Through Fire and Flames

How foolish I've been!

Dorlin rushed through the streets, powered by his steelmind. Voïra lay clutched under one arm, light as a feather. Her weight stood in stark contrast to the weight of guilt he now bore. Because of him, because of his rash behavior, the girl had lost everything. Her home, her comforts, even her distant family. Gone. Gone to that damned Inquisitor. It was all his fault.

No. The Terrisman paused, ducking behind an alley wall as a small squad of soldiers passed. The other Houses were sending people to help put out the fire, and to salvage what could be saved. Or maybe they were going to help prevent escape. If the Inquisitor was there, that meant the Canton knew, also. And that meant the other Houses would shun Elariel and allow the fire to run its course. His fault. Was it? He'd gone to aid the others in their foolhardy attempt to rescue the fools that had allowed themselves to be captured in the first place!

But it didn't matter where the finger of blame pointed. Not in the end. All that mattered at this moment was that he get his charge some place safe. Dorlin glanced down once more at the still form of Voïra. He'd always imagined that this was what having a kid sister felt like: fondness, a bit of exasperation sometimes, but always protective love.

The soldiers finally finished passing, and he took off again.

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The door to the abandoned warehouse burst open, and the wild eyed form of the Keeper burst inside. He rushed to a chair and sat Voïra upon it gently, uncaring as to whether they were alone. Satisfied, he turned to collect what rags and cloths he could to form something akin to a bed before finally taking off his outer cloak and laying it over the top so as to cover the filth.

The door slams open and Get bustles in, looking haggard and sweating. He spots Dorlin almost immediately and relaxes, hand leaving the dueling cane at his side.

"So you've heard then? About the attack?"

"Heard?"

Dorlin stood up from having carefully laid Voïra onto the impromptu bed he'd just made. Despite the assistance from his steelmind, the Terrisman was out of breath. A haggard look filled his face, his cheeks drawn and his eyes sunken.

"No. I didn't hear. We were there just after it happened."

Dorlin looked about them, as if fearful that even the walls were listening and conspiring.

"It's kind of you to show concern for a noble, Master Get. I ask you to show it further. My Mistress needs a new place to lay her head. Obviously. Do you know of such a place?"

Get seems to notice Voira for the first time. He pauses a moment, caught off guard.

"Wait a minute, what are you talking about? Why would you care about taking in Venture refugees? I just heard from one of my men over there that some mistborn made a raid. Why should Voira care?"

Lena hopped down from her corner perch and approached the two men, gesturing at the noble lady.

"It wasn't me at House Venture, just so you know. What happened to Voïra?"

At the sound of Lena's observation, Dorlin nearly took her head off, he was strung up so tightly. But the Terrisman recognized the Mistborn and caught himself. Looking from the woman back to Get, he sighed.

"House Elariel has been ransacked and torched, and its staff tortured and executed. All at the hands of our friend the Inquisitor. I'm certain of it; I recognized his voice." An eyebrow raised in puzzlement. "What Venture refugees? What happened?"

Get punches a wall in anger, leaving a jagged hole and scraping his knuckles. He doesn't seem to notice the injury.

"Venture were attacked. We don't know who, and we don't know why. For all I know it's still going on. I don't have any strong leads or information, but I'm reasonably certain a lot of House guards were killed at least. Supposedly it was all a single Mistborn. But who?"

He glances at Lena, uncertain.

"I'll admit your were my first thought, but I believe you when you say you didn't do it. What about your Broulliar? Could he have done it?"

"Wait. We wanted Venture's fall."

Dorlin's eyebrows furrowed. His concern for his lady's situation was clearly still present, but his interest in a development in the crew's plans was peaked.

"Why are you acting like it's the end of the world?"

"We wanted to weaken them first, then throw them down. We haven't been at this long enough to put a rival in place instead. Now they're going to be looking for someone to strike back against."

He glances at Voira.

"And if the Inquisition are taking their gloves off, we'll be hounded by them too. This is not good."

Lena stood mouth agape as Get and Dorlin filled one another in. She shook her head at Get's question about Broulliar.

"I don't think so. Though he wasn't the Mistborn we took on at the Venture docks, he was there and readily admitted to be serving House Venture."

