After five days in Elantris, when the poison wore off, she and Raoden realized that she was not truly an Elantrian, and she returned to Kae. Together they discovered that AonDor was tied to the geography of Arelon. During her time in Elantris, she studied AonDor with Raoden. On the day of the wedding, however, Hrathen poisoned her to make her look like she had undergone transformation by the Shaod, and she was thrown into Elantris. When Iadon committed suicide, Sarene realized that the only way to keep Telrii off the throne was to combine her fortunes with Roial's through marriage. Hrathen eventually got to Telrii, a rich nobleman, and promised to place him on the throne if he converted to Shu-Dereth. She also brought food to the Elantrians, where she met Raoden under the name Spirit, and taught a group of Arelene noblewomen, including Eshen and Daora, fencing in an attempt to give them some agency in the court. In addition, she worked with Raoden's group of friends to attempt to change Iadon's system of government. She spent the first three months of her 'married' life working to block the efforts of a gyorn named Hrathen to convert the people to Shu-Dereth and thus add both Teod and Arelon to the massive Fjordell Empire. A clause in the marriage contract stated that the death of either her or Raoden qualified as a marriage, so she found herself a widow, and legally the daughter of King Iadon of Arelon. When she arrived in Arelon, however, she found out that Raoden had died of 'disease'. She met and got to know Raoden by communicating through letters, and later by seon. In an attempt to re-establish diplomatic relations with Arelon, Sarene arranged a political marriage with Prince Raoden. Sarene became an ambassador for Teod at a very young age, serving most notably as the ambassador to Svorden. She was able to briefly hold her own against Dilaf, though only with the advantage of a surprise attack. She is good at reading people and manipulating them to her needs.

Sarene is a political genius and charismatic leader. She seeks to better the lives of others, man or woman, rich or poor.

This is shown by how she acts dimwitted in order to manipulate King Iadon, using his sexist views against him.

She is also known for being brusque, occasionally sarcastic, and patronizing to those who underestimate or try to manipulate her. She is never satisfied with an unsolved mystery and can detect quite well when she is being lied to. She is a natural leader, as evidenced by her immediate take over of Raoden's revolutionary group, despite strong personalities such as Roial and Ahan. She is described as a tall and thin woman with fair hair and silver-grey eyes. Sarene, princess of Teod and queen of Arelon, is politically-minded, bold, and strategic.

Elantris 2