Alina

The soft mattress felt foreign beneath her body, the blanket far too warm for her comfort. Alina blinked, and for a moment she did not know where she was. The soft sounds of rustling fabric and hushed whispers surrounded her, and faint blue light reached in through sheer curtains, showing her several girls yawning as they stood making the many beds around her. She rose slowly and looked around in silence, trying to figure if this was another dream. She had not been able to tell what was real and what was not lately.

"Oh, how are you feeling now? Did you manage to sleep well?" Mira popped up next to Alina as soon as she noticed she was awake. "You were having nightmares all night." Mira frowned in concern.

"I'm fine." Alina managed a whisper, speaking for the first time, and Mira hopped in excitement.

"I knew you would finally speak!" she laughed. "I'm Mira! What's your name?"

"Alina."

"Oh, did the mute Northerner finally speak?" Maggie called out from the other side of the room with a smirk on her face. "What did she tell you Mira?"

"Can we perhaps discuss that after we have breakfast? I'm quite hungry." Kat stepped in with a confident calm smile, stopping what could have turned into an unnecessary fight. Alina shot Maggie a long cold stare, yet she was grateful for Kat's interference, not because she feared Maggie, but because she was in no mood to fight. Not yet.

The morning passed in a haze, and it was midday already as Alina found herself sitting next to Abby at the kitchen table, halfheartedly following her instructions. Loud chatter surrounded her as the girls lazed around, filling each other in with the latest gossip. Apart from the recurring nightmare that always left her soul drained, and Maggie's unpleasant sneers that followed her every move, everything else seemed peaceful in this place so far.

Until Klara appeared at the kitchen door.

The girls all jumped standing in attention, except for Alina who only turned to look at Klara blankly. Klara stared long at Alina who was still sitting down, and Mira nudged her silently to stand up. Alina obliged, not very eagerly though.

Klara might scare the human slaves, but Alina decided she was not going to be intimidated by her. She was not going to be intimidated by a human servant!

"You," Klara pointed at Alina with a cold scowl, "and you," she moved her long pointed finger towards Mira, "are both to go clean the Lady's chamber." She ordered before turning to the other girls. "The rest of you, off to clean the great hall."

***

"It's my lucky day!" Mira beamed as she and Alina walked through the corridor that led to the Lady's chamber. "For once I don't get to clean the Great Hall. It's too much work you know."

Alina stared in surprise as she stood at the door to the chamber in question. It was indeed a small room, and the bed was too tiny to fit a Lady to begin with. But then she noticed the toys scattered all over the place, and she realized this was a child's room.

"I thought we were cleaning the Lady's chamber?" Alina asked.

"Well, Merina might be three years old, but she is the Lady of the house," Mira said excitedly as she entered the room, followed by Alina.

"Where is her mother?" Alina couldn't help but ask as she looked around at the mess on the floor. Mira lowered her head in sorrow.

"She died last summer," Mira said, and Alina recalled the girls talking last night about some Lady dying.

"It was quite a bloody affair, you know? She was - "

"I think we better start working." Alina cut Mira off, putting an end to the conversation at once. She definitely didn't want to start working, now or ever, but blood and death were the last things she wanted to talk about.

"Of course! Would you like to dust the furniture or scrub the floor?" Mira said with a little too much enthusiasm. It took Alina one look at the duster in Mira's hand and the bucket of water on the floor to know the right choice.

"I'll do the furniture," Alina said, and without waiting for a response, she pulled the duster out of Mira's hand at once.

Scrubbing the floor wasn't even an option. Even if her neck was beneath the executioner's blade, she was not going to kneel down and scrub floors!

Alina took her time as she slowly dusted every piece of furniture in the room. And she especially lingered too long as she worked on the bed's headboard, leisurely dabbing and stirring the duster against the intricate engravings, her eyes carefully studying the floral details. Not because she was keen on cleaning properly. She wasn't even cleaning anything properly. But because this was the only way she could stop her mind from wandering back to the dark images she didn't want to recall.

"Alina, you've been cleaning that headboard for ages!" Mira called out, and Alina snapped out of her trance. "You better do the windows before it gets dark."

Windows?

Alina frowned as she turned to look at the tall arched windows. She did not expect that to be part of her job. And how the hell was she going to reach up that high without wings? But then she remembered that all the servants were wingless anyway.

"Here, you can use this to reach the top." Mira smiled as she pulled up a wooden step ladder before the window, as if reading Alina's mind.

