Well of Ascension Page 4

  Vin turned and looked him in the eyes. "The Lord Ruler was an evil man. You're a good one. That's the difference."

  Elend smiled. "It's that easy for you, isn't it?"

  Vin nodded.

  Elend leaned up and kissed her again. "Well, some of us have to make things a little moret want to worry him. It didn't help.

  Elend pushed down his concern and forced himself to start reading again. He was almost finished-just a bit more and-

  A knock came at his door.

  Elend turned with frustration, wondering at this new interruption. Ham poked his head in the doorway a second later.

  "Ham?" Elend said. "You're still awake?".

  "Unfortunately," Ham said, stepping into the room.

  "Mardra is going to kill you for working late again," Elend said, setting down his pen. Complain though he might about some of Vin's quirks, at least she shared Elend's nocturnal habits.

  Ham just rolled his eyes at the comment. He still wore his standard vest and trousers. He'd agreed to be the captain of Elend's guard on a single condition: that he would never have to wear a uniform. Vin cracked an eye as Ham wandered into the room, then relaxed again.

  "Regardless," Elend said. 'To what do I owe the visit?"

  "I thought you might want to know that we identified those assassins who tried to kill Vin."

  Elend nodded. "Probably men I know." Most Allomancers were noblemen, and he was familiar with all of those in Straff's retinue.

  "Actually, I doubt it," Ham said. "They were Westerners."

  Elend paused, frowning, and Vin perked up. "You're sure?"

  Ham nodded. "Makes it a bit unlikely that your father sent them-unless he's done some heavy recruiting in Fadrex City. They were of Houses complicated, so you'll have to humor us. Now, kindly remove yourself from my light so I can get back to work."

  She snorted, but stood up and rounded the desk, leaving behind a faint scent of perfume. Elend frowned. When'd she put that on ? Many of her motions were so quick that be missed them.

  Perfume-just another of the apparent contradictions mat made up the woman who called herself Vin. She wouldn't have been wearing it out in the mists; she usually put it on just for him. Vin liked to be unobtrusive, but she loved wearing scents-and got annoyed at him if he didn't notice when she was trying out a new one. She seemed suspicious and paranoid, yet she trusted her friends with a dogmatic loyalty. She went out at night in black and gray, trying so hard to hide-but Elend had seen her at the balls a year ago, and she had looked natural in gowns and dresses.

  For some reason she had stopped wearing those. She hadn't ever explained why.

  Elend shook his head, turning back to his proposal. Next to Vin, politics seemed simplistic. She rested her arms on the desktop, watching him work, yawning.

  "You should get some rest," he said, dipping his pen again.

  Vin paused, then nodded. She removed her mistcloak, wrapped it around herself, then curled up on the rug beside his desk.

  Elend paused. "I didn't mean here. Vin," he said with amusement.

  "There's still a Mistbom out there somewhere," she said with a tired, muffled voice. "I'm not leaving you." She twisted in the cloak, and Elend caught a brief grimace of pain on her face. She was favoring her left side.

  She didn't often tell him the details of her fights. She didn' Gardre and Conrad, mostly."

  Elend sat back. His father was based in Urteau, hereditary home of the Venture family. Fadrex was halfway across the empire from Urteau, several months' worth of travel. The chances were slim that his father would have access to a group of Western Allomancers.

  "Have you heard of Ashweather Cett?" Ham asked.

  Elend nodded. "One of the men who's set himself up as king in the Western Dominance. I don't know much about him."

  Vin frowned, sitting. "You think he sent these?"

  Ham nodded. "They must have been waiting for a chance to slip into the city, and the traffic at the gates these last few days would have provided the opportunity. That makes the arrival of Straffs army and the attack on Vin's life something of a coincidence."

  Elend glanced at Vin. She met his eyes, and he could tell that she wasn't completely convinced that Straff hadn't sent the assassins. Elend, however, wasn't so skeptical. Pretty much every tyrant in the area had tried to take him out at one point or another. Why not Cett?

  It's that atium, Elend thought with frustration. He'd never found the Lord Ruler's cache-but that didn't stop the despots in the empire from assuming he was hiding it somewhere.

