"If you look at the how and not also the what, yes," he says, and takes a drag on the cigarette. "My people are very different--I have the seas of winter in my veins. My grandmother's people drowned sailors for sport, and to make the survivors more grateful for their lives. You cannot make a sword without putting it in the fire, and you cannot make a man truly appreciate the beauty of life until he fears for his life."

There's a bit of hollowness in his tone, all the same.