Mindie was hesitant to accept that all of them were working on all three paths, but she didn’t deny the possibility. She looked thoughtful, then promised to try what they were doing. She truly did want to be equal to them, even though she was afraid she’d fail. With their explanation done, they moved on to dice.
The dice games went slow, as they did their best to explain to the three who’d never played how to do so. By the end of the hour, they’d been shown how to play High Point and Dice Pass, the easiest of the two variants they’d been taught.
Mindie relaxed as the games went on, smiling and laughing along with the others. Roshana sat beside her during the games, always ready to help explain things. Gregory was amused that Yukiko had done the same for Ling, and Jenn did for Clover, leaving him to explain the base game.
~*~*~
Entering the private dining room, Gregory bowed his head to Elder Lightshield as he took a seat. “We hope we aren’t late, Elder.”
“No. Dinner should be here in a moment. You all seem in high spirits.”
“We were playing dice,” Yukiko explained.
“Ah, a good thing,” Egil said. “Your men will use that as their biggest stress relief, but be prepared for the conflict that comes from it.”
“My father said that it’s vela upfront or no game for a reason,” Roshana said.
“Smart man,” Egil nodded. “A good rule to institute for your men, too. If they start accepting debt… things can get ugly.”
“We’ll take your advice to heart, Armsmaster,” Jenn smiled.
“Dice with the men? Goodness, that was ages ago,” Hemet sighed. “Have you also been playing cards?”
“We’ll be touching upon it during the trip,” Gregory said. “I know that officers and other magi prefer it.”
“They do,” Rafiq joined the conversation. “The game called Trade and Barter is a favorite, from what I understand.”
“Yes, it is,” Egil agreed. “I always preferred dice to cards, but you will end up playing cards on and off, so it’s best to at least be familiar with it.”
A knock on the door cut off their conversation and, a second later, the staff of the inn brought in dinner. Everyone but Egil had identical meals— bane fowl spritzed with lemon, butter, and seasoning, served over rice. On the side was a serving of charid seasoned the same way as the fowl. Egil had a thick steak with charid on the side.
There was hardly any talking as everyone focused on eating. Gregory felt just the slightest hint of aether discomfort, and he could see Clover and Ling eating slowly, as the meal was right on the edge for them.
“Well, that was delightful,” Lightshield said once he’d finished. “Breakfast is at sixth bell, and we will be leaving at seventh. I wish you all a good evening. Hemet, shall we retire and finish our discussion?”
“Yes, Linus, that sounds good to me,” Hemet said as he rose with Lightshield.
Rafiq stood up, as well. “I have things to see to. I will see you all in the morning.”
“Hmm… I know there is at least one dice game in the taproom,” Egil said. “I can always use more vela.”
A minute later, it was just the younger magi in the room. “Should we try the game with him?” Jenn asked.
“I…” Mindie started, then hesitated. Seeing them all waiting for her, she tried again, “I am willing to talk about healing, if you’d like to hear more.”
“Yes,” Yukiko smiled. “That would be good. We can use the hour after dinner to talk about our magics. Greg spoke about his all day today.”
“I’m very interested in healing,” Gregory said.
“Okay,” Mindie smiled as she got to her feet.
They returned to Gregory’s suite and settled in around the table. It took a little longer, as Yukiko had gone to get some tea for them first. Once they all had steaming cups of mint tea, everyone sat and listened to Mindie.
Mindie was clearly nervous, but she cleared her throat, “I’m not sure what you might have heard during your aether classes. I’ll start at the beginning for me… Healing is about helping the body repair damage. We have limitations on what we can do by ourselves.”
“Like my burn?” Yukiko asked, her fingers briefly touching her face.
“That was a bad case,” Mindie nodded. “We had to use a few alchemical aids when treating it.”
“Why?” Clover asked.
“Let me work up to it, please?” Mindie asked. “We’re taught first how to repair minor injuries that break the skin, mostly scrapes or the least of cuts. As a novice, this is nearly the limit of what we can do. In the second half of the novice year, we push on to muscles, as most cuts aren’t just skin, but muscle damage, as well.”
Everyone stayed quiet, focused on what she was saying.
“Now, muscle damage is a broad category,” Mindie said, relaxing as she spoke about something she loved. “There are many muscles in the body, and they all work similarly but differently from each other. As you would expect, it takes more aether for me to repair muscle than it does skin.”
“Does the muscle include the tendon and ligaments?” Roshana asked.
Mindie blinked at Roshana, then smiled. “No. Sorry. Not many non-healers understand the intricacies of the body.”
“My grandmother helped healers in Limaz before she came to the empire,” Roshana said softly. “She told me a lot about the body.”
“Most of what we know about bodies came from Limaz. There aren’t many who know that outside of people who study healing.”
“Because of Mortum. His priests prepare bodies before they’re cremated, so they’ve studied the workings of the body for centuries.”
“Exactly!” Mindie beamed at Roshana.
The others all grinned at the two, then waited for Mindie to continue.
“Oh, right. Sorry,” Mindie blushed lightly. “It’s not until apprentice year when the healers show us more. That’s when they teach us about ligaments and tendons. These are the parts that help your muscles work. They connect muscle to bone so, if one is cut or ruptured, it can be debilitating. Oils and unguents don’t work on them, as they are deep inside the body. Only potions or a healer can help fix them.”
“Ligaments attach bone to bone, and tendons attach muscle to bone,” Roshana interrupted gently.
Mindie’s smile grew wider. “Yes. That’s very true. It’s not until initiate year that they teach us about cartilage and veins.”
