Сергей Лукьяненко - Day Watch

"Not cognizable," Witezslav said eventually. "Great Magician Gesar, having heard your explanations, the Inquisition accepts that you have not violated the letter of the Treaty…"

"The letter or the spirit." Gesar corrected him sharply.

"The letter or the spirit," the vampire agreed in a voice that betrayed his frustration. "However, your actions are still considered to be dubious and dangerous."

"No more so than the attempt by the Day Watch of Moscow to eliminate Svetlana Nazarova shortly before her initiation," Gesar snapped. "Do you have any more questions for me?"

"No," said Witezslav. "You may return to your seat."

Throughout the questioning, Zabulon had stood modestly on the very edge of the circular grille… He didn't seem upset that no charges had been brought against Gesar. And that made Edgar feel uneasy.

"Dark magician Zabulon, the Inquisition has some questions for you," said Witezslav. "Was the attack by the sect of the Regin Brothers provoked by you?"

"No one is obliged to testify against himself…" Zabulon said in a dull voice.

"Is that a confession?" the vampire asked in a lively tone.

"No, it is a reminder of the law. You have no right to ask such a question. Therefore I shall not answer it."

"Very well. Your objection is accepted. Great Magician Zabulon, have you been planning, in order to oppose the future Messiah of the Light, to resurrect the Great Magician Fafnir, who was consigned to the Twilight and dematerialized more than a thousand years ago?"

Zabulon began blinking rapidly and exclaimed in a voice full of amazement, "Where did you get a nonsensical idea like that?"

"Did you act to prevent the initiation of Svetlana Nazarova and carry out other actions directed against her?"

"Yes, within the limits permitted by the Treaty," Zabulon replied briskly.

"And Fafnir?"

"What about Fafnir?" said Zabulon, answering a question with a question. He looked at Edgar and winked.

"Why did you send to Prague a certain member of the Day Watch, ideally suited for the rematerialization of Fafnir?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about!"

"Did you plan to exploit the following parallels: Fafnir as the Antichrist, the four members of the Regin Brothers sect as the four horses of the Apocalypse…"

Zabulon burst into laughter. He laughed and wheezed happily for a long time, the way someone might laugh if they had just pulled off a risky but very amusing hoax. Then he wiped away the tears that had sprung to his eyes and said in a calmer voice, "I am delighted by the sense of humor demonstrated by the members of the Inquisition. Fafnir was an insane psychopath. I actually knew him personally and there is nothing I would like less than to meet him again… in any case, he wouldn't suit as a Messiah of Darkness. That's beyond his level… Eliminating Svetlana, now…" Zabulon smiled. "… That's a possibility. But at such a price… oh, no, never. And as for those half-wit Finnish magicians… what did you say they were-the horses of the Apocalypse?"

Edgar felt like a total idiot. He looked imploringly at Witezslav. But the vampire hadn't given up yet.

"Why did you carry out the following actions: arranging the death of Alisa Donnikova, which can be interpreted as a ritual sacrifice for rematerialization, and ordering two portraits from a well-known Moscow artist-one of the Dark magician Edgar and one of the dragon Fafnir?"

Zabulon became more serious: "I would also like to understand the circumstances of Alisa's death better! As I understand, it is to be the subject of the next inquiry. Well, and as for the portraits…"

The head of Moscow's Day Watch reached inside his jacket and took out two small pictures in frames, about twenty by thirty centimeters. Edgar was horrified to recognize one as a portrait of himself. The other showed a dragon contorted by convulsions.

"This is a small Christmas present for one of my finest employees-please pardon an old man's sentimentality…"

And with that Zabulon took a step toward Edgar and held the portrait out to him. It was a good portrait-no two ways about it. But Edgar was only frightened even more by Zabulon's whisper: "Smart boy…"

Zabulon returned to the circle.

"And the second picture?" Witezslav asked.

"Pure sentimentality," Zabulon repeated. "Those Regin Brothers stirred up old feelings. I remembered Fafnir and… decided to have a portrait of him made as a keepsake…"

"You were not planning to bring him back to life?" Witezslav asked again. This time Zabulon answered very seriously and apparently with absolute sincerity. "Not for a moment. There are less disruptive ways to achieve my goal."

The Inquisitors exchanged glances.

"Great Magician Zabulon," said Witezslav. "The Inquisition has no charges to bring against you: You may return to your seat. However, we remind you that taken all together your actions appear extremely ambiguous and dangerous…"

"I understand, I understand," Zabulon muttered as he walked out of the circle. "Soon it will be impossible to pick your nose without permission…"

Edgar looked at Gesar, expecting the old intriguer to be angry.

But no. Gesar wasn't angry. He even seemed to have taken a genuine interest in what Zabulon had said. That is, he had been quite convinced that the head of the Dark Ones would wriggle out of everything, but he was interested in all the details.

They'd known all of this beforehand!

Edgar struggled desperately to gather his scattered thoughts. That meant Svetlana really was going to be the mother of a Messiah of the Light… and a female one-that was a surprise! Zabulon was fighting against it, but… but not by creating an Antichrist in the flesh… that had only been a diversionary maneuver, one in which Edgar had behaved like a naive child.

But then what was the most important thing?

"The Inquisition now moves on to the consideration of the most important matter of the day, which is of exceptional importance for the Light and the Darkness," said Witezslav, as if he were answering the question that Edgar hadn't asked. "The case of Igor Teplov, a third-level magician of the Moscow Night Watch. Is everyone familiar with the materials of the case?"

Nobody said anything. Everybody had been familiar with the materials for a long time…

"I offer the prosecuting counsel, Anton Gorodetsky, the floor."

The Light One was standing opposite Edgar. He raised his head and nodded curtly to Witezslav.

"I shall be brief. In essence, our charges are simple-we accuse the respected magician Zabulon, here present, of deliberately sending Alisa Donnikova to the Artek camp, knowing that Igor Teplov would be there, restoring his powers. Zabulon had probably read the reality lines and realized that for Igor and Alisa those conditions would immediately lead to… to love between them. A tragic and hopeless love, since the young people served different powers. A love that would end in a duel which would lead to the death of either Igor or Alisa, while the surviving opponent would be condemned by the Inquisition. We accuse Zabulon of the deliberate and cynical elimination… attempted elimination… of the Moscow Night Watch agent Igor Teplov. We therefore request the Inquisition to withdraw the charge brought against Igor Teplov of violating the Treaty and murdering Alisa Donnikova."

"Is that all?" Witezslav asked after a pause.

"No. We also request the court to consider the matter of the death of a young boy who was not an Other, as a result of the duel. Insofar as the duel was arranged by Zabulon…"

"Objection," Zabulon exclaimed in a squeaky voice.

"Objection sustained," the vampire ruled.

"Since we believe the duel to have been arranged by Zabulon, he is also guilty of the boy's death, for which Igor Teplov cannot be blamed. That is all."