Elend blinked at the portly man making his way through the sparse clusters of people for several seconds. He couldn't believe that he'd found Breeze... and what did that mean? Had he joined Kelsier's crew yet? No, he couldn't be with Kelsier right now, because Kelsier wouldn't come to Luthadel for almost another half-year at the earliest. He had to be here on some other business
He felt a grin come to his face and it took Elend a moment to remember that the Breeze of this time period wasn't the man he remembered from the future – a trustworthy, dependable (if frustrating) man who would do anything for those he counted as friends (even if he wouldn't admit it).
This Breeze had not fought through the fall of Luthadel, or the death of so many friends, or the coup of the East... or even the fall of the Lord Ruler. This... was Breeze the con man.
So what was he doing here? A con? Probably.
"Excuse me," he said to a passing steward wearing the colors of the house hosting the ball. The man (again, not a terrisman) paused and turned his attention to Elend. "Who is that?" he asked, nodding towards Breeze, who had taken a seat at a table with a couple of other men his age. All of them seemed to be enjoying themselves and the drinks. It made Elend want to smile nostalgically, but he managed to keep a straight face.
The steward followed Elend's line of sight and nodded, turning back to address him.
"I believe you are asking after Lord Edgard Ladrian?"
"The larger man, with the drink in his hand?" Elend asked, making sure they were on the same page.
"Indeed," the steward confirmed. "He is a small-time merchant whose business is said to be able to meet any client's needs. He... isn't considered the most reputable noble."
"Does he come from outside of Luthadel, then?" Elend smirked a little. He'd have to be to claim to be a Lord. Elend wondered what family he was representing.
The steward shook his head. "No, sir. To my understanding, he was born and raised right here, in Luthadel."
Elend couldn't keep his eyebrows from raising almost to his hairline. He was born here? It would be nigh-impossible for someone to fake their Lordship here in Luthadel. Especially now, during the time of the Lord Ruler... Which meant Breeze was an actual noble. It took all of his effort not to let his jaw drop open.
"I... see," Elend finally said slowly. He never remembered Breeze giving his actual name, although Sazed had spoken to him as 'Lord Ladrian' a couple of times. So had Sazed known? Likely, if this steward knew too."He reminds me of someone. Perhaps I will have to go and speak with him briefly to jog my memory. Thank you, Steward, you may go."
The man bowed and Elend watched him walk away for a moment. Giving his mind time to process the information he'd just received, he turned his mind to something else and wondered, briefly, where the people like the stewards actually fit into everything. Especially those who weren't terris stewards. They weren't treated like Skaa, but they weren't exactly noble either. Former houses who had fallen on hard times, perhaps? He knew that more than a couple noble houses had died out, and many small ones had risen to fame over the centuries since the Lord Ruler had come into the picture.
They would, in turn, create new noble houses, founded by children breaking off of more established noble houses. Second and third and fourth children with politics that didn't agree with their parent houses, more often than not. But he would be shocked if some Skaa ancestry hadn't sneaked in to more or less every noble house, just as he wouldn't be surprised if more noble ancestry hadn't sneaked into the skaa population despite disgusting precautions.
Shaking the thought from his head and filing it away for later contemplation, he forced himself to turn his attention back to Breeze, who hadn't seemed to notice him. Should he approach the man? He wanted to, but... no, he had nothing prepared, and as much as his older self longed for a friend he felt he could trust, this simply wasn't the right time.
With a small sigh, he finally turned away and found a seat at a nearby empty table, not wanting to walk all the way back to the alcove. Besides, it would be easier to write here. Once situated, he took his book and writing utensils back out. He knew Tindwell would disagree with the image he was projecting, but for once, the thought made him smile. He couldn't always hide the changes he'd gone through since gaining his future memories, he knew, but he would have to change gradually or it would be too suspicious – too unacceptable... The fact that he enjoyed acting like this had nothing to do with it, of course. Opening the notebook to a new page, he went back to the points he was planning on bringing up at his new brainstorming session and began scribbling his thoughts down furiously.
So involved in his work was he, that he didn't notice the person approaching his table.
"Well, you certainly seem to enjoy writing," a familiar voice caused Elend to pause and look up. He blinked for several moments, wondering exactly why Breeze stood in front of him. "I'm sure you don't mind if I take a seat here," the man said, his face relaxed and open – a contrast to his curious (almost fearful) eyes.
