"Where is Squint-Eye?" Orel asked.

"He got full of beer yesterday and then took some drugs," Enriki said.

"Beer? Aaah, another idiot! She is injecting herself gods know what! And he uses restorers, then drinks beer. Takes every shit he finds. Good luck to them! I"d like to see how they"re going to fight."

"I told him so," Enriki said darkly.

"Fine," Orel said angrily. "Fine. Beer and stimulators, that"s cool!"

Enriki lit a cigarette.

"Squint-Eye is losing it," he said. "Arel, I mean it."

"We need to wake him up. Does he still hang around gods-know-where at night?"

"Yes, he"s absent frequently, he comes back in the morning and locks his door."

Lis entered the hall.

"Orel, I"ve brought the doctor. Can you come up for a moment?"

Orel got up.

"Stay here until I come back. Shit, if I kill Asa, I"ll have less headache." He followed Lis upstairs.

Enriki called for a servant and told him to wake up Squint-Eye.

"I"m afraid he"s broken," Enriki said to Nikto. "Bert is just destroying himself and the most horrible thing is that he understands it but doesn"t want to stop. Orel will ruin him, fucking prince! He"ll never help! If you"re all right, he is with you. If you have problems, if you"re down – he"ll help to bury you."

"You worry for Squint-Eye because he stands by you in a fight, right?"

"Yes. I"m not sure in my partner any more. He is unreliable."

"When there were four of you, you were paired with Orel. Now Orel is with me. Tol is always with Lis and you have Squint-Eye."

"Squint-Eye was the best. He fought in a pair with Orel for a long time. I was with Orel just for a short while. Orel risks, it"s difficult with him. Do you know why he gets away with everything, why the king doesn"t touch him now? Do you know? He hopes Orel gets killed in this senseless slaughter."

Nikto kept silent.