#fenixtj

"Well, the hearth doesn't like it if I wrinkle my nose at her lima beans" An admission

"Exactly. And if someone is insulted or offended, it can go very badly."

"I suppose that makes sense," She says "But I think if someone gives me grief cuz I chomp a burger and like it , or have to eat something and don't like it, they're kind of too touchy"

"Well..."

"I mean, I think the rules are different if you aren't a countess?"

"I guess. Maybe you should not be a Countess then you don't hafta worry" She suggests "More fun for you"

"More fun, maybe... but..." Sigh. "That would be avoiding my duty."

"Oh" Ariel says softly.

"But it's nice having friends where I don't HAVE to be Countess Eleanor all the time."

Ariel smiles at that "Yeah! "

"I think it must be very hard to go from being a commoner to being a noble. There's a lot of rules to learn. And some nobles are jerks, because they think that only sidhe can be nobles."

"Well yeah, some kiths do things easier but it doesn't mean only they can do it. Like, listen to Phoebe. She sings beautifully and she's not a satyr, not even kithain, She's just got a lot of talent and she worked hard to make it better" A nod

"Exactly. And lots of Scathach don't have titles AND they're changelings."

"Liam and Fiona have a lot of changelings, too, Gerald said."

"Huh" Ariel nods "My brother is Fiona so I guess he may have met some others."

"They aren't super common outside of Scathach. A lot of the sidhe who stayed behind were killed. My house, we couldn't stay..."

"Yeah yeah, because orders from Arcadia or something" Ariel says "I heard that's what most sidhe houses say"

She shakes her head.

"We were imprisoned."

"What? What for?" She asks

Sigh.

And she can't say

not really. Rules... And ASh coughs

"Because... " A look at Ash.

"It's not FAIR."

Dame Ash looks over her young pupil "Some things others, even other nobles, are not ready to know" She looks at Ariel "Ariel, we could not answer some questions... it was a sacred trust. The Gwydions and Daireanns and more didn't understand that"

"Not sure I understand" Ariel says "But if you couldn't talk about it.. how could you prove you weren't guilty?"

"Exactly" Dame Ash says "So we served our time. Imprisoned in the Dungeons of Arcadia. And.. that is more than most know"

Ariel bites her lip "But ... Ellie shouldn't be in prison, she's NICE"

"I'm not in prison now."

"And I was a grown-up in prison. Sort of weird to think about."

"Oh, like I was probably a Cowgirl in a past life" Ariel says

"Yes!"

"I bet you were, like, a priestess of Artemis back in Arcadia days."

"You'd like her, she was the goddess of the moon, and had a silver bow and arrow, and ran around the woods..."

"That'd be cool" She says "And yes, I know, because she was Greek and Satyrs are greek dreams mostly. " Ariel grins

"Yes!"

"The Beaumayn are from France, mostly."

"I'm named after the Mayan god of death" Ahpuch says lofty whisper.

"Nice!"

"Yes, but France ..formerly Gaul, had strong Celtic dreams..and one area still does." Ash says "And, the dreams of Chivalry were born in France even more than England"

"Lancelot was French."

"They don't like us watching the king Arthur stuff at the farm.. says it puts bad ideas in our heads" Ariel says

Dame Ash looks stunned, then a bit saddened

"Why?"

"Because it feeds dreams that have that 'kings deserve to rule' when dreams of democracy and republci are better" Ariel says Then noting the look "That's.. that's what they tell us"

"But... why is that better? A Balefire can only have one master."

"And Kings are bound to their people. Do you elect the Chieftain?"

"Yup. Though the elders have more pull. Everyone gets a voice at the farm. Why even the kinain cause they're stil lDeBukes."

"Can you un-elect her?"