Alina's frown only deepened, and she shuddered as she approached the ladder. Her sense of balance hadn't been the most perfect ever since she lost her wings, and the idea of standing atop the tall wooden ladder without wings was quite daunting. Her legs shook as she hesitantly climbed a few steps. She had barely reached up halfway, and the next thing she knew, her foot stumbled and her heart sank as she found herself tumbling backwards.

"Watch out!" Mira cried and dashed towards Alina, just in time to hold her head before it hit the ground. "Are you alright?" she asked in concern as she helped Alina up, but Alina only pulled away irritably.

"I'm not doing this!" Alina snapped.

"It's alright. I will do it." Mira volunteered without hesitation, her face still full of worry.

"Good!" Alina said as she tossed the duster unto the nearest table. "Guess I'm done here then." And next, she turned towards the door.

"Wait! Where are you going?" Mira called behind her, but Alina didn't care to answer as she left the room.

Still shaken by having almost broken her neck, Alina headed out to the courtyard. It might have been safer if she retired to her room, but she was dying for some air, having been confined within dark walls all day. There was a clear chill in the air as she stepped outside. It was late in the afternoon, the sun hanging low within a yellowing cloudless sky. It still intrigued her though, seeing a winter sky that was not marred by a single spot of cloud. 

Squeals caught her attention and she turned towards the sound. Short bushes fenced what appeared to be a small garden. Flowering trees canopied a short swing and a little wingless girl sat there giggling while a winged woman rocked her back and forth. A couple of wingless women sat at a bench nearby, watching the girl as she played.

Alina approached them slowly. She watched the woman's soft ivory wings longingly, and suddenly her throat constricted and her back throbbed as if reminded by her own missing wings. Alina didn't realize she stood watching her too close behind the bushes until she noticed that the little girl had grown quiet and was now staring at her intently with big grey eyes. The winged woman noticing the girl's shift of interest followed her eyes and found Alina.

"May I help you?" the woman asked gently and the two other women turned to look at Alina as well. Alina was unsettled for a moment, feeling as if she had been caught sneaking.

"You must be the new girl," one of the wingless women smiled.

"Come over!" the other wingless woman added. "I don't think you've met Lady Merina."

Alina was bewildered. She had expected the women to yell at her for intruding, but they rather invited her to join them. Alina entered the garden hesitantly while she looked at the women in wonder. The wingless ones were especially very beautiful, and they were exceptionally dressed in pretty pastel dresses with flowing silk skirts and ivory lace trims. They were definitely not slaves.

"Look Meri, we have a new friend." The winged woman smiled. Friend? "What's your name?"

"A- Alina," Alina stammered.

"Nice to meet you Alina." The winged woman was still smiling as she picked Merina up in her arms. "I'm Maude, Lady Merina's governess."

"What happened to her wings?" Was the first thing that came to Alina's mind. Maude looked back at her with a confused expression.

"What wings?"

"Lady Merina's wings. Where are they?"

"Why, she's a human girl. How could she have wings?" one of the wingless women said.

Alina stood shocked for a moment. So the young Lady was a human. Which meant the Lord of the house was also a human. Well that explained the grand stairs. And also explained the generous way they treated the human slaves here. It explained a lot of things! 

And more importantly, it made her realize the terrible irony of her situation. Alina had not only turned into a wingless slave. She had turned into a wingless slave that served humans...

"Come on Meri, say hello to Alina!" Maude said. Alina forced a smile as she reluctantly stretched her arms out towards the wingless child. And the next moment a giggling Merina reached out for her and wrapped her warm little arms around Alina's neck.

"Lina?" Merina said, and Alina couldn't help the little laugh that escaped her despite herself. She hadn't laughed in a very long time, and it felt strange, yet liberating. She held the sweet little girl close to her chest, and not really knowing why, she bent down and kissed her head. The next moment, to her surprise, Merina reached up and kissed Alina's cheek.

"She likes you!" one of the wingless women said while the other laughed.

"You!" A cold hissing voice reached from beyond the bushes, and Alina turned around in alarm to find Klara standing at the garden entrance with a scowling face. The three women's faces frowned in concern as they saw Klara storming their way. Even Merina started whimpering and squirming restlessly against Alina's hold. Thankfully Maude was quick to catch her before Klara grabbed Alina by the arm.

"Who gave you permission to come here?" Klara snapped as she dragged Alina away from the garden.

