Elantris

Three newcomers—a weaver, a brick maker, and a soldier—are tossed into Elantris, and again Raoden leads them to safety. Raoden distributes their food and encourages them to pursue their trades. His hunger and physical pains continue, but he believes that with purpose, these pangs can be controlled or defeated.

Curious about the leaders of the gangs, Raoden spies on Aanden, leader of the gang eating book vellum, and recognizes him as a sculptor from Kae. Raoden also runs into his seon, Ien, which now floats around aimlessly as it too has been crippled by the Shaod. Raoden confesses to Galloden that he was the crown prince.

Lukel gathers some of the nobles who supported Raoden, and Sarene persuades them to let her be part of their deliberations. She is supported by Duke Roial. They’re an eclectic group. Ahan is Roial’s rival and likes to compete with him. Edan is nervous because his estate is bankrupt and he stands to lose his title. Shuden is young and handsome and shows respect to Sarene as Raoden’s widow. When the men debate ways to defeat King Iadon—for instance, by using Eondel’s personal legion, which is currently stationed elsewhere—Sarene suggests showing Iadon where he is wrong. His feudal system is based on greed and fear, not loyalty. She suggests each nobleman present allow his peasants to claim part of their crop yield. Some of the men are cautious about listening to a woman, but Roial hopes Sarene will bring unity to their efforts, as Raoden did.

Hrathen’s preaching to the citizens of Kae has become rote and patterned. But when Dilaf takes the podium, he gives a rousing speech that whips up hatred of Elantris. Hrathen praises Dilaf, but reminds him to remember his place as Hrathen’s servant. Alone in his chamber, Hrathen opens a locked box and uses the seon inside to tell Emperor Wyrn that Duke Telrii has accepted his plan.

Raoden finds a book on Aons in Galloden’s library and begins to read it. His newcomers are repairing buildings and crafting necessary items. Others are asking to join his group to learn their secret for dealing with pain and hunger. Raoden thus becomes the leader of a new group, so isolationist gang leader Karata confronts him. Raoden promises he can smuggle her into Iadon’s palace, which she has been trying to reach. He uses a well to exit Elantris and float to Kae, then opens a door to a secret passage leading into the heavily guarded palace. Karata goes to a room in the guardhouse and looks longingly at a sleeping child. As they leave, they escape a guard—Karata’s husband—who doesn’t recognize her. Due to the Shaod, she never had a chance to say goodbye to her daughter.

Raoden bribes a city guard to let them back into Elantris and tells Karata that he has been collecting seed corn from the newcomers. Karata confesses that she has been tending the children of Elantris. Raoden and Karata decide to join forces.

Sarene spends time with the queen and noblewomen of court, trying to learn the gossip. She is terrible at needlepoint and feels jealous of Kiin’s wife Daora, who is effortlessly lovely and graceful. The other women are surprised that Sarene knows how to fence, so she offers to teach them.

Sarene attends a lavish party at Duke Telrii’s mansion. Shuden, who is from JinDo, the home of the prophet Shu-Keseg, objects when Sarene says the Derethi religion must be stopped. She thinks it is a perversion of the truth, but Shuden reminds her that “the soul of Shu-Keseg is acceptance” (193). A messenger comes bearing bad news for Iadon, which Sarene suspects is that Hrathen and Telrii are in league about something. She returns to the palace to find the guards in an uproar because someone broke in.

Hrathen strolls the walls of Elantris at night. He hopes that his tactic to turn Elantrians into a common enemy for Arelene might at least spare Arelon the revolution that caused bloodshed in Duladel. He knows that Emperor Wyrn could send his armies, or the monks trained for war in secret monasteries, but Hrathen would rather convert though logic. He meets with Telrii and advises him to use bribery to win over the city guard. Hrathen then asks a guard to bring a captured Elantrian to his chapel.

Raoden notices that the Aon inside his seon Ien no longer seems to be complete; it shows tiny breaks. He tells Galloden that he had been looking forward to his marriage and enjoyed corresponding with Sarene. Raoden also informs Galloden that the republic of Duladel has been overthrown and the native Jesker religion replaced with Shu-Dereth. Raoden then asks about the Mysteries, but Galloden says those rites were a perversion of the Dor, the energy that powers all things.

Raoden’s band is growing as more people join him. They are slowly making Elantris habitable. Their work keeps their minds off their pain, letting them live as more than animals. Raoden confronts former sculptor Aanden, who now styles himself a baron, and reminds him that the city has sculpture he can learn from. He tells Aanden, whose real name is Taan, that the people of Elantris could be truly free: They don’t have any bodily needs and they don’t need hierarchy or weapons. They could live in self-sufficient peace. Aanden’s band decides to join Raoden.

Sarene starts teaching the women of the court how to fence. Eondel also instructs. He and Sarene fence, and he lets her beat him. Shuden, who is also visiting to observe, practices an exercise called ChayShan, a sequence of movements his people use to prepare themselves for battle.

Sarene visits Father Omin, a Korathi priest. She gathers information about the Widow’s Trial she is supposed to complete and asks the priest if he has a theory about what happened to Elantris. He does not think the Reod is a curse, but rather the will of Domi, or God. Omin tells Sarene, “Unity often springs from strife” (229).

Sarene speaks with her father and learns that the Fjordell ambassador has been recalled from Teod—an ominous sign. Her father is fearful and offers to send a ship to collect Sarene, but she wants to stay in Arelon, where she still has a chance to earn respect. In Teod she felt like “the king’s spinster daughter, a shrew no one wanted to touch” (233). They both agree that if Arelon falls to the Fjordell Empire, Teod will lose its independence and the religion of Shu-Korath will come to an end. That night, Sarene hears a small noise beyond the wall of her bedroom.

Dilaf is furious and repulsed when he finds Hrathen interviewing an Elantrian. Hrathen studies the man, curious that his body looks like it is decaying. He learns that Elantrian wounds do not heal, that Elantrians are always hungry, and that most succumb in a few months to nothing but mindless pain. The captive can tell Hrathen nothing of the Shaod or Elantrian magic, but does explain the gangs in the city.

Hrathen decides to continue using Elantris, which most of the people in Arelon try to avoid thinking about, to make people loathe Shu-Korath and encourage them to convert. He delivers his usual sermon, but then is upstaged by Dilaf, who puts the captive Elantrian on display and tries to burn him. Hrathen intervenes to prevent a riot. He does not want Dilaf creating zealots and decides he must deal with Dilaf before the priest gets more unruly. He uses his seon to ask a potion-making nobleman to create an elixir.