“Cartilage?” Gregory asked.
“It’s the fibrous tissue around joints and ribs,” Mindie explained. “Most bruised ribs are damaged cartilage. Same with most nose damage.”
“I had an injured knee at one point and had some cream applied to help fix it. Would that have been cartilage?” Gregory asked.
“If a cream fixed it, then yes,” Mindie nodded. “If it had been bone damage, you would have needed a healer or potion.”
“Sorry for interrupting. Please continue,” Gregory smiled.
Mindie brushed some hair back from her face. “Yes. Uh… oh, bones. Bones are some of the hardest things for us as healers to help with. Minor breaks— or fractures, as they are called— are easier than full breaks. Full breaks can sap a majority of aether from a healer. We normally stabilize the person, then send them to the healing hall… or did. Now that I’m outside the academy, I’ll have to do even more by myself.”
“I’m sure the clan will help,” Yukiko said.
“Rhea made me take a lot of healing items with me,” Clover said. “I think Elder Lightshield has most of them.”
“Oh, that would be what he gave me,” Mindie said. Her hand touched a necklace mostly hidden behind her magi rank disc. “He gave me this necklace and told me that it contained healing items to help.” She pulled the necklace out fully to show it to them. It had the clan emblem on it— a shield with an aether flame.
“Hemet made that a week ago,” Ling said. “I was unable to help him. Spatial enchantments are advanced.”
“We got off track again,” Roshana smiled.
“Right,” Mindie coughed, looking down. “I’d barely learned about artery damage before Jenn’s duel in the arena with Magus Erichson. I’m glad her body had already started healing, as that made it easier on me. I’m sure I can do it, but alone, it would take a good portion of my aether.”
“Thank you. I always breathe easier when you’re there to heal us,” Jenn smiled.
“It’s what I love doing,” Mindie replied.
“Did they cover organs with you?” Roshana asked.
“I was learning about them, and I have a book to help me study more,” Mindie said.
“I have one you might like to read,” Roshana said. “It came from Limaz with my grandmother. It was her journal of what she learned.”
Mindie sat forward. “Really? You’d let me read it?”
“Yes,” Roshana said. “You’re the clan healer, and a friend. The more you know, the easier it is for you to heal, isn’t it?”
“Oh, right,” Mindie nodded. “The more I do or learn, the better I can direct my aether to heal the damage. That’s why older healers can do more.”
“What about the damage to Yuki’s eye?” Ling asked gently.
“Nerve damage is the territory of high master or grandmaster healers, but with the right alchemical aids, a magus can assist. Yuki’s eye was all but destroyed in the fire. It had to be healed fully, including the nerve. Umm… do you mind, Yuki?”
“No, please tell us. I was unconscious during it.”
“We put her to sleep first,” Mindie said. “Then… we had to help remove the worst of the damage. We scrubbed the burnt skin off so fresh, raw skin could grow. That also included the eye. We removed part of your eye so we could get the drops into the eye cavity. When that was done, we covered what remained with the right salve to help it regrow, then salved your skin to do the same, covered it in clean cloth, and used aether to stimulate regrowth. It took a lot of aether to stimulate the nerves and the eye itself. It was less for the skin. I’m still amazed that you didn’t have scarring. It was a possibility.”
Yukiko flinched a little at the thought of half her face being scarred. Gregory’s hand covered hers, prompting her to look at him.
“I would’ve loved you just as much,” Gregory said.
Yukiko’s lips trembled, then she leaned over to kiss him softly. “Thank you, dear one.”
“Aww,” Clover murmured as she watched them.
“I would have loved you just as much, too,” Jenn said, leaning over to kiss Yukiko’s cheek.
Clover and Roshana both made sweet sounds as they watched the couple.
Jenn, Gregory, and Yukiko flushed a little bit, as displays of affection were normally frowned upon.
“How does it feel for you to heal?” Ling asked because she was curious, but also to help her friends.
“Before, it was just pushing my aether into someone and trying to direct it. It was chaotic and didn’t work as well as it could,” Mindie said. “Last year, I went to the archive and asked for books to help me refine my healing. They gave me a lot of Limaz texts, and that’s where I found out that Limaz is the reason we know what we do. Now, I see a body in my mind’s-eye and I can direct aether much easier.”
“Oh, grandmother talked of that technique,” Roshana grinned. “Said the best healers she worked with used it.”
“It’s made me more efficient,” Mindie beamed.
The distant tolling of a bell caught the ears of everyone but Gregory and Jenn. Yukiko sighed. “We learned a lot. Thank you, Mindie. It’s time for bed now.”
“It is?” Gregory asked.
“The twentieth bell just tolled,” Roshana said.
“Oh, right,” Gregory said.
“We’ll see you all at fourth bell for Magi Squares,” Jenn said. “Come here for them. Afterward, we can do regular meditation for an hour.”
“That would be good,” Mindie said. “I feel like I’m close to finding my resonance.”
“We hope you do,” Yukiko smiled.
The group broke up and said their goodbyes. Gregory was happy— Mindie seemed to be eager to do what she needed to to join the group, and the others had embraced her. Roshana especially seemed happy to have Mindie as a friend, as the two of them were chatting when they left.
“She’s hopeful,” Yukiko said from Gregory’s side.
“So are we,” Jenn grinned.
“Time for bed,” Gregory said.
“And in a bit, even sleep,” Yukiko murmured, taking his hand.
Gregory chuckled. “As my hearts wish.”
