'Yomen?' she said, looking up. 'Does one of those maps list mineral deposits?'
'Of course,' he said distractedly. 'We
'Get it out.'
Yomen raised an eyebrow, indicating what he thought of her giving him orders. However, he waved for his scribe to do as she had requested. A second map overlaid the first, and Vin walked forward. Yomen immediately shied backward, keeping out of reach.
'What are you trying to imply?' Yomen asked. He'd edged close enough to see what she'd marked.
'This is the connection,' Vin said. 'He built his storages near sources of metal.'
'Or, it was simple chance.'
'No,' Vin said, looking up, glancing at Ruin. 'No, metal equals Allomancy, Yomen. There's a pattern here.'
Yomen waved her away again, approaching the map. He snorted. 'You've included marks near each of the most productive mines in the inner empire. You expect me to believe that you're not just playing me, offering some phantom 'evidence' that these really are the locations of the storage caverns?'
Vin ignored him.
Or, did he mean safe from being read?
The Lord Ruler had drawn his maps on metal plates.
So, what if Ruin couldn't find the storages on his own because of the metal shielding them? He would have needed someone to lead him. Someone to visit each one, read the map it contained, then lead him on. .
Lord Ruler! We've made the same mistake again! We did exactly what he wanted. No wonder he's let us live!
However, instead of feeling ashamed, this time Vin felt herself growing angry. She glanced over at Ruin, who stood there with his air of cosmic wisdom. His knowing eyes, his fatherly tone, and his deific arrogance.
Suddenly, the answer seemed obvious to her. As she examined her feelings, she realized that one of her main reasons for searching out the caches had repeatedly been discredited by Elend. Yet, Vin had continued to pursue the caches, searching for this one thing. She'd
The thing that had driven the imperial economy for a thousand years. The most powerful of Allomantic metals.
Atium.
Why had she been so infatuated with it? Elend and Yomen were both right-atium was of little importance in the current world. But, her feelings denied that. Why? Was it because
The Lord Ruler had said Ruin couldn't read her mind. But she knew that he could affect her emotions. Change how she regarded things, push her forward. Drive her to search out the thing he wanted.
Looking at the emotions that had affected her, she could see Ruin's plan, the way he had manipulated her, the way he thought. Ruin wanted the atium! And, with a chill of terror, Vin realized that she had led him right to it.
Why would a god-like force would be so interested in a simple thing like an Allomantic metal? The question made her doubt her conclusions slightly. But at that moment, the doors to the chamber burst open.
And an Inquisitor stood beyond them.
Immediately, Yomen and the soldiers all fell to one knee. Vin took an involuntary step backward. The creature stood tall, like most of its kind, and still wore the gray robes of its pre-Collapse office. The bald head was wrinkled with intricate tattoos, mostly black, one stark red. And, of course, there were the spikes driven point-first through its eyes. One of the spikes had been pounded in farther than the other, crushing the socket around the spikehead. The creature's face, twisted by an inhuman sneer, had once been familiar to Vin.
'Marsh?' Vin whispered in horror.
'My lord,' Yomen said, spreading his hands out. 'You have finally come! I sent messengers, searching for-'
'Silence,' Marsh said in a grating voice, striding forward. 'On your feet, obligator.'
Yomen hastily stood. Marsh glanced at Vin, smiled slightly, but then pointedly ignored her. He did, however, look directly at Ruin and bow his head in subservience.
Vin shivered. Marsh's features, even twisted as they were, reminded her of his brother. Kelsier.
'You are about to be attacked, obligator,' Marsh said, sweeping forward, throwing open the large window at the other side of the room. Through it, Vin could see over the rocky shelves to where Elend's army camped beside the canal.
Except, there was no canal. There were no rocky shelves. Everything was just a uniform black. Ash filled the sky, as thick as a snowstorm.
Yomen hurried over to the window. 'Attacked, my lord? But, they haven't even broken camp!'
'The koloss will attack in surprise,' the Inquisitor said. 'They don't need to form up ranks-they will simply charge.'
Yomen froze for a second, then turned to his soldiers. 'Hasten to the defenses. Gather the men on the forward rises!'
Soldiers scuttled from the room. Vin stood quietly.
Has taken control of him. .
An idea began to spark in her mind.
'Quickly, obligator,' Marsh said. 'I did not come to protect your foolish little city. I've come for the thing you discovered in that cache.'
'My lord?' Yomen said, surprised.
'Your atium, Yomen,' the Inquisitor said. 'Give it to me. It
Vin closed her eyes.
'My. . lord?' Yomen finally said. 'You are, of course, welcome to anything I possess. But, there was no atium in the storage cache. Just the seven beads I had gathered myself, held as a reserve for the Canton of Resource.'
Vin opened her eyes. '
'Impossible!' Marsh roared. 'But, you told the girl earlier that you had it!'
Yomen paled. 'Misdirection, my lord. She seemed convinced that I had some wealth of atium, so I let her think that she was right.'
'
Vin jumped at the sudden yell. However, Yomen didn't even flinch-and a second later, she realized why. Ruin was the one who had screamed. He had become indistinct, losing Reen's form, his figure blossoming outward in a kind of tempest of whirling darkness. Almost like mist, only far, far blacker.
She'd seen that blackness before. She'd walked through it, in the cavern beneath Luthadel, on her way to the Well of Ascension.