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ears of the huge mountain cat sitting beside his chair, her head propped on his knee.
    Josiah tried to ignore the fact that Elkan and Tobi would be able to sort out their patient’s difficulties within a few minutes if they chose to send the Mother’s power into her body. Even though Tobi was as new to this as Josiah, she’d learned much more quickly. Maybe it was easier when you were the one in control, and not the one forced to accommodate your bondmate’s actions.
    Sar turned a liquid brown eye on him and flicked his ear. The donkey, too, could heal the woman easily if he wanted. Josiah’s hand on his back was all the help he would need. But both Sar and Elkan insisted that Josiah learn to understand what the Mother’s power showed and did, and not just act as a passive partner to his familiar.
    Their patient, a plump, middle-aged woman named Master Tava Tailorkin Candler, propped herself up on an elbow and gazed at the shimmering golden light surrounding her chest. “There’s not a problem, is there, Master Elkan?”
    “Not at all. Josiah just needs a few more minutes. Although if you’d rather I—”
    “Oh, no. Apprentices have to learn; I understand.” Master Tava lay back on the cot. “Take all the time you need.”
    Elkan nodded. Josiah settled his hand more firmly into the warm fur at the base of Sar’s mane.
    He shut his eyes and concentrated on the images swirling on the back of his eyelids. The Mother’s healing power let wizards perceive their patients’ bodies, but it was very different from ordinary sight. After much practice, he could usually match the swirls of color and washes of light to the organs they represented. The heart, for instance, was a pulsing mass of violet and gold, swishing with the blue and crimson of blood. Master Tava’s thumped steadily, her lungs sending regular washes of crystalline air into the blood coursing through them. Everything seemed healthy and thriving there.
    Josiah cycled through each of his other senses, confirming his first impression. The thuds and swishes and gurgles of tissues and fluids sounded regular and strong. The flavors and odors were warm and pleasant, with none of the bitterness or sickly sweetness that could indicate infection. Finally, he focused on the tactile sensations. They were the most important, but the hardest to interpret. But now that he had dealt with the others, he could understand the sensation of liquid flowing across his skin and wind blowing in his hair. His fingers detected none of the heaviness or tightening that would reveal a damaged heart nor any of the overly intense pushing of the blood which would indicate restrictions in the vessels.
    Whatever had caused Master Tava’s pain, it wasn’t a defect of the heart. That had been Josiah’s first thought when she’d described waking to spasms of pain at the base of her ribs. She hadn’t been able to breathe, and once had vomited. The episodes went away within an hour or two, so she had ignored the first few, but after a particularly bad one this morning her eldest daughter had insisted she come to the Mother’s Hall.
    Elkan had sat beside Josiah and listened as Master Tava reported her symptoms. But when Josiah asked him if he thought it might be her heart he’d looked inscrutable and told Josiah to investigate every possibility.
    He probably knew exactly what the problem was and just wasn’t telling. Josiah pinched his lips together and moved his hand to Master Tava’s abdomen. Down here, Sar?
    Whatever you need. The donkey shifted the flow of golden light until it enveloped her belly.
    The wrongness fairly leaped out at Josiah. Every sense registered it—a sickly greenish glow, a strangled gurgle, a taste like rotten meat and a stench like decaying flesh. Heat pulsed against his hands. He traced the source to a small pouch-like organ near the liver. It swelled with malevolent force, straining the fragile tissues to their limit. Josiah recoiled and the light of the