Blood of Elves

CHAPTER SIX

'Let us not commit a mistake,' said Vizimir, King of Redania, sliding his ringed fingers through the hair at his temples. 'We can't afford to make a blunder or mistake now.'

Those assembled said nothing. Demawend, ruler of Aedirn, sprawled in his armchair staring at the tankard of beer resting on his belly. Foltest, the Lord of Temeria, Pontar, Mahakam and Sodden, and recently Senior Protector of Brugge, presented his noble profile to everyone by turning his head towards the window. At the opposite side of the table sat Henselt, King of Kaedwen, running his small, piercing eyes – glistening from a face as bearded as a brigand's – over the other participants of the council. Meve, Queen of Lyria, toyed pensively with the enormous rubies in her necklace, occasionally twisting her beautiful full lips into an ambiguous grimace.

'Let us not commit a mistake,' repeated Vizimir, 'because a mistake could cost us too much. Let us make use of the experience of others. When our ancestors landed on the beaches five hundred years ago the elves also hid their heads in the sand. We tore the country away from them piece by piece, and they retreated, thinking all the while that this would be the last border, that we would encroach no further. Let us be wiser! Because now it is our turn. Now we are the elves. Nilfgaard is at the Yaruga and I hear: "So, let them stay there". I hear: "They won't come any further". But they will, you'll see. So I repeat, let us not make the same mistake as the elves!'

Raindrops knocked against the window panes and the wind howled eerily. Queen Meve raised her head. She thought she heard the croaking of ravens and crows, but it was only the wind. The wind and rain.

'Do not compare us to the elves,' said Henselt of Kaedwen. 'You dishonour us with such a comparison. The elves did not know how to fight – they retreated before our ancestors and hid in the mountains and forests. The elves did not treat our ancestors to a Sodden. But we showed the Nilfgaardians what it means to pick a quarrel with us. Do not threaten us with Nilfgaard, Vizimir, don't sow the seeds of propaganda. Nilfgaard, you say, is at the Yaruga? I say that Nilfgaard is sitting as quiet as a church mouse beyond the river. Because we broke their spine at Sodden. We broke them militarily, and above all we broke their morale. I don't know whether it is true that Emhyr var Emreis was, at the time, against aggression on such a scale, that the attack on Cintra was the work of some party hostile to him – I take it that if they had defeated us, he would be applauding, and distributing privileges and endowments amongst them. But after Sodden it suddenly turns out he was against it, and that everything which occurred was due to his marshals' insubordination. And heads fell. The scaffolds flowed with blood. These are certain facts, not rumours. Eight solemn executions, and many more modest ones. Several apparently natural yet mysterious deaths, a good many cases of people suddenly choosing to retire. I tell you, Emhyr fell into a rage and practically finished off his own commanders. So who will lead their army now? The sergeants?'

'No, not the sergeants,' said Demawend of Aedirn coldly. 'It will be young and gifted officers who have long waited for such an opportunity and have been trained by Emhyr for an equally long time. Those whom the older marshals stopped from taking command, prevented from being promoted. The young, gifted commanders about whom we already hear. Those who crushed the uprisings in Metinna and Nazair, who rapidly broke up the rebels in Ebbing. Commanders who appreciate the roles of outflanking manoeuvres, of far-reaching cavalry raids, of swift infantry marches and of landing operations from the sea. They use the tactics of crushing assaults in specific directions, they use the newest siege techniques instead of relying on the uncertainties of magic. They must not be underestimated. They are itching to cross the Yaruga and prove that they have learned from the mistakes of their old marshals.'

'If they have truly learned anything,' Henselt shrugged, 'they will not cross the Yaruga. The river estuary on the border between Cintra and Verden is still controlled by Ervyll and his three strongholds: Nastrog, Rozrog and Bodrog. They cannot be seized just like that – no new technology is going to help them there. Our flank is defended by Ethain of Cidaris's fleet, and thanks to it we control the shore. And also thanks to the pirates of Skellige. Jarl Crach an Craite, if you remember, didn't sign a truce with Nilfgaard, and regularly bites them, attacking and setting fire to their maritime settlements and forts in the Provinces. The Nilfgaardians have nicknamed him Tirth ys Muire, Sea Boar. They frighten children with him!'

'Frightening Nilfgaardian children,' smiled Vizimir wryly, 'will not ensure our safety.'

'No,' agreed Henselt. 'Something else will. Without control of the estuary or the shore and with a flank exposed, Emhyr var Emreis will be in no position to ensure provisions reach any detachments he might care to send across the Yaruga. What swift marches, what cavalry raids? Ridiculous. The army will come to a standstill within three days of crossing the river. Half will lay siege to the stronghold and the rest will be slowly dispersed to plunder the region in search of fodder and food. And when their famed cavalry has eaten most of its own horses, we'll give them another Sodden. Damn it, I'd like them to cross the river! But don't worry, they won't.'

'Let us say,' Meve of Lyria said suddenly, 'that they do not cross the Yaruga. Let us say that Nilfgaard will simply wait. Now let us consider: who would that suit, them or us? Who can let themselves wait and do nothing and who can't?'

'Exactly!' picked up Vizimir. 'Meve, as usual, does not say much but she hits the nail on the head. Emhyr has time on his hands, gentlemen, but we don't. Can't you see what is happening? Three years ago, Nilfgaard disturbed a small stone on the mountainside and now they are calmly wailing for an avalanche. They can simply

wait while new stones keep pouring down the slope. Because, to some, that first small stone looked like a boulder which would be impossible to move. And since it turned out that a mere touch sufficed to set it rolling, others appeared for whom an avalanche would prove convenient. From the Grey Mountains to Bremer -voord, elven commandos rove the forests – this is no longer a small group of guerrilla fighters, this is war. Just wait and we'll see the free elves of Dol Blathanna rising to fight. In Mahakam the dwarves are rebelling, the dryads of Brokilon are growing bolder and bolder. This is war, war on a grand scale. Civil war. Domestic. Our own. While Nilfgaard waits… Whose side you think time is on? The Scoia'tael commandos have thirty- or forty-year old elves fighting for them. And they live for three hundred years! They have time, we don't!'

'The Scoia'tael,' admitted Henselt, 'have become a real thorn in the backside. They're paralysing my trade and transport, terrorising the farmers… we have to put an end to this!'

'If the non-humans want war, they will get it,' threw in Foltest of Temeria. 'I have always been an advocate of mutual agreement and co-existence but if they prefer a test of strength then we will see who is the stronger. I am ready. I undertake to put an end to the Squirrels in Temeria and Sodden within six months. Those lands have already run with elven blood once, shed by our ancestors. I consider the blood-letting a tragedy, but I do not see an alternative the tragedy will be repeated. The elves have to be pacified.'

'Your army will march against the elves if you give the order,' nodded Demawend. 'But will it march against humans? Against the peasantry from which you muster your infantry? Against the guilds? Against the free towns? Speaking of the Scoia'tael, Vizimir described only one stone in the avalanche. Yes, yes, gentlemen, do not gape at me like that! Word is already going round the villages and towns that on the lands already taken by the Nilfgaard, peasants, farmers and craftsmen are having an easier life, freer and richer, and that merchants' guilds have more privileges… We are inundated with goods from Nilfgaardian manufactories. In Brugge and Verden their coin is ousting local currency. If we sit

and do nothing we will be finished, at odds with our neighbours, embroiled in conflict, tangled up in trying to quell rebellions and riots, and slowly subdued by the economic strength of the Nilfgaardians. We will be finished, suffocating in our own stuffy parochial corner because – understand this – Nilfgaard is cutting off our route to the South and we have to develop, we have to be expansive, otherwise there won't be enough room here for our grandchildren!'

Those gathered said nothing. Vizimir of Redania sighed deeply, grabbed one of the chalices standing on the table and took a long draught. Rain battered against the windows throughout the prolonged silence, and the wind howled and pounded against the shutters.

'All the worries of which we talk,' said Henselt finally, 'is the work of Nilfgaard. It is Emhyr's emissaries who are inciting the non-humans, spreading propaganda and calling for riots. It is they who are throwing gold around and promising privileges to corporations and guilds, assuring barons and dukes they will receive high positions in the provinces they plan to create in place of our kingdoms. I don't know what it's like in your countries, but in Kaedwen we've been inundated with clerics, preachers, fortunetellers and other shitty mystics all appearing out of the blue, all preaching the end of the world…'

'It's the same in my country,' agreed Foltest. 'Damn it, for so many years there was peace. Ever since my grandfather showed the clerics their place and decimated their ranks, those who remained stuck to useful tasks. They studied books and instilled knowledge in children, treated the sick, took care of the poor, the handicapped and the homeless. They didn't get mixed up in politics. And now all of a sudden they've woken up and are yelling nonsense to the rabble – and the rabble is listening and believes they know, at last, why their lives are so hard. I put up with it because I'm less impetuous than my grandfather and less sensitive about my royal authority and dignity than he was. What sort of dignity or authority would it be, anyway, if it could be undermined by the squealings of some deranged fanatic. But my patience is

coming to an end. Recently the main topic of preaching has been of a Saviour who will come from the south. From the south! From beyond the Yaruga!'

'The White Flame,' muttered Demawend. 'White Chill will come to be, and after it the White Light. And then the world will be reborn through the White Flame and the White Queen… I've heard it, too. It's a travesty of the prophecy of Ithlinne aep Aevenien, the elven seeress. I gave orders to catch one cleric who was going on about it in the Vengerberg market place and the torturer asked him politely and at length how much gold the prophet had received from Emhyr for doing it… But the preacher only prattled on about the White Flame and the White Queen… the same thing, to the very end.'

'Careful, Demawend,' grimaced Vizimir. 'Don't make any martyrs. That's exactly what Emhyr is after. Catch all the Nilf-gaardian agents you please, but do not lay hands on clerics, the consequences are too unpredictable. They still are held in regard and have an important influence on people. We have too much trouble with the Squirrels to risk riots in our towns or war against our own peasants.'

'Damn it!' snorted Foltest, 'let's not do this, let's not risk that, we mustn't this, we mustn't that… Have we gathered here to talk about all we can't do? Is that why you dragged us all to Hagge, Demawend, to cry our hearts out and bemoan our weakness and helplessness? Let us finally do something! Something must be done! What is happening has to be stopped!'

'I've been saying that from the start.' Vizimir pulled himself up. 'I propose action.'

