Elend nearly dropped the cloth in shock.
“I know several,” Sazed said as he tended the wound. “Some two hundred, actually.”
“Which one is the shortest?” Vin asked.
Sazed pulled a stitch tight. “The people of Larsta only required a profession of love before a local priest. Simplicity was a tenet of their belief structure—a reaction, perhaps, to the traditions of the land they were banished from, which was known for its complex system of bureaucratic rules. It is a good religion, one that focused on simple beauty found in nature.”
Vin looked at Elend. Her face was bloody, her hair a mess.
“Now, see,” he said. “Vin, don’t you think that maybe this should wait until, you know—”
“Elend?” she interrupted. “I love you.”
He froze.
“Do you love me?” she asked.
This is insane. “Yes,” he said quietly.
Vin turned to Sazed, who was still working. “Well?”
Sazed looked up, fingers bloodied. “This is a very strange time for such an event, I think.”
Elend nodded in agreement.
“It’s just a little bit of blood,” Vin said tiredly. “I’m really all right, now that I’ve sat down.”
“Yes,” Sazed said, “but you seem somewhat distraught, Lady Vin. This isn’t a decision to be made lightly, under the influence of strong emotions.”
Vin smiled. “The decision to get married shouldn’t be made because of strong emotions?”
Sazed floundered. “That isn’t exactly what I meant. I’m simply not certain that you are fully in control of your faculties, Lady Vin.”
Vin shook her head. “I’m more in control than I have been for months. It’s time for me to stop hesitating, Sazed—time to stop worrying, time to accept my place in this crew. I know what I want, now. I love Elend. I don’t know what kind of time we’ll have together, but I want some, at least.”
Sazed sat for a moment, then returned to his sewing. “And you, Lord Elend? What are your thoughts?”
What were his thoughts? He remembered just the day before, when Vin had spoken of leaving, and the wrenching he had felt. He thought of how much he depended on her wisdom, and her bluntness, and her simple—but not simplistic—devotion to him. Yes, he did love her.
The world had gone chaotic recently. He had made mistakes. Yet, despite everything that had happened, and despite his frustrations, he still felt strongly that he wanted to be with Vin. It wasn’t the idyllic infatuation he’d felt a year and a half ago, at the parties. But it felt more solid.
“Yes, Sazed,” he said. “I do want to marry her. I have wanted it for some time. I…I don’t know what’s going to happen to the city, or my kingdom, but I want to be with Vin when it comes.”
Sazed continued to work. “Very well, then,” he finally said. “If it is my witness you require, then you have it.”
Elend knelt, still pressing the cloth on Vin’s shoulder, feeling a little bit stunned. “That’s it then?”
Sazed nodded. “It is as valid as any witness the obligators could give you, I think. Be warned, the Larsta love oath is binding. They knew no form of divorce in their culture. Do you accept my witness of this event?”
Vin nodded. Elend felt himself doing the same.
“Then you are married,” Sazed said, tying off his thread, then draping a cloth across Vin’s chest. “Hold this for a bit, Lady Vin, and stanch the rest of the bleeding.” Then he moved on to her cheek.
“I feel like there should be a ceremony or something,” Elend said.
“I could give one, if you wish,” Sazed said, “but I do not think you need one. I have known you both for some time, and am willing to give my blessing to this union. I simply offer counsel. Those who take lightly promises they make to those they love are people who find little lasting satisfaction in life. This is not an easy time in which to live. That does not mean that it has to be a difficult time to love, but it does mean that you will find unusual stresses upon your lives and your relationship.
“Do not forget the love oath you made to each other this evening. It will give you much strength in the days to come, I think.” With that, he pulled the last stitch tight on Vin’s face, then finally moved to the shoulder. The bleeding there had mostly stopped, and Sazed studied the wound for a moment before beginning work on it.
Vin looked up at Elend, smiling, looking a bit drowsy. He stood and walked over to the room’s washbasin, and returned with a damp cloth to wipe off her face and cheek.
