Warbreaker, page 659 by Brandon Sanderson
<< Return to Title Details & Download660
to exist. Yet, Reen had shown her that the opposite was true-powerful, rich nobility congregated around the Lord Ruler. And, where power and riches existed, so did corruption-especially since the Lord Ruler tended to police his nobility far less than he did the skaa. It had to do, apparently, with his fondness for their ancestors.
Either way, thieving crews like Camon's were the rats who fed on the city's corruption. And, like rats, they were impossible to entirely exterminate-especially in a city with the population of Luthadel.
"Scavengers," Kelsier said, smiling-apparently he did that a lot. "That's an appropriate description, Vin. Well, Dox and I, we're scavengers too... we're just a higher quality of scavenger. We're more well-bred, you might say-or perhaps just more ambitious."
She frowned. "You're noblemen?"
"Lord no," Dockson said.
"Or, at least," Kelsier said, "not full-blooded ones."
"Half-breeds aren't supposed to exist," Vin said carefully. "The Ministry hunts them."
Kelsier raised an eyebrow. "Half-breeds like you?"
Vin felt a shock. How... ?
"Even the Steel Ministry isn't infallible, Vin," Kelsier said. "If they can miss you, then they can miss others."
Vin paused thoughtfully. "Milev. He called you Mistings. Those are some kind of Allomancer, right?"
Dockson glanced at Kelsier. "She's observant," the shorter man said with an appreciative nod.
"Indeed," Kelsier agreed. "The man did call us Mistings, Vin-though the appellation was a bit hasty, since neither Dox nor I are technically Mistings. We do, however, associate with them quite a bit."
Vin sat quietly for a moment, sitting beneath the scrutiny of the two men. Allomancy. The mystical power held by the nobility, granted to them by the Lord Ruler some thousand years before as a reward for their loyalty. It was basic Ministry doctrine-even a skaa like Vin knew that much. The nobility had Allomancy and privilege because of their ancestors; the skaa we