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The Well of Ascension, Page 90

Brandon Sanderson

Page 90

  "What do you mean?" Elend asked.

  "Remember the attack on the Assembly?" Ham said. "You told me you saw her get hit square-on by a Thugs staff. "

  "And?" Elend asked. "It laid her out for three full days. "

  Ham shook his head. "Her complete collection of wounds—getting hit in the side, the shoulder wound, nearly being choked to death—those all together laid her out for a couple of days. But, if shed really gotten hit that hard by a Thug, she shouldnt have been out for days, Elend. She should have been out for weeks. Maybe longer. She certainly shouldnt have escaped without broken ribs. "

  "She was burning pewter," Elend said.

  "Presumably, so was the Thug. "

  Elend paused.

  "You see?" Ham said. "If both were flaring pewter, then they should have balanced each other out. That leaves Vin—a girl who cant weigh more than a hundred pounds—getting clobbered full-on by a trained soldier with three times her weight. She shrugged it off with barely a few days rest. "

  "Vins special," Elend finally said.

  "I wont argue with that," Ham said. "But shes also hiding things from us. Who was that other Mistborn? Some of the reports make it sound like they were working together. "

  She said there was another Mistborn in the city, Elend thought. Zane—Straffs messenger. She hasnt mentioned him in a very long while.

  Ham rubbed his forehead. "This is all falling apart around us, El. "

  "Kelsier could have kept it together," Spook mumbled. "When he was here, even our failures were part of his plan. "

  "The Survivor is dead," Elend said. "I never knew him, but Ive listened to enough about him to learn one thing. He didnt give in to despair. "

  Ham smiled. "That much is true. He was laughing and joking the day after we lost our entire army to a miscalculation. Arrogant bastard. "

  "Callous," Spook said.

  "No," Ham said, reaching for his cup. "I used to think that. Now. . . I just think he was determined. Kell always looked toward tomorrow, no matter what the consequences. "

  "Well, we have to do the same," Elend said. "Cett is gone—Penrod let him leave. We cant change that fact. But, we do have information on the koloss army. "

  "Oh, about that," Spook said, reaching into his pouch. He tossed something to the table. "Youre right—theyre the same. "

  The coin rolled to a stop, and Elend picked it up. He could see where Spook had scraped it with a knife, peeling off the gold paint to reveal the dense hardwood beneath. It was a poor representation of a boxing; it was little wonder that the fakes had been so easy to pick out. Only a fool would try to pass them off as real. A fool, or a koloss.

  Nobody was certain how some of Jastess fake boxings had worked their way up to Luthadel; perhaps he had tried giving them to peasants or beggars in his home dominance. Either way, it was fairly apparent what he was doing. Hed needed an army, and had needed cash. Hed fabricated the one to get the other. Only koloss would have fallen for such a ploy.

  "I dont get it," Ham said as Elend passed him the coin. "How come the koloss have suddenly decided to take money? The Lord Ruler never paid them. "

  Elend paused, thinking back to his experience with the camp. We are humans. We will live in your city. . . .

  "The koloss are changing, Ham," Elend said. "Or maybe we never really understood them in the first place. Either way, we need to be strong. This isnt over yet. "

  "It would be easier to be strong if I knew our Mistborn wasnt insane. She didnt even discuss this with us!"

  "I know," Elend said.

  Ham rose, shaking his head. "Theres a reason the Great Houses were always so reluctant to use their Mistborn against each other. Things just got a whole lot more dangerous. If Cett does have a Mistborn, and he decides to retaliate. . . "

  "I know," Elend said again, bidding the two farewell.

  Ham waved to Spook, and the two of them left, off to check with Breeze and Clubs.

  They all act so glum, Elend thought, leaving his rooms to find something to eat. Its like they think were doomed because of one setback. But, Cetts withdrawal is a good thing. One of our enemies is leaving—and there are still two armies out there. Jastes wont attack if doing so exposes him to Straff, and Straff himself is too scared of Vin to do anything. In fact, her attack on Cett will only make my father more frightened. Maybe thats why she did it.

  "Your Majesty?" a voice whispered.

  Elend spun, searching the hallway.

  "Your Majesty," said a short figure in the shadows. OreSeur. "I think Ive found her. "

  Elend didnt bring anyone with him save for a few guards. He didnt want to explain to Ham and the others how hed gotten his information; Vin still insisted on keeping OreSeur secret.

  Hams right about one thing, Elend thought as his carriage pulled to a stop. She is hiding things. She does it all the time.

  But that didnt stop him from trusting her. He nodded to OreSeur, and they left the carriage. Elend waved his guards back as he approached a dilapidated building. It had probably once been a poor merchants shop—a place run by extremely low nobility, selling meager necessities to skaa workers in exchange for food tokens, which could in turn be exchanged for money from the Lord Ruler.

  The building was in a sector that Elends fuel-collection crews hadnt reached yet. It was obvious, however, that it hadnt seen a lot of use lately. It had been ransacked long ago, and the ash coating the floor was a good four inches deep. A small trail of footprints led toward a back stairwell.

