XIII
Healthy Mind, Healthy BodyHealth was easy. A dense golden net of tracery, a gentle tug to pull the body into alignment, and evil matter sloughed off or out or simply vanished away. Learning it had been no harder than any other magic. She and her guards had slogged their way into the deep heart of Qat, losing one man to a snake, and one woman to nothing more than a tiny red dot on the arm that grew and puffed and swelled until they cut the arm off entirely, and it was still too late.
She had fought muddy through the swamp to a village of reed huts raised on stilts, angry, tired, and hot, and demanded to see their healer. Wind magic poised and ready, she had threatened their flimsy homes, but the young man had simply nodded and shown her his techniques.
“Those who can heal are rever
