Mistborn #01 The Final Empire

friend,” Jastes said. “We are—if you haven’t noticed—noblemen.”
    Elend rolled his eyes.
    “All right, I’ll say it,” Jastes replied, running his hand through his hair—a nervous habit that Elend was sure contributed somewhat to the young man’s growing baldness. “You’ve been spending a lot of time with that Renoux girl, Elend.”
    “There is a simple explanation for that,” Elend said. “You see, I happen to like her.”
    “Not good, Elend,” Telden said with a shake of his head. “Not good.”
    “Why?” Elend asked. “You seem pleased enough to ignore class variances yourself, Telden. I’ve seen you flirt with half the serving girls in the room.”
    “I’m not heir to my house,” Telden said.
    “And,” Jastes said, “these girls are trustworthy. My family hired these women—we know their houses, their backgrounds, and their allegiances.”
    Elend frowned. “What are you implying?”
    “Something’s strange about that girl, Elend,” Jastes said. He’d gone back to his normal nervous self, his pipe sitting unnoticed in its holder on the table.
    Telden nodded. “She got too close to you too quickly, Elend. She wants something.”
    “Like what?” Elend asked, growing annoyed.
    “Elend, Elend,” Jastes said. “You can’t just avoid the game by saying you don’t want to play. It’ll find you. Renoux moved into town just as house tensions began to rise, and he brought with him an unknown scion—a girl who immediately began to woo the most important and available young man in Luthadel. Doesn’t that seem odd to you?”
    “Actually,” Elend noted, “I approached her first—if only because she had stolen my reading spot.”
    “But, you have to admit that it’s suspicious how quickly she latched on to you,” Telden said. “If you’re going to dabble with romance, Elend, you need to learn one thing: You can play with women if you want, but don’t let yourself get too close to them. That’s where the trouble starts.”
    Elend shook his head. “Valette is different.”
    The other two shared a look, then Telden shrugged, turning back to his drink. Jastes, however, sighed, then stood and stretched. “Anyway, I should probably be going.”
    “One more drink,” Telden said.
    Jastes shook his head, running a hand through his hair. “You know how my parents are on ball nights—if I don’t go out and bid farewell to at least some of the guests, I’ll be nagged about it for weeks.”
    The younger man wished them good night, walking back toward the main ballroom. Telden sipped his drink, eyeing Elend.
    “I’m not thinking about her,” Elend said testily.
    “What, then?”
    “The meeting tonight,” Elend said. “I’m not sure if I like how it went.”
    “Bah,” the large man said with a wave of his hand. “You’re getting as bad as Jastes. What happened to the man who attended these meetings just to relax and enjoy time with his friends?”
    “He’s worried,” Elend said. “Some of his friends might end up in charge of their houses sooner than he expected, and he’s worried that none of us are ready.”
    Telden snorted. “Don’t be so melodramatic,” he said, smiling and winking to the serving girl who came to clear away his empty cups. “I have a feeling that this is all just going to blow over. In a few months, we’ll look back and wonder what all the fretting was about.”
    Kale Tekiel won’t look back, Elend thought.
    The conversation waned, however, and Telden eventually excused himself. Elend sat for a while longer, opening The Dictates of Society for another read, but he had trouble concentrating. He turned the cup of brandy in his fingers, but didn’t drink much.
    I wonder if Valette’s out yet. . . . He’d tried to find her once his meeting was over, but apparently she’d been in a private gathering of her own.
    That girl, he thought lazily, is far too interested in politics for her own good. Perhaps he was just jealous—only a few months in court, and she already seemed to be more competent than he was. She was so fearless, so bold, so . . . interesting. She didn’t fit any of the courtly stereotypes he’d been taught to expect.
    Could Jastes be right? he wondered. She certainly is different from other women, and she did imply there were things about her I didn’t know.
    Elend pushed the thought out of his mind. Valette was different, true—but she was also innocent, in a way. Eager, full of wonder and spunk.
    He worried