What sort of action?'

'What can we do?'

Silence fell again. The wind blustered, the shutters banged against the castle wall.

'Why,' said Meve suddenly, 'are you all looking at me?'

'We're admiring your beauty,' Henselt mumbled from the depths of his tankard.

'That too,' seconded Vizimir. 'Meve, we all know you can find

a solution to everything. You have a woman's intuition, you're a wise wo-'

'Stop flattering me.' The Queen of Lyria clasped her hands in her lap and fixed her gaze on the darkened tapestries with their depictions of hunting scenes. Hounds, extended in a leap, were turning their muzzles up towards the flanks of a fleeing white unicorn. I've never seen a live unicorn, thought Meve. Never. And I probably never will.

'The situation in which we find ourselves,' she said after a while, tearing her eyes away from the tapestry, 'reminds me of long, winter evenings in Rivian Castle. Something always hung in the air. My husband would be contemplating how to get his hands on yet another maid-of-honour. The marshal would be working out how to start a war which would make him famous. The wizard would imagine he was king. The servants wouldn't feel like serving, the jester would be sad, gloomy and excruciatingly dull, the dogs would howl with melancholy and the cats sleep, careless of any mice that might be scuttling around on the table. Everybody was waiting for something. Everyone was scowling at me. And I… then I… I showed them. I showed them all what I was capable of, in a way that made the very walls shake and the local grizzly bears wake in their winter lairs. And any silly thoughts disappeared from their heads in a trice. Suddenly everyone knew who ruled.'

No one uttered a word. The wind howled a little louder. The guards on the buttresses outside hailed each other casually. The patter of drops on the panes in the lead window frames grew to a frenzied staccato.

'Nilfgaard is watching and waiting,' continued Meve slowly, toying with her necklace. 'Nilfgaard is observing us. Something is hanging in the air, silly thoughts are springing up in many heads. So let us show them what we are capable of. Let us show them who is really king here. Let us shake the walls of this great castle plunged into a winter torpor!'

'Eradicate the Squirrels,' said Henselt quickly. 'Start a huge joint military operation. Treat the non-humans to a blood bath. Let the

Pontar, Gwenllech and Buina flow with elven blood from source to estuary!'

'Send a penal expedition to smother the free elves of Dol Blathanna,' added Demawend, frowning. 'March an interventionary force into Mahakam. Allow Ervyll of Verden a chance, at last, to get at the dryads in Brokilon. Yes, a blood bath! And any survivors -to the reservations!'

'Set Crach an Craite at the Nilfgaardian shores,' picked up Vizimir. 'Support him with Ethain of Cidaris's fleet, let them go ravaging from the Yaruga to Ebbing! A show of strength-'

'Not enough.' Foltest shook his head. 'All of that is still not enough. We need… I know what we need.'

'So tell us!'

'Cintra.'

'What?'

'To take Cintra back from the Nilfgaardians. Let us cross the Yaruga, be the first to attack. Now, while they don't expect it. Let us throw them out, back beyond the Marnadal.'

'How? We've just said that it's impossible for an army to cross the Yaruga-'

'Impossible for Nilfgaard. But we have control of the river. We hold the estuary in our grasp, and the supply routes, and our flank is protected by Skellige, Cidaris and the strongholds in Verden. For Nilfgaard, getting forty or fifty thousand men across the river is a considerable effort. We can get far more across to the left bank. Don't gape, Vizimir. You wanted something to put an end to the waiting? Something spectacular? Something which will make us true kings again? That something is Cintra. Cintra will bind us and our rule together because Cintra is a symbol. Remember Sodden! If it were not for the massacre of that town and Calanthe's martyrdom, there would not have been such a victory then. The forces were equal – no one counted on our crushing them like that. But our armies threw themselves at their throats like wolves, like rabid dogs, to avenge the Lioness of Cintra. And there are those whose fury was not quelled by the blood spilt on the field of Sodden. Remember Crach an Craite, the Wild Boar of the Sea!'

'That is true,' nodded Demawend. 'Crach swore bloody vengeance on Nilfgaard. For Eist Tuirseach, killed at Marnadal. And for Calanthe. If we were to strike at the left bank, Crach would back us up with all the strength of Skellige. By the gods, this has a chance at success! I back Foltest! Let us not wait, let us strike first, let us liberate Cintra and chase those sons-of-bitches beyond the Amell pass!'

'Slow down,' snarled Henselt. 'Don't be in such a hurry to tug the lion's whiskers, because this lion is not dead yet. That is for starters. Secondly, if we are the first to strike, we will put ourselves in the position of aggressors. We will be breaking the truce to which we all put our seals. We will not be backed by Niedamir and his League, we will not be backed by Esterad Thyssen. I don't know how Ethain of Cidaris will react. An aggressive war will also be opposed by our guilds, merchants, nobles… And above all, the wizards. Do not forget the wizards!'

'The wizards won't back an assault on the left bank,' confirmed Vizimir. 'The peace agreement was the work of Vilgefortz of Roggeveen. It is well known that his plan was for the armistice to gradually turn into permanent peace. Vilgefortz will not back a war. And the Chapter, believe me, will do whatever Vilgefortz wishes. After Sodden he has become the most important person in the Chapter – let other magicians say what they will, Vilgefortz plays first fiddle there.'

'Vilgefortz, Vilgefortz,' bridled Foltest. 'He has grown too large for us, that magician. Taking into account Vilgefortz's and the Chapter's plans – plans which I am not acquainted with anyway, and which I do not understand at that – is beginning to annoy me. But there is a way around that, too, gentlemen. What if it were Nilfgaard who was the aggressor? At Dol Angra for example? Against Aedirn and Lyria? We could arrange that somehow… could stage some tiny provocation… A border incident caused by them? An attack on a border fort, let us say? We will, of course, be prepared – we will react decisively and forcefully, with everybody's full acceptance, including that of Vilgefortz and the entire Chapter of Wizards. And when Emhyr var Emreis turns his

eyes from Sodden and Transriver, the Cintrians will demand their country back – all those the emigrants and refugees who are gathering themselves in Brugge under Vissegerd's leadership. Nearly eight thousand of them are armed. Gould there be a better spearhead? They live in the hope of regaining the country they were forced to flee. They are burning to fight. They are ready to strike the left bank. They await only the battle cry.'

'The battle cry,' bore out Meve, 'and the promise that we will back them up. Because Emhyr can command eight thousand men at his border garrison; with that strength he won't even have to send for relief troops. Vissegerd knows this very well and won't move until he has the assurance that your armies, Foltest, reinforced by Redanian corps, will disembark on the left bank at his heels. But above all Vissegerd is waiting for the Lion Cub of Cintra. Apparently the queen's granddaughter survived the slaughter. Allegedly, she was seen amongst the refugees, but the child mysteriously disappeared. The emigrants persist in their search for her… Because they need someone of royal blood to sit on their regained throne. Someone of Calanthe's blood.'

'Nonsense,' said Foltest coldly. 'More than two years have passed. If the child has not been found by now, she's dead. We can forget that myth. Calanthe is no more and there is no Lion Cub, no royal blood to whom the throne belongs. Cintra… will never again be what it was during the Lioness's lifetime. Obviously, we cannot say that to Vissegerd's emigrants.'

'So you are going to send Cintrian guerrillas to their deaths?' Meve narrowed her eyes. 'In the line of attack? Not telling them that Cintra can only be reborn as a vassal country under your protectorship? You are proposing, to all of us, an attack on Cintra for your own gain? You have suborned Sodden and Brugge for yourself, are sharpening your teeth on Verden and now you have caught a whiff of Cintra, is that right?'

'Admit it, Foltest,' snapped Henselt. 'Is Meve right? Is that why you are inciting us to this affair?'

'Come on, leave it.' The ruler of Temeria furrowed his noble brow and bristled angrily. 'Don't make me out as some conqueror

dreaming of an empire. What are you talking about? Sodden and Brugge? Ekkehard of Sodden was my mother's half-brother. Are you surprised that following his death the Free States brought the crown to me, his relative? Blood not water! And yes Venzlav of Brugge paid me homage as a vassal – but without coercion! He did it to protect his country because, on a fine day, he can see Nilfgaardian lances flashing on the left bank of the Yaruga!'

'And we are talking about the left bank,' drawled out the Queen of Lyria. 'The bank we are to strike. And the left bank is Cintra. Destroyed, burned out, ruined, decimated and occupied… but still Cintra. The Cintrians won't bring you their crown, Foltest, nor will they pay you homage. Cintra will not agree to be a vassal state. Blood, not water!'

'Cintra, if we… When we liberate it, should it become our joint protectorate,' said Demawend of Aedirn. 'Cintra is at the mouth of the Yaruga, in too important a strategic position to allow ourselves to lose control over it.'

'It has to be a free country,' objected Vizimir. 'Free, independent and strong. A country which will be an iron gateway, a bulwark to the north, and not a strip of burned ground over which the Nilfgaardian cavalry will be able to gather speed!'

'Is it possible to rebuild such a Cintra? Without Calanthe?'

'Don't get all worked up, Foltest,' pouted Meve. 'I've already told you, the Cintrians will never accept a protectorate or foreign blood on their throne. If you try to force yourself on them as their lord the tables will be turned. Vissegerd will again prepare his troops for battle, but this time under Emhyr's wings. And one day those detachments are going to assail us in the vanguard of a Nilfgaardian onslaught. As the spear point, as you just vividly described it.'

'Foltest knows that,' snorted Vizimir. 'That's why he's searching so hard for this Lion Cub, for Calanthe's granddaughter. Don't you understand? Blood not water, the crown through marriage. It's enough for him to find the girl and force her to marry-'

'Are you out of your mind?' choked out the King of Temeria. 'The Lion Cub is dead! I'm not looking for the girl at all, but if I

were… It has not even occurred to me to force her to do such a thing-'

'You wouldn't have to force her,' interrupted Meve, smiling charmingly. 'You are still a strapping, handsome man, cousin. And Calanthe's blood runs through the Lion Cub. Very hot blood. I knew Cali when she was young. When she saw a fellow she liked, she leaped up and down so fast that if you put dry twigs beneath her feet they would have caught real fire. Her daughter, Pavetta, the Lion Cub's mother, was exactly the same. So, no doubt, the Lion Cub has not fallen far from the apple tree. A bit of effort, Foltest, and the girl would not be long in resisting. That is what you are counting on, admit it.'

