“He seems very different to me,” Vin said quietly.
“He is,” Tindwyl said, walking forward to lay a hand on Vin’s shoulder. “He is becoming the man that he always knew he would have to be—he just didn’t know the path. Though I am hard on him, I think he would have found his way, even if I hadn’t come. A man can only stumble for so long before he either falls or stands up straight.”
Vin looked at her mirror self, pretty in its maroon dressings. “This is what I have to become. For him.”
“For him,” Tindwyl agreed. “And for yourself. This is where you were heading, before you got distracted.”
Vin turned. “Are you going to come with us tonight?”
Tindwyl shook her head. “That is not my place. Now, go meet your king.”
This time, Elend did not intend to enter his enemy’s lair without a proper escort. Two hundred soldiers stood in the courtyard, waiting to accompany him to Cett’s dinner, and Ham—fully armed—was playing personal bodyguard. Spook would act as Elend’s coachman. That only left Breeze, who—understandably—was a bit nervous about the idea of going to the dinner.
“You don’t have to come,” Elend told the portly man as they assembled in the Venture courtyard.
“I don’t?” Breeze said. “Well then, I shall remain here. Enjoy the dinner!”
Elend paused, frowning.
Ham clapped Elend on the shoulder. “You should know better than to give that one any wiggle room, Elend!”
“Well, I meant my words,” Elend said. “We could really use a Soother, but he doesn’t have to come if he doesn’t want to.”
Breeze looked relieved.
“You don’t even feel a bit guilty, do you?” Ham asked.
“Guilty?” Breeze asked, hand resting on his cane. “My dear Hammond, have you ever known me to express such a dreary and uninspired emotion? Besides, I have a feeling Cett will be more amiable without me around.”
He’s probably right, Elend thought as his coach pulled up.
“Elend,” Ham said. “Don’t you think bringing two hundred soldiers with us is…well, a little obvious?”
“Cett is the one who said we should be honest with our threats,” Elend said. “Well, I’d say two hundred men is on the conservative side of how well I trust the man. He’ll still have us outnumbered five to one.”
“But you’ll have a Mistborn sitting a few seats from him,” a soft voice said from behind.
Elend turned, smiling at Vin. “How can you possibly move so quietly in a dress like that?”
“I’ve been practicing,” she said, taking his arm.
Thing is, she probably has, he thought, inhaling her perfume, imagining Vin creeping through the palace hallways in a massive ball gown.
“Well, we should get moving,” Ham said. He gestured for Vin and Elend to enter the carriage, and they left Breeze behind on the palace steps.
After a year of passing Keep Hasting in the night, its windows darkened, it felt right to see them glowing again.
“You know,” Elend said from beside her, “we never did get to attend a ball together.”
Vin turned from her contemplation of the approaching keep. Around her, the carriage bounced along to the sound of several hundred tromping feet, the evening just beginning to grow dark.
“We met up several times at the balls,” Elend continued, “but we never officially attended one together. I never got the chance to pick you up in my carriage.”
“Is that really so important?” Vin asked.
Elend shrugged. “It’s all part of the experience. Or, it was. There was a comfortable formality to it all; the gentleman arriving to accompany the lady, then everyone watching you enter and evaluating how you look together. I did it dozens of times with dozens of women, but never with the one that would have made the experience special.”
Vin smiled. “Do you think we’ll ever have balls again?”
“I don’t know, Vin. Even if we survive all of this…well, could you dance while so many people starved?” He was probably thinking about the hundreds of refugees, wearied from their travels, stripped of all food and equipment by Straff’s soldiers, huddled together in the warehouse Elend had found for them.
You danced before, she thought. People starved then, too. But that was a different time; Elend hadn’t been king then. In fact, as she thought about it, he had never actually danced at those balls. He had studied and met with his friends, planning how he could make a better place out of the Final Empire.