"Lord Ladrian," Elend said as the man seated himself. If his voice came out a little higher due to his shock, well, it wasn't like Breeze would know that. He thought he was doing a rather good job not panicking at this point.
"Lord Elend Venture," Breeze said, taking a sip from the wine glass in his hand. The wine glass he'd brought with him from the other table. It wasn't the first time Elend (well, the older one) wondered if said glass was somehow permanently affixed to the other's hand. "Now, why would one such as yourself be asking after someone like myself?"
For a moment, Elend blinked, wondering what he could say. What should he tell him? Perhaps he should just play it off as an accident, as he had with the steward? That seemed like it would be the least problem inducing and... wait... why was he worried?
Right about then, the noble heir put it together. Blasted soothers. He forced himself to calm down. Breeze was too sharp and there wasn't a whole lot he could do to keep the other man's scrutiny off of him anyway, so he simply sat back, channeling his inner king, acting more confident and brushing a hand through his hair to make it look a little neater. If he was going to go into a confrontation, he'd do so on his own terms.
"You truly are an amazing soother," he said, noting how difficult it was to touch his confidence and calmness. He truly hadn't noticed until he'd wanted to call on his emotions.
Breeze's eyes narrowed ever so slightly. "Incredibly rude of you to point it out in such a public setting."
And there was the shame Elend refused to show. A shame he shouldn't feel. He couldn't help a nostalgic smirk touch his lips.
Then something drifted through his mind that had to come from Vin – Preservation Vin – because while it made sense, it hadn't been something Elend had known. And it was something he thought Breeze would very much appreciate. He had leverage. Now he just needed to let Breeze know that without giving it all away. Breeze could be his ticket into Kelsier's plan if he played his cards right.
"Your reputation precedes you," Elend said, nonchalantly.
"Hmm," Breeze said, eyeing the younger man out of the side of his gaze. "Yours doesn't."
The heir scoffed in amusement. "Ask anyone you like. This isn't the first time I've read or written – blatantly – at a ball."
"No, but you aren't the face you present either."
Elend's smile widened. "Perhaps I'm just used to having to detect particularly subtle allomancy."
Breeze's unimpressed expression didn't change at all, but at least the touch on Elend's emotions ceased. "Perhaps," the man agreed slowly, although he didn't sound too convinced. Elend let that grin stay on his lips. He'd known Breeze would be too sharp for any face he could present. "That still doesn't explain why you were asking after me. House Venture doesn't often pay heed to the smaller houses. You being here at all sends a rather blatant message, wouldn't you say."
Elend conceded the point with an easy shrug. "Perhaps," he responded, still amused and willing to let it show.
"Well, if you aren't going to answer my question, I shall take my leave," the con-man said, a little haughtily and made to stand up.
In that moment, Elend knew what to say, but, as the time-traveler had just realized, he'd have to play this subtly, just as subtly as Breeze would, ironically. He was just glad that his older personality had more or less taken over at this point because his younger one still felt overwhelmed and a bit cornered. He refused to acknowledge those emotions playing at the back of his mind and pushed on instead.
"I'm looking to acquire... some skills that most aristocracy don't bother with."
Breeze paused, looking over at Elend with the slightest touch of puzzlement on his features. "Such as?"
Elend looked around. No one seemed to be paying them any heed, but it wouldn't be difficult for a tin-eye to listen in. Blast Vin's paranoia. He really didn't like being on edge like this. But, as Vin had said, if it could keep him alive... and he'd definitely need an edge to stay alive if he got himself in on the plan to take down the Lord Ruler.
"Just something of a passing whim brought in on a breeze."
Judging from the utter shock and fear (well hidden, but there to someone who knew the man) on the other's face, Elend would have to work around Breeze's paranoia as well. He tipped his head to the side sightly and lightly tapped his ear.
"My father would like for me to be more proactive in my role as heir of a noble house." He kept his hand where it was and leaned his face against his fist to cover its previous movement. "I'm not sure he entirely knows the plans I have for House Venture."
Hopefully Breeze would read into his statement that his father was a tin-eye who could be listening in right now, and that he didn't know about the secret, less-than-legal life Elend was alluding to. The last thing he needed to do was send the man running for the hills.
"I... see," Breeze said a little stiffly. Elend wanted to sigh. As tensely as he said it, he doubted the man did. For now.
