“You see?” “See how he turns the nobles against each other, makes them solve his problems for him.”

“He is doing his best for himself. He is not brave but cowardly; not noble but insidious, duplicitous. See the ease with which he lies, he manipulates.”

"The boy is good at sussing out secrets, but the corruptibility of children is ultimately too limited for my purposes. You, though, I expect will prove far more malleable."