He shoots Zahal a thin, unpleasant smile. "More professional than personal, I should say." He sighs and crosses his arms, saying, "Vorkosigan has a particular objection to the sorts of people who don't fit his image of a good soldier. You know - brutish, hulking, focused only on soldiering. He took a dislike to me because I like things like art and poetry. Decided I ought to live up to my family's legacy - Vorrutyers, as I suspect you're aware, have a history of being the Emperors' pet torturers and enforcers. My recently discussed cousin Pierre Le Sanguinaire a keen example. So he pulled me in and put a knife in my hand and placed me with a prisoner and told me to have-at-him. I declined."

He uncrosses his arms to gesture slightly around them. "Barrayar is a wretched place, and all the more wretched with men like him in charge. I should very much like a change to people who believe in a more measured and less grotesque application of force. Because the need for violence I understand, but the need for that sort of gracelessness? No."