face through critical eyes: tiny mouth; aquiline nose; diminutive blue peepers...

She looked nothing like The Major.

'He can't believe she's his spawn,' I said.

'Who can't believe?'

'The Major. Ivona has zero resemblance to hisself.'

Medvelov waved a dismissive hand.

'Look at her,' I nagged.

The poet elbowed my ribs and said, 'Shush, you. We must keep alert. Things will happen fast.'

Determined to _keep alert_ , I rotated my head and saw: the orchestra; chattering people; mute domestics; and at the bottom of the stairs: His Excellency and wife; Ivona; Vyskilovich; the wedding party; the representative from the Church...

But I did not observe The Major...

His Excellency waved both hands and attempted to silence the raucous noise. It was then -during the dying applause- my anxious eyes reconnoitered the old soldier loitering at the fringeswhisper.

The inspector lifted a furry eyebrow and studied me as the van bounced over the road...

EPILOGUE

I upended the ewer...

Savored the last flop on me tongue.

Alas, the jug be drained of practicality like its slave, Comrade Moon.

The coupling of magic and madman be done...

Toad Man -the top third of hisself cloaked in shadow- sat sedentary, legs spread, leaning against a wall. I couldn't discern if he was awake or passed out. At last, he coughed and then asked: 'There is no more?'

'Dry,' I said, shaking the vessel.

'No, your rhetoric...you've reached the end?'

I raised my hands, looked around the cell and said, 'A pat summation.'

'It wasn't a statement,' Comrade Toad spat as he took his feet. 'What happened to Medvelov?'

'I'll let you reckon his fate.'

'He escaped?'

'Escaped...reduced to ashes...it doesn't matter.