The Herondales are a rather infamous line, as you probably know. Many of them heroes, some of them traitors, so many of them brash, wild creatures consumed by their passions, whether it be love or hate.

We can have traders, without them being traitors.We can trade, without trading others.We can trade our traits, and not our worst ones, with others.We can trade our traitors for better traders, or they can become better traders themselves.Let the market trade this way.

We're all traitors now.” “Ha!” the old lady said. “Only if we lose.

Robert Ashford possessed one of the key character flaws necessary to a traitor. He thought he was smarter than everyone else. This allowed the overeducated career bureaucrat to sell out his own country, because he believed he knew what was best for his nation and its people.