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"Surely you noticed hoell I did," Elend said "I got the, Elend Venture," Tindwyl said, are in attitude has to be your own--you have to stop thinking that you need perree should lead by consent of his citizens," Elend said "I will not be another Lord Ruler"

"A king should be strong," Tindwyl said firmly "He accepts counsel, but only when he asks for it He makes it clear that the final decision is his, not his counselors' You need better control over your advisors If they don't respect you, then your enemies won't either--and the masses never will"

"Ham and the others respect me"

Tindwyl raised an eyebrow

"They do!"

"What do they call you?"

Elend shrugged "They're my friends They use ht, 'El'?"

Elend flushed, setting one final book on the stack "You'd have me force my friends to address me by my title?"

"Yes," Tindwyl said "Especially in public You should be addressed as 'Your Majesty,' or at least as 'my lord'"

"I doubt Ham would deal ith that," Elend said "He has soet over the a bookcase She didn't need to hold it up for Elend to know there would be dust on its tip

"What about you?" Elend challenged

"Me?"

"You call me 'Elend Venture,' not 'Your Majesty'"

"I am different," Tindwyl said

"Well, I don't see why you should be You can call me 'Your Majesty' from now on"

Tindwyl smiled slyly "Very well, Your Majesty You can unclench your fists now You're going to have to work on that--a statesive visual clues of his nervousness"

Elend glanced down, relaxing his hands "All right"

"In addition," Tindwyl continued, "you still hedge too e Iton that"

"Don't apologize unless you really mean it," Tindwyl said "And don't ed by hoell he bears responsibility As king, everything that happens in your kingdoardless of who commits the act--is your fault You are even responsible for unavoidable events such as earthquakes or storms"

"Or armies," Elend said

Tindwyl nodded "Or ars, and if so, it is your fault You si up a book

"Now, let's talk about guilt," Tindwyl said, seating herself "Stop cleaning That isn't a job for a king"

Elend sighed, setting down the book

"Guilt," Tindwyl said, "does not beco sorry for yourself"

"You just told dom is my fault!"

"It is"

"How can I not feel guilty, then?"

"You have to feel confident that your actions are the best," Tindwyl explained "You have to know that no et, they would be worse without you When disaster occurs, you take responsibility, but you don'tor uilt is for lesser men You simply need to do what is expected"

"And that is?"

"Tobetter"

"Great," Elend said flatly "And if I fail?"

"Then you accept responsibility, andbetter on the second try"

Elend rolled his eyes "And what if I can't ever s better? What if I'?"

"Then you remove yourself from the position," Tindwyl said "Suicide is the preferred ood king knows not to foul up the succession"

"Of course," Elend said "So, you're saying I should just killyou to have pride in yourself, Your Majesty"

"That's not what it sounds like Every day you tellI am, and how my people will suffer because of it! Tindwyl, I'ot hih!" Tindwyl snapped "Believe it or not, Your Majesty, you are the best person for this position"

Elend snorted

"You are best," Tindwyl said, "because you hold the throne now If there is anything worse than a dom would have if you hadn't taken the throne The people on both sides, noblemen and skaa, accept you They may not believe in you, but they accept you Step do--or even die accidentally--and there would be confusion, collapse, and destruction Poorly trained or not, weak of character or not, , Elend Venture"

Elend paused "I' me feel any better about myself, Tindwyl"

"It's--"

Elend raised a hand "Yes, I know It's not about how I feel"

"You have no place for guilt Accept that you're king, accept that you can do nothing constructive to change that, and accept responsibility Whatever you do, be confident--for if you weren't here, there would be chaos"

Elend nodded

"Arrogance, Your Majesty," Tindwyl said "Successful leaders all share one common trait--they believe that they can do a better job than the alternatives Hu your responsibility and duty, but when it comes time to make a decision, you must not question yourself"