Chapter Text
For the first time in a thousand years a new monarch ruled in Luthadel.
The meeting announcing Elend Venture as the new king of Luthadel had been quite short, really. The details of his reign were a long way from confirmed. Elend had more or less been assuring people that there was a new structure in place.
The obligators had not been happy.
Of course, that attitude had varied between utter disbelief that the Lord Ruler was truly gone, and complete disdain that a nobleman sought to take his place. With a certain amount of reluctance, Marsh had immediately changed his own plans. He had thought to set up an office in Keep Venture, where everyone else was. Now… he would be in the Canton of Inquisition. Where he could keep a closer eye on things.
Marsh stared around his new office. Like everything now, the Canton building looked different than he remembered. Perhaps one day, hopefully soon, he would adjust to this new sight.
Regardless, he had work to do.
Yet Marsh simply sat and stared. He should address the obligators. He should do something.
Kelsier was dead. The Luthadel Inquisitors were dead at Marsh’s own hand. The Lord Ruler was, incredibly, dead. Even with Sazed’s explanation of the supposed God’s long life and power… how could he have died? Or been killed. Exactly how Vin had managed that, Marsh knew intellectually, but… He’d felt the power of the Lord Ruler’s allomancy. Been thrown across the room by him. Vin was a powerful Allomancer, certainly, but not like that and… she was young, inexperienced and barely five feet tall. And had achieved the impossible.
Pulling bracelets out that pierced his arms should have been impossible. Even once she’d guessed his secret, she and Marsh still should have died in that room. Instead the Lord Ruler – Rashek – was dead.
Perhaps it is not just the obligators who have yet to adjust.
Marsh shook his head. I have work to do. And a lot of it, if I’m to make this work.
He stood, striding straight from the office again. It had been set up for him like he’d demanded, that was the important part. If they’d refused… But they hadn’t. Now he needed to find out if the rest of his hasty instructions had been carried out. He –
‘Inquisitor Marsh!’
He recognised that voice. It was, undoubtedly, his new king. Marsh turned to find Elend Venture, flanked by guards at least, walking hurriedly through the halls of the Canton of Inquisition. Not, all things considered, the safest move at this point.
Marsh stopped and waited until Elend got close. Then, noting the few obligators watching, he bowed. Slowly, deliberately, and respectfully.
‘Oh. Uh…’ said Elend Venture, monarch of Luthadel. Then he lowered his voice. ‘Do I bow back, do you think? I admit I’m not sure of the - ’
‘You don’t bow,’ Marsh said, matching his volume, ‘to anyone. Particularly not in the Steel Ministry.’
‘Oh, good. I never was much for all the bowing to obligators,’ Elend said brightly. ‘Uh, can we talk in private?’
‘Certainly, my lord,’ Marsh said, keeping his wince inward. It wasn’t that he wasn’t pleased their new king had at least a little humility. It was just that some… presence might have been better for their king. Particularly here.
‘Figuring out titles and the such,’ Elend said immediately after his guard closed the door, ‘is one of the first things I’m trying to figure out. How do I address you?’
‘Inquisitor Marsh for formal settings.’ Marsh sat down. He doubted your grace would be appropriate from a king. ‘Just Marsh will do in private.’
‘And I noticed you dropped the ‘my lord’ in private,’ Elend said thoughtfully.
Marsh stared at him. ‘Would you rather I didn’t?’
‘Oh no, it’s fine. I mean… I don’t mind.’ Elend sat down opposite him, leaning forward. ‘I brought this with me. I thought, as a major player in the city, you might want the chance to have a say on my new government. I’m calling it the Assembly.’
So he’s not insisting on titles. Good, bad, or unimportant, Marsh simply didn’t know. It would be a bad idea within the Ministry, but perhaps not with nobles.
‘The Assembly.’ Marsh took the paper, a little warily. He skimmed through what was obviously a draft of the plans and ideas for the base legislation. Such things that no one in the Final Empire had ever seen.
‘That’s a copy,’ Elend said. ‘I’ve given one to all of my advisors. If you have any ideas – ‘
‘I’ll be certain to tell you,’ Marsh said, still reading. ‘You should approach Sazed to be an advisor.’
Elend was nodding. ‘Oh I have, and he said he’ll definitely help. The wealth of information he has! Well, it’ll definitely help add to the research I’ve already done.’
‘Yes. I – ‘ Marsh cut off and carefully read the paragraph he’d been skimming through again. ‘Two thirds of this Assembly will be skaa.’
‘I thought it really had to be,’ Elend said, looking a little nervous for the first time. ‘I know they’re not used to power, but they do make up at least that percentage of the population and I thought… well, I thought it might balance things out a bit. Since the nobles are used to playing politics. Is it… Do you think it’s a problem?’
‘It is the opposite of a problem, Elend Venture.’ Marsh touched the paper lightly, to assure himself it was real. He added quietly; ‘I… I’m not certain I will truly believe it until I’ve seen it.’
And perhaps not even then.
The office stayed silent, so Marsh looked up to find Elend staring at him with his mouth very slightly open.
Marsh raised his eyebrows. ‘Perhaps you haven’t been told. I used to run the skaa rebellion.’
‘You did? But I thought… I assumed a skaa would run…?’
‘Yes, Lord Venture.’
‘Oh, I’m sorry.’ Elend needed to learn to hide his dumbfounded expression. ‘I didn’t know.’
‘You never noticed Vin was skaa. Well, the Ministry never noticed they were promoting a skaa Misting. The doctrine regarding skaa will be the first thing to go. With immediate effect.’
