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Spook nodded The heat didn't bother hiure stepped forward, becoainst the man's firm face, and Spook's suspicions were confirmed There was a reason he'd trusted that voice, a reason why he'd done what it had said

He'd do whatever this ive you pewter just so you could live, Spook," Kelsier said, pointing "I gave it to you so you could get revenge Now, go!"

More than one person reported feeling a sentient hatred in thepeople, however For most--even those it struck down--the mists seeeful than a terrible disease

For some feever, there was more Those it favored, it swirled around Those it was hostile to, it pulled away from Some felt peace within it, others felt hatred It all came down to Ruin's subtle touch, and how s

20

TENSOON SAT IN HIS CAGE

The cage's very existence was an insult Kandra were not like men--even if he were not imprisoned, TenSoon would not have run or tried to escape He had coly to his fate

And yet, they locked hie--it certainly wasn't so kandra normally would need Still, the Seconds had found it and erected it in one of the main caverns of the Homeland It waswire mesh stretched ac1ross all four faces to keep hih It was another insult

TenSoon sat inside, naked on the cold iron floor Had he acco other than his own condemnation? Had his words in the Trustwarren been of any value at all?

Outside his cage, the caverns gloith the light of cultivated mosses, and kandra went about their duties Many stopped, studying hi The Second Generationers didn't need weeks to ponder what they were going to do to him However, TenSoon had forced them to let him speak his mind, and the Seconds wanted to make certain he was properly punished They put him on display, like some human in the stocks In all the history of the kandra people, no other had ever been treated in such a way His name would be a byword of shame for centuries

But on't last centuries, he thought angrily That hat iven it very well How could he explain to the people what he felt? That their traditions were co to a focus, that their lives--which had been stable for so long--were in drastic need of change?

What happened above? Did Vin go to the Well of Ascension? What of Ruin, and Preservation? The gods of the kandra people were at war again, and the only ones who knew of the

Outside his cage, the other kandra lived their lives Soenerations--he could see Eleventhsbones The transforiven a Blessing, the ained sentience, and would have to relearn how to form muscles and bodies It was a process that took many, many years

Other adult kandra went about food preparation They would stew a i inside stone pits, not unlike the one in which TenSoon would spend eternity Despite his former hatred of mankind, TenSoon had always found the opportunity to enjoy outside food--particularly agedout on a Contract

Now, he barely had enough to drink, let alone enough to eat He sighed, looking through the bars at the vast cavern The caves of the Hoe for the kandra to fill But, that hatyears in a Contract--serving a master's whims, often for decades at a time--a place that offered the option of solitude was quite precious

Solitude, TenSoon thought I'll have plenty of that, soon enough Conte an eternity in prison awk at hinized round before hi their devotion to the Seconds The Sixths and the Sevenths--who made up the bulk of the Contract fillers--came to pity hihths and Ninths caed could have fallen so far

And then he saw a particularly faroups TenSoon turned aside, ashae eyes of hers

"TenSoon?" a whisper soon came

"Go away, MeLaan," he said quietly, his back to th1e bars, which only let hi him from the other side

"TenSoon" she repeated

"You need not see o"

"They shouldn't be able to do this to you," she said, and he could hear the anger in her voice "You're nearly as old as they, and far more wise"

"They are the Second Generation," TenSoon said "They are chosen by those of the First They lead us"

"They don't have to lead us"

"MeLaan!" he said, finally turning toward her Most of the gawkers stayed back, as if TenSoon's crime were a disease they could catch MeLaan crouched alone beside his cage, her True Body of spindly wooden bonesher look unnaturally slie them," MeLaan said quietly

"What do you think we are?" TenSoon asked "Humans, with their rebellions and upheavals? We are kandra We are of Preservation We follow order"

"You still bow before theainst the bars "After what you said--hat is happening above?"

TenSoon paused "Above?"

"You were right, TenSoon," she said "Ash cloaks the land in aboth crops and people Men march to war Ruin has returned"

TenSoon closed his eyes "They will do so," he finally said "The First Generation"

"They are old," MeLaan said "Old, forgetful, ied iven children of a new generation to be raised by a Third There are ht The Seconds can't rule forever What can we do, TenSoon? How can we help you?"

Oh, child, he thought You don't think that they know about you?

Those of the Second Generation were not fools They ht be lazy, but they were old and crafty--TenSoon understood this, for he knew each of the to see as said at his cage A kandra of the Fourth or Fifth Generation who had the Blessing of Awareness could stand a distance away, and still hear every word being spoken at his cage

TenSoon was kandra He had returned to receive his punishht It was more than honor, more than Contract It ho he was

And yet, if the things MeLaan had said were true