Warbreaker Part 76

"Are you hungry, Galladon?" Raoden asked quietly.

The man's eyes snapped open.

"I used to wonder when King Iadon fed the Elantrians," Raoden mused. "I never heard of any supplies entering the city, but I always a.s.sumed that they were sent. 'After all,' I thought, 'the Elantrians stay alive.' I never understood. If the people of this city can exist without heartbeats, then they can probably exist without food. Of course, that doesn't mean the hunger goes away. I was ravenous when I awoke this morning, and I still am. From the looks in the eyes of those men who attacked me, I'd guess the hunger only gets worse."

Raoden reached under his grime-stained sacrificial robe, pulling out a thin object and holding it up for Galladon to see. A piece of dried meat. Galladon's eyes opened all the way, his face changing from bored to interested. There was a glint in his eyes-a bit of the same wildness that Raoden had seen in the savage men earlier. It was more controlled, but it was there. For the first time Raoden realized just how much he was gambling on his first impression of the Dula.

"Where did that come from?" Galladon asked slowly.

"It fell out of my basket when the priests were leading me here, so I stuffed it under my sash. Do you want it or not?"

Galladon didn't answer for a moment. "What makes you think I won't simply attack you and take it?" The words were not hypothetical-Raoden could tell that a part of Galladon was actually considering such an action. How large a part was still indeterminable.

"You called me 'sule,' Galladon. How could you kill one you've dubbed a friend?"

Galladon sat, transfixed by the tiny piece of meat. A thin drop of spittle ran unnoticed from the side of his mouth. He looked up at Raoden, who was growing increasingly anxious. When their eyes met, something sparked in Galladon, and the tension snapped. The Dula suddenly bellowed a deep, resounding laugh. "You speak Duladen, sule?"

"Only a few words," Raoden said modestly.

"An educated man? Rich offerings for Elantris today! All right, you conniving rulo, what do you want?"

"Thirty days," Raoden said. "For thirty days you will show me around and tell me what you know."

"Thirty days? Sule, you're kayana."

"The way I see it," Raoden said, moving to tuck the meat back in his sash, "the only food that ever enters this place arrives with the newcomers. One must get pretty hungry with so few offerings and so many mouths to feed. One would think the hunger would be almost maddening."

"Twenty days," Galladon said, a hint of his former intensity showing again.

"Thirty, Galladon. If you won't help me, someone else will."

Galladon ground his teeth for a moment. "Rulo," he muttered, then held out his hand. "Thirty days. Fortunately, I wasn't planning any extended trips during the next month."

Raoden tossed him the meat with a laugh.

Galladon s.n.a.t.c.hed the meat. Then, though his hand jerked reflexively toward his mouth, he stopped. With a careful motion he tucked the meat into a pocket and stood up. "So, what should I call you?"

Raoden paused. Probably best if people don't know I'm royalty, for now. "Sule works just fine for me."

Galladon chuckled. "The private type, I see. Well, let's go then. It's time for you to get the grand tour."

Chapter Two Sarene stepped off of the ship to discover that she was a widow. It was shocking news, of course, but not as devastating as it could have been. After all, she had never met her husband. In fact, when Sarene had left her homeland, she and Raoden had only been engaged. She had a.s.sumed that the kingdom of Arelon would wait to hold the wedding until she actually arrived. Where she came from, at least, it was expected that both partners would be present when they were married.

"I never liked that clause in the wedding contract, my lady," said Sarene's companion-a melon-sized ball of light hovering at her side.

Sarene tapped her foot in annoyance as she watched the packmen load her luggage onto a carriage. The wedding contract had been a fifty-page beast of a doc.u.ment, and one of its many stipulations made her betrothal legally binding if either she or her fiance died before the actual wedding ceremony.

"It's fairly common clause, Ashe," she said. "That way, the treaty of a political marriage isn't voided if something happens to one of the partic.i.p.ants. I've never seen it invoked."

"Until today," the ball of light replied, its voice deep words and well-enunciated.

"Until today," Sarene admitted. "How was I to know Prince Raoden wouldn't last the five days it took us to cross the Sea of Fjorden?" She paused, frowning in thought. "Quote the clause to me, Ashe. I need to know exactly what it says."

"'If it happens that one member of the aforementioned couple is called home to Merciful Domi before the prearranged wedding time,'" Ashe said, "'then the engagement will be considered equivalent to marriage in all legal and social respects.'"

"Not much room for argument, is there?"

"Afraid not, my lady."

Sarene frowned distractedly, folding her arms and tapping her cheek with her index finger, watching the packmen. A tall, gaunt man directed the work with bored eyes and a resigned expression. The man, an Arelish court attendant named Ketol, was the only reception King Iadon had seen fit to send her. Ketol had been the one to 'regretfully inform her that her fiance had died of an unexpected disease during her journey.' He had made the declaration with the same dull, uninterested tone that he used to command the packmen.

"So," Sarene clarified, "as far as the law is concerned, I'm now a princess of Arelon."

"That is correct, my lady."

"And the widowed bride of a man I never met."

"Again, correct."

Sarene shook her head. "Father is going to laugh himself sick when he hears about this. I'll never live it down."

