Mistborn: The Hero of Ages (63 page)

"You're a member of the Survivor's crew."

Spook shrugged. "That's true. Though, I became a member by accident." She frowned, glancing at him.

"Kelsier handpicked the others," Spook said. "Ham, Breeze, Sazed even Vin. He chose my uncle too. And, by doing so, he got me as a bonus. I . . . I was never really part of it all, Beldre. I was kind of like an observer. They posted me on watch and things like that. I sat in on the planning sessions, and everyone j ust treated me like an errand boy. I must have refi lled Breeze's cup a hundred times during that first year!"

A hint of amusement showed on her face. "You make it sound like you were a servant."

"Pretty much," Spook said, smiling. "I couldn't talk very well I'd grown used to speaking in an Eastern street slang, and everything I said came out garbled. I've still got an accent, they tell me. So, I just stayed quiet most of the time, embarrassed. The crew was nice to me, but I knew I was pretty much just ignored." "And now you're in charge of them all."

Spook laughed. "No. Sazed's the one really in charge of us here. Breeze ranks me too, but he lets me give orders because he's too lazy to do so. He likes to make people do things without them knowing it. Half the time, I'm certain that the things I'm saying are just ideas he somehow got into my head." Beldre shook her head. "The Terrisman is in charge ? But, he looks to you!"

"He j ust lets me do what he doesn't want to," Spook said. " S azed's a great man one of the best I've known. But, well, he's a scholar. He's better of f studying a project and writing notes than he is giving commands. So, that only leaves me. I'm just doing the job that everyone else is too busy to do." Beldre sat quietly for a moment, then finally took a sip of her tea. "Ah," she said. "It's good!"

"The Lord Ruler's own brew, for all we know," Spook said. "We found it down here, with the rest of this stuff."

"This is why you came, isn't it ?" Beldre asked, nodding to the cavern. "I wondered why your emperor cared about Urteau. We haven't really been an important force in the world since the Venture line moved its center of power to Luthadel."

Spook nodded. "This is part of it, though Elend is also worried about the rebellion up here. It's dangerous, having a foe who is slaughtering noblemen controlling one of the major cities j ust a short distance north of Luthadel. That's all I can really tell you, though. Most of the time, I feel like I'm still just a bystander in all of this. Vin and Elend, they're the ones who really know what's going on. To them, I'm the guy they could spare to spend months spying in Urteau while they did important work in the S outh."

"They are wrong to treat you so," Beldre said.

"No, it's all right, " Spook said. "I've kind of en j oyed being up here. I feel like I've been able to do something, f inally."

She nodded. After a short time, she set down her cup, wrapping her arms around her knees. "What are they like?" she asked. "I've heard so many stories. They say that Emperor Venture always wears white, and that the ash refuses to stick to him! He can quell an army j ust by looking at them. And his wife, the Survivor's heir. Mistborn . . ."

Spook smiled. "Elend is a forgetful scholar twice as bad as Sazed ever was. He gets lost in his books and forgets about meetings he himself called. He only dresses . 129 201

with any sense of fashion because a Terriswoman bought him a new wardrobe. War has changed him some, but on the inside, I think he's still j ust a dreamer caught in a world with too much violence.

"And Vin . . . well, she really
is
diff erent. I've never been sure what to make of her. Sometimes, she seems as frail as a child. And then she kills an Inquisitor. She can be fascinating and frightening at the same time. I tried to court her once."

"Really ? " Beldre said, perking up.

Spook smiled. "I gave her a handkerchief. I heard that's how you do it in noble society."

"Only if you're a romantic," Beldre said, smiling wistfully .

"Well, I gave her one," Spook said. "But I don't think she knew what I meant by it. And, of course, once she
did
figure it out, she turned me down. I'm not sure what I was thinking, trying to court her. I mean, I'm just Spook. Quiet, incomprehensible, forgettable Spook."

He closed his eyes.
What am I sa ying?
Women didn't want to hear men talk about how insignificant they were. He'd heard that much.
I shouldn 't have come to talk to
her. I should have just
gone about,
giving
orders. Looking like I was in charge .

The damage had been done, however. She knew the truth about him. He sighed, opening his eyes.

