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He was already there He nodded to Vin as he noticed her arrival, and she s quietly with Lord Penrod, one of the noblemen in the Assembly

"Elend will be happy," Vin whispered "Place is packed"

"They're worried," Ham said quietly "And worried people pay s like this Can't say I'm happy--all these peoplethe audience The croas a strangely roups ould never havethe days of the Final Empire Aof how often various members of the nobility tried to manipulate Elend, and of the promises he made to the her

Vin eyed the Thug Expectant eyes twinkled in his firular face Hauhed "I don't know about this, Ham"

"This?"

"This," Vin said quietly, waving her hand at the Asseives so much away--his power, his money"

"He just wants to see that everyone is treated fairly"

"It's more than that, Ham," Vin said "It's like he's determined to make everyone a noble?"

"If everyone is a noble as a noblee That's just not the way things work"

"Perhaps," Hahtfully "But, doesn't Elend have a civic duty to try and make sure justice is served?"

Civic duty? Vin thought I should have known better than to talk to Ha like this

Vin looked down "I just think he could see that everyone was treated ithout having an Asseue and try to take his poay And he lets them"

Ham let the discussion die, and Vin turned back to her study of the audience It appeared that a large group of et the best seats Early in the Assembly's history--perhaps ten months before--the nobility had sent servants to reserve seats for theive up their places As soon as Elend had discovered this, however, he had forbidden both practices

Other than the noblee number of the "new" class Skaa merchants and craftsmasters, now allowed to set their own prices for their services They were the true winners in Elend's economy Beneath the Lord Ruler's oppressive hand, only the few most extraordinarily skilled skaa had been able to rise to positions of even moderate comfort Without those restrictions, these same people had quickly proven to have abilities and acumen far above their noble counterparts' They represented a faction in the Assembly at least as powerful as that of the nobility

Other skaa peppered the crowd They looked much the saenerally wore suits--complete with dayhats and coats--these skaa wore simple trousers Some of the old, worn, and stained with ash

And yetthere was so, but their postures They sat a little straighter, their heads held a little higher And they had enough free ti

Elend finally stood to begin the , and the result was attire that was almost completely free of dishevelment His suit fit well, all the buttons were done up, and his vest was of an appropriate dark blue His hair was even neatly styled, the short, brown curls lying flat

Nor on other speakers, Assemblymen ould drone on for hours about various topics like taxation rates or city sanitation However, this day, there wereyour leave to depart froht of our currentstate of city affairs"

The group of twenty-four Asses under their breath Elend ignored them He was comfortable before crowds, far more comfortable than Vin would ever be As he unrolled his speech, Vin kept one eye on the croatching for reactions or problems

"The dire nature of our situation should be quite obvious," Elend said, beginning the speech he had prepared earlier "We face a danger that this city has never known Invasion and siege frodo the days of the Lord Ruler Yet, we are already a kingdom of tradition Freedon Nobleators and Inquisitors

"Gentleh We have tasted freedo the lastwhat to do should this day arrive Obviously, we are of many minds on the issue Therefore, I ask for a vote of solidarity Let us proive this city over to a foreign poithout due consideration Let us resolve to gather ht should it be deemed necessary"

The speech went on, but Vin had heard it a dozen times as Elend practiced it As he spoke, she found herself eying the crowd She wasin the back They showed little reaction to the negative light in which Elend's remarks cast them

She'd never understood why Elend allowed the Steel Ministry to continue teaching It was the last real reators obstinately refused to lend their knowledge of bureaucracy and adarded skaa with contempt

And yet, Elend let them remain He maintained a strict rule that they were not allowed to incite rebellion or violence However, he also didn't eject theested Actually, if the choice had been solely hers, she probably would have executed them