Well of Ascension Read online

  Clubs grunted. "Good plan. Crazy, but good."

  "Crazy?" Breeze said. "My mental stability is no issue here. Clubs. The move was not crazy, but brilliant."

  Elend looked confused. "Not to insult your brilliance. Breeze. But... how exactly is bringing a hostile army to our city a good idea?"

  "It's basic negotiating strategy, my good man," Breeze explained as a packman handed him his dueling cane, taken off the horse. Breeze used it to gesture westward, toward Lord Cett's army. "When there are only two participants in a negotiation, one is generally stronger than the other. That makes things very difficult for {he weaker party-which, in this case, would have been us."

  "Yes," Elend said, "but with three armies, we're still the weakest."

  "Ah," Breeze said, holding up the cane, "but those other two parties are fairly even in strength. Straff is likely stronger, but Celt has a very large force. If either of those warlords risks attacking Luthadel. his army will suffer losses-enough losses that he won't be able to defend himself from the third army. To attack us is to expose oneself."

  "And that makes this a standoff," Clubs said.

  "Exactly," Breeze said. "Trust me. Elend my boy. In this case, two large, enemy armies are far better than a single large, enemy army. In a three-way negotiation, the weakest party actually has the most power-because his allegiance added to either of the other two will choose the eventual winner."

  Elend frowned. "Breeze, we don't want to give our allegiance to either of these men."

  "I realize that." Breeze said. "However, our opponents do not. By bringing a second army in. I've given us time to think. Both warlords thought they could get here first. Now that they've arrived at the same time, they'll have to reevaluate. I'm guessing we'll end up in an extended siege. A couple of months at least."

  "That doesn't explain how we're going to get rid of them," Elend said.

  Breeze shrugged. "I got them here-you get to decide what to do with them. And I'll tell you, it was no easy task to make Cett arrive on time. He was due to come in a full five days before Venture. Fortunately, a certain .. . malady spread through camp a few days ago. Apparently, someone poisoned the main water supply and gave the entire camp diarrhea."

  Spook, standing behind Clubs>snickered.

  "Yes," Breeze said, eyeing the boy. "I thought you might appreciate that. You still an unintelligible nuisance, boy?"

  "Wassing the where of not," Spook said, smiling and slipping back into his Eastern street slang.

  Breeze snorted. "You still make more sense than Hammond, half the time," he mumbled, turning to Elend. "So, isn't anyone going to send for a carriage to drive me back to the palace? I've been Soothing you ungrateful lot for the better part of five minutes-looking as tired and pathetic as I can-and not one of you has had the good graces to pity me!"

  "You must be losing your touch," Vin said with a smile. Breeze was a Soother-an Allomancer who could bum brass to calm another person's emotions. A very skilled Soother-and Vin knew of none more skilled than Breeze- could dampen all of a person's emotions but a single one, effectively making them feel exactly as he wanted.

  "Actually," Elend said, turning and looking back up at the wall, "I was hoping we could go back up on the wall and study the armies some more. If you spent time with Lord Celt's force, then you could probably tell us a lot about it"

  "I can; I will; I am not going to climb those steps. Can't you see how tired I am, man?"

  Ham snorted, clapping Breeze on the shoulder-and throwing up a puff of dust. "How can you be tired? Your poor horse did all the running."

  "It was emotionally exhausting, Hammond," Breeze said, rapping the larger man's hand with his cane. "My departure was somewhat disagreeable."

  "What happened, anyway?" Vin asked. "Did Cett find out you were a spy?"

  Breeze looked embarrassed. "Let's just say that Lord Cett and I had a .. . falling-out."

  "Caught you in bed with his daughter, eh?" Ham said, earning a chuckle from the group. Breeze was anything but a ladies' man. Despite his ability to play with emotions, he had expressed no interest in romance for as long as Vin had known him. Dockson had once noted that Breeze was just too focused on himself to consider such things.

  Breeze simply rolled his eyes at Ham's comment "Honestly, Hammond. I think your jokes are getting worse as you age. One too many hits on the head while sparring, I

  suspect."

