Letter from a noble woman of Tartaria

Dear Sister, It has been too long since I last wrote. Forgive me for not keeping you abreast of developments here in Aktobe, but there has been little happiness to report these past seasons. Spring should have seen our gardens bursting with color, yet instead they lie barren. The soldiers camped beyond our walls have trampled the flowerbeds while training their charges, destroying months of the gardeners' toil. I spare little sympathy - their presence means our lands are at risk, and that thought chills me far more than the coming winter's frost ever could. You know how I cherish our evening promenades amongst the blossoms. It pains me that the children of Aktobe will grow up without experiencing life-giving beauty within these walls. But there are deeper worries pressing on my mind. For months we have hosted an influx of refugees from the eastern marches, their faces hollow and clothes threadbare. They bring ominous tales of nomadic incursions that your letters tell grow more frequent at our borders. Once the great Silk Road ensured our prosperity through safe commerce with lands afar. Now the roads seem scarcely passable as tribes vie for dominance and resources grow scarce on the steppe. I understand their desperation, yet cannot condone how they ravage our protectorates in search of sustenance. It is a vicious cycle that benefits none, save perhaps the warlords who stir dissent for their own ambition. Our esteemed Khan has done admirably to check these restless invaders through diplomacy and tribute, maintaining the realm's integrity against formidable odds. However, even his sagacity has limits if our enemies' appetites remain insatiable. I hear whispers that some border Lords chafe at the taxes needed to sustenance such a vast defensive network. They forget how our unity and the Khan's visionary leadership allowed Tartaria to prosper for centuries between the shoulders of East and West. If the Khanate fractures from within, it will be doomed. I pray those Lords regain vision of the greater whole before opportunism and short-sighted self-interest damage what generations worked to forge. Tartaria is a blessing to her peoples - she gave us purpose and identity where others had only the harsh emptiness of the steppe. I still believe in her strength, yet cannot ignore an ominous premonition that change is coming, propelled by forces beyond any single ruler's control. Please write soon to ease my fears. Your accounts of life continuing untroubled in Kashgar are an anchor in troubled times. Until I see you again in the summer, know that you and our parents are constantly in my thoughts. Your loving sister, Mehriban