Mistborn #02 The Well of Ascension

away from the gown. "This isn't me. It never was—it was just an act. When wearing a dress like that, it's too easy to forget who you really are."
    "And these dresses can't be part of who you really are?"
    Vin shook her head. "Dresses and gowns are part of who she is." She nodded toward Allrianne. "I need to be something else. Something harder." I shouldn't have come here .
    Tindwyl laid a hand on Vin's shoulder. "Why haven't you married him, child?"
    Vin looked up sharply. "What kind of question is that?"
    "An honest one," Tindwyl said. She seemed far less harsh than she had been the other times Vin had met her. Of course, during those times, she had mostly been addressing Elend.
    "That topic is not your concern," Vin said.
    "The king has asked me to help him improve his image," Tindwyl said. "And I have taken it upon myself to do more than that—I want to make a real king of him, if I can. There is some great potential in him, I think. However, he's not going to be able to realize it until he's more sure about certain things in his life. You in particular."
    "I. . ." Vin closed her eyes, remembering his marriage proposal. That night, on the balcony, ash lightly falling in the night. She remembered her terror. She'd known, of course, where the relationship was going. Why had she been so frightened?
    That was the day she'd stopped wearing dresses.
    "He shouldn't have asked me," Vin said quietly, opening her eyes. "He can't marry me."
    "He loves you, child," Tindwyl said. "In a way, that is unfortunate—this would all be much easier if he could feel otherwise. However, as things stand. . ."
    Vin shook her head. "I'm wrong for him."
    "Ah," Tindwyl said. "I see."
    "He needs something else," Vin said. "Something better. A woman who can be a queen, not just a bodyguard. Someone. . ." Vin's stomach twisted. "Someone more like her."
    Tindwyl glanced toward Allrianne, who laughed at a comment made by the elderly dressmaker as he took her measurements.
    "You are the one he fell in love with, child," Tindwyl said.
    "When I was pretending to be like her."
    Tindwyl smiled. "Somehow, I doubt that you could be like Allrianne, no matter how hard you practiced."
    "Perhaps," Vin said. "Either way, it was my courtly performance that he loved. He didn't know what I really was."
    "And has he abandoned you now that he does know of it?"
    "Well, no. But—"
    "All people are more complex than they first appear," Tindwyl said. "Allrianne, for instance, is eager and young—perhaps a bit too outspoken. But she knows more of the court than many would expect, and she seems to know how to recognize what is good in a person. That is a talent many lack.
    "Your king is a humble scholar and thinker, but he has the will of a warrior. He is a man who has the nerve to fight, and I think—perhaps—you have yet to see the best of him. The Soother Breeze is a cynical, mocking man—until he looks at young Allrianne. Then he softens, and one wonders how much of his harsh unconcern is an act."
    Tindwyl paused, looking at Vin. "And you. You are so much more than you are willing to accept, child. Why look at only one side of yourself, when your Elend sees so much more?"
    "Is that what this is all about?" Vin said. "You trying to turn me into a queen for Elend?"
    "No, child," Tindwyl said. "I wish to help you turn into whoever you are. Now, go let the man take your measurements so you can try on some stock dresses."
    Whoever I am ? Vin thought, frowning. However, she let the tall Terriswoman push her forward, and the elderly dressmaker took his tape and began to measure.
    A few moments and a changing room later, Vin stepped back into the room wearing a memory. Silky blue with white lace, the gown was tight at the waist and through the bust, but had a large, flowing bottom. The numerous skirts made it flare out, tapering down in a triangular shape, her feet completely covered, the bottom of the skirt flush with the floor.
    It was terribly impractical. It rustled when she moved, and she had to be careful where she stepped to keep it from catching or brushing a dirty surface. But it was beautiful, and it made her feel beautiful. She almost expected a band to start playing, Sazed to stand over her shoulder like a protective sentry, and Elend to appear in the distance, lounging and watching couples dance as he flipped through a book.
    Vin walked forward, letting the dressmaker watch where the garment pinched and where it bunched, and Allrianne let out an "Ooo"