Patillian

I just read the book for the third time and noticed that Shallan had a Shardblade. The above quotes are very clear I think, and I wondered how I missed it the first time. However, there is one more quote even earlier that first clued me in. It is pg 151 in the paperback edition. It is immediately after Shallan's second attempt to become Jasnah's ward when Jasnah is impressed by her letter and promises to accept Shallan at a later date after she gets more training. Shallan stops in a garden spot right outside the Conclave to think about how she can't wait that long and her past. "As always, thinking of her father made her ill, and the pain started to constrict her chest. She raised her freehand to her head, suddenly overwhelmed by the weight of House Davar's situation, her part in it, and the secret she now carried, hidden ten heartbeats away." I was startled to see this obvious reference, and it made those later references with the thugs in the alley and the creepy, twisty-head spren stand out even more. It also mentions in the preceding paragraph that her oldest brother had "vanished" a year ago and that her father had "declared him dead." That wording, "declared," specifically implies the father has knowledge of what happened. I think that the oldest son was involved in some sort of trade/cost for either/or the soulcaster or Shardblade. I also think Shallan somehow killed her father and then inadvertently claimed the Shardblade that appeared in an attempt to hide the evidence.

Arrived via Sanderson's blog just in time. Thanks for the generous give-away!