Vis describes two exhausting weeks at Villa Telimus: dawn physical drills with Lanistia sharpening speed and reactions; breakfast lessons with Kadmos that emphasize inference over memorization; midday political briefings from Lanistia on the Senate’s intricate alliances; and long afternoons in the hidden Labyrinth refining bracer control, where his precision steadily improves though onyx stones still occasionally detach. Evenings bring more study, leaving him concerned about progress, the looming Senate presentation after the Festival of Jovan, and the pressing need to reach the naumachia without eroding tenuous trust.

On the sixteenth morning, Vis wakes before Lanistia’s knock and finds Kadmos waiting, now weaning him off the numbing tea as his injuries have largely healed. Kadmos directs him to the baths, where Lanistia and two men indicate a secret visitor. The early hour and location signal discretion: Magnus Quartus Advenius Claudius. Vis recognizes the political stakes—Advenius intends to assess him privately and possibly undermine his adoption if he appears weak.

In the warm pool, Advenius’s languid manner masks a sharp appraisal. He recounts rumors of Vis’s rescue of Ulciscor and probes Vis’s background; Vis delivers the established cover story of an Aquirian upbringing, parents lost to a riverboat accident, hardship, and a chance discovery by Ulciscor in Letens. When pressed, he names fictitious Aquirian tutors. Advenius then invokes Magelicus’s philosophy of mutual strengthening and pivots to propose that his daughter, Aequa—currently Class Five at the Academy—train with Vis during the break.

Advenius subtly suggests Ulciscor and Lanistia’s opposition may spring from past trauma, pointedly mentioning Caeror Telimus’s “tragic suicide,” which surprises Vis and signals deeper Academy history. The Quartus also probes the Anguis attack on the Transvect, asking whether Ulciscor seemed surprised or recognized the assailants, citing rumors he is tasked to investigate. Vis denies any sign of collusion, noting Ulciscor’s swift recovery but genuine surprise.

Recognizing Advenius’s maneuver but seeing opportunity, Vis accepts Aequa as a training partner on the condition of a first meeting away from the villa—specifically, attending the Festival of Jovan in Caten. Advenius eagerly agrees to insist to Ulciscor that Vis accompany Aequa, achieving his own aims while granting Vis the cover he needs to reach the naumachia. Advenius departs satisfied, leaving Vis to face Lanistia and the inevitable complications of concealing the Labyrinth and navigating the political repercussions.