“Nadya’s a weapon against the Twilight, right?” I said. “She’s the only Other capable of destroying the Twilight—of destroying the entire world of magic. You . . . you had suspected for a long time . . . for a long time that the Twilight was not simply an environment, not just energy—but a person. And you were afraid. That was why Gesar consulted with Zabulon. And you involved the Inquisition too, right? And it was decided that the Others needed a deterrent, just in case . . . in case the Twilight should suddenly stop carrying out our petty whims and become far too active. How did you decide what color she would be? Did you toss a coin? Zabulon took heads and Gesar took tails? Doesn’t it bother you that you’re raising a child as a living weapon?”

“I had no part in it!” Olga replied abruptly. “If you remember, I was still a stuffed bird.”

“But you held the Chalk!”

“I was desperate not to spend another fifty years in the cupboard, Anton! And I didn’t realize what it was all about at first. Do you think Gesar let me in on all the details straight away? Oh, sure—it sometimes seems to me that he hides his own plans from himself!”

“I’ll tell Nadya everything,” I said. “She has a right to know. So that no one can try to use her without her knowledge.”

Olga sighed.

“No one intends to use her. It’s just a precaution. Don’t burden the child with it, let her grow up.”

“I’ll think about it,” I said, and closed the window. “But all of you really are . . .”

Olga narrowed her eyes as she looked at me.

“Really are what? If the leaders of the Watches have arrived at the valid suspicion that the Twilight is an active force, that it possesses will and desires—what would you have us do? The Twilight doesn’t enter into contact with us: its most real manifestation is the Tiger—and he’s not very talkative. So what would you have us do? Rely on its goodwill? But who can say that we understand the good in the same way? Better to have an Other in reserve who can stand up against the Twilight in a crisis. And bear in mind, by the way, that your daughter is effectively under the care and protection of both Watches! She’s a communal weapon!”

“She’s not a weapon,” I said wearily. “She’s a person.”

“She’s not an ordinary person, she’s an Other!”

“All that’s nothing but words, Olga,” I said, starting to stride round the office. I looked at her and asked: “You don’t think that the Twilight really is harmful? That it would be better to destroy it? Maybe I should ask my daughter . . .”