"Perhaps we could meet at a... later time?" he tore a piece of paper out of his notebook and wrote a time on it. Breeze took it, scanned it without lifting it up (good, he likely knew there was a tin-eye and keeping it on a level plane would lessen chances of it being read). Then he held out his hand for Elend's quill. Elend handed it over easily. Breeze wrote something on the paper, then slid it back, this time with a place on it. The younger man's eyes scanned the paper. He knew where that was. Good.
Taking the paper and crumpling it, he nodded and smiled at the other man. "I look forward to doing business with you."
"Indeed," Breeze said as he stood. Then he bowed, nowhere near as deeply as he should have, and left, poised as ever. He really should take a couple of notes from the man.
Elend went to write again... and couldn't find his quill. Where was it? Wait... had Breeze... Why that... but then again, he was a thief. But... why a quill?
Fortunately, Elend had spares.
He spent the rest of the night with the torn paper in the palm of his hand, even as he wrote. He'd find a way to toss it into a fire. There were a couple of perpetually burning ones outside the hall. He could throw it in on the way out.
Thankfully, because it was a smaller house ball, they weren't required (or even expected) to stay the entire evening. Unfortunately, as soon as he and his father entered their carriage, Straff rounded on him.
"Who was that you were talking to?"
Elend blinked at the House Lord, taken aback by his bluntness. It only took him a few seconds to recover.
"That man? I think his name was... um..." he faded off as if he'd forgotten.
His father sighed and brought a hand up to rub at his forehead. "Then what did he want?"
"Oh, I'd asked who he was because he reminded me of a dream I had the other night. He just wanted to know why I'd asked after him."
"And that little exchange at the end?"
"I offered him some business. He refused."
The man raised an eyebrow ever so slightly. "What business?"
"He has a reputation for being able to more or less do anything. I was hoping to secure more sources is all."
"And he refused?" Straff asked, then snorted when Elend nodded. "Not the wisest then, is he?"
Elend hoped he looked regretful. "No, I suppose not."
The older Venture eyed his son for a moment. "Still, I'm encouraged by your attempt at least."
"Really?" Elend asked, then decided he should look like he'd perked up a bit at his father's almost praise. He was positive his younger self would have. "Thank you, father!"
Straff just sighed and they rode the rest of the way in silence.
xXx
The mists swirled around the city and Elend stood in them yet again, on the edge of his balcony with a make-shift rope in his hand and wishing, yet again, for the mists to welcome him as they had when he'd been a Mistborn...
They didn't.
Sighing, Elend opened his eyes and searched the sky above. The ash clouds hung low tonight, obstructing any light that might have sneaked through from the night sky above. It wasn't complete darkness, as the mists and clouds seemed to trap any light reflected from the city below, giving a soft, almost red color to them if one looked hard enough. Then he looked down into the darkness below and the ground barely visible in it. Part of him – the younger part of him – shrank back in fear. The future part of him, though, remembered how it felt to soar through the air, held up by naught blue lines of energy. That part of him, he concluded, would always long for those abilities. Sure, non-mistings were always a bit jealous of those who had the abilities, but it wasn't like this. He wanted to fall and feel the rush of it and be able to stop himself...
But he couldn't. So instead, he double checked the bed clothes he'd made into ropes. Vin had, undoubtedly, known all the right knots to tie, but not all of them had transferred over to Elend. It had taken him far too long to tie it up to a point where he was fairly certain it would hold his weight (he was glad he'd started more or less as soon as he'd returned). The last thing he needed was to fall half way down. He also didn't like leaving the rope dangling out the window – it was practically an invitation for thieves and assassins, although, if someone really wanted to assassinate him, they'd likely send a misting instead of someone who would simply climb up to his window, but he didn't want to tempt fate. Not that he had much of a choice tonight. He decided that he'd have to take the risk and get a grappling hook somewhere for future... outings. He didn't know if he could even use one, but he could practice, he supposed. Well, he'd have to if he ever wanted to quietly leave the Venture estate.
Shaking the thought from his head, he lowered the bed sheet rope from the small balcony outside of his room. He wasn't even sure if it was long enough... Well, it would have to be. He needed the second rope strapped around his shoulders to get over the keep wall as well.
