Dedicated to A.S. Kuzhelev from Pokrovskiy

14

Angel

Peace is always preferable to war.

The walls of the Fort, once so strong and unapproachable, built of dark burgundy, almost black mountain stone, so beloved by red architects, gaped holes with ragged edges. The dying defenders of the Fort writhed among the devastation in death agony, explosions tore off their limbs, many were buried alive under the rubble. Everything captured by them was destroyed and covered with the blood of the wounded and killed, as if something had now taken away its percentage for their past luck.

In the dense blackness of the smoky clouds, it was no longer possible to distinguish between day or night, only fiery flashes for a moment snatched the darkness and exploded it with sheaves of burning sparks, illuminating everything around.

It seemed that Death itself was present there, as an honored guest invited to a wild feast, it danced, circling, among the burning ruins, as at a ball, with each flash, snatching out life after life.

The force that ignites rage in the chest, fills the gaze with determination and a desperate desire to get out of the stone trap to freedom, was extinguishing in the hearts of the defenders.

Marmer with several soldiers from his squad, until the very last time was shooting from the cannon, not paying attention to the fiery boulders flying at him, and the fact that the cannon was red-hot. He shouted hoarsely:

“Fire! Fire!”

And he himself took heavy cannonballs, pushing them into the cannon with burnt hands, until a blazing fiery projectile, fired from a throwing weapon, blew the cannon and part of the wall on which they were to the devil.

Anya ran out of arrows, and there was no one with a full quiver nearby, and she, seeing through the loophole the guns of the reds, shrank in a low arch of still intact wall, as in her little shelter, and wept bitterly. Tears streamed down her cheeks, leaving light streaks on her dusty face. Preparing for the inevitable, Anya stubbornly clenched a gold pendant in her fist, an award from Atley Alis for bravery, as if this decoration could help her in some way.

Mercenaries and unclean ones thrown from the wall tried to find shelter from burning cannonballs and pieces of masonry that were falling from everywhere. Shrad with his last strength managed to drag away fallen Zagpeace Gezaria, he was unconscious, and the brave peasant from the Estate of Prince Arel literally covered the commander with his body.

In front of Tazh’s eyes, a fiery projectile literally tore into pieces Tarl and several warriors from the Skull clan, who were fighting next to him, crushed them into the ground, leaving only a puddle of bloody mess.

The fort was burning, and the unclean horse of Nikto knocked out the stable doors with his hooves. The horses broke the reins and galloped into the opening of the destroyed wall. And only a few of the most stupid and tightly tied to the stalls remained, they whinnied pitifully, and Karina’s beloved horse suffocated.

The rear gate was blown out by a battering ram, and that section of the wall near the menagerie, which was selflessly defended by the unclean and young warriors from the school of Daniel Crassus for so many days, was destroyed, and there was no one else to protect it, and there was no way to do it.

What was the use of saving the back gate if the iron-wrought main gate had been torn down, and Lis once thought it was impenetrable.

The defenders of the Fort rushed about in its walls like rats in a labyrinth and didn’t know where to get away from the fiery stones and the reds who soon appeared in the breaches of the wall and were simply finishing off the crumbling army of Atley Alis.

Those who could still stand and hold weapons lined up in the main square, defending themselves and waiting for the main forces of the reds to rush through the main gate to them, realizing that now they would unleash all their fury and power on them.

And it wouldn’t take more than five minutes.

They prepared to fight to the last.

The reds rushed to the attack, and it was a real bloody massacre. There was no exit. All that remained was to fight, and the blacks and the unclean ones did it with the despair of the doomed, with their last strength, realizing that this was the end and they lost.

Lis fought like a man possessed, in the forefront, as if he wanted to die. And this moment was about to come, when suddenly the reds were confused. Their dense ranks parted, something pressed against them from behind. The attackers began to turn around and stopped attacking.

“What's happening?! What's going on, Nik?” Shouted Lis,” I don’t understand!”

Nikto didn’t had time to answer. Tol and his soldiers, whom he had brought with him from the Black City, burst into the main gate, crushing the reds, and there were many of them. The reds were not ready for this turn of events, they rushed about, and confusion began. But it didn’t last long – the fresh forces of Tol, striking from the rear, quickly crushed the enemy, and the defenders rejoiced.

“We have won! We have won!”

“Al!” Tol shouted.

And on the exhausted face of Lis sincere joy was reflected:

“Tol! Tol, damn you! Where are you from here?!”

“We followed in your footsteps,” Tol smiled, “you got so far!”

He looked around: everything around him was on fire, walls in many places were collapsed.

“What a beautiful fortress!” Tol said absolutely sincerely. He dismounted, heading for Lis, and he rushed to meet him, embracing him. They hugged each other tightly, like two friends and warriors. Finally, Tol, pulling back, patted Lis on the shoulder.

“Al, you sly ass, where did you get in?!”

He looked at Arel:

“Orel! How glad I am!”

