The Hero of Ages

Elend Venture in with all the other nobles.

'I don't like this, Master Keeper,' Captain Goradel said, walking beside Sazed, who-for the sake of his image- now rode in the carriage with Breeze and Allrianne. After leaving the Terris people behind, Sazed had hurriedly caught up with Breeze and the others, and they were finally entering the city that was their destination.

'Things are supposed to be kind of brutal in there,' Goradel continued. 'I don't think you'll be safe.'

'I doubt it's as bad as you think,' Sazed said.

'What if they take you captive?' Goradel asked.

'My dear man,' Breeze said, leaning forward to look out at Goradel. 'That's why kings send ambassadors. This way, if someone gets captured, the king is still safe. We, my friend, are something Elend can never be: expendable.'

Goradel frowned at that. 'I don't feel very expendable.'

Sazed peered out of the carriage, looking at the city through the falling ash. It was large, and was one of the oldest cities in the empire. He noted with interest that as they approached, the road sloped downward, entering an empty canal trough.

'What's this?' Allrianne asked, sticking her blond head out of the other side of the carriage. 'Why'd they build their roads in ditches?'

'Canals, my dear,' Breeze said. 'The city used to be filled with them. Now they're empty-an earthquake or something diverted a river.'

'It's creepy,' she said, bringing her head back in. 'It makes the buildings look twice as tall.'

As they entered the city proper-their two hundred soldiers marching around them in formation-they were met by a delegation of Urteau soldiers in brown uniforms. Sazed had sent word ahead of their coming, of course, and the king-the Citizen, they called him-had given Sazed leave to bring his small contingent of troops into the city.

'They say that their king wants to meet with you immediately, Master Terrisman,' Goradel said, walking back to the carriage.

'The man doesn't waste time, does he?' Breeze asked.

'We'll go, then,' Sazed said, nodding to Goradel.

'You aren't wanted here.'

Quellion, the Citizen, was a short-haired man with rough skin and an almost military bearing. Sazed wondered where the man-apparently a simple farmer before the Collapse-had gained such leadership skills.

'I realize that you have no desire to see foreign soldiers in your city,' Sazed said carefully. 'However, you must have realized that we do not come to conquer. Two hundred men is hardly an invading force.'

Quellion stood at his desk, arms clasped behind his back. He wore what appeared to be regular skaa trousers and shirt, though both had been dyed a deep red verging on maroon. His 'audience chamber' was a large conference room in what had once been a nobleman's house. The walls had been whitewashed and the chandelier removed. Stripped of its furniture and finery, the room felt like a box.

Sazed, Breeze, and Allrianne sat on hard wooden stools, the only comfort the Citizen had offered them. Goradel stood at the back with ten of his soldiers as a guard.

'It isn't about the soldiers, Terrisman,' Quellion said. 'It's about the man who sent you.'

'Emperor Venture is a good and reasonable monarch,' Sazed said.

Quellion snorted, turning to one of his companions. He had many of these-perhaps twenty-and Sazed assumed they were members of his government. Most wore red, like Quellion, though their clothing hadn't been dyed as deeply.

'Elend Venture,' Quellion said, raising a finger, turning back to Sazed, 'is a liar and a tyrant.'

'That isn't true.'

'Oh?' Quellion asked. 'And how did he gain his throne? By defeating Straff Venture and Ashweather Cett in war?'

'War was-'

'War is often the excuse of tyrants, Terrisman,' Quellion said. 'My reports said that his Mistborn wife forced the kings to kneel before him that day-forced them to swear their loyalty to him or be slaughtered by his koloss brutes. Does that sound like the actions of a 'good and reasonable' man?'

Sazed didn't respond.

Quellion stepped forward, laying both hands palm-down on the top of his desk. 'Do you know what we've done to the noblemen in this city, Terrisman?'

'You've killed them,' Sazed said quietly.

'Just as the Survivor ordered,' Quellion said. 'You claim to have been his companion, before the fall. Yet, you serve one of the very noble houses he sought to overthrow. Doesn't that strike you as inconsistent, Terrisman?'

'Lord Kelsier accomplished his purpose in the death of the Lord Ruler,' Sazed said. 'Once that was achieved, peace-'

'Peace?' Quellion asked. 'Tell me, Terrisman. Did you ever hear the Survivor speak of peace?'

Sazed hesitated. 'No,' he admitted.

Quellion snorted. 'At least you're honest. The only reason I'm talking to you is because Venture was clever enough to send a Terrisman. If he'd sent a nobleman, I would have killed the cur and sent his blackened skull back as an answer.'

The room fell silent. Tense. After a few moments of waiting, Quellion turned his back on Sazed, facing his companions. 'You sense that?' he asked his men. 'Can you feel yourselves begin to feel ashamed? Look at your emotions-do you suddenly feel a fellowship with these servants of a liar?'

He turned back, glancing at Breeze. 'I've warned you all of Allomancy, the black tool of the nobility. Well, now you get to feel it. That man-sitting beside our distinguished Terrisman-is known as Breeze. He's one of the world's most vile men. A Soother of no small skill.'

Quellion turned to address Breeze. 'Tell me, Soother. How many friends have your magics made for you? How many enemies have you forced to kill themselves? That pretty girl beside you-did you use your arts to hex her into your bed?'

Breeze smiled, raising his cup of wine. 'My dear man, you have, of course, found me out. However, instead of congratulating yourself for noticing my touch, perhaps you should ask yourself why I manipulated you into saying what you just did.'

Quellion paused-though, of course, Breeze was bluffing. Sazed sighed. An indignant reaction would have been far more appropriate-but, then, that wasn't Breeze's way. Now the Citizen would spend the rest of the meeting wondering if his words were being guided by Breeze.

'Master Quellion,' Sazed said, 'these are dangerous times. Surely you have noticed that.'

'We can protect ourselves well enough,' Quellion said.

'I'm not speaking of armies or bandits, Citizen. I'm speaking of mists and ash. Have you noticed that the mists are lingering longer and longer during the daylight hours? Have you noticed them doing strange things to your people, causing the deaths of some who go out?'

Quellion did not contradict him or call his words foolish. That told Sazed enough. People had died in this city.

'The ash falls perpetually, Citizen,' Sazed said. 'The mists are deadly, and the koloss run free. This would be a very good time to have powerful alliances. In the Central Dominance, we can grow better crops, for we get more sunlight. Emperor Venture has discovered a method of controlling the koloss. Whatever is to come in the next few years, it would be very advantageous to be Emperor Venture's friend.'

Quellion shook his head, as if in resignation. He turned to his companions again. 'You see-just as I told you. First, he tells us he comes in peace, then he moves on to threats. Venture controls the koloss. Venture controls the food. Next he'll be saying that Venture controls the mists!' Quellion turned back to Sazed. 'We don't have any use for threats here, Terrisman. We aren't worried about our future.'

Sazed raised an eyebrow. 'And why is that?'

'Because we follow the Survivor,' Quellion said. 'Be gone from my sight.'

Sazed stood. 'I would like to stay in the city and perhaps meet with you again.'

'That meeting will not happen.'

'Regardless,' Sazed said. 'I would prefer to stay. You have my promise that my men will not cause trouble.