“There has to be a way to have both,” Vin said. “Maybe we could throw balls, and ask the nobility who came to donate money to help feed the people.”
Elend smiled. “We’d probably spend twice as much on the party as we got in donations.”
“And the money we spent would go to skaa merchants.”
Elend paused thoughtfully, and Vin smirked to herself. Odd that I would end up with the only frugal nobleman in the city. What a pair they were—a Mistborn who felt guilty wasting coins to jump and a nobleman who thought balls were too expensive. It was a wonder that Dockson could pry enough money out of them to keep the city running.
“We’ll worry about that later,” Elend said as the Hasting gates opened, revealing a field of soldiers at attention.
You can bring your soldiers if you want, the display seemed to say. I’ve got more. In reality, they were entering a strange allegory of Luthadel itself. Elend’s two hundred were now surrounded by Cett’s thousand—which, in turn, were surrounded by Luthadel’s twenty thousand. The city, of course, was then surrounded by nearly a hundred thousand troops on the outside. Layer upon layer of soldiers, all tensely waiting for a fight. Thoughts of balls and parties fled her mind.
Cett did not greet them at the door. That duty was performed by a soldier in a simple uniform.
“Your soldiers can remain here,” the man said as they entered the main entryway. Once, the large, pillared room had been draped in fine rugs and wall hangings, but Elend had taken those to fund his government. Cett, obviously, hadn’t brought replacements, and that left the inside of the keep feeling austere. Like a battlefront fortress, rather than a mansion.
Elend turned, waving to Demoux, and the captain ordered his men to wait indoors. Vin stood for a moment, consciously keeping herself from shooting a glare at Demoux. If he was the kandra, as her instincts warned, then it was dangerous to have him too close. Part of her itched to simply throw him in a dungeon.
And yet, a kandra couldn’t hurt humans, so he wasn’t a direct threat. He was simply there to relay information. Plus, he’d already know their most sensitive secrets; there was little point in striking now, playing her hand so quickly. If she waited, saw where he went when he slipped out of the city, then maybe she could find out which army—or sect in the city—he was reporting to. Learn what information he had betrayed.
And so, she stayed her hand, waiting. The time to strike would come.
Ham and Demoux arranged their men, and then a smaller honor guard—including Ham, Spook, and Demoux—gathered to stay with Vin and Elend. Elend nodded to Cett’s man, and the soldier led them down a side passageway.
We’re not heading toward the lifts, Vin thought. The Hasting ballroom was at the very top of the keep’s central tower; the times she had attended balls in the structure, she had been taken to the top on one of four human-drawn lifts. Either Cett didn’t want to waste the manpower, or…
He picked the tallest keep in the city, Vin thought. The one with the fewest windows as well. If Cett pulled all the lifts to the top, it would be very difficult for an invading force to claim the keep.
Fortunately, it didn’t appear that they would have to go all the way to the top this evening. After they climbed two flights in a twisting stone stairwell—Vin having to pull her dress in at the sides to keep from brushing against the stones—their guide led them out into a large, circular room with stained-glass windows running around the entire perimeter, broken only by columns to support the
ceiling. The single room was nearly as wide around as the tower itself.
A secondary ballroom, perhaps? Vin wondered, taking in the beauty. The glass wasn’t lit, though she suspected that there were clefts for limelights on the outside. Cett didn’t appear to care about such things. He had set up a large table in the very center of the room, and sat at its head. He was already eating.
“You’re late,” he called out to Elend, “so I started without you.”
Elend frowned. To this, Cett laughed a full bellow, holding up a drumstick. “You seem more aghast at my breach of etiquette than you do about the fact that I brought an army to conquer you, boy! But, I suppose that’s Luthadel. Sit down before I eat this all myself.”
Elend held out an arm for Vin, leading her to the table. Spook took up position near the stairwell, his Tineye’s ears listening for danger. Ham led their ten men to a position from which they could watch the only entrances to the room—the entry from the stairs and the door the serving staff used.
