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"Those bastards won't be at all happy when they hear about this," Cett said

Elend shook his head "Does everything you say have to contain one vulgarity or another?"

Cett shrugged "What's the point of speaking if you can't say so," Elend said

"That's your own da "And, you really shouldn't be coar, you've been living in Luthadel far too long Where I come from, people are embarrassed to use pretty words like 'dahed "Anyway, I--"

He was cut off as the ground began to shake Vin was on her feet in seconds, looking for danger as the others cursed and reached for stability She threw back the tent flap, peering through thesubsided quickly, and it caused very little chaos in the ca for problems--officers and Allomancers under Elend's command Most of the soldiers, however, just remained in their tents

Vin turned back toward the tent's room A few of the chairs had fallen over, travel furniture disturbed by the earthquake The others slowly returned to their seats "Sure have been a lot of those lately," Ham said Vin met Elend's eyes, and could see concern in theht armies, we can capture cities, but what of ash,apart around us?

"Anyway," Elend said, voice firm despite the concerns Vin knew he oal We can't risk ht contain"

Like the atium, Reen whispered in Vin's head as she sat back down "Atium," she said out loud

Cett perked up "You think it'll be there?"

"There are theories," Elend said, eyeing Vin "But we have no proof"

"It will be there," she said It has to be I don't knohy, but we have to have it

"I hope it isn't," Cett said "I marched halfway across the blasted empire to try and steal that atium--if it turns out I left it beneathso 1about conquering Fadrex City?"

The room fell still Up until this point, Elend's ararrisons or the camps of small warlords and bandits They had bullied a few cities into joining with him, but they had never actually assaulted a city and taken it by force

Elend turned, looking back toward the map Even from the side, Vin could see his eyes--the eyes of a man hardened by two years of near-perpetual war

"Our prioal will be to take the city by diplomacy," Elend said

"Diploator stole it fro hi "Cett, those are your people--your soldiers--we'd have to kill to get into that city"

"People die in war," Cett said "Feeling bad about it doesn't remove the blood froainst et"

"It's not that siht this usurper, then why expect theive up their lives?"

"Especially for a man as, himself, a usurper," Elend said

"Either way," Ha very well defended It will be a tough stone to break, El"

Elend stood quietly for a moment, then eyed Cett, who still looked inordinately pleased with hi Elend was a master of theory, and had probably read as much on war as anyone Cett seemed to have a sixth sense for warfare and tactics, and had replaced Clubs as the ee," Cett said

Elend nodded "If King Yoet in that city--short of killing half ourhim desperate"

"Do we have ti

"Besides Urteau," Elend said, "Fadrex City and the surrounding areas are the onlyenough force to be threatening That, plus the cache, means we can't afford to simply leave them alone"

"Ti his beard "You don't just attack a city like Fadrex, Ham It has fortifications, one of the few cities besides Luthadel that could repel an army But, since it's outside of the Central Do for food"

Elend nodded "While we have all of the supplies we found in the storage caches If we block off the highway, then hold the canal, they'll have to surrender the city eventually Even if they've found the cache--which I doubt--ill be able to outlast theuess"

"Besides," Elend added, "if things get tough, we do have about twenty thousand koloss we can draw upon"