Page 225 of The Well of Ascension

He put aside his notes and immediately began writing a quick series of letters.

46

The two are not the same.

Breeze could smell intrigue from two streets away. Unlike many of his fellow thieves, he hadn’t grown up impoverished, nor had he been forced to live in the underground. He’d grown up in a place far more cutthroat: an aristocratic court. Fortunately, the other crewmembers didn’t treat him differently because of his full-blooded noble origin.

That was, of course, because they didn’t know about it.

His upbringing afforded him certain understandings. Things that he doubted any skaa thief, no matter how competent, knew. Skaa intrigue made a brutal kind of sense; it was a matter of naked life and death. You betrayed your allies for money, for power, or to protect yourself.

In the noble courts, intrigue was more abstract. Betrayals wouldn’t often end with either party dead, but the ramifications could span generations. It was a game—so much of one, in fact, that the young Breeze had found the open brutality of the skaa underground to be refreshing.

He sipped his warm mug of mulled wine, eyeing the note in his fingers. He’d come to believe that he wouldn’t have to worry about intracrew conspiracies anymore: Kelsier’s crew was an almost sickeningly tight group, and Breeze did everything within his Allomantic powers to keep it that way. He’d seen what infighting could do to a family.

That was why he was so surprised to receive this letter. Despite its mock innocence, he could easily pick out the signs. The hurried pace of the writing, smudged in places but not rewritten. Phrases like “No need to tell others of this” and “do not wish to cause alarm.” The extra drops of sealing wax, spread gratuitously on the lip of the letter, as if to give extra protection against prying eyes.

There was no mistaking the tone of the missive. Breeze had been invited to a conspiratorial conference. But, why in the Lord Ruler’s name wouldSazed,of all people, want to meet in secret?

Breeze sighed, pulling out his dueling cane and using it to steady himself. He grew light-headed sometimes when he stood; it was a minor malady he’d always had, though it seemed to have grown worse during the last few years. He glanced over his shoulder as his vision cleared, toward where Allrianne slept in his bed.

I should probably feel more guilty about her,he thought, smiling despite himself and reaching to put his vest and jacket on over his trousers and shirt.But…well, we’re all going to be dead in a few days anyway.An afternoon spent speaking with Clubs could certainly put one’s life in perspective.

Breeze wandered out into the hallway, making his way though the gloomy, inadequately lit Venture passageways.Honestly,he thought,I understand the value in saving lamp oil, but things are depressing enough right now without the dark corridors.

The meeting place was only a few short twists away. Breeze located it easily because of the two soldiers standing watch outside the door. Demoux’s men—soldiers who reported to the captain religiously, as well as vocationally.

Interesting,Breeze thought, remaining hidden in the side hallway. He quested out with his Allomantic powers and Soothed the men, taking away their relaxation and certainty, leaving behind anxiety and nervousness. The guards began to grow restless, shuffling. Finally, one turned and opened the door, checking on the room inside. The motion gave Breeze a full view of the room’s contents. Only one man sat within. Sazed.

Breeze stood quietly, trying to decide his next course of action. There was nothing incriminating in the letter; this couldn’t all simply be a trap on Elend’s part, could it? An obscure attempt at finding out which crewmembers would betray him and which wouldn’t? Seemed like too distrustful a move for the good-natured boy. Besides, if that were the case, Sazed would have to try and get Breeze to do more than simply meet in a clandestine location.

The door swung closed, the soldier returning to his place.I can trust Sazed, can’t I?Breeze thought. But, if that was the case, why the quiet meeting? Was Breeze overreacting?

No, the guards proved that Sazed worried about this meeting being discovered. It was suspicious. If it were anyone else, Breeze would have gone straight to Elend. But Sazed…

Breeze sighed, then wandered into the hallway, dueling cane clicking against the floor.Might as well see what he has to say. Besides, if heisplanning something devious, it’d almost be worth the danger to see it.Despite the letter, despite the strange circumstances, Breeze had trouble imagining a Terrisman being involved in something that wasn’t completely honest.

Perhaps the Lord Ruler had had the same problem.

Breeze nodded to the soldiers, Soothing away their anxiety and restoring them to a more temperate humor. There was another reason why he was willing to chance the meeting. Breeze was only just beginning to realize how dangerous his predicament was. Luthadel would soon fall. Every instinct he’d nurtured during thirty years in the underground was telling him to run.

That feeling made him more likely to take risks. The Breeze of a few years earlier would already have abandoned the city.Damn you, Kelsier,he thought as he pushed open the door.

Sazed looked up with surprise from his table. The room was sparse, with several chairs and only two lamps. “You’re early, Lord Breeze,” Sazed said, standing quickly.

“Of course I am,” Breeze snapped. “I had to make certain this wasn’t a trap of some sort.” He paused. “This isn’t a trap of some sort, right?”

“Trap?” Sazed asked. “What are you talking about?”

“Oh, don’t sound so shocked,” Breeze said. “This is no simple meeting.”

Sazed wilted slightly. “It’s…that obvious, is it?”

Breeze sat, laying his cane across his lap, and eyed Sazed tellingly, Soothing the man to make him feel a little more self-conscious. “You may have helped us overthrow the Lord Ruler, my dear man—but you have a lot to learn about being sneaky.”

“I apologize,” Sazed said, sitting. “I simply wanted to meet quickly, to discuss certain…sensitive issues.”

“Well, I’d recommend getting rid of those guards,” Breeze said. “They make the room stand out. Then, light a few more lamps and get us something to eat or drink. If Elend walks in—I assume it’s Elend we’re hiding from?”

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