after what nerasin had done to asrana and mandorin , i was n't too enthusiastic about keeping him alive , but the politics of the situation - and mother 's cryptic statement that someday i 'd need nerasin - strongly suggested that the best hope for restoring peace to arendia lay in compelling nerasin to do exactly what i told him to do for the rest of his life and then insuring as best i could that he lived well into his eighties .