Lyn: Goodliest of Cosmere Chickens, prepare thy dining implements and spread thy napkins over thy laps, for we are about to attend a dinner of a court of nobles!
Well… a treasonous dinner, to be sure. With just a bunch of old guys and one wily young woman. But a dinner nonetheless, so I hope you’ve brought your appetites!
Sadly now that Raoden has “passed on,” the crowd of treasonous nobles who had previously rallied around him has shrunken to just a few. But that’s not going to stop them—and Sarene!—from continuing their meetings. Good food, playful banter, and endearing (or annoying) nobles await you in this week’s installment of the Elantris reread, so read on!
(Non)-spoiler warning: This week’s article has no spoilers from other Cosmere works. Read on fearlessly, chickens!
Last time on Elantris: Plots and Soles…
Hrathen plotted with a young nobleman and Raoden and Galladon rescued more Elantrians—and also got shoes!
Chapter Essentials
POV Character(s): Sarene
Discussion
(It’s worth pointing out that Idan, the noble who was meeting with Hrathen in last week’s reread, is NOT Edan, who features in this week’s chapter. I had to go back and double check due to the similarity of the names, so I thought I’d point it out.)
“He engages in traitorous conferences simply because he’s bored?” Sarene asked incredulously.
Her uncle shrugged. “When you’ve been around as long as Roial, you have trouble finding things to keep you interested.
L: I like this guy already.
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P: I mean, if there’s nothing else to do, you know. Might as well commit treason against an inept king!
Edan’s fortune was never very impressive—his holdings border the Chasm, and the lands nearby just aren’t very fertile.
L: Ah, the Chasm. The one that opened up after the earthquake, and that’s causing all these issues.
P: The Chasm. The chasm through Edan’s land. The chasm that messed everything up. Edan’s chasm.
“This isn’t Teod, Sarene,” Kiin said. “The men here are a lot more… traditional. They don’t feel it’s proper for a woman to be involved in politics.”
“This from a man who’s doing the evening’s cooking?” Sarene asked.
L: I’m liking her more and more with each chapter of this reread. I remember adoring Raoden from page one the first time I read this, but I didn’t recall much about Sarene, so this is a pleasant surprise.
P: I think Sarene was one of the reasons I loved this book right off the bat when I read it those many years ago… she’s so snarky, and I hadn’t seen a lot of women characters like her outside of The Wheel of Time.
Kiin smiled. “Good point,” he noted in his scratchy voice. Someday, she would have to find out what had happened to his throat.
L: A reminder that Kiin was a pirate for a while, and it was an accident on one of his ships that caused this.
P: Thank you for that reminder. I didn’t remember this.
“You’ll find that I am hardly inexperienced, my lord. In Teod we don’t shelter our women behind a curtain of weaving and embroidering. I have spent years serving as a diplomat.”
L: You tell ‘em, Serene!
P: She definitely has a way with words. Sheltering women behind a curtain of weaving and embroidery is almost poetic.
“If I cannot know Raoden, at least let me share his dreams.”
L: I want to simultaneously give her a standing ovation and a hug for this.
P: And I want them to meet, already! The anticipation is killing me!
L: Same. And this this buildup of tension to their first meeting is one of the things that keeps me eagerly turning pages, another testament to Sanderson’s skill as an author.
“I can’t help that I’m related to important people,” Kiin said. “Merciful Domi gives us each different trials.”
L: He’s so endearingly humble.
P: You’ve got to be when you need to do the dishes before your wife gets home!
“…even if Iadon had discovered our meetings, he could never have taken action against Raoden.”
L: How… convenient that Raoden’s been effectively disposed of, then. If I didn’t know better, I would suspect the king of somehow orchestrating Raoden’s Shaod.
P: Whatever the case, he had to be thrilled that the Shaod came upon Raoden. Finally, an out!
“Blood, death, and coups will only lead to further chaos. There must be a way to persuade Iadon without resorting to anarchy.”
L: This seems shockingly naïve. Laudable sentiment, but… naïve.
P: Yeah, the man doesn’t seem to be very malleable.
“The saddest thing about Iadon’s system is not what it does to the people, nor is it the fact that it destroys the morality of the country. No, most pitiful is the fact that it does both of these things without making the noblemen any richer.”
L: Forcing people to work beyond their means results in overall loss of productivity? Say it ain’t so! ::sarcasm::
P: I am aghast at this realization.
“…a man will work much more productively when he works for himself.”
L: One of the reasons why some companies offer stock options.
P: And when they have something to gain for it. Which is why higher wages do motivate workers.
“I want you to divide your land amongst your peasants. Give them each a section of field, and tell them they can keep ten percent of whatever that land produces. Tell them that you will even let them buy their homes and the land they occupy.”
L: This is just so, so clever. If the aristocracy is based on wealth? Well, use humane methods which are proven to actually improve productivity. ::sarcasm filter on:: Genius! Why didn’t they think of that?! (Answer: because they’re rich and presumably have never had to do a hard day’s work in their lives, of course.)
P: Exactly. Most rich people don’t know what it was like to live like as peasants. The lords at that dinner were most likely born into wealth.
“Let the peasants know that you care, and they will give you their hearts and their sweat. Prosperity need not be limited to a small percentage of the population.”
L: Wow. This sure is a timely conversation to be covering this week, with the ongoing WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes.
P: Right? There’s enough prosperity to go around. In this story and in regards to the strikes.
“We will… consider your words,” Roial said.
“No, Lord Roial, you will make a decision,” Sarene said.
L: Proverbial balls of solid steel on this one. I love it.
P: He calls her out later for putting him on the spot, but she did it perfectly!
“I’m not convinced it was Domi’s will that took him from us, Uncle,” Sarene said over her wine. “Have either of you ever wondered if, perhaps, someone might have been behind the prince’s death?”
L: She’s thinking in the same direction I did earlier, but I have the reader’s advantage of knowing that Raoden’s position couldn’t have been forced upon him. I’m glad to see her suspicions here, though. We already knew she was smart; now we know she isn’t naïve, either.
P: It’s definitely suspicious, once she finds out how Raoden was plotting against his father. I would have been surprised if Sarene hadn’t had this suspicion, at this point.
“Weren’t either of you even a little suspicious when you heard the prince was dead?” Sarene asked, contemplatively sipping her wine. “It came at such a convenient time. Iadon has the benefit of an alliance with Teod, but now he doesn’t have to worry about Raoden producing any heirs.”
Roial looked at Kiin, who shrugged. “I think we have to at least consider the possibility, Roial.”
L: I hadn’t remembered that the nobles don’t know that Raoden was taken by the Shaod. I had kind of assumed everyone was just keeping mum either out of respect or fear, but that definitely wouldn’t have tracked for Kiin.
P: No, it wouldn’t have. And they certainly have cause to be as suspicious as Sarene.
“Still only one man. How much damage can he do?”
“Ask the Duladen Republic,” Sarene said. “I think this is the same gyorn who was involved in that disaster.”
L: There she goes proving that wisdom again.
P: It’s good that she’s not taking Hrathen’s presence in Kae lightly. Keep on your toes, princess!
We’ll be leaving further speculation and discussion to you in the comments, and hope to join you there! Next week, we’ll be back with chapters twelve and thirteen.
Paige resides in New Mexico, of course. Between work and school and the SA5 beta read, she’s trying to work on book 3 of a YA/Crossover trilogy with just a hint of the supernatural. Read book 1 on her Patreon. Links to her other writing are available in her profile.
Lyndsey stands in solidarity with the members of the WGA and SAG-AFTRA. Follow her on Facebook or TikTok!
