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29

They were to be expected to be in bed. And the fool could see the mutual attraction. More precisely, my fools, who even have the audacity to laugh at me (when the impressions of the last execution of punishment for any offense fade in their memory, and, I must say, those subject to “water madness” have a bad memory: sometimes whole days, or even weeks - depending on the position of the moons in the sky, so sometimes I even feel sorry for punishing). But bed is bed, and service is service.

- How long ago did this happen?

“Five months,” Kyrian admitted reluctantly.

— But let me, at such a time it should be already noticeable! Or am I confusing something?

- I ... asked to bring "sleep."

rr! What an abomination! Forcibly slowing down the development of a child in the womb - how could you think of such a thing? However, I know how. As long as Kyrian is in my service, she has no right to have offspring. At least for the simple reason that a pregnant bodyguard will unconsciously pay more attention to her child, and not to the guarded body. And one can only praise a woman for neglecting her own happiness for the sake of someone else's safety. And you can scold what I'll do now.

Why didn't you tell me right away? Well, you could not inform Balliga, although I'm sure he guessed everything, or begged to be silent, but you, you yourself! Why didn't you come and confess...

— In the committed crime? Kiri coldly continued my phrase and was absolutely right: she was warned about the rules and punishment for breaking them.

- Yes, at least in anything! I should have known. That's my right.

— Did you…

She paused, looking into my eyes.

- I'm nothing. Did not know.

“But I thought…

- Did you think that every time I'm around, I read your soul and your thoughts? So, you were wrong. Today it happened for the first time. And the last one. You can be free.

- But…

Kyrian's black eyes widened in confusion.

- Now I will take the "snake" out of your body, and get out on all four sides.

— Dan Raiden…

- I don't want to hear anything. I don't want servants who don't value themselves. turn around!

She obediently offered the base of her neck to the knife and did not flinch, neither when the blade cut through the skin and muscles, nor when the silvery body made its way out to wrap itself around my right shoulder like a bracelet.

- You will receive a calculation from the treasurer: sorry, I do not have the required amount with me. Everything. Free.

Kyrian sat down, scooped up her clothes, and for some reason suddenly let out a sob.

That's what I don't like at all, so it's tears. Any - children's, women's, men's. First of all, I don’t like it from the point of view of the peculiarities of my service: the salty moisture spilling from the eyes intensifies the sensations to the extent that I myself want to either sob or howl.

- Put aside the tears!

— Dan Raiden…

- Something else?

“Having let me go, you are left…almost alone.

I peered into the unfortunate face of the one who should be happy, not upset.

“You don't have to worry about it anymore.

- But I can not…

- It will pass. In a month, the last memory of the “snake” will be washed out of your blood. Just be patient.

“You don't understand…” Kyrian raised her eyebrows in sorrow. “I thought… I was afraid that, having learned everything, you would punish me… and punish him… But you…”

- Get out of here! And immediately look for the magician who induces "sleep" so that he returns everything to its place!

— Dan Raiden…

"Shoot, I said!"

She shook her head, arguing with either my behavior or her own thoughts, and disappeared as silently as she had come. Only the door hinges creaked.

Yes, they say correctly: trouble does not come alone. They walk in pairs, these troubles. And then three more. Well, now we can already consider that I personally have two troubles ... By the way, more or less? Good question. Let's say that the death of Ballig, without exaggeration, is a misfortune, bad and absurd. But getting rid of Kirian's hatred cannot be attributed to troubles, it looks more like a holiday. For some reason it just doesn't feel like having fun...

What do I have? One corpse and one pregnant bodyguard who left the service, and with her me to the mercy of fate. In the current situation, the presence or absence of Honk becomes a completely insignificant circumstance; it will even be easier for me to think that there is no protection at all than to rely on someone other than myself out of habit. And it is more useful - a hundred times!

A woman unknown to me, using a weapon that somehow ended up within Antreya, confused the minds of at least five and almost reached her goal, that is, the death of the Navigator. Although I told Ra-Dien that I was not worried about the reasons for the assassination attempt, I have to admit: I am worried, and very much so. Moreover, the greatest concern is not the audacity of the killer and the customer, who intended to stop the life path of a person who is a priceless creation of the gods and nature, but the place where the crime was committed. Why was my city chosen?

The navigator always disappears on the road, and it’s most convenient to get close to it on the road: in any inn or just in the middle of the forest, at the sea, in the desert, and anywhere, but while driving it would be easier to achieve what you want! And yet, the killer allowed the victim to arrive in Antreya, although he should have known that the Navigator had a reinforced escort in the said city. In my face So why the hell did it all happen here?

After a day of reflection, I see two options for explaining the absurdity of what is happening.

First: it was important for the customer that the murder took place only in Antrey. Assumptions? None. Well, let's leave this version alone and turn to her sister.

Second: only in Antreya could the killer act most successfully. And now this assumption has already acquired evidence in its favor.

