at her comrade-in-arms and, apparently, lover. 'He managed to track me down after all. It had become a matter of principle for him. Well, he tracked me down, but by that time he wasn't interested in his career any more. His wife had been killed, he had found out about Merlin's last artefact and he wanted to get his hands on it. And the quickest way to do that was to become a Higher One, and not simply a Higher One but a zero-point magician, like Merlin. Edgar thought I could reconstruct the Fuaran. He overestimated my abilities a little there. But I liked what he told me about the Crown. So the two of us joined forces.'
I nodded. That sounded like the way it must have happened. Edgar, already obsessed by the idea of reaching the artefact, had found Arina. Together they had co-opted Saushkin, who was thirsting for vengeance, into their 'Last Watch'. And they had set to work. An Inquisitor who had access to an absolutely vast repos itory of magical amulets; a highly intelligent witch who had become a Light One; a Higher Vampire who was going insane with grief for his son and his wife...
A sorry sort of crew they made.
But a terrible one.
'Aren't you afraid that the Crown will become your mistake, Arina? In the same way that Mordred was Merlin's?'
'Yes,' she said. 'I am a bit afraid of that... Well then, did we make a mistake by taking you prisoner? Have you found a way to get hold of the Crown of All Things?'
'Yes,' I said. 'Merlin deliberately confused the question of the seventh level. Only a zero-point Other can enter the kingdom of the dead.'
'The withdrawn,' Gennady corrected me without any malice in his voice. 'Not the dead, the withdrawn.'
Why was that such a sore point with him? Because he wasn't alive?
'I think it's impossible too,' Arina said, nodding. 'If I had the Fuaran, I could have raised Edgar to the zero-point level. But without the book it's difficult. I remembered some things, I managed to rewrite a few others, and somehow or other I raised him to the Higher level. But I obviously don't have the skill to rival the Fuaran ... So what were your thoughts?'
'The Crown of All Things is on the fifth level,' I said. 'You could have taken it two weeks ago!'
Arina screwed up her eyes and peered at me. And I started telling her all the nonsense I'd fed to Edgar and Gennady in the plane. About taking a step back. About the head and the tail. About the golem.
'You're probably lying, I suppose,' Arina said pensively. 'It all fits so well... But it's a bit simple for old Merlin, don't you think? Well?'
'I think he's lying too,' Gennady suddenly put in, backing her up. He hadn't shown any sign of trusting me in the plane either. 'We ought to have taken the daughter...'
'Gena, don't you dream even in your worst nightmare of ever touching that little girl!'Arina said in a quiet voice. 'Is that clear?'
'Of course,' said Gennady, suddenly changing his tune.
'Well then, sorcerer, are you telling the truth or lying?' Arina asked, looking into my eyes. 'Eh?'
'The truth?' I said, leaning forward. The only thing that could save me now was fury... and frankness, of course. 'Who do you take me for? Merlin? How should I know the truth? They hung this brute round my neck, threatened to blow up my wife and daughter, together with half of Moscow, and then ordered me to tell them how to get the artefact! How do I know if I'm right or not? I thought about it. It seems to me that this could be the right answer! But nobody, including me, can give you any guarantees!'
'Just what do want from me, my darling cut-throats... maybe I should play "Murka" for you?' Edgar said suddenly.
I didn't immediately realise that it was a joke. He didn't often manage that.
'But there is something to this lie of his, after all,' Edgar added, giving me a hostile look. 'It sounds like the truth.'
Arina sighed. She spread her hands and said:
'Well then, all we can do now is check it. Let's go.'
'Stop,' I said. 'Edgar promised to take the Cat off me.'
'If you promised, then take it off,'Arina told him after a moment's thought. 'But don't forget, Anton, that you may be powerful now but there are three of us, and we're as strong as you are. Don't even think about