" now that the truth is just a rule that you can bend- " says istvan, with a put - upon air that is unlike him - but the trouble, really, is not the way astarion is. istvan can understand, at least distantly, what drives a person to act in such a way, even if he himself has never managed it. istvan is of the opinion that he himself is only honest not because of integrity, but because of a lack of ability to go against rules, or against truth, or against anything at all. " i- i am sorry. i am- jealous, i think. i am far better at being lied to than i am at lying. such a skill might have served me well, in the underdark, but it was always... " beyond him. there is something of a mental block he's never been able to break through. " the best i can do by way of lying, i think, is simply keep my mouth shut. i... i am sorry, if i sounded as if i were upset earlier. "