Elend paused, glancing at Vin. Then, he continued. “In fact, tell him that I want to discuss the future of Luthadel, and because I want to introduce him to someone special.”
Ham chuckled. “Ah, nothing like bringing a girl home to meet the father.”
“Especially when that girl happens to be the most dangerous Allomancer in the Central Dominance,” Breeze added.
“You think he’ll agree to letting her come?” Dockson said.
“If he doesn’t, there’s no deal,” Elend said. “Make sure he knows that. Either way, I do think he’ll agree. Straff has a habit of underestimating me—probably with good reason. However, I’ll bet that sentiment extends to Vin as well. He’ll assume she isn’t as good as everyone says.”
“Straff has his own Mistborn,” Vin added. “To protect him. It will only be fair for Elend to be able to bring me. And, if I’m there, I can get him out should something go wrong.”
Ham chuckled again. “That probably wouldn’t make for a very dignified retreat—getting slung over Vin’s shoulder and carried to safety.”
“Better than dying,” Elend said, obviously trying to act good-natured, but flushing slightly at the same time.
He loves me, but he’s still a man, Vin thought. How many times have I hurt his pride by being Mistborn while he is simply a normal person? A lesser man would never have fallen in love with me.
But, doesn’t he deserve a woman that he feels he can protect? A woman who’s more like … a woman?
Vin pulled down in her chair again, seeking warmth within its plushness. However, it was Elend’s study chair, where he read. Didn’t he also deserve a woman who shared his interests, one who didn’t find reading a chore? A woman with whom he could talk about his brilliant political theories?
Why am I thinking about our relationship so much lately? Vin thought.
We don’t belong in their world, Zane had said. We belong here, in the mists.
You don’t belong with them. …
“There is something else I wanted to mention, Your Majesty,” Dockson said. “You should meet with the Assembly. They’ve been growing impatient to get your ear—something about counterfeit coins being passed in Luthadel.”
“I don’t really have time for city business right now,” Elend said. “The prime reason I set up the Assembly was so that they could deal with these kinds of issues. Go ahead and send them a message, telling them that I trust their judgment. Apologize for me, and explain that I’m seeing to the city’s defense. I’ll try and make the Assembly meeting next week.”
Dockson nodded, scribbling a note to himself. “Though,” he noted, “that is something else to consider. By meeting with Straff, you’ll give up your hold on the Assembly.”
“This isn’t an official parlay,” Elend said. “Just an informal meeting. My resolution from before will still stand.”
“In all honesty, Your Majesty,” Dockson said, “I highly doubt that they will see it that way. You know how angry they are to be left without recourse until you decide to hold the parlay.”
“I know,” Elend said. “But the risk is worthwhile. We need to meet with Straff. Once that is done, I can return with—hopefully—good news for the Assembly. At that point, I can argue that the resolution hasn’t been fulfilled. For now, the meeting goes forward.”
More decisive indeed, Vin thought. He’s changing. …
She had to stop thinking about things like that. Instead, she focused on something else. The conversation turned to specific ways that Elend could manipulate Straff, each of the crewmembers giving him tips on how to scam effectively. Vin, however, found herself watching them, looking for discrepancies in their personalities, trying to decide if any of them might be the kandra spy.
Was Clubs being even quieter than normal? Was Spook’s shift in language patterns due to growing maturity, or because the kandra had difficulty mimicking his slang? Was Ham, perhaps, too jovial? He also seemed to focus less on his little philosophical puzzles than he once had. Was that because he was more serious now, or because the kandra didn’t know how to imitate him properly?
It was no good. If she thought too much, she could spot seeming discrepancies in anyone. Yet, at the same time, they all seemed like themselves. People were just too complex to reduce to simple personality traits. Plus, the kandra would be good—very good. He would have a lifetime of training in the art of imitating others, and he had probably been planning his insertion for a long time.
It came down to Allomancy, then. With all of the activities surrounding the siege and her studies about the Deepness, however, she hadn’t had a chance to test her friends. As she thought about it, she admitted that the lack of time excuse was a weak one. The truth was that she was probably distracting herself because the thought of one of the crew—one of her first group of friends—being a traitor was just too upsetting.
She had to get over that. If there really were a spy in the group, that would be the end of them. If the enemy kings found out about the tricks Elend was planning …
This in mind, she tentatively burned bronze. Immediately, she sensed an Allomantic pulse from Breeze—dear, incorrigible Breeze. He was so good at Allomancy that even Vin couldn’t detect his touch most of the time, but he was also compulsive about using his power.
He wasn’t currently using it on her, however. She closed her eyes, focusing. Once, long ago, Marsh had tried to train her in the fine art of using bronze to read Allomantic pulses. She hadn’t realized at the time just how large a task he’d begun.
When an Allomancer burned a metal, they gave off an invisible, drumlike beat that only another Allomancer burning bronze could sense. The rhythm of these pulses—how quickly the beats came, the way they “sounded”—told exactly what metal was being burned.
It took practice, and was difficult, but Vin was getting better at reading the pulses. She focused. Breeze was burning brass—the internal, mental Pushing metal. And …
Vin focused harder. She could feel a pattern washing over her, a double dum-dum beat with each pulse. They felt oriented to her right. The pulses were washing against something else, something that was sucking them in.
Elend. Breeze was focused on Elend. Not surprising, considering the current discussion. Breeze was always Pushing on the people he interacted with.
Satisfied, Vin sat back. But then she paused. Marsh implied there was much more to bronze than many people thought. I wonder. …
She squeezed her eyes shut—ignoring the fact that any of the others who saw her would think her actions strange—and focused again on the Allomantic pulses. She flared the bronze, concentrating so hard she felt she’d give herself a headache. There was a … vibration to the pulses. But what that could mean, she wasn’t certain.
Focus! she told herself. However, the pulses stubbornly refused to yield any further information.
Fine, she thought. I’ll cheat. She turned off her tin—she almost always had it on a little bit—then reached inside and burned the fourteenth metal. Duralumin.
The Allomantic pulses became so loud … so powerful … she swore she could feel their vibrations shaking her apart. They pounded like beats from a massive drum set right beside her. But she got something from them.