Mistborn Trilogy - Brandon Sanderson [571]
I’m…married. “You’re going to leave?” Elend asked, looking to Vin. “Now?”
“I have to,” Vin whispered. “I have to go to it, Elend.”
“You should go with her, Your Majesty,” Sazed said.
“What?”
Sazed sighed, looking up. “We have to face facts, Your Majesty. As you said earlier, Straff will soon take this city. If you are here, you will be executed. However, Lady Vin will undoubtedly need help securing the Well.”
“It’s supposed to hold great power,” Elend said, rubbing his chin. “Could we, you think, destroy those armies?”
Vin shook her head. “We couldn’t use it,” she whispered. “The power is a temptation. That’s what went wrong last time. Rashek took the power instead of giving it up.”
“Giving it up?” Elend asked. “What does that mean?”
“Letting it go, Your Majesty,” Sazed said. “Letting it defeat the Deepness on its own.”
“Trust,” Vin whispered. “It’s about trust.”
“However,” Sazed said, “I think that releasing this power could do great things for the land. Change things, and undo much of the damage the Lord Ruler did. I have a strong suspicion that it would destroy the koloss, since they were created by the Lord Ruler’s misuse of the power.”
“But Straff would hold the city,” Elend said.
“Yes,” Sazed said, “but if you leave, the transition will be peaceful. The Assembly has all but decided to accept him as their emperor, and it appears that he’ll let Penrod rule as a subject king. There will be no bloodshed, and you will be able to organize resistance from outside. Besides, who knows what releasing the power will do? Lady Vin could be left changed, much as the Lord Ruler was. With the crew in hiding within the city, it should not be so difficult to oust your father—particularly when he grows complacent in a year or so.”
Elend gritted his teeth. Another revolution. Yet, what Sazed said made sense. For so long, we’ve been worrying about the small-scale. He glanced at Vin, feeling a surge of warmth and love. Maybe it’s time I started listening to the things she’s been trying to tell me.
“Sazed,” Elend said, a sudden thought occurring to him, “do you think that I could convince the Terris people to help us?”
“Perhaps, Your Majesty,” Sazed said. “My prohibition against interfering—the one I have been ignoring—comes because I was given a different assignment by the Synod, not because we believe in avoiding all action. If you could convince the Synod that the future of the Terris people will be benefited by having a strong ally in Luthadel, you may just be able to get yourself military aid from Terris.”
Elend nodded, thoughtful.
“Remember the lock and the key, Your Majesty,” Sazed said, finishing off Vin’s second wound. “In this case, leaving seems like the opposite of what you should do. However, if you look at the larger picture, you will see that it’s precisely what you need to do.”
Vin opened her eyes, looking up at him, smiling. “We can do this, Elend. Come with me.”
Elend stood for a moment. Lock and key…. “All right,” he said. “We’ll leave as soon as Vin is able.”
“She should be able to ride tomorrow,” Sazed said. “You know what pewter can do for a body.”
Elend nodded. “All right. I should have listened to you earlier, Vin. Besides, I’ve always wanted to see your homeland, Sazed. You can show it to us.”
“I will need to stay here, I fear,” Sazed said. “I should soon leave for the South to continue my work there. Tindwyl, however, can go with you—she has important information that needs to be passed on to my brethren the Keepers.”
“It will need to be a small group,” Vin said. “We’ll have to outrun—or perhaps sneak past—Straff’s men.”
“Just you three, I think,” Sazed said. “Or, perhaps one other person to help with watches while you sleep, someone skilled in hunting and scouting. Lord Lestibournes, perhaps?”
“Spook would be perfect,” Elend said, nodding. “You’re sure the other crewmembers will be safe in the city?”
“Of course they won’t,” Vin said, smiling. “But they’re experts. They hid from the Lord Ruler—they’ll be able to hide from Straff. Particularly if they don’t have to worry