"I don't think you're forgettable," Beldre said. "Of course, I'd be
more
likely to think fondly of you if you were to let me go."

Spook smiled. "Eventually. I promise ."

"Are you going to use me against him? " Beldre asked. "Threaten to kill me if he doesn't give in?"

"Threats like that are hollow if you know you'll never do what you say," Spook said. "Honestly, Beldre, I'm not going to hurt you. In fact, I've got a feeling you'll be safer here than back in your brother's palace ."

"Please don't kill him, Spook," Beldre said. "Maybe . . . maybe you can help him somehow, help him see that he's being too extreme."

Spook nodded. "I'll . . . try."

"Do you promise ? " she said.

"All right," Spook said. "I promise to at least try to save your brother. If I can."

"And the city too."

"And the city," Spook said. "Trust me. We've done this before the transition will go smoothly." Beldre nodded, and she actually seemed to believe him.
What kind of woman is still able to trust
people a f ter ever ything she's been through?
If she'd been Vin, she would have stabbed him in the back at the first opportunity, and that would have probably been the right thing to do. Yet, this girl just continued to trust. It was like finding a beautiful plant growing alone in a f ield of burnt ash.

"Once we're done, maybe you c ould introduce me to the emperor and empress," Beldre said. "They sound like interesting people."

"I'll never argue with that statement," Spook said. "Elend and Vin . . . well, they're certainly
interesting
. Interesting people with heavy burdens. Sometimes, I wish I were powerful enough to do important works like them."

Beldre laid a hand on his arm, and he glanced down, a bit surprised.
What?

"Power can be a terrible thing, Spook," she said quietly. "I'm . . . not pleased with what it's done to my brother. Don't wish so hard for it."

Spook met her eyes, then nodded and rose. "If you need anything, ask S azed. He'll see to your comforts."

She looked up. "Where are you going?"

"To be seen."

"I want primary trade contracts on all the canals," Durn said. "And a title from the emperor."

"You?" Spook said. "A title ? You think a 'lord' in front of your name is going to make that face any less ugly ? "

Durn raised an eyebrow.

Spook just chuckled. "Both are yours. I cleared it with Sazed and Breeze they'll even draft you a contract, if you want."

Durn nodded appreciatively. "I do. Lords pay attention to things like that." They sat in one of his many backroom chambers not in his private home, but in a place attached to a particular inn. An old set of drums hung on the wall.

Spook had had little trouble sneaking out past Quellion's soldiers standing watch at the front of the Ministry building. Even before he 'd gained enhanced abilities with tin, and long before he'd been ab le to burn pewter, he'd learned to sneak about in the night and spy. A group of soldiers had barely posed an obstacle for him. He couldn't remain cooped up in the cavern like the others. He had too much work to do.

"I want the Harrows dammed off," Spook said. "We'll flood the canals during the evening, when the markets are empty. Nobody lives in the streetslots except for those of you here in the slums . If you want to keep this place from f looding, you'll need a good watertight blockade in place."

"Already taken care of," Durn said. "When the Harrows were new, we pulled off the lock system from its mouth, but I know where it is. It'll fit back in place well enough to keep the water out, assuming we can install it correctly."

"You'd better," Spook said. "I don't want the deaths of half the city's beggar population on my conscience. I'll warn you the day we intend to pull this off. See if you can get some of the goods out of the market, as well as keep people out of the streetslots. That, plus what you're doing for my reputation, will guarantee you the title you want."

Durn nodded, rising. "Well, let's go work on that reputation, then." He led the way out of the back room, bringing Spook out into the commons of the bar. As always, Spook wore his burned cloak it had become something of a symbol for him. He'd never worn a mistcloak, but somehow, this felt even better. The people rose when he entered. He smiled, motioning for Durn's men to bring out wineskins stolen from the storage cavern and carried by Spook as he snuck out several nights in a row.

"Tonight," he said, "you don't have to pay for Quellion's stolen liquor. That's his way of keeping you happy and content." And that was the only speech he gave. He wasn't Kelsier, able to impress people with his words. Instead at Breeze's suggestion he stayed mostly quiet. He visited tables, trying to not be aloof, but also speaking little. He looked thoughtful, and asked the people about their problems . He listened to stories of loss and hardship, and drank with them to the memory of those Quellion had murdered. And, with his pewter, he never got drunk. He already had a reputation for that the people regarded it mystically, as they did his ability to survive fire.

