When Angels Fall

Chapter 11 - A First Mission

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.