Across the Green Grass Fields (Wayward Children, #6)(26)

“They hit me in the head when they took me,” said Regan, obediently sticking her hands out. “It still hurts. But I’m not dizzy or anything, and my dad always said that was how you could tell if someone had a concussion.” A sudden wave of almost painful homesickness washed over her. She missed her parents. She missed her home. She missed her horses. They must be so confused about why she stopped coming to the stable. They must miss her so much.

“Oh, honey, I’m sorry,” said Pansy, gently taking her wrists and slicing through the twine with a flick of her knife. Pain followed immediately after, rushing into the grooves the twine had cut into her skin, and Regan made a soft sound as she pulled her hands away and began rubbing her wrists. “We should never have let you and Chicory go off alone the way we did. I guess we were thinking the Fair would be safe for you the way it’s always been for us. We should have known better. That’s our fault.”

“Chicory.” Regan’s eyes widened. “Is Chicory okay?”

“She will be, now that we have you back. Poor girl’s been eating herself alive out of the fear that we’d never see you again and it would be all her fault, or she was, when I left to try tracking you down.” Pansy shook her head. “She’s just a foal. We treat her like she’s almost grown because we don’t know what else to do with her, but she shouldn’t be asked to take things this heavy onto her shoulders before she’s old enough to pull a plow.”

“People keep asking me to save the world.” Regan couldn’t keep the bitterness out of her tone.

“Yes,” said Pansy. “That’s what humans do. But the Queen will see that you’re still a child, so I’m sure she won’t ask you to do anything dangerous. Maybe someday, but not now.”

“The Queen thinks I’m going to do something to hurt her.”

Pansy became abruptly very still. “What do you mean?”

“The people who grabbed me said it was because Queen Kagami told them to. They were going to take me to her. They said…” She swallowed, hard. “They said she wouldn’t care if I was alive or dead when they got there. I think they were going to kill me if I made too much trouble.”

“They said the Queen told them to take you.” Pansy’s expression, already grim, darkened further, becoming sepulchral. She offered her arm. “Come. We need to get back to the herd. Chicory will be so relieved to see that you’re safe.”

Regan took the arm without argument, swinging herself onto Pansy’s back and wrapping her own arms around Pansy’s waist. As soon as her hands were joined, Pansy broke into a gallop, hooves churning at the earth, hair whipping out behind her to slap Regan in the face. She held on tighter, feeling a traitorous rush of joy run along her spine. This was what she loved. Riding, running, the world rushing by like a chalk drawing, smudged and blurred and beautiful.

In all too short a time, Pansy was trotting to a stop in front of a longhouse—not one of the ones Regan had seen before. The unicorns were scattered around the field out front, cropping at the grass, ears swiveling as they listened for danger. A few of them lifted their heads as Regan slid down from Pansy’s back. Most didn’t even bother.

They proceeded inside, where the rest of the herd was waiting. Chicory had a black eye and one arm was bound in a sling. She turned toward the sound of the door opening, straightened, and cried, “Regan!” before rushing to them, shoving past her aunts in the process. She flung her good arm around Regan’s shoulders, buried her face against the other girl’s neck, and started to sob.

“I’m okay, Chicory, I’m okay,” said Regan, awkwardly patting her on the back. “Just be careful with my head, please. It hurts.”

Chicory let her go as fast as if she’d suddenly admitted to having fleas. Regan stood awkwardly as the rest of the herd clustered around. Pansy put her hands on Regan’s shoulders, holding her where she was.

“How did you find me?” Regan asked, craning her neck around to look at Pansy.

“Only one road out of the Fair from the merchant stalls,” said Pansy gruffly. “There’s always a lot of shouting during setup, with everyone trying to come in at once. They had to pull a whole food wagon out of the rotation during the Fair proper, and that’s strange enough that it gave me a place to start looking. I’ve been following you almost since you were taken.”

“Oh,” said Regan, not feeling as relieved as she wanted to. She’d still been in danger. Pansy had been right behind them, but they could have killed her before she was recovered, and she’d have to live with that knowledge forever.

Pansy shifted her attention from Regan to the rest of the herd. “The kidnappers were in the service of Queen Kagami,” she said.

“They said they were going to get a lot of money for taking me to her,” said Regan. “Dead or alive.”

The other centaurs recoiled, all save for Daisy, who was the oldest among them, and the most difficult to shock. She pushed her way forward, stopping next to Chicory. “We don’t doubt you, child, but are you sure they weren’t lying about the Queen asking them to take you?”

“I don’t know,” said Regan. “But they thought I was asleep when they said the part about getting a reward for me dead.”

Daisy looked gravely at the others. “Then you know what must be done.”