After that bar, they visited another, and another af ter that, Durn caref ul to keep him to the safest and yet most populated of the locations. Some were in the Harrows, others were above. Through it all, Spook felt an amazing thing: his conf idence growing. He really was a little like Kelsier. Vin might have been the one trained by the Survivor, but Spook was the one who was doing just what he'd done encouraging the people, leading them to rise up for their own sakes. As the evening passed, the various bars became a blur. Spook breathed curses against Quellion, speaking of the murders and of the Allomancers the Citizen retained. Spook didn't spread the rumors that Quellion was himself an Allomancer he let Breeze do that more carefully. That way, it wouldn't look like Spook was too eager to set the man up.

"To the Survivor!"

Spook looked up, holding his mug of wine, smiling as the bar patrons cheered.

"To the Survivor!" another said, pointing at Spook. "Survivor of the Flames!"

"To the death of the Citizen!" Durn said, raising his own mug though he rarely drank from it. "Down with the man who said he'd let us rule, then took it all for himself!" Spook smiled, taking a drink. He hadn't realized how exhausting it could be to simply sit around and speak to people . His flared pewter kept his body's weariness at bay, but it couldn't prevent the mental fatigue .

I wonder what Beldre would think if she saw
this
, he thought.
The men cheering me. She'd be
impressed, wouldn 't she ? She 'd f or get about how I droned on about how useless I was
. Perhaps the visits to the bars had been fatiguing simply because he had something else he wished he could be doing. It was silly she was his captive. He'd betrayed her trust. She was obviously just warming up to him in an effort to get him to let her go. Yet, he couldn't help thinking back to their conversation, going over it again and again in his mind. Despite the stupid things he'd said, she'd laid her hand on his arm. That meant something, didn't it?

"You all right? " Durn asked, le aning in. " That's your tenth mug tonight."

"I'm fine," Spook said.

"You were looking a little distant there."

"I have a lot on my mind," Spook said.

Durn leaned back, f rowning, but didn't say anything more.

Some things about his convers ation with Beldre bothered Spook, even more than his own stupid comments . She seemed to really be worried by the things that her brother had done. When Spook himself was in power, would she see him as she did Quellion? Would that be a bad thing, or a good thing? She already said they were similar.

Power
can be a terrible thing
. . . .

He looked up, glancing at the people of the bar as they cheered him again, just as the men had in the other bars. Kelsier had been able to handle adulation like this. If Spook wanted to be like Kelsier, then he'd have to deal with it as well, right?

Wasn't it a good thing to be liked? To have people willing to follow him? He could f inally break away from the old Spook. He could stop being that boy, the one so . 130 201

insignificant and easily forgotten. He could leave that child behind, and become a man who was respected. And why shouldn't he be respected? He
wasn't
that boy anymore. He wore his bandages across his eyes, heightening his mystical reputation as a man who did not need light to see. Some even said that anywhere that fire burned, Spook could see.

"They love you," Kelsier whispered. "You deserve it."

Spook smiled. That was all the conf irmation he needed. He stood, raising his arms before the crowd. They cheered in response.

It had been a long time coming. And it felt all the sweeter for the wait.

. 131 201

Preservation's desire to create sentient life was what eventuall y broke the stalemate. In order to give
mankind awareness and independent thought , Preservation knew that he would have to give up part
of himsel f his own soul to dwell within mankind. This would leave him just a tiny bit weaker than his
opposite, Ruin
.
That tiny bit seemed inconsequential, compared with their total vast sums of power.
However , over aeons, this tiny f law would allow Ruin to overcome Preservation, thereby bringing an
end to the world
.

This, then, was their bargain. Preservation got mankind, the only creations that had more
Preservation than Ruin in them, rather than a balance. Independent li f e that could think and feel. In
exchange, Ruin was given a promise and proof that he could bring an end to all they had created
together. It was the pact
.
And Preservation eventually broke it .
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