Page 134 of The Well of Ascension
“I do,” Vin said. “But, I don’t want you to stay in a body that makes you unhappy.”
OreSeur snorted. “My happiness is not an issue.”
“It is to me,” Vin said. “We could—”
“Mistress,” OreSeur interrupted.
“Yes?”
“I shall keep these bones. I’ve grown accustomed to them. It is very frustrating to change forms often.”
Vin hesitated. “All right,” she finally said.
OreSeur nodded. “Though,” he continued, “speaking of bodies, Mistress, are we ever planning to return to the palace? Not all of us have the constitution of a Mistborn—some people need sleep and food on occasion.”
He certainly complains a lot more now,Vin thought. However, she found the attitude to be a good sign; it meant OreSeur was growing more comfortable with her. Comfortable enough to tell her when he thought she was being stupid.
Why do I even bother with Zane?she thought, rising and turning eyes northward. The mist was still moderately strong, and she could barely make out Straff’s army, still holding the northern canal, maintaining the siege. It sat like a spider, waiting for the right time to spring.
Elend,she thought.I should be more focused on Elend.His motions to dismiss the Assembly’s decision, or to force a revote, had all failed. And, stubbornly lawful as always, Elend continued to accept his failures. He still thought he had a chance to persuade the Assembly to choose him as king—or at least not vote anybody else to the position.
So he worked on speeches and planned with Breeze and Dockson. This left him little time for Vin, and rightly so. The last thing he needed was her distracting him. This was something she couldn’t help him with—something she couldn’t fight or scare away.
His world is of papers, books, laws, and philosophies,she thought.He rides the words of his theories like I ride the mists. I always worry that he can’t understand me…but can I really even understand him?
OreSeur stood, stretched, and placed his forepaws on the wall’s railing to raise himself and look north, like Vin.
Vin shook her head. “Sometimes, I wish Elend weren’t so…well, noble. The city doesn’t need this confusion right now.”
“He did the right thing, Mistress.”
“You think so?”
“Of course,” OreSeur said. “He made a contract. It is his duty to keep that contract, no matter what. He must serve his master—in his case, that would be the city—even if that master makes him do something very distasteful.”
“That’s a very kandralike way of seeing things,” Vin said.
OreSeur looked up at her, raising a canine eyebrow, as if to askWell, what did you expect?She smiled; she had to suppress a chuckle every time she saw that expression on his dog face.
“Come on,” Vin said. “Let’s get back to the palace.”
“Excellent,” OreSeur said, dropping down to all fours. “That meat I set out should be perfect by now.”
“Unless the maids found it again,” Vin said with a smile.
OreSeur’s expression darkened. “I thought you were going to warn them.”
“What would I say?” Vin asked with amusement. “Please don’t throw away this rancid meat—my dog likes to eat it?”
“Why not?” OreSeur asked. “When I imitate a human, I almost never get to have a good meal, but dogs eat aged meat sometimes, don’t they?”
“I honestly don’t know,” Vin said.
“Aged meat is delicious.”
“You mean ‘rotten’ meat.”
“Aged,” OreSeur said insistently as she picked him up, preparing to carry him down from the wall. The top of Keep Hasting was a good hundred feet tall—far too high up for OreSeur to jump, and the only path down would be through the inside of the abandoned keep. Better to carry him.
