XV
Drawing in the NetYouth had been the hardest. She had stayed a year in Welk, healing, resting, avoiding Daro. She was a symbol, and a powerful one. She had traveled twice more around the country, until even her Chancellor admitted that she had done her duty, until even the smaller towns were half populated again. With healthy people.
When the third new-healed man came to offer his hand in marriage, she had left. “We need new magic,” she told Daro, and he had nodded, as if magic were what she lacked. She had gone the following week, in a sturdy ship of state, with a guard of fifty trained soldiers — half of them newly healed and fiercely loyal. “It’s impressive,” he’d said when she protested. “Helps you look the part.” And in truth, it helped keep suitors away.
She’d landed in Kitmer
