"YOU HEARD WHAT HE SAID! He's planning a job." Ulef's
eyes shone with excitement. "I wonder which of the Great Houses he's
going to strike."
"It'll be one of the most powerful ones," said Disten, one of Camon's
head pointmen. He was missing a hand, but his eyes and ears were
among the keenest in the crew. "Kelsier never bothers himself with
small-time jobs."
Vin sat quietly, her mug of ale-the same one Kelsier had given her-
still sitting mostly full on the tabletop. Her table was crowded with
people; Kelsier had let the thieves return to their home for a bit before
his meeting began. Vin, however, would have preferred to remain by
herself. Life with Reen had accustomed her to loneliness-if you let
someone get too close, it would just give them better opportunities to
betray you.
Even after Reen's disappearance, Vin had kept to herself. She hadn't
been willing to leave; however, she also hadn't felt the need to become
familiar with the other crewmembers. They had, in turn, been perfectly
willing to let her alone. Vin's position had been precarious, andassociating with her could have tainted them by association. Only Ulef
had made any moves to befriend her.
If you let someone get close to you, it will only hurt more when they
betray you, Reen seemed to whisper in her mind.
Had Ulef even really been her friend? He'd certainly sold her out
quickly enough. In addition, the crewmembers had taken Vin's beating
and sudden rescue in stride, never mentioning their betrayal or refusal to
help her. They'd only done what was expected.
"The Survivor hasn't bothered himself with any jobs lately," said
Harmon, an older, scraggly-bearded burglar. "He's barely been seen in
Luthadel a handful of times during the last few years. In fact, he hasn't
pulled any jobs since..."
"This is the first one?" Ulef asked eagerly. "The first since he escaped
the Pits? Then it's bound to be something spectacular!"
"Did he say anything about it, Vin?" Disten asked. "Vin?" He waved a
stumpy arm in her direction, catching her attention.
"What?" she asked, looking up. She had cleaned herself slightly since
her beating at Camon's hand, finally accepting a handkerchief from
Dockson to wipe the blood from her face. There was little she could do
about the bruises, however. Those still throbbed. Hopefully, nothing was
broken.
"Kelsier," Disten repeated. "Did he say anything about the job he's
planning?"
Vin shook her head. She glanced down at the bloodied handkerchief.
Kelsier and Dockson had left a short time ago, promising to return after
she'd had some time to think about the things they had told her. There
was an implication in their words, however-an offer. Whatever job they
were planning, she was invited to participate.
"Why'd he pick you to be his twixt, anyway, Vin?" Ulef asked. "Did
he say anything about that?"
That's what the crew assumed-that Kelsier had chosen her to be his
contact with Camon's...Milev's...crew.
There were two sides to the Luthadel underground. There were the
regular crews, like Camon's. Then there were...the special ones. Groups
composed of the extremely skillful, the extremely foolhardy, or the
extremely talented. Allomancers.The two sides of the underworld didn't mix; regular thieves left their
betters alone. However, occasionally one of these Misting crews hired a
regular team to do some of its more mundane work, and they would
choose a twixt-a go-between-to work with both crews. Hence Ulef's
assumption about Vin.
Milev's crewmembers noticed her unresponsiveness, and turned to
another topic: Mistings. They spoke of Allomancy with uncertain,
whispered tones, and she listened, uncomfortable. How could she be
associated with something they held in such awe? Her Luck...her
Allomancy...was something small, something she used to survive, but
something really quite unimportant.
But, such power... she thought, looking in at her Luck reserve.
"What's Kelsier been doing these last few years, I wonder?" Ulef
asked. He had seemed a bit uncomfortable around her at the beginning of
the conversation, but that had passed quickly. He'd betrayed her, but this
was the underworld. No friends.
It didn't seem that way between Kelsier and Dockson. They appeared
to trust each other. A front? Or were they simply one of those rare teams
that actually didn't worry about each other's betrayal?
The most unsettling thing about Kelsier and Dockson had been their
openness with her. They seemed willing to trust, even accept, Vin after a
relatively short time. It couldn't be genuine-no one could survive in the
underworld following such tactics. Still, their friendliness was
disconcerting.
"Two years..." said Hrud, a flat-faced, quiet thug. "He must have
spent the entire time planning for this job."
"It must be some job indeed...." Ulef said.
"Tell me about him," Vin said quietly.
"Kelsier?" Disten asked.
Vin nodded.
"They didn't talk about Kelsier down south?"
Vin shook her head.
"He was the best crewleader in Luthadel," Ulef explained. "A legend,
even among the Mistings. He robbed some of the wealthiest Great
Houses in the city."
"And?" Vin asked."Someone betrayed him," Harmon said in a quiet voice.
Of course, Vin thought.
"The Lord Ruler himself caught Kelsier," Ulef said. "Sent Kelsier and
his wife to the Pits of Hathsin. But he escaped. He escaped from the Pits,
Vin! He's the only one who ever has."
"And the wife?" Vin asked.
Ulef glanced at Harmon, who shook his head. "She didn't make it."
