"I'll think of something," Sarene said, trying to sound more certain than she was. "It's not your concern, my lord. I just want your word that you will help me."
"Help you?" Ahan asked hesitantly.
"Help me distribute food in Elantris," Sarene said.
Ahan's eyes bugged out. "Help you?" he repeated. "In there?"
"My goal is to demystify the city," Sarene explained. "To do that, I'll need to convince the nobility to go inside and see for themselves that there's nothing horrifying about the Elantrians."
"I'm sorry to sound objectionable," Eondel began. "But, Lady Sarene, what if there is? What if everything they say about Elantris is true?"
Sarene paused. "I don't think they're dangerous, Lord Eondel. I've looked in on the city and its people. There is nothing frightening about Elantris-well, nothing besides the way its people are treated. I don't believe the tales about monsters or Elantrian cannibalism. I just see a collection of men and women who have been mistreated and misjudged."
Eondel didn't look convinced, and neither did the others.
"Look, I'll go in first and test it," Sarene said. "I want you lords to join me after the first few days."
"Why us?" Edan said with a groan.
"Because I need to start somewhere," Sarene explained. "If you lords brave the city, then others will feel foolish if they object. Aristocrats have a group mentality; if I can build some momentum, then I can probably get most of them to come in with me at least once. Then they'll see that there is nothing horrible about Elantris-that its people are just poor wretches who want to eat. We can defeat Hrathen with simple truth. It is hard to demonize a man after you have seen tears in his eyes as he thanks you for feeding him."
"This is all pointless anyway," Edan said, his hand twitching at the thought of entering Elantris. "The king will never let her in."
"And if he does?" Sarene asked quickly. "Then will you go. Edan?"
The baron blinked in surprise, realizing he had been caught. She waited for him to respond, but he stubbornly refused to answer the question.
"I will," Shuden declared.
Sarene smiled at the Jindo. This was the second time he had been the first to offer her support.
"If Shuden's going to do it. then I doubt the rest of us will have the humility to say no," Roial said. "Get your permission, Sarene. then we will discuss this further."
"Maybe I was a little too optimistic," Sarene admitted, standing outside the doors to Iadon's study. A pair of guards stood a short distance away, watching her suspiciously.
"Do you know what you are going to do, my lady?" Ashe asked. The Seon had
spent the meeting floating just outside the chapel walls-well within his range of hearing-making certain that no one else was eavesdropping on their meeting.
Sarene shook her head. She had displayed bravado when confronted by Ahan and the others, but now she realized how misplaced that sentiment had been. She had no idea how she was going to get Iadon to let her into Elantris-let alone get him to accept their help.
"Did you speak with Father?" she asked.
"I did, my lady." Ashe replied. "He said he would give you whatever financial help you required."
"All right," Sarene said. "Let's go." She took a deep breath and strode toward the soldiers. "I would speak with my father," she announced.
The guards glanced at each other. "Urn, we were told not to…"
"That doesn't apply to family, soldier," Sarene said insistently. "If the queen came to speak with her husband would you turn her away?"
The guards frowned in confusion; Eshen probably didn't come to visit. Sarene had noticed that the bubbly queen tended to keep her distance from Iadon. Even silly women resent being described that way to their faces.
"Just open the door, soldier," Sarene said. "If the king doesn't want to talk to me. he'll throw me out. and next time you will know not to let me in."
The guards hesitated, and Sarene simply pushed her way between them and opened the door herself. The guards, obviously unused to dealing with forceful women-especially in the royal family-simply let her pass.
Iadon looked up from his desk, a pair of spectacles she had never seen him wear before balanced on the end of his nose. He quickly pulled them off and stood, slamming his hands against the desktop in annoyance. disturbing several invoice stacks in the process.
"You aren't content to annoy me in public, so you have to follow me to my study as well?" he demanded. "If I'd known what a foolish, spindly girl you were, I would never have signed that treaty. Be gone, woman, and leave me to work!"
"I tell you what, Father," Sarene said with frankness. "I'll pretend to be an intelligent human being capable of a semilucid conversation, and you pretend the same thing."
Iadon's eyes grew wide at the comment, and his face turned a bright red. "Rag Domi!" he swore, using a curse so vile Sarene had only heard it twice. "You tricked me, woman. I could have you beheaded for making me look the fool."
"Start decapitating your children, Father, and people will begin to ask questions." She watched his reaction carefully, hoping to glean something about Rao-den's disappearance, but she was disappointed. Iadon brushed off the comment with only passing attention.
"I should ship you back to Eventeo right now," he said.
"Fine, I'd be happy to go," she lied. "However, realize that if I go, you lose
your trade treaty with Teod. That could be a problem, considering the luck you've had peddling your silks in Fjorden lately."
Iadon gritted his teeth at the comment.
"Careful, my lady." Ashe whispered. "Do not unsettle him too much. Men often place pride before reason."
Sarene nodded. "I can give you a way out, Father. I have come to offer you a deal."
"What reason do I have to accept any offers from you, woman?" he snapped. "You have been here nearly a month, and now I find that you have been deceiving me the whole time."
"You will trust me. Father. because you have lost seventy-five percent of your fleet to pirates. In a few short months you could lose your throne unless you listen to me."
Iadon betrayed surprise at her knowledge. "How do you know these things?" "Everyone knows, Father." Sarene said lightly. "It's all over the court-they expect you to fall at the next taxing period."
"1 knew it!" Iadon said, his eyes widening with rage. He began to sweat and curse at the courtiers, railing at their determination to see him off the throne.
Sarene blinked in surprise. She had made the comment passingly to keep Iadon off balance, but hadn't expected such a strong reaction. He's paranoid! she realized. Why hasn't anyone noticed this before? However, the speed with which Iadon recovered gave her a clue-he was paranoid. but he kept it well hidden. The way she was jerking his emotions must have weakened his control.
"You propose a deal?" the king demanded.
"I do," Sarene said. "Silk is going for a premium in Teod right now, Father. One could make quite a profit selling it to the king. And, considering certain familial relationships. you might be able to talk Eventeo into giving you sole mercantile rights in his country."
Iadon grew suspicious, his rage cooling as he sensed a bargain. However, the merchant in him immediately began to sniff for problems. Sarene gritted her teeth in frustration: It was as the others had told her. Iadon would never accept her offer: it stank too much of deceit.
"An interesting proposal." he admitted. "But I'm afraid that I-"
"I would, of course, require something in return," Sarene interrupted. thinking quickly. "Call it a fee for setting up the deal between Eventeo and yourself."
Iadon paused. "What kind of fee are we talking about?" he asked warily. An exchange was different from a gift-it could be weighed, measured, and. to an extent, trusted.