#fenixtj

"Girls, will you come in please?"

Salma glance to Ellie, and follows her lead.

Ellie rises and brushes off her skirt.

In she goes, chin up.

Salma trails after, ears down.

Hand in Salma's!

Jessica retakes her seat across from Clem.

She clears her throat. "I understand you had a bit of an adventure?"

"Yes, Countess." Her tone is contrite, subdued - polite, but... sad?

A curtsy to the Countess.

A long pause from Jessica, watching the girls.

Salma holds her curtsy - she is good at it.

Ellie meets Jessica's gaze - it's not defiance, really. Pride, maybe? Trying to be brave?

"Salma, please stop curtsying; it's not necessary."

"Well, why don't you go find Ariel and tell her about it?"

What happens next would be easy to miss, if not for how subtle troll expressions are - a droop of the shoulder, a crease of the eyebrow, a quiver of the lip...

"Yes, Countess."

Jessica -is- watching them. "Ellie?"

"Yes, Countess?"

"Oh, I thought you had something you wanted to say."

"Shall I get Ariel and bring her here?" Phobos asks

She bites on her lip, hesitating.

"It was my idea, Countess, and Salma only went along because of me."

Jessica nods, listening.

"I knew better, but I was selfish and wanted to go."

"I see."

"So if there's to be punishment, it should be for me, not Salma."

Clem raises a brow at that

Phobos, having got the nod, soon shows up with Ariel, who looks VERY Confused

"Uhm.. Oh, Chief Clem" She waves "HI!"

"Hi, Ariel."

Ellie looks quietly miserable.

Ariel runs up to Clem "Why are you here? Are you coming to hear me sing? Dont' worry I'm doing the troubadour thing.. oh you should hear Ellie play too though. It's lovely"

Clem answers "I'll let Ellie tell you what happened"

The little sidhe looks on the verge of tears again.

"Ellie? What's wrong?"

"ellie?" Ariel says "It's okay. What's wrong?"

She closes her eyes. "Ariel, I went to see the Farm with Salma without you."

"I wanted to see it, and I was tired of waiting, and I pretended it was just to get you lemon bars but it was also because I wanted to see the cows and the trees and the sheep."

A beat. "We did get lemon bars, though."

Jessica gestures to the basket they brought.

Ariel 's jaw falls open "I.. but I tole you they...did they yell at you?"

"We got the lemon bars. They're your favorites, right?"

"Yes.. but... " Ariel says "Oh Ellie, you shouldn't have gone without warning foliks! They don't trust sidhe"

Then she flushes with shame "I'm sorry, but they don't. You gotta .. let em know"

"I won't go back. I hope you don't get in trouble with your family."

"But .." Ariel says "I wanted to show her things? She CAN Come back right? If we .. if we let folks know?"

SHe asks Clem that

CLem says "We'll work on it"

"I don't want to go back."