Mistborn #02 The Well of Ascension

take the throne from you."
    Elend was silent for a moment. Finally, he looked to Vin. She took his plate, sniffing it with an Allomancer's senses.
    Cett laughed. "Think I'd poison you?"
    "No, actually," Elend said as Vin set the plate down. She wasn't as good as some, but she'd leaned the obvious scents.
    "You wouldn't use poison," Elend said. "That isn't your way. You seem to be a rather honest man yourself."
    "I'm just blunt," Cett said. "There's a difference."
    "I haven't heard you tell a lie yet."
    "That's because you don't know me well enough to discern the lies," Cett said. He held up several grease-stained fingers. "I've already told you three lies tonight, lad. Good luck guessing which ones they were."
    Elend paused, studying Cett. "You're playing with me."
    "Of course I am!" Cett said. "Don't you see, boy? This is why you shouldn't be king. Leave the job to men who understand their own corruption; don't let it destroy you."
    "Why do you care?" Elend asked.
    "Because I'd rather not kill you," Cett said.
    "Then don't."
    Cett shook his head. "That isn't how all this works, lad. If there is an opportunity to stabilize your power, or to get more power, you'd damn well better take it. And I will."
    The table fell silent again. Cett eyed Vin. "No comments from the Mistborn?"
    "You swear a lot," Vin said. "You're not supposed to do that in front of ladies."
    Cett laughed. "That's the funny thing about Luthadel, lass. They're all so concerned about doing what is 'proper' when people can see them—but, at the same time, they find nothing wrong with going and raping a couple skaa women when the party is through. At least I swear to your face."
    Elend still hadn't touched his food. "What will happen if you win the vote for the throne?"
    Cett shrugged. "Honest answer?"
    "Always."
    "First thing, I'd have you assassinated," Cett said. "Can't have old kings sticking around."
    "And if I step down?" Elend said. "Withdraw from the vote?"
    "Step down," Cett said, "vote for me, and then leave town, and I'll let you live."
    "And the Assembly?" Elend asked.
    "Dissolved," Cett said. "They're a liability. Any time you give a committee power, you just end up with confusion."
    "The Assembly gives the people power," Elend said. "That's what a government should provide."
    Surprisingly, Cett didn't laugh at that comment. Instead, he leaned in again, setting one arm on the table, discarding a half-eaten drumstick. "That's the thing, boy. Letting the people rule themselves is fine when everything is bright and happy, but what about when you have two armies facing you? What about when there's a band of insane koloss destroying villages on your frontier? Those aren't the times when you can afford to have an Assembly around to depose you." Cett shook his head. "The price is too high. When you can't have both freedom and safety, boy, which do you choose?"
    Elend was silent. "I make my own choice," he finally said. "And I leave the others to make their own as well."
    Cett smiled, as if he'd expected such a reply. He started in on another drumstick.
    "Let's say I leave," Elend said. "And let's say you do get the throne, protect the city, and dissolve the Assembly. What then? What of the people?"
    "Why do you care?"
    "You need ask?" Elend said. "I thought you 'understood' me."
    Cett smiled. "I put the skaa back to work, in the way the Lord Ruler did. No pay, no emancipated peasant class."
    "I can't accept that," Elend said.
    "Why not?" Cett said. "It's what they want. You gave them a choice—and they chose to throw you out. Now they're going to choose to put me on the throne. They know that the Lord Ruler's way was the best. One group must rule, and another must serve. Someone has to grow the food and work the forges, boy."
    "Perhaps," Elend said. "But you're wrong about one thing."
    "And what is that?"
    "They're not going to vote for you," Elend said, standing. "They're going to choose me. Faced with the choice between freedom and slavery, they will choose freedom. The men of the Assembly are the finest of this city, and they will make the best choice for its people."
    Cett paused, then he laughed. "The best thing about you, lad, is that you can say that and sound serious!"
    "I'm leaving, Cett," Elend said, nodding to Vin.
    "Oh, sit down, Venture," Cett said, waving toward Elend's chair. "Don't act indignant because I'm being honest with you. We still have things to discuss."
    "Such as?" Elend asked.
    "Atium," Cett said.
    Elend stood for a