Mistborn #02 The Well of Ascension

"Are you certain you want to start tearing the city down around ourselves?"
    "We either lose buildings or we lose people, Demoux," Elend said. "The buildings go."
    "And if the king tries to stop us?"
    "Then we obey," Elend said. "But I don't think Lord Penrod will object. He's too busy trying to get a bill through the Assembly that hands the city over to my father. Besides, it's probably better for him to have these men here, working, than it is to have them sitting and worrying in the barracks."
    Demoux fell silent. Elend did as well; both knew how precarious their position was. Only a short time had passed since the assassination attempt and the transfer of power, and the city was in shock. Cett was still holed up inside of Keep Hasting, and his armies had moved into position to attack the city. Luthadel was like a man with a knife pressed very closely to his throat. Each breath cut the skin.
    I can't do much about that now , Elend thought. I have to make certain the people don't freeze these next few nights . He could feel the bitter cold, despite the daylight, his cloak, and the shelter. There were a lot of people in Luthadel, but if he could get enough men tearing down enough buildings, he just might be able to do some good.
    "My lord!"
    Elend turned as a short man with a drooping mustache approached. "Ah, Felt," he said. "You have news?" The man was working on the poisoned-food problem—specifically how the city was being breached.
    The scout nodded. "I do indeed, my lord. We interrogated the refugees with a Rioter, and we came up dry. Then, however, I started thinking. The refugees seemed too obvious to me. Strangers in the city? Of course they'd be the first ones we'd suspect. I figured, with how much has been going wrong with the wells and the food and the like, someone has to be sneaking in and out of the city."
    Elend nodded. They'd been watching Cett's soldiers inside Keep Hasting very carefully, and none of them was responsible. Straff's Mistborn was still a possibility, but Vin had never believed that he was behind the poisoning. Elend hoped that the trail—if it could be found—would lead back to someone in his own palace, hopefully revealing who on his serving staff had been replaced by a kandra.
    "Well?" Elend asked.
    "I interrogated the people who run passwalls," Felt continued. "I don't think they're to blame."
    "Passwalls?"
    Felt nodded. "Covert passages out of the city. Tunnels or the like."
    "Such things exist?" Elend asked with surprise.
    "Of course, my lord," Felt said. "Moving between cities was very difficult for skaa thieves during the Lord Ruler's reign. Everyone who entered Luthadel was subject to interview and interrogation. So, ways to get into the city covertly were very prevalent. Most of those have shut down—the ones who used to lower people up and down by ropes over the walls. A few are still running, but I don't think they are letting the spies in. Once that first well was poisoned, the passwalls all got paranoid that you'd come after them. Since then, they've only been letting people out of the city—ones who want to run from the besieged city and the like."
    Elend frowned. He wasn't certain what he thought of the fact that people were disobeying his order that the gates be shut, with no passage out.
    "Next," Felt said, "I tried the river."
    "We thought of that," Elend said. "The grates covering the water are all secure."
    Felt smiled. "That they are. I sent some men down under the water to search about, and we found several locks down below, keeping the river grates in place."
    "What?"
    "Someone pried the grates free, my lord," Felt said, "then locked them back into place so it wouldn't look suspicious. That way, they could swim in and out at their leisure."
    Elend raised an eyebrow.
    "You want us to replace the grates?" Felt asked.
    "No," Elend said. "No, just replace those locks with new ones, then post men to watch. Next time those prisoners try and get into the city, I want them to find themselves trapped."
    Felt nodded, retreating with a happy smile on his face. His talents as a spy hadn't been put to much good use lately, and he seemed to be enjoying the tasks Elend was giving him. Elend made a mental note to think about putting Felt to work on locating the kandra spy—assuming, of course, that Felt himself wasn't the spy.
    "My lord," Demoux said, approaching. "I think I might be able to offer a second opinion on how the poisonings are occurring."
    Elend turned.