Crispin spends the next year making an elaborate mosaic in a small abandoned sanctuary, while Martinian decorates the adjoining larger and newer sanctuary in an appropriate way, finally having access to the great materials he had always dreamed of throughout his career. Crispin's mosaic depicts the newly appointed Emperor Valerius III (formerly Leontes) and Empress Gisel on one side and the former Emperor Valerius II and Empress Alixana on the other, with all the important figures of court that Crispin had known, including himself, around them.