Three more chapters into my leisurely read through of the book.

Part 2

Chapter 24

The chapter opens with Vin sitting atop keep venture, pondering the relationship between the Misty Doom and the deaths Sazed spoke of. Pondering alone what they all should have pondered together. If any lives are lost thanks to her bloody secrecy... Was there any good reason not to bring it up back then? Goodness, man!

She can still hear can also hear that thumping coming from the mountains. I'm guessing this is supposed to that Vin may be the "Hero reborn", but it seems too obvious. There's got to be more to this. At least, I hope there is. Didn't Kwaam imply that there may be more than one Hero? Hopefully he wasn't simply referring to Vin being the second one.

It switches to the mad bastard's point of view here. He and Vin have apparently been having these nightly sparring sessions for months now! After all the time they've spent sparring together, Zane isn't sure if he'll be able to dispose of her when he's ordered to. I'm sure he father wouldn't be pleased to hear him say that... Hey! I've got an idea! What if Zane is the second Hero? What if he and Vin are destined to hook up and, hand in hand, vanquish the forces of darkness! Whooping chull and chewing this century's version of Winterfresh!

Anyway, Vin apparently hasn't met up with him in a while, so Zane sets out to find her. It doesn't take him long, as she's still sitting on keep Venture doing absolutely nothing. He's unable to successfully sneak up on her, but he shouldn't feel too bad about that. Vin probably has better tin-ears than your average allomancer.

Now that Vin's back on the page, the book immediately returns to her perspective. Zane wants to "spar" some more, but Vin just isn't in the mood for it right now. Or ever again, I hope. Can't she see that he's bad news? It seems like Oreseur's the only one who can see this guy for what he truly is.

Vin and Zane proceed to have some friendly discourse, mere meters away from where Elend sits, completely oblivious to the danger lurking out his window. Zane could assassinate him right now if he wanted to, but fortunately for Vin(and Elend), all he ever wants to do his blather on and on about his usual talking points, this time using a rather clever analogy about Mistborn, coins, and devaluation. It looks like his constant repetition is finally starting to pay off; Vin seems to be becoming quite taken by him. She even begins to take notice of how manly and confident Zane is compared to Elend. Indeed he is, of course. There are many manly traits, but madness is the most manly of them all.

The chapter ends when, despite her steadily growing desire to keep him around, Vin let's Zane leap off into the night. This is getting out of hand. She claimed she wanted to turn him to her side, but it seems to me like he's the one turning her.

Chapter 25

Vin is awakened from her peaceful slumber by a redneck house alarm. Moments later Tindwyl struts in, announcing that they need find a gown to adorn her in for the meeting with Straff. Yes, Vin's wardrobe is dreadfully dull. It would be a crime to have an informal meeting with her future father in law in those shabby trousers that she so unfashionably refers to as clothes. Vin is defiant at first, but, of course, in the end she agrees to get dressed and go shopping with Tindwyl for some proper clothing. We all know that deep down inside she adores those fancy dresses.

Haunted by Zane's cogent words from the previous night, Vin walks down the hallways in search of Tindwyl. She finds her with Alrianne and Lestibournes, who are apparently coming along for the ride. Lestibournes gets to be the poor, underfed packman, while Allriane is the mentally handicapped noblewoman from the West.

Vin confirms that Spooks isn't the impostor, they enter the carriage, and off they go. Oreseur gets to come along too, and Vin actually treats him like a human being for once. Yes, the first time anyone treats him with any true respect is when he's in the body of a dog. I sense the irony, and it's as sharp as the stench of fresh dung... That's disgusting. I shouldn't have used that analogy. I apologies.

During their short and wonderfully interesting carriage ride, Allriane asks beautifully awkward questions and makes outrageously uncomfortable statements. They chat, they laugh, and just have an altogether delightful time. In fact, Vin has so much fun that she decides she has to go shopping with Allriane on a weekly basis from now on...