  Ham smiled, and Elend sent for a couple of carriages. While they waited. Breeze launched into a narrative of his travels. Vin glanced down at OreSeur. She still hadn't found a good opportunity to tell the rest of the crew about the body change. Perhaps now that Breeze was back, Elend would hold a conference with his inner circle. That would be a good time. She had to be quiet about it, since she wanted the palace staff to think that she'd sent OreSeur away.

  Breeze continued his story, and Vin looked back at him, smiling. Not only was Breeze a natural orator, but he had a very subtle touch with Allomancy. She could barely feel his fingers on her emotions. Once, she had found his intrusions offensive, but she was growing to understand that touching people's emotions was simply part of who Breeze was. Just as a beautiful woman demanded attention by virtue of her face and figure, Breeze drew it by near unconscious use of his powers.

  Of course, that didn't make him any less a scoundrel. Getting others to do as he wished was one of Breeze's main occupations. Vin just no longer resented him for using Allomancy to do it.

  The carriage finally approached, and Breeze sighed in relief. As the vehicle pulled up, he eyed Vin, then nodded toward OreSeur. "What's that?"

  "A dog," Vin said.

  "Ah, blunt as ever, I see," Breeze said. "And, why is it that you now have a dog?"

  "I gave it to her," Elend said. "She wanted one, so I bought it for her."

  "And you chose a wolfhound?' Ham asked, amused.

  "You've fought with her before, Ham," Elend said, laughing. "What would you have given her? A poodle?"

  Ham chuckled. "No, I guess not. It fits, actually."

  "Though it's almost as big as she is," Clubs added, regarding her with a squinty-eyed look.

  Vin reached down, resting her hand on OreSeur's head.

  Clubs did have a point; she'd chosen a big animal, even for a wolfhound. He stood over three feet tall at the shoulder- and Vin knew from experience how heavy that body was.

  "Remarkably well-behaved for a wolfhound," Ham said, nodding. "You chose well. El." •

  "Regardless," Breeze said. "Can we please return to the palace? Armies and wolfhounds are all well and good, but I believe supper is more pressing at this point."

  "So, why didn't we tell them about OreSeur?" Elend asked, as their carriage bumped its way back toward Keep Venture. The three of them had taken a carriage of their own, leaving the other four to follow in the other vehicle.

  Vin shrugged. OreSeur sat on the seat across from her and Elend, quietly watching the conversation. "I'll tell them eventually," Vin said. "A busy city square didn't seem the right place for the revelation."

  Elend smiled. "Keeping secrets is a hard habit to break, eh?" '

  Vin flushed. "I'm not keeping him secret, I'm just..." She trailed offvlooking down.

  "Don't feel bad, Vin," Elend said. "You lived a long time on your own, without anyone to trust. Nobody expects you to change overnight."

  "It hasn't been one night, Elend," she said. "It's been two years."

  Elend laid a hand on her knee. "You're getting better. The others talk about how much you've changed."

  Vin nodded. Another man would be afraid that I'm keeping secrets from him, too. Elend just tries to make me feel less guilty. He was a better man than she deserved.

  "Kandra," Elend said, "Vin says you do well at keeping up with her."

  "Yes, Your Majesty," OreSeur said. 'These bones, though distasteful, are well equipped for tracking and quick movement."

  "And if she gets hurt?" Elend said. "Will you be able to pull her to s
afety?"

  "Not with any speed, Your Majesty. I will, however, be able to go for aid. These bones have many limitations, but I will do my best to fulfill the Contract."

  Elend must have caught Vin's raised eyebrow, for he chuckled. "He'll do as he says, Vin."

  'The Contract is everything. Mistress," OreSeur said. "It demands more than simple service. It requires diligence and devotion. It is the kandra. By serving it, we serve our people."

  Vin shrugged. The group fell silent, Elend pulling a book from his pocket, Vin leaning against him. OreSeur lay down, filling the entire seat opposite the humans. Eventually, the carriage rolled into the Venture courtyard, and Vin found herself looking forward to a warm bath. As they were climbing from the carriage, however, a guard rushed up to Elend. Tin allowed Vin to hear what the man said, even though he spoke before she could close the distance.

  "Your Majesty," the guard whispered, "our messenger reached you, then?"

