Mistborn Trilogy - Brandon Sanderson [199]
“What?” Vin asked grumpily, pausing in the doorway. The bath had soothed her headache somewhat, but it still pulsed slightly in the back of her head.
The four men exchanged glances. Ham spoke first. “We were just discussing the status of the plan, now that both our employer and our army are gone.”
Breeze raised an eyebrow. “Status? That’s an interesting way of putting it, Hammond. I would have said ‘unfeasibility’ instead.”
Clubs grunted his assent, and the four turned to her, apparently waiting to see her reaction.
Why do they care so much what I think? she thought, walking into the room and taking a chair.
“You want something to eat?” Dockson said, rising. “Clubs’s housekeepers fixed some baywraps for us to—”
“Ale,” Vin said.
Dockson paused. “It’s not even noon.”
“Ale. Now. Please.” She leaned forward, folding her arms on the table and resting her head on them.
Ham had the nerve to chuckle. “Pewter drag?”
Vin nodded.
“It’ll pass,” he said.
“If I don’t die first,” Vin grumbled.
Ham chuckled again, but the levity seemed forced. Dox handed her a mug, then sat, glancing at the others. “So, Vin. What do you think?”
“I don’t know,” she said with a sigh. “The army was pretty much the center of everything, right? Breeze, Ham, and Yeden spent all their time recruiting; Dockson and Renoux worked on supplies. Now that the soldiers are gone…well, that only leaves Marsh’s work with the Ministry and Kell’s attacks on the nobility—and neither are things he needs us for. The crew is redundant.”
The room fell silent.
“She has a depressingly blunt way of putting it,” Dockson said.
“Pewter drag will do that to you,” Ham noted.
“When did you get back, anyway?” Vin asked.
“Last night, after you were asleep,” Ham said. “The Garrison sent us part-time soldiers back early, so they wouldn’t have to pay us.”
“They’re still out there, then?” Dockson asked.
Ham nodded. “Hunting down the rest of our army. The Luthadel Garrison relieved the Valtroux troops, who were actually pretty beat up from the fighting. The majority of the Luthadel troops should be out for a long while yet, searching for rebels—apparently, several very large groups broke off of our main army and fled before the battle started.”
The conversation lulled into another period of silence. Vin sipped at her ale, drinking it more out of spite than any belief that it would make her feel better. A few minutes later, footsteps sounded on the stairs.
Kelsier swept into the kitchen. “Good morning, all,” he said with customary cheerfulness. “Baywraps again, I see. Clubs, you really need to hire more imaginative housemaids.” Despite the comment, he grabbed a cylindrical baywrap and took a large bite, then smiled pleasantly as he poured himself something to drink.
The crew remained quiet. The men exchanged glances. Kelsier remained standing, leaning back against the cupboard as he ate.
“Kell, we need to talk,” Dockson finally said. “The army is gone.”
“Yes,” Kelsier said between bites. “I noticed.”
“The job is dead, Kelsier,” Breeze said. “It was a good try, but we failed.”
Kelsier paused. He frowned, lowering his baywrap. “Failed? What makes you say that?”
“The army is gone, Kell,” Ham said.
“The army was only one piece of our plans. We’ve had a setback, true—but we’re hardly finished.”
“Oh, for the Lord’s sake, man!” Breeze said. “How can you stand there so cheerfully? Our men are dead. Don’t you even care?”
“I care, Breeze,” Kelsier said in a solemn voice. “But what is done is done. We need to move on.”
“Exactly!” Breeze said. “Move on from this insane ‘job’ of yours. It’s time to quit. I know you don’t like that, but it’s the simple truth!”
Kelsier set his plate on the counter. “Don’t Soothe me, Breeze. Never Soothe me.”
Breeze paused, mouth open slightly. “Fine,” he finally said. “I won’t use Allomancy; I’ll just use truth. Do you know what I think? I think you never intended to grab that atium.
“You’ve been using us. You promised us wealth so we’d join you, but you