"Are you crazy? No, you cannot help me. Adolin, you're a man of many talents, but subtlety is not one of them," Shallan said. Adolin was trying to convince her to let him on her food stealing missions–and failing spectacularly.
"I feel useless. I've made no headway on any sort of army while you and Kaladin take risks. I'm a Mistborn. We should be using my powers." He'd already been rejected by Kaladin, who'd been downright paranoid about Adolin trying to help him. He needed Shallan to listen to him.
"I'm sorry you're bored. Go dump your ego on someone else."
"Wait, I didn't mean it that way," Adolin said, but Shallan had already stormed out. He would apologize to Shallan later. If she was still annoyed, he knew from past experience he was going to get dumped. Again.
Adolin looked up at the ceiling from his bed, his place of retreat after failing to win Shallan over. "Kelsier, do you think I could sneak into the castle?"
"Maybe, but that's a terrible idea. It sounds like something I'd try to do and you'd have to talk me out of," Kelsier said. He sat in the room's only chair.
"Which means you've considered it."
"A little bit, but you know a lot more about the palace than I do, since you grew up here. If you think it's possible it probably is. But have you thought this through?"
Adolin shrugged, an uncomfortable motion while laying down. "Enough. I'm only going to scout the exterior, checking for weaknesses that can be exploited during the attack."
"A scouting mission, huh? That could be the deciding factor in the battle for liberation."
"Then we'll leave the party tonight and visit the castle."
"Good. I don't know how many more nights of Lighteyes eating cake and pretending the world isn't ending I can handle. Last time I saved the world I had to deal with more than enough of that."
Adolin gathered a few lit gemstones. He would need all the Stormlight he could find for an infiltration.
Later, he went to another party with Elhokar, this time at Lord Reshing's manor. After the party was well and truly going (and it was dark outside) Adolin slipped out quietly. He breathed in Stormlight, and carefully threw up a copper cloud. Then he burned steel and launched himself onto the rooftops, dropping a piece of scrap metal.
Now that his powers were common knowledge, it was much easier for him to get metal. Aunt Navani (or well, she was his step mom now, so he wasn't sure what to call her) promised to have her scholars design him something more aerodynamic and less prone to sliding off rooftops, but the cast off lumps of steel Urithiru's blacksmiths gave him worked for the time being.
Kelsier appeared beside him, attempting to match his steel-propelled bounds. Despite the spren's inability to burn Stormlight, he could imitate Allomancy remarkably well. "No Mistborn worth his metals would be inside on a night like this. All we're missing are the mists."
"And one of those cloaks you told me about. If I had a pattern, I could sow it. I know it has tassels, but would it be too busy with embroidery too?"
"Mistborn cloaks are supposed to be inconspicuous." Kelsier shook his head and grinned.
While Adolin really would have liked the cloak, if only because nights in Kholinar were chilly, everything else about the flight was perfect. There was nobody to get after him for using his powers, and he was finally out of the stuffy ballroom. He was using his powers for something meaningful, and it felt good.
He was also being incredibly reckless, trying to scout out the palace on his own, without telling anyone where he was. At the moment, he couldn't care. He was free, and helping the mission. Nothing else mattered.
As he approached the palace, he steered well around the raging party at the Oathgate platform. Shallan was planning to sneak inside there? She was certainly capable, but Adolin hated the thought of sending her into such a party alone.
A few minutes later, he whipped around the east wing. On a whim, he landed on a balcony. The window happened to be open, and revealed a room that had not been used–or cleaned–in several months. The Queen's quarters were nearby. It wouldn't hurt to check on Aesudan, would it? Whether she was alive and fighting, or dead, Elhokar deserved to know the truth (no matter how much it would hurt him).
Kelsier started poking around the room, rifling through a nightstand with difficulty, as the drawers were large and ornate. Sighing, Adolin pulled open the bottom drawer for him to reveal nothing more than dust.
Kelsier said,"I've got a bad feeling about this place. I don't think we should go any deeper. Last time I infiltrated a half-haunted palace like this, Vin almost died. The time before…"
Adolin waited for him to continue. Two mentions of Kelsier's past in two nights? Whatever was wrong with Kholinar, it seemed to bring Kelsier's memories to the surface. Seeing as his spren was a thief, assassin, and Almighty alone knew what else, it couldn't be a good sign.
"Mare was captured," Kelsier finished in a reverent whisper.
