Mistborn #02 The Well of Ascension

for what you did for me."
    "I fulfill my Contract."
    "I've been in other fights," Vin said. "You never intervened in those."
    OreSeur didn't answer immediately. "No, I didn't."
    "Why this time?"
    "I did what felt right, Mistress," OreSeur said.
    "Even if it contradicted the Contract?"
    OreSeur sat up proudly on his haunches. "I did not break my Contract," he said firmly.
    "But you attacked a human."
    "I didn't kill him," OreSeur said. "We are cautioned to stay out of combat, lest we accidentally cause a human death. Indeed, most of my brethren think that helping someone kill is the same as killing, and feel it is a breach of the Contract. The words are distinct, however. I did nothing wrong."
    "And if that man you tackled had broken his neck?"
    "Then I would have returned to my kind for execution," OreSeur said.
    Vin smiled. "Then you did risk your life for me."
    "In a small way, I suppose," OreSeur said. "The chances of my actions directly causing that man's death were slim."
    "Thank you anyway."
    OreSeur bowed his head in acceptance.
    "Executed," Vin said. "So you can be killed?"
    "Of course, Mistress," OreSeur said. "We aren't immortal."
    Vin eyed him.
    "I will say nothing specific, Mistress," OreSeur said. "As you might imagine, I would rather not reveal the weaknesses of my kind. Please suffice it to say that they exist."
    Vin nodded, but frowned in thought, bringing her knees up to her chest. Something was still bothering her, something about what Elend had said earlier, something about OreSeur's actions. . ..
    "But," she said slowly, "you couldn't have been killed by swords or staves, right?"
    "Correct," OreSeur said. "Though our flesh looks like yours, and though we feel pain, beating us has no permanent effect."
    "Then why are you afraid?" Vin said, finally lighting upon what was bothering her.
    "Mistress?"
    "Why did your people make the Contract?" Vin asked. "Why subjugate yourselves to mankind? If our soldiers couldn't hurt you, then why even worry about us?"
    "You have Allomancy," OreSeur said.
    "So, Allomancy can kill you?"
    "No," OreSeur said, shaking his canine head. "It cannot. But, perhaps we should change the topic. I'm sorry, Mistress. This is very dangerous ground for me."
    "I understand," Vin said, sighing. "It's just so frustrating. There's so much I don't know—about the Deepness, about the legal politics. . .even about my own friends!" She sat back, looking up at the ceiling. And there's still a spy in the palace. Demoux or Dockson, likely. Maybe I should just order them both taken and held for a time? Would Elend even do such a thing ?
    OreSeur was watching her, apparently noting her frustration. Finally, he sighed. "Perhaps there are some things I can speak of, Mistress, if I am careful. What do you know of the origin of the kandra?"
    Vin perked up. "Nothing."
    "We did not exist before the Ascension," he said.
    "You mean to say that the Lord Ruler created you?"
    "That is what our lore teaches," OreSeur said. "We are not certain of our purpose. Perhaps we were to be Father's spies."
    "Father?" Vin said. "It seems strange to hear him spoken of that way."
    "The Lord Ruler created us, Mistress," OreSeur said. "We are his children."
    "And I killed him," Vin said. "I. . .feel like I should apologize."
    "Just because he is our Father does not mean we accepted everything he did, Mistress," OreSeur said. "Cannot a human man love his father, yet not believe he is a good person?"
    "I suppose."
    "Kandra theology about Father is complex," OreSeur said. "Even for us, it is difficult to sort through it sometimes."
    Vin frowned. "OreSeur? How old are you?"
    "Old," he said simply.
    "Older than Kelsier?"
    "Much," OreSeur. "But not as old as you are thinking. I do not remember the Ascension."
    Vin nodded. "Why tell me all of this?"
    "Because of your original question, Mistress. Why do we serve the Contract? Well, tell me—if you were the Lord Ruler, and had his power, would you have created servants without building into them a way that you could control them?"
    Vin nodded slowly in understanding.
    "Father took little thought of the kandra from about the second century after his Ascension," OreSeur said. "We tried to be independent for a time, but it was as I explained, humankind resented us. Feared us. And, some of them knew of our weaknesses. When my ancestors considered their options, they eventually chose voluntary servitude as opposed to forced slavery."
    He created them , Vin thought. She had always