Mistborn #02 The Well of Ascension

she seems to get. . .cold."
    Sazed sighed. Did Tindwyl dislike him? He thought, perhaps, that her inability to do so was a large part of the problem. "She is simply disappointed in me, Lady Vin. I'm not sure how much you know of my history, but I had been working against the Lord Ruler for some ten years before Kelsier recruited me. The other Keepers thought that I endangered my copperminds, and the very order itself. They believed that the Keepers should remain quiet—waiting for the day when the Lord Ruler fell, but not seeking to make it happen."
    "Seems a bit cowardly to me," Vin said.
    "Ah, but it was a very prudent course. You see, Lady Vin, had I been captured, there are many things I could have revealed. The names of other Keepers, the location of our safe houses, the means by which we managed to hide ourselves in Terris culture. My brethren worked for many decades to make the Lord Ruler think that Feruchemy had finally been exterminated. By revealing myself, I could have undone all of that."
    "That would only have been bad had we failed," Vin said. "We didn't."
    "We could have."
    "We didn't."
    Sazed paused, then smiled. Sometimes, in a world of debate, questions, and self-doubt, Vin's simple bluntness was refreshing. "Regardless," he continued, "Tindwyl is a member of the Synod—a group of Keeper elders who guide our sect. I have been in rebellion against the Synod a number of times during my past. And, by returning to Luthadel, I am defying them once again. She has good reason to be displeased with me."
    "Well, I think you're doing the right thing," Vin said. "We need you."
    "Thank you, Lady Vin."
    "I don't think you have to listen to Tindwyl," she said. "She's the type who acts like she knows more than she does."
    "She is very wise."
    "She's hard on Elend."
    "Then she probably does so because it is best for him," Sazed said. "Do not judge her too harshly, child. If she seems off-putting, it is only because she has lived a very hard life."
    "Hard life?" Vin asked, tucking her notes back into her pocket.
    "Yes, Lady Vin," Sazed said. "You see, Tindwyl spent most of her life as a Terris mother."
    Vin hesitated, hand in pocket, looking surprised. "You mean. . .she was a Breeder?"
    Sazed nodded. The Lord Ruler's breeding program included selecting a few, special individuals to use for birthing new children—with the goal being to breed Feruchemy out of the population.
    "Tindwyl had, at last count, birthed over twenty children," he said. "Each with a different father. Tindwyl had her first child when she was fourteen, and spent her entire life being taken repeatedly by strange men until she became pregnant. And, because of the fertility drugs the Breeding masters forced upon her, she often bore twins or triplets."
    "I. . .see," Vin said softly.
    "You are not the only one who knew a terrible childhood, Lady Vin. Tindwyl is perhaps the strongest woman I know."
    "How did she bear it?" Vin asked quietly. "I think. . .I think I would probably have just killed myself."
    "She is a Keeper," Sazed said. "She suffered the indignity because she knew that she did a great service for her people. You see, Feruchemy is hereditary. Tindwyl's position as a mother ensured future generations of Feruchemists among our people. Ironically, she is exactly the sort of person that the Breeding masters were supposed to avoid letting reproduce."
    "But, how did such a thing happen?"
    "The breeders assumed they'd already cut Feruchemy out of the population," Sazed said. "They started looking to create other traits in the Terris—docility, temperance. They bred us like fine horses, and it was a great stroke when the Synod managed to get Tindwyl chosen for their program.
    "Of course, Tindwyl has very little training in Feruchemy. She did, fortunately, receive some of the copperminds that we Keepers carry. So, during her many years locked away, she was able to study and read biographies. It was only during the last decade—her childbearing years through—that she was able to join and gain fellowship with the other Keepers."
    Sazed paused, then shook his head. "By comparison, the rest of us have known a life of freedom, I think."
    "Great," Vin mumbled, standing and yawning. "Another reason for you to feel guilty."
    "You should sleep, Lady Vin," Sazed noted.
    "For a few hours," Vin said, walking toward the door, leaving him alone again with his studies.

In the end, my pride may have doomed us all .

31
    PHILEN FRANDEU WAS NOT SKAA. He had