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I didn't know how he'd gotten invited to a press conference, and I didn't care.
A second male voice came. "We have a federal warrant to bring the princess into protective custody." It was Special Agent Raymond Gillett, who had been the only federal agent who had kept in touch with me after the investigation of my father's death had gone cold. When I was younger I had thought he cared what happened to me. Lately I realized it was more about not leaving such a high-profile case unsolved. I was still angry with him, but in that moment, his familiar voice was a good sound.
"The princess is not here, officers," said a second guard. "Please go back to the press area."
"The princess is here," Lady Elasaid said, "and in need of human medical attention."
You could feel the increased tension in the group of nobles, like a spring that had been wound once too often. To the human officers, they would be beautiful and unreadable, but I felt their energy rise like the first spark of heat from a match. The guards at the door would feel it, too.
The great black dog moved up on one side of Hugh. It didn't make me feel better. Weaponless against the might of sidhe guards, all he could do was die for me. I didn't want him to die for me. I wanted him to live for me.
"We have doctors with us," Major Walters said. "Let them look at the princess, and we'll go from there."
"The king has ordered that she not be given back to the brutes who injured her. She cannot go near the Unseelie again."
"Did he forbid her going near humans?" Agent Gillett asked.
There was a moment of silence while the murmur of power began to build among the sidhe around me. Slowly, almost imperceptibly, as if they were whispering their magic.
"The king said nothing about humans looking at her," a new guard voice said.
"We were told to keep her away from the press."
"Why would the princess need to be kept away from the press? Agent Gillett asked. "She will tell them firsthand about being rescued from the evil Unseelie by "your brave king."
"I do not know…"
"Unless you think the princess will have a different story," Major Walters said.
"The king has given his oath that it is so," the talkative guard said.
"Then you have nothing to lose by letting our doctors look at her," Agent Gillett said.
The guard who had sounded agreeable said, "If the king is true to his word, then there is nothing to fear, Barri, Shanley.
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