This chapter begins with Teresa, confused by the implications of her talk with King Joyse, and wanting an escape from all the lying going on, not the least of which is her lie to Joyse about his daughter Myste.
Now, Teresa isn’t sure who to talk to; several people have ideas about how to save Orison, but nobody seems to trust anybody else. Geraden, Lebbick, the Congery; all are watching each other quite intently. As for King Joyse, the man everybody thinks is ignorant of the plight of Mordant; well, he seems much more aware of things than Teresa was led to think possible. So, guided by the thought that Eremis had the ability to do the most, as well as some thoughts more personal in nature, Teresa seeks him out, even though he has been imprisoned by Lebbick.Falsehood was her only weapon, the only way she could defend herself. She wanted to flee from it.
This is no easy task, but with the help of Artagel, she manages to visit Eremis and shares what she has learned about Joyse. But instead of talking about Joyse and Mordant, Eremis seems only interested in bedding Teresa and planting doubt about Geraden's loyalties, and even goes so far as to ask Teresa to spy on Geraden.She had descended two flights of stairs and was about to enter one of the main halls before she realized that she had no idea how to get where she wanted to go.
Sickened by the thought of what she had agreed to do, Teresa returns to her chambers. Upon reaching her rooms, she is surprised to find Myste’s sister Elega waiting for her. Teresa fears that Elega has come to find out what Teresa knows about Myste’s disappearance, and the thought of continuing to lie for Myste upsets Teresa. Elega does wish to know about her sister, and sees through Teresa's lie, but is strangely happy to see that Teresa is willing to lie for Myste. They talk about several topics (that Teresa wonders why they are talking about); things like the weaknesses of Orison, and the Alend Contender, Prince Kragen. By the end of the conversation Teresa realizes that if Elega could see through her lie about Myste, then surely Joyse did too. Elega's questions and expressions leave Teresa wondering what she's up to, but Teresa can't figure it out. Finally, Elega leaves Teresa alone with her fears."I want you to pretend friendship for young Geraden.... I want you to watch him for me, study him for any sign of betrayal or talent, scrutinize him for any word or deed or implication which may reveal his secrets to me."
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A good clean overview is what we're looking for in a "read lead", as I call it. Fortunately: the devil is in the details-and anytime we "leads" may think, 'ah a small chapter, this should be easy.' We need to think again-SRD is a master of compressing very important information into small spaces. There is a heck of alot going on in this chapter, and it should be the job of we respondents to seek that out. 
Then again, he usually does. 
