Elantris

Karata turned her head around the chapel, studying the new ceiling, then the members of Raoden's band. who had gathered outside the window to watch with

apprehension. Mareshe and Kahar stood immobile at the back of the room. Finally, Karata turned her gaze on Raoden.

There was a tense pause. Eventually. Karata turned to one of her men. 'Destroy the building, chase them out, and break some bones.' She turned to leave. 'I can get you into Iadon's palace.' Raoden said quietly.

Karata froze.

'That is what you want, isn't it?' Raoden asked. 'The Elantris City Guards caught you in Kae. They won't suffer you forever-they burn Elantrians who escape too often. If you really want to get into the palace, I can take you there.'

'We'll never get out of the city,' Karata said. turning skeptical eyes back on him. 'They've doubled the guard recently; something to do with looking good for a royal wedding. I haven't even been able to get out in a month.'

'I can get you out of the city too,' Raoden promised.

Karara's eyes narrowed with suspicion. There was no talk of price. They both knew that Raoden could demand only one thing: to be left alone. 'You're desperate.' she finally concluded.

'True. But I'm also an opportunist.'

Karata nodded slowly. 'I will return at nightfall. You will deliver as promised, or my men will break the limbs of every person here and leave them to rot in their agony.'

'Understood.'

'Sule, I-'

'Don't think this is a good idea,' Raoden finished with a slight smile. 'Yes, Galladon, I know.'

'Elantris is a big city,' Galladon said. 'There are plenty of places to hide that not even Karata could find us. She can't spread herself too thin, otherwise Shaor and Aanden will attack her. Kolo?'

`Yes, but what then?' Raoden asked, trying the strength of a rope Mareshe had fashioned from some rags. It seemed like it would hold his weight. 'Karata wouldn't be able to find us, but neither would anyone else. People are finally beginning to realize we're here. If we move now, we'll never grow.'

Galladon looked pained. 'Sule, do we have to grow? Do you have to start another gang? Aren't three warlords enough?'

Raoden stopped, looking up at the large Dula with concern. 'Galladon, is that really what you think I am doing?'

'I don't know, sule.'

'I have no wish for power Galladon,' Raoden said flatly. 'I am worried about life. Not just survival, Galladon, life. These people are dead because they have given up, not because their hearts no longer beat. I am going to change that.'

'Sule. it's impossible.'

'So is getting Karata into Iadon's palace,' Raoden said, pulling the rope into a coil around his arm. 'I'll see you when I get back.'

'WHAT is this?' Karata asked suspiciously.

'It's the city well,' Raoden explained, peering over the side of the stone lip. The well went deep, but he could hear water moving in the darkness below. 'You expect us to swim out?'

'No,' Raoden said, tying Mareshe's rope to a rusted iron rod jutting from the well's side. 'We'll just let the current take us along. More like floating than swimming.'

'That's insane-that river runs underground. We'll drown.'

'We can't drown,' Raoden said. 'As my friend Galladon is fond of saying, `Already dead. Kolo?' '

Karam didn't look convinced.

'The Aredel River runs directly underneath Elantris, then continues on to Kae,' Raoden explained. 'It runs around the city and past the palace. All we have to do is let it drag us. I've already tried holding my breath; I went an entire half hour, and my lungs didn't even burn. Our blood doesn't flow anymore. so the only reason we need air is to talk.'

'This could destroy us both,' Karata warned.

Raoden shrugged. 'The hunger would just take us in a few months anyway.' Karam smiled slightly. 'All right. Spirit. You go first.'

'Gladly,' Raoden said, not feeling glad about that particular fact at all. Still, it was his idea. With a rueful shake of his head. Raoden swung over the side of the lip and began to lower himself. The rope ran out before he touched water and so, taking a deep but ineffectual breath, he let go.

He splashed into a shockingly cold river. The current threatened to pull him away, but he quickly grabbed hold of a rock and held himself steady, waiting for Karata. Her voice soon sounded in the darkness above.

'Spirit?'

'I'm here. You're about ten feet above the river-you'll have to drop the rest of the way.'

'And then?'

'Then the river continues underground-I can feel it sucking me down right now. We'll just have to hope it's wide enough the entire distance. otherwise we'll end up as eternal subterranean plugs.'

'You could have mentioned that before I got down here,' Karata said nervously. However, a splash soon sounded, followed by a quiet groan that ended in a gurgle as something large was sucked past Raoden in the current.

Muttering a prayer to Merciful Domi, Raoden released the rock and let the river drag him beneath its unseen surface.

Raoden did indeed have to swim. The trick was to keep himself in the middle of the river, lest he be slammed against the rock tunnel's walls. He did his best as he moved in the blackness, using outspread arms to position himself. Fortunately, time had smoothed the rocks to the point that they bruised rather than sliced.

An eternity passed in that silent underworld. It was as if he floated through darkness itself, unable to speak, completely alone. Perhaps this was what death would bring, his soul set adrift in an endless, lightless void.

The current changed, pulling him upward. He moved his arms to brace himself against the stone roof, but they met no resistance. A short moment later his head broke into open air, his wet face cold in the passing wind. He blinked uncertainly as the world focused, starlight and the occasional street lantern granting only dim illumination. It was enough to restore his orientation-and, perhaps, his sanity.

He floated lethargically: the river grew wide after rising to the surface. and the current slowed considerably. He felt a form approach in the water, and he tried to speak, but his lungs were full. He only succeeded in vocalizing a loud, uncontrollable fit of coughing.

A hand clamped around his mouth, cutting off his cough with a gurgle. 'Quiet. fool!' Karata hissed.

Raoden nodded, struggling to control his fit. Perhaps he should have concentrated less on the theological metaphors of the trip, and more on keeping his mouth closed.

Karata released his mouth, but continued to hold on to his shoulder, keeping them together as they drifted past the city of Kae. Its shops were closed for the night, but an occasional guard patrolled the streets. The two continued to float in silence until they reached the northern edge of the city, where Iadon's castle-like palace rose in the night. Then, still not speaking, they swam to the shore beside the palace.

The palace was a dark, sullen edifice-a manifestation of Iadon's one insecurity. Raoden's father was not often afraid; in fact, he was often belligerent when he should have been intelligently apprehensive. The trait had earned him wealth as a businessman trading with the Fjordell, but it had brought him failure as a king. In one thing only was Iadon paranoid: sleeping. The king was terrified that assassins would somehow sneak in and murder him as he slumbered. Raoden remembered well his father's irrational muttering on the subject each night before retiring. The worries of kingship had only made Iadon worse, causing him to outfit his already fortresslike house with a battalion of guards. The soldiers lived near Iadon's own quarters to facilitate quick response.

'All right,' Karata whispered, watching uncertainly as guards crossed on the battlements, 'you got us out. Now get us in.'

Raoden nodded, trying to drain his sodden lungs as silently as possible-an act not accomplished without a fair