Page 36 (1/2)
"The Lord Ruler never let skaa have coins either," another voice grue, the more he looks like that rat the Survivor killed"
Spook raised an eyebrow, taking another chug of wine Vin, not Kelsier, was the one who had killed the Lord Ruler Urteau, however, was a significant distance from Luthadel They probably hadn't even known about the Lord Ruler's fall until weeks after it happened Spookfor those who spoke in furtive whispers He found exactly what he was listening for in a couple ofa bottle of fine wine as they sat on the floor in the corner
"He has ued now," the man whispered "But he's not done yet He has those scribes of his, the genealogists They're asking questions, interrogating neighbors and friends, trying to trace everyone back five generations, looking for noble blood"
"But, he only kills those who have noble to be a division," the other voice whispered "Every enerations will be allowed to serve in the government Everyone else will be forbidden It's a tireat deal of coin if he could help people hide certain events in their past"
Hu of wine Oddly, the alcohol didn't see hithens the body, makes it more resistant to pains and wounds And, perhaps, helps it avoid intoxication?
He se of pewter that nobody had told him about There had to be a way to use such a skill
He turned his attention to other bar patrons, searching for useful tidbits Another conversation spoke of work in the mines Spook felt a chill and a flicker of reold as Stuffy air and uncaring taskht If Clubs hadn't come for me
To this day, he still didn't understand Why had Clubs traveled so far--visiting the distant eastern reaches of the Final Empire--to rescue a nephew he'd neverAllo of his protection
Clubs had spent a fortune, traveled a long distance in an empire where skaa were forbidden to leave their home cities, and had risked betrayal by Spook's father For that, Clubs had earned the loyalty of a wild street boy who--before that tiure who tried to control hiht If Clubs hadn't coht have hidden one to themy life like any other skaa
The men commiserated about the deaths of several who had fallen to a cave-in It seeed since the days of the Lord Ruler Spook's life would have been like theirs, he suspected He'd be out in those Eastern wastes, living in sweltering dust when outside, working in cramped confines the rest of the time
Most of his life, it seemed that he had been a flake of ash, pushed around by whatever strong wind cao, done what they'd wanted him to Even as an Allomancer, Spook had lived his life as a nobody The others had been great anized an impossible revolution Vin had struck down the Lord Ruler hi Elend's foree of centuries Breeze had ue and powerful Soothing, and Ham was a powerful soldier But Spook, he had si
Until the day he ran away, leaving Clubs to die
Spook sighed, looking up "I just want to be able to help," he whispered
"You can," Kelsier's voice said "You can be great Like I was"
Spook started, glancing about But, nobody else appeared to have heard the voice Spook sat back uncomfortably However, the words made sense Why did he always berate himself so much? True, Kelsier hadn't picked him to be on the crew, but now the Survivor hiranted him the power of pewter
I could help the people of this city, he thought Like Kelsier helped those of Luthadel I could do so Urteau into Elend's ee cache as well as the loyalty of the people
I ran away once I don't ever have to do that again I won't ever do that again!
S in the air Spook could feel the very grain in the stool beneath hihout the building shuffling and vibrating the ground beneath his feet And, with all of this, pewter burned inside of hiside his tin The bottle cracked in his hand, his fingers pressing too hard, though he released it quickly enough to keep it fro It fell toward the floor, and he snatched it fro quickness