Mistborn #01 The Final Empire

me anymore.”
    “Ah,” Kelsier said, moving over to sit beside her. “Was this before or after you killed his former fiancée?”
    “Before,” Vin said.
    “And you still protected him?”
    Vin nodded, sniffling quietly. “I know. I’m an idiot.”
    “No more than the rest of us,” Kelsier said with a sigh. He looked up into the mists. “I loved Mare too, even after she betrayed me. Nothing could change how I felt.”
    “And that’s why it hurts so much,” Vin said, remembering what Kelsier had said before. I think I finally understand.
    “You don’t stop loving someone just because they hurt you,” he said. “It would certainly make things easier if you did.”
    She started to sniffle again, and he put a fatherly arm around her. She pulled close, trying to use his warmth to push away the pain.
    “I loved him, Kelsier,” she whispered.
    “Elend? I know.”
    “No, not Elend,” Vin said. “Reen. He beat me over, and over, and over. He swore at me, he yelled at me, he told me he’d betray me. Every day, I thought about how much I hated him.
    “And I loved him. I still do. It hurts so much to think that he’s gone, even though he always told me he would leave.”
    “Oh, child,” Kelsier said, pulling her close. “I’m sorry.”
    “Everyone leaves me,” she whispered. “I can barely remember my mother. She tried to kill me, you know. She heard voices, in her head, and they made her kill my baby sister. She was probably going to kill me next, but Reen stopped her.
    “Either way, she left me. After that, I clung to Reen. He left too. I love Elend, but he doesn’t want me anymore.” She looked up at Kelsier. “When are you going to go? When will you leave me?”
    Kelsier looked sorrowful. “I . . . Vin, I don’t know. This job, the plan . . .”
    She searched his eyes, looking for the secrets therein. What are you hiding from me, Kelsier? Something that dangerous? She wiped her eyes again, pulling away from him, feeling foolish.
    He looked down, shaking his head. “Look, now you got blood all over my nice, dirty, pretend informant’s clothing.”
    Vin smiled. “At least some of it is noble blood. I got Shan pretty good.”
    Kelsier chuckled. “You’re probably right about me, you know. I don’t give the nobility much of a chance, do I?”
    Vin flushed. “Kelsier, I shouldn’t have said those things. You’re good people, and this plan of yours . . . well, I realize what you’re trying to do for the skaa.”
    “No, Vin,” Kelsier said, shaking his head. “What you said was true. We’re not really skaa.”
    “But, that’s good,” Vin said. “If you were regular skaa, you wouldn’t have the experience or courage to plan something like this.”
    “They might lack experience,” Kelsier said. “But not courage. Our army lost, true, but they were willing—with minimal training—to charge a superior force. No, the skaa don’t lack courage. Just opportunity.”
    “Then it’s your position as half skaa, half nobleman that has given you opportunity, Kelsier. And you’ve chosen to use that opportunity to help your skaa half. That makes you worthy of being a skaa if anything does.”
    Kelsier smiled. “Worthy to be a skaa. I like the sound of that. Regardless, perhaps I need to spend a little less time worrying about which noblemen to kill, and a little more time worrying about which peasants to help.”
    Vin nodded, pulling the cloak close as she stared up into the mists. They protect us. . . . give us power . . . hide us. . . .
    She hadn’t felt like she needed to hide in a long time. But now, after the things she’d said below, she almost wished that she could just blow away like a wisp of mist.
    I need to tell him. It could mean the plan’s success or failure. She took a deep breath. “House Venture has a weakness, Kelsier.”
    He perked up. “It does?”
    Vin nodded. “Atium. They make certain the metal is harvested and delivered—it’s the source of their wealth.”
    Kelsier paused for a moment. “Of course! That’s how they can pay the taxes, that’s why they’re so powerful. . . . He would need someone to handle things for him. . . .”
    “Kelsier?” Vin asked.
    He looked back at her.
    “Don’t . . . do anything unless you have to, all right?”
    Kelsier frowned. “I . . . don’t know that I can promise anything, Vin. I’ll try and think of another way, but as things stand now, Venture has to fall.”
    “I understand.”
    “I’m glad you