"The streets are in shambles, they aren"t bringing any profit. Orel doesn"t care, he likes to fight, nothing else!"

"Enriki, I don"t know what to say…"

"You don"t need to say anything. You"re in such deep shit, Nik, you can"t imagine. First of all, Arel, he"ll fuck you to death and you won"t be able to do anything, you depend on him. You need to push him away and you don"t want to do it. And somehow you"re right, if you stay alone, the king will get to you easily, you"ll go somewhere where you can"t harm anyone. Not to penal servitude, as before, but into a prison cell. There are a lot of people waiting for you in prison, do you know that?"

"Yes," Nikto breathed out.

"You"re a traitor for the Unclean and a criminal for humans. How did you get into such a situation, Devil"s son?"

"You call me Devil"s son so contemptuously. A gentleman from the Upper City, you despise me, I understood it a long time ago, you don"t need to demonstrate your attitude one more time. I already try not to come close to you, never touch you with a finger."

"And you"re right! I"d rather not to have fingers at all than have such disgraceful black fingers like yours."

"I cannot flay myself alive to please you! But I do my best for us to be on good terms, you can"t even imagine how hard I try!"

"And I"m trying to save you from prison. I lick officials" asses for you to sit here and not there. So stop pouting like a girl!"

Nikto didn"t say anything, he turned away from Enriki and looked down.

Sleepy Squint-Eye walked down the stairs.

"Hello," he muttered and sat gloomily in his place, lowering his head and staring at the table.

Enriki and Nikto looked at him but didn"t say anything.

Three of them sat silently and not looking at each other until Orel, Lis and Tol came back.

Tol was sad; he painted half of his face in black, the common sign of mourning for someone badly ill or dead.

"Tol," Enriki asked, "how is Asa?"

Tol raised his eyes. "Bad. She is puking all the time and the doctor doesn"t really help her, I think."

"Tol, you"re unfair," Lis said, "he is not a magician."

Tol looked at Nikto.

"Nik, please inject her your stuff. Talk to her, find out how she feels. She is saying something. I don"t understand anything."