"He's horrendously damaged. I can't quite put my finger on it. Clearly, he's been raised as a child soldier, but even with that baseline, there's something unbalanced there." Balthazar frowns at the carpet, scratching the edge of his beard.

"I almost feel I should try to help him, in fact, but he doesn't know what to do with pity. If I were you, I'd avoid him as much as possible, or at least don't volunteer to help him with his plans again."