Mistborn Trilogy - Brandon Sanderson [181]
Vin nodded, then she eyed Elend. “Why exactly have you been avoiding me lately, anyway?”
Elend flushed again. “I just figured you had enough new friends to keep you occupied.”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“I don’t like a lot of the people you’ve been spending your time with, Valette,” Elend said. “You’ve managed to fit very well into Luthadel society, and I generally find that playing politics changes people.”
“That’s easy to say,” Vin snapped. “Especially when you’re at the very top of the political structure. You can afford to ignore politics—some of us aren’t so fortunate.”
“I suppose.”
“Besides,” Vin said, “you play politics just as well as the rest. Or, are you going to try and tell me that your initial interest in me wasn’t sparked by a desire to spite your father?”
Elend held up his hands. “All right, consider me suitably chastised. I was a fool and a twit. It runs in the family.”
Vin sighed, sitting back and feeling the cool whisper of the mists on her tear-wetted cheeks. Elend wasn’t a monster; she believed him on that count. Perhaps she was a fool, but Kelsier was having an effect on her. She was beginning to trust those around her, and there was no one she wanted to let herself trust more than Elend Venture.
And, when it wasn’t connected directly to Elend, she found the horrors of the noble-skaa relationship easier to deal with. Even if a third of the noblemen were murdering skaa women, something was probably salvageable of the society. The nobility wouldn’t have to be purged—that was their tactic. Vin would have to make certain that sort of thing didn’t happen, no matter what bloodline one had.
Lord Ruler, Vin thought. I’m starting to think like the others—it’s almost like I think that we can change things.
She glanced across at Elend, who sat with his back to the curling mists beyond. He looked morose.
I brought out bad memories, Vin thought guiltily. No wonder he hates his father so much. She longed to do something to make him feel better.
“Elend,” she said, drawing his attention. “They’re just like us.”
He paused. “What?”
“The plantation skaa,” Vin said. “You asked me about them once. I was afraid, so I acted like a proper noblewoman—but you seemed disappointed when I didn’t have more to say.”
He leaned forward. “So, you did spend time with the skaa?”
Vin nodded. “A lot of time. Too much, if you ask my family. That might be why they sent me out here. I knew some of the skaa very well—one older man, in particular. He lost someone, a woman he loved, to a nobleman who wanted a pretty thing for the evening’s entertainment.”
“At your plantation?”
Vin shook her head quickly. “He ran away and came to my father’s lands.”
“And you hid him?” Elend asked with surprise. “Runaway skaa are supposed to be executed!”
“I kept his secret,” Vin said. “I didn’t know him for very long, but…well, I can promise you this, Elend: His love was as strong as that of any nobleman. Stronger than most of them here in Luthadel, certainly.”
“And intelligence?” Elend asked eagerly. “Did they seem…slow?”
“Of course not,” Vin snapped. “I should think, Elend Venture, that I knew several skaa more clever than yourself. They may not have education, but they’re still intelligent. And they’re angry.”
“Angry?” he asked.
“Some of them,” Vin said. “About the way they’re treated.”
“They know, then? About the disparities between us and them?”
“How could they not?” Vin said, reaching up to wipe her nose with the handkerchief. She paused, however, noting just how much makeup she had rubbed across it.
“Here,” Elend said, handing her his own handkerchief. “Tell me more. How do you know these things?”
“They told me,” Vin said. “They trusted me. I know that they’re angry because they would complain about their lives. I know they’re intelligent because of the things they keep hidden from the nobility.”
“Like what?”
“Like, the underground movement network,” Vin said. “Skaa help runaways travel the canals from plantation to plantation. The noblemen don’t notice because they never pay