  "No," Elend said with a frown as Vin walked over. The soldier gave her a look, but continued speaking; the soldiers all knew that Vin was Elend's primary bodyguard and confidant. Still, the man looked oddly concerned when he saw her.

  "We ... ah, don't want to be intrusive," the soldier said. "That's why we've kept this quiet. We were just wondering if... everything is all right." He looked at Vin as he spoke.

  "What is this about?" Elend asked.

  The guard turned back toward the king. "The corpse in Lady Vin's room."

  The "corpse" was actually a skeleton. One completely picked clean, without a hint of blood-or even tissue-marring its shiny white surfaces. A good number of the bones were broken, however.

  "I'm sorry, Mistress," OreSeur said, speaking low enough that only she could hear. "I assumed that you were going to dispose of these."

  Vin nodded. The skeleton was, of course, the one OreSeur had been using before she gave him the animal body.

  Finding the door unlocked-Vin's usual sign that she wanted a room cleaned-the maids had entered. Vin had stashed the bones in a basket, intending to deal with them later. Apparently, the maids had decided to check and see what was in the basket, and been somewhat surprised.

  "It's all right. Captain," Elend said to the young guard- Captain Demoux, second-in-command of the palace guard. Despite the fact that Ham shunned uniforms, this man seemed to take great pride in keeping his own uniform very neat and smart.

  "You did well by keeping this quiet," Elend said. "We knew about these bones already. They aren't a reason for concern."

  Demoux nodded. "We figured it was something intentional." He didn't look at Vin as he spoke.

  Intentional, Vin thought. Great. I wonder what this man thinks I did. Few skaa knew what kandra were, and Demoux wouldn't know what to make of remains like these.

  "Could you dispose of these quietly for me. Captain?" Elend asked, nodding to the bones.

  "Of course. Your Majesty." the guard said.

  He probably assumes I ate the person or something, Vin thought with a sigh. Sucked the flesh right off his bones.

  Which, actually, wasn't that far from the truth.

  "Your Majesty," Demoux said. "Would you like us to dispose of the other body as well?"

  Vin froze.

  "Other one?" Elend asked slowly.

  The guard nodded. "When we found this skeleton, we brought in some dogs to sniff about. The dogs didn't turn up any killers, but they did find another body. Just like this one-a set of bones, completely cleaned of flesh."

  Vin and Elend shared a look. "Show us," Elend said.

  Demoux nodded, and led them out of the room, giving a few whispered orders to one of his men. The four of them-three humans and one kandra-traveled a short distance down the palace hallway, toward a less used section of visitors' chambers. Demoux dismissed a soldier standing at a particular door, then led them inside.

  'This body wasn't in a basket. Your Majesty," Demoux said. "It was stuffed in a back closet. We'd probably never have found it without the dogs-they picked up the scent pretty easily, though I can't see how. These corpses are completely clean of flesh."

  And there it was. Another skeleton, like the first, sitting piled beside a bureau. Elend glanced at Vin, then turned to Demoux. "Would you excuse us. Captain?"

  The young guard nodded, walking from the room and closing the door.

  "Well?" Elend said, turning to OreSeur.

  "I do not know where this came from," the kandra said.

  "But it is another kandra-eaten corpse," Vin said.

  "Undoubtedly, Mistress," OreSeur said. 'The dogs found it because of the particular scent our digestive juices leave on recently excreted bones."

  Elend and Vin shared a look.

  "However," OreSeur said, "it is probably not what you mink. This man was probably killed far from here." "What do you mean?"

  "They are discarded bones. Your Majesty," OreSeur said. "The bones a kandra leaves behind ..." "After he finds a new body." Vin finished. "Yes, Mistress," OreSeur said.

  Vin looked at Elend, who frowned. "How long ago?" he asked. "Maybe the bones were left a year before, by my father's kandra."

  "Perhaps, Your Majesty," OreSeur said. But he sounded hesitant. He padded over, sniffing at the bones. Vin picked one up herself, holding it to her nose. With tin. she easily picked out a sharp scent that reminded her of bile.

  "It's very strong," she said, glancing at OreScur.

