Lis got up, and Kors noticed how his face involuntarily distorted. He winced as the bell tinkled with every movement he made.
“Alis,” Kors suddenly thought that the poor fellow didn’t even have a normal surname, and instead of it there was the female name of his whore mother. And Kors, calling him by his last name, called him by a female name. How did it feel to respond to a whore’s name?
“Lis… I came to make peace. And to say that I am very sorry, I sympathize you and I think that what is happening now is unfair.”
“I don’t care,” said Lis, and the bell tinkled with every word he said.
“Where is Karina?”
“Visiting Lila.”
“You let her go?!”
“She’s tired of me and she’s closed.”
“You know,” Kors hesitated, but immediately resolutely continued, “I forgot what you did with Karina. You are her husband. And I will ask Nik and Arel to stop torturing you.”
“I don’t need a protector,” Lis said sharply, “and your smirks. Get out!”
Kors handed him a neat stack of papers.
“It's called logistics. Here is the logistics for the march, it is compiled on the basis of the audit. If you strictly follow this plan, then we will not have hunger.”
And Lis took the sheets:
“Thank you,” he said.
“Eh… Lis, how old are you?”
“Thirty two.”
“How many?!”
“Thirty-two, maybe a little less or a little more. But about thirty-two.”
“Maybe more?”
Lis shook his head.
“No, I remember. Daniel Crassus asked my mother. And then, my father told me too.”
“And when is your birthday?”
“Well, I don’t know the exact number, of course. What? Doesn’t look like it?”
“Honestly, no offense, but no. You look older. And you are a little older than Karina, and you were very young when you met.”
“Yes,” said Lis, “but I fought on the side of the reds for several years then.”
“I thought you were at least thirty-five. It turns out that if not for Nik, you would not have lived to be thirty-five. I would just die of tuberculosis or ulcers.”
“Or died in battle. Kors, what's the difference, only my mother tried to kill me three times and couldn’t, and also Karina. And the red ones. And the blacks wanted to hang me not so long ago. I've been walking on the edge all my life.”
“You really have nine lives!”
“Yeah, and each is crappy.”
“I don’t argue, you have experienced a lot of humiliation and suffering, and they didn’t make you better, but only embittered you. I'm sorry. But you had your father's respect. You had the power and you were the winner.”