The connecting rod kept moving back and forth, driving the driving wheels of the spring locomotive in endless cycles.
With one arm resting on the window frame, Alexei held down his hat with the other hand, squinting as he watched the fast‑fleeing pines and firs on both sides ahead.
The forest green and the youthful golden sun swirled and blended like muddied water.
He opened the carriage window; like seawater from the deep ocean, the gold‑green of wood and sun whooshed into his eyes, instantly dyeing Alexei's pupils the same color.
The spring machine buzzed as it turned, and the shifting light and shadow outside the window also spun in his pupils; time clattered forward.
Alexei had grown a beard, grown taller by twelve centimeters, and the soft, round flesh of his cheeks had gradually clung to his cheekbones.
It had been four years since 1453, and he had gone from a naive thirteen‑year‑old child to an eighteen‑year‑old youth.