As soon as they arrive at the Market district, Allriane excitedly flutters away, taking Spooks with her. Vin makes a disparaging remark about her once she's out of hearing range, but Tindwyl tells her not to be so mean, as the silly little noblewoman is simply a byproduct of her pampered upbringing. Aren't we all? Especially Vin, with her inbred insecurities and malignant secrecy. Not to mention the nosiness. That said, Allriane is a little on the stupid side.

They proceed to enter the dress shop, where Mamma Tindwyl educates Vin on the concept of self acceptance, and teaches her to Dig A Little Deeper, 'cause her views on life are a bit...shallow, to be honest. We also find out why Vin refused Elend's hand in marriage. It all comes down to low self esteem. Although, if she truly believes she's not right for Elend, she should just dump him. Leading him on like this when she doesn't see a future together seems just a wee bit selfish to me. Kind of cruel, too.

Anyway, once their little chat is through, Tindwyl gives the dressmaker some specifications for a dress suitable for a Mistborn, and Vin tries on one of the dresses already available. She's apparently "the most graceful thing" the dressmaker has ever seen, and Tindwyl thinks so too. Vin then questions Tindwyl's "niceness facade". Yes, she's mean to Elend, so that means she must be a nasty old hag on the inside. Tindwyl replies that she's just giving the pampered little bastard what he deserves, but Vin's in need of...softer treatment. Sounds perfectly fair to me. Progressive views or not, Elend is still a noble.

Lestibournes alerts the group of a crowd gathering outside. The Suvivorists must've somehow found out she was here. God and Brandon Sanderson know how they pulled that off. What, do they have people watching each and every carriage in the city to see if she's in it? Vin takes cover initially, but Tindwyl―and Allriane, shockingly, point out that hiding is not only silly, but counterproductive as well. So she―and Allriane, shockingly, go out to confront the crowd.

Vin exits the building, and seeing the people's helpless uncertainty, she can't help but speak words of comfort to the restless crowd. She claims that everything is under control, and that she and Elend will protect them. Please. Elend's hardly capable of protecting the hairs on his own head, and Vin isn't much better off without Atium. The crowd knows this, and they get a bit rowdy, but Vin shuts everyone up with an epic display of Metal Bending, then rushes back inside before she can be pressured into blessing any more babies. That's when she hears the warning bells. One of the other armies has chosen this exact moment to strike! Oh, the irony!

Here it switches to Elend's viewpoint. Straff's army has attacked, and the Luthadel garrison is pathetically unprepared. Clubs must have been seriously stretching the truth when he made the claim that this army would be capable of fending off a horde of rabid old women, because it's pretty clear now that they wouldn't be able to handle even that much.

The "battle", if you can call it that, is so embarrassingly one sided that I actually feel kind of bad for reading it. Straff's allomancers are easily able to bring a battering ram to the gate, get hooks up onto the wall, and kill several of Elend's men; all with very few casualties of their own. If it weren't for Vin's timely arrival, they probably could've taken the whole wall. Luckily for the Luthadelans(Can I call them that?), this was just a test. The purpose of this attack was only to feel out the cities defenses, and the army retreats just as all hope seems lost. I'm sure Lord Venture will be quite pleased to hear how this little experiment went down.

The message is pretty damnation clear. Straff can take the city whenever he wants, and with how pathetic Elend's army is, he could most likely do it and still have enough men to fend off Cett's army as well.

Yup, looks like they're royally screwed... get it?

Chapter 26

The day of the meet has finally arrived, and Vin is busy preparing for their dinner with the pervert of perverts. Oreseur thinks this whole thing is terribly unwise, and I agree wholeheartedly. I know they want Straff to think they're desperate, but this is not the way to go about it. If there's such a thing as an evil man, Straff is it. They must know this. They must know that he'll have them executed without batting an eye if it pleases him.

