Mistborn: The Final Empire (Mistborn, #1)

by Brandon Sanderson

She felt cold in the mists, in the quiet darkness. The mist empowered, protected, and hid…even when she didn’t really want it to do any of the three. I can’t do this. That person who would be with him, that’s not me. That was an illusion, a dream. I am that child who grew up in the shadows, the girl who should be alone. I don’t deserve this. I don’t deserve him. It was over. As she had anticipated, everything was changing. In truth, she’d never really made a very good noblewoman. It was time for her to go back to being what she was good at. A thing of shadows, not of parties and balls. It was time to go. She turned to leave, ignoring her tears, frustrated with herself. She left him, her shoulders slumped as she hobbled across the metallic roof and disappeared into the mist. But then… He died promising us that you had starved to death years ago. With all the chaos, she’d nearly forgotten the Inquisitor’s words about Reen. Now, however, the memory made her pause. Mists passed her, curling, coaxing. Reen hadn’t abandoned her. He’d been captured by the Inquisitors who had been looking for Vin, the unlawful child of their enemy. They’d tortured him. And he had died protecting her. Reen didn’t betray me. He always promised that he would, but in the end, he didn’t. He had been far from a perfect brother, but he had loved her nonetheless. A whispered voice came from the back of her mind, speaking in Reen’s voice. Go back.