The Hero of Ages m-3

by Brandon Sanderson

  Uh, oh. . TenSoon thought as those at the front adopted shocked expressions.

  "My lord!" the man in front said, quickly kneeling in his sleeping robe. "You've returned!"

  TenSoon stood, stepping carefully to hide the sack of bones behind him. "I have," he said.

  "We knew that you would," the man said as others began to whisper and cry out behind him. Many fell to their knees. "We stayed in this place, praying for you to come give us counsel. The king is mad, my lord! What do we do?"

  TenSoon was tempted to expose himself as a kandra, but looking into their hopeful eyes, he found that he could not. Besides, perhaps he could do some good. "Penrod has been corrupted by Ruin," he said. "The thing that seeks to destroy the world. You must gather the faithful and escape this city before Penrod kills you all."

  "My lord, where should we go?"

  TenSoon hesitated. Where? "There are a pair of guards at the front of Keep Venture. They know of a place. Listen to them. You must get to a place underground. Do you understand?"

  "Yes, lord," the man said. Behind, more and more people were edging forward, straining to catch a glimpse of TenSoon. He bore their scrutiny with some nervousness. Finally, he bid them be careful, then fled into the night.

  He found an empty building and quickly changed back to the dog's bones before anyone else could see him. When he was done, he eyed the Survivor's bones, feeling a strange. . reverence.

  Don't be silly, he told himself. They're just bones, like hundreds of other sets you've used. Still, it seemed foolish to leave such a potentially powerful tool behind. He carefully packed them into the sack he'd pilfered, then-using paws he'd created to have more dexterity than those of a real wolfhound-he tied the sack on his back.

  After that, TenSoon left the city by the northern gate, running at full wolfhound speed. He would go to Urteau and hope that he was on the right path.

  The pact between Preservation and Ruin is a thing of gods, and difficult to explain in human terms. Indeed, initially, there was a stalemate between them. On one hand, each knew that only by working together could they create. On the other hand, both knew that they would never have complete satisfaction in what they created. Preservation would not be able to keep things perfect and unchanging, and Ruin would not be able to destroy completely.

  Ruin, of course, eventually acquired the ability to end the world and gain the satisfaction he wanted. But, then, that wasn't originally part of the bargain.

  53

  Spook found her sitting on the rocky lakeshore, looking out across the deep black waters, so still in the cavern's windless air. In the near distance, Spook could hear Sazed-with a large contingent of Goradel's men-working on their project to stanch the flow of water into the cavern.

  Spook approached Beldre quietly, carrying a mug of warmed tea. It almost seemed to burn his flesh, which meant that it would be just right for normal people. He let his own food and drinks sit out until they cooled to room temperature.

  He didn't wear his eye bandage. With pewter, he'd found that he could withstand a little lantern-light. She didn't turn as he approached, so he cleared his throat. She jumped slightly. It was no wonder that Quellion worked so hard to shelter the girl-one could not fake Beldre's level of innocence. She wouldn't survive three heartbeats in the underground. Even Allrianne, who did her best to look like a puff, had an edge to her that bespoke an ability to be as hard as necessary in order to survive. Beldre, though. .

  She's normal, Spook thought. This is how people would be, if they didn't have to deal with Inquisitors, armies, and assassins. For that, he actually envied her. It was a strange feeling, after so many years spent wishing that he were someone more important.

  She turned back toward the waters, and he approached and sat beside her. "Here," he said, handing her the mug. "I know it gets a bit chilly down here, with the lake and the water."

  She paused, then took the mug. "Thank you," she whispered. Spook let her roam free in the cavern-there was very little she could sabotage, though he had warned Goradel's men to keep an eye on her. Either way, there was no way she was going to get out. Spook kept two dozen men guarding the exit, and had ordered the ladder up to the trapdoor above removed, to be replaced only with proper authorization.

  "Hard to believe this place was beneath your city all along, isn't it?" Spook said, trying to work into a conversation. Oddly, it had seemed easier to speak to her when he was confronting her in her gardens, surrounded by danger.

