Across the Green Grass Fields by Seanan McGuire

Author:Seanan McGuire [McGuire, Seanan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Tom Doherty Associates

PART III

THE CONSEQUENCES OF BEING HUMAN

10

TAKEN

REGAN WOKE WITH AN aching skull and hair that felt sticky, like something had been spilled on the back of her head. Blood. No other explanation made sense. Also, she was on her side in a bed of hay in a dark room, her hands in front of her, her wrists and ankles tied together with some sort of twine. She tried to sit up, only to topple over when she failed to find the balance she needed to remain upright.

There were voices in the distance. She went still, straining to hear what they were saying.

“—centaurs are going to kill us,” said one of them, unfamiliar, deep and rumbling, like rocks rolling across the bottom of the sea.

“Only if they catch us before we hand the brat over,” said another, lighter and higher, but still unfamiliar. “Did you have to hit her so hard?”

“The little filly was going to catch up to us if the human had the freedom to fight,” said the first voice. “I did what I had to do. The Queen’s guard will pay dearly for delivery of the creature, dead or alive. Dead might even be better. Dead doesn’t overthrow the government.”

“She’s just a child,” said a third voice. This one Regan recognized, and she stiffened with the indignity of it all. It was the faun who’d sold her the bag of nuts, the one who’d been willing to take her money. She must have signaled the others as soon as Regan had walked away. How dare she? How dare she?

Regan began to squirm, trying to loosen the knots around her ankles. She didn’t need her hands to run, and she was more likely to hurt herself if she rubbed twine against bare skin. So she kicked as much as she could, and was still kicking when a door suddenly opened and spilled light into the room. She froze, wide-eyed, and stared at the slim figure silhouetted in the opening, antlers visible to either side of her head. It was the faun.

“You’re awake,” she said. “I’m sorry we had to hit you. That wasn’t part of the plan.”

“So untie me and let me hit you back,” said Regan.

“You know I can’t do that,” said the faun.

Regan narrowed her eyes. “But you can hand me over to people who want to hurt me,” she accused.

The faun took another step into the room, hooves clacking delicately against the floor. “No one wants to hurt you,” she said, with what sounded like genuine surprise and regret in her tone. “But you’re worth so much money that it would be irresponsible of us to let you go wandering around free, the way those centaur savages you’ve been with did. The Queen will take excellent care of you.”

Regan stared at her, heart suddenly beating too hard and lungs suddenly tight, unable to take in any additional air. Finally, she managed to wheeze, “The Q-Queen?”

“Yes. Doesn’t every colt and filly dream of meeting Her Sunlit Majesty?” The

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