Cett did not greet them at the door. That duty was performed by a soldier in a simple uniform.
“Your soldiers can remain here,” the man said as they entered the main entryway. Once, the large, pillared room had been draped in fine rugs and wall hangings, but Elend had taken those to fund his government. Cett, obviously, hadn’t brought replacements, and that left the inside of the keep feeling austere. Like a battlefront fortress, rather than a mansion.
Elend turned, waving to Demoux, and the captain ordered his men to wait indoors. Vin stood for a moment, consciously keeping herself from shooting a glare at Demoux. If he was the kandra, as her instincts warned, then it was dangerous to have him too close. Part of her itched to simply throw him in a dungeon.
And yet, a kandra couldn’t hurt humans, so he wasn’t a direct threat. He was simply there to relay information. Plus, he’d already know their most sensitive secrets; there was little point in striking now, playing her hand so quickly. If she waited, saw where he went when he slipped out of the city, then maybe she could find out which army—or sect in the city—he was reporting to. Learn what information he had betrayed.
And so, she stayed her hand, waiting. The time to strike would come.
Ham and Demoux arranged their men, and then a smaller honor guard—including Ham, Spook, and Demoux—gathered to stay with Vin and Elend. Elend nodded to Cett’s man, and the soldier led them down a side passageway.
We’re not heading toward the lifts, Vin thought. The Hasting ballroom was at the very top of the keep’s central tower; the times she had attended balls in the structure, she had been taken to the top on one of four human-drawn lifts. Either Hasting didn’t want to waste the manpower, or …
He picked the tallest keep in the city, Vin thought. The one with the fewest windows as well. If Cett pulled all the lifts to the top, it would be very difficult for an invading force to claim the keep.
Fortunately, it didn’t appear that they would have to go all the way to the top this evening. After they climbed two flights in a twisting stone stairwell—Vin having to pull her dress in at the sides to keep from brushing against the stones—their guide led them out into a large, circular room with stained-glass windows running around the entire perimeter, broken only by columns to support the ceiling. The single room was nearly as wide around as the tower itself.
A secondary ballroom, perhaps? Vin wondered, taking in the beauty. The glass wasn’t lit, though she suspected that there were clefts for limelights on the outside. Cett didn’t appear to care about such things. He had set up a large table in the very center of the room, and sat at its head. He was already eating.
“You’re late,” he called out to Elend, “so I started without you.”
Elend frowned. To this, Cett laughed a full bellow, holding up a drumstick. “You seem more aghast at my breach of etiquette than you do about the fact that I brought an army to conquer you, boy! But, I suppose that’s Luthadel. Sit down before I eat this all myself.”
Elend held out an arm for Vin, leading her to the table. Spook took up position near the stairwell, his Tineye’s ears listening for danger. Ham led their ten men to a position from which they could watch the only entrances to the room—the entry from the stairs and the door the serving staff used.
Cett ignored the soldiers. He had a group of his own bodyguards standing near the wall on the other side of the room, but he seemed unconcerned that Ham’s troop had them slightly outnumbered. His son—the young man who had attended him at the Assembly meeting—stood at his side, waiting quietly.
One of the two has to be Mistborn, Vin thought. And I still think it is Cett.
Elend seated her, then took a chair next to her, both of them sitting directly across from Cett. He barely paused in his eating as the servers brought Vin’s and Elend’s dishes.
Drumsticks, Vin thought, and vegetables in gravy. He wants this to be a messy meal—he wants to make Elend uncomfortable.
Elend didn’t start on his food immediately. He sat, watching Cett, his expression thoughtful.
“Damn,” Cett said. “This is good food. You have no idea how hard it is to get proper meals when traveling!”
“Why did you want to speak with me?” Elend asked. “You know I won’t be convinced to vote for you.”
Cett shrugged. “I thought it might be interesting.”
“Is this about your daughter?” Elend asked.
“Lord Ruler, no!” Cett said with a laugh. “Keep the silly thing, if you want. The day she ran off was one of the few joys I’ve had this last month.”
“And if I threaten to harm her?” Elend asked.
“You won’t,” Cett said.
“You’re certain?”
Cett smiled through his thick beard, leaning toward Elend. “I know you, Venture. I’d been watching you, studying you, for months. And then, you were kind enough to send one of your friends to spy on me. I learned a lot about you from him!”
Elend looked troubled.
Cett laughed. “Honestly, you didn’t think I’d recognize one of the Survivor’s own crewmembers? You Luthadel noblemen must assume that everyone outside the city is a damn fool!”
“And yet, you listened to Breeze,” Elend said. “You let him join you, listened to his advice. And then, you only chased him away when you found him being intimate with your daughter—the one you claim to have no affection for.”
“Is that why he told you he left the camp?” Cett asked, laughing. “Because I caught him with Allrianne? Goodness, what do I care if the girl seduced him?”
“You think she seduced him?” Vin asked.
“Of course,” Cett said. “Honestly, I only spent a few weeks with him, and even I know how useless he is with women.”
Elend was taking all this in stride. He watched Cett with narrow, discerning eyes. “So why did you chase him away?”
Cett leaned back. “I tried to turn him. He refused. I figured killing him would be preferable to letting him return to you. But, he’s remarkably agile for a man his size.”
If Cett really is Mistborn, there’s no way Breeze got away without Cett letting him, Vin thought.
“So you see, Venture,” Cett said. “I know you. I know you better, perhaps, than you know yourself—for I know what your friends think of you. It takes a pretty extraordinary man to earn the loyalty of a weasel like Breeze.”
“So you think I won’t harm your daughter,” Elend said.
“I know you won’t,” Cett said. “You’re honest—I happen to like that about you. Unfortunately, honesty is very easy to exploit—I knew, for instance, that you’d admit Breeze was Soothing that crowd.” Cett shook his head. “Honest men weren’t meant to be kings, lad. It’s a damn shame, but it’s true. That’s why I have to take the throne from you.”
Elend was silent for a moment. Finally, he looked to Vin. She took his plate, sniffing it with an Allomancer’s senses.
Cett laughed. “Think I’d poison you?”
“No, actually,” Elend said as Vin set the plate down. She wasn’t as good as some, but she’d leaned the obvious scents.
“You wouldn’t use poison,” Elend said. “That isn’t your way. You seem to be a rather honest man yourself.”