Redhawk Caldera towers

This explanation made good sense to Aureli, even if he felt no call toward such distinctions himself. He'd found that the best way to curtail such expectations came down to his relationship with each individual patient — but the Vitales were respectable practitioners regardless of any differing ideology.

"Technically, the rank and title I have attained is physician," he replied, keeping steady pace alongside the young woman, "but I allow the communities I serve to address me as best makes them comfortable. Sometimes, that is the difference between being allowed to help and being shunned for 'deviant' practices."

He wondered what other differences there might be, and then recalled that Yellowcat, another physician of the Guild, had insisted on being referred to exclusively as The Doctor. Every practitioner was different.

They came to the small garden, which Aureli took an interest in almost before being asked. He'd never had an opportunity to keep a garden himself, but he remembered Nandi's with a peculiar fondness.

"I don't have much of a green thumb," he admitted, nosing through some of the herbs to test their potency. "I can tell you about their usual growing conditions, and I can help prune, if you'd like — and these," he indicated the raspberry that was the main culprit in choking out the garden, "are an herb I always keep on hand during childbirth. Is this the mother's first birth?"

He ignored Cinar. (Sorry Xenon he's got a one track mind)