  "Well, at least your father didn't send the assassins," Ham said, ever the optimist.

  Elend shook his head. "Our relationship wouldn't stop him. Ham. Trust me."

  "He's your father," Ham said, looking troubled. "Things like that don't matter to Straff. He probably hasn"t sent assassins because he doesn't think I'm worth the trouble. If we last long enough, though, he will."

  Ham shook his head. "I've heard of sons killing their fathers to take their place... but fathers killing their sons ... I wonder what that says about old Straffs mind, that he'd be willing to kill you. You think that-" "Ham?" Elend interrupted. "Hum?"

  "You know I'm usually good for a discussion, but I don't really have time for philosophy right now."

  "Oh. right." Ham smiled wanly, standing and moving to go. "I should get back to Mardra anyway."

  Elend nodded, rubbing his forehead and picking up his pen yet again. "Make sure you gather the crew for a meeting. We need to organize our allies. Ham. If we don't come up with something incredibly clever, this kingdom may be doomed."

  Ham turned back, still smiling. "You make it sound so

  desperate. El."

  Elend looked over at him. "The Assembly is a mess, a half-dozen warlords with superior armies are breathing down my neck, barely a month passes without someone sending assassins to kill me. and the woman I love is slowly driving me insane." Vin snorted at this last part.

  "Oh, is that all?" Ham said. "See? It's not so bad after all. I mean, we could be facing an immortal god and his all-powerful priests instead."

  Elend paused, then chuckled despite himself. "Good night. Ham." he said, turning back to his proposal. "Good night. Your Majesty."

  4

  THE BODY SHOWED NO OVERT wounds. It still lay where it had fallen-the other villagers had been afraid to move it. Its arms and legs were twisted in awkward positions, the dirt around it scuffed from predeath thrashings.

  Sazed reached out, running his fingers along one of the marks. Though the soil here in the Eastern Dominance held far more clay than soil did in the north, it was still more black than it was brown. Ashfalls came even this far south. Ashless soil, washed clean and fertilized, was a luxury used only for the ornamental plants of noble gardens. The rest of the world had to do what it could with untreated soil.

  "You say that he was alone when he died?" Sazed asked, turning to the small cluster of villagers standing behind him.

  A leather-skinned man nodded. "Like I said. Master Terrisman. He was just standing there, no one else about. He paused, then he fell and wiggled on the ground for a bit. After that, he just... stopped moving."

  Sazed turned back to the corpse, studying the twisted muscles, the face locked in a mask of pain. Sazed had brought his medical coppermind-the metal armband wrapped around his upper right arm-and he reached into it with his mind, pulling out some of the memorized books he had stored therein. Yes, there were some diseases that killed with shakes and spasms. They rarely took a man so suddenly, but it sometimes happened. If it hadn't been for

  other circumstances, Sazed would have paid the death little heed.

  "Please, repeat to me again what you saw," Sazed asked.

  The leather-skinned man at the front of the group, Teur, paled slightly. He was in an odd position-his natural desire for notoriety would make him want to gossip about his experience. However, doing so could earn the distrust of his superstitious fellows.

  "I was
just passing by. Master Terrisman," Teur said. "On the path twenty yards yon. I seen old Jed working his field-a hard worker, he was. Some of us took a break when the lords left, but old Jed just kept on. Guess he knew we'd be needing food for the winter, lords or no lords."

  Teur paused, then glanced to the side. "I know what people say. Master Terrisman. but I seen what I seen. It was day when I passed, but there was mist in the valley here. It stopped me. because I've never been out in the mist-my wife'll vouch me that. I was going to turn back, and then I seen old Jed. He was just working away, as if he hadn't seen the mist.

  "I was going to call out to him. but before I could, he just... well, like I told yo^ I seen him standing there, then he froze. The mist swirled about him a bit, then he began to jerk and twist, like something really strong was holding him and shaking him. He fell. Didn't get up after that."

  Still kneeling, Sazed looked back at the corpse. Teur apparently had a reputation for tall tales. Yet, the body was a chilling corroboration-not to mention Sazed's own experience several weeks before.