So, he's lost someone too. How can he laugh so much? So honestly?
"That's where he got those scars, you know," Disten said. "The ones
on his arms. He got them at the Pits, from the rocks on a sheer wall he
had to climb to escape."
Harmon snorted. "That's not how he got them. He killed an Inquisitor
while escaping-that's where he got the scars."
"I heard he got them fighting one of the monsters that guard the Pits,"
Ulef said. "He reached into its mouth and strangled it from the inside.
The teeth scraped his arms."
Disten frowned. "How do you strangle someone from the inside?"
Ulef shrugged. "That's just what I heard."
"The man isn't natural," Hrud muttered. "Something happened to him
in the Pits, something bad. He wasn't an Allomancer before then, you
know. He entered the Pits a regular skaa, and now...Well, he's a Misting
for sure-if he's even human anymore. Been out in the mists a lot, that
one has. Some say that the real Kelsier is dead, that the thing wearing his
face is...something else."
Harmon shook his head. "Now, that's just plantation-skaa foolishness.
We've all gone out in the mists."
"Not in the mists outside the city," Hrud insisted. "The mistwraiths are
out there. They'll grab a man and take his face, sure as the Lord Ruler."
Harmon rolled his eyes.
"Hrud's right about one thing," Disten said. "That man isn't human.
He might not be a mistwraith, but he's not skaa either. I've heard of him
doing things, things like only they can do. The ones that come out at
night. You saw what he did to Camon."
"Mistborn," Harmon muttered.
Mistborn. Vin had heard the term before Kelsier had mentioned it to
her, of course. Who hadn't? Yet, the rumors about Mistborn made storiesof Inquisitors and Mistings seem rational. It was said that Mistborn were
heralds of the mists themselves, endowed with great powers by the Lord
Ruler. Only high noblemen could be Mistborn; they were said to be a
secret sect of assassins who served him, only going out at night. Reen
had always taught her that they were a myth, and Vin had assumed he
was right.
And Kelsier says I-like he himself-am one of them. How could she
be what he said? Child of a prostitute, she was nobody. She was nothing.
Never trust a man who tells you good news, Reen had always said. It's
the oldest, but easiest, way to con someone.
Yet, she did have her Luck. Her Allomancy. She could still sense the
reserves Kelsier's vial had given her, and had tested her powers on the
crewmembers. No longer limited to just a bit of Luck a day, she found
she could produce far more striking effects.
Vin was coming to realize that her old goal in life-simply staying
alive-was uninspired. There was so much more she could be doing. She
had been a slave to Reen; she had been a slave to Camon. She would be
a slave to this Kelsier too, if it would lead her to eventual freedom.
At his table, Milev looked at his pocket watch, then stood. "All right,
everyone out."
The room began to clear in preparation for Kelsier's meeting. Vin
remained where she was; Kelsier had made it quite clear to the others
that she was invited. She sat quietly for a bit, the room feeling far more
comfortable to her now that it was empty. Kelsier's friends began to
arrive a short time later.
The first man down the steps had the build of a soldier. He wore a
loose, sleeveless shirt that exposed a pair of well-sculpted arms. He was
impressively muscular, but not massive, and had close-cropped hair that
stuck up slightly on his head.
The soldier's companion was a sharply dressed man in a nobleman's
suit-plum vest, gold buttons, black overcoat-complete with shortbrimmed hat and dueling cane. He was older than the soldier, and was a
bit portly. He removed his hat upon entering the room, revealing a head
of well-styled black hair. The two men were chatting amiably as they
walked, but they paused when they saw the empty room.
"Ah, this must be our twixt," said the man in the suit. "Has Kelsier
arrived yet, my dear?" He spoke with a simple familiarity, as if they werelongtime friends. Suddenly, despite herself, Vin found herself liking this
well-dressed, articulate man.
"No," she said quietly. Though overalls and a work shirt had always
suited her, she suddenly wished that she owned something nicer. This
man's very bearing seemed to demand a more formal atmosphere.
"Should have known that Kell would be late to his own meeting," the
soldier said, sitting down at one of the tables near the center of the room.
"Indeed," said the suited man. "I suppose his tardiness leaves us with a
chance for some refreshment. I could so use something to drink...."
"Let me get you something," Vin said quickly, jumping to her feet.
"How gracious of you," the suited man said, choosing a chair next to
the solider. He sat with one leg crossed over the other, his dueling cane
held to the side, tip against the floor, one hand resting on the top.
Vin walked to the bar and began rummaging for drinks.
"Breeze..." the soldier said with a warning tone as Vin selected a
bottle of Camon's most expensive wine and began pouring a cup.
"Hum...?" the suited man said, raising an eyebrow.
The soldier nodded toward Vin.
"Oh, very well," the suited man said with a sigh.
Vin paused, wine half poured, and frowned slightly. What am I doing?
"I swear, Ham," the suited man said, "you are dreadfully stiff
sometimes."
"Just because you can Push someone around doesn't mean you should,
Breeze."
Vin stood, dumbfounded. He...used Luck on me. When Kelsier had
tried to manipulate her, she'd felt his touch and had been able to resist.
