Mistborn Trilogy - Brandon Sanderson [125]
The carriage turned a bend and rolled into Fellise. The familiar, pastoral suburb made Vin smile to herself, and she leaned against the open carriage window, feeling the breeze. With luck, some streetgoers would gossip that Lady Valette had been seen riding through the city. She arrived at Mansion Renoux a few short turns later. A footman opened the door, and Vin was surprised to see Lord Renoux himself waiting outside the carriage to help her down.
“My lord?” she said, giving him her hand. “Surely you have more important things to attend to.”
“Nonsense,” he said. “A lord must be allowed time to dote upon his favored niece. How was your ride?”
Does he ever break character? He didn’t ask after the others in Luthadel, or give any indication that he knew of her wound.
“It was refreshing, Uncle,” she said as they walked up the steps to the mansion doors. Vin was thankful for the pewter burning lightly in her stomach to give strength to her still weak legs. Kelsier had warned against using it too much, lest she grow dependent upon its power, but she saw little alternative until she was healed.
“That is wonderful,” Renoux said. “Perhaps, once you are feeling better, we should take lunch together on the garden balcony. It has been warm lately, despite the coming winter.”
“That would be very pleasant,” Vin said. Before, she’d found the impostor’s noble bearing intimidating. Yet, as she slipped into the persona of Lady Valette, she experienced the same calmness as before. Vin the thief was nothing to a man such as Renoux, but Valette the socialite was another matter.
“Very good,” Renoux said, pausing inside the entryway. “However, let us attend to that on another day—for now, you would likely prefer to rest from your journey.”
“Actually, my lord, I’d like to visit Sazed. I have some matters I must discuss with the steward.”
“Ah,” Renoux said. “You will find him in the library, working on one of my projects.”
“Thank you,” Vin said.
Renoux nodded, then walked away, his dueling cane clicking against the white marble floor. Vin frowned, trying to decide if he was completely sane. Could someone really adopt a persona that wholly?
You do it, Vin reminded herself. When you become Lady Valette, you show a completely different side of yourself.
She turned, flaring pewter to help her climb the northern set of stairs. She let her flare lapse as she reached the top, returning to a normal burn. As Kelsier said, it was dangerous to flare metals for too extended a period; an Allomancer could quickly make their body dependent.
She took a few breaths—climbing the stairs had been difficult, even with pewter—then walked down the corridor to the library. Sazed sat at a desk beside a small coal stove on the far side of the small room, writing on a pad of paper. He wore his standard steward’s robes, and a pair of thin spectacles sat at the end of his nose.
Vin paused in the doorway, regarding the man who had saved her life. Why is he wearing spectacles? I’ve seen him read before without them. He seemed completely absorbed by his work, periodically studying a large tome on the desk, then turning to scribble notes on his pad.
“You’re an Allomancer,” Vin said quietly.
Sazed paused, then set down his pen and turned. “What makes you say that, Mistress Vin?”
“You got to Luthadel too quickly.”
“Lord Renoux keeps several swift messenger horses in his stables. I could have taken one of those.”
“You found me at the palace,” Vin said.
“Kelsier told me of his plans, and I correctly assumed that you had followed him. Locating you was a stroke of luck, one that nearly took me too long to achieve.