Gesar's face.

'The old hag has her principles, Anton. She can bluff with the best, but she would never harm a child. Trust me, I know her.'

'And what if her nerve cracked?' I asked, recalling the horrors I'd been through. 'She couldn't give a damn for the Watches, or the Inquisition. She's not even afraid of Zabulon.'

'Maybe not Zabulon . . .' Gesar laughed. 'I informed the Inquisition about Arina, but I contacted the witch as well. All official and above board, by the way. Everything's minuted. And she was warned about your family. Specially warned.'

This was unexpected.

I looked into Gesar's calm face and didn't know what to say.

'Arina and I have known and respected each other for a long time,' Gesar explained.

'How did you manage that?'

'What exactly?' Gesar asked in surprise. 'Mutual respect? Well, you see . . .'

'Every time I'm convinced that you're a villainous intriguer, you prove that I'm wrong within ten minutes. We're parasites on people? It turns out that it's all for their own good. The country's in ruins? Things could have been a lot worse. My daughter's in danger? She's in about as much danger as little Sasha Pushkin with his old nanny . . .'

Gesar's expression softened.

'Anton, a long, long time ago, I was a puny, snot-nosed kid.' He looked thoughtfully straight through me! 'Yes. Puny and snot-nosed. When I quarrelled with my mentors, whose names wouldn't mean anything to you, I was convinced that they were villainous intriguers too. But they always convinced me I was wrong. The centuries have gone by, and now I have my own pupils . . .'

He blew out a cloud of smoke and stopped speaking. What point was there in going on?

Centuries? Ha! Thousands of years – long enough to learn how to counter any outbursts from his subordinates. And do it so they would arrive fuming with indignation and leave filled with love and respect for their boss. Experience is a powerful thing. Far more powerful than magic.

'I'd really like to see you when you're not wearing any mask, boss,' I said.

Gesar smiled benignly.

'Tell me one thing at least, was your son an Other?' I asked. 'Or did you make him into one? I understand all that stuff about how the secret can't be revealed, it's better for everyone to think . . .'

Gesar's fist came crashing down onto the table. And he half-stood, leaning forward over his desk. 'How long are you going to go on harping on that subject?' he barked. 'Yes, Olga and I duped the Inquisition and won the right to remoralise Timur. He would have become a Dark One, and I couldn't allow that! Clear? Go and report me to the Inquisition if you like! But drop this ridiculous nonsense!'

For a brief moment I felt afraid. But Gesar started striding round his office again and gesticulating energetically, with his feet constantly coming out of his slippers.

'It's impossible to turn a human being into an Other. Impossible! There's no way. Would you like me to tell you the truth about your wife and daughter? Olga intervened in Svetlana's destiny. She used the second half of the Chalk of Destiny for her. But not even the Chalk of Destiny could have transformed your unborn daughter into an Other if she wasn't going to have been born an Other anyway. We only made her even more powerful, gave her absolute power.'

'I know,' I said with a nod.

'How?' Gesar asked, astonished.

'Arina gave me a hint.'

'She's a smart one,' Gesar said. He lowered his voice again. 'That's it! Now you know everything there is to know on the subject. A human being cannot become an Other. By employing the most powerful artefacts it is possible, in the early stages, or in advance, to make an Other more or less powerful, or incline him to the Light or the Dark . . .Within very narrow limits, Anton! If the boy Egor had not been neutral initially, we wouldn't have been able to erase his initiation to the Dark. If your daughter had not been meant to be born a Great Enchantress, we could never have made her into the Greatest of the Great. Before the vessel can be filled with Light or Dark, the vessel has to exist. It depends on us what will be poured into it, but we're not capable of creating the vessel itself. We can only work with the little things, the very tiniest things. And you think it's possible to turn a