This time, however, she hadn't even realized what she was doing.
She looked up at the man, thinning her eyes. "Mistborn."
The suited man, Breeze, chuckled. "Hardly. Kelsier's the only skaa
Mistborn you're likely to ever meet, my dear-and pray you never are in
a situation where you meet a noble one. No, I am just an ordinary,
humble Misting."
"Humble?" Ham asked.
Breeze shrugged.
Vin looked down at the half-full cup of wine. "You Pulled on my
emotions. With...Allomancy, I mean.""I Pushed on them, actually," Breeze said. "Pulling makes a person
less trusting and more determined. Pushing on emotions-Soothing them
-makes a person more trusting."
"Regardless, you controlled me," Vin said. "You made me fetch you a
drink."
"Oh, I wouldn't say that I made you do it," Breeze said. "I just altered
your emotions slightly, putting you in a frame of mind where you'd be
more likely to do as I wished."
Ham rubbed his chin. "I don't know, Breeze. It's an interesting
question. By influencing her emotions, did you take away her ability to
choose? If, for instance, she were to kill or steal while under your
control, would the crime be hers or yours?"
Breeze rolled his eyes. "There's really no question to it at all. You
shouldn't think about such things, Hammond-you'll hurt your brain. I
offered her encouragement, I simply did it through an irregular means."
"But-"
"I'm not going to argue it with you, Ham."
The beefy man sighed, looking a little bit forlorn.
"Are you going to bring me the drink...?" Breeze asked hopefully,
looking at Vin. "I mean, you're already up, and you're going to have to
come back this direction to reach your seat anyway...."
Vin examined her emotions. Did she feel irregularly drawn to do as the
man asked? Was he manipulating her again? Finally, she simply walked
away from the bar, leaving the drink where it was.
Breeze sighed. He didn't stand to go get the drink himself, however.
Vin walked tentatively toward the two men's table. She was
accustomed to shadows and corners-close enough to eavesdrop, but far
enough away to escape. Yet, she couldn't hide from these men-not
while the room was so empty. So, she chose a chair at the table beside
the one that the two men were using, then sat cautiously. She needed
information-as long as she was ignorant, she was going to be at a
severe disadvantage in this new world of Misting crews.
Breeze chuckled. "Nervous little thing, aren't you?"
Vin ignored the comment. "You," Vin said, nodding to Ham. "You're
a...a Misting too?"
Ham nodded. "I'm a Thug."Vin frowned in confusion.
"I burn pewter," Ham said.
Again, Vin looked at him questioningly.
"He can make himself stronger, my dear," Breeze said. "He hits things
-particularly other people-who try to interfere with what the rest of us
are doing."
"There's much more to it than that," Ham said. "I run general security
for jobs, providing my crewleader with manpower and warriors,
assuming such are necessary."
"And he'll try and bore you with random philosophy when it isn't,"
Breeze added.
Ham sighed. "Breeze, honestly, sometimes I don't know why I..."
Ham trailed off as the door opened again, admitting another man.
The newcomer wore a dull tan overcoat, a pair of brown trousers, and
a simple white shirt. However, his face was far more distinctive than his
clothing. It was knotted and gnarled, like a twisted piece of wood, and
his eyes shone with the level of disapproving dissatisfaction only the
elderly can display. Vin couldn't quite place his age-he was young
enough that he wasn't stooped over, yet he was old enough that he made
even the middle-aged Breeze look youthful.
The newcomer looked over Vin and the others, huffed disdainfully,
then walked to a table on the other side of the room and sat down. His
steps were marked by a distinct limp.
Breeze sighed. "I'm going to miss Trap."
"We all will," Ham said quietly. "Clubs is very good, though. I've
worked with him before."
Breeze studied the newcomer. "I wonder if I could get him to bring my
drink over...."
Ham chuckled. "I'd pay money to see you try it."
"I'm sure you would," Breeze said.
Vin eyed the newcomer, who seemed perfectly content to ignore her
and the other two men. "What's he?"
"Clubs?" Breeze asked. "He, my dear, is a Smoker. He is what will
keep the rest of us from being discovered by an Inquisitor."
Vin chewed on her lip, digesting the new information as she studied
Clubs. The man shot her a glare, and she looked away. As she turned, shenoticed that Ham was looking at her.
"I like you, kid," he said. "The other twixts I've worked with have
either been too intimidated to talk to us, or they've been jealous of us for
moving into their territory."
"Indeed," Breeze said. "You're not like most crumbs. Of course, I'd
like you a great deal more if you'd go fetch me that glass of wine...."
Vin ignored him, glancing at Ham. "Crumb?"
"That's what some of the more self-important members of our society
call lesser thieves," Ham said. "They call you crumbs, since you tend to
be involved with...less inspired projects."
"No offense intended, of course," Breeze said.
"Oh, I wouldn't ever take offense at-" Vin paused, feeling an
irregular desire to please the well-dressed man. She glared at Breeze.
"Stop that!"
"See, there," Breeze said, glancing at Ham. "She still retains her
ability to choose."
