The Hero of Ages

a member of your own generation!'

'You think I enjoyed it?' TenSoon demanded. 'OreSeur was my generation brother-a kandra I had known for seven hundred years! But. . the Contract. .'

'Forbids killing,' KanPaar said.

'It forbids the killing of men.'

'And is not a kandra life worth more than that of a man?'

'The words are specific, KanPaar,' TenSoon snapped. 'I know them well-I helped write them! We were both there when these service Contracts were created using the First Contract itself as a model! They forbid us from killing humans, but not each other.'

KanPaar leaned forward again. 'Did you argue with this Zane? Suggest perhaps that he should perform the murder himself? Did you even try to get out of killing one of our people?'

'I do not argue with my masters,' TenSoon said. 'And I certainly didn't want to tell the man Zane how to kill a kandra. His instability was well known.'

'So, you didn't argue,' KanPaar said. 'You simply killed OreSeur. And then you took his place, pretending to be him.'

'That is what we do,' TenSoon said with frustration. 'We take the place of others, acting as spies. That is the entire point of the Contract!'

'We do these things to humans,' snapped another Second. 'This is the first case where a kandra has been used to imitate another kandra. It is a disturbing precedent you set.'

It was brilliant, TenSoon thought. I hate Zane for making me do it, but I can still see the genius in it. Vin never even suspected me. Who would?

'You should have refused to do this act,' KanPaar said. 'You should have pled the need for clarification of your Contract. If others were to begin using us in this way, to kill one another, then we could be wiped out in a matter of years!'

'You betrayed us all with your rashness,' said another.

Ah, TenSoon thought. So that is their plan. They establish me as a traitor first, so that what I say later lacks credibility. He smiled. He was of the Third Generation; it was time he started acting like it.

'I betrayed us with my rashness?' TenSoon asked. 'What of you, glorious Seconds? Who was it who allowed a Contract to be assigned to Kelsier himself? You gave a kandra servant to the very man who was planning to kill the Father!'

KanPaar stiffened, as if he'd been slapped, translucent face angry in the blue lamplight. 'It is not your place to make accusations, Third!'

'I have no place anymore, it seems,' TenSoon said. 'None of us do, now that the Father is dead. We have no right to complain, for we helped it happen.'

'How were we to know this man would succeed when others hadn't,' a Second sputtered. 'He paid so well that-'

KanPaar cut the other off with a sharp wave of the hand. It wasn't good for those of the Second Generation to defend themselves. However, HunFoor-the kandra who had spoken-hadn't ever really fit in with the others of his generation. He was a little more. . dense.

'You shall speak no more of this, Third,' KanPaar said, pointing at TenSoon.

'How can I defend myself if I cannot-'

'You aren't here to defend yourself,' KanPaar said. 'This is not a trial-you have already admitted your guilt. This is a judgment. Explain your actions, then let the First Generation pronounce your fate!'

TenSoon fell silent. It was not time to push. Not yet.

'Now,' KanPaar said, 'this thing you did in taking the place of one of your own brothers is bad enough. Need we speak on, or would you accept judgment now?'

'We both know that OreSeur's death has little to do with why I am here,' TenSoon said.

'Very well,' said KanPaar. 'Let us move on, then. Why don't you tell the First Generation why-if you are such a Contract-abiding kandra-you broke Contract with your master, disobeying his interests and helping his enemy instead?'

KanPaar's accusation echoed in the room. TenSoon closed his eyes, thinking back to that day over a year ago. He remembered sitting quietly on the floor of Keep Venture, watching as Zane and Vin fought.

No. It hadn't been a fight. Zane had been burning atium, which had made him all but invincible. Zane had played with Vin, toying with and mocking her.

Vin hadn't been TenSoon's master-TenSoon had killed her kandra and taken his place, spying on Vin at Zane's order. Zane. He had been TenSoon's master. He had held TenSoon's Contract.

But against all of his training, TenSoon had helped Vin. And, in doing so, he had revealed to her the great Secret of the kandra. Their weakness: that an Allomancer could use their powers to take complete control of a kandra's body. The kandra served their Contracts to keep this Secret hidden-they became servants, lest they end up as slaves. TenSoon opened his eyes to the quiet chamber. This was the moment he had been planning for.

'I didn't break my Contract,' he announced.

KanPaar snorted. 'You said otherwise when you came to us a year ago, Third.'

'I told you what happened,' TenSoon said, standing tall. 'What I said was not a lie. I helped Vin instead of Zane. Partially because of my actions, my master ended up dead at Vin's feet. But I did not break my Contract.'

'You imply that Zane wanted you to help his enemy?' KanPaar said.

'No,' TenSoon said. 'I did not break my Contract because I decided to serve a greater Contract. The First Contract!'

'The Father is dead!' one of the Seconds snapped. 'How could you serve our Contract with him?'

'He is dead,' TenSoon said. 'That is true. But the First Contract did not die with him! Vin, the Heir of the Survivor, was the one who killed the Lord Ruler. She is our Mother now. Our First Contract is with her!'

He had expected outcries of blasphemy and condemnation. Instead, he got shocked silence. KanPaar stood, stupefied, behind his stone lectern. The members of the First Generation were silent, as usual, sitting in their shadowed alcoves.

Well, TenSoon thought, I suppose that means I should continue. 'I had to help the woman Vin,' he said. 'I could not let Zane kill her, for I had a duty to her-a duty that began the moment she took the Father's place.'

KanPaar finally found his voice. 'She? Our Mother? She killed the Lord Ruler!'

'And took his place,' TenSoon said. 'She is one of us, in a way.'

'Nonsense!' KanPaar said. 'I had expected rationalizations, TenSoon-perhaps even lies. But these fantasies? These blasphemies?'

'Have you been outside recently, KanPaar?' TenSoon asked. 'Have you left the Homeland in the last century at all? Do you understand what is happening? The Father is dead. The land is in upheaval. While returning to the Homeland a year ago, I saw the changes in the mists. They no longer behave as they always have. We cannot continue as we have. The Second Generation may not yet realize it, but Ruin has come! Life will end. The time that the Worldbringers spoke of-perhaps the time for the Resolution-is here!'

'You are delusional, TenSoon. You've been amongst the humans too-'

'Tell them what this is all really about, KanPaar,' TenSoon interrupted, voice rising. 'Don't you want my real sin known? Don't you want the others to hear?'

'Don't force this, TenSoon,' KanPaar said, pointing again. 'What you've done is bad enough. Don't make it-'

'I told her,' TenSoon said, cutting him off again. 'I told her our Secret. At the end, she used me. Like the Allomancers of old. She took control of my body, using the Flaw, and she made me fight against Zane! This is what I've done. I've betrayed us all. She knows-and I'm certain that she has told others. Soon they'll all know how to control us. And, do you know why I did