the side of the city wall. The line was as wide as her hand. There were no gaps where stone met stone. It was as she had read: the entire wall was one seamless piece of rock.
Except, it was no longer flawless. Pieces of the enormous monolith were crumbling and cracking, especially near the top. As they neared the end of their climb there were places where great chunks of the wall had torn away. leaving jagged wounds in the stone reminiscent of bite marks. Still, the wall was impressive, especially when one was standing on top of it, looking down at the ground below.
'Oh my,' Sarene said, feeling herself grow dizzy.
Daorn pulled against the back of her dress urgently. 'Don't get too close, Sarene.'
'I'm all right,' she said with a dazed voice. She did, however, let him pull her hack.
Ashe hovered next to her, glowing with concern. 'Perhaps this wasn't a good idea, my lady. You know how you are with heights.'
'Nonsense,' Sarene said, recovering. Then she noticed for the first time the large gathering on the wall's top a short distance away. There was a piercing voice rising over the group-one she couldn't quite make out. 'What's that?'
The twins exchanged mutual shrugs of confusion. 'I don't know,' Daorn said.
'This place is usually empty, except for the guards.' Kaise added.
'Let's have a look,' Sarene said. She wasn't sure, but she thought she recognized the voice's accent. As they approached the back of the crowd, Sarene confirmed her suspicion.
'It's the gyorn!' Kaise said excitedly. 'I wanted to see him.' And she was gone. shooting in to the crowd. Sarene could hear muffled cries of surprise and annoyance as the little girl pushed her way to the front of the group. Daorn shot his sister a longing look and took a step forward, but then looked back at Sarene and instead decided to remain beside her like a dutiful guide.
Daorn needn't have worried about seeing the gyorn, however. Sarene was a bit more reserved than her young cousin, hut she was just as determined to get close enough to hear Hrathen. So, her small guard at her side, Sarene politely-but resolutely-made her way through the crowd until she was standing at the front.
Hrathen stood on a small overlook built into the Elantris wall. His back was
to the crowd, but he was angled in such a way as to let his words reach them. His speech was obviously intended for their ears, and not those down below. Sarene spared barely a gIance for Elantris itself-she would study it later.
'Look at them!' Hrathen commanded, gesturing toward Elantris. 'They have lost their right to be men. They are animals, having no will or desire to serve Lord Jaddeth. They know no God, and can follow only after their lusts.'
Sarene frowned. Shu-Dereth taught that the only difference between men and animals was mankind's ability to worship God, or 'Jaddeth' in Fjordell. The doctrine was not new to Sarene; her father had made sure to include an extensive knowledge of Shu-Dereth in her education. What she couldn't figure out was why a full gyorn would waste his time with the Elantrians. What could he possibly gain from denouncing a group that had already been beaten down so soundly?
One thing was clear, however. If the gyorn saw reason to preach against Elantris, then it was her duty to defend it. It was possible to block her enemy's schemes before she fully understood them.
'… as all know. animals are far beneath men in the eyes of Lord Jaddeth.' Hrathen was saying, his speech rising toward its conclusion.
Sarene saw her chance and took it. She opened her eyes wide, assumed a dull look of confusion, and-with her most high-pitched innocent voice-asked a single word.
'Why?'
Hrathen stopped. She had timed the question so it fell directly in the awkward space between two of his sentences. The gyorn stumbled at the piercing inquiry. obviously trying to regain his momentum. However, Sarene's placement had been too skillful, and the moment was gone. He turned around with harsh eyes to search out the one who had so foolishly interrupted him. All he found was a demure, perplexed Sarene.
'Why what?' Hrathen demanded.
'Why are animals beneath humans in Mr. Jaddeth's eyes?' she asked.
The gyorn gritted his teeth at her use of the term 'Mr. Jaddeth.' 'Because, unlike men, they can do nothing but follow their own lusts.'
The standard follow-up question to such a statement would have been 'But men follow their lusts as well,' which would have given Hrathen an opportunity to explain the difference between a man of God and a carnal, sinful man. Sarene didn't oblige.
'But I heard that Mr. Jaddeth rewarded arrogance.' Sarene said with confusion.
The gyorn's eyes grew suspicious. The question was just a bit too well placed to have come from one as simple as Sarene was pretending to be. He knew, or at least suspected, that she was toying with him. However, he still had to answer the question-if not for her, then for the rest of the crowd.
'Lord Jaddeth rewards ambition, not arrogance,' he said carefully.
'I don't understand,' Sarene said. 'Isn't ambition serving our own lusts? Why does Mr. Jaddeth reward that?'
Hrathen was losing his audience, and he knew it. Sarene's question was a century-old theological argument against Shu-Dereth, but the crowd knew nothing of ancient disputes or scholarly refutations. All they knew was that someone was asking questions Hrathen couldn't answer quickly enough, or interestingly enough, to hold their attention.
'Arrogance is different from carnality,' Hrathen declared in a snappish voice. making use of his commanding position to take control of the conversation. 'People's service in Jaddeth's empire is quickly rewarded both here and in the afterlife.'
It was a masterful attempt: he managed not only to switch the topic, but to draw the crowd's attention to another idea. Everyone found rewards fascinating. Unfortunately for him, Sarene wasn't done yet.
'So if we serve Jaddeth, our lusts are fulfilled?'
'No one serves Jaddeth but Wyrn,' Hrathen said offhandedly as he considered how to best answer her objections.
Sarene smiled; she had been hoping he would make that mistake. It was a basic tenet of Shu-Dereth that only one man could serve Jaddeth directly; the religion was very regimented, and its structure was reminiscent of the feudal government that had once ruled in Fjorden. One served those above him. who served those above him, and so on until it reached Wyrn, who served Jaddeth directly. Everyone served Jaddeth's empire. but only one man was holy enough to serve God directly. There was much confusion about the distinction, and it was eommon for the Derethi priesthood to correct it as Hrathen just had.
Unfortunately, he had also just given Sarene another opportunity.
'No one can serve Jaddeth?' she asked with confusion. 'Not even you?'
It was a silly argument-a misinterpretation of Hrathen's point, not a true attack on Shu-Dereth. In a debate of pure religious merit. Sarene would never have been able to stand against a fully-trained gyorn. However, Sarene wasn't looking to disprove Hrathen's teachings, just ruin his speech.
Hrathen looked up at her comment. immediately realizing his mistake. All of his former thinking and planning was now useless-and the crowd was wondering at this new question.
Nobly, the gyorn tried to cover for his mistake. attempting to bring the conversation back to more familiar grounds, but Sarene had the crowd now, and she held on to them with the viselike grip only a woman on the verge of hysterics could manage.
'What will we do?' she asked with a shake of her head. 'I fear these things of priests are beyond common people such as myself.'
And it was over. The people began talking among themselves and wandering
away. Most of them were laughing at the eccentricities of priests, and the abstruseness of theological reasonings. Sarene noticed that most of them were nobles; it must have taken a great deal of effort for the gyorn to lead them all up to Elantris's wall. She found herself smiling wickedly at all of his wasted planning and coaxing.
Hrathen watched his carefully arranged gathering dribble away. He didn't try speaking again; he probably knew that if he yelled or fumed, he would only do more damage than good.
Surprisingly, the gyorn turned away from the scattering people and nodded appreciatively at Sarene. It wasn't