'Of course he's counting on it,' chuckled Demawend. 'Our king has thought up a cunning little plan for himself! We assail the left bank and before we realise it our Foltest will have found the girl, won her heart and have a young wife whom he will place on the throne of Cintra while her people cry for joy and pee in their knickers for happiness. For they will have their queen, blood of the blood and flesh of the flesh of Calanthe. They will have a queen… albeit one who comes with a king. King Foltest.'

'What rubbish!' yelled Foltest, turning red then white in turn. What's got into you? There's not a grain of sense in your prattling!'

'There is a whole lot of sense,' said Vizimir dryly. 'Because I know that someone is searching for the child very earnestly. Who, Foltest?'

'It's obvious! Vissegerd and the Cintrians!'

'No, it's not them. At least, not just them. Someone else is, too. Someone who is leaving a trail of corpses behind them. Someone who does not shrink from blackmail, bribery or torture… While we are on the subject, is a gentleman by the name of Rience in any of your services? Ah, I see from your expressions that either he isn't or you won't admit it – which comes to the same thing. I repeat: they are searching for Calanthe's granddaughter, and searching in such a way as to make you think twice about their intentions. Who is looking for her, I ask?'

'Hell!' Foltest thumped his fist on the table. 'It's not me! It

never occurred to me to marry some child for some throne! After all, I-'

'After all, you have been secretly sleeping with the Baroness La Valette for the past four years.' Meve smiled again. 'You love each other like two turtle doves and just wait for the old baron to finally kick the bucket. What are you staring at? We all know about it. What do you think we pay our spies for? But for the throne of Cintra, cousin, many a king would be prepared to sacrifice his personal happiness-'

'Hold on.' Henselt scratched his beard with a rasp. 'Many a king, you say. Then leave Foltest in peace for a moment. There are others. In her time, Calanthe wanted to give her granddaughter's hand to Ervyll of Verden's son. Ervyll, too, might have caught a whiff of Cintra. And not just him…'

'Hmm…' muttered Vizimir. 'True. Ervyll has three sons… And what about those present here who also have male descendants? Huh? Meve? Are you not, by any chance, pulling wool over our eyes?'

'You can count me out.' The Queen of Lyria smiled even more charmingly. 'It is true, two of my offspring are roaming the world -the fruits of delightful abandon – if they have not been brought to the gallows yet. I doubt that either of them would suddenly desire to be king. They were neither predisposed nor inclined that way. Both were even stupider than their father, may he rest in peace. Whoever knew my deceased husband will understand what I mean.'

'That's a fact,' agreed the King of Redania. 'I knew him. Are your sons really more stupid? Damn it, I thought it wasn't possible to get any more stupid… Forgive me, Meve…'

'It's nothing, Vizimir.'

'Who else has sons?'

'You do, Henselt.'

'My son is married!'

'And what is poison for? For the throne of Cintra, as someone here so wisely said, many would sacrifice their personal happiness. It would be worth if!'

'I will not permit such insinuations! And leave me alone! Others have sons, too!'

'Niedamir of Hengfors has two. And is a widower himself. And he isn't old. And don't forget Esterad Thyssen of Kovir.'

'I would count those out.' Vizimir shook his head. 'The Hengfors League and Kovir are planning a dynastic union with each other. They are not interested in Cintra or the south. Hmm… But Ervyll of Verden… It's not so far from him.'

'There is someone else who is just as near,' remarked Demawend suddenly.

'Who?'

'Emhyr var Emreis. He is not married. And he is younger than you, Foltest.'

'Bloody hell.' The King of Redania frowned. 'If that were true… Emhyr would bugger us without grease! It's obvious that the people and nobility of Cintra will follow Calanthe's blood. Imagine what would happen if Emhyr were to get his hands on the Lion Cub? Damn it, that's all we need! Queen of Cintra, and Empress of Nilfgaard!'

'Empress!' snorted Henselt. 'You exaggerate, Vizimir. What does Emhyr need the girl for, what the hell does he need to get married for? The throne of Cintra? Emhyr already has Cintra! He conquered the country and made it a province of Nilfgaard! He's got his whole butt on the throne and still has enough room to wriggle about!'

'Firstly,' noted Foltest, 'Emhyr grips Cintra by law, or rather by an aggressor's lawlessness. If he had the girl and married her, he could rule legally. You understand? Nilfgaard bound in marriage to Calanthe's blood is no longer Nilfgaard the invader, at which the entire north bares its teeth. It is Nilfgaard the neighbour whom one has to take into account. How would you want to force such a Nilfgaard beyond Marnadal, beyond the Amell passes? Attacking a kingdom whose throne is legally occupied by the Lion Cub, granddaughter of the Lioness of Cintra? Pox! I don't know who's looking for that child. I'm not looking for her. But I declare that now I'm going to start to. I still believe the girl is dead, but we

can't take the risk. It looks as if she is too important. If she survived then we must find her!'

'And shall we decide now who she will marry when we find her?' Henselt grimaced. 'Such matters should not be left to chance. We could, for that matter, hand her over to Vissegerd's guerrillas as a battle standard, tied to a long pole – they could carry her before the front line as they attack the left bank. But if the recaptured Cintra is to be useful to us all… Surely you see what I mean? If we attack Nilfgaard and retrieve Cintra, the Lion Cub can be put on the throne. But the Lion Cub can have only one husband. One who will look after our interests at the mouth of the Yaruga. Who of those present is going to volunteer?'

'Not me,' joked Meve. 'I waive the privilege.'

'I wouldn't exclude those who aren't present here,' said Demawend seriously. 'Neither Ervyll, nor Niedamir, nor the Thyssens. And bear in mind that Vissegerd could surprise you and put the standard attached to a long pole to unexpected use. You've heard about morganatic marriages? Vissegerd is old and as ugly as cow's dung but with enough decoctions of absinthe and damiana down her throat, the Lion Cub might unexpectedly fall in love with him! Is King Vissegerd included in our plans?'

'No,' muttered Foltest, 'not in mine.'

'Hmm…' Vizimir hesitated. 'Nor in mine. Vissegerd is a tool, not a partner, that's the role he is to play in our plans for attacking Nilfgaard – that and no other. Besides, if the one who is so earnestly seeking the Lion Cub is indeed Emhyr var Emreis, we cannot take the risk.'

'Absolutely not,' seconded Foltest. 'The Lion Cub cannot fall into Emhyr's hands. She cannot fall into anybody's- Into the wrong hands… Alive.'

'Infanticide?' Meve grimaced. 'An ugly solution, my kings. Unworthy. And surely unnecessarily drastic. First of all, let us find the girl – because we still don't have her. And when we have found her, give her to me. I'll keep her in some castle in the mountains for a couple of years, and marry her off to one of my knights.

When you see her again, she will already have two children and a belly out here.'

'Leading to, if I count correctly, at least three future eventual pretenders and usurpers?' Vizimir nodded. 'No, Meve. It is ugly, indeed, but the Lion Cub, if she has survived, must now die. For reasons of state. Gentlemen?'

The rain hammered against the windows. The gale howled among the towers of Hagge castle.

The kings grew silent.

'Vizimir, Foltest, Demawend, Henselt and Meve,' repeated the marshal. 'They met in a secret council in Hagge Castle on the Pontar. They conferred in privacy.'

'How symbolic,' said the slender, black-haired man wearing an elk tunic marked with the imprints of armour and rust stains, without looking round. 'After all, it was at Hagge, not forty years ago, that Virfuril defeated Medell's armies, strengthened his control over the Pontar Valley and established today's borders between Aedirn and Temeria. And today Demawend, Virfuril's son, invites Foltest, Medell's son, to Hagge, summoning Vizimir of Tretogor, Henselt of Ard Carraigh and the merry widow Meve of Lyria to complete the set. They are meeting now and holding council in secrecy. Can you guess what they are discussing, Coehoorn?'

'I can,' the marshal replied succinctly. He did not say a word more. He knew that the man with his back turned hated anyone to display any eloquence or comment on obvious facts in his presence.

'They did not invite Ethain of Cidaris.' The man in the elk tunic turned away from the window, clasped his hands behind his back and strolled slowly from the window to the table and then back again. 'Nor Ervyll of Verden. They did not invite Esterad Thyssen or Niedamir. Which means they are either very sure of themselves, or very unsure. They did not invite anyone from the Chapter of Wizards. Which is interesting, and significant. Coehoorn, try to see to it that the wizards learn of this council. Let them know that their monarchs do not treat them as equals. It seems to me that

the wizards of the Chapter have had some doubts in this respect. Disperse them.'

'It's an order.'

'Any news from Rience?'

'None.'

The man paused at the window and stood there for a long while gazing at the hills drenched in rain. Coehoorn waited, restlessly clenching and unclenching his fist around the pommel of his sword. He was afraid he would be forced to listen to a long monologue. The marshal knew that the man standing at the window considered his monologues a conversation, and viewed conversation as a privilege and proof of trust. He knew this, but still didn't like listening to the monologues.

'How do you find the country, Governor? Have you grown to like your new province?'

He shuddered, taken unawares. He did not expect the question. But he did not ponder the answer for long. Insincerity and indecisiveness could cost him a great deal.

'No, your Highness. I haven't. That country is so… gloomy.'

'It was different once,' the man replied without looking round. 'And it will be different again. You will see. You will still see a beautiful, happy Cintra, Coehoorn. I promise you. But don't be saddened, I shan't keep you here long. Someone else will take over the governorship of the province. I'll be needing you in Dol Angra. You'll leave immediately once the rebellion is quashed. I need someone responsible in Dol Angra. Someone who will not allow himself to be provoked. The merry widow of Lyria or Demawend… will want to provoke us. You'll take the young officers in hand. Cool their hot heads. You will let yourselves be provoked only when I give the order. No sooner.'

'Yes, sir!'

The clatter of arms and spurs and the sound of raised voices came from the antechamber. Someone knocked on the door. The man in the elk tunic turned away from the window and nodded his head in consent. The marshal bowed a little and left.

The man returned to the table, sat down and lowered his head

over some maps. He studied them for a long time then finally rested his brow on his interlocked hands. The enormous diamond in his ring sparkled in the candlelight as if a thousand flames.

'Your Highness?' The door squeaked faintly.

