Page 284 of The Well of Ascension

“Then I’ll kill you,” Vin said quietly. “You brought armies to attack my city. You threatened my people. I won’t slaughter your soldiers, make them pay for what you did, but Iwillkill you, Cett.”

Silence. Sazed turned, looking back at the lines of immobile koloss, standing in the bloodied snow.

“That is a threat, you know,” Cett said. “Your own Elend would never stand for such a thing.”

“He’s not here,” Vin said.

“And what do you think he’d say?” Cett asked. “He’d tell me not to give in to such a demand—the honorable Elend Venture would never give in simply because someone threatened his life.”

“You’re not the man that Elend is,” Vin said. “And you know it.”

Cett paused, then smiled. “No. No, I’m not.” He turned to his aides. “Help me down.”

Vin watched quietly as the guards undid Cett’s legs, then lifted him down to the snowy ground. He bowed. “Very well, then. I swear myself to Elend Venture. He’s welcome to my kingdom…assuming he can take it back from that damn obligator who now controls it.”

Vin nodded, turning to Sazed. “I need your help, Sazed.”

“Whatever you command, Mistress,” Sazed said quietly.

Vin paused. “Please don’t call me that.”

“As you wish,” Sazed said.

“You’re the only one here I trust, Sazed,” Vin said, ignoring the three kneeling men. “With Ham wounded and Breeze…”

“I will do my best,” Sazed said, bowing his head. “What is it you want me to do?”

“Secure Luthadel,” Vin said. “Make certain the people are sheltered, and send for supplies from Straff’s storehouses. Get these armies situated so that they won’t kill each other, then send a squad to fetch Elend. He’ll be coming south on the canal highway.”

Sazed nodded, and Vin turned to the three kneeling kings. “Sazed is my second. You will obey him as you would Elend or myself.”

They each nodded in turn.

“But, where will you be?” Penrod asked, looking up.

Vin sighed, suddenly looking terribly weak. “Sleeping,” she said, and dropped her sword. Then she Pushed against it, shooting backward into the sky, toward Luthadel.

He left ruin in his wake, but it was forgotten,Sazed thought, turning to watch her fly.He created kingdoms, and then destroyed them as he made the world anew.

We had the wrong gender all along.

THE END OF PART FIVE

Part Six

Words in Steel

56

If Rashek fails to lead Alendi astray, then I have instructed the lad to kill Alendi.

How can Vin stand this? Elend wondered. He could barely see twenty feet in the mists. Trees appeared as apparitions around him as he walked, their branches curling around the road. The mist almost seemed to live: it moved, swirled, and blew in the cold night air. It snatched up his puffs of breath, as if drawing a piece of him into it.

He shivered and kept walking. The snow had melted patchily over the last few days, leaving heaps in shadowed areas. The canal road, thankfully, was mostly clear.

He walked with a pack over his shoulder, carrying only the necessities. At Spook’s suggestion, they’d traded their horses at a village several days back. They’d rode the creatures hard the last few days, and it was Spook’s estimation that trying to keep them fed—and alive—for the last leg of their trip to Luthadel wouldn’t be worth the effort.

Besides, whatever was going to happen at the city had likely already occurred. So Elend walked, alone, in the darkness. Despite the eeriness, he kept his word and traveled only at night. Not only was it Vin’s will, but Spook claimed that night was safer. Few travelers braved the mists. Therefore, most bandits didn’t bother watching roadways at night.

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