He double checked that he had his dueling cane secured to his side. It would be awkward climbing down with it, but he wasn't stupid enough to go out after the mists had come without some way to defend himself. It had been a chore to find something of his clothing that looked even remotely discreet, but in the long coat he now wore, he knew he would still be a potential target. Well, there was no helping it.
Not willing to test the strength of his knots with a leap down, he faced backwards on the balcony and slowly, awkwardly, lowered himself over the edge.
"Ladies and gentlemen, the graceful Mistborn," he muttered to himself as he slowly crawled lower and lower on the rope. Thank goodness that he'd been exercising recently or he may not have been able to do it. Even now, his arms were already hurting. Just how out of shape had he been at this age?
He remembered his future self arguing with Vin that his learning to defend himself wasn't necessary. Foolish and naive. No wonder she'd given him that disapproving scowl every time. Well, he'd try to make things a little easier on her this time around.
He wished he knew where to find her right now, even if he didn't know what he would do if he could. With her past and history on the streets, he'd be lucky if she didn't outright attack him. But he still wanted to find her, blast it.
Actually, he'd probably be lucky if he survived the night too... but he had to try.
Somehow, he made it to the ground despite the tangling of limbs and dueling cane and awkward sheets. His hat had fallen off almost immediately, though and now he grumbled as he searched through the brown grass and rock that made up the estate grounds. It didn't take him long to find it, even in the dark. He did pause for a moment and looked around. This wasn't the Venture garden, but his father made a point of making the grounds look as good as they could. After all, House Venture had to be better than all the others.
He rolled his eyes at the thought, both his younger self and his older self completely agreeing on the ridiculousness of that. The money could be used for so many better things. Of course, very few current noblemen would want to do sensible thing like actually feed the skaa. It wasn't like they worked the land or made up the entire structure that supported the nobility or anything.
Honestly, nobles were far too ignorant of life in general; too privileged and soft.
And he'd been no exception, even in his comparative open-mindedness.
Turning, he strode casually towards the front of the house, spying the gate in the wall that made this an actual keep. Elend frowned. He'd always thought the outside walls could withstand anything until he saw the kolos army. Now, he looked at it and saw that everything was just for show. Why were the walls so low? True, he'd still have to use a rope to climb over them, but it wasn't that tall. And there was one gate. Why couldn't there be two with a defensible room in between? And watch keeps. And that didn't even touch the comparatively flimsy gates.
Not to mention, they were open. Of course. Why would they have to close it when tensions were so low in the city? Still, it wasn't as welcoming as it may have seemed. It took a moment of scowling, but Elend saw it for what it was – a trap; an invitation of the spider to the fly. One of his father's many games. Most of the threats he'd have to deal with came from mistings and other houses (who would likely find the walls easily surpassable at worst), but for those who were stupid or foolish enough to come to house Venture at night uninvited... well, there were surprises waiting for them inside.
But sneaking over the wall shouldn't be too difficult as the guards were stationed on the outside of the keep, facing into the street. It would be getting back in that would prove frustrating. They had at least two sentries on the roof of the mansion itself that were the real lookouts, currently. When tensions rose, his father tended to take their safety a little more seriously, closing the gates at the first sign of the mists, posting double the sentries outside and inside the grounds... But now...
His father really was arrogant. He could also be paranoid, but truly didn't seem to be so now. It was actually worse than he remembered. Vin would be having a fit right now about how casual they were taking safety.
He'd still need a minor distraction, though. Checking his watch, he saw that he was more or less right on time, and he settled himself into the brown bushes that managed to grow on this side. Anticipating this, he'd paid one of the servants to return. He just had to wait for it...
A loud call echoed around the keep. "Who goes there?!"
The servant should be just fine, as they were (after all) coming back on his request. He was to come back to the keep, tell them that he'd been asked for, and then proceed to the staff room where he would wait for Elend, even if it took him hours. He felt badly for doing that to the poor man, but he didn't trust people with his secrets. There were too many chances they would go running to his father and then the Lord Ruler.
Eh, his father would likely find out anyway, but that didn't mean Elend wouldn't try. And if they kept it quiet, there was a good chance the Lord Ruler wouldn't hear about it.
He ran over to the walls, holding the knot of the loop at the end of his bedsheet rope in one hand. The keep walls had parapets along it (although he didn't know why , especially around the sides and back, as there weren't any walkways for archers to shoot from, but he wouldn't complain about the shoddy design now, as it definitely worked in his favor). He stood at the base, took a breath and launched the loop up.
