"You said we shouldn't talk about our pasts."
"True."
Raoden paused. "Of course, you know what this means."
Galladon eyed him suspiciously. "What?"
"Now that you know who I was, you have to tell me who you were. It's only fair."
Galladon's response was long in coming. They had almost arrived at the church before he spoke. Raoden slowed his walk, not wanting to break off his friend's narration by arriving at their destination. He needn't have worried…
Galladon's declaration was brief and pointed.
"I was a farmer," he said curtly.
"A farmer?" Raoden had been expecting something more.
"And an orchard-keeper. I sold my fields and bought an apple farm because I figured it would be easier-you don't have to replant trees every year." "Was it?" Raoden asked. "Easier, I mean?"
Galladon shrugged. "I thought it was, though I know a couple of wheat farmers that would argue with me until the sun set. Kolo?" The larger man looked at Raoden with an insightful eye. "You don't think I'm telling the truth about my past. do you?"
Raoden smiled, spreading his hands before him. "I'm sorry, Galladon, but you just don't seem like a farmer to me. You have the build for it, but you seem too…"
"Intelligent?" Galladon asked. "Stile, I've seen some farmers with minds so sharp you could have used their heads to scythe grain."
"I don't doubt that you have," Raoden said. "But, intelligent or not, those types still tend to be uneducated. You are a learned man. Galladon."
"Books. stile, are a wonderful thing. A wise farmer has time to study, assuming he lives in a country such as Duladen, where men are free."
Raoden raised an eyebrow. "So, you're going to hold to this farmer story?" "It's the truth, stile," Galladon said. "Before I became an Elantrian, I was a farmer."
Raoden shrugged. Perhaps. Galladon had been able to predict the rain, as well as do a number of other eminently practical things. Still, it seemed like there was something more, something he wasn't ready to share yet.
"All right." Raoden said appreciatively. "I believe you."
Galladon nodded curtly, his expression saying he was very glad the matter was settled. Whatever he was hiding, it wouldn't come out this day. So. instead, Rao-den took the opportunity to ask a question that had been bothering him since the first day he came into Elantris.
"Galladon," he asked, "where are the children?"
"Children, sule?"
"Yes, if the Shaod strikes randomly, then it should strike children as well as adults."
Galladon nodded. "It does. I've seen babes barely old enough to walk get thrown in those gates."
"Then where are they? I only see adults."
"Elantris is a harsh place, sule," Galladon said quietly as they strode through the doors to Raoden's broken-down church. "Children don't last very long here."
"Yes. but- Raoden cur himself off as he saw something flicker in the corner of his eye. He turned with surprise.
"A Seon," Galladon said, noticing the glowing ball.
"Yes," Raoden said, watching the Seon float slowly through the open ceiling
and spin in a lazy circle around the two men. "It's so sad how they just drift around the city like this. I…" he trailed off, squinting slightly, trying to make out which Aon glowed at the center of the strange, silent Seon.
"Stile?" Galladon asked.
"Idos Domi," Raoden whispered. "It's Ien."
"The Seon? You recognize it?"
Raoden nodded, holding out his hand with the palm up. The Seon floated over and alighted on his proffered palm for a moment; then it began to float away, flitting around the room like a careless butterfly.
"Ien was my Seon." Raoden said. "Before I was thrown in here." He could see the Aon at Ien's center now. The character looked… weak, somehow. It glowed unevenly, sections of the character very dim. like…
Like the blotches on an Elantrian c skin, Raoden realized, watching Ien float away. The Seon headed for the wall of the church, continuing on until he bounced against it. The small ball of light hovered for a moment, contemplating the wall, then spun away to float in a different direction. There was an awkwardness to the Seon's motion-as if Ien could barely keep himself upright in the air. He jerked occasionally, and constantly moved in slow, dizzy loops.
Raoden's stomach turned as he regarded what was left of his friend. He'd avoided thinking about Ien too much during his days in Elantris; he knew what happened to Seons when their masters were taken by the Shaod. He'd assumed-perhaps hoped-that Ien had been destroyed by the Shaod, as sometimes happened.