"I finished cleaning the Lady's chamber and -"

"When you finish cleaning you go back to help Abby in the kitchen, not hang out in the garden!"

***

When Alina returned to the kitchen, Abby was caught up with preparing dinner, and apparently all of the girls had already returned from their cleaning tasks as well. They were all seated around the large kitchen table, each one of them deeply absorbed with something, whether it was cutting vegetables or mixing ingredients.

"There comes the mute Northgirl!" Maggie called out as soon as Alina appeared at the door, "Or shall we call you Viki?" Maggie smirked while Alina looked up at her in surprise. "Oh don't look so alarmed! Miss Klara just told us your name earlier, unless you still prefer being called the mute Northgirl."

A few girls giggled, with Lizzy being the loudest. Alina narrowed her eyes and clenched her fists. Very well, she had had enough.

"Pardon me darling, what did you tell me your name was? Maggot?" Alina managed to work a cold smirk as she approached Maggie, and Maggie's smug expression suddenly disappeared, replaced by a growing scowl. "Well, I believe you have been misinformed about my name. My bad, since I haven't introduced myself properly last night. You see, I was a little indisposed. So how about we start over?" Alina turned around elegantly to face the other girls who all stared at her dumbfounded. "My name is Alina. It's a pleasure to meet you all!" And she ended her speech with a glamorous curtesy.

A long moment of silence followed as the girls still stared wide eyed at Alina. Well, she couldn't blame them, having given them the wrong impression last night. Only Maggie's eyes were shooting daggers as she stood with her hands at her wide hips.

"Alina? What a shame!" Maggie sneered. "Viki suits you far better."

"If you are going to choose my own name for me, then allow me the same honor to choose yours, Maggot." Alina said, her challenging smile unfaltering, and she could see Maggie's face darkening in fury. "But well, given your generous figure, I believe Maggot doesn't really suit you. How about Fat Bitch?"

The next moment, a furious screaming Maggie came storming across the kitchen towards Alina, and a flurry of raised arms and squeals filled the place as the other girls stepped in the way to stop Maggie from potentially murdering Alina.

"Girls! Stop!" Abby attempted to interfere as well, but she couldn't fit in between the girls who were already doing the job. Maggie's friends were struggling to hold her back, while Mira and Kat stood shielding Alina from the deadly attack.

"What the fuck is going on here?!" A strong feminine voice came from the door. The girls looked up towards the speaker at once, and Alina turned to find the most curious looking woman she had ever seen.

She was wingless too, her skin much darker than what Alina was used to see in the North, and she had the puffiest mane of the tightest black curls Alina had ever seen. Furthermore, she was dressed in leather armor, and tight pants that traced her sinewy legs, with a large war sword hanging at her hip.

"Miss Cylia! Viki called me a fat bitch!" Maggie whined as she turned to the knightess, wiping away fake tears.

"Well then, thank you very much Viki because we all know it's true." Cylia said as she walked into the kitchen leaving a seething Maggie behind. "Who the fuck is Viki anyway?"

The girls only exchanged troubled looks but no one dared to answer, and Alina smirked as she realized she had made her point clear. No one dared call her Viki now.

"So I assume Viki is a ghost then." Cylia shrugged as she approached the table, only to stop midway as her eyes fell on Alina.

"I don't recall seeing you before." Cylia frowned suspiciously. "What's your name?"

"Alina." Alina stepped in before Cylia with a confident voice and a raised head.

"Well then, welcome home, Alina," Cylia said as she took a seat at the table and grabbed a carrot, crunching off half of it before turning to Abby. "Abby, how long until dinner is ready? I am starving! And I think Alina here could make use of some fattening as well."

The girls laughed out and Alina blushed. Well, she couldn't help how skinny she had grown, eating nothing but mere crumbs for the past few weeks.

"Right away Miss Cylia!" Abby said as she hurried excitedly to the cooking pot.

Loud chatter filled the kitchen as dinner was served and the earlier fight between Alina and Maggie was soon forgotten. The girls huddled around Cylia, giggling as she narrated how she beat Lord Tristan's ass for the hundredth time in swordplay today.

Alina ate silently as she sat next to Cylia, not especially interested in hearing about her fighting skills. But at least she felt assured as she sat there amid the hearty laughter that filled the kitchen and the wide smiles on the rosy cheeks around her, knowing that this was not a place where she would suffer again.

Or so she hoped...

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