Marrick opened the municipal archive for the rescue party, laying out the surviving witness records before the royal courier arrived.
Marrick kept the witness sheets on the public table so the child's rescue could survive another change in royal command.
In the center of the quiet chamber, a low medical cot stood with clean linen sheets turned down in an orderly fold.
The unnamed horned girl backed into the darkest corner of the room the instant her eyes caught sight of the white mattress.
Her hands scrambled frantically behind her back, clutching the fleece blanket to her chest while her shoulders trembled with terror.
The raised metal legs and tight white sheets matched the laboratory examination tables where she spent her stolen childhood.
Before anyone could take a step toward her, the girl dropped down and crawled beneath a desk.
She curled into a tight ball against the back panel, pulling her knees to her chin while keeping her horns covered beneath the fleece.
