The inside of House Venture gleamed with light. Torches flickered, lanterns shone and globes of white light sparkled their reflections from polished floorboards and glittered on the marble walls. Servants dressed in immaculate red jackets floated regally in and out of the rooms, carrying candles, dishes and the occasional letter of business. Unheeded by all of them, a young girl's terrified screams echoed through the hallways.
Elend Venture, who had been reading quietly at his desk while eating his dinner, paused with a fork half way to his mouth, and then laid it back down on the plate. He stared down at it for a moment. The food had been good, but the sickening feeling in his stomach was now making it completely unappetizing.
He pushed the plate away. The screams outside his door were briefly accompanied by raised voices, and then there was a loud crack. The screams stopped abruptly. Elend got out of his chair and went to open the door. He stepped out onto the landing and looked across to the other side, just in time to see the door to his father's rooms slam shut. Two guards stood outside, leaning close, as if they were trying to hear what was happening on the other side. But when they noticed Elend was watching, they slunk away quickly.
The house was quiet again. More quiet than before, even - no servant wanted to break that brittle silence with a footstep or by scraping a bowl. Not when they knew what was happening behind that door.
Elend gripped the balcony railing with both hands, drawing in a deep breath. At this point the only thing he could hope for was that the girl never regained consciousness - even if her last waking moments were screams of terror, it was better than the alternative. He would have to go down to the servants' quarters later and find out if anyone knew her name. A fruitless endeavor when all was said and done, but one he made a habit of ever since the girl whose death he had caused when he was 13 years old. She had died nameless. He was determined it should not happen again.
There was no point in waiting on the balcony. His father would not emerge for a long time, and Elend did not want to see him when he did. So he went back into his room and locked the door behind him. He picked up the book he had been reading before and carried it over to his bed, settling himself on the cushions and quickly losing himself inside its pages again.
Trials of Monument had an interesting concept, Elend thought, but it was a little too removed from reality for the premise to ever really be considered. The likelihood of a skaa rebellion was so remote that Dilisteni might as well have been dealing with complete fiction. Mostly likely this was not a volume he could recommend to Telden. Even Jastes might struggle with this one.
There was a knock at the door. Elend got up from his desk, still carrying the book, and found a servant standing outside.
"Will my lord take lunch?"
It's lunch time already? "Thank you, yes. Bring it to my chambers, will you?"
"Forgive me, my lord." The servant bowed low. "But my lord Lekal is come to pay you a visit. He awaits you in the blue drawing room."
"Jastes is here? Then bring lunch for both of us in the drawing room."
"Yes, my lord."
Elend paused only to toss Trials of Monument back onto his desk before striding out of the room and down the stairs. The blue drawing room was smaller than the ones Lord Venture preferred to meet his guests in; it was usually reserved for lowly merchants and unwanted visitors. Elend liked it because he was very unlikely to be disturbed.
"Up and about early today, Jastes," he exclaimed as he entered.
The young Lord Lekal, who was lounging on a silver-lined couch, rolled his eyes. "Not all of us stay up past midnight, glued to our books every night, El."
"You prefer to stay up dancing with the ladies?"
"It would do you good to spend some time with the ladies," Jastes retorted. "At the very least it would get your father off your back."
"Now, see, I have no interest in doing anything that would please my father." Elend sunk into a high-backed armchair and stretched out his legs.
"What about the Elarial girl then? The engagement is definitely over?"
"Nothing official was announced. But I am certain my father is not considering it anymore."
"Good." Jastes grimaced. "I don't like her. She looks the part, alright, but she's - what's the word - "
"Cruel," Elend finished for him. "She's cruel. And not very intelligent."
"The worst sin of all." Jastes grinned. "I can't wait to see you fall for a pretty girl. You won't be complaining about her lack of intelligence then."
A knock on the door signalled the arrival of a servant carrying a lunch tray. She placed it on the side table between the two young men. Elend, who had just realized he hadn't eaten yet, snagged his favourite mince pastry.
"I suppose you speak from experience! But enough talk about women, Jastes. How far have you got with the Rudan? Did you reach the part about the outer dominances yet?"
"I did, but really Elend? Paying a wage to the skaa? What would they even do with it?"
"The same thing soldiers do, I suppose," Elend replied, grabbing another pastry. "Spend it on food, clothing, maybe books…"
"But they're provided food and clothes already," his friend argued. "And they probably can't read, so what good would books do them?"
"Then we should teach them to read! Everyone should be able to read."
Jastes laughed. "Even noblemen don't want books Elend, and we have time to read. What are skaa going to read about? The latest trends in ploughing fields?"
"Perhaps our books wouldn't interest them very much," Elend conceded. "But the basic principle still stands, nonetheless."
That evening, a servant came to inform Elend that his father had requested his presence at dinner. He had been hoping to take his meal in his room again, and avoid his father completely. After the last night, Elend was tempted to ignore the summons (because that was what it was), and retreat upstairs. But common sense won out: Lord Venture would only brook so much defiance, and it would do no good to anger him now when something more important might come up later.
The dining table was too big for only two people. It was ridiculous really, Elend thought. If they sat at opposite ends they would not be able to hear each other speak. In fact, Elend would have forgiven the entire ostentatious affair if he had actually been able to sit at the foot of the table and eat in chilly silence, but his father would not allow it. Instead, he sat at his father's right hand, forcing himself to chew and swallow food he could not even taste.
Straff Venture occupied the head of the table. As he ate, he spoke calmly and deliberately about house politics, a weapons deal with a country lord, and the latest news from the imperators' office. He only occasionally required a response.
"I was approached by Lord Urbain yesterday," he continued to speak to the table at large. "His eldest daughter is all grown up. I hear she has a sizable inheritance, and a decent figure as well. It's a shame about that fright of a nose, but I suppose it can't be helped. She'll still bear children, after all."
Elend had gone down to the servants quarters earlier in the day. That girl's name had been Sara. Her mother had worked in the kitchens, but she had tried to stop the guards from taking her daughter away. He hoped at least they were buried in the same grave.
"Lord Urbain has begun to look for potential husbands. And even though your reputation does you no favours, an alliance with House Venture cannot be lightly dismissed."
"And here I thought Lord Urbain was already married," Elend replied, trying to keep his voice steady even as his hand clenched around the fork he was holding.
Lord Venture sipped his wine. "You will accompany the girl to the next ball," he said, as if Elend had not spoken. "I have arranged for your carriage to collect the girl on your way to House Tekiel tomorrow night."
"I was not planning to attend the ball tomorrow," Elend began with gritted teeth. "Perhaps Lady Urbain would be so kind as to…"
"You will attend the ball tomorrow night," His father said sternly. "And you will behave like a gentleman. I will be very displeased to hear more accounts of your immature behaviour."
Elend continued eating in furious silence. Straff could order him to attend the ball, but Elend had discovered years ago that once in public he could act as he pleased, and his father would be unable to intervene without breaking his own cool, detached facade.
Straff seemed to realize this as well, and started into the lecture that Elend had heard ever since he had been a child, and even the harshest beating had been unable to wrest any kind of allomantic gift from him.
"It is well past time that you thought of something other than yourself, boy. Every day I wish the Lord Ruler had granted you some kind of sense, any kind of talent that would be useful to me. If I could choose my heir, it would never have been you. But here we are. Do try to not be completely worthless, won't you?"