Vin’s seat was on the stage, but at the back, directly opposite the audience. From her vantage with the other bodyguards, she would look past the lectern toward the crowd. Another row of Ham’s guards—in regular clothing—sat in the first row of the audience, providing a first line of protection. Elend had balked at Vin’s demands to having guards both in front of the stage and behind it—he thought that bodyguards sitting right behind the speakers would be distracting. Ham and Vin, however, had insisted. If Elend was going to stand up in front of a crowd every week, Vin wanted to be certain she could keep a close eye on him—and on those watching him.
Getting to her chair, therefore, required Vin to walk across the stage. Stares followed her. Some of the watching crowd were interested in the scandal; they assumed that she was Elend’s mistress, and a king sleeping with his personal assassin made for good gossip. Others were interested in the politics; they wondered how much influence Vin had over Elend, and whether they could use her to get the king’s ear. Still others were curious about the growing legends; they wondered if a girl like Vin could really have slain the Lord Ruler.
Vin hurried her pace. She passed the Assemblymen and found her seat next to Ham, who—despite the formal occasion—still wore a simple vest with no shirt. Sitting next to him in her trousers and shirt, Vin didn’t feel quite so out of place.
Ham smiled, clapping her affectionately on the shoulder. She had to force herself not to jump at the touch. It wasn’t that she disliked Ham—quite the opposite, actually. She loved him as she did all of the former members of Kelsier’s band. It was just that … well, she had trouble explaining it, even to herself. Ham’s innocent gesture made her want to squirm. It seemed to her that people shouldn’t be so casual with the way that they touched others.
She pushed those thoughts away. She had to learn to be like other people. Elend deserved a woman who was normal.
He was already there. He nodded to Vin as he noticed her arrival, and she smiled. Then he turned back to speaking quietly with Lord Penrod, one of the noblemen in the Assembly.
“Elend will be happy,” Vin whispered. “Place is packed.”
“They’re worried,” Ham said quietly. “And worried people pay more attention to things like this. Can’t say I’m happy—all these people make our job harder.”
Vin nodded, scanning the audience. The crowd was a strangely mixed one—a collection of different groups who would never have met together during the days of the Final Empire. A major part were noblemen, of course. Vin frowned, thinking of how often various members of the nobility tried to manipulate Elend, and of the promises he made to them. …
“What’s that look for?” Ham asked, nudging her.
Vin eyed the Thug. Expectant eyes twinkled in his firm, rectangular face. Ham had an almost supernatural sense when it came to arguments.
Vin sighed. “I don’t know about this, Ham.”
“This?”
“This,” Vin said quietly, waving her hand at the Assembly. “Elend tries so hard to make everyone happy. He gives so much away—his power, his money. …”
“He just wants to see that everyone is treated fairly.”
“It’s more than that, Ham,” Vin said. “It’s like he’s determined to make everyone a nobleman.”
“Would that be such a bad thing?”
“If everyone is a nobleman, then there is no such thing as a nobleman. Everyone can’t be rich, and everyone can’t be in charge. That’s just not the way things work.”
“Perhaps,” Ham said thoughtfully. “But, doesn’t Elend have a civic duty to try and make sure justice is served?”
Civic duty? Vin thought. I should have known better than to talk to Ham about something like this. …
Vin looked down. “I just think he could see that everyone was treated well without having an Assembly. All they do is argue and try to take his power away. And he lets them.”
Ham let the discussion die, and Vin turned back to her study of the audience. It appeared that a large group of mill workers had arrived first and managed to get the best seats. Early in the Assembly’s history—perhaps ten months before—the nobility had sent servants to reserve seats for them, or had bribed people to give up their places. As soon as Elend had discovered this, however, he had forbidden both practices.
Other than the noblemen and the mill workers, there was a large number of the “new” class. Skaa merchants and craftsmasters, now allowed to set their own prices for their services. They were the true winners in Elend’s economy. Beneath the Lord Ruler’s oppressive hand, only the few most extraordinarily skilled skaa had been able to rise to positions of even moderate comfort. Without those restrictions, these same people had quickly proven to have abilities and acumen far above their noble counterparts’. They represented a faction in the Assembly at least as powerful as that of the nobility.
Other skaa peppered the crowd. They looked much the same as they had before Elend’s rise to power. While noblemen generally wore suits—complete with dayhats and coats—these skaa wore simple trousers. Some of them were still dirty from their day’s labor, their clothing old, worn, and stained with ash.
And yet … there was something different about them. It wasn’t in their clothing, but their postures. They sat a little straighter, their heads held a little higher. And they had enough free time to attend an Assembly meeting.
Elend finally stood to begin the meeting. He had let his attendants dress him this morning, and the result was attire that was almost completely free of dishevelment. His suit fit well, all the buttons were done up, and his vest was of an appropriate dark blue. His hair was even neatly styled, the short, brown curls lying flat.
Normally, Elend would begin the meeting by calling on other speakers, Assemblymen who would drone on for hours about various topics like taxation rates or city sanitation. However, this day, there were more pressing matters.
“Gentlemen,” Elend said. “I beg your leave to depart from our usual agenda this afternoon, in the light of our current … state of city affairs.”
The group of twenty-four Assemblymen nodded, a few muttering things under their breath. Elend ignored them. He was comfortable before crowds, far more comfortable than Vin would ever be. As he unrolled his speech, Vin kept one eye on the crowd, watching for reactions or problems.
“The dire nature of our situation should be quite obvious,” Elend said, beginning the speech he had prepared earlier. “We face a danger that this city has never known. Invasion and siege from an outside tyrant.
“We are a new nation, a kingdom founded on principles unknown during the days of the Lord Ruler. Yet, we are already a kingdom of tradition. Freedom for the skaa. Rule by our own choice and of our own design. Noblemen who don’t have to cower before the Lord Ruler’s obligators and Inquisitors.
“Gentlemen, one year is not enough. We have tasted freedom, and we need time to savor it. During the last month, we have frequently discussed and argued regarding what to do should this day arrive. Obviously, we are of many minds on the issue. Therefore, I ask for a vote of solidarity. Let us promise ourselves, and these people, that we will not give this city over to a foreign power without due consideration. Let us resolve to gather more information, to seek for other avenues, and even to fight should it be deemed necessary.”