Internally, I sighed in relief. Maybe the dragon would find another maiden to eat... er... to be his sacrifice... uh, to ah... oh whatever. Maybe he'd lay off me for awhile.
Chapter Forty-Six
Councilman Alan Murdock, Head of the San Francisco Council House, was in a bit of a tizzy. He hadn't expected a slew of hunters, out of town extinguishers (including the telepath twins), witches, a Head Councilman, a dragon djinn, and a puka to show up on his doorstep. I'd given him only the briefest of warnings when I called him from the Artesia airport before we took off. Murdock was a little relieved when I told him that none of us would need to be put up for the night but he was concerned that his meeting room wouldn't be large enough to hold all of us.
His fears were warranted. With the addition of the witch group who was already in SF (including the fairies and humans we'd sent with their party), along with the SF council members who wanted to sit in on the meeting, we had close to a hundred people who wished to be included in our discussion. Well, that just wasn't going to happen so we had to whittle it down to those who were integral. Even with the whittling, the room was packed. I was of course included and my title even warranted me a seat at the table, but due to the lack of space, I asked Gradh to take Cat for a walk, disguised in her Newfoundland glamour of course.
On the table before me was the San Francisco House's crystal ball (they were the only Human Council House with one), a telephone speaker with the combined Human and Fairy High Councils on the other end of the line, and Sarah's cellphone connected to yet another large speaker with the Coven Elders on that line. All groups were as fairly represented as possible.
The Councils and Coven had all been informed of the dullahan's deception and their ultimatum. Now they were arguing with each other while I sat back and listened, hoping for a solution to fall into my lap. Or barring that, for everyone to just agree on a plan of action.
I looked over my shoulder to Tiernan, who was standing directly behind me. He was concentrating on the conversation but as soon as I set my focus on him, he seemed to sense it and looked down to me. He lifted a brow in question.
“I'm starving,” I whispered to him and his lips twitched.
He turned, waved Conri forward, and whispered something to him. Conri looked over to me and gave me a sexy wink before he turned and left the room. I just shook my head and sighed. Conri's flirtations had become so commonplace that I hardly noticed them anymore. It was just a normal part of interaction for him.
I went back to dejectedly staring out the windows as I waited for Conri to return with sustenance. I was one of those people who found it hard to think on an empty stomach. So what was the point in paying attention to the discussion if I couldn't contribute anything until my food arrived?
“What do you think, Princess Seren?” Someone asked, startling me out of my dining daydreams.
“Um,” I cleared my throat. “About what now?” I guess the point of paying attention was to not look stupid when someone asked me a question.
“Are we boring you?” Elder Wasutke asked snidely.
I ignored her like she was a playground bully.
“You've freed prisoners from both the Seelie and Unseelie dungeons,” a voice came out of the speaker box on my left, the one connected to the High Councils. “Do you think you could free these prisoners from Dathadair?”
“First off, I don't know what you're talking about,” I said innocently. We'd decided that it would be best for me to never admit to the crime of infiltrating the courts and freeing their prisoners. Deny, deny, deny, just like Bill Clinton. “Second, if I were going to attempt a rescue, I would think that new tactics would have to be employed. The fairies previously freed were done so from open courts, not a secure site expecting such an attempt.”
“So that's a no?” I realized it was Councilman Greer asking.
“That's a maybe,” I corrected with a grin. “As I said, I've never done such a thing before but I'd be willing to try with the Council's approval.”
Greer chuckled, “Can anyone assist the Princess in coming up with a plan to rescue prisoners, since she's so ill-equipped to do so?”
“Hey now,” I grumbled as Conri placed a plate with a sandwich down in front of me. A glass of lemonade followed. “Thank you, Sir Conri. You're a kind and beautiful man.”
“You're welcome, Princess,” he chuckled.
“Does Sir Conri have a plan?” Greer asked. “If so, we weren't able to hear it.”
I started to say;No, he didn't have a plan, he had a sandwich, when Conri spoke.
“Well, if it were up to me,” Conri smirked. “I'd just walk in through the front gate.”
“Explain, if you will,” Greer prompted.
“I'd set something on fire nearby,” Conri shrugged. “Make it look like our Lord Dragon here is closing in,” he waved a hand at Raza. “Then I'd wait for the dullahans to come out to investigate. When they did, I'd sneak in under glamour. I doubt any of them will be focused enough to spot fairies under a cloak of invisibility when they're worried about a dragon attack.”
“Well look who isn't just a pretty face,” I smiled proudly.
“Sir Conri,” Greer said crisply.
“Yes, Councilman?” Conri straightened as if the fairy was in the room.
“Well done, the Princess is lucky to have you on her Guard.”
