Mistborn Trilogy - Brandon Sanderson [874]
“It is the most simple of all crimes. Murder.”
Vin raised an eyebrow. Had she killed someone close to this man? Perhaps one of the noble soldiers in Cett’s retinue, back a year ago when she’d assaulted Keep Hasting?
Yomen met her eyes, and she saw something in them. A loathing that he kept hidden behind the calm front. No, she hadn’t killed one of his friends or relatives. She’d killed someone far more important to him.
“The Lord Ruler,” she said.
Yomen turned away again.
“You can’t honestly intend to try me for that,” Vin said. “It’s ridiculous.”
“There will be no trial,” Yomen said. “I am the authority in this city, and need no ceremony to give me direction or permission.”
Vin snorted. “I thought you said this was a place of law.”
“And I am that law,” Yomen said calmly. “I believe in letting a person speak for themselves before I make my decision. I will give you time to prepare your thoughts—however, the men who will be guarding you have orders to kill you if it ever looks like you are putting something unapproved into your mouth.”
Yomen glanced back at her. “I’d be very careful while I eat or drink, if I were you. Your guards have been told to err on the side of safety, and they know that I will not punish them if they accidentally kill you.”
Vin paused, cup of water still held lightly in her fingers.
Kill him, Ruin’s voice whispered. You could do it. Take a weapon from one of those soldiers, then use it on Yomen.
Vin frowned. Ruin still used Reen’s voice—it was familiar, something that had always seemed a part of her. Discovering that it belonged to that thing . . . it was like finding out that her reflection really belonged to someone else, and that she’d never actually seen herself.
She ignored the voice. She wasn’t sure why Ruin would want her to try killing Yomen. After all, Yomen had captured her—the obligator king was working on Ruin’s side. Plus, Vin doubted her ability to cause the man any harm. Chained, lacking offensive metals . . . she’d be a fool to attack.
She also didn’t trust Yomen’s comments about keeping her alive so that she could “speak” in her defense. He was up to something. Yet, she couldn’t fathom what it might be. Why leave her alive? He was too clever a man to lack a reason.
Giving no hint of his motivations, Yomen turned away from her again, looking back out his window. “Take her away.”
By sacrificing most of his consciousness, Preservation created Ruin’s prison, breaking their deal and trying to keep Ruin from destroying what they had created. This event left their powers again nearly balanced—Ruin imprisoned, only a trace of himself capable of leaking out. Preservation reduced to a mere wisp of what he once was, barely capable of thought and action.
These two minds were, of course, independent of the raw force of their powers. Actually, I am uncertain of how thoughts and personalities came to be attached to the powers in the first place—but I believe they were not there originally. For both powers could be detached from the minds that ruled them.
55
IT TOOK ELEND MUCH LONGER to get back from the village than it had taken to get there. For one thing, he had left a lot of his coins with the villagers. He wasn’t certain how much good money would do them in the coming weeks, but he’d felt that he had to do something. They were going to have a rough time of it the next few months. Their food stores nearly depleted, their homes burned by koloss, their water sources contaminated by ash, their capital—and king—besieged by Elend himself . . .
I have to stay focused, he told himself, walking through the falling ash. I can’t help every village. I have to worry about the larger picture.
A picture that included using a force of koloss to destroy another man’s city. Elend gritted his teeth, continuing to walk. The sun was creeping toward the horizon, and the mists had already started to appear, lit by the blazing fire of red sunlight. Behind him tromped some thirty thousand koloss. His new army.
That was another reason it took him a bit longer