Careful, now. Asmodeus still sounds amused - warmly, even - but that can change in a heartbeat.

With a shrug that's far too nonchalant, "They made us what we are. People don't like to think about the fact that the Betrayers were just as much a part of that, in the beginning."

Which is its own parallel to parenthood, of course, in a more abstract and distant sort of way.

"...Elias was only a few months old, when I first saw him. Evandrin was on duty - he was sent to talk to me, about what I could do - but he didn't have anyone to watch him."