‘I was going to bring that up with you…’ Elend still looked dumbfounded.
Marsh read through the paragraph again and on through the rest of the page. Skaa. In an elected ruling Assembly.
Elend cleared his throat. ‘Listen, Inquisitor Marsh –‘
‘Marsh.’
‘Marsh. I also wanted to say how much I appreciated your support at the meeting.’
‘You’re welcome. Luthadel must not slip into chaos.’
Elend frowned just a little. ‘And that means the Steel Ministry will follow me?’
‘I’ll see that they do,’ Marsh said, wondering what else was there, lurking behind that sentence. There was something; that was clear.
You’re a king, now. Spit it out. Whatever it is.
Clearly, Elend didn’t take after his father. But Marsh had already known that from examining the Ministry’s files on him. If the younger Venture had been the same he wouldn’t have endorsed him. But then, neither would Vin.
‘I thought… the Ministry would want to hang on to control.’
‘They do. It’s going to be a fair amount of work to scale down their influence.’
‘Well, yes. Uh…’
Marsh sighed inwardly. ‘Lord Venture, whatever it is you want to say, do it bluntly. I do have other things to be doing.’
And so do you. Perhaps he shouldn’t be lecturing the king, however. And honestly, he needed this opportunity. What was Elend Venture like? Marsh would like his own opinion. Just so long as the conversation they had was also productive. And so far… it was promising.
He was one of the few people Marsh had spoken to recently who had not cringed, flinched, or otherwise kept a healthy distance from Marsh.
Yes. This is the boy who was brought up by Straff Venture and yet has managed to establish his own values and beliefs.
He would not be easily cowed. A good quality, in a king.
Elend hesitated a second longer. ‘I thought you might want the leadership yourself. I’ve been talking to Vin and, well, obviously you’re head of the Steel Ministry. But she said you were the survivor’s brother! Between the two things, I thought you’d be able to get all the support you needed.’
Marsh cocked his head to the side. ‘Are you trying to offer me the position?’
‘No!’ Elend flushed. ‘I mean, well, no, I’m not. It’s just… if you want it, I thought better to know now and maybe we could work out a compromise.’
‘Rather than letting it fester and destroy our government.’
‘Yes, exactly!’ Elend looked relieved.
Time to make his true feelings known, then. And see how Elend Venture reacted. The man who would be king. The nobleman who had already proposed to give skaa power, without Marsh prompting him.
Marsh leaned forward. ‘I do not want the leadership. I cannot have the leadership. The Ministry must not be in control of Luthadel. If I could, I would tear it down entirely. We may need it, but this revolution must be independent from it wherever possible.
‘Lord Venture, we have overthrown the Final Empire. The Lord Ruler is dead. I am not interested in causing more petty squabbles and pointless competitions. I’m here to make this work. So long as you don’t ignore the interests of the skaa, I will do everything in my power to support your government.’
Elend looked speechless again so Marsh continued; ‘Any conflicts we have must be resolved privately. If I have a problem with anything you do, I will bring it to you personally. I ask that you do the same with regards to the Steel Ministry. I understand it was you who prevented the rebellion from descending into slaughter?’
‘Yes, I’ve read about all of it,’ Elend said. ‘I knew if I left it… It might never have stopped. The nobles were trying to surrender and I knew we could work together. I know your brother didn’t like noblemen but – ‘
‘I was thanking you, Elend Venture. Not criticising.’
‘Oh, uh… You’re welcome, then.’ Elend shifted in his chair. ‘And thank you for your time. I guess I’ll be seeing you quite regularly.’ He stood up.
Marsh held up a hand. ‘One more thing.’
‘Uh, yes?’
‘The Ministry is currently – and inevitably – undergoing huge changes. It’s always had factions and rivalry and none want to lose power. They can all see that they will. Regardless of what I do I can’t prevent that. I don’t want to. There will be groups who believe the Ministry should be in charge. There are those who will resent you. And there will be those who resent me. It’ll take time before I know who they are and what steps they’re likely to take. Months, perhaps longer. In the meantime I would suggest you avoid entering Ministry buildings where possible.’
‘Really? You think the Ministry might have me assassinated?’ Elend looked worried by that, and so he should.
‘In particular, avoid the Canton of Orthodoxy. This Canton will be slightly easier to appease as they’re now officially in charge. Orthodoxy have lost that. Remember that.’
Elend nodded. ‘I will.’
Oh right. That’s not all. If he’d had warning of Elend coming, perhaps he could have come up with a longer list of things he needed to discuss with the new king. Now that would have to wait.
Marsh rubbed a hand over his face, accidentally knocked one of the spikes, and gritted his teeth. ‘Representatives of the Ministry may try and come to you directly. Grant them nothing you haven’t already discussed with me.’
‘Okay, got it.’ Elend paused. ‘What should I do if I want to talk to you? Is it safe to come in here?’
‘Probably. But don’t.’ Marsh sat back. ‘Have someone send for me and I will come. It is far better that I go to you.’
Elend nodded slowly. ‘That does make sense. Thank you… Marsh. Um… Will you keep me up to date with how the Ministry’s taking everything?’
‘Of course.’
Elend nodded again, and left.
Marsh stared thoughtfully after him. They could certainly do worse, for a king. Time would tell whether Elend had the skills to actually rule, but… he was not a bad option. He could sit and talk to an Inquisitor without flinching. He had more than just sympathy for the skaa; he had intent to change things. He also was able to see potential for conflicts.
And he’d had the sense to come to Marsh with his concerns. Good. This opportunity they had… It must be protected. Elend Venture seemed to understand that.