  He nodded. "These bones haven't been here long. Your Majesty. A few hours at most. Perhaps even less."

  "Which means we have another kandra somewhere in the palace." Elend said, looking a bit sick. "One of my staff has been ... eaten and replaced."

  "Yes, Your Majesty." OreSeur said. "There is no way to tell from these bones whom it could be, since these are the discards. The kandra would have taken the new bones, eating their flesh and wearing their clothing."

  Elend nodded, standing. He met Vin's eyes, and she knew he was thinking the same thing she was. It was possible thai a member of the palace staff had been replaced, which would mean a slight breach in security. There was a far more dangerous possibility, however.

  Kandra were incomparable actors; OreSeur had imitated Lord Renoux so perfectly that even people who*d known him had been fooled. Such talent could have been used for the imitation of a maid or a servant. However, if an enemy had wanted to get a spy into Elend's closed meetings, he would need to replace a person far more important.

  It would be someone that we haven't seen during the last few hours, Vin thought, dropping the bone. She, Elend, and OreSeur had been on the wall for most of the afternoon and evening-ever since the end of the Assembly meeting-but the city and palace had been in chaos since the second army had arrived. The messengers had had trouble finding Ham, and she still wasn't certain where Dockson was. In fact, she hadn't seen Clubs until he'd joined her and Elend on the wall just a bit before. And Spook had been the last to arrive.

  Vin looked down at the pile of bones, feeling a sickening sense of unease. There was a very good chance that someone in their core team-a member of Kelsier's former band-was now an impostor.

  THE END OF PART ONE

  12

  A FORTRESS SAT IN THE misty murk of evening.

  It rested at the bottom of a large depression in the land. The steep-sided, craterlike valley was so wide that even in daylight Sazed would barely have been able to see the other side. In the oncoming darkness, obscured by mist, the far edge of the massive hole was only a deep shadow.

  Sazed knew very little about tactics and strategy; though his metalminds held dozens of books on the subjects, he had forgotten their contents in order to create the stored records. The little he did know told him that this fortress- the Conventical of Seran-was not very defensible. It relinquished the high ground, and the crater sides would provide an excellent location for siege engines to pelt rocks down at the walls.

  This fortress, however, had not been built to defend against enemy soldiers. It had been built to p
rovide solitude. The crater made it difficult to find, for a slight rise in the land around the crater's lip made it practically invisible until one drew near. No roads or paths marked the way, and travelers would have great trouble getting down the sheer sides.

  The Inquisitors did not want visitors.

  "Well?" Marsh asked.

  He and Sazed stood on the crater's northern lip, before a drop of several hundred feet. Sazed tapped his vision tin-mind, drawing forth some of the eyesight he had stored within it. The edges of his vision fuzzed, but things directly in front of him seemed to grow much closer. He tapped a little more sight, ignoring the nausea that came from compounding so much vision.

  The increased eyesight let him study the Conventical as if he stood before it. He could see each notch in the dark stone walls-flat, broad, imposing. He could discern each bit of rust on the large steel plates that hung bolted into outside stones of the wall. He could see each lichen-encrusted corner and ash-stained ledge. There were no windows.

  "I do not know," Sazed said slowly, releasing his vision tinmind. "It is not easy to say whether or not the fortress is inhabited. There is no motion, nor is there light. But, perhaps the Inquisitors are just hiding inside."

  "No," Marsh said, his stiff voice uncomfortably loud in the evening air. "They are gone."

  "Why would they leave? This is a place of great strength. I think. Poor defense against an army, but a great defense against the chaos of the times."

  Marsh shook his head. "They are gone."

  "How are you so certain?"

  "I do not know."

  "Where did they go, then?"

  Marsh looked at him, then turned and glanced over his shoulder. "North."

  'Toward Luthadel?" Sazed asked, frowning.

  "Among other things," Marsh said. "Come. I do not know if they will return, but we should exploit this opportunity."

  Sazed nodded. This was why they had come, after all. Still, a part of him hesitated. He was a man of books and genteel service. Traveling the countryside to visit villages was enough removed from his experience to be discomforting. Infiltrating the Inquisitor stronghold ...