  Beldre nodded. "My brother would have loved to find this place. He worries about food supplies. Fewer and fewer fish are being caught in the northern lakes. And crops. . well, they're not doing so well, I hear."

  "The mists," Spook said. "They don't let enough sunlight through for most plants."

  Beldre nodded, looking down at her mug. She hadn't taken a sip yet.

  "Beldre," Spook said, "I'm sorry. I actually considered kidnapping you from those gardens, but decided against it. However, with you showing up here, alone. ."

  "It was just too good an opportunity," she said bitterly. "I understand. It's my own fault. My brother always says I'm too trusting."

  "There are times that would be an advantage."

  Beldre sniffed quietly. "I've never known such times as that. It seems my entire life, I've just trusted and been hurt. This is no different."

  Spook sat, feeling frustrated with himself. Kelsier, tell me what to say! he thought. Yet, God remained silent. The Survivor didn't seem to have much advice about things that didn't relate to securing the city.

  It had all seemed so simple when Spook had given the order to capture her. Why, now, was he sitting here with this empty pit in his stomach?

  "I believed in him, you know," Beldre said.

  "Your brother?"

  "No," she said with a slight shake of her head. "The Lord Ruler. I was a good little noblewoman. I always gave my payments to the obligators-paying extra, even, and calling them in to witness the smallest things. I also paid them to come tutor me in the history of the empire. I thought everything was perfect. So neat; so peaceful. And then, they tried to kill me. Turns out I'm half skaa. My father wanted a child so desperately, and my mother was barren. He had two children with one of the maidservants-my mother even approved."

  She shook her head. "Why would someone do that?" she continued. "I mean, why not pick a noblewoman? No. My father chose the servant woman. I guess he fancied her or something. . " She looked down.

  "For me, it was my grandfather," Spook said. "I never knew him. Grew up on the streets."

  "Sometimes I wish I had," Beldre said. "Then maybe this would all make sense. What do you do when the priests you've been paying to tutor you since you were a child-men you trusted more than your own parents-come to take you away for execution? I would have died, too. I just went with them. Then. ."

  "Then what?" Spook asked.

  "You saved me," she whispered. "The Survivor's crew. You overthrew the Lord Ruler, and in the chaos, everybody forgot about people like me. The obligators were too busy trying to please Straff."

  "And then, your brother took over."

  She nodded quietly. "I thought he'd be a good ruler. He really is a good man! He just wants everything to be stable and secure. Peace for everyone. Yet, sometimes, the things he does to people. . the things he asks of people. ."

  "I'm sorry," Spook said.

  She shook her head. "And then you came. You rescued that child, right in front of Quellion and me. You came to my gardens, and you didn't even threaten me. I thought. . maybe he really is as the stories say. Maybe he'll help. And, like the idiot I always am, I just came."

  "I wish things were simple, Beldre," Spook said. "I wish I could let you go. But, this is for the greater good."

  "That's just what Quellion always says, you know," she said.

  Spook paused.

  "You're a lot alike, you two," she said. "Forceful. Commanding."

  Spook chuckled. "You really don't know me very well,
do you?"

  She flushed. "You're the Survivor of the Flames. Don't think I haven't heard the rumors-my brother can't keep me out of all of his conferences."

  "Rumors," Spook said, "are rarely reliable."

  "You're a member of the Survivor's crew."

  Spook shrugged. "That's true. Though, I became a member by accident."

  She frowned, glancing at him.

  "Kelsier handpicked the others," Spook said. "Ham, Breeze, Sazed-even Vin. He chose my uncle too. And, by doing so, he got me as a bonus. I. . I was never really part of it all, Beldre. I was kind of like an observer. They posted me on watch and things like that. I sat in on the planning sessions, and everyone just treated me like an errand boy. I must have refilled Breeze's cup a hundred times during that first year!"

  A hint of amusement showed on her face. "You make it sound like you were a servant."

  "Pretty much," Spook said, smiling. "I couldn't talk very well-I'd grown used to speaking in an Eastern street slang, and everything I said came out garbled. I've still got an accent, they tell me. So, I just stayed quiet most of the time, embarrassed. The crew was nice to me, but I knew I was pretty much just ignored."

