Chapter XXIII

Summary

• The protagonist wakes up to his trainer, Lanistia, who highlights that he overslept. He gets up to spar with Lanistia over Ulciscor's fields.
• He notices that Lanistia is not hitting him as hard as usual, going easy on him due to his unconscious period. However, he insists that they do not have time for this and asks her to spar as usual.
• They discuss about Caeror, but the protagonist chooses not to probe about Lanistia's past, which appears to cause her pain.
• Their training session is interrupted by an unannounced visitor arriving in a carriage. The stranger, Sextus Gaius Valerius, claims he is sent by the Senate to examine the protagonist.
• Valerius offers an old form of authorization tile from Magnus Tertius Servius, which Lanistia verifies to be genuine.
• Valerius conducts his examination, taking various samples from the protagonist and constantly interrupting his recounting of the naumachia incident with questions.
• The protagonist restricts the details he gives about his experiences, refusing to provide more than he already has to Ulciscor and Magnus Quintus. He starts to realise that the power possessed by Estevan could be used as a weapon the Hierarchy fears.
• Valerius presents the protagonist with four mysterious and intricate sketches, one of which particularly catches the protagonist's attention - a black pyramid against towering waves that reminds him of something he saw at the naumachia. Valerius picks up on his blunder, even though the protagonist tries to play naïve about the sketches.
• Following Valerius' departure, the protagonist discusses the encounter with Lanistia, who suggests consulting scholar Kadmos. She also questions the protagonist about his decision to return to the naumachia instead of escaping when he had the chance, challenging his claim of doing the right thing and suggesting that his impulsiveness will not serve him well in the Academy.