The man did not change his position. But the marshal noticed that his hands twitched. He spotted it by the flash of the diamond. He closed the door carefully and quietly behind him.

'News, Coehoorn? From Rience maybe?'

'No, your Highness. But good news. The rebellion in the province has been quelled. We have broken up the rebels. Only a few managed to escape to Verden. And we've caught their leader, Duke Windhalm of Attre.'

'Good,' said the man after a while, still not raising his head from his hands. 'Windhalm of Attre… Order him to be beheaded. No… Not beheaded. Executed in some other way. Spectacularly, lengthily and cruelly. And publicly, it goes without saying. A terrifying example is necessary. Something that will frighten others. Only please, Coehoorn, spare me the details. You don't have to bother with a vivid description in your report. I take no pleasure from it.'

The marshal nodded, then swallowed hard. He too found no pleasure in it. No pleasure whatsoever. He intended to leave the preparation and performance of the execution to the specialists, and he did not have the least intention of asking those specialists for details. And, above all, he did not intend to be there.

'You will be present at the execution.' The man raised his head, picked a letter up from the table and broke the seal. 'Officially. As the Governor of the Province of Cintra. You will stand in for me. I don't intend to watch it. That's an order, Coehoorn.'

'Yes, sir!' The marshal did not even try to hide his embarrassment and discomfort. The man who had given the order did not allow anything to be kept from him. And rarely did anyone succeed in doing so.

The man glanced at the open letter and almost immediately threw it into the fire, into the hearth.

'Coehoorn.'

'Yes, your Highness?'

'I am not going to wait for Rience's report. Set the magicians to work and have them prepare a telecommunication link with their point of contact in Redania. Let them pass on my verbal orders, which must immediately be sent to Rience. The order is to run as follows: Rience is to stop pussyfooting around, and to stop playing with the witcher. Else it could end badly. No one toys with the witcher. I know him, Coehoorn. He is too clever to lead Rience to the Trail. I repeat, Rience is to organise the assassination immediately, to take the witcher out of the game at once. He's to kill him, and then disappear, bide his time and await my orders. If he comes across the enchantress's trail before that he is to leave her alone. Not a hair on Yennefer's head is to be harmed. Have you remembered that, Coehoorn?'

'Yes, sir.'

'The communique is to be coded and firmly secured against any magical deciphering. Forewarn the wizards about this. If they bungle it, if any undesirables learn of my order, I will hold them responsible.'

'Yes, sir.' The marshal hawked and pulled himself up straight.

'What else, Coehoorn?'

'The count… He is here already, your Highness. He came at your command.'

'Already?' He smiled. 'Such speed is worthy of admiration. I hope he didn't exhaust that black horse of his everyone envies so much. Have him come in.'

'Am I to be present during the conversation, your Highness?'

'Of course, Governor of Cintra.'

Summoned from the antechambers, the knight entered the chamber with an energetic, strong and noisy stride, his black armour grating. He stopped short, drew himself up proudly, threw his wet, muddy black cloak back from his shoulder, and laid his hand on the hilt of his mighty sword. He leaned his black helmet, adorned with wings of a bird of prey, on his hip. Coehoorn looked at the knight's face. He saw there the hard pride of a warrior, and impudence. He did not see any of the things that should have been visible in the face of one who had spent the past two years incarcerated in a place from which – as everything had indicated -he would only leave for the scaffold. A faint smile touched the marshal's lips. He knew that the disdain for death and crazy courage of youngsters stemmed from a lack of imagination. He knew that perfectly well. He had once been such a youngster himself.

The man sitting at the table rested his chin on his interlaced fingers and looked at the knight intently. The youngster pulled himself up taut as a string.

'In order for everything to be perfectly clear,' the man behind the table addressed him, 'you should understand that the mistake you made in this town two years ago has not been forgiven. You are getting one more chance. You are getting one more order. My decision as to your ultimate fate depends on the way in which you carry it out.'

The young knight's face did not twitch, and nor did a single feather on the wings adorning the helmet at his hip.

'I never deceive anyone, I never give anyone false illusions,' continued the man. 'So let it be known that, naturally, the prospect of saving your neck from the executioner's axe exists only if you do not make a mistake this time. Your chances of a full pardon are small. Your chances of my forgiving and forgetting are… nonexistent.'

The young knight in the black armour did not flinch this time either, but Coehoorn detected the flash in his eyes. He doesn't believe him, he thought. He doesn't believe him and is deluding himself. He is making a great mistake.

'I command your full attention,' continued the man behind the table. 'Yours, too, Coehoorn, because the orders I am about to give concern you too. They come in a moment, for I have to give some thought to their substance and delivery.'

Marshal Menno Coehoorn, Governor of the Province of Cintra and future Commander-in-Chief of the Dol Angra army, lifted his head and stood to attention, his hand on the pommel of his sword. The same attitude was assumed by the knight in black armour

with the bird-of-prey-winged helmet. They both waited. In silence. Patiently. The way one should wait for orders, the substance and presentation of which were being pondered by the Emperor of Nilfgaard, Emhyr var Emreis, Deithwen Addan yn Carn aep Morvudd, the White Flame Dancing on the Grave-Mounds of Enemies.

Ciri woke.

She was lying, or rather half-sitting, with her head resting high on several pillows. The compresses on her forehead had grown warm and only slightly damp. She threw them off, unable to bear their unpleasant weight and their stinging against her skin. She found it hard to breathe. Her throat was dry and her nose almost completely blocked with clots of blood. But the elixirs and spells had worked – the pain which had exploded within her skull and dimmed her sight a few hours ago had disappeared and given way to a dull throbbing and a sensation of pressure on her temples.

Carefully she touched her nose with the back of her hand. It was no longer bleeding.

What a strange dream I had, she thought. The first dream for many days. The first where I wasn't afraid. The first which wasn't about me. I was an… observer. I saw everything as if from above, from high up… As if I were a bird… A night bird…

A dream in which I saw Geralt.

In the dream it was night. And the rain, which furrowed the surface of the canal, spattered on the shingle roofs and thatches of sheds, glistened on the planks of foot-bridges and the decks of boats and barges… And Geralt was there. Not alone. There was a man with him in a funny hat with a feather, limp from the damp. And a slim girl in a green cloak with a hood… All three were walking slowly and carefully along a wet foot-bridge… And I saw them from above. As if I were a bird. A night bird…

Geralt had stopped short. 'Is it still far?' he had asked. 'No,' the slim girl had answered, shaking the water off her green cloak. 'We're almost there… Hey, Dandilion, don't lag behind or you'll get lost in these cul-dc-sacs… And where the hell is Philippa? I

saw her a moment ago, she was flying alongside the canal… What foul weather… Let's go. Lead on, Shani. And between you and me, where do you know this charlatan from? What have you got to do with him?'

'I sometimes sell him medicaments looted from the college workshop. What are you staring at me like that for? My stepfather can barely pay for my tuition… I sometimes need a little money… And the charlatan, having real medicaments, treats people… Or at least he doesn't poison them… Well, let's get going.'

Strange dream, thought Ciri. Shame I woke up. I'd like to have seen what was going to happen… I'd like to know what they were doing there. Where they were going…

From the chamber next door came the sound of voices, the voices which had woken her. Mother Nenneke was speaking quickly, clearly worked up, agitated and angry. 'You betrayed my trust,' she was saying. 'I shouldn't have allowed it. I might have guessed that your dislike of her would lead to disaster. I shouldn't have allowed you to- Because, after all, I know you. You're ruthless, you're cruel, and to make matters worse, it turns out you're also irresponsible and careless. You're torturing that child mercilessly, forcing her to try things which she can't possibly do. You've no heart.

'You really have no heart, Yennefer.'

Ciri pricked up her ears, wanting to hear the enchantress's reply, her cold, hard and melodious voice. Wanting to hear how she reacted, how she sneered at the high priestess, how she ridiculed her over-protectiveness. She wanted to hear her say what she usually said – that using magic is no joke, that it isn't an occupation for young ladies made of porcelain, for dolls blown from thin glass. But Yennefer answered quietly, so quietly that the girl could neither understand nor even make out the individual words.

I'll fall asleep, she thought, carefully and delicately feeling her nose which was still tender, painful and blocked with clotted blood. I'll go back to my dream. I'll see what Geralt is doing there, in the night, in the rain, by the canal…

Yennefer was holding her by the hand. They were both walking

down a long, dark corridor, between stone columns or, perhaps, statues. Ciri could not make out their forms in the thick darkness. But there was someone there, in that darkness, someone hiding and observing them as they walked. She heard whispers, quiet as the rustle of the wind.

Yennefer was holding her by the hand, walking briskly and assuredly, full of decisiveness, so much so that Ciri could barely keep up with her. Doors opened before them in succession, one after another. An infinite number of doors with gigantic, heavy leaves opened up before them noiselessly.

The darkness thickened. Ciri saw yet another great door in front of her. Yennefer did not slow her stride but Ciri suddenly knew that this door would not open of its own accord. And she suddenly had an overwhelming certainty that this door must not be opened. That she must not go through it. That, behind this door, something was waiting for her…

She stopped short, tried to pull away, but Yennefer's hand was strong and unyielding and unrelentingly dragged her forward. And Ciri finally understood that she had been betrayed, deceived, sold out. That, ever since the first meeting, from the very beginning, from the first day, she had been no more than a marionette, a puppet on a string. She tugged harder, tore herself away from that grip. The darkness undulated like smoke and the whispering in the dark, all of a sudden, died away. The magician took a step forward, stopped, turned round and looked at her.

If you're afraid, turn back.

That door mustn't be opened. You know that.

I do.

But you're still leading me there.

If you're afraid, turn back. You still have time to turn back. It's not too late.

And you?

For me, it is.

Ciri looked around. Despite the omnipresent darkness she saw the door which they had passed through – and a long, distant vista. And there, from a distance, from the darkness, she heard.. The clatter of hooves. The grating of black armour. And the flutter of the wings of a bird of prey. And the voice. That quiet voice, boring into her skull…

You have made a mistake. You mistook the stars reflected in the surface of the lake at night for the heavens.

She woke and lifted her head abruptly, displacing the compress, fresh because it was still cool and wet. She was drenched in sweat; the dull pain was ringing and throbbing in her temples again. Yennefer was sitting beside on the bed. Her head was turned away so that Ciri did not see her face. She saw only the tempest of black hair.