Raoden shook his head. "Ien used to be so wise. I never knew a creature, Seon or man. more thoughtful than he."
… sorry, stile," Galladon said solemnly.
Raoden held out his hand again, and the Seon approached dutifully, as it had once done for the young boy Raoden-a boy who hadn't yet learned that Seons were more valuable as friends than as servants.
Does he recognize me? Raoden wondered, watching the Seon lurch slightly in the air before him. Or is it just the familiar gesture that he recognizes?
Raoden would probably never know. After hovering above the palm for a second. the Seon lost interest and floated away again.
"Oh, my dear friend." Raoden whispered. "And I thought the Shaod had been harsh to me."
CHAPTER 11
Only five men responded to Kiin's request. Lukel scowled at the meager turnout. "Raoden had as many as thirty men at his meetings before he died," the handsome merchant explained. "I didn't expect them all to come running, but five? That's barely even worth our time."
"It's enough, son," Kiin said thoughtfully, peeking through the kitchen door. "They may be few in number, bur we got the best of the lot. Those are five of the most powerful men in the nation, not to mention five of the most intelligent. Rao-den had a way of attracting clever men to his side."
"Kiin, you old bear,' one of the men called from the dining room. He was a stately man with graying lines of silver hair who wore a sharp martial uniform. "Are you going to feed us or not? Domi knows I only came because I heard you were going to fix some of your roast ketathum."
"The pig is turning as we speak, Eondel." Kiin called back. "And I made sure to prepare a double portion for you. Keep your stomach in check for a little while longer."
The man laughed heartily, patting his belly-which, as far as Sarene could tell, was as flat and hard as that of a man many years younger. "Who is he?" she asked.
"The Count of Eon Plantation," Kiin said. "Lukel, go check on the pork while your cousin and I gossip about our guests."
"Yes, Father," Lukel said, accepting the poker and moving to the firepit room at the back of the kitchen.
"Eondel is the only man besides Raoden that I've ever seen openly oppose the king and get away with it." Kiin explained. "He's a military genius, and owns a small personal army. There are only a couple hundred men in it, bur they're extremely well trained."
Next Kiin pointed through the slightly open door toward a man with dark brown skin and delicate features. "Thar man beside Eondel is Baron Shuden." "Jindoeese?" Sarene asked.
Her uncle nodded. "His family took up residence in Arelon about a century ago, and they've amassed a fortune directing the Jindoeese trade routes through
the country. When Iadon came to power, he offered them a barony to keep their caravans running. Shuden's father passed away about five years ago, and the son is much more
traditional than the father ever was. He thinks Iadon's method of rule contradicts the heart of Shu-Keseg, which is why he's willing to meet with us.
Sarene tapped her cheek in thought, studying Shuden. 'If his heart is as Jindoeese as his skin. Uncle. then he could be a powerful ally indeed."
"That's what your husband thought," Kiin said.
Sarene pursed her lips. "Why do you keep referring to Raoden as 'your husband'? I know I'm married. No need to keep pointing it out."
&n
bsp; "You know it," Kiin said in his deep-throated rasp, "but you don't believe it yet."
Either Kiin didn't see the question in her face. or he simply ignored it, for he continued with his explanations as if he hadn't just made an infuriatingly unfair judgment.
'Beside Shuden is the Duke Roial of Ial Plantation," Kiin said, nodding to the oldest man in the room. 'His holdings include the port of Iald-a city that is second only to Kae in wealth. He's the most powerful man in the room, and probably the wisest as well. He's been loath to take action against the king, however. Roial and Iadon have been friends since before the Reod."
Sarene raised an eyebrow. "Why does he come, then?"
— Roial is a good man," Kiin explained. "Friendship or not. he knows that Iadon's rule has been horrible for this nation. That, and I suspect he also comes because of boredom."
"He engages in traitorous conferences simply because he's bored?" Sarene asked incredulously.