"You're hopeless."
They assume I'm a twixt, Vin thought. So Kelsier hasn't told them what
I am. Why? Time constraints? Or, was the secret too valuable to share?
How trustworthy were these men? And, if they thought her a simple
"crumb," why were they being so nice to her?
"Who else are we waiting upon?" Breeze asked, glancing at the
doorway. "Besides Kell and Dox, I mean."
"Yeden," Ham said.
Breeze frowned with a sour expression. "Ah, yes."
"I agree," Ham said. "But, I'd be willing to bet that he feels the same
way about us."
"I don't even see why he was invited," Breeze said.
Ham shrugged. "Something to do with Kell's plan, obviously."
"Ah, the infamous 'plan,'" Breeze said musingly. "What job could it
be, what indeed...?"
Ham shook his head. "Kell and his cursed sense of drama."
"Indeed."
The door opened a few moments later, and the one they had spoken of,
Yeden, entered. He turned out to be an unassuming man, and Vin had
trouble understanding why the other two were so displeased about hisattendance. Short with curly brown hair, Yeden was dressed in simple
gray skaa clothing and a patched, soot-stained brown worker's coat. He
regarded the surroundings with a look of disapproval, but he was
nowhere near as openly hostile as Clubs, who still sat on the other side of
the room scowling at anyone who looked in his direction.
Not a very big crew, Vin thought. With Kelsier and Dockson, that
makes six of them. Of course, Ham had said that he led a group of
"Thugs." Were the men at this meeting simply representatives? The
leaders of smaller, more specialized groups? Some crews worked that
way.
Breeze checked his pocket watch three more times before Kelsier
finally arrived. The Mistborn crewleader burst through the door with his
cheery enthusiasm, Dockson sauntering along behind. Ham stood
immediately, smiling broadly and clasping hands with Kelsier. Breeze
stood as well, and while his greeting was a bit more reserved, Vin had to
admit that she had never seen any crewleader welcomed so happily by
his men.
"Ah," Kelsier said, looking toward the other side of the room. "Clubs
and Yeden too. So, everyone's here. Good-I absolutely loathe being
made to wait."
Breeze raised an eyebrow as he and Ham settled back into their chairs,
Dockson taking a seat at the same table. "Are we to receive any
explanation for your tardiness?"
"Dockson and I were visiting my brother," Kelsier explained, walking
toward the front of the lair. He turned and leaned back against the bar,
scanning the room. When Kelsier's eyes fell on Vin, he winked.
"Your brother?" Ham said. "Is Marsh coming to the meeting?"
Kelsier and Dockson shared a look. "Not tonight," Kelsier said. "But
he'll join the crew eventually."
Vin studied the others. They were skeptical. Tension between Kelsier
and his brother, perhaps?
Breeze raised his dueling cane, pointing the tip at Kelsier. "All right,
Kelsier, you've kept this 'job' secret from us for eight months now. We
know it's big, we know you're excited, and we're all properly annoyed at
you for being so secretive. So, why don't you just go ahead and tell us
what it is?"
Kelsier smiled. Then he stood up straight, waving a hand toward the
dirty, plain-looking Yeden. "Gentlemen, meet your new employer."This was, apparently, quite a shocking statement.
"Him?" Ham asked.
"Him," Kelsier said with a nod.
"What?" Yeden asked, speaking for the first time. "You have trouble
working with someone who actually has morals?"
"It's not that, my dear man," Breeze said, setting his dueling cane
across his lap. "It's just that, well, I was under the strange impression
that you didn't like our types very much."
"I don't," Yeden said flatly. "You're selfish, undisciplined, and you've
turned your backs on the rest of the skaa. You dress nicely, but on the
inside you're dirty as ash."
Ham snorted. "I can already see that this job is going to be great for
crew morale."
Vin watched quietly, chewing on her lip. Yeden was obviously a skaa
worker, probably a member of a forge or textile mill. What connection
did he have with the underground? And...how would he be able to afford
the services of a thieving crew, especially one as apparently specialized
as Kelsier's team?
Perhaps Kelsier noticed her confusion, for she found him looking at
her as the others continued to speak.
"I'm still a little confused," Ham said. "Yeden, we're all aware of how
you regard thieves. So...why hire us?"
Yeden squirmed a bit. "Because," he finally said, "everyone knows
how effective you are."
Breeze chuckled. "Disapproving of our morals doesn't make you
unwilling to make use of our skills, I see. So, what is the job, then? What
does the skaa rebellion wish of us?"
Skaa rebellion? Vin thought, a piece of the conversation falling into
place. There were two sides to the underworld. The far larger portion
was made up of the thieves, crews, whores, and beggars who tried to
survive outside of mainstream skaa culture.
And then there were the rebels. The people who worked against the
Final Empire. Reen had always called them fools-a sentiment shared by
most of the people, both underworlders and regular skaa, that Vin had
met.
All eyes slowly turned to Kelsier, who leaned back against the bar
again. "The skaa rebellion, courtesy of its leader, Yeden, has hired us forsomething very specific."