And Arel, looking at him, smiled at him too:

“I am no longer Prince Orel from the family of Eagle, Tol,” he said, “now everyone calls me just Arel.”

Tol happily hugged him, not paying any attention to these words and the slightly surprised look that Lis, Kors and everyone else around had, because they completely lost the habit that Arel could speak, forgot his voice. And he said it to Tol so simply, and, as was his habit, drawing out his words a little lazily, and his beautiful low velvety timbre of voice, from which common people usually fell into a reverent trance, hadn’t changed at all.

“Nik!” Tol shouted, no doubt recognizing Nikto despite the mask. And they also hugged tightly.

“Karina!”

“Eh, no, Tol, I won't hug you!” She laughed. Her face was stained with gunpowder soot, very successfully hiding traces from the whip on her cheeks.

“You motherfucker, I don’t believe, we have won!” Lis said. Walls and buildings were almost destroyed, but Death, though reluctantly, retreated, remembering this place and wanting to return here to finally finish his dance.

“We have won, just as you said, Nik!” Lis shouted happily.

And Nikto put a finger to his mask, indicating a smile.

Kors stood and watched as the captive red warriors, who were lined up in the square, bowed their heads and knelt before Atley Alis, thus demonstrating their submission and loyalty to him. Now they would fight on their side. Lis approached each and asked for the name and rank, and his adjutant entered everything in a journal.

Kors saw Alis walk over to the red one, whose face was completely wrapped in dirty bloody strips of cloth that replaced his bandages. The warrior, like the others, when his turn came, bowed down to Lis and knelt down.

Kors watched them with bated breath, he perfectly understood who it was, but from his place he couldn’t hear their conversation. He only saw that Lis asked the red one something and then waved his hand to the side, to where the wounded prisoners were taken, they lay and sat a little to the side. The soldier, disfigured by Kors, stumbled to the other wounded. He didn’t look at Kors and didn’t see him, and Kors for some reason involuntarily smiled, he himself didn’t understand why, but he felt pleased. And Lis, no longer paying attention to the unfortunate red, continued and stopped at the next captured warrior.

The unclean survivors of Nikto and black mercenaries, several peasants from the militia of Prince Arel and several people of Marmer began to restore Crimson Rock. The soldiers Tol brought with him immediately became actively involved in the life of the Fort, and helped them. Since the confrontation with the Black Bey ended, and Bey himself perished in the village of swamp inhabitants, there was no longer a need to defend the territories in the Black City, so Tol, no doubt, brought with him almost all the warriors of Prince Arel. Borgan stayed in Lower to keep order, but Nikto sent almost a thousand unclean ones. The red prisoners were also involved in the work, and they tried very hard.

Lis once again had an army, bigger and better than the old one! And everyone rejoiced, not doubting that the Ore town with its Diamond Mines would soon be in their hands.

The main tower suffered least of all. The servants cleaned up rooms of Karina and Lis: they put everything in its place again, collected fragments of broken dishes and glass.

Now there were no glass in their windows, however, as in the whole tower. But the weather was very warm, and it was quite possible to do without them if an incense burner for driving away insects was burning.

Karina was more upset by the broken water pipe. The black and red warriors tried to fix it, but they didn’t figure out how to supply warm water to the rooms upstairs. Karina stood and watched as a pitiful trickle of cold water barely flowed from the tap when she heard loud screams and noise below in the square. She ran to the window and saw that Tol was entering the main gate, and Lila was sitting sideways in the saddle next to him. Tol, unlike Lis, didn’t hesitate and wasted no time, he organized a ferry and crossed the river to Riverside village, transported the servants, cooks, gunsmiths and everyone he left there, including his new wife. He also took a few of the prince’s people from those who didn’t die of hunger and typhus. And now Lila was sitting, huddled up to him, as tiny as a figurine in a beautiful dress and cape. The black mercenaries of Kors recognized her. They began to greet Lila. Karina heard their admiring cries and exclamations:

“It's Lila! Royal theater actress!”

One of the black warriors was already running across the square with a bouquet of flowers, where did they come from? Karina was shivering: “I will kill this bitch,” she thought in all seriousness. “Lis killed Tol’s first wife, and I will kill the second!” At the same time, she couldn’t take her eyes off what was happening, and now Lis was in a hurry to them, helping Lila to get off the horse. And the unclean ones, those who were repairing the gate at that moment, literally froze in a stupor. They have abandoned all their affairs and stand as bewitched. As well as Karina, frozen at the window. Lila seemed to be embarrassed by such attention to her person, or rather, at first, she accepted the flowers with a smile, and then, looking around and seeing the glances of the uncleans directed at her, she changed her expression. As if frightened, she quickly adjusted the cape on her hair and covered her face with the edge of the fabric.

“Bitch! Bitch! Bitch!” Karina saw exactly how at that moment Lis raised his head and looked up at their windows. He saw Karina, and his eyes… he seemed to say to her: “You see how decent girls behave?”

