#fenixtj

Jessica wakes up in the morning, the flames seem to be acting as an alarm clock

Meawhile, around the balefire, Father V, liam and boggan, tells Jack "You were wise to call me, my son. The banality on them was like cement around their souls, but it was seeping in"

She dresses with an innate sense of disturbed urgency, and follows her heart to the Balefire.

Where did the four new kids come from?

"Sir Jack, Father.....?"

There's a new sluagh boy, sipping coco. There's a nocker girl who is stacking legos. A Selkie girl who squeezes a stuffed animal Ariel must have loaned her, and a Sidhe boy staring at the flames in a daze.

"What's going on?"

Ellie is deeply asleep - a little faded, but doing better by the fire. She holds her rapunzel dolly tight. Salma's lap may or may not be her pillow.

Sir Jack says "These four were rescued last night from some Dauntain... at least a half hour outside the city, by your heir and her cohorts."

Salma looks up guiltily, from where she is rubbing at her hand. "Condesa..." She says, but it is a whisper, and she bows her head, unable to rise and curtsy with Ellie on her lap.

"But don't wake young Ellie, please" Father V says "She's quite exhausted"

"Dauntain???" the bigger Countess looks stunned.

Holger, who stands at attenntionn as if guarding everyone even now says "Si. The Gray One"

"Where is it now?" she asks, going grim.

"She ran.." the new sluagh boy whispers, "They held, and chanted, the gift of pan started to thaw her even just a bit, and she panicked. "

"Sir Jack, get patrols out immediately. NO ONE ENGAGE. Observe and report only; anyone gets frisky and decides to do otherwise, they're banished. If attacked, first defense is run and hide, second is to defend yourself. Understood?"

Her speech is clipped and tense.

"Double the patrols."

Salma ducks her head a bit, ears down. If she is quiet, she may not be noticed. One hand lightly stroking Ellie's hair, and the other tucked away hidden in the folds of her skirt.

"Yes, Countess," he does not argue "Hopefully she did not head to the city, fortunately it was a good distance away"

And he gets ready to go "Did you want me to take the patrol out of the city to the site the Dauntain was or just increase patrols here?"

"Sir, I want -more- patrols out there, more people patrolling." she clarifies "Set up a lookout at the site, though. I leave it to you as to who does what."

"Condesa?" She says, softly.

Jack nods "As you direct, your excellency"

"Yes Selma? Are you and the others ok?"

"La jaula de hierro.... can you go find it? Can you take it away?"

(The cage of iron...)

The sidhe boy by the fire shivers

as if in memory

"Father, have you gotten their statements? As witnesses? We have those recorded?"

"Mostly I was using my LIam gifts to reduce the banality upon them" He admits "But actually your scribe was nearby and took notes. She's organizing them now in the study"

"Jaula de hierro, planchas de hierro, hierro en el agua, hierro en la voz de la dama. Quema..." She says quietly, ears down. "I was not afraid."

Holger puts a hand on Salma's shoulder "Salma was magnifica"

"Excellent." Jess pauses to consider "My friends...." she addresses the childlings, all of them "Will you tell me in your own words, again, what happened?"

"My Cabellero and Cabracita amigas can speak for me, I will correct if they say wrongly..."

Jessica nods and takes a seat, calls for food and drink, and listens.

Salma listens mostly as well, chiming in to emphasize this or that. When they mention finding the little girl at work on the dishes - that is, the newly awakened selkie, she winces a bit, and keeps her hand tucked out of sight.

Ariel takes a breath "Ellie's been having all kinds of nightmares forever about this grayhouse but we didn't know where it was or how to get to it so we couln't do anything for the longstime and you see it bothered her SO much but then she learned more and more and finally she found out just where it was. We borrowed a magic way of flying and then arrived at the gray school. It was horrible because they were being bent down and beat down with all their spirits being crushed inside but you see they tried to hold on in their own way. We slipped in ,and Ellie took charge, was very rousing! And Salma's ears were hearing stuff which saved us, and Holger, brave holger, we wouldn't have got the WINDOW open without him and the first boy was mopping ,and the girl was washing dishes on a cold iron skill, a REAL ONE and. .. there was he other girl made to write on the chalkboard and then the horrrible iron box and the teacher appearedd and she was so cold Holger almost forgot who he was and Salma made him go outside but her ears were almost fading so I remember my gift of pan was helping agggains banlity and so I sang at her and I think it worked some and salma and Ellie and I taunted too and the gray lady went hateful but also fearful like she was mmore afraid of herself than us but we were reminding her and she fled and we had to go bacause it was just no time and she might come back and we were all feeling bad. And we had to use glamour or the goats wouldn't take them and everyone came to Sir Jack's place and he helped a bit and made us come to the fire and guarded us all night and slowly everyone of the four is gettting better but Ellie feels bad because it seems there was once 8 but she couldn't save them because we didn't even know where they were or who they were and dreams are only so useful" She's out of breah "But at leas we saved four and life can start for them..again"

A pause. "Succiinctly put, Ariel."

She regards the new four childlings, not without compassion. "You are welcome here, my friends. I'm Jessica King."

The sidhe boy blinks"King?"

Which is interesting as he's been the least responsive of them all

She nods. "That's my surname. My father's last name is King."

The boy stares blankly again and turns back to the fire. He's barely a sidhe at all

The nocker says "He'll come out of it, Miss King.. we're just not... " She focuses and says "We are FURKING Not back yet"

"I understand, and there's no rush. None at all. Is anyone injuried? I mean, in their body?"

"Actually, " Jack says "There showed signs of physical child abuse as well.. but Fontaine had them all under go the waters"

"I loved the spa" The selkie girl says "She. .she used to crack tthe ruler on the knuckles HARD, but sometimes she just did it all over..."

Holger bristles . His trollish sensibilities riled at the talk of such abuse

Salma shakes her head. She watchs the little sidhe boy, worried.