"What?" Ham asked. "Robbery? Assassination?"
"A little of both," Kelsier said, "and, at the same time, neither one.
Gentlemen, this isn't going to be a regular job. It's going to be different
from anything any crew has ever tried to pull. We're going to help Yeden
overthrow the Final Empire."
Silence.
"Excuse me?" Ham asked.
"You heard me right, Ham," Kelsier said. "That's the job I've been
planning-the destruction of the Final Empire. Or, at least, its center of
government. Yeden has hired us to supply him with an army, then
provide him with a favorable opportunity to seize control of this city."
Ham sat back, then shared a glance with Breeze. Both men turned
toward Dockson, who nodded solemnly. The room remained quiet for a
moment longer; then the silence was broken as Yeden began to laugh
ruefully to himself.
"I should never have agreed to this," Yeden said, shaking his head.
"Now that you say it, I realize how ridiculous it all sounds."
"Trust me, Yeden," Kelsier said. "These men have made a habit of
pulling off plans that seem ridiculous at first glance."
"That may be true, Kell," Breeze said. "But, in this case, I find myself
agreeing with our disapproving friend. Overthrow the Final Empire...
that is something that skaa rebels have been working toward for a
thousand years! What makes you think that we can achieve anything
where those men have failed?"
Kelsier smiled. "We'll succeed because we have vision, Breeze. That's
something the rebellion has always lacked."
"Excuse me?" Yeden said indignantly.
"It's true, unfortunately," Kelsier said. "The rebellion condemns
people like us because of our greed, but for all their high morals-which,
by the way, I respect-they never get anything done. Yeden, your men
hide in woods and in hills, plotting how they'll someday rise up and lead
a glorious war against the Final Empire. But your kind has no idea how
to develop and execute a proper plan."
Yeden's expression grew dark. "And you have no idea what you are
talking about.""Oh?" Kelsier said lightly. "Tell me, what has your rebellion
accomplished during its thousand-year struggle? Where are your
successes and your victories? The Massacre of Tougier three centuries
ago, where seven thousand skaa rebels were slaughtered? The occasional
raid of a traveling canal boat or the kidnapping of a minor noble
official?"
Yeden flushed. "That's the best we can manage with the people we
have! Don't blame my men for their failures-blame the rest of the skaa.
We can't ever get them to help. They've been beaten down for a
millennium; they haven't got any spirit left. It's difficult enough to get
one in a thousand to listen to us, let alone rebel!"
"Peace, Yeden," Kelsier said, holding up a hand. "I'm not trying to
insult your courage. We're on the same side, remember? You came to me
specifically because you were having trouble recruiting people for your
army."
"I'm regretting that decision more and more, thief," Yeden said.
"Well, you've already paid us," Kelsier said. "So it's a little late to
back out now. But, we'll get you that army, Yeden. The men in this room
are the most capable, most clever, and most skilled Allomancers in the
city. You'll see."
The room grew quiet again. Vin sat at her table, watching the
interaction with a frown. What is your game, Kelsier? His words about
overthrowing the Final Empire were obviously a front. It seemed most
likely to her that he intended to scam the skaa rebellion. But...if he'd
already been paid, then why continue the charade?
Kelsier turned from Yeden to Breeze and Ham. "All right, gentlemen.
What do you think?"
The two men shared a look. Finally Breeze spoke. "Lord Ruler knows,
I've never been one to turn down a challenge. But, Kell, I do question
your reasoning. Are you sure we can do this?"
"I'm positive," Kelsier said. "Previous attempts to overthrow the Lord
Ruler have failed because they lacked proper organization and planning.
We're thieves, gentlemen-and we're extraordinarily good ones. We can
rob the un-robbable and fool the unfoolable. We know how to take an
incredibly large task and break it down to manageable pieces, then deal
with each of those pieces. We know how to get what we want. These
things make us perfect for this particular task."Breeze frowned. "And...how much are we getting paid for achieving
the impossible?"
"Thirty thousand boxings," Yeden said. "Half now, half when you
deliver the army."
"Thirty thousand?" Ham said. "For an operation this big? That will
barely cover expenses. We'll need a spy among the nobility to watch for
rumors, we'll need a couple of safe houses, not to mention someplace big
enough to hide and train an entire army...."
"No use haggling now, thief," Yeden snapped. "Thirty thousand may
not sound like much to your type, but it's the result of decades of saving
on our part. We can't pay you more because we don't have anything
more."
"It's good work, gentlemen," Dockson noted, joining the conversation
for the first time.
"Yes, well, that's all great," Breeze said. "I consider myself a nice
enough fellow. But...this just seems a bit too altruistic. Not to mention
stupid."
"Well..." Kelsier said, "there might be a little bit more in it for us...."
Vin perked up, and Breeze smiled.
"The Lord Ruler's treasury," Kelsier said. "The plan, as it stands now,
is to provide Yeden with an army and an opportunity to seize the city.
Once he takes the palace, he'll capture the treasury and use its funds to
secure power. And, central to that treasury..."
"Is the Lord Ruler's atium," Breeze said.
