Mistborn #01 The Final Empire

another.”
    Vin didn’t contradict him, but he could see in her eyes that she didn’t believe him.
    What a life . . . Kelsier thought, falling silent. There were so many children like Vin in the underground. Of course, most died before reaching her age. Kelsier had been one of the lucky ones: His mother had been a resourceful mistress of a high nobleman, a clever woman who had managed to hide the fact that she was skaa from her lord. Kelsier and Marsh had grown up privileged—considered illegitimate, but still noble—until their father had finally discovered the truth.
    “Why did you teach me those things?” Vin asked, interrupting his thoughts. “About Allomancy, I mean.”
    Kelsier frowned. “I promised you that I would.”
    “Now that I know your secrets, what is to keep me from running away from you?”
    “Nothing,” Kelsier said.
    Once again, her distrusting glare told him that she didn’t believe his answer. “There are metals you didn’t tell me about. Back in our meeting on the first day, you said there were ten.”
    Kelsier nodded, leaning forward. “There are. But I didn’t leave the last two out because I wanted to keep things from you. They’re just . . . difficult to get used to. It will be easier if you practice with the basic metals first. However, if you want to know about the last two, I can teach you once we arrive in Fellise.”
    Vin’s eyes narrowed.
    Kelsier rolled his eyes. “I’m not trying to trick you, Vin. People serve on my crews because they want to, and I’m effective because they can rely on one another. No distrust, no betrayals.”
    “Except one,” Vin whispered. “The betrayal that sent you to the Pits.”
    Kelsier froze. “Where did you hear that?”
    Vin shrugged.
    Kelsier sighed, rubbing his forehead with one hand. That wasn’t what he wanted to do—he wanted to scratch his scars, the ones that ran all along his fingers and hands, twisting up his arms toward his shoulders. He resisted.
    “That isn’t something worth talking about,” he said.
    “But there was a traitor,” Vin said.
    “We don’t know for certain.” That sounded weak, even to him. “Regardless, my crews rely on trust. That means no coercions. If you want out, we can go back to Luthadel right now. I’ll show you the last two metals, then you can be on your way.”
    “I don’t have enough money to survive on my own,” Vin said.
    Kelsier reached inside of his cloak and pulled out a bag of coins, then tossed it onto the seat beside her. “Three thousand boxings. The money I took from Camon.”
    Vin glanced at the bag distrustfully.
    “Take it,” Kelsier said. “You’re the one who earned it—from what I’ve been able to gather, your Allomancy was behind most of Camon’s recent successes, and you were the one who risked Pushing the emotions of an obligator.”
    Vin didn’t move.
    Fine, Kelsier thought, reaching up and knocking on the underside of the coachman’s chair. The carriage stopped, and Sazed soon appeared at his window.
    “Turn the carriage around please, Saze,” Kelsier said. “Take us back to Luthadel.”
    “Yes, Master Kelsier.”
    Within moments, the carriage was rolling back in the direction it had come. Vin watched in silence, but she seemed a little less certain of herself. She eyed the bag of coins.
    “I’m serious, Vin,” Kelsier said. “I can’t have someone on my team who doesn’t want to work with me. Turning you away isn’t a punishment; it’s just the way things must be.”
    Vin didn’t respond. Letting her go would be a gamble—but forcing her to stay would be a bigger one. Kelsier sat, trying to read her, trying to understand her. Would she betray them to the Final Empire if she left? He thought not. She wasn’t a bad person.
    She just thought that everybody else was.
    “I think your plan is crazy,” she said quietly.
    “So do half the people on the crew.”
    “You can’t defeat the Final Empire.”
    “We don’t have to,” Kelsier said. “We just have to get Yeden an army, then seize the palace.”
    “The Lord Ruler will stop you,” Vin said. “You can’t beat him—he’s immortal.”
    “We have the Eleventh Metal,” Kelsier said. “We’ll find a way to kill him.”
    “The Ministry is too powerful. They’ll find your army and destroy it.”
    Kelsier leaned forward, looking Vin in the eye. “You trusted me enough to jump off the top of the wall, and I caught you. You’re going to have to trust me this time