Katalin looks like a woman who has survived a house fire and then learned to dress for court. Her copper-red hair is thick, coarse, and braided close to the scalp on one side, while the loose half falls in heavy waves to her waist. The ends are permanently darkened, as though singed years ago. Her skin is pale olive with a fine constellation of freckles across her nose and shoulders, but faint ember-colored veins show at her temples whenever she is angry. She moves with startling economy, never fidgeting except when magic is near. Her hands are broad-knuckled and scarred, better suited to splitting kindling than casting elegant spells. The contradictory impression she leaves is of fragility wrapped around contained violence. At a glance she seems tired, almost scholarly, yet every nearby candle leans toward her as if listening.