Kelsier nodded. "Our agreement with Yeden promises us half of the
atium reserves we find in the palace, no matter how vast they may be."
Atium. Vin had heard of the metal, but she had never actually seen
any. It was incredibly rare, supposedly used only by noblemen.
Ham was smiling. "Well, now," he said slowly, "that's almost a big
enough prize to be tempting."
"That atium stockpile is supposed to be enormous," Kelsier said. "The
Lord Ruler sells the metal only in small bits, charging outrageous sums
to the nobility. He has to keep a huge reserve of it to make certain he
controls the market, and to make certain he has enough wealth for
emergencies."
"True..." Breeze said. "But, are you sure you want to try something
like this so soon after...what happened the last time we tried getting intothe palace?"
"We're going to do things differently this time," Kelsier said.
"Gentlemen, I'll be frank with you. This isn't going to be an easy job,
but it can work. The plan is simple. We're going to find a way to
neutralize the Luthadel Garrison-leaving the area without a policing
force. Then, we're going to throw the city into chaos."
"We've got a couple of options on how to do that," Dockson said. "But
we can talk about that later."
Kelsier nodded. "Then, in that chaos, Yeden will march his army into
Luthadel and seize the palace, taking the Lord Ruler prisoner. While
Yeden secures the city, we'll pilfer the atium. We'll give half to him, then
disappear with the other half. After that, it's his job to hang on to what
he's grabbed."
"Sounds a little dangerous for you, Yeden," Ham noted, glancing at the
rebel leader.
He shrugged. "Perhaps. But, if we do, by some miracle, end up in
control of the palace, then we'll have at least done something no skaa
rebellion has ever achieved before. For my men, this isn't just about
riches-it isn't even about surviving. It's about doing something grand,
something wonderful, to give the skaa hope. But, I don't expect you
people to understand things like that."
Kelsier shot a quieting glance at Yeden, and the man sniffed and sat
back. Did he use Allomancy? Vin wondered. She'd seen employer-crew
relationships before, and it seemed that Yeden was much more in
Kelsier's pocket than the other way around.
Kelsier turned back to Ham and Breeze. "There's more to all this than
simply a show of daring. If we do manage to steal that atium, it will be a
sound blow to the Lord Ruler's financial foundation. He depends on the
money that atium provides-without it, he could very well be left
without the means to pay his armies.
"Even if he escapes our trap-or, if we decide to take the city when
he's gone to minimize having to deal with him-he'll be financially
ruined. He won't be able to march soldiers in to take the city away from
Yeden. If this works right, we'll have the city in chaos anyway, and the
nobility will be too weak to react against the rebel forces. The Lord
Ruler will be left confused, and unable to mount a sizable army."
"And the koloss?" Ham asked quietly.Kelsier paused. "If he marches those creatures on his own capital city,
the destruction it would cause could be even more dangerous than
financial instability. In the chaos, the provincial noblemen will rebel and
set themselves up as kings, and the Lord Ruler won't have the troops to
bring them into line. Yeden's rebels will be able to hold Luthadel, and
we, my friends, will be very, very rich. Everyone gets what they want."
"You're forgetting the Steel Ministry," Clubs snapped, sitting almost
forgotten at the side of the room. "Those Inquisitors won't just let us
throw their pretty theocracy into chaos."
Kelsier paused, turning toward the gnarled man. "We will have to find
a way to deal with the Ministry-I've got a few plans for that. Either
way, problems like that are the things that we-as a crew-will have to
work out. We have to get rid of the Luthadel Garrison-there's no way
we'll be able to get anything done with them policing the streets. We'll
have to come up with an appropriate way to throw the city into chaos,
and we'll have to find a way to keep the obligators off our trail.
"But, if we play this right, we might be able to force the Lord Ruler to
send the palace guard-maybe even the Inquisitors-into the city to
restore order. That will leave the palace itself exposed, giving Yeden a
perfect opportunity to strike. After that, it won't matter what happens
with the Ministry or the Garrison-the Lord Ruler won't have the money
to maintain control of his empire."
"I don't know, Kell," Breeze said, shaking his head. His flippancy was
subdued; he seemed to be honestly considering the plan. "The Lord
Ruler got that atium somewhere. What if he just goes and mines some
more?"
Ham nodded. "No one even knows where the atium mine is."
"I wouldn't say no one," Kelsier said with a smile.
Breeze and Ham shared a look.
"You know?" Ham asked.
"Of course," Kelsier said. "I spent a year of my life working there."
"The Pits?" Ham asked with surprise.
Kelsier nodded. "That's why the Lord Ruler makes certain nobody
survives working there-he can't afford to let his secret out. It's not just
a penal colony, not just a hellhole where skaa are sent to die. It's a mine."
"Of course..." Breeze said.Kelsier stood up straight, stepping away from the bar and walking
toward Ham and Breeze's table. "We have a chance here, gentlemen. A
chance to do something great-something no other thieving crew has
ever done. We'll rob from the Lord Ruler himself!
