Mistborn #01 The Final Empire

smooth voice. “Yes?”
    Milen pulled out a few coins. “I promise to meet these two for shelldry tomorrow,” he said, handing the coins to the aging obligator.
    It seemed like such a silly reason to call over an obligator—or, at least, so Vin thought. The obligator, however, didn’t laugh or point out the frivolity of the demand. He simply smiled, palming the coins as deftly as any thief. “I witness this, Lord Milen,” he said.
    “Satisfied?” Milen asked of the other two.
    They nodded.
    The obligator turned, not giving Vin a second glance, and strolled away. She released a quiet breath, watching his shuffing form.
    They must know everything that happens in court, she realized. If nobility call them over to witness things this simple . . . The more she knew about the Ministry, the more she realized how clever the Lord Ruler had been in organizing them. They witnessed every mercantile contract; Dockson and Renoux had to deal with obligators nearly every day. Only they could authorize weddings, divorces, land purchases, or ratify inheritance of titles. If an obligator hadn’t witnessed an event, it hadn’t happened, and if one hadn’t sealed a document, then it might as well not have been written.
    Vin shook her head as the conversation turned to other topics. It had been a long night, and her mind was full of information to scribble down on her way back to Fellise.
    “Excuse me, Lord Milen,” she said, laying a hand on his arm—though touching him made her shiver slightly. “I think perhaps it is time for me to retire.”
    “I’ll walk you to your carriage,” he said.
    “That won’t be necessary,” she said sweetly. “I want to refresh myself, and then I have to wait for my Terrisman anyway. I’ll just go sit down at our table.”
    “Very well,” he said, nodding respectfully.
    “Go if you must, Valette,” Kliss said. “But you’ll never know the news I have about the Ministry. . . .”
    Vin paused. “What news?”
    Kliss’s eyes twinkled, and she glanced at the disappearing obligator. “The Inquisitors are buzzing like insects. They’ve hit twice as many skaa thieving bands these last few months as usual. They don’t even take prisoners for executions—they just leave them all dead.”
    “How do you know this?” Milen asked skeptically. He seemed so straight-backed and noble. You would never know what he really was.
    “I have my sources,” Kliss said with a smile. “Why, the Inquisitors found another band just this afternoon. One headquartered not far from here.”
    Vin felt a chill. They weren’t that far from Clubs’s shop. . . . No, it couldn’t be them. Dockson and the rest are too clever. Even without Kelsier in town, they’ll be safe.
    “Cursed thieves,” Tyden spat. “Damn skaa don’t know their place. Isn’t the food and clothing we give enough of a theft from our pockets?”
    “It’s amazing the creatures can even survive as thieves,” said Carlee, Tyden’s young wife, in her normal purring voice. “I can’t imagine what kind of incompetent would let himself get robbed by skaa.”
    Tyden flushed, and Vin eyed him with curiosity. Carlee rarely spoke except to make some jab against her husband.
    He must have been robbed himself. A scam, perhaps?
    Filing away the information for later investigation, Vin turned to go—a motion that put her face-to-face with a newcomer to the group: Shan Elariel.
    Elend’s former betrothed was immaculate, as always. Her long auburn hair had an almost luminous sheen, and her beautiful figure only reminded Vin how scrawny she herself was. Self-important in a way that could make even a confident person uncertain, Shan was—as Vin was beginning to realize—exactly what most of the aristocracy thought was the perfect woman.
    The men in Vin’s group nodded their heads in respect, and the women curtsied, honored to have their conversation joined by one so important. Vin glanced to the side, trying to escape, but Shan was standing right before her.
    Shan smiled. “Ah, Lord Milen,” she said to Vin’s companion, “it’s a pity that your original date this evening took sick. It appears you were left with few other options.”
    Milen flushed, Shan’s comment expertly placing him in a difficult position. Did he defend Vin, possibly earning the ire of a very powerful woman? Or, did he instead agree with Shan, thereby insulting his date?
    He took the coward’s way out: He ignored the comment. “Lady Shan, it is a pleasure