Thanks for the rescue.""Everyone needs a hobby.""I thought yours was preening.""Two hobbies.

You'll still make a great king.""Of course I will," he scoffed. "I'm melancholy, not daft.

Being around Nikolai was always like this, watching him shift and change, revealing secrets as he went. He reminded me of the wooden nesting dolls I'd played with as a child. Except instead of getting smaller, he just kept getting grander and more mysterious.

Perfect night for tearing a hole in the universe, no?

I have so many good qualities,” Sturmhond said. “It can be hard to choose.

Might want to leave him alone," Sturmhond said. "That type needs plenty of time for brooding and self-recrimination. Otherwise they get cranky.