a bow, but it was the most respectful gesture she had ever received from a Derethi priest. It was an acknowledgment of a battle well won, a concession given to a worthy opponent.
'You play a dangerous game, Princess,' he said softly in his slightly accented voice.
'You'll find I am very good at games. Gyorn,' she replied.
'Until the next round, then,' he said, waving for a shorter, light-haired priest to follow him as he climbed down from the wall. In this other man's eyes there was no hint of respect or even tolerance. They burned with hatred, and Sarene shivered as he focused them on her. The man's teeth were clenched tightly. and Sarene got the feeling that there wasn't much holding the man back from grabbing her by the neck and hurling her off the side of the wall. She grew dizzy just thinking about it.
'That one worries me.' Ashe observed by her side. 'I have seen such men before, and my experience has not been favorable. A dam so poorly constructed must eventually collapse.'
Sarene nodded. 'He was Aonic-not a Fjordell. He looks like a page or attendant of Hrathen's.'
'Well, let us hope that the gyorn can keep his pet under control, my lady.'
She nodded, but her response was cut off by a sudden peal of laughter from beside her. She looked down to find Kaise rolling on the ground with mirth; apparently. she had managed to hold her outburst until the gyorn was out of sight.
'Sarene,' she said between gasps of breath. 'that was wonderful! You were so stupid! And his face… he got even redder than Papa after he finds out I've eaten all of his sweets. His face almost matched his armor!'
'I didn't like him at all,' Daorn said solemnly from beside Sarene. He stood near an open part of the parapet, looking down toward Hrathen as the man descended the enormous flight of stairs to the city. 'He was too… hard. Didn't he know you were only acting stupid?'
'Probably,' Sarene said. motioning for Kaise to stand up and then brushing off the girl's pink dress. 'But there was no way for him to prove it, so he had to pretend that I was serious.'
'Father says the gyorn is here to convert us all to Shu-Dereth,' Daorn said.
'Does he now?' Sarene asked.
Daorn nodded. 'He also says lie's afraid Hrathen will be successful. He says the crops didn't do well last year. and a lot of the people are without food. If the planting this month doesn't go well, next winter will be even harder, and hard times make people willing to accept a man who preaehes change.'
'Your father is a wise man, Daorn,' Sarene said. Her confrontation with Hrathen had been little more than sport; people's minds were fickle, and they would quickly forget this day's debate. Whatever Hrathen had been doing was only part of something much larger-something to do with Elantris-and Sarene needed to discover what his intentions were. Finally remembering her original reason for visiting the wall, Sarene took her first good look at the city below.
It had once been beautiful. The feel of the city, how the buildings worked together, the way the roads crossed-the entire mass was… intentional. Art on a grand scale. Most of the arches had collapsed, many of the domed roofs had fallen, and even some of the walls looked as if they had little time left. Still, she could tell one thing. Elantris had been beautiful, once.
'They're so sad,' Kaise said next to her, on her tiptoes so she could see over the side of the stone safety wall.
'Who?'
'Them,' Kaise said, pointing to the streets below.
There were people down there-huddled forms that barely moved. They were camouflaged against the dark streets. Sarene couldn't hear their groans, but she could feel them.
'No one takes care of them.' Kaise said.
'How do they eat?' Sarene asked. 'Someone must feed them.' She couldn't make out many details about the people below-only that they were human. Or, at least, they had the forms of humans; she had read many confusing things about the Elantrians.
'No one,' Daorn said from her other side. 'No one feeds them. They should all be dead-there's nothing for them to eat.'
'They must get it somewhere,' Sarene argued.
Kaise shook her head. 'They're dead. Sarene. They don't need to eat.'
'They may not move much,' Sarene said dismissively, 'but they obviously aren't dead. Look, those ones over there are standing.'
'No, Sarene. They're dead too. They don't need to eat, they don't need to sleep, and they don't age. They're all dead.' Kaise's voice was uncharacteristically solemn.
`How do you know so much about it?' Sarene said, trying to dismiss the words as productions of a child's imagination. Unfortunately, these children had proven themselves remarkably well informed.
'I just do,' Kaise said. 'Trust me. They're dead.'
Sarene felt the hair on her arms rising, and she sternly told herself not to give in to the mysticism. The Elantrians were odd, true, but they were not dead. There had to be another explanation.
She scanned the city once more, trying to put Kaise's disturbing comments out of her mind. As she did, her eyes fell on a particular pair of figures-ones who didn't appear to be as pitiful as the rest. She squinted at the figures. They were Elantrian, but one seemed to have darker skin than the other. They crouched on the top of a buiIding, and they looked mobile, unlike most of the other Elantrians she had seen. There was something… different about these two.
'My lady?' Ashe's concerned voice sounded in her ear, and she realized that she had begun to lean out over the stone parapet.
With a start, she looked down, realizing just how high up they were. Her eyes unfocused, and she began to lose her balance, transfixed by the undulating ground below…
'My lady!' Ashe's voice came again, shocking her out of her stupor.
Sarene stumbled back from the wall, squatting down and wrapping her arms
around her knees. She breathed deeply for a moment. 'I'll be all right, Ashe.' 'We're leaving this place as soon as you regain your balance,' the Seon or-
dered, his voice firm.
Sarene nodded distractedly.
Kaise snorted. 'You know, considering how tall she is, you'd think she'd get used to heights.'
CHAPTER 9
If Dilaf had been a dog. he would have been growling. Probably frothing at the mouth as well, Hrathen decided. The arteth was even worse than he usually was after visiting Elantris's wall. Hrathen turned to look back at the city. They had nearly reached their chapel,
but the enormous wall surrounding Elantris was still visible behind them. Atop it somewhere was the infuriating young woman who had somehow gotten the best of him this day.
'She was magnificent,' Hrathen said in spite of himself. Like any of his kind, he had an unquestioned prejudice when it came to the Teoish people. Teod had banished Derethi ministers from the country fifty years ago following a small misunderstanding, and had never consented to let them back in. The Teoish king had come quite near to banishing the Fjordell ambassadors as well. There wasn't a single known Teoish member of Shu-Dereth, and the Teoish royal house was infamous for its biting denunciations of all things Derethi.
Still, it was invigorating to meet a person who could so easily foil one of his sermons. Hrathen had preached Shu-Dereth so long, had made such an art of manipulating the public mind, that he hardly found challenge in it any longer. His success in Duladel a half year ago had proven that one could even cause nations to crumble, if one were capable enough.
Unfortunately, in Duladel there had been little opposition. The Dulas themselves were too open, too accepting. to present a true challenge. In the end, with the shambles of a government dead at his feet. Hrathen had found himself disappointed. It had been almost too easy.
'Yes, she is impressive,' he said.