Ashe pulsed slightly in annoyance. "My lady, the king would never take such a solemn event with levity. The death of Prince Raoden has undoubtedly brought great grief to the sovereign family of Arelon."

"Yes. So much grief, in fact, that they couldn't even spare the effort it would take to come meet their new daughter."

"Perhaps, my lady," Ashe noted, "King Iadon would have come himself if he'd had had more warning of our arrival..."

Sarene frowned, but the Seon had a point. Her early arrival, several days ahead of the main wedding party, had been intended as a pre-wedding surprise for Prince Raoden. She'd wanted a few days, at least, to spend time with him privately and in person. Her secrecy, however, had worked against her.

"Tell me, Ashe," she said. "How long do Arelish people customarily wait between a person's death and their burial?"

"I'm not sure, my lady," Ashe confessed. "I left Arelon long ago, and I lived here for such a short time that I can't remember many specifics. However, my studies tell me that Arelish customs are generally similar to those of your homeland."

Sarene nodded, then waved over King Iadon's attendant.

"Yes, my lady?" Ketol asked in a lazy tone.

"Is a funeral wake being held for the prince?" Sarene asked.

"Yes, my lady," the attendant replied. "Outside the Korathi chapel. The burial will happen this evening."

"I want to go see the casket."

Ketol paused. "Uh... his majesty asked that you be brought to him immediately..."

"Then I won't spend long at the funeral tent," Sarene said, walking toward her carriage.

Sarene surveyed the busy funeral tent with a critical eye, waiting as Ketol and a few of the packmen cleared a way for her to approach the casket. She had to admit, everything was irreproachable-the flowers, the offerings, the praying Korathi priests. The only oddity about the event was how crowded the tent was.

"There certainly are a lot of people here," she noted to Ashe.

"The prince was very well-liked, my lady," the Seon replied, floating beside her. "According to our reports, he was the most popular public figure in the country."

Sarene nodded, walking down the pa.s.sageway Ketol had made for her. Prince Raoden's casket sat at the very center of the tent, guarded by a ring of soldiers who only let the ma.s.ses approach so far. As she walked, she sensed true grief in the faces of those in attendance.

So it is true, she thought. The people did love him.

The soldiers made way for her, and she approached the casket. It was carved with Aons-most of them symbols of hope and peace-after the Korathi way. The entire wooden casket was surrounded by a ring of lavish foods-an offering made on behalf of the deceased.

"Can I see him?" she asked, turning toward one of the Korathi priests-a small, kindly-looking man.

"I'm sorry, child," the priest said. "But the prince's disease was unpleasantly disfiguring. The king has asked that the prince be allowed dignity in death."

Sarene nodded, turning back to the casket. She wasn't sure what she had expected to feel, standing before the dead man she would have married. She was oddly... angry.

She pushed that emotion away for the moment, instead turning to look around the tent. It almost seemed too formal. Though the visiting people were obviously grieved, there tent, the offerings, and the decorations seemed sterile.

A man of Raoden's age and supposed vigor, she thought. Dead of the coughing shivers. It could happen-but it certainly doesn't seem likely.

"My... lady?" Ashe said quietly. "Is something wrong?"

Sarene waved to the Seon and walked back toward their carriage. "I don't know," she said quietly. "Something just doesn't feel right here, Ashe."

"You have a suspicious nature, my lady," Ashe pointed out.

"Why isn't Iadon having a vigil for his son? Ketol said he was holding court, as if his own son's death didn't even bother him." Sarene shook her head. "I spoke with Raoden just before I left Teod, and he seemed fine. Something is wrong, Ashe, and I want to know what it is."

"Oh, dear ... " Ashe said. "You know, my lady, your father did ask me to try and keep you out of trouble."

Sarene smiled. "Now there's an impossible task. Come on, we need to go meet my new father."

Sarene leaned against the carriage window, watching the city pa.s.s as she rode toward the palace. She sat in silence for the moment, a single thought crowding everything else out of her mind.

What am I doing here?

Her words to Ashe had been confident, but she had always been good at hiding her worries. True, she was curious about the prince's death, but Sarene knew herself very well. A large part of that curiosity was an attempt to take her mind off of her feelings of inferiority and awkwardness-anything to keep from acknowledging what she was: a lanky, brusque woman who was almost past her prime. She was twenty-five years old; she should have been married years ago. Raoden had been her last chance.

How dare you die on me, prince of Arelon! Sarene thought indignantly. Yet, the irony did not escape her. It was fitting that this man, one she had thought she might actually grow to like, would die before she even got to meet him. Now she was alone in an unfamiliar country, politically bound to a king she did not trust. It was a daunting, lonely feeling.

You've been lonely before, Sarene, she reminded herself. You'll get through it. Just find something to occupy your mind. You have an entire new court to explore. Enjoy it.

With a sigh, Sarene turned her attention back to the city. Despite considerable experience serving in her father's diplomatic corps, she had never visited Arelon. Ever since the fall of Elantris, Arelon had been unofficially quarantined by most other kingdoms-no one knew why the mystical city had been cursed, and everyone worried that the Elantrian disease might spread.

