[Orual]

"Morning, Ari!" Elethil said cheerily. He shed his coat and hung it on the coatrack. Arethin grinned at him from his cabinets, where he was looking at jars and vials.

"Good morning, El," Arethin replied, walking to his brother and embracing him. "We're going to have a busy day, I think. Why don't you go get cleaned?" Elethil nodded and went off.

"He was in a taking this morning, Ari," Arethin's mother said laughingly as she, too, hung up her coat. Even after a year Arethin's heart still swelled when he saw his mother, now in the bloom of health. Her cheeks were full and rosy, her hair was rich and thick, and her eyes were bright and cheerful. She looked even younger than she was. "But then he remembered that Léan is coming in today to see about her leg."

Arethin grinned. Since he had started his new business as a healer, he had gained several regular clients who came to him about every little ailment. One of them was a young woman named Léan, toward whom Elethil had taken quite a liking. She was a pretty girl, with long, light brown hair, smiling hazel eyes, and a laugh like windchimes. Arethin wished well for them, but he couldn't help laughing at Elethil's clumsy tongue around Léan.

Arethin sat down at his desk, and rifled through his notes. Most of them were copied painstakingly from the Wanaparma, complete with illustrations of the plants (done mainly by Arethin's mother). He smiled every time he looked at them, thinking of Jadae and Jake, Anuion and Angalos. He would remember them. They had given him his mother, his living, and his joy now. He would always remember.

He looked up as the chimes on the door announced a patient. Pretty Léan walked in, and Elethil quickly checked his hair and coat before welcoming her in warmly. Arethin smiled and went to his work.