Cett ignored the soldiers. He had a group of his own bodyguards standing near the wall on the other side of the room, but he seemed unconcerned that Ham’s troop had them slightly outnumbered. His son—the young man who had attended him at the Assembly meeting—stood at his side, waiting quietly.
One of the two has to be Mistborn, Vin thought. And I still think it is Cett.
Elend seated her, then took a chair next to her, both of them sitting directly across from Cett. He barely paused in his eating as the servers brought Vin’s and Elend’s dishes.
Drumsticks, Vin thought, and vegetables in gravy. He wants this to be a messy meal—he wants to make Elend uncomfortable.
Elend didn’t start on his food immediately. He sat, watching Cett, his expression thoughtful.
“Damn,” Cett said. “This is good food. You have no idea how hard it is to get proper meals when traveling!”
“Why did you want to speak with me?” Elend asked. “You know I won’t be convinced to vote for you.”
Cett shrugged. “I thought it might be interesting.”
“Is this about your daughter?” Elend asked.
“Lord Ruler, no!” Cett said with a laugh. “Keep the silly thing, if you want. The day she ran off was one of the few joys I’ve had this last month.”
“And if I threaten to harm her?” Elend asked.
“You won’t,” Cett said.
“You’re certain?”
Cett smiled through his thick beard, leaning toward Elend. “I know you, Venture. I’d been watching you, studying you, for months. And then, you were kind enough to send one of your friends to spy on me. I learned a lot about you from him!”
Elend looked troubled.
Cett laughed. “Honestly, you didn’t think I’d recognize one of the Survivor’s own crewmembers? You Luthadel noblemen must assume that everyone outside the city is a damn fool!”
“And yet, you listened to Breeze,” Elend said. “You let him join you, listened to his advice. And then, you only chased him away when you found him being intimate with your daughter—the one you claim to have no affection for.”
“Is that why he told you he left the camp?” Cett asked, laughing. “Because I caught him with Allrianne? Goodness, what do I care if the girl seduced him?”
“You think she seduced him?” Vin asked.
“Of course,” Cett said. “Honestly, I only spent a few weeks with him, and even I know how useless he is with women.”
Elend was taking all this in stride. He watched Cett with narrow, discerning eyes. “So why did you chase him away?”
Cett leaned back. “I tried to turn him. He refused. I figured killing him would be preferable to letting him return to you. But, he’s remarkably agile for a man his size.”
If Cett really is Mistborn, there’s no way Breeze got away without Cett letting him, Vin thought.
“So you see, Venture,” Cett said. “I know you. I know you better, perhaps, than you know yourself—for I know what your friends think of you. It takes a pretty extraordinary man to earn the loyalty of a weasel like Breeze.”
“So you think I won’t harm your daughter,” Elend said.
“I know you won’t,” Cett said. “You’re honest—I happen to like that about you. Unfortunately, honesty is very easy to exploit—I knew, for instance, that you’d admit Breeze was Soothing that crowd.” Cett shook his head. “Honest men weren’t meant to be kings, lad. It’s a damn shame, but it’s true. That’s why I have to take the throne from you.”
Elend was silent for a moment. Finally, he looked to Vin. She took his plate, sniffing it with an Allomancer’s senses.
Cett laughed. “Think I’d poison you?”
“No, actually,” Elend said as Vin set the plate down. She wasn’t as good as some, but she’d learned the obvious scents.
“You wouldn’t use poison,” Elend said. “That isn’t your way. You seem to be a rather honest man yourself.”
“I’m just blunt,” Cett said. “There’s a difference.”
“I haven’t heard you tell a lie yet.”
“That’s because you don’t know me well enough to discern the lies,” Cett said. He held up several grease-stained fingers. “I’ve already told you three lies tonight, lad. Good luck guessing which ones they were.”
Elend paused, studying Cett. “You’re playing with me.”
