The Hope of Elantris (2007)

The Hope of Elantris is an e-book short story that was released in 2007. It was initially for sale on Amazon, but Sanderson released it on his own site when the contract with Amazon ran out. Sanderson describes on his website that the events that take place in the e-book happen concurrently with events in Elantris, hence he suggests reading Elantris first for risk of spoiling certain aspects of the story. The inspiration for the story comes from a story told to him by his wife Emily when they were dating in 2006. You can also find the story in the Arcanum Unbound book.

Characters

 * Ashe-Serene's Seon
 * Roaden-The king of Arelon
 * Serene-Raoden's wife and Queen of Arelon
 * Matisse-An Elantrian who helps children who have been taken by the shaod

Development
The Hope of Elantris was written when Sanderson was still dating his wife Emily. Emily told him about a student she had who did a really out-done book report of Elantris. Sanderson at the time had been wanting to write more content for Elantris, and upon hearing this decided to just go for it. He named the main character, Matisse, after the student, then had Emily give the story to her.

Book Description
The following is a short story I wrote in the Elantris ''world back in January of 2006. At that point, Elantris had only been out in stores for about seven or eight months, but I actually hadn't written anything new on the story or world since 2000, when I'd finished the first draft of the original book. This story was originally posted for sale on Amazon.com; once the contract with them ran out, I posted it on my website.''

''There were always a few holes in the manuscript where I decided not to include viewpoints or sections of explanation in the name of streamlining, particularly at the end. In the back of my mind, I knew what happened. This story talks about one of those holes; it is meant to be read after you've finished the novel and takes place during the events of the climax. In the annotation, I've written a further explanation of why I wrote this piece. Some of you may find it interesting to read this ahead of time; I put it in the annotation, however, as I know others would rather enjoy the story without bias beforehand, then read my thoughts afterward.''

'Either way, if you haven't read the novel Elantris, this contains major spoilers. Might I suggest reading the book first? This story won't work at all for you if you haven't.'

As always, thanks for reading!

Plot Summary
After Elantris' restoration Raoden sits alone in his palace noting the city's new found wealth. Ashe, Sarene's seon, floats in through an open window to inform Raoden his wife will not be attending their dinner, because she is pregnant and "it's his fault." Raoden settles in to listening to Ashe's testament to his whereabouts during the last hours before Elantris' restoration.

Everyone has a role in New Elantras; Matisse looks after the children of the Roost but on this night they cannot find the will to sleep. Outside, many of the adults have begun drawing Aons. Matisse ushers the children to bed with threats of doing more school work if they wanted to stay up. As Matisse observes many of the adults outside surrounding Galladon, Idotris claims Aons are useless before Matisse leaves the Roost. Searching out her adoptive father, Dashe, he explains to her that Galladon is having the Elantrians practice Aons in the new form that he and Raoden discovered in Elantris - adding the chasm line.

While watching Galladon lecture the Elantrians, Matisse and Dashe are approached from behind by Ashe. He had come with a message for Karata, but Dashe informs him she's in the library; with Galladon otherwise pre-occupied Ashe delivers his message from Sarene about the shipment of weapons coming into New Elantris to Dashe. After Dashe leaves to organize men to collect the weapons, Matisse asks to borrow Ashe for a moment.

Back at the Roost, Ashe tells a story to help a young girl fall asleep, then he speaks to Matisse outside. She apologizes for taking his time to which he responds that he is pleased to do so again, since Sarene has grown up. Mareshe calls out to Matisse looking for Dashe. She warns him not to wake the children. Mareshe lets slip that Galladon and Karata have disappeared now too. Suddenly, New Elantris erupts into distant screams; Ashe flies away to see what is happening while Taid - the adult supervisor of the Roost - runs to investigate himself.

On the verge of following, Idotris is stopped by Matisse, who ushers him inside to wake the children. Crossing the street, Matisse finds two lanterns when Ashe comes back to inform her that a Fjordell army has invaded the city, and they are heading her way. Filled with dread, Matisse forces herself into action, realizing that the soldiers will be following the cleaned up streets to find the Elantrians and taking the children to the dirty areas of the city will be safer. Ashe is sent to find Dashe.

They flee the Roost, Idotris quieting the children whenever they cried, all staying close to the little lantern light they had. From behind, the harsh tongue of Fjordell is raised and Matisse turns to see three soldiers pursuing them. Horrified by the realization that these men would kill the children, she tells the children to run. Ashe comes back to distract the soldiers so that Dashe can charge them unseen. Urging the children on again, Matisse whirls around, wishing she could do something to help Dashe. He fights bravely but is overwhelmed by numbers and a weakened Elantrian body. He takes a sword to the chest and sees Matisse, mouthing "run" to her. Matisse screams, drawing the attention of the soldiers.

Ashe tries to motivate her but an idea occurs to her. She sends Ashe on to find Idotris and tell him to lead the children to the library where Galladon and Karata will be. Hoping it will work she begins drawing Aon Ashe, the symbol for light. The soldiers advance after a slight hesitation but are blinded by a brilliant light when she completes the symbol with the chasm line. Then she runs. Into the slime of Elantris proper Matisse goes, picking her way through the streets until she finds herself surrounded by Fjordell soldiers. One of the soldiers grabs her but a well placed kick causes him to slip on the sludge and release her. Her leg now damaged and unhealing she limps away from the soldiers still fighting to upright themselves. Finding Dashe's body and the blaze of New Elantris in flames she realizes she's gone in a circle.

Dashe repeats the mantra of a Hoed, his mind broken. Instead of running from the approaching soldiers, Matisse holds on to Dashe's body, not wanting to flee. The Fjordell soldier interrogates her as to the location of the children, threatening her with pain before something happens: the ground shakes and suddenly Matisse feels warm, her skin turning silvery and her wounds healing. The Fjordell man is taken aback but still intent on causing her pain. Elantris is returning to life, but she is going to die at this man's hands. However, with the city's healing came also Dashe's, as he announces before killing the Fjordell man with the same sword that had impaled Dashe not long ago.

Ashe finishes his story; Raoden understands that Ashe wanted to stay with the children until the crisis was over, explaining his absence. Raoden then inquires to Ashe which of the two seons he sent Dashe for his services he gave to Matisse, expecting it to be Ati. Instead, Matisse has been given Aeo which Raoden considers equally appropriate.