Mistborn #02 The Well of Ascension

face, unconscious wolfhound on the floor in front of him.
    "Just get to work on that body," Vin said, spinning and leaving the room to search for Elend.

    Vin finally found Elend in his study, going over some ledgers with a familiar figure.
    "Dox!" Vin said. He'd retired to his rooms soon after his arrival the day before, and she hadn't seen much of him.
    Dockson looked up and smiled. Stocky without being fat, he had short dark hair and still wore his customary half beard. "Hello, Vin."
    "How was Terris?" she asked.
    "Cold," Dockson replied. "I'm glad to be back. Though I wish I hadn't arrived to find that army here."
    "Either way, we're glad you've returned, Dockson," Elend said. "The kingdom practically fell apart without you."
    "That hardly seems the case," Dockson said, closing his ledger and setting it on the stack. "All things—and armies—considered, it looks like the royal bureaucracy held together fairly well in my absence. You hardly need me anymore!"
    "Nonsense!" Elend said.
    Vin leaned against the door, eyeing the two men as they continued their discussion. They maintained their air of forced joviality. Both were dedicated to making the new kingdom work, even if it meant pretending that they liked each other. Dockson pointed at places in the ledgers, talking about finances and what he'd discovered in the outlying villages under Elend's control.
    Vin sighed, glancing across the room. Sunlight streamed through the room's stained-glass rose window, throwing colors across the ledgers and table. Even now, Vin still wasn't accustomed to the casual richness of a noble keep. The window—red and lavender—was a thing of intricate beauty. Yet, noblemen apparently found its like so commonplace that they had put this one in the keep's back rooms, in the small chamber that Elend now used as his study.
    As one might expect, the room was piled with stacks of books. Shelves lined the walls from floor to ceiling, but they were no match for the sheer volume of Elend's growing collection. She'd never cared much for Elend's taste in books. They were mostly political or historical works, things with topics as musty as their aged pages. Many of them had once been forbidden by the Steel Ministry, but somehow the old philosophers could make even salacious topics seem boring.
    "Anyway," Dockson said, finally closing his ledgers. "I have some things to do before your speech tomorrow, Your Majesty. Did Ham say there's a city defense meeting that evening as well?"
    Elend nodded. "Assuming I can get the Assembly to agree not to hand the city over to my father, we'll need to come up with a strategy to deal with this army. I'll send someone for you tomorrow night."
    "Good," Dockson said. With that, he nodded to Elend, winked at Vin, then made his way from the cluttered room.
    As Dockson shut the door, Elend sighed, then relaxed back in his oversized plush chair.
    Vin walked forward. "He really is a good man, Elend."
    "Oh, I realize he is. Being a good man doesn't always make one likable, however."
    "He's nice, too," Vin said. "Sturdy, calm, stable. The crew relied on him." Even though Dockson wasn't an Allomancer, he had been Kelsier's right-hand man.
    "He doesn't like me, Vin," Elend said. "It's. . .very hard to get along with someone who looks at me like that."
    "You're not giving him a fair chance," Vin complained, stopping beside Elend's chair.
    He looked up at her, smiling wanly, his vest unbuttoned, his hair an absolute mess. "Hum. . ." he said idly, taking her hand. "I really like that shirt. Red looks good on you."
    Vin rolled her eyes, letting him gently pull her into the chair and kiss her. There was a passion to the kiss—a need, perhaps, for something stable. Vin responded, feeling herself relax as she pulled up against him. A few minutes later, she sighed, feeling much better snuggled into the chair beside him. He pulled her close, leaning the chair back into the window's sunlight.
    He smiled and glanced at her. "That's a. . .new perfume you're wearing."
    Vin snorted, putting her head against his chest. "It's not perfume, Elend. It's dog."
    "Ah, good," Elend said. "I was worried that you'd departed from your senses. Now, is there any particular reason why you smell like dog?"
    "I went to the market and bought one, then carried it back and fed it to OreSeur, so it can be his new body."
    Elend paused. "Why, Vin. That's brilliant! Nobody will suspect a dog to be a spy. I wonder if anyone's ever thought of that before. .