Adolin sighed. He couldn't begin to guess who Mare was, but that was an issue for later. Floorboards creaked in the hallway. Someone was outside the room. Adolin lept to the balcony, positioning himself in an alcove invisible from the doorway. The door creaked open, then slammed shut again. Kelsier was missing from the room.
Recklessly, Adolin peered out through the bedroom door.
There was a man walking in halting steps down the hallway, likely a guard, thought his clothing was too tattered to make out specifics. Kelsier strolled casually beside him, clearly invisible. He turned back and waved Adolin onward. The prince shook his head but complied. He would strangle the spren when they were through, corporeal or not, for running off without warning him first.
Moreover, he couldn't believe himself. Sneaking through an occupied palace with barely more than the suggestion of a plan? No way to call for help if he got stuck in a bind? Those were not the actions of highprince trained in tactics since he could walk. A small part of him took pride in the idea that he was more than his father's sword.
Adolin crept behind, feeling like a horse among Ryshadium. He was careful to imitate the guard's zombie-like steps and prayed anyone who passed would take him for a zonked cultist or whatever inhabited these halls.
The guard took a left and Adolin stopped at the corner. A room further down, likely the Queen's residence, was guarded by at least a dozen soldiers. The room's door was open a crack, and he could make out strange flashing colors emitting from inside. Kelsier hovered around the guards, trying to peer through the doorway.
Adolin had no chance of sneaking closer–not without causing a ruckus. Besides, he was running low on Stormlight. However, watching Kelsier gave him an idea.
Adolin tugged at his bond to Kelsier mentally. The spren rolled his eyes, then appeared a few feet away. Adolin gestured to a nearby room and both entered.
Adolin said with a low voice,"You need to investigate the guarded room."
"Sure, but there might be spren inside. What if I'm caught?" Kelsier's reply was casual, but his eyes flicked nervously.
"You're an expert thief who's invisible on the physical plane. You've got this."
"Something could still go wrong. The guards, the empty hallways, it's too much like Kredik Shaw."
Adolin raised an eyebrow. That was a new name, and he couldn't tell if it was a person or place.
Kelsier's form wavered. It reminded Adolin of someone trying and failing not to get teary-eyed. "Emperor's palace. Both times I snuck in there I almost lost someone dear to me. Did, the first time." Kelsier's form became firmer. "I'm glad you've gained confidence, Adolin, Harmony knows you've needed it. But don't let it cost you the people you love."
Adolin placed a hand on Kelsier's shoulder, his fingertips barely sensing a presence. "I won't, because I've got you to keep me straight."
Kelsier shook his head slightly in denial.
A series of thuds resounded in the hallway. Both Radiant and spren jumped.
"Do you want to pull out?"Adolin said in a whisper. Kelsier was right, this mission had been cocky of him to attempt. He didn't want to retreat now that they were close to answers, but he could see it was hard on the spren to be somewhere so much like his worst memories.
"No, we need to know the state of the Queen. The whole mission is riding on her helping us during the invasion. If she's compromised, Kholinar is lost. Give me a minute, and I'll go."
Both sat in silence for a minute, Kelsier's breath slowing. Adolin then said hesitantly,"I know how much you hate being a sword, but I could summon you in, say, an hour?"
Kelsier reluctantly nodded. He really was worried to accept the offer.
"I expect a full update then," Adolin said.
Kelsier left Adolin to find his own way out.
After shambling down the hall a ways, Adolin tried a door, hoping for another open window inside. Instead he was greeted by towering piles of rotten food and dirty dishes. A cloud of black flies rose, and flew towards his face. He quickly closed the door again.
He didn't try any other doors, terrified of what horrors he might find. He'd been lucky it wasn't full of rotting corpses like the room Shallan had found during her palace expedition.
The rest of Adolin's walk was uneventful, and he leapt from the balcony with ease. While he still wasn't by any means graceful, using steel and iron had grown more instinctual to him. He debated sneaking into the cult party, but decided against it. He needed to get somewhere safe so he could summon Kelsier.
Back at the tailor's house, Adolin checked a fabrial clock. Praying that Kelsier had been in the room long enough, Adolin stretched out a hand to summon the spren. It wasn't instantaneous, but Kelsier came within ten heartbeats, and formed as a short, silver Blade. Adolin quickly dismissed him, and he reappeared in human form, only to collapse into a nearby chair.
Kelsier stared out in silence, gathering his thoughts, before finally saying,"The mission is lost. We have to pull out."