“I’m sorry,” she said quietly as Sazed moved around and took the place Elend had been kneeling in.
“Sorry?” Elend said. “About my father’s Mistborn?”
Vin shook her head. “No. For taking so long.”
Elend smiled. “You’re worth the wait. Besides, I think I had to figure a few things out as well.”
“Like how to be a king?”
“And how to stop being one.”
Vin shook her head. “You never stopped being one, Elend. They can take your crown, but they can’t take your honor.”
Elend smiled. “Thank you. However, I don’t know how much good I’ve done the city. By even being here, I divided the people, and now Straff will end up in control.”
“I’ll kill Straff if he puts one foot in this city.”
Elend gritted his teeth. Back to the same problems again. They could only hold Vin’s knife against his neck for so long. He’d figure out a way to wiggle around, and there was always Jastes and those koloss….
“Your Majesty,” Sazed said as he worked, “perhaps I can offer a solution.”
Elend glanced down at the Terrisman, raising an eyebrow.
“The Well of Ascension,” Sazed said.
Vin opened her eyes immediately.
“Tindwyl and I have been researching the Hero of Ages,” Sazed continued. “We are convinced that Rashek never did what the Hero was supposed to. In fact, we aren’t even convinced that this Alendi of a thousand years ago was the Hero. There are too many discrepancies, too many problems and contradictions. In addition, the mists—the Deepness—are still here. And now they are killing people.”
Elend frowned. “What are you saying?”
Sazed pulled a stitch tight. “Something still needs to be done, Your Majesty. Something important. Looking at it from a smaller perspective, it might seem that the events at Luthadel and the rise of the Well of Ascension are unrelated. However, from a larger view, they may be solutions to one another.”
Elend smiled. “Like the lock and the key.”
“Yes, Your Majesty,” Sazed said, smiling. “Precisely like that.”
“It thumps,” Vin whispered, eyes closing. “In my head. I can feel it.”
Sazed paused, then wrapped a bandage around Vin’s arm. “Can you feel where it is?”
Vin shook her head. “I…There doesn’t seem to be a direction to the pulses. I thought they were distant, but they’re getting louder.”
“That must be the Well returning to power,” Sazed said. “It is fortunate that I know where to find it.”
Elend turned, and Vin opened her eyes again.
“My research has revealed the location, Lady Vin,” Sazed said. “I can draw you a map, from my metalminds.”
“Where?” Vin whispered.
“North,” Sazed said. “In the mountains of Terris. Atop one of the lower peaks, known as Derytatith. Travel there will be difficult this time of year….”
“I can do it,” Vin said firmly as Sazed turned to working on her chest wound. Elend flushed again, then paused as he turned away.
I’m…married. “You’re going to leave?” Elend asked, looking to Vin. “Now?”
“I have to,” Vin whispered. “I have to go to it, Elend.”
“You should go with her, Your Majesty,” Sazed said.
“What?”
Sazed sighed, looking up. “We have to face facts, Your Majesty. As you said earlier, Straff will
soon take this city. If you are here, you will be executed. However, Lady Vin will undoubtedly need help securing the Well.”
“It’s supposed to hold great power,” Elend said, rubbing his chin. “Could we, you think, destroy those armies?”
Vin shook her head. “We couldn’t use it,” she whispered. “The power is a temptation. That’s what went wrong last time. Rashek took the power instead of giving it up.”
“Giving it up?” Elend asked. “What does that mean?”
“Letting it go, Your Majesty,” Sazed said. “Letting it defeat the Deepness on its own.”
“Trust,” Vin whispered. “It’s about trust.”
“However,” Sazed said, “I think that releasing this power could do great things for the land. Change things, and undo much of the damage the Lord Ruler did. I have a strong suspicion that it would destroy the koloss, since they were created by the Lord Ruler’s misuse of the power.”
“But Straff would hold the city,” Elend said.
