Mistborn #01 The Final Empire

week. It wasn’t until after he’d turned it in that he’d discovered her lie. She’d been beaten to death the next day. Beaten to death right in front of him.
    That night, Kelsier had Snapped, coming into his powers as a Mistborn. The next night, men had died.
    Many men.
    Survivor of Hathsin. A man who shouldn’t live. Even after watching her die, I couldn’t decide if she’d betrayed me or not. Did she give me that geode out of love? Or did she do it out of guilt?
    No, he couldn’t see beauty in the caverns. Other men had been driven mad by the Pits, becoming terrified of small, enclosed spaces. That hadn’t happened to Kelsier. However, he knew that no matter what wonders the labyrinths held—no matter how amazing the views or delicate the beauties—he would never acknowledge them. Not with Mare dead.
    I can’t think about this anymore, Kelsier decided, the cavern seeming to grow darker around him. He glanced to the side. “All right, Ham. Go ahead. Tell me what you’re thinking about.”
    “Really?” Ham said eagerly.
    “Yes,” Kelsier said with a sense of resignation.
    “All right,” Ham said. “So, here’s what I’ve been worried about lately: Are skaa different from noblemen?”
    “Of course they are,” Kelsier said. “The aristocracy has the money and the land; the skaa don’t have anything.”
    “I don’t mean economics—I’m talking about physical differences. You know what the obligators say, right?”
    Kelsier nodded.
    “Well, is it true? I mean, skaa really do have a lot of children, and I’ve heard that aristocrats have trouble reproducing.”
    The Balance, it was called. It was supposedly the way that the Lord Ruler ensured that there weren’t too many noblemen for the skaa to support, and the way he made certain that—despite beatings and random killings—there were always enough skaa to grow food and work in mills.
    “I’ve always just assumed it to be Ministry rhetoric,” Kelsier said honestly.
    “I’ve known skaa women to have as many as a dozen children,” Ham said. “But I can’t name a single major noble family with more than three.”
    “It’s just cultural.”
    “And the height difference? They say you used to be able to tell skaa and noblemen apart by sight alone. That’s changed, probably through interbreeding, but most skaa are still kind of short.”
    “That’s nutritional. Skaa don’t get enough to eat.”
    “What about Allomancy?”
    Kelsier frowned.
    “You have to admit that there’s a physical difference there,” Ham said. “Skaa never become Mistings unless they have aristocratic blood somewhere in their last five generations.”
    That much, at least, was true.
    “Skaa think differently from noblemen, Kell,” Ham said. “Even these soldiers are kind of timid, and they’re the brave ones! Yeden’s right about the general skaa population—it will never rebel. What if . . . what if there really is something physically different about us? What if the noblemen are right to rule over us?”
    Kelsier froze in the hallway. “You don’t really mean that.”
    Ham stopped as well. “I guess . . . no, I don’t. But I do wonder sometimes. The noblemen have Allomancy, right? Maybe they’re meant to be in charge.”
    “Meant by who? The Lord Ruler?”
    Ham shrugged.
    “No, Ham,” Kelsier said. “It isn’t right. This isn’t right. I know it’s hard to see—things have been this way for so long—but something very serious is wrong with the way skaa live. You have to believe that.”
    Ham paused, then nodded. “Let’s go,” Kelsier said. “I want to visit that other entrance.”

    The week passed slowly. Kelsier inspected the troops, the training, the food, the weapons, the supplies, the scouts, the guards, and just about everything else he could think of. More important, he visited the men. He complimented and encouraged them—and he made certain to use Allomancy frequently in front of them.
    While many skaa had heard of “Allomancy,” very few knew specifically what it could do. Nobleman Mistings rarely used their powers in front of other people, and half-breeds had to be even more careful. Ordinary skaa, even city skaa, didn’t know of things like Steelpushing or Pewter-burning. When they saw Kelsier flying through the air or sparring with supernatural strength, they would just attribute it to formless “Allomancy Magics.” Kelsier didn’t mind the misunderstanding at all.
    Despite all of the week’s activities,