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"Why not?" Elend eventually asked

"Well, he was old, for one thing"

Elend chuckled "I seee as well"

"That's different," Vin said "You're only a few years older than ht is not ancient"

"Close enough"

Elend chuckled again, but she could tell that he wasn't satisfied Why had she chosen Elend, rather than Kelsier? Kelsier had been the visionary, the hero, the Mistborn

"Kelsier was a great an to stroke her hair "Butthere were things about his He was intense, reckless, even a little bit cruel Unforgiving He'd slaughter people without guilt or concern, just because they upheld the Final Empire or worked for the Lord Ruler

"I could love him as a teacher and a friend But I don't think I could ever love--not really love--a man like that I don't blale so hard for life, you grow strong--but you can grow harsh, too His fault or not, Kelsier reer Kell was a far better person than they--he really could be kind, and he did sacrifice his life for the skaa However, he was just so hard"

She closed her eyes, feeling Elend's warood ends," he said quietly

"Good ends" She opened her eyes, looking up at hiht anyway"

Elend smiled Then he kissed the top of her head and leaned back They lay there for a ti

"He saved my life, once," Elend finally said

"Who?" Vin asked with surprise "Kelsier?"

Elend nodded "That day after Spook and OreSeur were captured, the day Kelsier died There was a battle in the square when Ham and some soldiers tried to free the captives"

"I was there," Vin said "Hiding with Breeze and Dox in one of the alleyways"

"Really?" Elend said, sounding a bit aht that they'd arrested you, along with OreSeur--he was pretending to be your uncle, then I tried to get to the cages to rescue you"

"You did what? Elend, it was a battlefield in that square! There was an Inquisitor there, for the Lord Ruler's sake!"

"I know," Elend said, s faintly "See, that Inquisitor is the one who tried to killAnd thenKelsier was there He sround"

"Probably just a coincidence," Vin said

"No," Elend said softly "He led with the Inquisitor, and I saw it in his eyes I've alondered about that moment; everyone tells me that Kelsier hated the nobility even more than Dox does"

Vin paused "Hestarted to change a little at the end, I think"

"Change enough that he'd risk himself to protect a random nobleman?"

"He knew that I loved you," Vin said, ser than his hatred"

"I didn't realize" He trailed off as Vin turned, hearing so She sat up, and a second later, Ham poked his head into the roo in Elend's lap, however

"Oh," Ham said "Sorry"

"No, wait," Vin said Ham poked his head back in, and Vin turned to Elend "I alot a new package from Terion today"

"Another one?" Elend asked "Vin, when are you going to give this up?"

"I can't afford to," she said

"It can't be all that iotten what that last metal does, then it must not be very powerful"

"Either that," Vin said, "or it was so aly powerful that the Ministry worked very hard to keep it a secret" She slid off of the chair to stand up, then took the pouch and thin bar out of her pocket She handed the bar to Elend, who sat up in his plush chair

Silvery and reflective, the ht to be real Any Allomancer who accidentally burned aluminum had their otherthem powerless Aluminum had been kept secret by the Steel Ministry; Vin had only found out about it on the night when she'd been captured by the Inquisitors, the saht she'd killed the Lord Ruler

They had never been able to figure out the proper Allomantic alloy of aluminum Allomantic metals always came in pairs--iron and steel, tin and pewter, copper and bronze, zinc and brass Alu powerful, hopefully Her atiuhed, handing back the bar "The last time you tried to burn one of those it left you sick for two days, Vin I was terrified"

"It can't killa bad alloy would only make me sick"

Elend shook his head "Even Kelsier rong on occasion, Vin Didn't you say that he misunderstood how bronze worked?"

Vin paused Elend's concern was so genuine that she felt herself being persuaded However

When that arht survive--no ruler would be foolish enough to slaughter the people of such a productive city The king, however, would be killed She couldn't fight off an entire army, and she could do little to help with preparations

She did know Alloot at it, the better she'd be able to protect the man she loved

"I have to try it, Elend," she said quietly "Clubs says that Straff won't attack for a few days--he'll need that long to rest his men from the march and scout the city for attack That means I can't wait If this ht--but only if I try it now"