I imagined the flood of emotions that would be precipitated by the destruction of Russia—or China . . . It wouldn’t be a momentary thing, it would last for years, decades. It would be insanity. The world was imperfect enough already, it was full of conflicts, torn apart by small wars and global crises. And even if peace and prosperity were established throughout the world, human beings were such brutes, they’d always find some reason to suffer!

Well, okay, let’s accept that the Twilight is short of incoming Power. Assume that’s a fact.

“Nadya can . . . You can’t divide by zero, you can’t divide by zero . . . Anything multiplied by zero is zero, anything multiplied by zero . . .” I thought I understood what this meant, too. Nadya was a Zero-Level Enchantress. An Absolute Enchantress. In theory there were no limits to her power. Of course, she didn’t really understand how to control it . . . but that was only a matter of practice.

What did “you can’t divide by zero” mean? Not in mathematics, but in this particular case? And what did “anything multiplied by zero is zero” mean?

I looked at the closed doors of the nursery and the bedroom again. I crept out into the hallway, feeling like a criminal, and took the cigarettes and the lighter off the shelf. I don’t smoke at home, not even on the balcony—but I had just realized that I really needed a smoke now. I pulled on my anorak, went out onto the balcony, and closed the door firmly behind me. I lit up and launched a thin stream of smoke into the night sky.

Who were the Others?

Rational beings, capable of using Power.

The Twilight, with the Tiger as its embodiment, was also a rational entity, capable of using Power.

Different in kind, but also a rational being . . .

Who was the most powerful Other?

Nadya was the most powerful. A Zero-Level Enchantress.

And the Twilight was also zero-level.

The terms “stronger” and “weaker” were inapplicable here. Even among the Great Ones, whose Power could not meaningfully be measured, there were some differences in the level of Power, and that was why those who invented the most cunning spells, used them more quickly and struck at unexpected points were vic-torious. But the Power of the Twilight and Nadya’s Power were identical. The Twilight possessed all the Power that flowed into it. And Nadya, in some miraculous way, was also capable of controlling all the Power in the world.

Could the Twilight destroy Nadya?

Could Nadya destroy the Twilight?

That was the question.

And to judge from the words of the prophecy, she could.

“Kill the Tiger and you kill the Twilight!”

You can’t divide by zero—the Twilight couldn’t destroy Nadya. It seemed that that was physically impossible. And I was very glad about that.

If you multiply anything by zero, the result is zero.