"But, there's more. The Pits nearly killed me, and I've seen things...
differently since I escaped. I see the skaa, working without hope. I see
the thieving crews, trying to survive on aristocratic leavings, often
getting themselves-and other skaa-killed in the process. I see the skaa
rebellion trying so hard to resist the Lord Ruler, and never making any
progress.
"The rebellion fails because it's too unwieldy and spread out. Anytime
one of its many pieces gains momentum, the Steel Ministry crushes it.
That's not the way to defeat the Final Empire, gentlemen. But, a small
team-specialized and highly skilled-has a hope. We can work without
great risk of exposure. We know how to avoid the Steel Ministry's
tendrils. We understand how the high nobility thinks, and how to exploit
its members. We can do this!"
He paused beside Breeze and Ham's table.
"I don't know, Kell," Ham said. "It's not that I'm disagreeing with
your motives. It's just that...well, this seems a bit foolhardy."
Kelsier smiled. "I know it does. But you're going to go along with it
anyway, aren't you?"
Ham paused, then nodded. "You know I'll join your crew no matter
what the job. This sounds crazy, but so do most of your plans. Just...just
tell me. Are you serious about overthrowing the Lord Ruler?"
Kelsier nodded. For some reason, Vin was almost tempted to believe
him.
Ham nodded firmly. "All right, then. I'm in."
"Breeze?" Kelsier asked.
The well-dressed man shook his head. "I'm not sure, Kell. This is a bit
extreme, even for you."
"We need you, Breeze," Kell said. "No one can Soothe a crowd like
you can. If we're going to raise an army, we'll need your Allomancers-
and your powers."
"Well, that much is true," Breeze said. "But, even still..."
Kelsier smiled, then he set something on the table-the cup of wine
Vin had poured for Breeze. She hadn't even noticed that Kelsier hadgrabbed it off of the bar.
"Think of the challenge, Breeze," Kelsier said.
Breeze glanced at the cup, then looked up at Kelsier. Finally, he
laughed, reaching for the wine. "Fine. I'm in."
"It's impossible," a gruff voice said from the back of the room. Clubs
sat with folded arms, regarding Kelsier with a scowl. "What are you
really planning, Kelsier?"
"I'm being honest," Kelsier replied. "I plan to take the Lord Ruler's
atium and overthrow his empire."
"You can't," the man said. "It's idiocy. The Inquisitors will hang us all
by hooks through our throats."
"Perhaps," Kelsier said. "But think of the reward if we succeed.
Wealth, power, and a land where the skaa can live like men, rather than
slaves."
Clubs snorted loudly. Then he stood, his chair toppling backward onto
the floor behind him. "No reward would be enough. The Lord Ruler tried
to have you killed once-I see that you won't be satisfied until he gets it
right." With that, the older man turned and stalked in a limping gait from
the room, slamming the door behind him.
The lair grew quiet.
"Well, guess we'll need a different Smoker," Dockson said.
"You're just going to let him go?" Yeden demanded. "He knows
everything!"
Breeze chuckled. "Aren't you supposed to be the moral one in this
little group?"
"Morals doesn't have anything to do with it," Yeden said. "Letting
someone go like that is foolish! He could bring the obligators down on
us in minutes."
Vin nodded in agreement, but Kelsier just shook his head. "I don't
work that way, Yeden. I invited Clubs to a meeting where I outlined a
dangerous plan-one some people might even call stupid. I'm not going
to have him assassinated because he decided it was too dangerous. If you
do things like that, pretty soon nobody will come listen to your plans in
the first place."
"Besides," Dockson said. "We wouldn't invite someone to one of these
meetings unless we trusted him not to betray us."Impossible, Vin thought, frowning. He had to be bluffing to keep up
crew morale; nobody was that trusting. After all, hadn't the others said
that Kelsier's failure a few years before-the event that had sent him to
the Pits of Hathsin-had come because of a betrayal? He probably had
assassins following Clubs at that very moment, watching to make certain
he didn't go to the authorities.
"All right, Yeden," Kelsier said, getting back to business. "They
accepted. The plan is on. Are you still in?"
"Will you give the rebellion's money back if I say no?" Yeden asked.
The only response to that was a quiet chuckle from Ham. Yeden's
expression darkened, but he just shook his head. "If I had any other
option..."
"Oh, stop complaining," Kelsier said. "You're officially part of a
thieving crew now, so you might as well come over here and sit with us."
Yeden paused for a moment, then sighed and walked over to sit at
Breeze, Ham, and Dockson's table, beside which Kelsier was still
standing. Vin still sat at the next table over.
Kelsier turned, looking over toward Vin. "What about you, Vin?"
She paused. Why is he asking me? He already knows he has a hold
over me. The job doesn't matter, as long as I learn what he knows.
Kelsier waited expectantly.
"I'm in," Vin said, assuming that was what he wanted to hear.
She must have guessed correctly, for Kelsier smiled, then nodded to
the last chair at the table.
Vin sighed, but did as he indicated, standing and walking over to take
the last seat.
"Who is the child?" Yeden asked.
"Twixt," Breeze said.
