerusalem are abolished."
"But we're supposed to be his own people—does he really regard those Heretics not yet under his rule as his subjects?"
The representative of Venice stared blankly, at a loss, and turned to look back at the towering hall.
He could hardly make sense of it. In his eyes, these Latin merchants were essentially the mouthpieces of the Crusader nobility; compared to continuing to employ those Heretic magnates as Tax Collectors, were they not far more trustworthy?
