Zane turned back toward her. “Just keep yourself safe,” he said, then launched himself out into the mists.
Vin did not like being injured. Logically, she knew that other people probably felt the same way; after all, who would enjoy pain and debilitation? Yet, when the others got sick, she sensed frustration from them. Not terror.
When sick, Elend would spend the day in bed, reading books. Clubs had taken a bad blow during practice several months before, and he had grumbled about the pain, but had stayed off his leg for a few days without much prodding.
Vin was growing to be more like them. She could lie in bed as she did now, knowing that nobody would try to slit her throat while she was too weak to call for help. Still, she itched to rise, to show that she wasn’t very badly wounded. Lest someone think otherwise, and try to take advantage.
It isn’t like that anymore! she told herself. It was light outside, and though Elend had been back to visit several times, he was currently away. Sazed had come to check on her wounds, and had begged her to stay in bed for “at least one more day.” Then he’d gone back to his studies. With Tindwyl.
What ever happened to those two hating each other? she thought with annoyance. I barely get to see him.
Her door opened. Vin was pleased that her instincts were still keen enough that she immediately grew tense, reaching for her daggers. Her pained side protested the sudden motion.
Nobody entered.
Vin frowned, still tense, until a canine head popped up over the top of her footboard. “Mistress?” said a familiar, half growl of a voice.
“OreSeur?” Vin said. “You’re wearing another dog’s body!”
“Of course, Mistress,” OreSeur said, hopping up onto the bed. “What else would I have?”
“I don’t know,” Vin said, putting away her daggers. “When Elend said you’d had him get you a body, I just assumed that you’d asked for a human. I mean, everyone saw my ‘dog’ die.”
“Yes,” OreSeur said, “but it will be simple to explain that you got a new animal. You are expected to have a dog with you now, and so not having one would provoke notice.”
Vin sat quietly. She’d changed back to trousers and shirt, despite Sazed’s protests. Her dresses hung in the other room, one noticeably absent. At times, when she looked at them, she thought she saw the gorgeous white gown hanging there, sprayed with blood. Tindwyl had been wrong: Vin couldn’t be both Mistborn and lady. The horror she had seen in the eyes of the Assemblymen was enough proof for her.
“You didn’t need to take a dog’s body, OreSeur,” Vin said quietly. “I’d rather that you were happy.”
“It is all right, Mistress,” OreSeur said. “I have grown … fond of these kinds of bones. I should like to explore their advantages a little more before I return to human ones.”
Vin smiled. He’d chosen another wolfhound—a big brute of a beast. The colorings were different: more black than gray, without any patches of white. She approved.
“OreSeur …” Vin said, looking away. “Thank you for what you did for me.”
“I fulfill my Contract.”
“I’ve been in other fights,” Vin said. “You never intervened in those.”
OreSeur didn’t answer immediately. “No, I didn’t.”
“Why this time?”
“I did what felt right, Mistress,” OreSeur said.
“Even if it contradicted the Contract?”
OreSeur sat up proudly on his haunches. “I did not break my Contract,” he said firmly.
“But you attacked a human.”
“I didn’t kill him,” OreSeur said. “We are cautioned to stay out of combat, lest we accidentally cause a human death. Indeed, most of my brethren think that helping someone kill is the same as killing, and feel it is a breach of the Contract. The words are distinct, however. I did nothing wrong.”
“And if that man you tackled had broken his neck?”
“Then I would have returned to my kind for execution,” OreSeur said.
Vin smiled. “Then you did risk your life for me.”
“In a small way, I suppose,” OreSeur said. “The chances of my actions directly causing that man’s death were slim.”
“Thank you anyway.”
OreSeur bowed his head in acceptance.
“Executed,” Vin said. “So you can be killed?”
“Of course, Mistress,” OreSeur said. “We aren’t immortal.”
Vin eyed him.
“I will say nothing specific, Mistress,” OreSeur said. “As you might imagine, I would rather not reveal the weaknesses of my kind. Please suffice it to say that they exist.”
Vin nodded, but frowned in thought, bringing her knees up to her chest. Something was still bothering her, something about what Elend had said earlier, something about OreSeur’s actions….
“But,” she said slowly, “you couldn’t have been killed by swords or staves, right?”
“Correct,” OreSeur said. “Though our flesh looks like yours, and though we feel pain, beating us has no permanent effect.”
“Then why are you afraid?” Vin said, finally lighting upon what was bothering her.
“Mistress?”
“Why did your people make the Contract?” Vin asked. “Why subjugate yourselves to mankind? If our soldiers couldn’t hurt you, then why even worry about us?”
“You have Allomancy,” OreSeur said.
“So, Allomancy can kill you?”
“No,” OreSeur said, shaking his canine head. “It cannot. But, perhaps we should change the topic. I’m sorry, Mistress. This is very dangerous ground for me.”
“I understand,” Vin said, sighing. “It’s just so frustrating. There’s so much I don’t know—about the Deepness, about the legal politics … even about my own friends!” She sat back, looking up at the ceiling. And there’s still a spy in the palace. Demoux or Dockson, likely. Maybe I should just order them both taken and held for a time? Would Elend even do such a thing?
OreSeur was watching her, apparently noting her frustration. Finally, he sighed. “Perhaps there are some things I can speak of, Mistress, if I am careful. What do you know of the origin of the kandra?”
Vin perked up. “Nothing.”
“We did not exist before the Ascension,” he said.
“You mean to say that the Lord Ruler created you?”
“That is what our lore teaches,” OreSeur said. “We are not certain of our purpose. Perhaps we were to be Father’s spies.”
“Father?” Vin said. “It seems strange to hear him spoken of that way.”
“The Lord Ruler created us, Mistress,” OreSeur said. “We are his children.”
“And I killed him,” Vin said. “I … feel like I should apologize.”
“Just because he is our Father does not mean we accepted everything he did, Mistress,” OreSeur said. “Cannot a human man love his father, yet not believe he is a good person?”
“I suppose.”
“Kandra theology about Father is complex,” OreSeur said. “Even for us, it is difficult to sort through it sometimes.”