“That many meetings will expose us even more,” Yeden said.
“And that, by the way, brings up another problem,” Ham said. “Weren’t we supposed to be working on infiltrating the Ministry’s ranks?”
“Well?” Kelsier asked, turning to Marsh.
Marsh shook his head. “The Ministry is tight—I need more time.”
“It’s not going to happen,” Clubs grumbled. “Rebellion’s already tried it.”
Yeden nodded. “We’ve tried to get spies into the Inner Ministries a dozen times. It’s impossible.”
The room fell silent.
“I have an idea,” Vin said quietly.
Kelsier raised an eyebrow.
“Camon,” she said. “He was working on a job before you recruited me. Actually, it was the job that got us spotted by the obligators. The core of that plan was organized by another thief, a crewleader named Theron. He was setting up a fake canal convoy to carry Ministry funds to Luthadel.”
“And?” Breeze asked.
“Those same canal boats would have brought new Ministry acolytes to Luthadel for the final part of their training. Theron has a contact along the route, a lesser obligator who was open to bribes. Maybe we could get him to add an ‘acolyte’ to the group from his local chapter.”
Kelsier nodded thoughtfully. “It’s worth looking into.”
Dockson scribbled something on a sheet with his fountain pen. “I’ll contact Theron and see if his informant is still viable.”
“How are our resources coming?” Kelsier asked.
Dockson shrugged. “Ham found us two ex-soldier instructors. The weapons, however … well, Renoux and I are making contacts and initiating deals, but we can’t move very quickly. Fortunately, when the weapons come, they should come in bulk.”
Kelsier nodded. “That’s everything, right?”
Breeze cleared his throat. “I’ve … been hearing a lot of rumors on the streets, Kelsier,” he said. “The people are talking about this Eleventh Metal of yours.”
“Good,” Kelsier said.
“Aren’t you worried that the Lord Ruler will hear? If he has forewarning of what you’re going to do, it will be much more difficult to … resist him.”
He didn’t say “kill,” Vin thought. They don’t think that Kelsier can do it.
Kelsier just smiled. “Don’t worry about the Lord Ruler—I’ve got things under control. In fact, I intend to pay the Lord Ruler a personal visit sometime during the next few days.”
“Visit?” Yeden asked uncomfortably. “You’re going to visit the Lord Ruler? Are you insa …” Yeden trailed off, then glanced at the rest of the room. “Right. I forgot.”
“He’s catching on,” Dockson noted.
Heavy footsteps sounded in the hallway, and one of Ham’s guards entered a moment later. He made his way to Ham’s chair and whispered a brief message.
Ham frowned.
“What?” Kelsier asked.
“An incident,” Ham said.
“Incident?” Dockson asked. “What kind of incident?”
“You know that lair we met in a few weeks back?” Ham said. “The one where Kell first introduced his plan?”
Camon’s lair, Vin thought, growing apprehensive.
“Well,” Ham said, “apparently the Ministry found it.”
It seems Rashek represents a growing faction in Terris culture. A large number of the youths think that their unusual powers should be used for more than just fieldwork, husbandry, and stonecarving. They are rowdy, even violent—far different from the quiet, discerning Terris philosophers and holy men that I have known.
They will have to be watched carefully, these Terrismen. They could be very dangerous, if given the opportunity and the motivation.
11
KELSIER PAUSED IN THE DOORWAY, blocking Vin’s view. She stooped down, trying to peek past him into the lair, but too many people were in the way. She could only tell that the door hung at an angle, splintered, the upper hinge torn free.
Kelsier stood for a long moment. Finally, he turned, looking past Dockson toward her. “Ham is right, Vin. You may not want to see this.”
Vin stood where she was, looking at him resolutely. Finally, Kelsier sighed, stepping into the room. Dockson followed, and Vin could finally see what they had been blocking.
The floor was scattered with corpses, their twisted limbs shadowed and haunting in the light of Dockson’s solitary lantern. They weren’t rotting yet—the attack had happened only that morning—but there was still a smell of death about the room. The scent of blood drying slowly, the scent of misery and of terror.
Vin remained in the doorway. She’d seen death before—seen it often, on the streets. Knifings in alleys. Beatings in lairs. Children dead of starvation. She had once seen an old woman’s neck snapped by the backhand of an annoyed lord. The body had lain in the street for three days before a skaa corpse crew had finally come for it.
Yet, none of those incidents had the same air of intentional butchery that she saw in Camon’s lair. These men hadn’t simply been killed, they had been torn apart. Limbs lay separated from torsos. Broken chairs and tables impaled chests. There were only a few patches of floor that were not covered in sticky, dark blood.
Kelsier glanced at her, obviously expecting some sort of reaction. She stood, looking over the death, feeling … numb. What should her reaction be? These were the men who had mistreated her, stolen from her, beaten her. And yet, these were the men who had sheltered her, included her, and fed her when others might have simply given her to the whoremasters.
Reen probably would have berated her for the traitorous sadness she felt at the sight. Of course, he had always been angry when—as a child—she’d cried as they left one town for another, not wanting to leave the people she’d grown to know, no matter how cruel or indifferent they were. Apparently, she hadn’t quite gotten over that weakness. She stepped into the room, not shedding any tears for these men, yet at the same time wishing that they had not come to such an end.
In addition, the gore itself was disturbing. She tried to force herself to maintain a stiff face in front of the others, but she found herself cringing occasionally, glancing away from mangled corpses. The ones who had performed the attack had been quite … thorough.
This seems extreme, even for the Ministry, she thought. What kind of person would do something like this?
“Inquisitor,” Dockson said quietly, kneeling by a corpse.
Kelsier nodded. Behind Vin, Sazed stepped into the room, careful to keep his robes clear of the blood. Vin turned toward the Terrisman, letting his actions distract her from a particularly grisly corpse. Kelsier was a Mistborn, and Dockson was supposedly a capable warrior. Ham and his men were securing the area. However, others—Breeze, Yeden, and Clubs—had stayed behind. The area was too dangerous. Kelsier had even resisted Vin’s desire to come.
Yet, he had brought Sazed without apparent hesitation. The move, subtle though it was, made Vin regard the steward with a new curiosity. Why would it be too dangerous for Mistings, yet safe enough for a Terrisman steward? Was Sazed a warrior? How would he have learned to fight? Terrismen were supposedly raised from birth by very careful trainers.