Elantris - Brandon Sanderson [23]
“That’s said to be the exact center of Elantris,” Galladon said, nodding to the spire. “Once you could climb the steps winding around it and look out over the entire city. Nowadays, I wouldn’t trust it. Kolo?”
The university was large, but less magnificent. It consisted of five or six long, flat buildings and a lot of open space—ground that had probably once held grass or gardens, both things that would have been eaten to their roots long ago by Elantris’s starving inhabitants.
“Karata is both the harshest and most lenient of the gang leaders,” Galladon said, gazing down on the university. There was something odd in his eyes, as if he were seeing things Raoden couldn’t. His description continued in its characteristic rambling tone, as if his mouth wasn’t aware that his mind was focused elsewhere.
“She doesn’t often let new members into her gang, and she is extremely territorial. Shaor’s men might chase you for a while if you wander onto his turf, but only if they feel like it. Karata suffers no intruders. However, if you leave Karata alone, she leaves you alone, and she rarely harms newcomers when she takes their food. You saw her earlier today—she always takes the food personally. Maybe she doesn’t trust her underlings enough to handle it.”
“Perhaps,” Raoden said. “What else do you know about her?”
“Not much—leaders of violent thieving gangs don’t tend to be the type to spend their afternoons chatting.”
“Now who’s taking things lightly?” Raoden said with a smile.
“You’re a bad influence, sule. Dead people aren’t supposed to be cheerful. Anyway, the only thing I can tell you about Karata is that she doesn’t like being in Elantris very much.”
Raoden frowned. “Who does?”
“We all hate it, sule, but few of us have the courage to try and escape. Karata has been caught in Kae three times now—always in the vicinity of the king’s palace. One more time and the priests will have her burned.”
“What does she want at the palace?”
“She hasn’t been kind enough to explain it to me,” Galladon replied. “Most people think she intends to assassinate King Iadon.”
“The king?” Raoden said. “What would that accomplish?”
“Revenge, discord, bloodlust. All very good reasons when you’re already damned. Kolo?”
Raoden frowned. Perhaps living with his father—who was absolutely paranoid about the prospect of getting killed by an assassin—had desensitized him, but murdering the king just didn’t seem like a likely goal to him. “What about the other gang leader?”
“Aanden?” Galladon asked, looking back over the city. “He claims he was some kind of noble before he was thrown in here—a baron, I think. He’s tried to establish himself as monarch of Elantris, and he is incredibly annoyed that Karata has control of the palace. He holds court, claims he will feed those who join him—though all they’ve gotten so far are a few boiled books—and makes plans for attacking Kae.”
“What?” Raoden asked with surprise. “Attacking?”
“He isn’t serious,” Galladon said. “But he is good at propaganda. He claims to have a plan to free Elantris, and it’s gained him a large following. However, he’s also brutal. Karata only harms people who try to sneak into the palace—Aanden is notorious for dispensing judgments at a whim. Personally, sule, I don’t think he’s completely sane.”
Raoden frowned. If this Aanden really had been a baron, then Raoden would have known him. However, he didn’t recognize the name. Either Aanden had lied about his background, or he had chosen a new name after entering Elantris.
Raoden studied the area in between the university and the palace. A certain object had caught his attention. Something so mundane he wouldn’t have given it a second look, had it not been the first of its kind he had seen in all of Elantris.
“Is that a well?” he asked uncertainly.
Galladon nodded. “The only one in the city.”
“How is that possible?”
“Indoor plumbing, sule, courtesy of AonDor magic. Wells weren’t necessary.”
“Then why build that one?”
“I think it was used in religious ceremonies. Several Elantrian worship