Mistborn Trilogy - Brandon Sanderson [853]
Spook looked fatigued. How long has it been since he slept? Sazed thought. He’s still up whenever I bed down, and awake before I rise.
“Something doesn’t feel right here,” Spook said.
“Oh?” Breeze asked. “Other than the fact that we’re chatting beside an underground lake in a storehouse built by the Lord Ruler underneath an Inquisitor fortress?”
Spook gave the Soother a flat look, then glanced at Sazed. “I feel like we should have been attacked by now.”
“What makes you say that?” Sazed asked.
“I know Quellion, Saze. The man’s a bully after the classical style. He came to power through force, and he keeps control by giving the people plenty of alcohol and tiny freedoms, like letting them go to bars at night. At the same time, however, he keeps everyone on the edge of fear.”
“How did he take charge, anyway?” Breeze asked. “How did he get control before some nobleman with a good set of house guards could do it?”
“Mists,” Spook said. “He went out in them, and declared that anyone faithful to the Survivor would be safe in them. Then, the mists started killing, and gave a handy confirmation of what he’d said. He made a big deal about the mists killing those who had evil in their hearts. The people were so worried about what was happening that they listened to him. He managed to make a law that required everyone to go out in the mists, so that they could see who died and who didn’t. The ones who survived were—he declared—pure. He told them they could set up a nice little utopia. After that, they started killing nobility.”
“Ah,” Breeze said. “Clever.”
“Yeah,” Spook said. “He completely glossed over the fact that the nobility never got taken by the mists.”
“Wait,” Sazed said. “What?”
Spook shrugged. “Hard to confirm now, but that’s what the stories say. The nobility seemed immune to the mistsickness. Not skaa who had noble blood, but actually nobility.”
“How odd,” Breeze noted.
More than odd, Sazed thought. Downright strange. Does Elend know about this connection? As Sazed considered it, it seemed unlikely that Elend did. Their army and allies were all made up of skaa. The only nobility they knew were those back in Luthadel, and they had all chosen to stay inside at night, rather than risk going into the mists.
“Either way,” Spook said, “Quellion’s a bully. And bullies don’t like anyone in their turf who can challenge them. We should have had some kind of attempt on our lives by now.”
“The lad has a point,” Breeze said. “Quellion’s type doesn’t kill just in fancy executions. I’d bet that for every person he throws into one of those buildings, there are three dead in an alley somewhere, slowly being buried in ash.”
“I’ve told Goradel and his men to be particularly careful,” Spook said, “and I’ve prowled our perimeter. However, I haven’t caught any assassins so much as spying on us. Quellion’s troops just sit out there, watching us, but not doing anything.”
Breeze rubbed his chin. “Perhaps Quellion is more afraid of us than you assume.”
“Perhaps,” Spook said, sighing. He rubbed his forehead.
“Lord Spook,” Sazed said carefully, “you should sleep.”
“I’m fine,” Spook said.
If I didn’t know better, I’d say he was burning pewter to stay awake, Sazed thought. Or, am I just looking for signs to confirm what I worried about before?
We never questioned when Vin or Kelsier manifested powers beyond what even normal Allomancers were capable of. Why should I be so suspicious of Spook? Is it simply because I know him too well? Do I focus on my memories of the boy when he has obviously become a man?
“Anyway,” Spook said, “how goes the research?”
“Rather well, actually,” Sazed said, turning around several of his diagrams so that Spook could see them. “I am about ready to begin work on the actual construction.”
“How long will it take, do you think?”
“A few weeks, perhaps,” Sazed said. “A rather short time, all things considered.