Mistborn #02 The Well of Ascension

turned, smiling hesitantly. "I don't have any jewelry. I gave the last of it to Elend to help feed the refugees. It was the wrong color to go with this dress anyway."
    "Many women use jewelry to try and hide their own plainness," Tindwyl said. "You don't have that need."
    The Terriswoman stood with her usual posture, hands clasped before her, rings and earrings sparkling. None of her jewelry, however, had gemstones; in fact, most of it was made from simple materials. Iron, copper, pewter. Feruchemical metals.
    "You haven't been in to see Elend lately," Vin said, turning back to the mirror and using a few wooden barrettes to hold her hair back.
    "The king is quickly approaching the point where he no longer needs my instruction."
    "He's that close then?" Vin asked. "To being like the men from your biographies?"
    Tindwyl laughed. "Goodness, no, child. He's quite far from that."
    "But—"
    "I said he would no longer need my instruction," Tindwyl said. "He is learning that he can rely only so much upon the words of others, and has reached the point where he will have to learn more for himself. You would be surprised, child, how much about being a good leader simply comes from experience."
    "He seems very different to me," Vin said quietly.
    "He is," Tindwyl said, walking forward to lay a hand on Vin's shoulder. "He is becoming the man that he always knew he would have to be—he just didn't know the path. Though I am hard on him, I think he would have found his way, even if I hadn't come. A man can only stumble for so long before he either falls or stands up straight."
    Vin looked at her mirror self, pretty in its maroon dressings. "This is what I have to become. For him."
    "For him," Tindwyl agreed. "And for yourself. This is where you were heading, before you got distracted."
    Vin turned. "Are you going to come with us tonight?"
    Tindwyl shook her head. "That is not my place. Now, go meet your king."

    This time, Elend did not intend to enter his enemy's lair without a proper escort. Two hundred soldiers stood in the courtyard, waiting to accompany him to Cett's dinner, and Ham—fully armed—was playing personal bodyguard. Spook would act as Elend's coachman. That only left Breeze, who—understandably—was a bit nervous about the idea of going to the dinner.
    "You don't have to come," Elend told the portly man as they assembled in the Venture courtyard.
    "I don't?" Breeze said. "Well then, I shall remain here. Enjoy the dinner!"
    Elend paused, frowning.
    Ham clapped Elend on the shoulder. "You should know better than to give that one any wiggle room, Elend!"
    "Well, I meant my words," Elend said. "We could really use a Soother, but he doesn't have to come if he doesn't want to."
    Breeze looked relieved.
    "You don't even feel a bit guilty, do you?" Ham asked.
    "Guilty?" Breeze asked, hand resting on his cane. "My dear Hammond, have you ever known me to express such a dreary and uninspired emotion? Besides, I have a feeling Cett will be more amiable without me around."
    He's probably right , Elend thought as his coach pulled up.
    "Elend," Ham said. "Don't you think bringing two hundred soldiers with us is. . .well, a little obvious?"
    "Cett is the one who said we should be honest with our threats," Elend said. "Well, I'd say two hundred men is on the conservative side of how well I trust the man. He'll still have us outnumbered five to one."
    "But you'll have a Mistborn sitting a few seats from him," a soft voice said from behind.
    Elend turned, smiling at Vin. "How can you possibly move so quietly in a dress like that?"
    "I've been practicing," she said, taking his arm.
    Thing is, she probably has , he thought, inhaling her perfume, imagining Vin creeping through the palace hallways in a massive ball gown.
    "Well, we should get moving," Ham said. He gestured for Vin and Elend to enter the carriage, and they left Breeze behind on the palace steps.

    After a year of passing Keep Hasting in the night, its windows darkened, it felt right to see them glowing again.
    "You know," Elend said from beside her, "we never did get to attend a ball together."
    Vin turned from her contemplation of the approaching keep. Around her, the carriage bounced along to the sound of several hundred tromping feet, the evening just beginning to grow dark.
    "We met up several times at the balls," Elend continued, "but we never officially attended one together. I never got the chance to pick you up in my carriage."
    "Is that really so