Ariel showed a sympathetic face to Kaleeth. "Well, I do not know your parents, let alone your tribe. But you can take it from orphans like Sabine and me; presence is better than absence, even if only for a short time."

Sabine solemnly nodded.

Julan's question drew Ariel's attention away. She grinned. "It's very true, Julan. It may seem frivolous -- and you would be correct most of the time -- but there is something about perfumes that can make memories clearer when they are recorded." Ariel turned and hovered a reaching hand over the drawers on the wall behind the counter, reading the labels upon them. "Let's see...from what I have been told about...ah! Here we are." She quickly took out a small glass vial filled with a clear oil.

Ariel held the vial in both hands, smiled knowingly, and removed the stopper. "Does this remind you of anything?"

The oil was pungent enough to get in Julan's nose from across the counter. He might have fainted if he took a whiff directly from the vial. However, it was just subtle enough in the air that a thread in his mind tugged him to an image in his head. The memory of his first visit to Bravil came to mind. It was all the way back when he met his aunt Aurana.

Ariel was not there when they met Aurana for the first time.

Recognition flashed in Janius' eyes after a moment, but he let Julan answer first.