Once Vin adorns her specially tailored Mistborn dress, she chats with Oreseur for a little while. During their banter, he makes the claim that he's a kandra, not a man. That's funny; I distinctly recall him saying that he was a man back when Vin commanded him to take on his current form. What changed? Is he only a "man" when he feels like it?

Over to Elend's perspective now. Yay!

He's in the process of denying Ham's request to tag along when Dox arrives with news from the Assembly. They are apparently pretty pissed at him for missing their meeting tonight. Um, couldn't he request that they, perhaps, postpone the meeting until he gets back? Does he just not care about what goes on at those gatherings? I mean, can't they do things to him if he annoys them too much?

Shortly after this, Vin arrives in her brand new dress and they head off. Elend's finally going to meet his maker. I didn't think the day would come so soon, but he's going to die now. I can just... I know it!

The next couple pages during their trip show what will most likely be Elend and Vin's last pleasant words with each other, and what'd'ya know? Vin seems to have learned absolutely nothing from her time with Tindwyl. She still sees the dress―and all the mannerisms that come with it―as a facade. Elend is completely supportive of her regardless, though. She should be wallowing in guilt for ever doubting him.

Once they enter Straff's camp, it becomes apparent that he's been using Obligators to administer his army. Of course! No matter how much Elend builds him up in his mind, in the end, the father is just as inexperienced as the son is. Except that he's less stupid.

The carriage stops in front in a huge tent, and there he is. The object of Elends hatred. the great and magnificent Lord Straff Venture! Manliest of manly-men, and winner of the "Worst Father of the Year" award thirteen consecutive times. He's more than a little surprised that his son actually showed up. To be honest, I'm more than a little surprised that Elend is still breathing.

After a brief and heated exchange, Straff leads them into the dining hall. He knows Vin's an allomancer, he knows she's soothing his emotions, and he knows she tickles his fancy too. She's acting really strange, pretending to be fazed by the sight of Straffs shabby skaa servants, and acting like she's actually bothered by Straff's belittling racist remarks.

The feast is prepared shortly after they arrive, and Straff gets right down to business. He allows Elend to give his reason for this little visit. Elend seems to have thought this part out quite well. He makes himself seem like a pathetic poser, desperate for power, fame, and, most importantly, a way out. He tells Straff that they need to join forces to vanquish Cett. That together they could pulverize the Western dog! Straff refuses the offer, of course. Atium. Its all about the atium, and Elend hasn't even mentioned it, yet. Elend says he hasn't spent he atium because he doesn't want to "attract sharks". A lame excuse, if I've ever heard one. The sharks are here and he still hasn't pulled out his stash.

Its around this this time that Straff has a small teenage girl join him at the dinner table. Once again, the message is quite clear, and I can't help but cringe.

Straff tells Elend that if he gives him the atium―all of it―he'll agree to the alliance. Elend obviously can't do that, so Vin speaks up and admits that they don't have any, and they never did. She apparently spilled the beans to give Straff less of a reason to attack the city. Makes sense, I guess. There's no way Elend could have convinced Straff that he was going to hand over that atium.

Elend tries to explain to Straff that he's be very secretive about the location of the stash. So secretive, in fact, that not even Vin knows about it. It's a pathetic ruse, but that's probably what he's going for. Straff doesn't buy it, of course, and he orders everyone besides Elend out of the room, seeming quite amused as he does it.

The chapter ends when the flap is closed and Elend and Straff are left alone at the dining table. Ah well. That's it, I suppose. They tried, but this obviously isn't working. Elend might as well just make a desperate attempt on Straff's life right now, because, let's face it, he's Pretty Much Dead Already. At least that way he might be able to deny his father the pleasure of outliving him.

End of Chapter 26

Alendi was married to a princess, but fathered no children. He went into war, but not of his choosing. Oh, and he was apparently Ta'veren as well. I never would've guessed he was such a great man based on his attitude in that journal he wrote. Honestly, it's hard to believe he was the one who wrote it.