Mistborn #02 The Well of Ascension

shouldn't go shopping . "No," she said, reassuring the man. "It's all right. You haven't offended me."
    He relaxed slightly, and Vin noticed Spook strolling over.
    "Looks like we've been found," Spook said, nodding to the front windows.
    Vin glanced past dressing dummies and bales of cloth to see a crowd gathering outside. Tindwyl watched Vin with curiosity.
    Spook shook his head. "Why do you get to be so popular?"
    "I killed their god," Vin said quietly, ducking around a dressing dummy, hiding from the dozens of peeking eyes.
    "I helped too," Spook said. "I even got my nickname from Kelsier himself! But nobody cares about poor little Spook."
    Vin scanned the room for windows. There's got to be a back door. Of course, there might be people in the alley .
    "What are you doing?" Tindwyl asked.
    "I have to go," Vin said. "Get away from them."
    "Why don't you go out and talk to them?" Tindwyl asked. "They're obviously very interested in seeing you."
    Allrianne emerged from a dressing room—wearing a gown of yellow and blue—and twirled dramatically. She was obviously put out when she didn't even get Spook's attention.
    "I'm not going out there," Vin said. "Why would I want to do something like that?"
    "They need hope," Tindwyl said. "Hope you can give them."
    "A false hope," Vin said. "I'd only encourage them to think of me as some object of worship."
    "That's not true," Allrianne said suddenly, walking forward, looking out the windows without the least bit of embarrassment. "Hiding in corners, wearing strange clothing, and being mysterious— that's what has gotten you this amazing reputation. If people knew how ordinary you were, they wouldn't be so crazy to get a look at you." She paused, then looked back. "I. . .uh, didn't mean that like I think it sounded."
    Vin flushed. "I'm not Kelsier, Tindwyl. I don't want people to worship me. I just want to be left alone."
    "Some people don't have that choice, child," Tindwyl said. "You struck down the Lord Ruler. You were trained by the Survivor, and you are the king's consort."
    "I'm not his consort," Vin said, flushing. "We're just. . ." Lord, even I don't understand our relationship. How am I supposed to explain it ?
    Tindwyl raised an eyebrow.
    "All right," Vin said, sighing and walking forward.
    "I'll go with you," Allrianne said, grabbing Vin's arm as if they had been friends since childhood. Vin resisted, but couldn't figure a way to pry her off without making a scene.
    They stepped out of the shop. The crowd was already large, and the periphery was filling as more and more people came to investigate. Most were skaa in brown, ash-stained work coats or simple gray dresses. The ones in the front backed away as Vin stepped out, giving her a little ring of empty space, and a murmur of awed excitement moved through the crowd.
    "Wow," Allrianne said quietly. "There sure are a lot of them. . .."
    Vin nodded. OreSeur sat where he had before, near the door, and he watched her with a curious canine expression.
    Allrianne smiled at the crowd, waving with a sudden hesitance. "You can, you know, fight them off or something if this turns messy, right?"
    "That won't be necessary," Vin said, finally slipping her arm free of Allrianne's grasp and giving the crowd a bit of a Soothing to calm them. After that, she stepped forward, trying to push down her sense of itching nervousness. She'd grown to no longer feel she needed to hide when she went out in public, but standing before a crowd like this. . .well, she almost turned and slinked back into the dressmaker's shop.
    A voice, however, stopped her. The speaker was a middle-aged man with an ash-stained beard and a dirty black cap held nervously in his hands. He was a strong man, probably a mill worker. His quiet voice seemed a contrast to his powerful build. "Lady Heir. What will become of us?"
    The terror—the uncertainty—in the large man's voice was so piteous that Vin hesitated. He regarded her with hopeful eyes, as did most of the others.
    So many , Vin thought. I thought the Church of the Survivor was small . She looked at the man, who stood wringing his cap. She opened her mouth, but then. . .couldn't do it. She couldn't tell him that she didn't know what would happen; she couldn't explain to those eyes that she wasn't the savior that he needed.
    "Everything will be all right," Vin heard herself say, increasing her Soothing, trying to take away some of their fear.
    "But the armies, Lady Heir!" one of the women said.
    "They're