It fell right back down on top of him.
Elend frowned. That had seemed like it would be much easier in his head. He took it again, held the knot at the base of the loop and swung it up. It didn't catch. It took him far too many tries for it to finally take hold of the square block. He'd probably completely used up his window of time, but he couldn't exactly help that, and he had a meeting to be at.
Grumbling, he quickly made his way up the side of the wall and then let the rope down the other side once he got to the top. He untied the knot and used both sides to scale down so he didn't leave an obvious route into to the keep. Even he wasn't willing to take that chance. But using both sides of the rope as an anchor hadn't seemed as precarious as it did now. His body weight wanted to pull one side down over the other, and he could never seem to keep it completely even. Fortunately, it wasn't a long drop down the other side because he couldn't keep himself from falling. It was probably inevitable. He just didn't have the experience when it came to doing things like this. He wasn't an infiltrator and he'd never been particularly good at sneaking, even as a Mistborn. He'd only been powerful due to the fact that he'd eaten... whatever metal that was.
Lerasium... the name floated across his conscience and he had to pause for a moment to make sure he wasn't actually hearing anything. That would not be good. But no, he heard nothing else. Had that come from Vin? It was just too... helpful to come from Ruin.
Groaning, he went to stand and gasped a few curses. He'd landed, rather ungracefully, on his now very bruised backside. Great. Still, he had no choice but to walk it off, and nothing felt broken. Honestly, his ego was probably more bruised than his flesh.
He picked up the rope and tied it around his chest again, although underneath his coat this time. Then he got out his dueling cane and turned to hurry down the streets. Tindwell would undoubtedly say something about how he should never look rushed. Fortunately, she wasn't there to scold him and he was in a rush and no one could see him. The skaa had all taken to their homes, leaving the streets practically barren. He tried to shake off memories of the city in a similar state in far more dire circumstances. He didn't quite succeed.
Elend made his way through the large streets of Luthadel, still forcefully keeping his mind off of how the city had looked just before he'd gone to the pits of Hath Sin. At that thought, he stumbled a bit. Right, his future self had willingly gone to Hath Sin. Great. Nice to know he went crazy in the future. At least the streets weren't half-covered in rubble. That helped a little.
He saw the street corner he would be meeting Breeze on and was relieved to see the other man calmly sitting on a barrel as if it were some kind of throne. Next to him, a lantern sat on the dirt road, casting a soft glow that only made the scene more ethereal somehow. Breeze may not want the responsibility of ruling (Elend didn't blame him, if he were lucky, this time, he wouldn't end up a king either), but he sure pulled off a lot of the mannerisms that would make him look like a good ruler.
Elend made sure to stop and take note of how he would appear and present himself to the thief. If he showed up out of breath and looking desperate, that would likely not endear him to the older man. So he made sure his hair looked presentable, that his coat was properly buttoned, that his hat was on straight, and that his cravat tucked neatly into his vest. He probably looked about as good as he would get at this moment, and that would have to do.
Taking a deep breath, he calmly strode forward, still keeping an ear out for anyone who might have followed him. It wouldn't be unthinkable. Actually, it was likely.
That was probably the only reason he heard it. The shift of someone just inside an alcove to his left. Elend froze for an instant, then took a step back, which was probably the only thing that saved him. A large man rushed by, fist extended, leaving nothing but swirling mist in his wake. Elend had felt the displaced air as he rushed by. The man moved too quickly to not be a misting at least. The young heir felt his eyes go wide as he turned to follow the after image of the man's blurred form, ending up with a fist buried in the wall on the other side of the street.
A pewter burner.
Elend hated fighting pewter burners. Especially when he didn't have any allomntic abilities on his own. Blast.
Then the man turned around, narrowed gaze focusing on Elend. The younger man's breath caught in his throat.
"Ham," he whispered to himself, beginning to realize just what kind of a situation he'd gotten himself into. He quickly glanced over at Breeze, who was watching them with that faint, smug smile he always seemed to wear. It had been a trap.
This was what came of trusting people too quickly and easily.
Taking stock of his situation, he realized that he was a normal human with no misting powers whatsoever now facing two of the most skilled illegal mistings in the city. They'd likely be out for blood.
His chances for survival just plummeted.
