The Mist and the Lightning. Part III
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"I'm a zero in it! Without him all our privileges and amnesties will go down, like a house of cards."
"Aren't you depending on him too much?"
"I am! Every one of my men is irreplaceable for me! Without Enriki you, Lis and Squint-Eye will go to prison for sure."
"Without Lis's strategy there will be no victories in the Lower City. Without Squint-Eye no one will fear you. And you? Can't you do anything?"
"You, Nik – how can I replace you with anyone?"
"I'm not talking about myself! If Enriki means so much for you, lock him up in the castle, make him deal with papers and that's all."
"I cannot do it! If I lock him up, it will mean he isn't a warrior any more! He won't do anything then."
"If he cares for you, he will."
"Would you?"
"Any time, I'm fed up with this war."
"You speak like Squint-Eye, are you serious?"
"Yes. I envy Lis – I won't live long enough to get this old."
"But you don’t know how old you are."
"I thought about it and tried to recall. I think I'm twenty-three, yes, I'm sure."
"Ooh."
"What, don't I look like that?"
"No-o. But Lis told me that."
"Told what?"
"He said you're barely over twenty, and I didn't believe him."
"Fucking shit, Lis knows more about me than I do!"
Orel laughed.
"He said: 'Nikto is at least seven years younger than me." Orel tossed a sly look at Nikto. "Fine, you're tired of fighting – quit it."
"What? Are you permitting me?"
"No! Of course, not! But Enriki won't quit, he want to prove he still can fight. Do you know what I think? I'll replace Squint-Eye and put Vil there."
"Enriki will understand that you give up on him. Put me there, I'll manage to defend him."
"And what about me?!"
"Your eyes are okay and you'll have Squint-Eye, like before."
"No. Never."
"If Enriki is with Vil and you're with me, where will you put Squint-Eye?"
"With Asa."
"What an allocation! He'll kill her himself not to meddle."
"What should I do then?"
"Replace everyone. Enriki-Vil. Lis-Squint-Eye. Asa-Tol."
"They will be mad! Though…" Orel mused. "There is something in it. No, Lis and Squint-Eye is a shitty pair… very shitty. Wait, Nik, you want to set up Lis? You're cunning!"
"Is it 'setting up'? Squint-Eye fights much better than Tol."
"Yes, but Squint-Eye doesn't like Lis."
"If you put him to stand by Lis, Lis will find a way to make Squint-Eye love him, believe me."
"It stinks, Nik."
"With this allocation there will be one wounded. Vil won't let himself be wounded and he won't risk. With the present allocation you'll have two wounded."
"So, in the first case there will be two wounded, and one of them not important, but that way we'll have two important warriors wounded. What should I do? Enriki will take Squint-Eye down with him, that's for sure!"
"The pair Enriki-Squint-Eye fucked up once. I ask you again, put me with Enriki."
"No!" Orel nearly screamed. "You're right, there shouldn't be irreplaceable men. Apart from me, everyone is replaceable in my team. Let Enriki show what he can do. I'm giving up on him – I hope he won't get killed, and if he gets wounded, he'll calm down for a while and will handle my affairs. I'll take Dick Nedwill in his place as a warrior. He and Vil will make a good pair."
"And now try to explain it to the others."
"Let's go downstairs." Orel got up. "I can even vote for it. You and Vil will be for me, Enriki, I'm sure, will not vote against it either. Four against three. Shit, Vil is convenient, after all, I can always be sure he'll vote just like me. Am I right?"
"Yes," Nikto smirked.
"Just don't express your wish to pair with Enriki, okay? Otherwise everyone will seize this opportunity and there will be no changes, and we need them."
"You said 'no', I got it. But it will be a difficult conversation."
"It is my problem, just keep silent."
"I always keep silent," Nikto said.
* * *
"Wait, there is one more thing before we have dinner."
They looked at him questioningly, silently, waiting what he'd say.
"My order is," Orel started slowly, lowering his head slightly. He saw them tense. "…I'm changing pairs," he said at last.
Everyone froze as if not quite understanding what he said. Lis was the first to regain composure.
"Who are you going to replace?"
"Everyone," Orel said. "I'm going to change ALL the pairs."
"And yours, too?" Lis's voice stayed calm but it was a pretense.
"No. I'm staying with Nikto."
"Ah," Lis said knowingly.
"Arel, changing pairs before an important fight is unreasonable," Squint-Eye interfered.
"Which way do you want to change the pairs?" Tol asked anxiously.
"Squint-Eye will stand by Lis, Vil by Enriki, you by Asa."
Tol really started back; he tried to say something but managed only a few hoarse sounds.
"Fuck you! You're completely insane!" Squint-Eye yelled. "It's nonsense!"
"Arel, why are you doing it? Why?" Lis asked tiredly.
"No objections!" Orel shouted. "That's it! I have decided, and it will be this way!"
"But can you at least explain us why?"
"It will be better this way. Is it enough for an explanation?"
"No, it is not enough." Squint-Eye nervously pushed his hair away from his face. "Changing pairs before a fight! Do you want to kill us? Do you want to ruin everything? At the very last moment? We fucked with this Bey for so long! We nearly lost everything! And now, when we have a real chance to end it, when we finally have a really good plan, you start fooling around! Arel, the fights will be hard, won't it be better to keep us the way we are used to, at least for a while? After that you can replace us, you can put me with Asa, can put Vil with Lis – whatever you want but after the fight!"