...Foi-Hellick and "Mallory" seemed as sincere in their affection towards each other as any adults I've encountered. Yet with the faraway clenching of a dictator's fist, "Mallory" was moved to murderous hate, and the Foi-Hellick heir was forced to respond. The sight was the most harrowing I've ever witnessed. With such men whose wills are not their own, how can Cresce negotiate? There are no hearts or minds to win; only the faraway fist, and creatures made thralls. Cresce must kill these thralls, undo the Dammakhert, and free a land that might be nurtured to sanity by generations of liberated offspring and mothers. All else is boxing with shadows.
From "First Hand Observations of the Etalarche Hysteria: A Student's Field Notes and Suppositions" by Nora Pris