Elantris - Brandon Sanderson [194]
The tone of the conversation grew subdued as they remembered just what they were discussing. Sarene shuddered at the image of the blood-covered altar and its occupant. Ashe’s right, she thought somberly. This is no time for joking.
“That’s what it was, then?” Lukel asked.
Sarene nodded. “The Mysteries sometimes involve sacrifices. Iadon must have wanted something very badly.”
“Our Derethi friend claimed to have some knowledge on the subject,” Roial said. “He seemed to think the king was petitioning the Jesker spirits to destroy someone for him.”
“Me?” Sarene asked, growing cold despite her blanket.
Roial nodded. “Arteth Dilaf said the instructions were written on the altar in that woman’s blood.”
Sarene shivered. “Well, at least now we know what happened to the maids and cooks who disappeared from the palace.”
Roial nodded. “I’d guess he’s been involved with the Mysteries for a long time—perhaps even since the Reod. He was obviously the leader of that particular band.”
“The others?” Sarene asked.
“Minor nobles,” Roial said. “Iadon wouldn’t have involved anyone who could challenge him.”
“Wait a moment,” Sarene said, her brows furled. “Where did that Derethi priest come from, anyway?”
Roial looked down at his cup uncomfortably. “That’s my fault. He saw me gathering Eondel’s men—I was kind of in a hurry—and followed us. We didn’t have time to deal with him.”
Sarene sipped at her drink petulantly. The night’s events definitely hadn’t turned out as she had planned.
Suddenly Ahan waddled through the door. “Rag Domi, Sarene!” he declared. “First you oppose the king, then you rescue him, and now you dethrone him. Would you please make up your mind?”
Sarene pulled her knees up against her chest and dropped her head between them with a groan. “There’s no chance of keeping it under cover, then?”
“No,” Roial said. “The Derethi priest saw to that—he’s already announced it to half of the city.”
“Telrii will almost certainly seize power now,” Ahan said with a shake of his head.
“Where is Eondel?” Sarene asked, her voice muffled by the blankets.
“Locking the king in the jailhouse,” Ahan said.
“And Shuden?”
“Still seeing that the women got home safely, I assume,” Lukel said.
“All right,” Sarene said, raising her head and brushing her hair out of her eyes. “We’ll have to proceed without them. Gentlemen, I’m afraid I just destroyed our brief respite of peace. We have some heavy planning to do—and most of it is going to be in the way of damage control.”
CHAPTER 33
Something changed. Hrathen blinked, washing away the last remnants of his waking dream. He wasn’t sure how much time had passed—it was dark now, hauntingly black save for a few lonely torches burning high above on Elantris’s wall. There wasn’t even any moonlight.
He fell into the stupor more and more often lately, his mind fuzzing as he knelt in the same penitent stance. Three days was a long time to spend in prayer.
He was thirsty. Hungry as well. He had expected that; he had fasted before. However, this time seemed different. His hunger seemed more urgent, as if his body were trying to warn him of something. Elantris had much do with his discomfort, he knew. There was a desperation about the town, a sense of anxiety in every vile, cracking stone.
Suddenly, light appeared in the sky. Hrathen looked up with awe, blinking tired eyes. The moon slowly appeared from darkness. First a scythe-shaped sliver, it grew even as Hrathen watched. He hadn’t realized that there would be a lunar eclipse this night—he had stopped paying attention to such things since he left Duladel. That nation’s now extinct pagan religion had ascribed special importance to the heaven’s movements, and the Mysteries often practiced their rituals on such nights.
Squatting in the courtyard of Elantris, Hrathen finally understood what had prodded the Jeskers to regard nature with religious wonder. There was something beautiful about the pale-faced goddess of the heavens, a mysticism to her eclipse. It was as if she really were disappearing for a time—traveling to another place, as opposed