Day Watch

"What Light One doesn't like light Czech beer?" Anton asked, trying to joke. The joke fell flat, but his readiness even to attempt a pun was amazing. He hadn't felt like doing that for ages…

"How's Sveta doing?" Olga asked, still in the same tone.

Anton gritted his teeth. The weight that had fallen from his heart returned for a moment.

"Still the same…"

"Nothing?"

Anton nodded.

"I'll call around to see her this evening," Olga told him. "I think she's ready for visitors now. And I'll find some way to make her feel better… trust me."

It was true. Who better to console a Great Enchantress who had lost her magic powers for a long time than another Great Enchantress who had been deprived of her powers for many decades in punishment for a misdemeanor?

"Yes, come round, Olga," said Anton. "Sveta will be very glad to see you."

Gesar cleared his throat gently.

"You've got plenty of time," Olga snapped. "Anton, you know… I wish you luck. I sincerely wish you luck."

"Luck with what?" Anton asked, puzzled.

Instead of answering, Olga leaned down over him and kissed him tenderly on the lips.

"Well now!" was all Gesar could find to say.

"Ever since Anton and I swapped bodies," Olga remarked casually, "you don't really have any right to be jealous of me with him. And especially over such a tiny thing. Right, boys! Behave yourselves, don't drink too much, and if there are any problems-call me."

"Any problems?" Gesar echoed with a frown. But Olga was already on her way out. The Great Magician watched her go, and when the door closed, he sighed and said, "Living with a Great Enchantress is a real ordeal. Even for me. How do you manage it, Anton?"

"Svetlana didn't have time to become a genuinely Great Enchantress," Anton remarked. He picked up one of the mugs and took a mouthful of beer. It was excellent. Just the way real beer ought to be.

"But you're glad of that, surely?" Gesar inquired.

"No." Anton took a piece of strong-flavored goat's milk cheese. "I'm not."

"Why not?" Gesar asked with gentle curiosity. "Now you have several decades of happy life as equals ahead of you. Ideally fifty whole years."

"Gesar, what happiness can there be if the woman I love feels like a worthless cripple?" Anton asked sharply. "And if it's my fault, at least partly."

"Partly?"

Anton nodded. "Yes, exactly. Partly."

Gesar paused. Then he asked the question Anton had been expecting three weeks earlier but had already stopped expecting.

"Tell me, what happened between you and Zabulon."

"He came to my apartment again. Like the first time."

"And he entered with the help of your vampire friend again?" Gesar inquired.

"No, after the other time I closed my home to him. I simply don't understand how Zabulon could have got through."

Gesar nodded and took a drink of beer.

"Then Zabulon suggested I should commit… an act of betrayal. He said that Vitaly Rogoza was a Mirror-Magician created by the Twilight in response to the increasing strength of the Night Watch. That his main goal was to kill Svetlana or deprive her of her powers. And if I was late for the session of the Inquisition, then Rogoza would strip Svetlana of her Power and dematerialize."

"And you agreed?"

Anton thought before he formulated his answer. He'd run through this conversation with Gesar plenty of times in his head. But he'd never found the right words…

"Gesar, the only other alternative would have been continuing confrontation. Obviously, either Svetlana would have been killed, or…"

"Or?" Gesar was clearly interested.

"Or many Others would have been… less exalted members of the Watch. To weaken us to the same extent overall."

Gesar nodded. "You figured it out for yourself?"

"No, not entirely. I rummaged in the archives and found a few similar cases, one of which ended with the a

"But why didn't you contact me?" Gesar asked. "Why didn't you warn me about Zabulon's visit?"

"How could I know what he was expecting to happen? Maybe just that-for me to go dashing to you for advice. Zabulon was clearly trying to trick me, but I couldn't figure out what the trap was. It could have been a mistake to contact you, or to keep quiet. So I chose a third way. I tried to prevent the Mirror getting to Svetlana. Using a very primitive method-I rammed his car."

"Bravo," said Gesar in a strange, squeaky voice. "Well done, Anton. It didn't work, but it was a good try. But why didn't you tell anyone who Rogoza was?"

"Why didn't you tell anyone, Boris Ignatievich?" Anton asked, raising his head. "Or are you trying to tell me it wasn't you who led the investigation into the events in Kiev in October 1906? Or is one lousy century too much for your memory to retain? The entire situation was a perfect parallel. A certain Vladimir Sobolev came to Kiev from Poltava and registered with the Night Watch. He was later found at the scene of the murder of a young streetwalker, where there were clear signs of vampirism, then he was caught near the spot where a witches' coven was dispersed…"

"What did I summon you for?" Gesar asked in a very loud, indignant voice. "To question you about the dubious circumstances of your relations with Dark Ones or to hear you accusing me?"

"You summoned me, Boris Ignatievich, to have a drink of beer. And to ask me to do something for you."

Gesar started breathing heavily. Then he shook his head. "No, I'm not going to ask. I still have the right to order you."

"Go ahead," Anton said, pleased. "I won't argue, I'll carry out my orders. Right down the line. Only that's not what you want, is it? An obedient agent without any initiative?"

Gesar shrugged. "All right. You win. I want to ask you to do something for me, Anton…"

"First answer me… about the Mirror."

"Then listen. Mirrors have appeared nine times-if we take just the documented and proven instances. Only two of them have been on our side. The last three appearances of a Mirror have been on the side of the Dark Ones, each time at a place where the forces of Light had a significant advantage and plans were being made for… for a large-scale operation of some kind. It's impossible to fight a Mirror. He beats off any magical attack by rising to the level of his enemy and defends himself against ordinary attacks by using magical means. All you can do is choose who to sacrifice-a dozen of the rank and file magicians or one of the Great Ones."

"And you decided to let him have Tiger Cub and Svetlana."

"I didn't decide a thing! In the first place, until Tiger Cub was killed I wasn't even sure that what we were facing really was a Mirror!" Gesar smashed his fist down on the desk, spilling the beer. "And nobody was supposed to die. It was all supposed to end with Rogoza being captured-which would have meant he wasn't a Mirror at all, just an ordinary visiting emissary-or with us retreating. I didn't expect Tiger Cub to blow her top like that!"

"She was a very impulsive girl."

"No, Anton. You're wrong. She was an energetic and impulsive Other, but she had excellent control. And this outburst of hers…" Gesar paused. "It seems that I underestimated the strength of her feelings for Andrei Tiu

"They'd been seeing each other a lot just recently," Anton admitted. "He even went to her place out in the country, and Tiger Cub was very fond of her privacy. And when Andrei… well, just why did he go into Rogoza's room?"

"To show off to Tiger Cub…" Gesar sighed. "Ah, you little boys and girls, still green, boasting to each other, showing off your magic, your battle scars, talismans, and amulets… why is there so much human stupidity in all of you?"