Her uncle shrugged. "When you've been around as long as Roial, you have trouble finding things to keep you interested. Politics is so ingrained in the duke that he probably can't sleep at night unless he's involved in at least five different wild schemes-he was governor of Iaid before the Reod, and was the only Elantris-appointed official to remain in power after the uprising. He's fabulously wealthy-the only way Iadon keeps ahead is by including national tax revenues in his own earnings."
Sarene studied the duke as the group of men laughed at one of Roial's comments. He seemed different from other elderly statesmen she had met: Roial was boisterous instead of reserved. almost more mischievous than distinguished. Despite the duke's diminutive frame, he dominated the conversation. his thin locks of powder-white hair bouncing as he laughed. One man, however. didn't seem captivated by the duke's company.
"Who is that sitting next to Duke Roial?"
"The portly man?"
"Portly?" Sarene said with a raised eyebrow. The man was so overweight his stomach bulged over the sides of his chair.
"That's how we fat men describe one another," Kiin said with a smile.
"But Uncle," Sarene said with a sweet grin. "You're not fat. You're… robust."
Kiin laughed a scratchy-throated chuckle. "All right, then. The 'robust' gentleman next to Roial is Count Ahan. You wouldn't know it by watching them, but he and the duke are very good friends. Either that or they're very old enemies. I can never remember which it is."
"There's a bit of a distinction there, Uncle," Sarene pointed out.
"Not really. The two of them have been squabbIing and sparring for so Iong that neither one would know what to do without the other. You should have seen their faces when they realized they were both on the same side of this particular argument-Raoden laughed for days after that first meeting. Apparently, he'd gone to them each separately and gained their support, and they both came to that first meeting with the belief they were outdoing the other."
"So why do they keep coming?"
"Well, they both seem to agree with our point of view-not to mention the fact that they really do enjoy one another's company. That or they just want to keep an eye on each other." Kiin shrugged. "Either way they help us, so we don't complain."
"And the last man?" Sarene asked. studying the table's final occupant. He was lean, with a balding head and a pair of very fidgety eyes. The others didn't let nervousness show; they laughed and spoke together as if they were meeting to discuss bird-watching rather than treason. This last man, however, wiggled in his seat uncomfortably, his eyes in constant motion-as if he were trying to determine the easiest way to escape.
"Edan," Kiin said, his lips turning downward. "Baron of Tii Plantation to the south. I've never liked him, but he's probably one of our strongest supporters." "Why is he so nervous?"
"Iadon's system of government lends itself well to greed-the better a noble does financially, the more likely he is to be granted a better title. So, the minor nobles squabble like children, each one trying to find new ways to milk their subjects and increase their holdings.
"The system also encourages financial gambling. Edan's fortune was never very impressive-his holdings border the Chasm, and the lands nearby just aren't very fertile. In an attempt to gain a bit more status. Edan made some risky investments-but lost them. Now he doesn't have the wealth to back his nobility."
"He might lose his title?"
"Not 'might'-he's going to lose it as soon as the next tax period comes around and Iadon realizes just how poor the baron's become. Edan has about three months to either discover a gold mine in his backyard or overthrow Iadon's
system of allocating noble titles." Kiin scratched his face. as if looking for whiskers to pulI in thought. Sarene smiled-ten years might have passed since the burly man's face had held a beard, but old habits were more diffieult to shave away.
"Edan is desperate," Kiin continued, "and desperate people do things completely out of character. I don't trust him, but of all the men in that room, he's probably the most anxious for us to succeed."
"Which wouId mean?" Sarene asked. "What exactly do these men expect to accomplish?"
Kiin shrugged. "They'll do about anything to get rid of this silly system that requires them to prove their wealth. Noblemen will be nobleman. 'Ene-they're worried about maintaining their place in society."
Further discussion was halted as a voice called from the dining room. "Kiin," Duke Roial noted pointedly. "we could have raised our own hogs and had them slaughtered in the rime this is taking you.'
"Good meals take time, Roial," Kiin huffed, sticking his head out the kitchen door. "If you think you can do better, you're welcome to come cook your own."