  "And now you're in charge of them all."

  Spook laughed. "No. Sazed's the one really in charge of us here. Breeze ranks me too, but he lets me give orders because he's too lazy to do so. He likes to make people do things without them knowing it. Half the time, I'm certain that the things I'm saying are just ideas he somehow got into my head."

  Beldre shook her head. "The Terrisman is in charge? But, he looks to you!"

  "He just lets me do what he doesn't want to," Spook said. "Sazed's a great man-one of the best I've known. But, well, he's a scholar. He's better off studying a project and writing notes than he is giving commands. So, that only leaves me. I'm just doing the job that everyone else is too busy to do."

  Beldre sat quietly for a moment, then finally took a sip of her tea. "Ah," she said. "It's good!"

  "The Lord Ruler's own brew, for all we know," Spook said. "We found it down here, with the rest of this stuff."

  "This is why you came, isn't it?" Beldre asked, nodding to the cavern. "I wondered why your emperor cared about Urteau. We haven't really been an important force in the world since the Venture line moved its center of power to Luthadel."

  Spook nodded. "This is part of it, though Elend is also worried about the rebellion up here. It's dangerous, having a foe who is slaughtering noblemen controlling one of the major cities just a short distance north of Luthadel. That's all I can really tell you, though. Most of the time, I feel like I'm still just a bystander in all of this. Vin and Elend, they're the ones who really know what's going on. To them, I'm the guy they could spare to spend months spying in Urteau while they did important work in the South."

  "They are wrong to treat you so," Beldre said.

  "No, it's all right," Spook said. "I've kind of enjoyed being up here. I feel like I've been able to do something, finally."

  She nodded. After a short time, she set down her cup, wrapping her arms around her knees. "What are they like?" she asked. "I've heard so many stories. They say that Emperor Venture always wears white, and that the ash refuses to stick to him! He can quell an army just by looking at them. And his wife, the Survivor's heir. Mistborn. ."

  Spook smiled. "Elend is a forgetful scholar-twice as bad as Sazed ever was. He gets lost in his books and forgets about meetings he himself called. He only dresses with any sense of fashion because a Terriswoman bought him a new wardrobe. War has changed him some, but on the inside, I think he's still just a dreamer caught in a world with too much violence.

  "And Vin. . well, she really is different. I've never been sure what to make of her. Sometimes, she seems as frail as a child. And then she kills an Inquisitor. She can be fascinating and frightening at the same time. I tried to court her once."

  "Really?" Beldre said, perking up.

  Spook smiled. "I gave her a handkerchief. I heard that's how you do it in noble society."

  "Only if you're a romantic," Beldre said, smiling wistfully.

  "Well, I gave her one," Spook said. "But I don't think she knew what I meant by it. And, of course, once she did figure it out, she turned me down. I'm not sure what I was thinking, trying to court her. I mean, I'm just Spook. Quiet, incomprehensible, forgettable Spook."

  He closed his eyes. What am I saying? Women didn't want to hear men talk about how insignificant they were. He'd heard that much. I shouldn't have come to talk to her. I should have just gone about, giving orders. Looking like I was in charge.

  The damage had been done, however. She knew the truth about him. He sighed, opening his eyes.

  "I don't think you're forgettable," Beldre said. "Of course, I'd be more likely to think fondly of you if you were to let me go."

  Spook smiled. "Eventually. I promise."

  "Are you going to use me against him?" Beldre asked. "Threaten to kill me if he doesn't give in?"

  "Threats like that are hollow if you know you'll never do what you say," Spook said. "Honestly, Beldre, I'm not going to hurt you. In fact, I've got a feeling you'll be safer here than back in your brother's palace."

  "Please don't kill him, Spook," Beldre said. "Maybe. . maybe you can help him somehow, help him see that he's being too extreme."

  Spook nodded. "I'll. . try."

  "Do you promise?" she said.

  "All right," Spook said. "I promise to at least try to save your brother. If I can."

  "And the city too."

