"You weren't waiting up for me, were you?" Gerbert shrugged. "You know how little I sleep. I was contemplating my sins." "Sleep will do you more good… - Judith Tarr

In that instant, Gerbert hated him with a perfect hate. A monster, one could comprehend, and even forgive: one could see that a devil had possessed him. This flawless selfishness was beyond endurance.

You are a fool, sir priest. Ignorance may excuse you. It will certainly kill you.

Now there was sophistry. A mage was a perilous beast, but a mage who was also a logician and a theologian was deadly enough to outface the devil himself.