  Mist during the day.

  Sazed stood, turning toward the villagers. "Please fetch for me a shovel."

  Nobody helped him dig the grave. It was slow, muggy work in the southern heat, which was strong despite the advent of autumn. The clay earth was difficult to move-but, fortunately, Sazed had a bit of extra stored-up strength inside a pewtermind, and he tapped it for help.

  He needed it, for he wasn't what one would call an athletic man. Tall and long-limbed, he had the build of a scholar, and still wore the colorful robes of a Terris steward. He also still kept his head shaved, after the manner of the station he had served in for the first forty-some years of his life. He didn't wear much of his jewelry now-he didn't want to tempt highway bandits-but his earlobes were stretched out and pierced with numerous holes for earrings.

  Tapping strength from his pewtermind enlarged his muscles slightly, giving him the build of a stronger man. Even with the extra strength, however, his steward's robes were stained with sweat and dirt by the time he finished digging. He rolled the body into the grave, and stood quietly for a moment. The man had been a dedicated farmer.

  Sazed searched through his religions coppermind for an appropriate theology. He started with an index-one of the many that he had created. When he had located an appropriate religion, he pulled free detailed memories about its practices. The writings entered his mind as fresh as when he had just finished memorizing them. They would fade, with time, like all memories-however, he intended to place them back in the coppermind long before that happened. It was the way of the Keeper, the method by which his people retained enormous wealths of information.

  This day, the memories he selected were of HaDah, a southern religion with an agricultural deity. Like most religions-which had been oppressed during the time of the Lord Ruler-the HaDah faith was a thousand years extinct.

  Following the dictates of the HaDah funeral ceremony, Sazed walked over to a nearby tree-or, at least, one of the shrublike plants that passed for trees in this area. He broke off a long branch-the peasants watching him curiously- and carried it back to the grave. He stooped down and drove it into the dirt at the bottom of the hole, just beside the corpse's head. Then he stood and began to shovel dirt back into the grave.

  The peasants watched him with dull eyes. So depressed.

  Sazed thought. The Eastern Dominance was the most chaotic and unsettled of the five Inner Dominances. The only men in this crowd were well past their prime. The press gangs had done their work efficiently; the husbands and fathers of this village were likely dead on some battlefield that no longer mattered.

  It was hard to believe that anything could actually be worse than the Lord Ruler's oppression. Sazed told himself that these people's pain would pass, that they would someday know prosperity because of what he and the others had done. Yet. he had seen farmers forced to slaughter each other, had seen children starve because some despot had "requisitioned" a village's entire food supply. He had seen thieves kill freely because the Lord Ruler's troops no longer patrolled the canals. He had seen chaos, death, hatred, and disorder. And he couldn't help but acknowledge that he was partially to blame.

  He continued to refill the hole. He had been trained as a scholar and a domestic attendant; he was a Terrisman steward, the most useful, most expensive, and most prestigious of servantsled dirt on the corpse. Surprisingly, about halfway through the process, the peasants began to help him. pushing dirt from the pile into the hole.

  Perhaps there is hope for these yet, Sazed thought, thankfully letting one of the others take his shovel and finish the work. When they were done, the very lip of the HaDah branch breached the dirt at the head of the grave.

  "Why'd you do that?" Teur asked, nodding to the branch.

  Sazed smiled. "It is a religious ceremony, Goodman Teur. If you please, there is a prayer that should accompany it."

  "A prayer? Something from the Steel Ministry?"

  Sazed shook his head. "No, my friend. It is a prayer from a previous time, a time before the Lord Ruler."

  The peasants eyed each other, frowning. Teur just rubbed his wrinkled chin. They all remained quiet, however, as Sazed said a short HaDah prayer. When he finished, he turned toward the peasants. "It was known as the religion of HaDah. Some of your ancestors might have followed it, I think. If any of you wish, I can teach you of its precepts."

  The assembled crowd stood quietly. There weren't many of them-two dozen or so, mostly middle-aged women and a few older men. There was a single young man with a club leg; Sazed was surprised that he'd lived so long on a plantation. Most lords killed invalids to keep them from draining resources.

