"Aha ha ha! You damn fool! Not literally... But he did raise me as if I were his own. Taught me everything... I was a poor orphaned wretch with dirt for food, yet Master Validar took me in. He provided when others would have watched me starve. I would never presume that he loves me... But he's everything I know of love. I would gladly die at his command."

"Validar...I can never forget..."

"Oh? I might say as much about your relationship to the prince... And please, don't lump me with that half-witted little toad. Excellus was nothing but a pawn on our board. Another actor on our stage. His ambition was our insurance against Walhart's threat. If you had failed, he might have destroyed the empire from the inside. But in the end, he was just another puppet whose strings we had to cut." "Oh really now, how amusing... You're so cute when you try to be clever. But Master Validar already considers you stronger and smarter than I... Whatever shall I do if he decides you're more witty as well? Perhaps I'd best kill you before you ripen and become his everything..."