I lie in bed among hot blankets, and sleep is afraid to come to me, because I am afraid to fall asleep. This happens in patients with fever or poisoned by bad food, who are tormented by great heat and nausea. Any attempts to fall asleep are futile, because crazy pictures, fragments of some melodies, slurred phrases are dancing in the inflamed mind. Every now and then the disfigured muzzle of the late Wolfeld flickers, the family of coal miners dances among the nameless tombstones, and people whom I did not personally see, but who have disappeared, lie in a heap on the sidelines. Customs officials, most of them never found, none of the ones de Moranjac suspected of taking bribes. Speaking of him, the high accuser is also here, in my head, in the midst of the excruciating heat. He and his whole family dine at a large table, not noticing the dancing dead and the lups prowling between the graves.“Monsieur de Moranjac,” I said as I approached, “forgive me for disturbing your meal. I don't

Excited exclamations of passengers were heard. I hurried to the side and leaned over the railing to see what the noise was. From the muddy waters of Estra appeared the bumpy, overgrown with silt, like wool, the shell of the Clastanos violinist. A giant crab with a primitive mind took up a vertical position, showing a huge right claw, and began to gurgle. Judging by the way its mouthparts trembled, the klastanos was about to release a long jet of stinking water at the passengers for fun.“Be careful, master. Sebastina snatched a kitchen hatchet from under her hem and threw it at the violinist.Hissing through the air, the weapon slammed into the carapace and knocked off the outermost of the six horn growths above the muzzle. Hissing viciously, the river dweller sank under the water.- In vain you are.“This lower being allowed himself the unacceptable. I intended to drive the ax between the eyes, but did not take into account the movement of water and ferry.“The Clastanos are vindicti

Sebastina helped me sit up and piled plates around me, interspersed with documents. I ate something without looking, sorting through the results of examinations, the conclusions of the coroner, the reports of alchemists and forensic magicians. Perhaps the most interesting was the description of the black substance found in Incival's house. Neither magicians nor alchemists had any idea what it was. More precisely, the alchemists knew what they had found, but they did not understand how it got there and what it was used for. The guys from Kalkstein University even sent us a list of the elements that make up that mass: water, carbon, ammonia, lime, phosphorus, salt, saltpeter, and so on, some other number of substances that could say something to Inchival, and not for me.- Some kind of nonsense. They say that this mixture is not particularly flammable, therefore, it is not a fuel, it cannot be consumed, which means that it is not a medicine. Not vegetable, not organic. Not acid, not… An

“And this is you, the thane who rushes between the bar and the dubious admirer.- How rough! He grimaced arrogantly.– Do you know each other, thanes? the Emperor asked, watching us with interest.“We are not represented, Your Majesty,” my interlocutor bowed low. “Although I have heard a lot about Tanya el'Moria during my communication with my capital friends. Miscellaneous.“Then I will do you the honor of introducing you personally. Thane Brian el'Moria, High Interrogator of the Night Watch. Tan Ruton el'Vanshar, representative of our economic interests in the eastern sector.“In other words, I am the reverse representative of the Orst-Malda Trading Company, which works in close cooperation with the tenkris families of the Eastern powers,” boasted a lover of dark glasses. At the same time, a stuffy cloud of swaggering complacency spread around him. “And I have arrived with extremely good news for His Majesty!”- Is it true? The monarch chuckled.- Still would! Our income has skyrock

— Tan el'Moria.Mr Mork! Hello!Sebastina helped me get rid of my outer clothes, and I extended my hand to the Master of the Tower.“Until recently, I thought you were dead.“I am only a cripple, but not yet a corpse!”I patted the arm of my chair. Walking was still bad for me, the sensitivity returned to my legs slowly, and I decided to pretend to be legless for some more time until I completed a home recovery course. Perhaps this vulnerability will make my enemies less cautious.“I drove past Scoalt Yard today, glad I got it out.Everything that could burn has already burned.“If you don’t mind, I would like to receive the lists of my employees who died in the fire and are missing as soon as possible.“Absolutely, but right now you and I have much more pressing problems.“El'Zornaza has assembled an emergency commission of competent experts and authorized persons who have been sorting through the night the fruits of my labors, haven't they?And my business too.- Yours? You are the