Warbreaker (Warbreaker #1)(67)

“We were just talking about defeating these things,” Vivenna said. “Not embracing them!”

“We talked about defeating some of them,” Denth said. “Princess, Lifeless are like swords. They’re tools. We can’t destroy all of them in the city, nor would we want to. Just the ones being used by your enemies.”

Vivenna slid down, sitting on the wooden floor. The Lifeless set down its final bag, then Jewels pointed toward the corner. It walked over and stood there, patiently waiting for further orders.

“Here,” Jewels said to the other two, untying the final large bag. “You wanted these.” She turned it on its side, exposing glittering metal shining within.

Denth smiled, rising. He kicked Tonk Fah back awake—the large man had an uncanny ability to fall asleep at a moment’s notice—and walked over to the bag. He pulled out several swords, shiny and new-looking with long, thin blades. Denth made a few practice swings while Tonk Fah wandered over, pulling out wicked-looking daggers, some shorter swords, and then some leather jerkins.

Vivenna sat, back against the wall, using her breathing to calm herself. She tried not to feel threatened by the Lifeless in the corner. How could they just go about, ignoring it like that? It was so unnatural that it made her itch and squirm. Eventually, Denth noticed her. He told Tonk Fah to oil the blades, then walked over and sat down in front of Vivenna, leaning back with hands against the floor behind him.

“That Lifeless is going to be a problem, Princess?” he asked.

“Yes,” she said curtly.

“Then we’ll need to work it out,” he said, meeting her eyes. “My team can’t function if you tie our hands. Jewels has invested a lot of effort into learning the proper Commands to use a Lifeless, not to mention learning to maintain the thing.”

“We don’t need her.”

“Yes,” Denth said. “Yes we do. Princess, you’ve brought a lot of biases into this city. It’s not my place to tell you what to do with them. I’m just your employee. But I will tell you that you don’t know half the things you think you do.”

“It’s not about what I ‘think I know,’ Denth,” Vivenna said. “It’s what I believe. A person’s body shouldn’t be abused by making it come back to life and serve you.”

“Why not?” he asked. “Your own theology says a soul leaves when the body dies. The corpse is just recycled dirt. Why not use it?”

“It’s wrong,” Vivenna said.

“The family of the corpse was well paid for the body.”

“Doesn’t matter,” Vivenna said.

Denth leaned forward. “Well, fine then. But if you order Jewels away, you order us all away. I’ll give your money back, then we’ll go hire you another team of bodyguards. You can use them instead.”

“I thought you were my employee,” Vivenna snapped.

“I am,” Denth said. “But I can quit whenever I want.”

She sat quietly, stomach unsettled.

“Your father was willing to use means that he didn’t agree with,” Denth said. “Judge him if you must, but tell me this. If using a Lifeless could save your kingdom, who are you to ignore the opportunity?”

“Why do you care?” Vivenna asked.

“I just don’t like leaving things unfinished.”

Vivenna glanced away.

“Look at it this way, Princess,” he said. “You can work with us—which will give you chances to explain your views, maybe change our minds on things like Lifeless and BioChroma. Or you can send us away. But if you reject us because of our sins, aren’t you being ostentatious? Don’t the Five Visions say something about that?”

Vivenna frowned. How does he know so much about Austrism? “I’ll think about it,” she said. “Why did Jewels bring all those swords?”

“We’ll need weapons,” Denth said. “You know, has to do with that violence thing we mentioned earlier.”

“You don’t have any already?”

Denth shrugged. “Tonk usually has a cudgel or knife on him, but a full sword draws attention in T’Telir. It’s best not to stand out, sometimes. Your people have some interesting wisdom in that area.”

“But now . . .”

“Now we don’t really have a choice,” he said. “If we keep moving forward with Lemex’s plans, things are going to get dangerous.” He eyed her. “Which reminds me. I have something else for you to think about.”

“What?”

“Those Breaths you hold,” Denth said. “They’re a tool. Just like the Lifeless. Now, I know you don’t agree with how they were obtained. But the fact is, you have them. If a dozen slaves die to forge a sword, does it do any good to melt down the sword and refuse to use it? Or is it better to use that sword and try to stop the men who did such evil in the first place?”

“What are you saying?” Vivenna said, feeling that she probably already knew.

“You should learn to use the Breaths,” Denth said. “Tonks and I could sure use an Awakener backing us up.”

Vivenna closed her eyes. Did he have to hit her with that now, right after twisting around her concerns about the Lifeless? She had expected to find uncertainties and obstacles in T’Telir. She just hadn’t expected so many difficult decisions. And she hadn’t expected them to endanger her soul.