Page 200 of The Well of Ascension

“Why do you make the choices that you do, Elend Venture?”

“Because they’re right,” Elend said.

“And why are these things right?”

“I don’t know,” Elend said with a sigh, leaning back. He caught a disapproving glance from Tindwyl at his posture, but he ignored her. He wasn’t king; he could slouch if he wanted to. “You talk of God, Sazed, but don’t you preach of a hundred different religions?”

“Three hundred, actually,” Sazed said.

“Well, which one doyoubelieve?” Elend asked.

“I believe them all.”

Elend shook his head. “That doesn’t make sense. You’ve only pitched a half-dozen to me, but I can already see that they’re incompatible.”

“It is not my position to judge truth, Lord Venture,” Sazed said, smiling. “I simply carry it.”

Elend sighed.Priests…he thought.Sometimes, talking to Sazed is like talking to an obligator.

“Elend,” Tindwyl said, her tone softening. “I think you handled this situation in the wrong way. However, Sazed does have a point. You were true to your own convictions, and that is a regal attribute, I think.”

“And what should I do now?” he asked.

“Whatever you wish,” Tindwyl said. “It was never my place to tell you what to do. I simply gave you knowledge of what men in your place did in the past.”

“And what would they have done?” Elend asked. “These great leaders of yours, how would they have reacted to my situation?”

“It is a meaningless question,” she said. “They would not have found themselves in this situation, for they would not have lost their titles in the first place.”

“Is that what it’s about, then?” Elend asked. “The title?”

“Isn’t that what we were discussing?” Tindwyl asked.

Elend didn’t answer.What do you think makes a man a good king?he had once asked of Tindwyl.Trust,she had replied.A good king is one who is trusted by his people—and one who deserves that trust.

Elend stood up. “Thank you, Tindwyl,” he said.

Tindwyl frowned in confusion, then turned to Sazed. He looked up and met Elend’s eyes, cocking his head slightly. Then he smiled. “Come, Tindwyl,” he said. “We should return to our studies. His Majesty has work to do, I think.”

Tindwyl continued to frown as Elend left the room. His guards followed behind as he quickly strode down the hallway.

I won’t go back to the way I was,Elend thought.I won’t continue to fret and worry. Tindwyl taught me better than that, even if she never really understood me.

Elend arrived at his rooms a few moments later. He stalked directly in, then opened his closet. The clothing Tindwyl had chosen for him—the clothing of a king—waited inside.

42

Some of you may know of my fabled memory. It is true; I need not a Feruchemist’s metalmind to memorize a sheet of words in an instant.

“Good,” Elend said, using a charcoal stick to circle another section on the city map before him. “What about here?”

Demoux scratched his chin. “Grainfield? That’s a nobleman’s neighborhood, my lord.”

“It used to be,” Elend said. “Grainfield was filled with cousin houses to the Ventures. When my father pulled out of the city, so did most of them.”

“Then we’ll probably find the homes filled with skaa transients, I’d guess.”

Elend nodded. “Move them out.”

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