"A different name, at least if she were from that family. Because Rose - that's that Bell's nickname - already knows what you are called, and wouldn't want to make it difficult to keep track of you. She named her Damaris 'Dominique', but she prefers her middle name 'Yseult', and she named her Keziah 'Céleste'. I don't know what she would name a third child but it wouldn't be Ariel and might not be a Samarian name at all."

"That's good," says Ariel. "I wouldn't want us to get mixed up."

"It can be very confusing. Luckily no two of the Jokers use the same name and Bells don't have a hard time choosing nicknames, but it became difficult with a few other repeating people."

"All kinds of things, but the next part of the story I'm telling you is that Jane broke again. A little over a year ago. We don't know when she'll be back."

She nods thoughtfully.

"That's why your uncle Nathaniel left. He was visiting another Joker, in a world called Aurum, when it happened, so now he can't come home until she's better. He's safe, though."

Ariel thinks this through, then says, "He wasn't visiting the other of him?"

"Most Jokers don't have others of Nathaniel, though there are a few," says Isabella. "And... your uncle is the only one of the few who is nice."

"What are the other ones like?"

"They are bad people. They hurt some alts of Daddy and of me very badly. I was very worried about Nathaniel, when I found out who his alts were, but - he seems to be fine."

"Worried he would be not nice?" inquires Ariel.

"Yes. But I think I got him away from his parents early enough."

"Were they making him not nice?"

"Yes. They are not themselves very nice, and Nathaniels don't react to that the same way that Jokers do."

Ariel contemplates this, then says, "It's good you got him away, then."

"Yes. So, those are the broad strokes of the story."

"And it's secret from people who don't know it," says Ariel. "And you and Daddy and Alleya and Keziah and Damaris know it. And Nathaniel but he's not here."

"And Serah, and Caleb, and Daniel, and Elisha, and Alleya's children, and Delilah but Delilah only found out recently so she is still adjusting and hasn't decided how to tell her husband yet."

"Thank you, treasure." Forehead-kiss.

She smiles.

"Do you have any questions?"

"All right. And now that you know," Isabella adds with a wink, "if you think of something that should be solved with magic that no one who doesn't know about it would notice, you can tell me, and I can fix it." [And you can tell me privately, like this. Everyone who knows about magic can do this.]