Mistborn #03 The Hero of Ages

Majesty," Demoux said.
    "It's never 'nothing' in my camp, Demoux," Elend said. "What am I missing?"
    Ham sighed, pulling over a chair. He sat on it backward, resting his muscular arms across its back. "It's just a rumor moving through the camp, El."
    "Soldiers," Cett said. "They're all the same—superstitious as housewives."
    Ham nodded. "Some of them have gotten it into their heads that the men who got sick from the mists were being punished."
    "Punished?" Elend asked. "For what?"
    "Lack of faith, Your Majesty," Demoux said.
    "Nonsense," Elend said. "We all know that the mists struck randomly."
    The others shared looks, and Elend had to pause and reconsider. No. The strikes weren't random — at least, the statistics surrounding them weren't. "Regardless," he said, deciding to change the subject, "what are your daily reports?"
    The three men took turns talking about their various duties in the bivouac. Ham saw to morale and training, Demoux to supplies and camp duties, Cett to tactics and patrols. Elend stood with hands clasped behind his back, listening to the reports, but only with half an ear. They weren't much different from the previous day, though it was good to see Demoux back at his duties. He was far more efficient than his assistants.
    As they talked, Elend's mind wandered. The siege was going fairly well, but a part of him—the part trained by Cett and Tindwyl—chafed at the waiting game. He might just be able to take the city straight out. He had koloss, and all accounts said that his troops were far more experienced than those inside of Fadrex. The rock formations would provide cover for the defenders, but Elend wasn't in so bad a position that he couldn't win.
    But doing so would cost many, many lives.
    That was the step he balked at—the last step that would take him from defender to aggressor. From protector to conqueror. And he was frustrated at his own hesitation.
    There was another reason going into the city had been bad for Elend. It had been better for Elend to think of Yomen as an evil tyrant, a corrupt obligator loyal to the Lord Ruler. Now, unfortunately, he knew Yomen to be a reasonable man. And one with very good arguments. In a way, his indictment of Elend was true. Elend was a hypocrite. He spoke of democracy, yet he had taken his throne by force.
    It was what the people had needed from him, he believed. But it did make him a hypocrite. Still, by that same logic, he knew he should send Vin to assassinate Yomen. But, could Elend order the death of a man who had done nothing wrong besides getting in his way?
    Assassinating the obligator seemed as twisted an action as sending his koloss to attack the city. Cett is right, Elend thought. I'm trying to play both sides on this one. For a moment, while talking to Telden during the ball, he had felt so sure of himself. And, in truth, he still believed what he'd claimed. Elend wasn't the Lord Ruler. He did give his people more freedom and more justice.
    However, he realized that this siege could tip the balance between who he was and who he feared he would become. Could he really justify invading Fadrex, slaughtering its armies and pillaging its resources, all ostensibly in the name of protecting the people of the empire? Could he dare do the opposite: back away from Fadrex, and leave the secrets in that cavern—the secrets that could potentially save the entire empire—to a man who still thought the Lord Ruler would return to save his people?
    He wasn't ready to decide. For now, he was determined to exhaust every other option. Anything that would keep him from needing to invade the city. That included besieging the city to make Yomen more pliant. That also included sneaking Vin into the storage cavern. Her reports indicated that the building was very heavily guarded. She wasn't certain if she could get into it on an ordinary night. However, during a ball, defenses might be more porous. It would be the perfect time to try to get a glimpse at what was hidden in that cavern.
    Assuming Yomen hasn't simply removed the Lord Ruler's last inscription, Elend thought. Or that there was even something there in the first place.
    Yet, there was a chance. The Lord Ruler's final message, the last bit of help he had left for his people. If Elend could find a way to get that help without breaking his way into the city, killing thousands, he would take it.
    Eventually, the men finished with their reports, and Elend dismissed them. Ham went quickly, wanting to