"And your feet?" she asked even as she peered at my bare soles. "Any pain? Tingling sensations? Zasen said you wore the bandages until last night? They were changed daily, correct?"
"Yes, ma'am," I promised.
"Technically," Kanik said from across the room, "she's called Doctor, Ayla. So instead of ma'am, you'd say 'yes, Doctor.'"
Naomi smiled at me again. "I'm fine with ma'am too - or my name. Those who don't know me call me Doctor Naomi Griffin, because my sign is the Griffin."
I nodded to show I heard her, but had to know, "How do you get your sign?"
"We pick it when we become adults," she said. "Or for you, when you become a true citizen of Lorsa."
"When you're a Dragon," Zasen clarified. "Why, know what you want to be?"
I shook my head. "No, but I should think about it."
And that was one more reason to become a Dragon. I would no longer bear my father's name. No, I could become whoever I wanted. I just wasn't sure who that was yet.
Then Zasen lifted the metal pendant which had been hanging around his neck a lot lately. "Our identifier is both the image on our sign die and the name. When we agree to things, we use one of these to stamp our signature, making it official. So consider how it will look as well as how you'll carry the name."
"Okay," I agreed, twitching my toes as Naomi poked at my feet.
It tickled, but not too badly. However, my reaction seemed to please her. "Your nerves seem to be fine," she stated. "The wounds are completely closed, and even that deep puncture has healed as well as could be expected. You will have scars, Ayla."
"Okay," I said again, not sure what else she wanted from me.
Then Naomi gestured to my side. "And how is that cut doing?"
"She scrubbed the floors this morning," Kanik told her. "Supposedly, she was being careful, but Ayla wanted to clean up the blood from the Moles who died inside."
Which made Naomi sit up and lean back. "Boys? Can all of you go somewhere else for a moment?"
"Mom..." Zasen tried.
Naomi just gave him a cold look. "I need to speak to my patient. The three of you are hovering and trying to answer for her. I'd also like to look at her side, and I'm sure she'd prefer not to have quite so many eyes gawking at her."
"I have some work upstairs," Rymar said. "All of you can help me with it."
Kanik chuckled. Zasen groaned. The three men still left, even if the tromping of their feet on the stairs was a little harder than usual. Before they even reached the top, Naomi was chuckling again.
"Those kids," she grumbled playfully. "I just about raised all three of them. Then again, I'm sure their mothers would've said the same. Well, back then, it was four. Tasult, Tamin's father, was a part of their childhood friend group, and they were always up in each other's business."
"The Moles got him, though," I said, proving I knew that much.
"They did," Naomi agreed. "Tasult pushed them out of his house to protect his family, and he hasn't been seen since. They all took it hard, too." Then she jerked her chin at my side. "Will you let me look at that?"
"Okay," I agreed, lifting my dress high enough to expose the well-sewn laceration on my side.
Naomi murmured a few approving sounds. "It seems my son hasn't lost his touch with a needle. That shouldn't leave much of a scar at all." Then she pressed lightly around the edges. "And no signs of infection, but I'm going to leave you with some pills." A flip of her hand made it clear I could put my dress back down.
"Pills?" I asked as I straightened my clothes.
"Antibiotics," she explained.
"To be swallowed?" I asked, making sure I was keeping up. I'd read about such things, but had never seen them.
"Yes, they're small pieces of condensed medicine that taste absolutely horrible." Gesturing for me to move my legs, she claimed the cushion beside me. "You will need to take one a day for a week."
"Five days?" I asked, making sure we were talking about the same week.
"Yes," she said. "And the boys said they want to start making you immune to Dragon venom. I think you should gain a little more weight first, but they're insisting. They told me you are more than strong enough to handle it."
"Does it hurt?" I asked.
She rocked her head from side to side in an ambiguous gesture. "It isn't comfortable. Mostly, it's shocking. When I was given venom, I was a girl, much younger than you. I was sure they'd given me too much and I was dying, but I got used to it. Each dose got easier." She offered me a gentle smile. "You also aren't required to take it, Ayla. It is a good idea, simply because there are so many stingers around here, but no one can make you do it."
"I want to," I assured her. "Doctor Naomi, I want to become a Dragon. I want to stop the Moles and maybe prove to everyone that women with orin color aren't bad. Maybe then my friends can come here too, because I'm worried about them."
"How will they know to come?" Naomi asked.
"Callah said to send back something yellow," I told her. "I just have to put it on a hunter, and she'll find it. She'll know, and then she and Meri can get thrown out the same way I did."
Zasen's mother was nodding at me, but her face was blank. "Ayla, it may not be that easy."
"But you don't understand," I insisted. "Meri's already married, and Gideon punishes her for everything. He's going to kill her! And Callah? In a few months, she'll turn twenty and have to marry too."
"Ayla..." Gently, Naomi rubbed my leg. "Sweetheart, you're a good girl. You also know the Moles kill us. They take us back to feed your people."
"Their people," I corrected. "I'm not a Mole anymore."
