“Yomen is an obligator,” she said.
“People like what is familiar, child.”
“They’re oppressed.”
“Someone must lead,” the old man said. “And, someone must follow. That is the way of things. Yomen has given the people something they’ve been crying for since the Collapse—identity. The skaa may work, they may be beaten, they may be enslaved, but they know their place. The nobility may spend their time going to balls, but there is an order to life again.”
“Balls?” Vin asked. “The world is ending, and Yomen is throwing balls?”
“Of course,” Slowswift said, taking a long, slow puff on his pipe. “Yomen rules by maintaining the familiar. He gives the people what they had before—and balls were a large part of life before the Collapse, even in a smaller city like Fadrex. Why, there is one happening tonight, at Keep Orielle.”
“On the very day an army arrived to besiege the city?”
“You just pointed out that the world seems very close to disaster,” the old man said, pointing at her with his pipe. “In the face of that, an army doesn’t mean much. Plus, Yomen understands something even the Lord Ruler didn’t—Yomen always personally attends the balls thrown by his subjects. In doing so, he comforts and reassures them. That makes a day like this, when an army arrived, a perfect day for a ball.”
Vin sat back, uncertain what to think. Of all the things she had expected to find in the city, courtly balls were very low on the list. “So,” she said. “What’s Yomen’s weakness? Is there something in his past that we can use? What quirks of personality make him vulnerable? Where should we strike?”
Slowswift puffed quietly on his pipe, a breeze blowing mist and ash across his elderly figure.
“Well?” Vin asked.
The old man let out a breath of mist and smoke. “I just told you that I like the man, child. What would possess me to give you information to use against him?”
“You’re an informant,” Vin said. “That’s what you do—sell information.”
“I’m a storyteller,” Slowswift corrected. “And not every story is meant for every set of ears. Why should I talk to those who would attack my city and overthrow my liege?”
“We’d give you a powerful position in the city once it is ours.”
Slowswift snorted quietly. “If you think such things would interest me, then Cett obviously told you little regarding my temperament.”
“We could pay you well.”
“I sell information, child. Not my soul.”
“You’re not being very helpful,” Vin noted.
“And tell me, dear child,” he said, smiling slightly. “Why exactly should I care?”
Vin frowned. This is, she thought, undoubtedly the strangest informant meeting I’ve ever been to.
Slowswift puffed on his pipe. He didn’t appear to be waiting for her to say anything. In fact, he seemed to think the conversation was over.
He’s a nobleman, Vin thought. He likes the way that the world used to be. It was comfortable. Even skaa fear change.
Vin stood. “I’ll tell you why you should care, old man. Because the ash is falling, and soon it will cover up your pretty little city. The mists kill. Earthquakes shake the landscape, and the ashmounts burn hotter and hotter. Change is looming. Eventually, even Yomen won’t be able to ignore it. You hate change. I hate it too. But things can’t stay the same—and that’s well, for when nothing changes in your life, it’s as good as being dead.” She turned to leave.
“They say you’ll stop the ash,” the old man said quietly from behind. “Turn the sun yellow again. They call you Heir of the Survivor. Hero of Ages.”
Vin paused, turning to look through the traitorous mist toward the man with his pipe and closed book. “Yes,” she said.
“Seems like quite the destiny to live up to.”
“It’s either that or give up.”
Slowswift sat silently for a moment. “Sit down, child,” the old man finally said, gesturing toward the seat again.
Vin reseated herself.
“Yomen is a good man,” Slowswift said, “but only a mediocre leader. He’s a bureaucrat, a member of the Canton of Resource. He can make things happen—get supplies to the right places, organize construction projects. Ordinarily, that would have made him a good enough ruler. However …”
“Not when the world is ending,” Vin said softly.
“Precisely. If what I’ve heard is true, then your husband is a man of vision and action. If our little city is going to survive, then we’ll need to be part of what you are offering.”
“What do we do, then?”
“Yomen has few weaknesses,” Slowswift said. “He’s a calm man, and an honorable one. However, he has an unfailing belief in the Lord Ruler and his organization.”
“Even now?” Vin asked. “The Lord Ruler died!”
“Yes, so?” Slowswift asked, amused. “And your Survivor? Last I checked, he was somewhat dead as well. Didn’t seem to hinder his revolution much, now did it?”
“Good point.”
“Yomen is a believer,” Slowswift said. “That may be a weakness; it may be a strength. Believers are often willing to attempt the seemingly impossible, then count on providence to see them through.” He paused, glancing at Vin. “That sort of behavior can be a weakness if the belief is misplaced.”
Vin said nothing. Belief in the Lord Ruler was misplaced. If he’d been a god, then she wouldn’t have been able to kill him. In her mind, it was a rather simple matter.
“If Yomen has another weakness,” Slowswift said, “it is his wealth.”
“Hardly a weakness.”
“It is if you can’t account for its source. He got money somewhere—a suspiciously vast amount of it, far more than even local Ministry coffers should have been able to provide. Nobody knows where it came from.”
The cache, Vin thought, perking up. He really does have the atium!
“You reacted a little too strongly to that one,” Slowswift said, taking a puff on his pipe. “You should try to give less away when speaking with an informant.”
Vin flushed.
“Anyway,” the old man said, turning back to his book, “if that is all, I should like to return to my reading. Give my regards to Ashweather.”
Vin nodded, rising and moving over toward the banister. As she did, however, Slowswift cleared his throat. “Usually,” he noted, “there is compensation for acts such as mine.”
Vin raised an eyebrow. “I thought you said that stories shouldn’t cost.”
“Actually,” Slowswift noted, “I said that a story itself shouldn’t be a cost. That is very different from the story itself costing something. And, while some will argue, I believe that a story without cost is one considered worthless.”
“I’m sure that’s the only reason,” Vin said, smiling slightly as she tossed her bag of coins—minus a few cloth-covered ones to use for jumping—to the old man. “Gold imperials. Still good here, I assume?”
“Good enough,” the old man said, tucking them away. “Good enough …”