Not a thing to think about before Translation. The last time he’d been through this, he’d seen a classmate die and one broken by it. But he’d survived it once, and knew he could again. I am a soldier now, he told himself. Soldiers take risks.
The group accompanying Santi consisted of the green-eyed lieutenant whom he’d sent to intimidate Jess, their squad, and another, more seasoned group of veterans who seemed totally at ease with the situation. One of them, a man who seemed ancient to Jess but was in reality about his father’s age, caught sight of Jess’s face and laughed. “Don’t worry, boy, you’ll come through in one piece,” the soldier said, and shoved him ahead through an open set of double doors. “Might not enjoy the trip, but at least we travel in style here. Seen a lot worse!”
The old soldier was right. This was far different from the Translation Chambers Jess had seen in Alexandria and in their last arrival point in England. The one in Alexandria had seemed chaotically full of machinery, steam, pipes, gears, sparks. It had felt at once ancient, untidy, and unfinished. Maybe it had been under repair.
The one in England had seemed bare and grubby. He’d have expected Alexandria to have the best of everything, but as he stepped into this Translation room in Darnah, he was struck by how sleek it was. The floor was bare stone, cool beneath his boots. The ceiling stretched high, and what machinery was visible was only glimpsed behind barriers or rafters above. A single bronzed cable dropped down from the unseen machinery to hang down in a circle of light, in which lay a curved, reclining chair made of the same stone as the floor, with a metal helmet next to it.
“I wish I understood this better,” Jess said to Glain, who gave him a quelling look. “What? It would make me feel better knowing if I’m to be torn to pieces and put together again.”
“Didn’t you pay attention at all in alchemy classes in school?”
“My schooling was more . . . practical.”
“The principle’s simple enough. The Obscurist uses the element of quintessence to pass you through a fluid that rectifies your form in one place and purifies it in another. The quintessence exists everywhere at once. All things pass through it in creation and destruction.”
“Are you quoting a textbook?” he asked her, and she smirked.
“Why not? You never read it.”
“I was wrong. This little lecture didn’t help at all.” He paused and looked around. “The Artifex. Is he here?”
“He arrives later. We go first to secure the arrival point,” she said. “I’d think you would have already figured that out.”
Of course the evil old man would think of his own safety first; he’d wait until Santi’s security was in place, then join him. Then be escorted directly to whatever it was he found it so important to do in Rome. Was it to see Thomas? Was that why he was heading there? Jess had a flash of the Artifex Magnus’s severe, bearded face, and felt his fists clench. He deliberately relaxed them. Ironic that he’d been chosen to protect someone he most wanted to see dead. He wouldn’t find himself shedding a lot of tears if the Artifex suffered a heart attack during Translation, but he’d do his duty. He had to.
Didn’t mean he had to like it.
Ahead, Captain Santi was speaking to his lieutenant, who listened with perfect focus, nodded, and turned toward the rest of them. “Attention!” Her voice cut clean through the chatter, and they all stiffened into inspection stance. “We’ll be traveling by Translation, which means that when your name is called, you will sit in the chair, fit the helmet on your head, and follow instructions. To answer any questions you have: yes, it will damn well hurt. Yes, you are allowed to scream if you feel the need. Yes, we are allowed to mock you for it later.” She smiled, and there was a ripple of laughter from the veterans. “We have two new recruits in the Blue Dogs.”
The squad made that chesty barking sound again, and this time, Jess and Glain both joined in. Without being ordered, they stepped forward in unison.
“Show these dogs how it’s done, new dogs. You first.” The lieutenant pointed to Jess. Of course. He stared at her for a beat, then saluted silently and walked toward the chair. Glain said quietly, “Do us proud.”