  "What is this place?" Elend asked with a frown.

  OreSeur shrugged a pair of dogs shoulders.

  "Then how did you know she was here?"

  "I followed her last night, Your Majesty," OreSeur said. "I saw the general direction she went. After that, it was simply a process of careful searching. "

  Elend frowned. "That still must have taken some pretty mean tracking abilities, kandra. "

  "These bones have unusually keen senses. "

  Elend nodded. The stairwell led up into a long hallway with several rooms at the ends. Elend began to walk down the hallway, then paused. To one side, a panel on the wall had been slid back, revealing a small cubby. He could hear movement within.

  "Vin?" he asked, poking his head into the cubby.

  There was a small room hidden behind the wall, and Vin sat on the far side. The room—more of a nook—was only a few feet across, and even Vin wouldnt have been able to stand up in it. She didnt respond to him. She simply sat, leaning against the far wall, head turned away from him.

  Elend crawled inside the small chamber, getting ash on his knees. It was barely large enough for him to enter without bumping into her. "Vin? Are you all right?"

  She sat, twisting something between her fingers. And she was looking at the wall—looking through a narrow hole. Elend could see sunlight shining through.

  Its a peephole, he realized. To watch the street below. This isnt a shop—its a thieving hideout. Or, it was.

  "I used to think Camon was a terrible man," Vin said quietly.

  Elend paused, on hands and knees. Finally, he settled back into a cramped seated position. At least Vin didnt look hurt. "Camon?" he asked. "Your old crewleader, before Kelsier?"

  Vin nodded. She turned away from the slit, sitting with her arms around her knees. "He beat people, he killed those who disagreed with him. Even among street thugs, he was brutal. "

  Elend frowned.

  "But," Vin said quietly, "I doubt he killed as many people during his entire life as I killed last night. "

  Elend closed his eyes. Then he opened them and shuffled a little closer, laying a hand on Vins shoulder. "Those were enemy soldiers, Vin. "

  "I was like a child in a room full of bugs," Vin whispered. He could finally see what was in her fingers. It was her earring, the simple bronze stud that she always wore. She looked down at it,
twisting it between her fingers.

  "Did I ever tell you how I got this?" she asked. He shook his head. "My mother gave it to me," she said. "I dont remember it happening—Reen told me about it. My mother. . . she heard voices sometimes. She killed my baby sister, slaughtered her. And that same day she gave me this, one of her own earrings. As if. . . as if choosing me over my sister. A punishment for one, a twisted present for another. "

  Vin shook her head. "My entire life has been death, Elend. Death of my sister, the death of Reen. Crewmembers dead around me, Kelsier falling to the Lord Ruler, then my own spear in the Lord Rulers chest. I try to protect, and tell myself that Im escaping it all. And then. . . I do something like I did last night. "

  Not certain what else to do, Elend pulled her close. She was stiff, however. "You had a good reason for what you did," he said.

  "No I didnt," Vin said. "I just wanted to hurt them. I wanted to scare them and make them leave you alone. It sounds childish, but thats how I felt. "

  "Its not childish, Vin," Elend said. "It was good strategy. You gave our enemies a show of force. You frightened away one of our major opponents, and now my father will be even more afraid to attack. Youve bought us more time!"

  "Bought it with the lives of hundreds of men. "

  "Enemy soldiers who marched into our city," Elend said. "Men who were protecting a tyrant who oppresses his people. "

  "Thats the same rationale Kelsier used," Vin said quietly, "when he killed noblemen and their guards. He said they were upholding the Final Empire, so they deserved to die. He frightened me. "

  Elend didnt know what to say to that.

  "It was like he thought himself a god," Vin whispered. "Taking life, giving life, where he saw fit. I dont want to be like him, Elend. But, everything seems to be pushing me in that direction. "

  "I. . . " Youre not like him, he wanted to say. It was true, but the words wouldnt come out. They rang hollow to him.

  Instead, he pulled Vin close, her shoulder up against his chest, head beneath his chin. "I wish I knew the right things to say, Vin," he whispered. "Seeing you like this makes every protective instinct inside of me twist. I want to make it better—I want to fix everything—but I dont know how. Tell me what to do. Just tell me how I can help!"

  She resisted his embrace a little at first, but then sighed quietly and slid her arms around him, holding him tightly. "You cant help with this," she said softly. "I have to do it alone. There are. . . decisions I have to make. "

  He nodded. "Youll make the right ones, Vin. "

  "You dont even know what Im deciding. "

  "It doesnt matter," he said. "I know I cant help—I couldnt even hold on to my own throne. Youre ten times as capable as I am. "

  She squeezed his arm. "Dont say things like that. Please?"

  He frowned at the tension in her voice, then nodded. "All right. But, either way, I trust you, Vin. Make your decisions—Ill support you. "

  She nodded, relaxing a bit beneath his arms. "I think. . . " she said. "I think I have to leave Luthadel. "