A stranger can influence people. Luckily, quite erasable: I found no trace of someone else's presence in Kyrian's mind. But the very fact that an attacker is capable of confounding a supposedly unlimited number of heads is frightening. The only thing is that with such a force of influence, a restriction on the size of the perimeter must be observed, and my confidence in this has a basis, quite weighty. I also know how to "influence".

True, the limits of my abilities extend in other directions, preferring quality to quantity. I can jokingly deal with either three bodyguards or one madman. Not without tricks, of course: in the case of the trinity, “snakes” help me, and in the case of the fool, his own blood, which carries particles of “moon silver”. This same troublemaker, although she could not cheat in a similar way, almost took the bodyguards out of my control by using ... And what did she use, by the way?

Change of feelings. When a person is fixed on the same idea or feeling, it is difficult to break into his consciousness, not to mention somehow change the direction of thoughts. As for Kyrian, in her head the thoughts didn’t just change places, but swayed, as if on the waves of the sea, only helping the killer: incorporating feelings and thoughts into the melody is the first step to gaining power. That's how I was taught. This is how I act when I “talk” a fool: I listen to the songs that sound in the echoing walls of their skulls, and then I pick up my own tune, which at first is utterly similar, but gradually leads away from the path of madness ...

So, Kiri fell for the bait because she was torn between love and duty. I suspect that Ballig stumbled over the same pebble, but affection for me (which, however, he never clearly showed, but which I always felt better than I wanted to) outweighed, and the bodyguard nevertheless completed his task. True, after a harsh shout, which also played a role, but the "shell" was in place faster than the "claw", which means that it had freed itself from other people's influence earlier. Dig into Honka's head? No, not today. I'm sure I'll find something painfully similar to the confusion that dragged Kyrian into the labyrinth of doubt. But I missed something...

Ah, I remembered! Sign ambiguity. After all, I actually showed the “Open Claw”, which means: take a position next to the guarded and be ready for an immediate attack or defense. Kiri saw only "Attention" - a palm with closed fingers. Could she be wrong? No, the dark-skinned woman has excellent eyesight, besides, at that time it was enhanced by the efforts of the “snake”. Ballig hesitated, choosing between expectation and action. Why? Was the killer an illusion? Or… I think I understood: most likely, her intervention, which came into conflict with my control threads, produced an effect similar to “complete liberation”. A dangerous thing, by the way, because it violates the established chains of cause and effect... So, Kirian, who was literally between two fires, simply could not make a choice. Couldn't figure out what she was seeing because the control was weakened to the limit, among other things, and her own. But since the last thing that dark-skinned girl wanted to do was to put her skin under someone's blades that evening, she simply took wishful thinking. “Saw” another sign. She gave herself peace of mind.

Yes, that seems to be exactly what happened. A gruesome picture emerges, however. Suppose I can try to clash my “management” with someone else’s, but at the same time I risk turning the unwitting victim into a creature unable to make decisions in accordance with the environment, and acting solely in obedience to my own fantasies. Darkness.

Did you really let her go?

Will I ever be left alone? Only not until the red-haired nightmare is alive, which you shout with a cry - you don’t get it, then it strives to share with me every minute of existence. But I didn’t have the strength to start an argument, so I just lowered my sleeve from my shoulder, revealing the newly appeared “decoration” to the astonished brown look.

Alden rolled his eyes. Frowning. He rounded his eyes again.

- Do you understand what you're doing?

- Imagine this.

No, you don't understand! You can't carry the whole menagerie at once, you'll overstrain!

“Your tender care touches me, but let’s leave each to his own, huh? See to it that Kyrian is fairly paid off, and that the charlatan who used her returns everything as it was. Oh, if I knew whose dirty hands did not disdain to intervene in the unborn life, I would ...

The magician turned slightly pale, but still decided to ask:

- You would - "what"?

- I would like this craftsman ... You don’t know for an hour who it could be?

Ryzhik began to back away towards the threshold, which he had imprudently crossed a minute ago, muttering:

- Yes, I ... somehow was not interested ... and I don’t need it ...

— Ollie.

- Mm?

- Come to me.

- Why?

“I want to get a better look at your vile mug!” It was you who made the "sleep", admit it!

Have you seen how a person twitches? And the whole body, from the tips of the fingers to the tips of the hair? Funny spectacle. It improves my mood a lot: if up to this point I wanted to hang myself, now the propensity to kill has been revised in favor of the ginger.

Pulling away, Alden jumped up on the spot, turned around and gave a rip. I hope he ran fast enough not to hear my cackle. And if I did, I always had a chance that in the basement corridors, sincere amusement could sound like the moans of ghosts.

Having spat out the last laugh, I put out the lamps, taking only one with me (so as not to stray in the dark), and went to the inhabited part of the house, namely to Ollie's laboratory.

The door, as I suspected, was closed. Of course, from the inside, because the old friend had not just an abstract idea of ​​\u200b\u200bthe strength of my anger, but in his reckless youth he himself experienced what it was like to anger the heir of the Ra Gro family. Let’s suppose that I didn’t have a good time either, it flew into the first number from the mentor, but the magician was less fortunate, and all the familiar apprentices who studied the medical business had to set and splice his broken bones. Why did I get up then? I don't remember anymore. How strange. But at first glance, the offense seemed eternal and unrepentant. Insidious time takes away too much from us - both bad and good - but for some reason it is a pity to lose the memory of even the most unpleasant moment in life ...

