AT night, when all melted into a uniform blackness, Hrathen could almost see Elantris’s grandeur. Silhouetted against the star-filled sky, the fallen buildings cast off their mantle of despair and became memories; memories of a city crafted with skill and care, a city where every stone was a piece of functional art; memories of towers that stretched to the sky—fingers tickling the stars—and of domes that spread like venerable hills.
And it had all been an illusion. Beneath the greatness had been wreckage, a filthy sore now exposed. How easy it was to look past heresies overlaid with gold. How simple it had been to assume that outward strength bespoke inward righteousness.
“Dream on, Elantris,” Hrathen whispered, turning to stroll along the top of the great wall that enclosed the city. “Remember what you used to be and try to hide your sins beneath the blanket of darkness. Tomorrow the sun will rise, and all will be revealed once again.”
“My lord? Did you say something?”
Hrathen turned. He had barely noticed the guard passing him on the wall, the man’s heavy spear resting over his shoulder and his wan torch nearly dead.
“No. I was only whispering to myself.”
The guard nodded, continuing his rounds. They were growing accustomed to Hrathen, who had visited Elantris nearly every night this week, pacing its walls in thought. Though he had an additional purpose behind his visit this particular time, most nights he simply came to be alone and think. He wasn’t sure what drew him to the city. Part of it was curiosity. He had never beheld Elantris in its power, and couldn’t understand how anything—even a city so grand—had repeatedly withstood the might of Fjorden, first militarily, then theologically.
He also felt a responsibility toward the people—or whatever they were—that lived in Elantris. He was using them, holding them up as an enemy to unite his followers. He felt guilty; the Elantrians he had seen were not devils, but wretches afflicted as if by a terrible disease. They deserved pity, not condemnation. Still, his devils they would become, for he knew that it was the easiest and most harmless way to unify Arelon. If he turned the people against their government, as he had done in Duladel, there would be death. This way would lead to bloodshed as well, but he hoped much less.
Oh, what burdens we must accept in the service of Your empire, Lord Jaddeth, Hrathen thought to himself. It didn’t matter that he had acted in the name of the church, or that he had saved thousands upon thousands of souls. The destruction Hrathen had caused in Duladel ground against his soul like a millstone. People who had trusted him were dead, and an entire society had been cast into chaos.
But Jaddeth required sacrifices. What was one man’s conscience when compared with the glory of His rule? What was a little guilt when a nation was now unified beneath Jaddeth’s careful eye? Hrathen would ever bear the scars of what he had done, but it was better that one man suffer than an entire nation continue in heresy.
Hrathen turned away from Elantris, looking instead toward the twinkling lights of Kae. Jaddeth had given him one more opportunity. This time he would do things differently. There would be no dangerous revolution, no bloodbath caused by one class turning against another. Hrathen would apply pressure carefully until Iadon folded, and a more agreeable man took his place. The nobility of Arelon would convert easily, then. The only ones who would truly suffer, the scapegoats in his strategy, were the Elantrians.
It was a good plan. He was certain he could crush this Arelene monarchy without much effort; it was already cracked and weak. The people of Arelon were so oppressed that he could institute a new government swiftly, before they even received word of Iadon’s fall. No revolution. Everything would be clean.
Unless he made a mistake. He had visited the farms and cities around Kae; he knew that the people were stressed beyond their ability to bend. If he gave them too much of a chance, they would rise up and slaughter the entire noble class. The possibility made him nervous—mostly because he knew that if it happened, he would make use of it. The logical gyorn within him would ride the destruction as if it were a fine stallion, using it to make Derethi followers out of an entire nation.
Hrathen sighed, turning and continuing his stroll. The wall walk here was kept clean by the guard, but if he strayed too far, he would reach a stretch covered with a dark, oily grime. He wasn’t certain what had caused it, but it seemed to completely coat the wall, once one got away from the central gate area.
Before he reached the grime, however, he spotted the group of men standing along the wall walk. They were dressed in cloaks, though the night wasn’t cold enough to require it. Maybe they thought the garments made them more nondescript. However, if that was the intention, then perhaps Duke Telrii should have chosen to wear something other than a rich lavender cloak set with silver embroidery.
Hrathen shook his head at the materialism. The men we must work with to accomplish Jaddeth’s goals …
Duke Telrii did not lower his hood, nor did he bow properly as Hrathen approached—though of course Hrathen hadn’t really expected him to do either. The duke did, however, nod to his guards, who withdrew to allow them privacy.
Hrathen strolled over to stand beside Duke Telrii, resting against the wall’s parapet and staring out over the city of Kae. Lights twinkled; so many people in the city were rich that lamp oil and candles were plentiful. Hrathen had visited some large cities that grew as dark as Elantris when night fell.
“Aren’t you going to ask why I wanted to meet with you?” Telrii asked.
“You’re having second thoughts about our plan,” Hrathen said simply.