Lena looked at Voïra, eyes sad. "How is she handling all this?"

Glancing back to Dorlin, she asks, "How did the Inquisitor know to look for you there?"

Dorlin's expression grew darker, souring.

"It knew Elariel was involved because we got careless with our maneuvers. Because I got careless. I shouldn't have come to investigate or to aid; I fear House Elariel is ruined thanks to me."

Sighing heavily, as if accepting the weight of his deeds on his shoulders, the Keeper sank onto the seat Voïra head so recently been occupying. He looked up at Get.

"There is perhaps one good thing about the destruction of Elariel in conjunction with the attack on Venture: the latter should distract from the failure of the Inquisitor to find either myself or my Mistress. Though I'm no expert on the Canton's movements or machinations.

"But I've more pressing matters to attend." The Steward glanced at his ward. With the death of her parents, or possibly even kidnap and torture, he was the only thing even skin to family she had left. "Master Get, do you know of a safe place I might keep Lady Voïra? Her family's keep being destroyed, I should avoid taking her to her other properties. Nor will any of her friends likely house her, given her House's social fall from grace."

Lena frowns and shrugs.

"It's no noble keep, but she could stay at my place. I don't really sleep much anyway. It's out of the way and pretty secluded. She may not want to be walking around in all her fancy noble garb in that part of town though."

Get grunts in affirmation.

"That's the problem though. I don't know that we even have anywhere she could hide and remain unnoticed. I have a hard time picturing her in a Skaa slum, packed in with the workers. She could maybe pass as a servant, but every Noble in the city would recognize her."

He scratches his chin for a moment, considering.

"The best thing is probably to stow her away somewhere for now and get her to some family in another part of the Empire. She won't be comfortable, but she'll be alive. Probably."

"That's rather the idea, Master Get, 'stowing her'. She won't enjoy it, I daresay. But it should keep her safe."

Dorlin glanced at Lena. He looked even more unhappy than he had previously, if possible, and his eyes showed a debate within his mind, but in time he nodded.

"I...thank you. Mistress Voïra will of course have to give final approval, but I believe that an acceptable temporary measure. At least until, as Get says, we can spirit her away to family. Doing so may take effort, but there's little I wouldn't do to keep her safe."

The comment seemed to spark a memory in the Terrisman's mind, and he looked back to Get, regarding him thoughtfully.

"But that reminds me." I believe I've made my own position clear enough to the others, and I don't believe they will try to persuade me further to aid them in this deed. But I must press upon you as the leader my fear of using these spikes such as they want to. In no tale I've ever read or heard about, nor in any history, have the righteous succeeded in defeating their enemy or achieving their goal by adopting the practices of their enemy to do so.

"Do you seriously support this? I had taken you for a person of firmer ethics than that if so."

Lena nods and offers an encouraging smile. A thought then crosses her mind and she turns a questioning look to Dorlin.

"Is there anything I could slip into Keep Elariel to get for her? Some personal effect or keepsake perhaps? I'd be more than willing to do so for her."

Get shakes his head at Dorlin, cracking his knuckles as he does.

"One thing you seem to forget about me is that I'm a soldier. And the first thing I learned as a soldier: do anything you can to kill your enemy. There's no such thing as fighting dirty when you're in a war. You either fight with everything you have; to win, or you hold yourself back and get killed by the guy who isn't holding back. Besides, you can't tell me you believe this nonsense about stealing souls and such. You strike me as an academic. Can you honestly say you believe in gods and that crap when you live in this world?"

He punctuates his remark by waving an arm at Voira's prone form.

"All I learned tonight is that our enemies are far better at using this weapon than we knew and we need to catch up if we hope to win."

His brow furrowed as he crossed his arms.

"And all I learned tonight is that Lord Elliot is not the same man he was. And that my Lady's home is gone because the Crashers got involved in Venture's machinations." Dorlin stared Get in the eye. "If stealing only three of those spikes brought the Inquisitor down on this city, I can't imagine what obtaining more of them will bring us."

Sighing, he shook his head.

"But I've only one concern right now. Lena, I thank you for your offer, but I doubt there is anything left of the Keep besides ashes."