  "When is the Lord Ruler coming back?" asked a woman.

  "I do not believe that he will," Sazed said. "Why did he abandon us?"

  "It is a time of change," Sazed said. "Perhaps it is also time to learn of other truths, other ways."

  The group of people shuffled quiedy. Sazed sighed qui-edy; these people'in the Final Empire. That meant almost nothing now. He'd never dug a grave, but he did his best, trying to be reverent as he pi associated faith with the Steel Ministry and its obligators. Religion wasn't something that skaa worried about-save, perhaps, to avoid it when possible.

  The Keepers spent a thousand years gathering and memorizing the dying religions of the world, Sazed thought. Who would have thought that now-with the Lord Ruler gone-people wouldn't care enough to want what they'd lost?

  Yet, he found it hard to think ill of these people. They were struggling to survive, their already harsh world suddenly made unpredictable. They were tired. Was it any wonder that talk of beliefs long forgotten failed to interest them?

  "Come," Sazed said, turning toward the village. "There are other things-more practical things-that I can teach you."

  5

  VIN COULD SEE SIGNS OF anxiety reflected in the city. _ Workers milled anxiously and markets bustled with an edge of concern-showing that same apprehension that one might see in a cornered rodent. Frightened, but not sure what to do. Doomed with nowhere to run.

  Many had left the city during the last year-noblemen fleeing, merchants seeking some other place of business. Yet, at the same time, the city had swelled with an influx of skaa. They had somehow heard of Elend's proclamation of freedom, and had come with optimism-or. at least, as much optimism as an overworked, underfed, repeatedly beaten populace could manage.

  And so. despite predictions that Luthadel would soon fall, despite whispers that its army was small and weak, the people had stayed. Worked. Lived. Just as they always had. The life of a skaa had never been very certain.

  It was still strange for Vin to see the market so busy. She walked down Kenton Street, wearing her customary trousers and buttoned shirt, thinking about the time when she'd visited the street during the days before the Collapse. It had been the quiet home of some exclusive tailoring shops.

  When Elend had abolished the restrictions on ska
a merchants. Kenton Street had changed. The thoroughfare had blossomed into a wild bazaar of shops, pushcarts, and tents. In order to target the newly empowered-and newly waged-skaa workers, the shop owners had altered their selling methods. Where once they had coaxed with rich window displays, they now called and demanded, using criers, salesmen, and even jugglers to try to attract trade.

  The street was so busy that Vin usually avoided it, and ibis day was even worse than most. The arrival of the army had sparked a last-minute flurry of buying and selling, the people trying to get ready for whatever was to come. There was a grim tone to the atmosphere. Fewer street performers, more yelling. Elend had ordered all eight city gates barred, so flight was no longer an option, (fin wondered how many of the people regretted their decision to stay.

  She walked down the street with a businesslike step, hands clasped to keep the nervousness out of her posture. Even as a child-an urchin on the streets of a dozen different cities-she hadn't liked crowds. It was hard to keep track of so many people, hard to focus with so much going on. As a child, she'd stayed near the edges of crowds, hid-mg. venturing out to snatch the occasional fallen coin or ignored bit of food.

  She was different now. She forced herself to walk with a straight back, and kept her eyes from glancing down or looking for places to hide. She was getting so much better-but seeing the crowds reminded her of what she had once been. What she would always-at least in part- still be.

  As if in response to her thoughts, a pair of street urchins scampered through the throng, a large man in a baker's apron screaming at them. There were still urchins in Elend's new world. In fact, as she considered it, paying the skaa population probably made for a far better street life for urchins. There were more pockets to pick, more people ?0 distract the shop owners, more scraps to go around, and -.ore hands to feed beggars.

  It was difficult to reconcile her childhood with such a ife. To her, a child on the street was someone who learned ?0 be quiet and hide, someone who went out at night to search through garbage. Only the most brave of urchins cad dared cut purses; skaa lives had been worthless to toany noblemen. During her childhood, Vin had known several urchins who been killed or maimed by passing noblemen who found them offensive.