A little more about the world of Color Mage and Sword of Jashan:
Kirian graduated from the Healer’s College. Here’s a little more about the school that saved Kirian’s life.
The Healer’s College is located in Sugetre, the capital city of Righar. It’s a treasured institution, teaching an advanced form of healing that depends upon the use of natural herbs and medicines. College-trained Healers never use amulets or other false magery in their work.
The Healer’s College has a close association with the noble righ — Kirian believes, too close. Second and third sons of the righ frequently study at the College, and sometimes end up after graduation posted at their own family estates as a sort of private Healer.
Healer Jesel, who is posted to Lord Zelan’s estate, said, “The College means well, but its healing is often diverted to those who can afford it, it is true.”
The founder of the College was a rich man, a brilliant righ with a hunger for knowledge, but he was far from the best of men. A late-life conversion to the worship of the Unknown God drove him to decree that the Healer’s College take on a charity student every five years. It is not known whether his charity affected the way he was treated in the afterlife.
So it was that when Kirian was ten, a man wearing Healer’s insignia swept into the filthy streets where she ran wild.
Clearly unwilling to wander around the slums of Sugetre, he planted himself at the bar at Mik’s tavern and grabbed Kirian when she ran in to deliver a message. She squirmed, but he kept a tight hold on her shoulder as he told her why he was there.
“This is a rare opportunity,” he told her, looking down at her from the bar stool. He took a sip of his beer and made a face. Kirian could have told him not to drink Mik’s sour beer.
She didn’t like his clammy grip or his disagreeable tone, but everyone in the slums revered the College and was grateful for the free clinic it provided every sennight. And she knew she was on borrowed time running messages for Mik; as soon as she grew a little older, she would be forced into servitude or prostitution. So she agreed. It would get her off the streets.
The Healer told her to get her things and come with him. He shoved the yellow beer away and threw a few coins on the bar. He never asked for her parents’ permission, and indeed Kirian had none any more. She wondered if he knew this, or if he just didn’t care.
Many years later, Kirian had become one of the finest Healers of the College. She was sent to Seagard Castle to work with old Healer Ruthan.
Author Anne Marie Lutz 