Page 1 of Given to the Fae
CHAPTER 1
BRYN
‘Isaw you slip in here. I can smell you, human. I know where you’re hiding.’
I narrow my eyes in the dark at the lies and wonder if he believes all humans are stupid.The pervading scent in the barn is horseshit. He won’t be able to smell me tucked away as I am, not even with his nose. But my heart still leaps in my chest at his words, and I shut my eyes, taking avery quiet, steadying breath. From the sounds of it, he’s no more than two paces from where I’m hiding.
I haven’t seen this troll before. He’s new. He doesn’t know what the others here have learned the hard way. Hopefully one of the other overseers will notice he’s missing and find him in here soon. I just have to stay out of his clutches until he can beeducatedby one of them as to why he shouldn’t be anywhere near me.
‘You may as well come out, girl. You’re only making it worse for yourself.’
A horse whinnies in the stall next to the dark crevice between the wall and the slats where I’m concealed.
He’s so close. I know it. My heart is strumming in my chest like a hummingbird’s wings. What if that in itself gives me away?I try to calm down. The silence stretches out and I cover my mouth with my clammy palm when I hear his boot rustle in the hay on the ground.
So close.
I look up, and his large black eyes meet mine through a crack in the wood.
Too late to run.
I tense as a large, gnarled hand forces its way into thebetweenspace and grabs me by my dirty, tangled locks.
I don’t make a sound as I’m dragged out, even though I know this is going to hurt. I note the look of triumph in the old troll’s face as he looks down at me. He’s not tall even for his kind, but what he lacks in stature he makes up for in girth. His bulging tunic is brown, dirty and motheaten. His bushy beard holds the remnants of his last meal, and I see movement betwixt the hairs.
Lice. Ugh!
Some of my fear turns to disgust at the sight, and I’m thankful because it allows me to draw my first full breath in the open. I hate catching lice more than getting a beating. I hope he doesn’t intend to keep me close for long enough that any decide tojump ship.
He pulls me to him, hauling me up to the tips of my toes and I wince at the sting on my scalp.
He’ll pay for that in a moment, he just doesn’t know it.
‘What do you have to say for yourself, girl?’ he snarls, his breath as rancid as the rest of him looks.
I smell avish root on him.
Ogdan really is scraping the bottom of the barrel for overseers these days. My eyes cut to the door of the barn. One of them will be coming. They have to check my work soon. They have to.
Come on!
I’ve had beatings before, of course, but it’s been a good, long while since the last one and I’d rather not have to spend the next few days trying to sleep on my front while I heal. It’s uncomfortable and infection from open wounds is rife here in the warmer weather. Seven of the other humans have succumbed to minor injuries this last fortnight alone. I doubt any of the healthy ones will help me by applying a healing salve to the places I can’t reach, even if I was able to steal some.
I’m sure Ogdan would thank his gods if I were to die through no fault of his, too, and that cunt doesn’t deserve to be rid of me. No matter what, I’ll try to stay alive through sheer force of will just to spite him.
‘Well?’ the troll rasps, moving from one foot to the other as if he can’t stand still, probably from the effects of the root he’s been chewing.
‘No words when one of your betters asks you a question?’ he asks. ‘No wonder I was hired. You slaves need to learn your place in The Barrack!’
I glance at the door again and suppress my sigh. I’m going to have to delay him, or I’ll actually be getting a harsh lashing this evening for no other reason than having the misfortune to catch this stinking toad’s eye.
His grip tightens and his other, meaty hand goes around my neck, squeezing it a little to punctuate his question.
‘I was just going about my work, my lord,’ I rasp, eyeing the floor like a good slave and focusing on trying to breathe as his fingers tighten.
I’ve said the right thing. The title will puff him up and make him feel powerful. I doubt he’ll have been called it by any of the human slaves in The Barrack yet, since he’s new. He’ll like my gaze on the ground in subjugation, too.
My eyes dart up to his face to gauge his reaction and then down again quickly. I’m gratified by the hint of a pleased sneer. The guards like him are so easy to read.