'I had a dream…' whispered Ciri. 'In the dream…'

'I know,' the magician said in a strange voice not her own. 'That's why I'm here. I'm beside you.'

Beyond the window, in the darkness, the rain rustled in the leaves of the trees.

'Damn it,' snarled Dandilion, shaking water from the brim of his hat, soggy from the rain. 'It's a veritable fortress, not a house. What's that fraud frightened of, fortifying himself like that?'

Boats and barges moored to the bank rocked lazily on water furrowed by the rain, bumping against each other, creaking and rattling their chains.

'It's the port,' explained Shani. 'There's no shortage of thugs and scum, both local and just passing through. Quite a few people visit Myhrman, bringing money… Everybody knows that. And that he lives alone. So he's secured himself. Are you surprised?'

'Not in the least.' Geralt looked at the mansion built on stakes dug into the bottom of the canal some ten yards from the shore. 'I'm trying to work out how to get to that islet, to that waterside cottage. We'll probably have to borrow one of those boats on the quiet-'

'No need,' said the student of medicine. 'There's a drawbridge.'

'And how are you going to persuade that charlatan to lower it? Besides, there's also the door, and we didn't bring a battering ram with us

'Leave it to me.'

An enormous grey owl landed soundlessly on the deck's railing, fluttered its wings, ruffled its feathers and turned into Philippa Eilhart, equally ruffled and wet.

'What am I doing here?' the magician mumbled angrily. 'What am I doing here with you, damn it? Balancing on a wet bar… And on the edge of betraying the state. If Dijktra finds out I was helping you… And on top of it all, this endless drizzle! I hate flying in the rain. Is this it? This is Myhrman's house?'

'Yes,' confirmed Geralt. 'Listen, Shani, we'll try…'

They bunched together and started whispering, concealed in the dark under the eaves of a hut's reed roof. A strip of light fell on the water from the tavern on the opposite side of the canal. Singing, laughter and yelling resounded. Three bargemen rolled out on to the shore. Two were arguing, tugging, shoving each other and repeatedly swearing the same curses to the point of boredom. The third, leaning against a stake, was peeing into the canal and whistling. He was out of tune.

Dong, metallically reverberated the iron sheet tied by a strap to a pole by the deck. Dong.

The charlatan Myhrman opened a tiny window and peered out. The lantern in his hand only blinded him, so he set it aside.

'Who the devil is ringing at this time of the night?' he bawled furiously. 'Whack yourself in that empty head of yours, you shit, you lame dick, when you get the urge to knock! Get out, get lost you old soaks, right now! I've got my crossbow at the ready here! Does one of you want six inches of crossbow bolt in their arse?'

'Master Myhrman! It's me, Shani!'

'Eh?' The charlatan leaned out further. 'Miss Shani? Now, in the night? How come?'

'Lower the bridge, Master Myhrman! I've brought you what you asked for!'

'Right now, in the dark? Couldn't you do it during the day, miss?'

'Too many eyes here, during the day.' A slim outline in a green cloak loomed on the deck. 'If words gets out about what I'm

bringing you they'll throw me out of the Academy. Lower the bridge, I'm not going to stand around in the rain, I'm soaked!'

'You're not alone, miss,' the charlatan noted suspiciously. 'You usually come alone. Who's there with you?'

'A friend, a student like me. Was I supposed to come alone, at night, to this forsaken neighbourhood of yours? What, you think I don't value my maidenhood or something? Let me in, damn it!'

Muttering under his breath, Myhrman released the stopper on the winch and the bridge creaked down, hitting the planks of the deck. The old fraud minced to the door and pulled back the bolts and locks. Without putting his crossbow aside, he carefully peered out.

He didn't notice the fist clad in a black silver-studded glove as it flew towards the side of his head. But although the night was dark, the moon was new and the sky overcast, he suddenly saw ten thousand dazzlingly bright stars.

Toublanc Michelet drew the whetstone over the blade of his sword once more, looking totally engrossed in this activity.

'So we are to kill one man for you.' He set the stone aside, wiped the blade with a piece of greased rabbit skin and closely examined the blade. 'An ordinary fellow who walks around the streets of Oxenfurt by himself, without a guard, an escort or bodyguards. Doesn't even have any knaves hanging about. We won't have to clamber into any castles, town halls, mansion houses or garrisons to get at him… Is that right, honourable Rience? Have I understood you correctly?'

The man with a face disfigured by a burn nodded, narrowing his moist eyes with their unpleasant expression a little.

'On top of that,' Toublanc continued, 'after killing this fellow we won't be forced to remain hidden somewhere for the next six months because no one is going to chase or follow us. No one is going to set a posse or reward seekers on us. We won't get drawn into any blood feuds or vendettas. In other words, Master Rience, we're to finish off an ordinary, common fool of no importance to you?'

The man with the scar did not reply. Toublanc looked at his brothers sitting motionless and stiff on the bench. Rizzi, Flavius and Lodovico, as usual, said nothing. In the team they formed, it was they who killed, Toublanc who talked. Because only Toublanc had attended the Temple school. He was as efficient at killing as his brothers but he could also read and write. And talk.

'And in order to kill such an ordinary dunce, Master Rience, you're hiring not just any old thug from the port but us, the Michelet brothers? For a hundred Novigrad crowns?'

'That is your usual rate,' drawled the man with the scar, 'correct?'

'Incorrect,' contradicted Toublanc coldly. 'Because we're not for the killing of ordinary fools. But if we do… Master Rience, this fool you want to see made a corpse is going to cost you two hundred. Two hundred untrimmed, shining crowns with the stamp of the Novigrad mint on them. Do you know why? Because there's a catch here, honourable sir. You don't have to tell us what it is, we can manage without that. But you will pay for it. Two hundred, I say. You shake on that price and you can consider that no-friend of yours dead. You don't want to agree, find someone else for the job.'

Silence fell in the cellar reeking of mustiness and soured wine. A cockroach, briskly moving its limbs, scudded along the dirt floor. Flavius Michelet, moving his leg in a flash, flattened it with a crunch – hardly changing his position and not changing his expression in the least.

'Agreed,' said Rience. 'You get two hundred. Let's go.'

Toublanc Michelet, professional killer from the age of fourteen, did not betray his surprise with so much as the flicker of an eyelid. He had not counted on being able to bargain for more than a hundred and twenty, a hundred and fifty at the most. Suddenly he was sure that he had named too low a price for the snag hidden in his latest job.

Charlatan Myhrman came to on the floor of his own room. He was lying on his back, trussed up like a sheep. The back of his head was excruciatingly painful and he recalled that, in falling, he had

thumped his head on the door-frame. The temple, where he had been struck, also hurt. He could not move because his chest was being heavily and mercilessly crushed by a high boot fastened with buckles. The old fraud, squinting and wrinkling up his face, looked up. The boot belonged to a tall man with hair as white as milk. Myhrman could not see his face – it was hidden in a darkness not dispersed by the lantern standing on the table.

'Spare my life…' he groaned. 'Spare me, I swear by the gods… I'll hand you my money… Hand you everything… I'll show you where it's hidden…'

'Where's Rience, Myhrman?'

The charlatan shook at the sound of the voice. He was not a fearful man; there were not many things of which he was afraid. But the voice of the white-haired man contained them all. And a few others in addition.

With a superhuman effort of the will, he overcame the fear crawling in his viscera like some foul insect.

'Huh?' He feigned astonishment. 'What? Who? What did you say?'

The man bent over and Myhrman saw his face. He saw his eyes. And the sight made his stomach slip right down to his rectum.

'Don't beat about the bush, Myhrman, don't twist up your tail.' The familiar voice of Shani, the medical student came from the shadows. 'When I was here three days ago, here, in this high-backed chair, at this table, sat a gentleman in a cloak lined with musk-rat. He was drinking wine, and you never entertain anybody -only the best of friends. He flirted with me, brazenly urged me to go dancing at the Three Little Bells. I even had to slap his hand because he was starting to fondle me, remember? And you said: "Leave her alone, Master Rience, don't frighten her, I needs must be on good terms with the little academics and do business". And you both chuckled, you and your Master Rience with the burned face. So don't start playing dumb now because you're not dealing with someone dumber than yourself. Talk while you're still being asked politely.'

Oh, you cocksure little student, thought the charlatan. You treach-

erous creep, you red-haired hussy, I'm going to find you and pay you back… Just let me get myself out of this.

'What Rience?' he yelped, writhing, trying in vain to free himself from the heel pressing down on his breast-bone. 'And how am I to know who he is and where he is? All sorts come here, what am I-?'

The white-haired man leaned over further, slowly pulling the dagger from his other boot while pressing down harder on the charlatan's chest with his first.

'Myrhman,' he said quietly, 'believe me or don't – as you like. But if you don't immediately tell me where Rience is… If you don't immediately reveal how you contact him… Then I will feed you, piece by piece, to the eels in the canal. Starting with your ears.'

There was something in the white-haired man's voice which made the charlatan believe his every word. He stared at the stiletto blade and knew that it was sharper than the knives with which he punctured ulcers and boils. He started to shake so hard that the boot resting on his chest bounced nervously. But he did not say anything. He could not say anything. Not for the time being. Because if Rience were to return and ask why he had betrayed him, Myhrman would have to be able to show him why. One ear, he thought, one ear I have to endure. Then I'll tell him…

'Why waste time and mess about with blood?' A woman's soft alto suddenly resounded from the semi-darkness. 'Why risk him twisting the truth and lying? Allow me to take care of him my way. He'll talk so fast he'll bite his own tongue. Hold him down.'

The charlatan howled and struggled against his fetters but the white-haired man crushed him to the floor with his knee, grabbed him by the hair and twisted his head. Someone knelt down next to them. He smelled perfume and wet bird feathers, felt the touch of fingers on his temple. He wanted to scream but terror choked him – all he managed was a croak.

'You want to scream already?' The soft alto right next to his ear purred like a cat. 'Too soon, Myhrman, too soon. I haven't started yet. But I will in a moment. If evolution has traced any groove at

all in your brain then I'm going to plough it somewhat deeper. And then you'll see what a scream can really be.'

'And so,' said Vilgefortz, having heard the report, 'our kings have started to think independently. They have started to plan independently, in an amazingly short time evolving from thinking on a tactical level to a strategic one? Interesting. Not so long ago -at Sodden – all they could do was gallop around with savage cries and swords raised at the van of their company without even looking around to check their company hadn't by chance been left behind, or wasn't galloping in an entirely different direction. And today, there they are – in Hagge Castle – deciding the fate of the world. Interesting. But to be honest, I expected as much.'

