Adolin was wandering the halls of Urithiru when he crossed paths with Highprince Sadeas–who immediately started with his typical veiled insults.

Kelsier was missing, but Adolin knew exactly what he would say: Kill the highprince, and be done with his conniving. The fact that the spren would approve of killing Sadeas was practically a red flag. Adolin struggled to care. A dagger through the eye and there would be no more Sadeas princedom tearing Alethekar apart. Words bubbled at the back of his throat, angry. He hadn't been brave enough to swear them in the arena.

Today, however? He was too exhausted to care about the consequences. Adolin slammed Sadeas against the wall, catching him off guard. Adolin also unsheathed his side knife. He couldn't afford to kill with his Shardblade, not when it would make the crime too easy to track back to him.

"The newest Radiant threatening a highprince? Nobody knows what to make of you and your powers, boy. This will only send you into deeper waters," Sadeas sneered.

"It's not an idle threat."

"Oh? I don't think you have the guts to go through with it. Not with your father. But I'm fair. Drop the knife and let me go. I won't tell Dalinor about our conversation–for now." Sadeas smirked, waiting for Adolin to act. He fully believed Adolin would let him go? His first, and last mistake. Desperate men didn't back down.

If Dalinor ever found out what Adolin was about to do, he would not be pleased. Yet, Adolin would be doing the world a favor, ridding it of this cremling parading as a man. Sadeas had done everything in his power to destroy Adolin's family. It was time Adolin returned the favor.

"For every push, there is a pull. It's time I pulled back," Adolin whispered as he rammed the dagger through Sadeas's eye. The Highprince died without a struggle, still surprised by the blow. A Shardblade, distinct from both Adolin's own and Sadeas's Blade, formed in his hand. It was surprisingly short for a shard, more like a short sword, with a design that was simple and unadorned.

A soft, grandfatherly voice, the one that Kelsier called Sazed, said, I accept these words, Prince Adolin, though I regret the circumstances you swore under.

With the words, Adolin felt a spark of guilt ignite. He didn't want to be a murderer, no matter how much easier life would become without Sadeas. There was no honor in killing someone unprovoked with a knife to the eye. But maybe honor didn't have to factor in.

He carefully left the hall, hoping no one would catch him. Highprince Sadeas died ignobly, alone in a tower bereft of man for thousands of years. A fitting end for a snake such as him.

Adolin walked the length of his new quarters in Urithiru. Worrying. He had just killed Highprince Sadeas. He'd killed the storming Highprince. All of his earlier cold apathy had evaporated.

"Sit down," Kelsier said, appearing from nowhere. "You're going to wear a groove in the stone if you keep pacing that way."

To appease Kelsier, Adolin sat forcibly on his cot. There hadn't been time yet for furniture to make its way across the plains. What was in his rooms was actually camping equipment from the march on the Parshendi capital, totalling to the cot he was sitting on, a chest for clothing, and a small portable chair.

Adolin's anxiety moved to his hands as he started to summon his Shardblade.

Kelsier snapped,"Don't summon me again. I still have a splitting headache."

"Isn't swearing an oath supposed to feel good, like I've accomplished something? Instead I feel hollowed out," Adolin said, head in his hands.

"Is this the first time you've killed someone, outside of a battle?" Kelsier's face softened.

Adolin nodded slowly.

"Being an assassin isn't easy. It's a different kind of death, one that feels more personal. The only thing you can do with the guilt is channel it. I would know, I've been both a Mistborn and an assassin before…" Kelsier lost his train of thought for a second, wandering down roads of memory Adolin couldn't follow. When he returned, he was resolute, "Prove to the world that Sadeas's death was the only way to unite Roshar, and it will have been worth it."

"The greater good" was a phrase Adolin had only heard used to justify atrocities. Yet here, Kelsier made the rationale sound sensible, noble even. It would be easy to will the world away like Kelsier did, forget the complexities and just…act. He immediately hated himself for the thought.

"I know Sadeas had to die. Left alive any longer, and he would have ruined my father's work. But that wasn't why I killed him…" Adolin wasn't exactly sure why he had. It wasn't out of some mental calculation of the good he was doing the world. What then, revenge? Desperation? Simple exhaustion with a battle neither side could ever win? "I can't shake off the feeling that I sunk to his level."

"You swore that every push has a pull. It's an equal and opposite reaction. If anything, you didn't give him nearly what he deserved. Sometimes the only response to ruthlessness is equal brutality. It's a step few people ever have the courage to take. I knew you had it in you."

Something dark glinted in Kelsier's eyes. Adolin was reminded that however human Kelsier appeared, he was a spren, a being to which eons meant nothing. Kelsier did not count lives the same way Adolin did, and he found the thought unsettling.

"You've protected your family in another way too: Everyone will think twice about defying the Kholins, regardless of the actual murderer. It would help Dalinor to have a nation willing to listen to him."

"Which is another issue: If anyone figures out I killed the Highprince, my family will be in even more trouble than if he lived. Civil war will break out anyway."

"So we make sure no one knows the murder was you. For now, don't do anything. Go along with investigations and don't tell lies if you can help it. I haven't had time to teach you how to do it convincingly." Adolin sighed. Kelsier continued with a smirk,"You're too nice to lie properly without more practice. Anyway, the parshmen recently became monsters. Nobody has the resources to waste on a serious inquiry. If you play your cards right, you might even be able to pin the blame on someone."

The spren clearly read the disgust in Adolin's face, because Kelsier added,"Or direct it away from you. I'll watch the inquiry the next few days, and keep you updated. You should stay focused on saving the world."

Adolin nodded slowly. He'd made his decision, and killed Sadeas. Now he could only prove it was the right one, like Kelsier had said.