A Lick of Frost(10)

"It is sealed," Farmer said.

"But if this does go to court, then it may not be. Is this really what the princess wants the public to know about her."?

I frowned at him. "It's the truth, Mr. Cortez. Why should the truth bother me?"

"Do you honestly not understand what this information could do to your reputation in the media?"

"I don't understand the question."

He looked at Biggs and Farmer. "I don't say this often, but is your client aware of what this record, even sealed, can be used for?"

"I did discuss it with her, but… Mr. Cortez, the Unseelie Court does not view sex in the same way as most of the world. They certainly don't view it as mainstream America views it. My colleague and I learned that when we prepped the princess and her guard for these talks. If you are hinting that the princess might be more careful what she admits to having done with her men, then save your breath. She is absolutely not bothered by anything she has done with any of her men."

"Not to bring up a painful subject, but the princess didn't seem very happy in the media when her ex-fiancé, Griffin, sold those Polaroids to the tabloids a few months back," Cortez said.

I nodded. "That did hurt me," I said, "but because Griffin broke my trust, not because I was ashamed of what we'd done. I thought we were in love when those pictures were taken. There is no shame in love, Mr. Cortez."

"You are either very brave, Princess, or very naive. If you can use the word naive to a woman who is having sex with nearly twenty men on a regular basis."

"I am not naive, Mr. Cortez. I simply don't think like a human woman."

Farmer said, "King Taranis's allegation that the three guards he accused of this crime did so out of unmet sexual needs is a false assumption. It is based on the king's own lack of understanding of his sister court."

"Is the Unseelie Court so different from the Seelie Court when it comes to matters of sex?" Nelson asked.

"May I take this one, Mr. Farmer?" I asked.

"You may."

"The Seelie try to ape human behavior. They're stuck somewhere between the centuries of fifteen hundred to eighteen hundred, but they try to play human more than the Unseelie. Many of those exiled to our court have been exiled because of simply wanting to remain true to their original natures, and not let themselves be civilized in a human manner."

"You sound like you're lecturing," Nelson said.

I smiled. "I did a paper in college on the differences between the two courts. I thought it might help the teacher and the other students understand that the Unseelie Court wasn't the bad guy."

"You were the first of the fey to attend human college in this country," Cortez said. He shifted through some papers in front of him. "But not the last. Some of the so-called lesser fey have actually gotten degrees since then."

"My father, Prince Essus, thought if one of the royals went, then our people might follow. He thought that learning, and understanding the country we lived in, was a necessary part of the fey adapting to modern life here."

"Your father never saw you attend college, though, did he?" Cortez asked.

"No." I said. The one word was clipped.

Doyle and Frost reached for me at the same time. Their hands found each other at the back of my shoulders. Doyle's arm stayed there. Frost's hand moved to cover one of my hands where I kept them still upon the tabletop. They were reacting to the tension in me, but it let everyone in the room know how concerned they were with me dealing with this topic. They hadn't reacted to talk of my ex-fiancé, Griffin. I think all my men thought they had washed his memory clean from me with their own bodies. I felt the same, so they'd read me right. Doyle was usually a good judge of my moods. Frost, who had his own moods, was learning mine.

"I think this topic is closed," Biggs said.

"I am sorry if I caused the princess distress," Cortez said, but he didn't sound sorry. I wondered why he'd brought up my father's assassination. Cortez, like Shelby and Veducci, struck me as men who didn't do things without a reason. I wasn't sure about Nelson and the rest. I was counting on Biggs and Farmer being calculating men. But what did Cortez hope to gain from mentioning my father's death?

"I am sorry to cause distress, but I do have a reason for bringing the topic up," Cortez said.

"I don't see what relevance it could possibly have on these proceedings," Biggs said.

"The murderer of Prince Essus was never apprehended," Cortez said. "In fact no one was even seriously suspected, is that correct?"

"We failed the prince and the princess in every way," Doyle said.