“Yes,” Sazed said, “but if you leave, the transition will be peaceful. The Assembly has all but decided to accept him as their emperor, and it appears that he’ll let Penrod rule as a subject king. There will be no bloodshed, and you will be able to organize resistance from outside. Besides, who knows what releasing the power will do? Lady Vin could be left changed, much as the Lord Ruler was. With the crew in hiding within the city, it should not be so difficult to oust your father—particularly when he grows complacent in a year or so.”
Elend gritted his teeth. Another revolution. Yet, what Sazed said made sense. For so long, we’ve been worrying about the small-scale. He glanced at Vin, feeling a surge of warmth and love. Maybe it’s time I started listening to the things she’s been trying to tell me.
“Sazed,” Elend said, a sudden thought occurring to him, “do you think that I could convince the Terris people to help us?”
“Perhaps, Your Majesty,” Sazed said. “My prohibition against interfering—the one I have been ignoring—comes because I was given a different assignment by the Synod, not because we believe in avoiding all action. If you could convince the Synod that the future of the Terris people will be benefited by having a strong ally in Luthadel, you may just be able to get yourself military aid from Terris.”
Elend nodded, thoughtful.
“Remember the lock and the key, Your Majesty,” Sazed said, finishing off Vin’s second wound. “In this case, leaving seems like the opposite of what you should do. However, if you look at the larger picture, you will see that it’s precisely what you need to do.”
Vin opened her eyes, looking up at him, smiling. “We can do this, Elend. Come with me.”
Elend stood for a moment. Lock and key…. “All right,” he said. “We’ll leave as soon as Vin is able.”
“She should be able to ride tomorrow,” Sazed said. “You know what pewter can do for a body.”
Elend nodded. “All right. I should have listened to you earlier, Vin. Besides, I’ve always wanted to see your homeland, Sazed. You can show it to us.”
“I will need to stay here, I fear,” Sazed said. “I should soon leave for the South to continue my work there. Tindwyl, however, can go with you—she has important information that needs to be passed on to my brethren the Keepers.”
“It will need to be a small group,” Vin said. “We’ll have to outrun—or perhaps sneak past—Straff’s men.”
“Just you three, I think,” Sazed said. “Or, perhaps one other person to help with watches while you sleep, someone skilled in hunting and scouting. Lord Lestibournes, perhaps?”
“Spook would be perfect,” Elend said, nodding. “You’re sure the other crewmembers will be safe in the city?”
“Of course they won’t,” Vin said, smiling. “But they’re experts. They hid from the Lord Ruler—they’ll be able to hide from Straff. Particularly if they don’t have to worry about keeping you safe.”
“Then it is decided,” Sazed said, standing. “You two should try to rest well tonight, despite the recent change in your relationship. Can you walk, Lady Vin?”
“No need,” Elend said, leaning down and picking her up. She wrapped her arms around him, though her grip was not tight, and he could see that her eyes were already drooping again.
He smiled. Suddenly, the world seemed a much simpler place. He would take some time and spend it on what was really important; then, once he and Vin had sought help from the North, they could return. He actually looked forward to coming back and tackling their problems with renewed vigor.
He held Vin tight, nodding good night to Sazed, then walking out toward his rooms. It seemed that everything had worked out fine in the end.
Sazed stood slowly, watching the two leave. He wondered what they would think of him, when they heard of Luthadel’s fall. At least they would have each other for support.
His wedding blessing was the last gift he could give them—that, and their lives. How will history judge me for my lies? he wondered. What will it think of the Terrisman who took such a hand in politics, the Terrisman who would fabricate mythology to save the lives of his friends? The things he’d said about the Well were, of course, falsehoods. If there was such a power, he had no idea where it was, nor what it would do.
How history judged him would probably depend on what Elend and Vin did with their lives. Sazed could only hope that he had done the right thing. Watching them go, knowing that their youthful love would be spared, he couldn’t help but smile at his decision.
With a sigh, he stooped down and gathered up his medical items; then he retreated to his rooms to fabricate the map he had promised Vin and Elend.
