"In a manner of speaking, balance is at the heart of everything they do-" speaking of knowledge and love and the physical vs the intellectual, Martel is so careful to separate himself (but when he's not thinking about it he always says we), "-as they walk a very particular knife edge. The same thing as is taught to the premier warriors of Eosia to protect the faithful and serve the king is what Styrics - especially Styric women - are persecuted for by those very same faithful. The church seeks converts among the people who have helped to mold the fighting force that's allowed them the influence to do so."

...sometimes he does this, the monologuing. After a beat, he catches himself and shrugs, close to artless. "In Arum they fight for gold, not for gods, and there's nothing especially mystical about it. Since I came here - a year or so ago, after I died - and began work on the castle and the training school, I've been adapting Pandion methods to better suit the needs of my students. It's not entirely without irony, I think, putting myself more or less in the position of my former Preceptor."

('After I died'.)

"I have no doubt he'd understand why the library was the first thing I went to work on, my unfulfilled desire for his job aside."