— Ollie! Are you home?

A stubborn voice came from behind the door:

- I won't open it.

- What are you talking about! Do not forget what relationship we are connected with: it is enough for me to order, and you will have to obey.

I still won't open it.

The massive wooden shield covering the entrance to Alden's abode made it difficult to make out the shades of all the feelings in the voice of the ginger, but, perhaps, today the magician was more determined than ever.

- Are you afraid of something?

“And I wasn’t scared at all!

“And why did he run away and shut himself up?”

Silence.

“Running a duel is an admission of guilt, Ollie. Do you remember this?

Does not answer, infection. Only aggravates his situation, but stubborn. And someone else thinks I'm stubborn! They would look at the fool who sits in four walls, believing unreasonably that he will escape punishment for his atrocities ...

You shouldn't have indulged her weakness. Yes, she made a mistake, but it was possible to fix everything right away, and not pile up new, much more dangerous ones. You just had to come to me and tell me everything honestly.

The magician's voice broke through again, though still rather timidly:

“And… how would you do it?”

I stretched, stretching my shoulders and back, then thought and sat on the floor, leaning against the wall next to the door and stretching my legs.

- I do not know.

- Here you see!

Oh, sounds like an accusation.

- I really don't know. But I wouldn't do any harm. Anyway. Maybe he would have agreed to the same “dream”, or maybe he would have let him go right away. Now, when I think about it, I understand: a timely warning would save me from losses. But you can't take back what's been done, right?

The key turned in the lock. The door opened a crack and a soft voice rang out over my head.

- Are you angry?

- At you? I'm angry. And for yourself too. Maybe I just spawned another stupidity, but I don't regret it. Strange, right?

Alden sighed and settled down on the floor next to me.

- You could beat me.

“Losing three people in one day? Three close people? Of course, I'm a fool, but not that much!

"You know what, Raiden...

- BUT?

- She cried.

- Did you cry?

“I couldn't believe you never… never 'read' it.

“I didn’t “read” you either.

- I know. I tried to explain to her, said that you do not like to do this, and if you really have to, then ...

- I don't enjoy it.

“Yes, that's what I said.

I turned my head to Alden.

- AND?

Ginger sighed, drawing circles on the dusty floor with his finger.

“But how do I know ... It would be better if you laid it all out for her yourself!”

- Not. Kiri wouldn't listen to my explanations. Couldn't hear what I'm talking about.

The brown eyes that looked at me flashed reproachfully:

“She's not stupid at all, Raiden.

“It's not the mind, Ollie. It's a matter of habit. Habit is the worst enemy we have to fight. An enemy that is very difficult to defeat.

- What are you talking about?

“Kiri is accustomed to seeing me as a master who can force me to fulfill an absurd whim at any moment.

"But you did it!" Will you back out?

— I won't.

I pressed the back of my head against the wall.

- I have so many mistakes on my account that they would be enough for a dozen lives. He was young, stupid, did not understand that the one who gives the orders is doubly responsible for their execution, because the deed must be done, and the performer must not suffer in any way.

- Are you sorry?

- Not.

- Indeed?

— Is it worth it? Turn back time and I'll do just as many stupid things.

Alden tried to protest:

"But you'll already know what not to do!"

“There is so much more that I don’t know.

He remained silent, sullenly sniffing beside him.

The eyelids closed of their own accord, and drowsiness immediately slipped into his tired consciousness. Gods, how much did you measure for me today ... And were you sure that I could stand it? Probably, they were, otherwise my frayed body and rather leaky mind would have been spared.

"Are you going to sit here like that?"

I asked myself and honestly admitted:

"I'm sorry, Ollie, I don't have the strength to get to bed."

But sleeping on the floor...

“Hopefully I’ll make it tonight.”

Judging by the rustling, the ginger jumped up and darted into the laboratory, poked around there and dragged something.

- Here! Get down!

- Mm?

The right eye was still open.

Oh, poof. Not painfully thick, but will protect from the coolness of the floor. How touching.

— Do you often spend the night where you work?

"I have to," muttered the mage.

I crawled onto a bed full of hay. A blanket fell from above. Now you can sleep with a clear conscience, that's just ...

Did you send someone?

- Where?

- Feed the cat.

Sent, sent! Sleep now!

- Thanks…

Through the coming dream I heard:

- Like a child, the right word!

And then all the sounds died down, granting a long-awaited peace. But it was not possible to dive into it right away, because the same thought pecked at the mind: we must deal with the killer as soon as possible. Before she begins her procession over the corpses of the enchanted townspeople, and such an outcome will not be long, because if my feelings do not lie, the stranger is as mad as a thousand hhags, and I must stop her.

But first I need... I need freedom of action. And I will get it.