The duke assured him that wouldn't be necessary. Fortunately, he didn't have to wait much longer. Kiin soon proclaimed the pig cooked to perfection, and ordered Lukel to begin cutting it. The rest of the meal quickly followed-a feast so large it would even have satisfied Kaise, if her father hadn't ordered her and the other children to visit their aunt's house for the evening.
"You're still determined to join us?" Kiin asked Sarene as he reentered the kitchen to grab the final dish.
"Yes." Sarene said firmly.
"This isn't Teod. Sarene." Kiin said. "The men here are a lot more… tradi-
tional. They don't feel it's proper for a woman to be involved in politics." "This from a man who's doing the evening's cooking?" Sarene asked.
Kiin smiled. "Good point." he noted in his scratchy voice. Someday, she
would have to find out what had happened to his throat.
"I can handle myself. Uncle," Sarene said. "Roial isn't the only one who likes a good challenge."
"All right, then," Kiin said, picking up a large steaming bean dish. "Let's go." Kiin led the way through the kitchen doors and then, after setting down the plate, gestured to Sarene. "Everyone. I'm sure you've all met my niece, Sarene. princess of our realm."
Sarene curtsied to Duke Roial, then nodded to the others, before taking her seat.
"I was wondering who that extra seat was for.' mumbled the aged Roial. "Niece. Kiin? You have connections to the Teoish throne?"
"Oh come now!" The overweight Ahan laughed merrily. "Don't tell me you
don't know Kiin is old Eventeo's brother? My spies told me that years ago."
"I was being polite, Ahan," Roial said. "It's bad form to spoil a man's surprise just because your spies are efficient."
"Well, it's also bad form to bring an outsider to a meeting of this nature," Ahan pointed out. His voice was still happy. but his eyes were quite serious.
All faces turned toward Kiin, but it was Sarene who answered. "One would think that after such a drastic reduction in your numbers, my lord, you would appreciate additional support-no matter how unfamiliar, or how feminine, it may be.
The table went silent at her words, ten eyes studying her through the steam rising from Kiin's several masterpieces. Sarene felt herself grow tense beneath their unaccepting gaze. These men knew just how quickly a sin
gle error could bring destruction upon their houses. One did nor dabble lightly with treason in a country where civil upheaval was a fresh memory.
Finally, Duke Roial laughed, the chuckle echoing lightly from his slight frame. "I knew it!" he proclaimed. "My dear, no person could possibly be as stupid as you made yourself out to be-not even the queen herself is that empty-headed."
Sarene pasted a smile over her nervousness. "I believe you're wrong about Queen Eshen, Your Grace. She's simply… energetic."
Ahan snorted. "If that's what you want to call it." Then, as it appeared no one else was going to begin, he shrugged and began helping himself to the food. Roial, however, did not follow his rival's lead; mirth had not erased his concerns. He folded his hands in front of himself and regarded Sarene with a very practiced gaze.
"You may be a fine actress, my dear," the duke said as Ahan reached in front of him to grab a basket of rolls, "but I see no reason why you should attend this dinner. Through no fault of your own. you are young and inexperienced. The things we say tonight will be very dangerous to hear and even more dangerous to remember. An unnecessary set of ears-no matter how pretty the head to which they are attached-will not help."
Sarene narrowed her eyes, trying to decide whether the duke was attempting to provoke her or not. Roial was as hard a man to read as any she had ever met. "You'll find that I am hardly inexperienced, my lord. In Teod we don't shelter our women behind a curtain of weaving and embroidering. I have spent years serving as a diplomat."
"True." Roial said, "but you are hardly familiar with the delicate political situations here in Arelon."
Sarene raised an eyebrow. "1 have often found. my lord, that a fresh, unbiased opinion is an invaluable tool in any discussion."
"Don't be silly, girl," spat the still nervous Edan as he filled his plate. "I'm not going to risk my safety simply because you want to assert your liberated nature."
A dozen snide retorts snapped to Sarene's lips. However, even as she was deciding which was the most witty, a new voice entered the debate.
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