  "And the city," Spook said. "Trust me. We've done this before-the transition will go smoothly."

  Beldre nodded, and she actually seemed to believe him. What kind of woman is still able to trust people after everything she's been through? If she'd been Vin, she would have stabbed him in the back at the first opportunity, and that would have probably been the right thing to do. Yet, this girl just continued to trust. It was like finding a beautiful plant growing alone in a field of burnt ash.

  "Once we're done, maybe you could introduce me to the emperor and empress," Beldre said. "They sound like interesting people."

  "I'll never argue with that statement," Spook said. "Elend and Vin. . well, they're certainly interesting. Interesting people with heavy burdens. Sometimes, I wish I were powerful enough to do important works like them."

  Beldre laid a hand on his arm, and he glanced down, a bit surprised. What?

  "Power can be a terrible thing, Spook," she said quietly. "I'm. . not pleased with what it's done to my brother. Don't wish so hard for it."

  Spook met her eyes, then nodded and rose. "If you need anything, ask Sazed. He'll see to your comforts."

  She looked up. "Where are you going?"

  "To be seen."

  "I want primary trade contracts on all the canals," Durn said. "And a title from the emperor."

  "You?" Spook said. "A title? You think a 'lord' in front of your name is going to make that face any less ugly?"

  Durn raised an eyebrow.

  Spook just chuckled. "Both are yours. I cleared it with Sazed and Breeze-they'll even draft you a contract, if you want."

  Durn nodded appreciatively. "I do. Lords pay attention to things like that." They sat in one of his many backroom chambers-not in his private home, but in a place attached to a particular inn. An old set of drums hung on the wall.

  Spook had had little trouble sneaking out past Quellion's soldiers standing watch at the front of the Ministry building. Even before he'd gained enhanced abilities with tin, and long before he'd been able to burn pewter, he'd learned to sneak about in the night and spy. A group of soldiers had barely posed an obstacle for him. He couldn't remain cooped up in the cavern like the others. He had too much work to do.

  "I want the Harrows dammed off," Spook said. "We'll flood the canals during the evening, when the markets are empty. Nobody lives in the streetslots except for those of you here in the slums. If you want to keep this place from flooding, you'l
l need a good watertight blockade in place."

  "Already taken care of," Durn said. "When the Harrows were new, we pulled off the lock system from its mouth, but I know where it is. It'll fit back in place well enough to keep the water out, assuming we can install it correctly."

  "You'd better," Spook said. "I don't want the deaths of half the city's beggar population on my conscience. I'll warn you the day we intend to pull this off. See if you can get some of the goods out of the market, as well as keep people out of the streetslots. That, plus what you're doing for my reputation, will guarantee you the title you want."

  Durn nodded, rising. "Well, let's go work on that reputation, then." He led the way out of the back room, bringing Spook out into the commons of the bar. As always, Spook wore his burned cloak-it had become something of a symbol for him. He'd never worn a mistcloak, but somehow, this felt even better.

  The people rose when he entered. He smiled, motioning for Durn's men to bring out wineskins-stolen from the storage cavern and carried by Spook as he snuck out several nights in a row. "Tonight," he said, "you don't have to pay for Quellion's stolen liquor. That's his way of keeping you happy and content."

  And that was the only speech he gave. He wasn't Kelsier, able to impress people with his words. Instead-at Breeze's suggestion-he stayed mostly quiet. He visited tables, trying to not be aloof, but also speaking little. He looked thoughtful, and asked the people about their problems. He listened to stories of loss and hardship, and drank with them to the memory of those Quellion had murdered. And, with his pewter, he never got drunk. He already had a reputation for that-the people regarded it mystically, as they did his ability to survive fire.

  After that bar, they visited another, and another after that, Durn careful to keep him to the safest-and yet most populated-of the locations. Some were in the Harrows, others were above. Through it all, Spook felt an amazing thing: his confidence growing. He really was a little like Kelsier. Vin might have been the one trained by the Survivor, but Spook was the one who was doing just what he'd done-encouraging the people, leading them to rise up for their own sakes.