Telrii paused, apparently surprised that Hrathen understood him so readily. “Yes, well. If you know that already, then perhaps you are having second thoughts as well.”
“Not at all,” Hrathen said. “The furtive way you wanted to meet was what gave you away.”
Telrii frowned. This was a man accustomed to being dominant in any conversation. Was that why he was wavering? Had Hrathen offended him? No; studying Telrii’s eyes, Hrathen could tell that wasn’t it. At first Telrii had been eager to enter into the bargain with Fjorden, and he had certainly seemed to enjoy throwing his party this evening. What had changed?
I can’t afford to let this opportunity pass, Hrathen thought. If only he had more time. Fewer than eighty days remained of his three-month deadline. If he had been given even a year, he could have worked with more delicacy and precision. Unfortunately he had no such luxury, and a blunt attack using Telrii was his best bet for a smooth change in leadership.
“Why don’t you tell me what is bothering you?” Hrathen said.
“I’m just not sure,” Telrii said carefully, “that I want to work with Fjorden.”
Hrathen raised an eyebrow. “You didn’t have that uncertainty before.”
Telrii eyed Hrathen from beneath his hood. In the dark moonlight, it looked like his birthmark was simply a continuation of the shadows, and it gave his features an ominous cast—or at least it would have, had his extravagant costume not ruined the effect.
Telrii simply frowned. “I heard some interesting things at the party tonight, Gyorn. Are you really the one who was assigned to Duladel before its collapse?”
Ah, so that’s it, Hrathen thought. “I was there.”
“And now you’re here,” Telrii said. “You wonder why a nobleman is made uncomfortable by that news? The entire republican class that ruled Duladel was slaughtered in that revolution! And my sources claim that you had a great deal to do with that.”
Perhaps the man wasn’t as foolish as Hrathen thought. He would have to speak with delicacy. Nodding toward Telrii’s guards, who stood a short distance down the wall walk, he asked, “Where did you get those soldiers, my lord?”
Telrii paused. “What does that have to do with anything?”
“Humor me.”
Telrii turned, glancing at the soldiers. “I recruited them away from the Elantris City Guard. I hired them to be my bodyguards.”
Hrathen nodded. “And how many such guards do you employ?”
“Fifteen,” Telrii said.
“How would you judge their skill?”
Telrii shrugged. “Good enough, I suppose. I’ve never actually seen them fight.”
“That’s probably because they never have fought,” Hrathen said. “None of the soldiers here in Arelon have ever seen combat.”
“What is your point, Gyorn?” Telrii asked testily.
Hrathen turned, nodding toward the Elantris City Guard post, lit in the distance by torches at the base of the wall. “The Guard is what, five hundred strong? Perhaps seven hundred? If you include local policing forces and personal guards, such as your own, there are perhaps a thousand soldiers in the city of Kae. Added to Lord Eondel’s legion, you still have well below fifteen hundred professional soldiers in the vicinity.”
“And?” Telrii asked.
Hrathen turned. “Do you really think that Wyrn needs a revolution to take control of Arelon?”
“Wyrn doesn’t have an army,” Telrii said. “Fjorden only has a basic defense force.”
“I didn’t speak of Fjorden,” Hrathen said. “I spoke of Wyrn, Regent of all Creation, leader of Shu-Dereth. Come now, Lord Telrii. Let us be frank. How many soldiers are there in Hrovell? In Jaador? In Svorden? In the other nations of the East? These are people who have sworn themselves Derethi. You don’t think they would rise up at Wyrn’s command?”
Telrii hesitated.
Hrathen nodded as he saw understanding growing in the duke’s eyes. The man didn’t know the half of it. The truth was, Wyrn didn’t even need an army of foreigners to conquer Arelon. Few outside the high priesthood comprehended the second, more powerful force Wyrn had at his call: the monasteries. For centuries, the Derethi priesthood had been training its monks in war, assassination, and … other arts. Arelon’s defenses were so weak that a single monastery’s personnel could probably conquer the country.
Hrathen shivered at the thought of the … monks trained inside of Dakhor Monastery gaining access to defenseless Arelon. He glanced down at his arm, the place where—beneath his plate armor—he bore the marks of his time there. These were not things that could be explained to Telrii, however.
“My lord,” Hrathen said frankly, “I am here in Arelon because Wyrn wants to give the people a chance for a peaceful move to Shu-Dereth. If he wanted to crush the country, he could. Instead he sent me. My only intention is to find a way to convert the people of Arelon.”
Telrii nodded slowly.
“The first step in converting this country,” Hrathen said, “is making certain that the government is favorable to the Derethi cause. This would require a change in leadership—it would require putting a new king on the throne.”
“I have your word, then?” Telrii said.
“You will have the throne,” Hrathen said.
