How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
By his sixteenth year, Douglas had learned all his aunt could show him […] He'd grown powerful, much more so than she. She'd started to figure that out, toward the end. Unfortunately for her, Douglas had fully grasped her lessons concerning ruthless practicality, and he'd noticed that his teacher had grown overconfident. (3.33)
Douglas gets his first lesson in manipulation when he realizes it's possible for him to steal his aunt's gift by killing her and acquiring her power for himself. Word to the wise: never underestimate the necromancer you're training.
Quote #2
Douglas had to teach the boy how to get his gift under control. The last thing he needed was to give the Council an excuse to remove him as leader, and a rogue necromancer was a very good excuse. If training didn't work, he could just kill him. Both plans had their merits. (3.34)
Douglas sees Sam's appearance in his life as a win-win situation—by manipulating Sam and the Council, he can both protect himself as leader and acquire more power, even if it's just the miniscule amount Sam appears to project. It's chilling, though, that he sees killing Sam as an errand he has to do to accomplish these goals. Douglas really is a ruthless creep.
Quote #3
The evening kept playing out in my head. I kept hearing the man's voice, his implied warnings and threats. They scared me a whole hell of a lot more than the guy who wiped the floor with me. Bullies are easy to understand and outthink. I'd dealt with bullies aplenty in school. But the other guy? He was full of unknowns. (4.64)
Clearly, Sam's spooked by Douglas, and it's not hard to figure out why. Perhaps the "unknowns" he perceives when he meets him at Plumpy's are Douglas's skills at manipulating situations and people to get whatever he wants.