'We know,' confirmed Artaud Terranova. 'And we remember, you warned us about it. That's why we're telling you about it.'

'Thank you for remembering,' smiled the wizard, and Tissaia de Vries was suddenly sure that he had already been aware of each of the facts just presented to him, and had been for a long time. She did not say a word. Sitting upright in her armchair, she evened up her lace cuffs as the left fell a little differently from the right. She felt Terranova's unfavourable gaze and Vilgefortz's amused eyes on her. She knew that her legendary pedantism either annoyed or amused everybody. But she did not care in the least.

'What does the Chapter say to all this?'

'First of all,' retorted Terranova, 'we would like to hear your opinion, Vilgefortz.'

'First of all,' smiled the wizard, 'let us have something to eat and drink. We have enough time – allow me to prove myself a good host. I can see you are frozen through and tired from your journeys. How many changes of portals, if I may ask?'

'Three.' Tissaia de Vries shrugged.

'It was nearer for me,' added Artaud. 'Two proved enough. But still complicated, I must admit.'

'Such foul weather everywhere?'

'Everywhere.'

'So let us fortify ourselves with good fare and an old red wine from Cidaris. Lydia, would you be so kind?'

Lydia van Bredevoort, Vilgefortz's assistant and personal secretary, appeared from behind the curtain like an ethereal phantom and smiled with her eyes at Tissaia de Vries. Tissaia, controlling her face, replied with a pleasant smile and bow of her head. Artaud Terranova stood up and bowed with reverence. He, too, controlled his expression very well. He knew Lydia.

Two servants, bustling around and rustling their skirts, swiftly lay out the tableware, plates and platters. Lydia van Bredevoort, delicately conjuring up a tiny flame between her thumb and index finger, lit the candles in the candelabras. Tissaia saw traces of oil paint on her hand. She filed it in her memory so later, after supper, she could ask the young enchantress to show her her latest work. Lydia was a talented artist.

They supped in silence. Artaud Terranova did not stint himself and reached without embarrassment for the platters and – probably a little too frequently, and without his host's encouragement clanged the silver top of the carafe of red wine. Tissaia de Vries ate slowly, devoting more attention to arranging her plates, cutlery and napkins symmetrically – although, in her opinion, they still lay irregularly and hurt her predilection for order and her aesthetic sensibility – than to the fare. She drank sparingly. Vilgefortz ate and drank even more sparingly. Lydia, of course, did not drink or eat at all.

The candle flames undulated in long red and golden whiskers of fire. Drops of rain tinkled against the stained glass of the windows.

'Well, Vilgefortz,' said Terranova finally, rummaging in a platter with his fork in search of an adequately fatty piece of game. 'What is your position regarding our monarchs' behaviour? Hen Gedymdeith and Francesca sent us here because they want to know your opinion. Tissaia and I are also interested. The Chapter wants to assume a unanimous stand in this matter. And, should it come to action, we also want to act unanimously. So what do you advise?'

'It flatters me greatly' with a gesture, Vilgefortz thanked Lydia,

who was offering to put more broccoli on his plate – 'that my opinion in this matter should be decisive for the Chapter.'

'No one said that.' Artaud poured himself some more wine. 'We're going to make a collective decision anyway, when the Chapter meets. But we wish to let everybody have the opportunity to express themselves beforehand so we can have an idea of all the various views. We're listening, therefore.'

If we've finished supping, let us go through into the workshop, Lydia proposed telepathically, smiling with her eyes. Terranova looked at her smile and quickly downed what he had in his chalice. To the dregs.

'Good idea.' Vilgefortz wiped his fingers on a napkin. 'We'll be more comfortable there. My protection against magical eavesdropping is stronger there, too. Let us go. You can bring the carafe, Artaud.'

'I won't say no. It's my favourite vintage.'

They went through to the workshop. Tissaia could not stop herself from casting an eye over the workbench weighed down with retorts, crucibles, test-tubes, crystals and numerous magical utensils. All were enveloped in a screening spell, but Tissaia de Vries was an Archmage – there was no screen she could not penetrate. And she was a little curious as to what the mage had been doing of late. She worked out the configuration of the recently used apparatus in a flash. It served for the detection of persons who had disappeared while enabling a psychic vision by means of the 'crystal, metal, stone' method. The wizard was either searching for someone or resolving a theoretical, logistical problem. Vilgefortz of Roggeveen was well known for his love of solving such problems.

They sat down in carved ebony armchairs. Lydia glanced at Vilgefortz, caught the sign transmitted by his eye and immediately left. Tissaia sighed imperceptibly.

Everyone knew that Lydia van Bredevoort was in love with Vilgefortz of Roggeveen, that she had loved him for years with a silent, relentless and stubborn love. The wizard, it is to be understood, also knew about this but pretended not to. Lydia made it easier for him by never betraying her feelings to him she never

took the slightest step or made the slightest gesture, transmitted no sign by thought and, even if she could speak, would never have said a word. She was too proud. Vilgefortz, too, did nothing because he did not love Lydia. He could, of course, simply have have made her his lover, tied her to him even more strongly and, who knows, maybe even made her happy. There were those who advised him to do so. But Vilgefortz did not. He was too proud and too much a man of principle. The situation, therefore, was hopeless but stable, and this patently satisfied them both.

'So.' The young wizard broke the silence. 'The Chapter are racking their brains about what to do about the initiatives and plans of our kings? Quite unnecessarily. Their plans must simply be ignored.'

'I beg your pardon?' Artaud Terranova froze with the chalice in his left hand, the carafe in his right. 'Did I understand you correctly? We are to do nothing? We're to let-'

'We already have,' interrupted Vilgefortz. 'Because no one asked us for our permission. And no one will. I repeat, we ought to pretend that we know nothing. That is the only rational thing to do.'

'The things they have thought up threaten war, and on a grand scale at that.'

'The things they have thought up have been made known to us thanks to enigmatic and incomplete information, which comes from a mysterious and highly dubious source. So dubious that the word "disinformation" stubbornly comes to mind. And even if it were true, their designs are still at the planning stage and will remain so for a long while yet. And if they move beyond that stage… Well, then we will act accordingly.'

'You mean to say,' Terranova screwed up his face, 'we will dance to the tune they play?'

'Yes, Artaud.' Vilgefortz looked at him and his eyes flashed. 'You will dance to the tune they play. Or you will take leave of the dance-floor. Because the orchestra's podium is too high for you to climb up there and tell the musicians to play some other tune. Realise that at las!. II you think another solution is possible, you

are making a mistake. You mistake the stars reflected in the surface of the lake at night for the heavens.'

The Chapter will do as he says, disguising his order as advice, thought Tissaia de Vries. We are all pawns on his chess board. He's moved up, grown, obscured us with his brightness, subordinated us to him. We're pawns in his game. A game the rules of which we do not know.

Her left cuff had once again arranged itself differently from the right. The enchantress adjusted it with care.

'The kings' plans are already at the stage of practical realisation,' she said slowly. 'In Kaedwen and Aedirn an offensive against the Scoia'tael has begun. The blood of young elves is flowing. It is reaching the point of persecution and pogroms against non-humans. There is talk of an attack on the free elves of Dol Blathanna and the Grey Mountains. This is mass murder. Are we to say to Gedymdeith and Enid Findabair that you advise us to stand idly by, to watch and do nothing? Pretending we can't see anything?'

Vilgefortz turned his head towards her. Now you're going to change tactics, thought Tissaia. You're a player, you can hear which way the dice roll on the table. You're going to change tactics. You're going to strike a different note.

Vilgefortz did not lower his eyes from hers.

'You are right,' he said curtly. 'You are right, Tissaia. War with Nilfgaard is one thing but we must not look on idly at the massacre of non-humans and do nothing. I suggest we call a convention, a general convention of everyone up to and including Masters of the Third Degree, including those who have been sitting on royal councils since Sodden. At the convention we will make them see reason and order them to keep their monarchs in check.'

'I second this proposition,' said Terranova. 'Let us call a convention and remind them to whom they owe first loyalty. Note that even some members of our Council now advise kings. The kings are served by Carduin, Philippa Eilhart, Fercart, Radcliffe, Yennefer-'

At the last name Vilgefortz twitched internally. But Tissaia de Vries was an Archmage. Tissaia sensed the thought, the impulse

leaping from the workbench and magical apparatus to the two volumes lying on the table. Both books were invisible, enveloped in magic. The magician focused herself and penetrated the screen.

Aen Ithlinnespeath, the prophecy foretold by Ithlinne Aegli aep Aevenien, the elven seeress. The prophecy of the end of civilisation, the prophecy of annihilation, destruction and the return of bar-barianism which are to come with the masses of ice pressing down from the borders of the eternal freeze. And the other book… Very old… Falling apart… Aen Hen Ichaer… The Elder Blood… The Blood of Elves?'

'Tissaia? And what do you think?'

'I second it.' The enchantress adjusted her ring which had turned the wrong way round. 'I second Vilgefortz's plan. Let us call a convention. As soon as possible.'

Metal, stone, crystal, she thought. Are you looking for Yennefer? Why? And what does she have to do with Ithlin's prophecy? Or with the Elder Blood of the Elves? What are you brewing, Vilgefortz?

I'm sorry, said Lydia van Bredevoort telepathically, coming in without a sound. The wizard stood up.

'Forgive me,' he said, 'but this is urgent. I've been waiting for this letter since yesterday. It will only take a minute.'

Artaud yawned, muffled a belch and reached for the carafe. Tissaia looked at Lydia. Lydia smiled. With her eyes. She could not do so any other way.

The lower half of Lydia van Bredevoort's face was an illusion.

Four years ago, on Vilgefortz's – her master's – recommendation, Lydia had taken part in experiments concerning the properties of an artefact found amongst the excavations of an ancient necropolis. The artefact turned out to be cursed. It activated only once. Of the five wizards taking part in the experiment, three died on the spot. The fourth lost his eyes, both hands and went mad. Lydia escaped with burns, a mangled jaw and a mutation of the larynx and throat which, to this day, effectively resisted all efforts at regeneration. A powerful illusion was therefore drawn so that people did not faint at the sight of Lydia's face. It was a very

strong, very efficiently placed illusion, difficult for even the Chosen Ones to penetrate.