Sarene was surprised, however, by the lushness she saw in Kae. The city thoroughfares were wide and well-maintained. The people on the street were well-dressed, and she didn't see a single beggar. To one side, a group of blue-robed Korathi priests walked quietly through the crowd, leading an odd, white-robed person. She watched the procession, wondering what it could be, until the group disappeared around a corner.

From her vantage, Kae reflected none of the economic hardship Arelon was supposed to be suffering. The carriage pa.s.sed dozens of fenced-in mansions, each one built in a different style of architecture. Some were expansive, with large wings and pointed roofs, following Duladen construction. Others were more like castles, their stone walls looking as if they had been directly transported from the militaristic countryside of Fjorden. The mansions all shared one thing, however-wealth. The people of this country might be starving, but Kae-seat of Arelon's aristocracy-didn't appear to have noticed.

Of course, one disturbing shadow still hung over the city. The enormous wall of Elantris rose in the distance, and Sarene shivered as she glanced at its stark imposing stones. She had heard stories about Elantris for most of her adult life, tales of the magics it had once produced, and the monstrosities that now inhabited its dark streets. No matter how gaudy the houses, no matter how wealthy the streets, this one monument stood as a testament that all was not well in Arelon.

"Why do they even live here, I wonder?" Sarene asked.

"My lady?" Ashe asked.

"Why did King Iadon build his palace in Kae? Why choose a city that is so close to Elantris?"

"I suspect the reasons are primarily economic, my lady," Ashe said. "There are only a couple of viable ports on the northern Arelish coast, and this is the finest."

Sarene nodded-the bay formed by the merging of the Aredel River with the ocean made for an enviable harbor. But even still...

"Perhaps the reasons are political," Sarene mused. "Iadon took power during turbulent times-maybe he thinks that remaining close to the old capital will lend him authority."

"Perhaps, my lady," Ashe said.

It's not like it really matters that much, she thought. Apparently, proximity to Elantris-or Elantrians-didn't actually increase one's chances of being taken by the Shaod.

She turned away from the window, looking over at Ashe, who hovered above the seat beside her. She had yet to see a Seon in the streets of Kae, though the creatures-said to be the ancient creations of Elantris magic-were supposed to be even more common in Arelon than in her homeland. If she squinted, she could barely make out the glowing Aon at the center of Ashe's light.

"At least the treaty is safe," Sarene finally said.

"a.s.suming you remain in Arelon, my lady," Ashe said in his deep voice, "at least, that is what the wedding contract says. As long as you stay here, and 'remain faithful to your husband,' King Iadon must honor his alliance with Teod."

"Remain faithful to a dead man," Sarene mumbled with a sigh. "Well, that means I have to stay, husband or no husband."

"If you say so, my lady."

"We need this treaty, Ashe," Sarene said. "Fjorden is expanding its influence at an incredible rate. Five years ago I would have said we didn't need to worry, that Fjorden's priests would never be a power in Arelon. But now..." Sarene shook her head. The collapse of the Duladen Republic had changed so much.

"We shouldn't have kept ourselves so removed from Arelon these last ten years, Ashe," she said. "I probably wouldn't be in this predicament if we had forged strong ties with the new Arelish government ten years ago."

"Your father was afraid their political turmoil would infect Teod," Ashe said. "Not to mention the Reod-no one was certain that whatever struck the Elantrians wouldn't affect normal people as well."

The carriage slowed, and Sarene sighed, letting the topic drop. Her father knew Fjorden was a danger, and he understood that old allegiances needed to be reforged-that was why she was in Arelon. Ahead of them, the palace gates swung open. Friendless or not, she had arrived, and Teod was depending on her. She had to prepare Arelon for the war that was coming-a war that had become inevitable the moment Elantris fell.

Sarene's new father, King Iadon of Arelon, was a thin man with a shrewd face. He was conferring with several of his administrators when Sarene entered the throne room, and she stood unnoticed for nearly fifteen minutes before he even nodded to her. Personally, she didn't mind the wait-it gave her a chance to observe the man she was now sworn to obey-but her dignity couldn't help being a little offended by the treatment. Her station as a princess of Teod alone should have earned her a reception that was, if not grand, at least punctual.

As she waited, one thing struck her immediately. Iadon did not look like a man mourning the pa.s.sing of his son and heir. There were no signs of grief in his eyes, none of the haggard fatigue that generally accompanied the pa.s.sing of a loved one. In fact, the air of the court itself seemed remarkably free of mourning signs.

Is Iadon a heartless man, then? Sarene wondered curiously. Or is he simply one who knows how to control his emotions?

Years spent in her father's court had taught Sarene to be a connoisseur of n.o.ble character. Though she couldn't hear what Iadon was saying-she had been told to stay near the back of the room and wait for permission to approach-the king's actions and mannerisms gave her an idea of his character. Iadon spoke firmly, giving direct instruction, occasionally pausing to stab his table-map with a thin finger. He was a man with a strong personality, she decided-one with a definite idea of how he wanted things done. It wasn't a bad sign. Tentatively, Sarene decided that this was a man with whom she might be able to work.

She was to revise that opinion shortly.