Mistborn: secret history

EPILOGUE

Spook felt uncomfortable living in a mansion when everyone else had so little. But they had insisted –

and besides, it wasn’t much of a mansion. Yes, it was a log house of two stories, when most lived in

shanties. And yes, he had his own room. But that room was small, and it felt muggy at night. They didn’t

have glass for windows, and if he left the shutters open, insects got in.

This perfect new world had a disappointing amount of normalcy to it.

He yawned, closing his door. The room held a cot and a desk. No candles or lamps; they didn’t yet have

the resources to spare those. His head was full of Breeze’s instructions on how to be a king, and his arms

hurt from training with Ham. Beldre would expect him for dinner shortly.

Downstairs a door thumped, and Spook jumped. He kept expecting loud noises to hurt his ears more than

they did, and even after all these weeks he still wasn’t used to walking around with his eyes uncovered.

On his desk one of his aides had left a little writing board – they didn’t have paper – scratched on with

charcoal, listing a few of his appointments for the next day. And at the bottom was a quick note.

I finally got the smith to make this as you requested, though he was timid about handling Inquisitor

spikes. Not sure why you want it so much, Your Majesty. But here you go.

At the base of the board was a tiny spike shaped like an earring. Hesitant, Spook picked it up and held it

before him. Why did he want this, again? He remembered something, whispers in his dreams. Get a spike

forged, an earring. An old Inquisitor spike will work. You can find one in the caverns that used to be

beneath Kredik Shaw….

A dream? He considered, then – perhaps against his better judgment – jabbed the thing through his ear.

Kelsier appeared in the room with him.

“Gah!” Spook said, leaping back. “You! You’re dead. Vin killed you. Saze’s book says–”

“It’s okay, kid,” Kelsier said. “I’m the real one.”

“I…” Spook stammered. “It… Gah!”

Kelsier walked over and put his arm around Spook’s shoulders. “See, I knew this would work. You’ve got

them both now. Broken mind, Hemalurgic spike. You can see just enough into the Cognitive Realm. That

means we can work together, you and I.”

“Oh hell,” Spook said.

“Now, don’t be like that,” Kelsier said. “Our work is important. Vital. We’re going to unravel the mysteries

of the universe. The cosmere, as it is called.”

“What… what do you mean?”

Kelsier smiled.

“I think I’m going to be sick,” Spook said.

“It’s a big, big place out there, kid,” Kelsier said. “Bigger than I ever knew. Ignorance almost lost us

everything. I’m not going to let that happen again.” He tapped at Spook’s ear. “While dead, I had an

opportunity. My mind expanded, and I learned some things. My focus wasn’t on these spikes; I think I

could have worked it all out, if it had been. I still learned enough to be dangerous, and the two of us are

going to figure the rest out.”

Spook pulled back. He was his own man now! He didn’t need to just do whatever Kelsier said. Hell, he

didn’t even know if this really was Kelsier. He’d been fooled once before.

---

“Why?” Spook demanded. “Why would I care?”

Kelsier shrugged. “The Lord Ruler was immortal, you know. By a combination of the powers, he managed

to make himself unable to age – unable to die, under most circumstances. You’re Mistborn, Spook.

Halfway there. Aren’t you curious about what else is possible? I mean, we have a little pile of Inquisitor

spikes, and nothing to do with them….”

Immortal.

“And you?” Spook asked. “What do you get from this?”

“Nothing big,” Kelsier said. “Just a little thing. Someone once explained my problem. My string has been

cut, the thing holding me to the physical world.” His smile broadened. “Well, we’re just going to have to

find me a new string.”

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