Сергей Лукьяненков - Last Watch

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. Tell me, 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“The withdrawn,” Gennady corrected me without any malice in his voice. “Not the dead, the withdrawn.”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 narrowed her eyes and peered at me. And I started telling her all the nonsense I’d fed to Edgar and Gennady on 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 real sign of trusting me on the plane either. “We ought to have taken the daughter…”

“Gena, don’t you even dream in your worst nightmare of ever touching that little girl!” Arina said in a warning tone. “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 around 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 artifact! 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 you want from me, my darling cutthroats’…Maybe I should sing ‘Murka’ for you?” Edgar said suddenly.

I didn’t immediately realize that he was joking about “Murka,” the traditional Russian song about betrayal. He didn’t often make jokes.

“But there could be something to this story 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 verify 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 pulling any tricks.”

GENNADY WAS DRIVING. APPARENTLY EDGAR AND ARINA THOUGHT THAT they could restrain me better if I attempted to escape or attack them. I was sitting in the backseat with Edgar on my left and Arina on my right.

But I didn’t attempt to attack or to escape, they had too many trump cards up their sleeves. Now that they had taken the Cat off my neck, the skin where the fluffy strap had been was scratched and itchy.

“They’re guarding the Crown much more seriously now,” I said. “Aren’t you afraid of a massacre, Arina? Will your conscience be able to handle it?”

“We’ll manage without bloodshed,” Arina replied confidently. “As far as that’s possible.”

I doubted very much that it was possible, but I didn’t try to argue. I looked out in silence at the suburbs we were driving through, as if I was hoping to see Lermont or his deputy and at least be able to warn them with a look or a gesture…

If I tried to get away, they would almost certainly catch me. I had to wait.

The day was just declining into evening; it was the busiest time for tourists, but today Edinburgh seemed quite different from two weeks earlier. The people on the streets seemed somehow muted and joyless, the sky was obscured by a light haze, and the birds circling overhead seemed alarmed by something.

So, apparently everything in the world could sense the approaching cataclysm, including people and birds…

The cell phone in my pocket jangled. Edgar was startled and tensed up. I looked inquiringly at Arina.

“Answer it, but be discreet,” she said.

I looked at the phone. It was Svetlana. “Hello.”

As ill luck would have it, the connection was excellent. You would never have suspected that we were thousands of kilometers apart.

“Are you still working, Anton?”

“Yes,” I said. “I’m driving in the car.”

Arina was watching me closely. She was bound to be able to hear every word that Svetlana said.

“I deliberately didn’t call. They told me something had happened…some terrorists or other, pumped full of magic…is that why you’re late?”

A faint spark of hope began to glimmer in my breast. I wasn’t late yet! Svetlana couldn’t have been expecting me home from work so early.

“Yes, of course, that’s why,” I said.

Come on, now, guess! Use magic! You can find out where I am now. Raise the alarm. Warn Gesar, and he’ll get in touch with Lermont. If the Edinburgh Night Watch are expecting an attack, that will be the end of the Last Watch.

“Make sure you don’t get stuck for too long,” Svetlana told me. “Surely you have enough people working for you to manage all these things? Don’t take everything on yourself. OK?”

“Of course I won’t,” I said.

“Is Semyon with you?” Svetlana asked casually.

Before I could answer, Arina shook her head. Of course, if Svetlana suspected something, she could phone Semyon after I said yes.

“No,” I said, “I’m on my own. I’ve got a separate job to do.”

“Do you want me to help? I’m getting a bit bored sitting at home,” Svetlana said, and laughed.

Arina was alarmed and tense now.

“Don’t be silly, this is nothing special,” I said. “Just an inspection visit.”

“As long as you’re sure,” said Svetlana, sounding a bit disappointed. “Call me if you get completely stuck. Oi, Nadya’s trundling something around. Bye…”

She cut off the call and I started to put the phone away in my pocket. Trying to keep cool while looking straight into Arina’s relaxed face, I pressed three buttons on the phone: Incoming Calls-Call Last Number-Off.

That was all. I couldn’t risk leaving the phone switched on. Arina might hear the ringing tone from inside my pocket. Had the call gone through? Had the international telephone network managed to process it before it was canceled? I didn’t know. I could only put my hope in the greed of the cell phone network operators-it was more profitable for them to put the call through and debit my account.

And also, of course, I put my hope in Svetlana’s common sense. When her phone rang and then stopped again, she would have to use magic instead of trying to call me back. Arina and Edgar were far older than me. For them a cell phone would always be a portable version of a cumbersome apparatus into which one had to shout, “Young lady! Young lady! Give me the Smolny Institute!”