Telrii nodded—this was obviously what he had been waiting for. Hrathen’s promises before had been vague, but he could no longer afford to be uncommitted. His assurances gave Telrii verbal proof that Hrathen was trying to undermine Iadon’s rule—a calculated risk, but Hrathen was very good at such calculations.
“There will be those who oppose you,” Telrii warned.
“Such as?”
“That woman, Sarene,” Telrii said. “Her supposed idiocy is an obvious act. My informants say that she’s taken an unhealthy interest in your activities, and she was asking about you at my party this evening.”
Telrii’s astuteness surprised Hrathen. The man seemed so pretentious, so flagrant—yet there was obviously a measure of competence to him. That could be an advantage or a disadvantage.
“Do not worry about the girl,” Hrathen said. “Just take the money we have provided and wait. Your opportunity will come soon. You heard of the news the king received tonight?”
Telrii paused, then nodded.
“Things are moving along as promised,” Hrathen said. “Now we just have to be patient.”
“Very well,” Telrii said. He still had his reservations, but Hrathen’s logic—mixed with the outright promise of the throne—had obviously been enough to sway him. The duke nodded with uncustomary respect to Hrathen. Then he waved to his guards, moving to walk away.
“Duke Telrii,” Hrathen said, a thought occurring to him.
Telrii slowed, turning back.
“Do your soldiers still have friends in the Elantris City Guard?” Hrathen asked.
Telrii shrugged. “I assume so.”
“Double your men’s pay,” Hrathen said, too quietly for Telrii’s bodyguards to hear. “Speak well of the Elantris City Guard to them, and give them time off to spend with their former comrades. It might be … beneficial to your future to have it known amongst the Guard that you are a man who rewards those that give him allegiance.”
“You’ll provide the funds to pay my men extra?” Telrii asked carefully.
Hrathen rolled his eyes. “Very well.”
Telrii nodded, then walked off to join his guards.
Hrathen turned, leaning against the wall, looking back out over Kae. He would have to wait for a short period before returning to the steps and descending. Telrii was still worried about proclaiming Derethi allegiance, and hadn’t wanted to be seen openly meeting with Hrathen. The man was overly anxious, but perhaps it was better for him to appear religiously conservative for the moment.
It disturbed Hrathen that Telrii had mentioned Sarene. For some reason, the pert Teo princess had decided to oppose Hrathen, though he had given her no overt cause to do so. It was ironic, in a way; she didn’t know it, but Hrathen was her greatest ally, not her dire enemy. Her people would convert one way or another. Either they would respond to Hrathen’s humane urgings, or they would be crushed by the Fjordell armies.
Hrathen doubted he would ever be able to convince her of that truth. He saw the mistrust in her eyes—she would immediately assume that whatever he said was a lie. She loathed him with the irrational hatred of one who subconsciously knew that her own faith was inferior. Korathi teachings had withered in every major nation to the East, just as they would in Arelon and Teod. Shu-Korath was too weak; it lacked virility. Shu-Dereth was strong and powerful. Like two plants competing for the same ground, Shu-Dereth would strangle Shu-Korath.
Hrathen shook his head, waited for a safe period of time, then finally turned to walk back along the wall toward the steps that ran down into Kae. As he arrived, he heard an echoing thump from below, and he paused in surprise. It sounded like the city gates had just been closed.
“What was that?” Hrathen asked, approaching several guards who stood in a ring of glittering torchlight.
The guards shrugged, though one pointed at two forms walking through the darkened courtyard below. “They must have caught someone trying to escape.”
Hrathen wrinkled his brow. “Does that happen often?”
The guard shook his head. “Most of them are too mindless to try escaping. Every once in a while one tries to scurry away, but we always catch ’em.”
“Thank you,” Hrathen said, leaving the guards behind as he began the long descent to the city below. At the foot of the stairs he found the main guardhouse. The captain was inside, his eyes drowsy as if he had just awakened.
“Trouble, Captain?” Hrathen asked.
The captain turned with surprise. “Oh, it’s you, Gyorn. No, no trouble. Just one of my lieutenants doing something he shouldn’t have.”
“Letting some Elantrians back into the city?” Hrathen asked.
The captain frowned, but nodded. Hrathen had met the man several times, and at each encounter he had fostered the captain’s greed with a few coins. This man was nearly his.
“Next time, Captain,” Hrathen said, reaching to his belt and pulling out a pouch, “I can offer you a different option.”
The captain’s eyes shone as Hrathen began to pull gold wyrnings—stamped with Wyrn Wulfden’s head—out of the pouch.
“I have been wanting to study one of these Elantrians up close, for theological reasons,” Hrathen said, setting a pile of coins on the table. “I would be appreciative if the next captured Elantrian found his way to my chapel before being thrown back into the city.”
“That can probably be arranged, my lord,” the captain said, slipping the coins off the table with an eager hand.
“No one would have to know about it, of course,” Hrathen said.
“Of course, my lord.”