'Hmm…' Vilgefortz put the letter aside. 'Thank you, Lydia.'

Lydia smiled. The messenger is waiting for a reply, she said.

'There will be no reply.'

I understand. I have given orders to prepare chambers for your guests.

'Thank you. Tissaia, Artaud, I apologise for the short delay. Let us continue. Where were we?'

Nowhere, thought Tissaia de Vries. But I'm listening carefully to you. Because at some stage you'll finally mention the thing which really interest you.

'Ah,' began Vilgefortz slowly. 'Now I know what I wanted to say. I'm thinking about those members of the Council who have had the least experience. Fercart and Yennefer. Fercart, as far as I know, is tied to Foltest of Temeria and sits on the king's council with Triss Merigold. But who is Yennefer tied to? You said, Artaud, that she is one of those who are serving kings.'

'Artaud exaggerated,' said Tissaia calmly. 'Yennefer is living in Vengerberg so Demawend sometimes turns to her for help, but they do not work together all the time. It cannot be said for certain that she is serving Demawend.'

'How is her sight? Everything is all right, I hope?'

'Yes. Everything's all right.'

'Good. Very good. I was worried… You know, I wanted to contact her but it turned out she had left. No one knew where for.'

Stone, metal, crystal, thought Tissaia de Vries. 'Everything that Yennefer wears is active and cannot be detected using psychic visions. You won't find her that way, my dear. If Yennefer does not wish anyone to know where she is, no one will find out.

'Write to her,' she said calmly, straightening out her cuffs. 'And send the letter in the ordinary way. It will get there without fail. And Yennefer, wherever she is, will reply. She always does.'

'Yennefer,' threw in Artaud, 'frequently disappears, sometimes for entire months. The reasons tend to be quite trivial…'

Tissaia looked at him, pursing her lips. The wizard fell silent. Vilgefortz smiled faintly.

'Precisely,' he said. 'That is just what I thought. At one time she was closely tied to… a certain witcher. Geralt, if I'm not mistaken. It seems it wasn't just an ordinary passing affair. It appeared Yennefer was quite strongly involved…'

Tissaia de Vries sat up straight and gripped the armrests of her chair.

'Why are you asking about that? They're personal matters. It is none of our business.'

'Of course.' Vilgefortz glanced at the letter lying discarded on the pulpit. 'It is none of our business. But I'm not being guided by unhealthy curiosity but concern about the emotional state of a member of the Council. I am wondering about Yennefer's reaction to the news of… of Geralt's death. I presume she would get over it, come to terms with it, without falling into a depression or exaggerated mourning?'

'No doubt, she would,' said Tissaia coldly. 'Especially as such news has been reaching her every now and again – and always proving to be a rumour.'

'That's right,' confirmed Terranova. 'This Geralt, or whatever he's called, knows how to fend for himself. And why be surprised? He is a mutant, a murdering machine, programmed to kill and not let himself be killed. And as for Yennefer, let us not exaggerate her alleged emotions. We know her. She does not give in to emotions. She toyed with the witcher, that's all. She was fascinated with death, which this character constantly courts. And when he finally brings it onto himself, that will be the end of it.'

'For the time being,' remarked Tissaia de Vries dryly, 'the witcher is alive.'

Vilgefortz smiled and once more glanced at the letter lying in front of him.

'Is that so?' he said. 'I don't think so.'

Geralt flinched a little and swallowed hard. The initial shock of drinking the elixir had passed and the second stage was beginning

to take effect, as indicated by a faint but unpleasant dizziness which accompanied the adaptation of his sight to darkness.

The adaptation progressed quickly. The deep darkness of the night paled; everything around him started to take on shades of grey, shades which were at first hazy and unclear then increasingly contrasting, distinct and sharp. In the little street leading to the canal bank which, a moment ago, had been as dark as the inside of a tar barrel, Geralt could now make out the rats roaming through the gutters, and sniffing at puddles and gaps in the walls.

His hearing, too, had been heightened by the witchers' decoction. The deserted tangle of lanes where, only a moment ago, there had been the sound of rain against guttering, began to come to life, to throb with sounds. He heard the cries of cats fighting, dogs barking on the other side of the canal, laughter and shouting from the taprooms and inns of Oxenfurt, yelling and singing from the bargemen's tavern, and the distant, quiet warble of a flute playing a jaunty tune. The dark, sleepy houses came to life as well – Geralt could make out the snoring of slumbering people, the thuds of oxen in enclosures, the snorting of horses in stables. From one of the houses in the depths of the street came the stifled, spasmodic moans of a woman in the throes of lovemaking.

The sounds increased, grew louder. He now made out the obscene lyrics of the carousing songs, learned the name of the moaning woman's lover. From Myhrman's homestead on the canal came the broken, uncoordinated gibberish of the charlatan who had been put, by Philippa Eilhart's treatment, into a state of complete and, no doubt, permanent idiocy.

Dawn was approaching. It had finally stopped raining, a wind started up which blew the clouds away. The sky in the east was clearly paling.

The rats in the lane suddenly grew uneasy, scattered in all directions and hid amongst the crates and rubbish.

The witcher heard footsteps. Four or five men; he could not as yet say exactly how many. He looked up but did not see Philippa.

Immediately he changed tactic. If Rience was amongst those approaching he had little chance of grabbing him. He would first

have to fight his escort and he did not want to do so. Firstly, as he was under the influence of the elixir, those men would have to die. Secondly, Rience would then have the opportunity to flee.

The footsteps grew nearer. Geralt emerged from the shadows.

Rience loomed out of the lane. The witcher recognised the sorcerer instantly and instinctively, although he had never seen him before. The burn, a gift from Yennefer, was masked by the shadow of his hood.

He was alone. His escort did not reveal themselves, remaining hidden in the little street. Geralt immediately understood why. Rience knew who was waiting for him by the charlatan's house. Rience had suspected an ambush, yet he had still come. The witcher realised why. And that was even before he had heard the quiet grating of swords being drawn from their scabbards. Fine, he thought. If that's what you want, fine.

'It is a pleasure hunting for you,' said Rience quietly. 'You appear where you're wanted of your own accord.'

'The same can be said of you,' calmly retorted the witcher. 'You appeared here. I wanted you here and here you are.'

'You must have pushed Myhrman hard to tell you about the amulet, to show you where it is hidden. And how to activate it to send out a message. But Myhrman didn't know that the amulet informs and warns at the same time, and so he could not have told you even if roasted on red coals. I have distributed a good many of these amulets. I knew that sooner or later you would come across one of them.'

Four men emerged from around a corner of the little street. They moved slowly, deftly and noiselessly. They still kept to the areas of darkness and wielded their drawn swords in such a way as not to be betrayed by a flash of blades. The witcher, obviously, saw them clearly. But he did not reveal the fact. Fine, murderers, he thought. If that's what you want, that's what you'll get.

'I waited,' continued Rience without moving from the spot, 'and here you are. I intend to finally rid the earth of your burden, you foul changling.'

'You intend? You overrate yourself. You are nothing but a tool.

A thug hired by others to deal with their dirty work. Who hired you, stooge?'

'You want to know too much, mutant. You call me a stooge? And do you know what you are? A heap of dung on the road which has to be removed because someone prefers not to soil their boots. No, I am not going to disclose who that person is to you, although I could. But I will tell you something else so you have something to think about on your way to hell. I already know where to find the little bastard you were looking after. And I know where to find that witch of yours, Yennefer. My patrons don't care about her but I bear the whore a personal grudge. As soon as I've finished with you, I'm going after her. I'll see to it that she regrets her tricks with fire. Oh, yes, she is going to regret them. For a very long time.'

'You shouldn't have said that.' The witcher smiled nastily, feeling the euphoria of battle aroused by the elixir, reacting with adrenalin. 'Before you said that, you still had a chance to live. Now you don't.'

A powerful oscillation of his witcher's medallion warned him of a sudden assault. He jumped aside and, drawing his sword in a flash, deflected and annihilated the violent, paralysing wave of magical energy directed at him with his rune-covered blade. Rience backed away, raised his arm to make a move but at the last moment took fright. Not attempting a second spell, he swiftly retreated down the lane. The witcher could not run after him – the four men who thought they were concealed in the shadows threw themselves at him. Swords flashed.

They were professionals. All four of them. Experienced, skilled professionals working as a team. They came at him in pairs, two on the left, two on the right. In pairs – so that one always covered the other's back. The witcher chose those on the left. On top of the euphoria produced by the elixir came fury.

The first thug attacked with a feint from dextra only to jump aside and allow the man behind him to execute a deceptive thrust. Geralt spun in a pirouette, evaded and passed by them and with the very tip of his sword slashed the other one from behind across

the occiput, shoulders and back. He was angry and hit hard. A fountain of blood spurted on the wall.

The first man backed away with lightning speed, making room for the next pair. These separated for the attack, slashing their swords from two directions in such a way that only one blow could be parried, the other having to meet its aim. Geralt did not parry and, whirling in a pirouette, came between them. In order not to collide, they both had to break their teamed rhythm, their rehearsed steps. One of them managed to turn in a soft, feline feint and leaped away dextrously. The other did not have time. He lost his balance and stumbled backwards. The witcher, turning in a reverse pirouette, used his momentum to slash him across the lower back. He was angry. He felt his sharp witcher's blade sever the spine. A terrifying howl echoed down the streets. The two remaining men immediately attacked him, showering him with blows which he parried with the greatest of difficulties. He went into a pirouette and tore himself from beneath the flashing blades. But instead of leaning his back against the wall and defending himself, he attacked.

They were not expecting it, did not have time to leap away and apart. One of them countered but the witcher evaded the counterattack, spun, slashed from behind – blindly – counting on the rush of air. He was angry. He aimed low, at the belly. And hit his mark. He heard a stifled cry but did not have time to look back. The last of the thugs was already at his side, already striking a nasty sinistra with a quarte. Geralt parried at the last moment, statically, without a turn, with a quarte from dextra. The thug, making use of the impetus of the parry, unwound like a spring and slashed from a half-turn, wide and hard. Too hard. Geralt was already spinning. The killer's blade, considerably heavier than the witcher's, cut the air and the thug had to follow the blow. The impetus caused him to turn. Geralt slipped out of the half-turn just beside him, very close. He saw his contorted face, his horrified eyes. He was angry. He struck. Short but powerful. And sure. Right in the eyes.

