Mistborn Trilogy - Brandon Sanderson [897]
“No?” Vin said, raising a skeptical eyebrow. “You were burning atium, Yomen. I saw that much.”
“Believe as you wish,” Yomen said. “But know this, woman: I do not lie. I’ve never needed lies, and I find that is particularly true now, when the entire world is in chaos. People need truth from those they follow.”
Vin frowned.
“Regardless, it is time,” Yomen said.
“Time?” Vin asked.
Yomen nodded. “Yes. I apologize for leaving you for so long in your cell. I have been . . . distracted.”
Elend, Vin thought. What has he been doing? I feel so blind!
She glanced at Ruin, who stood on the other side of the bench, shaking his head as if he understood far more than he was telling her. She turned back to Yomen. “I still don’t understand,” she said. “Time for what?”
Yomen met her eyes. “Time for me to make a decision about your execution, Lady Venture.”
Oh, she thought. Right. Between her dealings with Ruin and her plans to escape, she’d nearly forgotten Yomen’s declaration that he intended to let her “defend” herself before he executed her.
Ruin walked across the room, circling Yomen in a leisurely stroll. The obligator king stood, still meeting Vin’s eyes. If he could see Ruin, he didn’t show it. Instead, he waved to a guard, who opened a side door, leading in several obligators in gray robes. They seated themselves on a bench across the room from Vin.
“Tell me, Lady Venture,” Yomen said, turning back to her, “why did you come to Fadrex City?”
Vin cocked her head. “I thought this wasn’t to be a trial. You said that you didn’t need that sort of thing.”
“I would think,” Yomen replied, “that you would be pleased with any delay in the process.”
A delay meant more time to think—more time to possibly escape. “Why did we come?” Vin asked. “We knew you had one of the Lord Ruler’s supply caches beneath your city.”
Yomen raised an eyebrow. “How did you know about it?”
“We found another one,” Vin said. “It had directions to Fadrex.”
Yomen nodded to himself. She could tell that he believed her, but there was something . . . else. He seemed to be making connections that she didn’t understand, and probably didn’t have the information to understand. “And the danger my kingdom posed to yours?” Yomen asked. “That didn’t have anything at all to do with your invasion of my lands?”
“I wouldn’t say that,” Vin said. “Cett had been pushing Elend to move into this dominance for some time.”
The obligators conferred quietly at this comment, though Yomen stood aloof, arms folded as he regarded her. Vin found the experience unnerving. It had been years—from her days in Camon’s crew—since she had felt so much in another’s power. Even when she’d faced the Lord Ruler, she’d felt differently. Yomen seemed to see her as a tool.
But a tool to do what? And, how could she manipulate his needs so that he kept her alive long enough for her to escape?
Make yourself indispensable, Reen had always taught. Then a crewleader can’t get rid of you without losing power himself. Even now, the voice of her brother still seemed to whisper the words in her mind. Were they memories, interpretations of his wisdom, or effects of Ruin’s influence? Regardless, it seemed like good advice at the moment.
“So, you came with the express purpose of invasion?” Yomen asked.
“Elend intended to try diplomacy first,” Vin said carefully. “However, we both knew that it’s a bit hard to play the diplomat when you camp an army outside of someone’s city.”
“You admit to being conquerors, then,” Yomen said. “You are more honest than your husband.”
“Elend is more sincere than either of us, Yomen,” Vin snapped. “Just because he interprets things differently from you or me does not mean he’s being dishonest when he expresses his view.”
Yomen raised an eyebrow, perhaps at the quickness of her response. “A valid point.”
Vin sat back on the bench, wrapping her cut hands with a bit of clean cloth from her shirt. Yomen stood beside the windows of the large, stark room. It felt very odd to be speaking to him. On one hand, she and he seemed very different.