Mistborn #02 The Well of Ascension

same for Cett inside your own city?"
    Elend paused. Forget your biases , he told himself. You need to talk to this man, if only for the information the meeting might provide .
    "All right," Elend said. "I'll meet with him."
    "Dinner, in one week?" Gneorndin asked.
    Elend nodded curtly.

As the one who found Alendi, however, I became someone important. Foremost among the Worldbringers .

33
    VIN LAY ON HER STOMACH, arms folded, head resting on them as she studied a sheet of paper on the floor in front of her. Considering the last few days of chaos, it was surprising to her that she found returning to her studies to be a relief.
    A small one, however, for her studies held their own problems. The Deepness has returned , she thought. Even if the mists only kill infrequently, they've begun to turn hostile again. That means the Hero of Ages needs to come again too, doesn't it ?
    Did she honestly think that might be her? It sounded ridiculous, when she considered it. Yet, she heard the thumping in her head, saw the spirit in the mists. . ..
    And what of that night, over a year gone, when she'd confronted the Lord Ruler? That night when somehow, she'd drawn the mists into herself, burning them as if they were metal?
    That's not enough , she told herself. One freak event—one I've never been able to replicate—doesn't mean I'm some mythological savior . She didn't even really know most of the prophecies about the Hero. The logbook mentioned that he was supposed to come from humble origins—but that pretty much described every skaa in the Final Empire. He was supposed to have hidden royal bloodlines, but that made every half-breed in the city a candidate. In fact, she'd be willing to bet that most skaa had one or another hidden nobleman progenitor.
    She sighed, shaking her head.
    "Mistress?" OreSeur asked, turning. He stood on a chair, his forepaws up against the window as he looked out at the city.
    "Prophecies, legends, foretellings," Vin said, slapping her hand down on her sheet of notes. "What's the point? Why did the Terris even believe in these things? Shouldn't a religion teach something practical?"
    OreSeur settled down on his haunches upon the chair. "What would be more practical than gaining knowledge of the future?"
    "If these actually said something useful, I'd agree. But even the logbook acknowledges that the Terris prophecies could be understood many different ways. What good are promises that could be interpreted so liberally?"
    "Do not dismiss someone's beliefs because you do not understand them, Mistress."
    Vin snorted. "You sound like Sazed. A part of me is tempted to think that all these prophecies and legends were devised by priests who wanted to make a living."
    "Only a part of you?" OreSeur asked, sounding amused.
    Vin paused, then nodded. "The part that grew up on the streets, the part that always expects a scam." That part didn't want to acknowledge the other things she felt.
    The thumpings were getting stronger and stronger.
    "Prophecies do not have to be a scam, Mistress," OreSeur said. "Or even, really, a promise for the future. They can simply be an expression of hope."
    "What do you know of such things?" Vin said dismissively, setting aside her sheet.
    There was a moment of silence. "Nothing, of course, Mistress," OreSeur eventually said.
    Vin turned toward the dog. "I'm sorry, OreSeur. I didn't mean. . .Well, I've just been feeling distracted lately."
    Thump. Thump. Thump . . ..
    "You need not apologize to me, Mistress," OreSeur said. "I am only kandra."
    "Still a person," Vin said. "If one with dog breath."
    OreSeur smiled. "You chose these bones for me, Mistress. You must deal with the consequences."
    "The bones might have something to do with it," Vin said, rising. "But I don't think that carrion you eat is helping. Honestly, we have to get you some mint leaves to chew."
    OreSeur raised a canine eyebrow. "And you don't think a dog with sweet breath would attract attention?"
    "Only from anyone you happen to kiss in the near future," Vin said, returning her stacks of paper to her desk.
    OreSeur chuckled softly in his canine way, turning back to study the city.
    "Is the procession finished yet?" Vin asked.
    "Yes, Mistress," OreSeur said. "It is difficult to see, even from a height. But, it does look like Lord Cett has finished moving in. He certainly did bring a lot of carts."
    "He's Allrianne's father," Vin said. "Despite how much that girl complains about accommodations in the army, I'd bet