[Ethlyn straightens up from bending over the old notebook and has to resist the urge to tap the tweezers against her chin--not acceptable for a medical person. She understands how important it is to pay attention to people's morale, and the idea of preventing a panic weighs strongly with her for that reason.

Still, when she weighs the pros and cons in her head, she has to come down on the idea of bein g forthright.]

...I think it is better to say so. Some people might panic, or choose to hide their condition out of denial, but I believe that most of us who came on this expedition would behave rationally.

Plus, if the branded marks do reappear, it wouldn't reflect well on us if we said that we did have an idea it might happen but decided not to tell anyone. I don't think people would trust me as a healer anymore, and they would have a hard time trusting you to be truthful with them as well.