THE END OF PART FOUR
Part Five
Snow and Ash
49
He is accustomed to giving up his own will before the greater good, as he sees it.
“You are a fool, Elend Venture,” Tindwyl snapped, arms folded, eyes wide with displeasure.
Elend pulled a strap tight on his saddle. Part of the wardrobe Tindwyl had made for him included a black and silver riding uniform, and he wore this now, fingers snug within the leather gloves, and a dark cloak to keep off the ash.
“Are you listening to me?” Tindwyl demanded. “You can’t leave. Not now! Not when your people are in such danger!”
“I’ll protect them in another way,” he said, checking on the packhorses.
They were in the keep’s covered way, used for arrivals and departures. Vin sat on her own horse, enveloped almost completely in her cloak, hands holding her reins tensely. She had very little experience riding, but Elend refused to let her run. Pewter or no pewter, the wounds from her fight at the Assembly still hadn’t healed completely, not to mention the damage she’d taken the night before.
“Another way?” Tindwyl asked. “You should be with them. You’re their king!”
“No, I’m not,” Elend snapped, turning toward the Terriswoman. “They rejected me, Tindwyl. Now I have to worry about more important events on a larger stage. They wanted a traditional king? Well, let them have my father. When I return from Terris, perhaps they will have realized what they lost.”
Tindwyl shook her head and stepped forward, speaking in a quiet voice. “Terris, Elend? You go north. For her. You know why she wants to go there, don’t you?”
He paused.
“Ah, so you do know,” Tindwyl said. “What do you think of it, Elend? Don’t tell me you believe these delusions. She thinks she’s the Hero of Ages. She supposes that she’ll find something in the mountains up there—some power, or perhaps some revelation, that will transform her into a divinity.”
Elend glanced at Vin. She looked down at the ground, hood down, still sitting quietly on her horse.
“She’s trying to follow her master, Elend,” Tindwyl whispered. “The Survivor became a god to these people, so she thinks she has to do the same.”
Elend turned to Tindwyl. “If that is what she truly believes, then I support her.”
“You support her madness?” Tindwyl demanded.
“Do not speak of my wife in that manner,” Elend said, his commanding tone causing Tindwyl to flinch. He swung up into his saddle. “I trust her, Tindwyl. Part of trust is belief.”
Tindwyl snorted. “You can’t possibly believe that she is some prophesied messiah, Elend. I know you—you’re a scholar. You may have professed allegiance to the Church of the Survivor, but you don’t believe in the supernatural any more than I do.”
“I believe,” he said firmly, “that Vin is my wife, and that I love her. Anything important to her is important to me—and anything she believes has at least that much weight of truth to me. We are going north. We will return once we’ve released the power there.”
“Fine,” Tindwyl said. “Then you will be remembered as a coward who abandoned his people.”
“Leave us!” Elend ordered, raising his finger and pointing toward the keep.
Tindwyl spun, stalking toward the doorway. As she passed it, she pointed at the supply table, where she had previously placed a book-sized package, wrapped in brown paper, tied with a thick string. “Sazed wishes you to deliver this to the Keeper Synod. You’ll find them in the city of Tathingdwen. Enjoy your exile, Elend Venture.” Then, she left.
Elend sighed, moving his horse over beside Vin’s.
“Thank you,” she said quietly.
“For what?”
“For what you said.”
“I meant it, Vin,” Elend said, reaching over to lay a hand on her shoulder.
“Tindwyl might be right, you know,” she said. “Despite what Sazed said, I could be mad. Do you remember when I told you that I’d seen a spirit in the mists?”
Elend nodded slowly.
“Well, I’ve seen it again,” Vin said. “It’s like a ghost, formed from the patterns in mist. I see it all the time, watching me, following me. And I hear those rhythms in my head—majestic, powerful thumpings, like Allomantic pulses. Only, I don’t need bronze anymore to hear them.”
Elend squeezed her shoulder. “I believe you, Vin.”
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