Alice wasn’t much for small talk. “You said the healing spells you knew weren’t of use to anyone but a healer.”
“All but one of them, yes.” Not that Cynna really knew the spells. You can’t really know a spell you can’t cast. But she knew about them. They were from the memories, those incredibly vivid mental creations that had been passed down from Rhej to Rhej for over three thousand years. Searching them was draining, both emotionally and magically, but the magic involved didn’t extend beyond her skin so it wasn’t affected by the damned magic cage.
“The spell that blocks pain, you mean?”
“Yeah. The no-pain spell can be learned by anyone with a Gift, and by some with innate magic that isn’t a Gift.” Lupi, for example. “Though it’s kind of the opposite of a healing spell.” It blocked pain, but it blocked healing, too, and it was set up on a loop so it drew more and more power. Cynna had learned that the hard way.
“I will want it eventually. Today I am interested in the one that allows a healer to focus in more clearly on whatever bodily problem she is assessing. This is Ah Li,” Alice said with a nod at the other woman. “She is one the finest healers in Lang Xin.”
“I don’t guess she speaks English.”
“I am quite capable of translating.”
“Please tell her I’m glad to meet her.”
They went through a brief three-way greeting ritual. According to Alice, Ah Li was honored to meet Cynna. Then Alice said, “Ah Li is owned by the city.”
Cynna’s eyebrows shot up. “Owned by?”
Alice said something to Ah Li. The healer set one hand on the table. It had six fingers. As soon as Cynna saw that, the woman pulled it back out of sight.
“Children born with a deformity or mutation used to be killed at birth,” Alice said. “The Zhuren do not allow this except in cases of extreme deformity, when it may be considered a mercy. If such a child survives to the age of three, he or she is assessed by a magistrate. If it is determined that the child can grow up to be a contributing adult, he or she can either be claimed by the Zhuren or sent back to live with their family. The claimed children are trained to serve. Among them are many with Gifts, such as Ah Li.”
“They’re slaves,” Cynna said flatly.
Alice shrugged. “In your world they would be called slaves. Here they are the yāoqiú, the claimed. It is an honorable status. Ah Li was given to the city of Lang Xin after her training. She now runs a house of healing. The wealthy generally use more prestigious healers, so most of her patients come from the poor, who are either treated for free or for a nominal payment. She has three apprentices and two journeymen who are also healers. You met one of those journeymen. He set your arm.”
“I remember.”
“Ah Li is ideally situated to teach others what she learns from you. Today I want you to teach her that focus spell.”
Cynna shook her head. “I can’t teach her the spell. You keep saying it that way, but to properly teach a spell I’d have to demonstrate it. With this damned magic cage I can’t do that. Even without the cage, I couldn’t demonstrate a healing spell. I don’t have that Gift. You want me to pass on a spell, not teach it.”
“Use whatever language you like to describe the process. You know what I mean.”
“The language matters. Teaching a spell implies that the student will be able to use it. I’ve told you about how hard it is to translate a spell from one discipline to another. The symbolic language of the spells I know may not work for someone whose mental landscape is furnished with a whole different set of symbols.”
“I understand that.” A touch of impatience flickered through Alice’s usually passionless voice. “We worked that out with the flea-killing spell. The version we arrived at functions as it should.”
“Yeah, well, I knew three versions of that one. Comparing them let me figure out what kind of symbolic language to use. I only know one version each of the healing spells, and they aren’t simple constructs. I’m not saying it will be impossible to make them work. Just that it won’t be easy and may take a long time.” Longer than Cynna wanted to be here.
“That is why I brought Ah Li with me. She can attempt the spell and ask questions if she encounters a problem.”
If? More like when. Alice thought she understood, but she didn’t. Translating spells from one discipline to another was tricky as hell. Cynna was better than most at that because she’d had a lot of practice. She stored spells on her skin. To do that, she had to be able to translate every component of a spell into a pattern, then make that pattern blend properly with every other portion of the spell. Sure, there were a few spells that worked for pretty much everyone, no matter what discipline they’d been trained in. Or even those with no discipline at all. Mage lights, for one. That stupid pain-blocking spell, for another. But most spells harnessed a practitioner’s internalized understanding of the world through symbols to shape the user’s intent, both conscious and unconscious. You needed the two to work together. You could concentrate like crazy on setting a fire ward, but if your unconscious mind was playing with fluffy pink bunny rabbits at the time—or with daggers dripping with your enemies’ blood—you were going to get your eyebrows singed. If you were lucky, that is.
But Cynna had already figured out that Alice had no real grounding in the craft. Whatever her Gift was—and Cynna was sure she had one—she wasn’t a trained spellcaster. “Okay. You want two things from me. First, you want me to pass on the spell for focusing a healer’s sensing. Second, you want me to work with you and Ah Li to try to translate the spell into a form Ah Li can use.”
“I want you to succeed, not simply try.”
“I can’t guarantee that.”
“You must make every effort to succeed.”
Cynna nodded. “That’s three payments, then. One for the spell itself. One for making every effort to translate the spell into a form your healer can use. And one—call it a bonus—for succeeding. Let’s talk about that payment.”
Alice nodded and the dickering began.
The pale Alice was an odd duck. She had no problem using the guards to enforce her ownership of Cynna, but she didn’t use pain—or the murder of children—to force obedience. She was willing to bargain for Cynna’s spells. That’s how Cynna had learned almost everything she’d passed on to Lily.
It was not how she’d obtained a visit from Ah Li’s journeyman, however. Alice had sent the healer to Cynna before coming to talk to her new property. Had she done that out of compassion or for practical reasons, to assure herself her property was in decent shape? Probably the latter, but Cynna couldn’t be sure. Alice didn’t seem to feel anything strongly enough to make her easy to read.