Kelsier cocked an eyebrow. "Actually, Vin is something of a new
recruit. My brother caught her Soothing his emotions a few months
back."
"Soother, eh?" Ham asked. "Guess we can always use another of
those."
"Actually," Kelsier noted, "it seems she can Riot people's emotions as
well."
Breeze started."Really?" Ham asked.
Kelsier nodded. "Dox and I tested her just a few hours ago."
Breeze chuckled. "And here I was telling her that she'd probably never
meet another Mistborn besides yourself."
"A second Mistborn on the team..." Ham said appreciatively. "Well,
that increases our chances somewhat."
"What are you saying?" Yeden sputtered. "Skaa can't be Mistborn. I'm
not even sure if Mistborn exist! I've certainly never met one."
Breeze raised an eyebrow, then laid a hand on Yeden's shoulder. "You
should try not to talk so much, friend," he suggested. "You'll sound far
less stupid that way."
Yeden shook off Breeze's hand, and Ham laughed. Vin, however, sat
quietly, considering the implications of what Kelsier had said. The part
about stealing the atium reserves was tempting, but seizing the city to do
it? Were these men really that reckless?
Kelsier pulled a chair over to the table for himself and sat down on it
the wrong way, resting his arms on the seatback. "All right," he said.
"We have a crew. We'll plan specifics at the next meeting, but I want you
all to be thinking about the job. I have some plans, but I want fresh
minds to consider our task. We'll need to discuss ways to get the
Luthadel Garrison out of the city, and ways that we can throw this place
into so much chaos that the Great Houses can't mobilize their forces to
stop Yeden's army when it attacks."
The members of the group, save Yeden, nodded.
"Before we end for the evening, however," Kelsier continued, "there is
one more part of the plan I want to warn you about."
"More?" Breeze asked with a chuckle. "Stealing the Lord Ruler's
fortune and overthrowing his empire aren't enough?"
"No," Kelsier said. "If I can, I'm going to kill him too."
Silence.
"Kelsier," Ham said slowly. "The Lord Ruler is the Sliver of Infinity.
He's a piece of God Himself. You can't kill him. Even capturing him
will probably prove impossible."
Kelsier didn't reply. His eyes, however, were determined.
That's it, Vin thought. He has to be insane."The Lord Ruler and I," Kelsier said quietly, "we have an unsettled
debt. He took Mare from me, and he nearly took my own sanity as well.
I'll admit to you all that part of my reason for this plan is to get revenge
on him. We're going to take his government, his home, and his fortune
from him.
"However, for that to work, we'll have to get rid of him. Perhaps
imprison him in his own dungeons-at the very least, we'll have to get
him out of the city. However, I can think of something far better than
either option. Down those pits where he sent me, I Snapped and came to
an awakening of my Allomantic powers. Now I intend to use them to kill
him."
Kelsier reached into his suit pocket and pulled something out. He set it
on the table.
"In the north, they have a legend," Kelsier said. "It teaches that the
Lord Ruler isn't immortal-not completely. They say he can be killed
with the right metal. The Eleventh Metal. That metal."
Eyes turned toward the object on the table. It was a thin bar of metal,
perhaps as long and wide as Vin's small finger, with straight sides. It was
silvery white in color.
"The Eleventh Metal?" Breeze asked uncertainly. "I've heard of no
such legend."
"The Lord Ruler has suppressed it," Kelsier said. "But it can still be
found, if you know where to look. Allomantic theory teaches of ten
metals: the eight basic metals, and the two high metals. There is another
one, however, unknown to most. One far more powerful, even, than the
other ten."
Breeze frowned skeptically.
Yeden, however, appeared intrigued. "And, this metal can somehow
kill the Lord Ruler?"
Kelsier nodded. "It's his weakness. The Steel Ministry wants you to
believe that he's immortal, but even he can be killed-by an Allomancer
burning this."
Ham reached out, picking up the thin bar of metal. "Where did you get
it?"
"In the north," Kelsier said. "In a land near the Far Peninsula, a land
where people still remember what their old kingdom was called in the
days before the Ascension.""How does it work?" Breeze asked.
"I'm not sure," Kelsier said frankly. "But I intend to find out."
Ham regarded the porcelain-colored metal, turning it over his fingers.
Kill the Lord Ruler? Vin thought. The Lord Ruler was a force, like the
winds or the mists. One did not kill such things. They didn't live, really.
They simply were.
"Regardless," Kelsier said, accepting the metal back from Ham, "you
don't need to worry about this. Killing the Lord Ruler is my task. If it
proves impossible, we'll settle for tricking him outside of the city, then
robbing him silly. I just thought that you should know what I'm
planning."
I've bound myself to a madman, Vin thought with resignation. But that
didn't really matter-not as long as he taught her Allomancy.
I don't even understand what I'm supposed to do. The Terris
philosophers claim that I'll know my duty when the time comes, but
that's a small comfort.
The Deepness must be destroyed, and apparently I'm the only one who
can do so. It ravages the world even now. If I don't stop it soon, there
will be nothing left of this land but bones and dust.