“Of course I am!” Cett said. “Don’t you see, boy? This is why you shouldn’t be king. Leave the job to men who understand their own corruption; don’t let it destroy you.”
“Why do you care?” Elend asked.
“Because I’d rather not kill you,” Cett said.
“Then don’t.”
Cett shook his head. “That isn’t how all this works, lad. If there is an opportunity to stabilize your power, or to get more power, you’d damn well better take it. And I will.”
The table fell silent again. Cett eyed Vin. “No comments from the Mistborn?”
“You swear a lot,” Vin said. “You’re not supposed to do that in front of ladies.”
Cett laughed. “That’s the funny thing about Luthadel, lass. They’re all so concerned about doing what is ‘proper’ when people can see them—but, at the same time, they find nothing wrong with going and raping a couple skaa women when the party is through. At least I swear to your face.”
Elend still hadn’t touched his food. “What will happen if you win the vote for the throne?”
Cett shrugged. “Honest answer?”
“Always.”
“First thing, I’d have you assassinated,” Cett said. “Can’t have old kings sticking around.”
“And if I step down?” Elend said. “Withdraw from the vote?”
“Step down,” Cett said, “vote for me, and then leave town, and I’ll let you live.”
“And the Assembly?” Elend asked.
“Dissolved,” Cett said. “They’re a liability. Any time you give a committee power, you just end up with confusion.”
“The Assembly gives the people power,” Elend said. “That’s what a government should provide.”
Surprisingly, Cett didn’t laugh at that comment. Instead, he leaned in again, setting one arm on the table, discarding a half-eaten drumstick. “That’s the thing, boy. Letting the people rule themselves is fine when everything is bright and happy, but what about when you have two armies facing you? What about when there’s a band of insane koloss destroying villages on your frontier? Those aren’t the times when you can afford to have an Assembly around to depose you.” Cett shook his head. “The price is too high. When you can’t have both freedom and safety, boy, which do you choose?”
Elend was silent. “I make my own choice,” he finally said. “And I leave the others to make their own as well.”
Cett smiled, as if he’d expected such a reply. He started in on another drumstick.
“Let’s say I leave,” Elend said. “And let’s say you do get the throne, protect the city, and dissolve the Assembl
y. What then? What of the people?”
“Why do you care?”
“You need ask?” Elend said. “I thought you ‘understood’ me.”
Cett smiled. “I put the skaa back to work, in the way the Lord Ruler did. No pay, no emancipated peasant class.”
“I can’t accept that,” Elend said.
“Why not?” Cett said. “It’s what they want. You gave them a choice—and they chose to throw you out. Now they’re going to choose to put me on the throne. They know that the Lord Ruler’s way was the best. One group must rule, and another must serve. Someone has to grow the food and work the forges, boy.”
“Perhaps,” Elend said. “But you’re wrong about one thing.”
“And what is that?”
“They’re not going to vote for you,” Elend said, standing. “They’re going to choose me. Faced with the choice between freedom and slavery, they will choose freedom. The men of the Assembly are the finest of this city, and they will make the best choice for its people.”
Cett paused, then he laughed. “The best thing about you, lad, is that you can say that and sound serious!”
“I’m leaving, Cett,” Elend said, nodding to Vin.
“Oh, sit down, Venture,” Cett said, waving toward Elend’s chair. “Don’t act indignant because I’m being honest with you. We still have things to discuss.”
“Such as?” Elend asked.
“Atium,” Cett said.
Elend stood for a moment, apparently forcing down his annoyance. When Cett didn’t speak immediately, Elend finally sat and began to eat. Vin just picked quietly at her food. As she did, however, she studied the faces of Cett’s soldiers and servants. There were bound to be Allomancers mixed among them—finding out how many could give Elend an advantage.
“Your people are starving,” Cett said. “And, if my spies are worth their coin, you just got another influx of mouths. You can’t last much longer under this siege.”
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