“You do care for them,” Tindwyl said quietly, stepping up.
Sazed turned toward her. Then he looked down. “Not as much as I should, perhaps.”
“No,” Tindwyl said. “I can see it. You confuse me, Sazed.”
“I seem to have a talent in that area.”
“You look tired. Where is your bronzemind?”
Suddenly, Sazed felt the fatigue. He’d been ignoring it, but her words seemed to bring it in like a wave, rolling over him.
He sighed. “I used most of my wakefulness in my run to Luthadel. I was so eager to get here. …” His studies had languished recently. With the problems in the city, and the arrival of the refugees, he hadn’t had much time. Besides, he had already transcribed the rubbing. Further work would require detailed cross-referencing to other works, searching for clues. He probably wouldn’t even have time to …
He frowned, noting the odd look in Tindwyl’s eyes.
“All right,” she said, sighing. “Show me.”
“Show you?”
“Whatever it was you found,” she said. “The discovery that prompted you to run across two dominances. Show it to me.”
Suddenly, everything seemed to lighten. His fatigue, his worry, even his sorrow. “I would love to,” he said quietly.
Another job well done, Breeze thought, congratulating himself as he watched the two Terrismen leave the warehouse.
Most people, even noblemen, misunderstood Soothing. They thought of it as some kind of mind control, and even those who knew more presumed that Soothing was an invasive, terrible thing.
Breeze had never seen it that way. Soothing wasn’t invasive. If it was, then ordinary interaction with another person was comparably invasive. Soothing, when done right, was no more a violation of another person than it was for a woman to wear a low-cut gown or speak in a commanding voice. All three produced common, understandable, and—most important—natural reactions in people.
Take Sazed, for example. Was it “invasive” to make the man less fatigued, so he could better go about his ministrations? Was it wrong to Soothe away his pain—just a bit—thereby making him better able to cope with the suffering?
Tindwyl was an even better example. Perhaps some would call Breeze a meddler for Soothing her sense of responsibility, and her disappointment, when she saw Sazed. But, Breeze had not created the emotions that the disappointment had been overshadowing. Emotions like curiosity. Respect. Love.
No, if Soothing were simple “mind control,” Tindwyl would have turned away from Sazed as soon as the two left Breeze’s area of influence. But Breeze knew that she wouldn’t. A crucial decision had been made, and Breeze had not made that decision for her. The moment had been building for weeks; it would have occurred with or without Breeze.
He had just helped it happen sooner.
Smiling to himself, Breeze checked his pocket watch. He still had a few more minutes, and he settled back in his chair, sending out a general Soothing wave, lessening people’s grief and pain. Focusing on so many at once, he couldn’t be very specific; some would find themselves made a little emotionally numb as he Pushed too strongly against them. But, it would be good for the group as a whole.
He didn’t read his book; in truth, he couldn’t understand how Elend and the rest spent so much time with them. Dreadfully boring things. Breeze could only see himself reading if there were no people around. Instead, he went back to what he’d been doing before Sazed had drawn his attention. He studied the refugees, trying to decide what each one was feeling.
This was the other great misunderstanding about Soothing. Allomancy wasn’t nearly as important as observational talent. True, having a subtle touch certainly helped. However, Soothing didn’t give an Allomancer the ability to know someone’s feelings. Those, Breeze had to guess on his own.
It all came back to what was natural. Even the most inexperienced skaa would realize they were being Soothed if unexpected emotions began bouncing around inside of them. True subtlety in Soothing was about encouraging natural emotions, all done by carefully making the right other emotions less powerful. People were a patchwork of feelings; usually, what they thought they were “feeling” at the moment only related to which emotions were currently most dominant within them.
The careful Soother saw what was beneath the surface. He understood what a man was feeling, even when that man himself didn’t understand—or acknowledge—those emotions. Such was the case with Sazed and Tindwyl.
Odd pair, that one, Breeze thought to himself, idly Soothing one of the skaa to make him more relaxed as he tried to sleep. The rest of the crew is convinced that those two are enemies. But, hatred rarely creates that measure of bitterness and frustration. No, those two emotions come from an entirely different set of problems.
Of course, isn’t Sazed supposed to be a eunuch? I wonder how this all came about. …
His speculations trailed off as the warehouse doors opened. Elend walked in—Ham, unfortunately, accompanying him. Elend was wearing one of his white uniforms, complete with white gloves and a sword. The white was an important symbol; with all of the ash and soot in the city, a man in white was quite striking. Elend’s uniforms had to been crafted of special fabrics designed to be resistant to ash, and they still had to be scrubbed every day. The effect was worth the effort.
Breeze immediately picked at Elend’s emotions, making the man less tired, less uncertain—though the second was becoming almost unnecessary. That was partially the Terriswoman’s doing; Breeze had been impressed with her ability to change how people felt, considering her lack of Allomancy.
Breeze left Elend’s emotions of disgust and pity; both were appropriate considering the environment. He did, however, give Ham a nudge to make him less argumentative; Breeze wasn’t in a mood to deal with the man’s prattlings at the moment.
He stood as the two men approached. People perked up as they saw Elend, his presence somehow bringing them a hope that Breeze couldn’t emulate with Allomancy. They whispered, calling Elend King.
“Breeze,” Elend said, nodding. “Is Sazed here?”
“He just left, I’m afraid,” Breeze said.
Elend seemed distracted. “Ah, well,” he said. “I’ll find him later.” Elend looked around the room, lips downturned. “Ham, tomorrow, I want you to round up the clothing merchants on Kenton Street and bring them here to see this.”
“They might not like that, Elend,” Ham said.
“I hope they don’t,” Elend said. “But we’ll see how they feel about their prices once they visit this room. I can understand food’s expense, considering its scarcity. However, there is no reason but greed to deny the people clothing.”
Ham nodded, but Breeze could see the reticence in his posture. Did the others realize how strangely nonconfrontational Ham was? He liked to argue with friends, but he rarely actually came to any conclusions in his philosophizing. Plus, he absolutely hated fighting with strangers; Breeze had always found that an odd attribute in one who was hired, essentially, to hit people. He gave Ham a bit of a Soothing to make him less worried about confronting the merchants.
“You aren’t going to stay here all night, are you, Breeze?” Elend asked.