He heard Shani's terrified scream as she tried to pull herself free of Dandilion on the bridge leading to the charlatan's house.

Rience retreated into the depths of the lane, raising and spreading

both arms in front of him, a magical light already beginning to exude from them. Geralt grasped his sword with both hands and without second thoughts ran towards him. The sorcerer's nerves could not take it. Without completing his spell, he began to run away, yelling incomprehensibly. But Geralt understood. He knew that Rience was calling for help. Begging for help.

And help arrived. The little street blazed with a bright light and on the dilapidated, sullied walls of a house, flared the fiery oval of a portal. Rience threw himself towards it. Geralt jumped. He was furious.

Toublanc Michelet groaned and curled up, clutching his riven belly. He felt the blood draining from him, flowing rapidly through his fingers. Not far from him lay Flavius. He had still been twitching a moment ago, but now he lay motionless. Toublanc squeezed his eyelids shut, then opened them. But the owl sitting next to Flavius was clearly not a hallucination – it did not disappear. He groaned again and turned his head away.

Some wench, a young one judging by her voice, was screaming hysterically.

'Let me go! There are wounded there! I've got to… I'm a medical student, Dandilion! Let me go, do you hear?'

'You can't help them,' replied Dandilion in a dull voice. 'Not after a witcher's sword… Don't even go there. Don't look… I beg you, Shani, don't look.'

Toublanc felt someone kneel next to him. He detected the scent of perfume and wet feathers. He heard a quiet, gentle, soothing voice. It was hard to make out the words, the annoying screams and sobs of the young wench interfered. Of that… medical student. But if it was the medical student who was yelling then who was kneeling next to him? Toublanc groaned.

'… be all right. Everything will be all right.'

'The son… of… a… bitch,' he grunted. 'Rience… He told us… An ordinary fool… But it… was a witcher… Caa… tch… Heee… elp… My… guts…'

'Quiet, quiet, my son. Keep calm. It's all right. It doesn't hurt

any more. Isn't that right, it doesn't hurt? Tell me who called you up here? Who introduced you to Rience? Who recommended him? Who got you into this? Tell me, please, my son. And then everything will be all right. You'll see, it'll be all right. Tell me, please.'

Toublanc tasted blood in his mouth. But he did not have the strength to spit it out. His cheek pressing into the wet earth, he opened his mouth and blood poured out.

He no longer felt anything.

'Tell me,' the gentle voice kept repeating. 'Tell me, my son.'

Toublanc Michelet, professional murderer since the age of fourteen, closed his eyes and smiled a bloodied smile. And whispered what he knew.

And when he opened his eyes, he saw a stiletto with a narrow blade and a tiny golden hilt.

'Don't be frightened,' said the gentle voice as the point of the stiletto touched his temple. 'This won't hurt.'

Indeed, it did not hurt.

He caught up with the sorcerer at the last moment, just in front of the portal. Having already thrown his sword aside, his hands were free and his fingers, extended in a leap, dug into the edge of Rience's cloak. Rience lost his balance; the tug had bent him backwards, forcing him to totter back. He struggled furiously, violently ripped the cloak from clasp to clasp and freed himself. Too late.

Geralt spun him round by hitting him in the shoulder with his right hand, then immediately struck him in the neck under the ear with his left. Rience reeled but did not fall. The witcher, jumping softly, caught up with him and forcefully dug his fist under his ribs. The sorcerer moaned and drooped over the fist. Geralt grabbed him by the front of his doublet, spun him and threw him to the ground. Pressed down by the witcher's knee, Rience extended his arm and opened his mouth to cast a spell. Geralt clenched his fist and thumped him from above. Straight in the mouth. His lips split like blackcurrants.

'You've already received a present from Yennefer,' he uttered in a hoarse voice. 'Now you're getting one from me.'

He struck once more. The sorcerer's head bounced up; blood spurted onto the witcher's forehead and cheeks. Geralt was slightly surprised – he had not felt any pain but had, no doubt, been injured in the fight. It was his blood. He did not bother nor did he have time to look for the wound and take care of it. He unclenched his fist and walloped Rience once more. He was angry.

'Who sent you? Who hired you?'

Rience spat blood at him. The witcher struck him yet again.

'Who?'

The fiery oval of the portal flared more strongly; the light emanating from it flooded the entire lane. The witcher felt the power throbbing from the oval, had felt it even before his medallion had begun to oscillate violently, in warning.

Rience also felt the energy streaming from the portal, sensed help approaching. He yelled, struggling like an enormous fish. Geralt buried his knees in the sorcerer's chest, raised his arm, forming the Sign of Aard with his fingers, and aimed at the flaming portal. It was a mistake.

No one emerged from the portal. Only power radiated from it and Rience had taken the power.

From the sorcerer's outstretched fingers grew six-inch steel spikes. They dug into Geralt's chest and shoulder with an audible crack. Energy exploded from the spikes. The witcher threw himself backwards in a convulsive leap. The shock was such that he felt and heard his teeth, clenched in pain, crunch and break. At least two of them.

Rience attempted to rise but immediately collapsed to his knees again and began to struggle to the portal on all fours. Geralt, catching his breath with difficulty, drew a stiletto from his boot. The sorcerer looked back, sprung up and reeled. The witcher was also reeling but he was quicker. Rience looked back again and screamed. Geralt gripped the knife. He was angry. Very angry.

Something grabbed him from behind, overpowered him, immo-

bilised him. The medallion on his neck pulsated acutely; the pain in his wounded shoulder throbbed spasmodically.

Some ten paces behind him stood Philippa Eilhart. From her raised arms emanated a dull light – two streaks, two rays. Both were touching his back, squeezing his arms with luminous pliers. He struggled, in vain. He could not move from the spot. He could only watch as Rience staggered up to the portal, which pulsated with a milky glow.

Rience, in no hurry, slowly stepped into the light of the portal, sank into it like a diver, blurred and disappeared. A second later, the oval went out, for a moment plunging the little street into impenetrable, dense, velvety blackness.

Somewhere in the lanes fighting cats yowled. Geralt looked at the blade of the sword he had picked up on his way towards the magician.

'Why, Philippa? Why did you do it?'

The magician took a step back. She was still holding the knife which a moment earlier had penetrated Toublanc Michelet's skull.

'Why are you asking? You know perfectly well.'

'Yes,' he agreed. 'Now I know.'

'You're wounded, Geralt. You can't feel the pain because you're intoxicated with the witchers' elixir but look how you're bleeding. Have you calmed down sufficiently for me to safely approach and take a look at you? Bloody hell, don't look at me like that! And don't come near me. One more step and I'll be forced to… Don't come near me! Please! I don't want to hurt you but if you come near-'

'Philippa!' shouted Dandilion, still holding the weeping Shani. 'Have you gone mad?'

'No,' said the witcher with some effort. 'She's quite sane. And knows perfectly well what she's doing. She knew all along what she was doing. She took advantage of us. Betrayed us. Deceived-'

'Calm down,' repeated Philippa Eilhart. 'You won't understand and you don't have to understand. I did what I had to do. And don't call me a traitor. Because I did this precisely so as not to

betray a cause which is greater than you can imagine. A great and important cause, so important that minor matters have to be sacrificed for it without second thoughts, if faced with such a choice. Geralt, damn it, we're nattering and you're standing in a pool of blood. Calm down and let Shani and me take care of you.'

'She's right!' shouted Dandilion, 'you're wounded, damn it! Your wound has to be dressed and we've got to get out of here! You can argue later!'

'You and your great cause…' The witcher, ignoring the troubadour, staggered forward. 'Your great cause, Philippa, and your choice, is a wounded man, stabbed in cold blood once he told you what you wanted to know, but what I wasn't to find out. Your great cause is Rience, whom you allowed to escape so that he wouldn't by any chance reveal the name of his patron. So that he can go on murdering. Your great cause is those corpses which did not have to be. Sorry, I express myself poorly. They're not corpses, they're minor matters!'

'I knew you wouldn't understand.'

'Indeed, I don't. I never will. But I do know what it's about. Your great causes, your wars, your struggle to save the world… Your end which justifies the means… Prick up your ears, Philippa. Can you hear those voices, that yowling? Those are cats fighting for a great cause. For indivisible mastery over a heap of rubbish. It's no joking matter – blood is being spilled and clumps of fur are flying. It's war. But I care incredibly little about either of these wars, the cats' or yours.'

'That's only what you imagine,' hissed the magician. 'All this is going to start concerning you – and sooner than you think. You're standing before necessity and choice. You've got yourself mixed up in destiny, my dear, far more than you've bargained for. You thought you were taking a child, a little girl, into your care. You were wrong. You've taken in a flame which could at any moment set the world alight. Our world. Yours, mine, that of the others. And you will have to choose. Like I did. Like Triss Merigold. Choose, as your Yennefer had to. Because Yennefer has already

chosen. Your destiny is in her hands, witcher. You placed it in those hands yourself.'

The witcher staggered. Shani yelled and tore herself away from Dandilion. Geralt held her back with a gesture, stood upright and looked straight into the dark eyes of Philippa Eilhart.

'My destiny,' he said with effort. 'My choice *.. I'll tell you, Philippa, what I've chosen. I won't allow you to involve Ciri in your dirty machinations. I am warning you. Whoever dares harm Ciri will end up like those four lying there. I won't swear an oath. I have nothing by which to swear. I simply warn you. You accused me of being a bad guardian, that I don't know how to protect the child. I will protect her. As best I can. I will kill. I will kill mercilessly…'

'I believe you,' said the magician with a smile. 'I believe you will. But not today, Geralt. Not now. Because in a minute you're going to faint from loss of blood. Shani, are you ready?'

No one is bom a wizard. We still know too little about genetics and the mechanisms of heredity. We sacrifice too little time and means on research. Unfortunately, we constantly try to pass on inherited magical abilities in, so to say, a natural way. Results of these pseudo-experiments can be seen all too often in town gutters and within temple walls. We see too many of them, and too frequently come across morons and women in a catatonic state, dribbling seers who soil themselves, seeresses, village oracles and miracle-workers, cretins whose minds are degenerate due to the inherited, uncontrolled Force.

These morons and cretins can also have offspring, can pass on abilities and thus degenerate further. Is anyone in a position to foresee or describe how the last link in such a chain will look?