Salem smirked at Temrash's comment, "Temrash, you're an ex-Visser, right? Jeeze... I could never do that. Turn on the Empire the way you have, I mean. Like you're saying, accomplishing your goal would be hard enough. But then you've got the constant threat that one of your so-called 'allies' will sell you out and you'll have the Council's troops on you before you can blink." He shook his head, "I guess I gotta give you credit for sticking with it. I'd have been in an institution long ago if it were me."
He caught sight of Elayne watching him, and took the expression on her face to be one of judgment about his attitude on changing past events. "What?" he asked, perhaps a bit too defensively. "Look, I learned a long time ago that I had to take every advantage I could, because the universe wasn't great at giving me advantages on its own. What difference does it make if your advantages come from knowledge of things to come or from somewhere else?"