Karina drew back from the window, tears gushed from her eyes.

“What a bitch! Fuck! Lis will now bring Tol and his bitch to us!”

Karina rushed to her long-suffering burgundy dress, to her bag, where she kept her pearl earrings. “Heck! Heck! Heck!”

15

The fiend

Don't fall prey to your own fears.

Karina put on a burgundy dress and pearl earrings, pulled her hair up, styling it into a beautiful hairstyle with hairpins. She put on her makeup, borrowing a box of cosmetics from a slave who lived here before: she hid the traces of beatings under the tonal dye, beautifully emphasized the shape of her eyebrows with black and painted her eyes, making them even more expressive, and painted her lips with dark cherry lipstick to match the dress. She hadn't done makeup for so long, but as it turned out, she hadn't forgotten anything.

Satisfied, she looked at her reflection – she was a real beauty and noble lady, in this form it would not be shameful to go to a ball at the palace. When Lis entered the room, Karina, who was sitting in front of the mirror, turned to him with a slight smile. And seeing her, Lis froze. He seemed speechless, and it was so unlike him. Karina looked a little condescendingly at his admiring face and adjusted her hair with a casual gesture:

“Why are you looking at me so?”

“Karina, how beautiful you are, Gods!”

“Do you like me?”

“Yes. Very much.”

Lis continued to stand on the threshold, blocking the doorway, and the servant behind him, holding a heavy tray with drinks and snacks, impatiently shifted from foot to foot, not understanding the hitch, but not daring to move the master aside and go into the room, to finally free himself from a heavy burden. Finally Lis noticed him and awkwardly walked away, he looked confused.

And Karina’s heart rejoiced:

“Isn’t it bad that I painted my lips?”

“No.”

“Isn’t the lipstick too bright?”

“No.”

“Not sluttish?”

“Karina,” Lis swallowed, “it suits you very much.”

Karina looked at the tray full of treats.

“And where are Tol and Lila? Have you called them to us?”

“Yes. Now they will come.”

Karina snorted dismissively:

“Ah, got it.”

And as Lis continued to look at her, she got up and carefully took several steps in high-heeled shoes, trying to fully straighten her knees. She spun in front of him:

“Am I better than this actress?”

“Who?”

“Lila! What's wrong with you?”

“Lila? She's just a city crazy!”

“A-ha-ha, so you don't like her at all?”

“Of course not! She is an ordinary commoner, cheap, don’t be jealous of me for her. This is silly. And you even insult me with this, now.”

Karina’s face immediately ceased to be relaxed:

“Sorry, I just said so.”

He walked over and hugged her:

“You're my queen!”

“No! Don't kiss me! Lipstick smudges!”

And Lis obediently pulled back

Lis laughed, throwing his head back, so sincerely, absolutely relaxed, with his so bright red hair untied in a ponytail, disheveled. He laughed, and Tol hugged him and shouted:

“Al, brother! Don't be stupid! Let's drink quickly! Al, you are my soul! Don't be slow, brotherly! Do you remember how we… and you know how frightened I was for you, when, do you remember, they cut off your Necker’s legs, and you fell off your horse straight to Bey under the sword! Remember?!”

“I remember,” Lis smiled, “you saved my life then.”

They drank and smoked everything that was at hand. Tol happily and actively shared news from the Black City, while not forgetting to lean on snacks from the Fort’s storerooms: meat ham, smoked fish and all kinds of sausages and cheeses. For dear guests, Lis ordered to bake fresh pies and rolls. Tol was on fire, today was his finest hour, because his usually haughty friend listened to him with interest and didn’t interrupt him. Karina was bored, Tol, as always, constantly bragged and attributed all the achievements to himself.

“And I ordered to plant trees in Lower and on the Market Square, in the very center, to plant an oak! So that it grows huge! And we'll make a nest there, and put an eagle there! It will be so beautiful! Yes, Al?!”

And Lis laughed and nodded.

“How lonely my Lis was in the Black City, if this one became his best friend…” Karina thought bitterly: “They are like heaven and earth. To what despair and loneliness you need to go to make friends with Tol! My poor Lis.”

Tol enthusiastically said about how they had restored the Lower City destroyed by the confrontation with Bey, and Lila intervened in the conversation and inserted remarks, echoing Tol with her, as it seemed to Karina, disgusting squeaky and cutesy voice. Lila got drunk and interrupted Tol more and more often, adding even more meaningless and unnecessary details to his already stupid story. But Tol didn’t get angry with her, even if she cut him off in mid-sentence, pressed him to him with tenderness and didn’t shut her mouth. Moreover, from time to time she tugged at him and intervened simply so that he poured wine or served her a pie. And Tol was interrupted, distracted and did what she asked, while losing the thread of his already chaotic narrative.

They moved to the large bed of Lis and Karina, and Karina, leaning against the pillows at the head, drank wine and, looking at the