"It's rather unanimous," he muses, adding, "Though I can't say as I ever went back to ask the Thief Lord his thoughts on the matter."

And with regard to his arrests... "I've come close a few other times, but those ones weren't for stealing, I swear!" Briar grinned broadly, false bravado in the face of the much bigger trouble he'd had potential to get into lately. Powerful magic and military and political struggles were every bit as dangerous as his old life had been. Briar just ate a lot better now.

He gets a little more serious when he concludes, "Me too. Niko dragged me kicking and screaming off to Emelan, forced me to bathe like every other person who can afford to, and I got the best two mothers a boy could ask for out of it. Plus three sisters, an awful lot of good meals, training..." He trails off with a shrug. Briar knows full well how lucky he is.