Elantris - Brandon Sanderson [231]
“I will die first!”
“You already have,” the gyorn pointed out. “And I brought you back.” He took another step forward, and Sarene shied back, pulling her hands up against her chest.
Steel whipped in the sunlight, and suddenly the point of Eondel’s sword was at Hrathen’s neck. Sarene felt herself enfolded in enormous, powerful arms, a scratchy voice crying out in joy beside her.
“Blessed be Domi’s name!” Kiin praised, lifting her off the ground with his hug.
“Blessed be Jaddeth’s name,” Hrathen said, sword tip still pressed against his flesh. “Domi left this one to rot.”
“Say no more, priest,” Eondel said, angling his sword threateningly.
Hrathen snorted. Then, moving more quickly than Sarene’s eyes could track, the gyorn bent backward and pulled his head out of the sword’s range. He kicked at the same time, smashing his foot into Eondel’s hand and knocking the weapon free.
Hrathen spun, crimson cape billowing, bloodred hand plucking the sword from the air. Steel reflected sunlight as Hrathen spun the weapon. He snapped its tip against the cobblestones, holding it as a king would his scepter. Then, he let it drop, the hilt falling back into Eondel’s stunned hand. The priest stepped forward, passing the confused general.
“Time moves like a mountain, Sarene,” Hrathen whispered, so close that his breastplate nearly brushed against Kiin’s protective arms. “It comes so slowly that most don’t even notice its passing. It will, however, crush those who don’t move before it.”
With that he spun, his cape fluttering against both Eondel and Kiin as he marched away.
Kiin watched Hrathen go, hatred in his eyes. Finally, he turned to Eondel. “Come, General. Let’s take Sarene home to rest.”
“There is no time for rest, Uncle,” Sarene said. “I need you to gather our allies. We must meet as soon as possible.”
Kiin raised an eyebrow. “There will be time enough for that later, ’Ene. You’re in no condition—”
“I’ve had a fine vacation, Uncle,” she declared, “but there is work to be done. Perhaps when it is finished, I’ll be able to escape back to Elantris. For now, we need to worry about stopping Telrii from giving our country to Wyrn. Send messengers to Roial and Ahan. I want to meet with them as soon as possible.”
Her uncle’s face looked utterly dumbfounded.
“Well, she seems all right,” Eondel noted, smiling.
_______
The cooks in her father’s household had learned one thing: When Sarene wanted to eat, she could eat.
“You’d better move faster, Cousin,” Lukel said as she finished her fourth plate. “You looked like you almost had time to taste that one.”
Sarene ignored him, motioning for Kiin to bring in the next delicacy. She had been told that if one starved oneself long enough, the stomach would shrink, thereby reducing the amount of food one could eat. The man who had invented that theory would have thrown up his hands in despair if he could have seen Sarene feasting.
She sat at the table across from Lukel and Roial. The elderly duke had just arrived, and when he had seen Sarene, she thought for a moment he was going to collapse from the shock. Instead, he had breathed a prayer to Domi, seating himself speechlessly in the chair across from her.
“I can honestly say that I have never seen a woman eat this much,” Duke Roial noted appreciatively. There was still a hint of disbelieving wonder in his eyes as he looked at her.
“She’s a Teoish giantess,” Lukel said. “I don’t think it’s fair to make comparisons between Sarene and regular women.”
“If I weren’t so busy eating, I’d respond to that,” Sarene said, waving her fork at them. She hadn’t realized exactly how hungry she was until she’d entered Kiin’s kitchen, where the lingering scents