2 - Layla

After receiving that information, I no longer had the strength to stop the bear woman from leading me through the stone corridors. I was being held by the wrist now, as carefully as before. In the middle of the way, she gave orders to some other maids and servants we met. Most of the time, they were orders to make them speed up their work, then new orders came after they finished what they were doing. She seemed to be in charge there, and everyone respected her commands, maybe she was the boss of the servants, as Regina was.

I couldn't help noticing that all the servants we passed had animal parts on their bodies, like mine. Mostly it was just ears and tails. A few had animal snouts, which made their faces rather peculiar. I was intimately grateful that I didn't turn out like this.

There were various kinds of animals, but mostly domestic, none looked maritime, like fish or sharks, and the height of the people with these parts seemed to depend on the animal in which they "shared their body". I don't really know what had happened to those people to be like that, I was one too, and I was curious to know why. I had never seen anything like this in my former life, although some books I read talked about men turning into wolves or even some with the body parts of a horse. The centaurs. But it was all fiction, as far as I knew.

The only time I saw normal people on our walk was when I looked through one of the openings in the stone corridor. A glassless window overlooked a courtyard below where we were standing. There I quickly spotted two men wearing armor without helmets. I could see that their ears were normal, human ears. They talked to each other in a relaxed way. One had long black hair, and the other had spiky red hair and a brownish skin tone. They both looked very handsome from up here, especially in their dark gray, almost black armor.

Pulled down through the hallway, I couldn't see much else. But that already gave me some perspective. The servants were half-human and the guards human. And I had been born a half-human, despite all the beauty I now possessed. It didn't seem right. It felt like punishment.

I remembered what I had done to that young maid and even how I treated those who served me. Now would that same despicable treatment be given to me? Me of all people? Who suffered so much from having a terrible face and seeing everyone around me with perfect faces and lives? It would be such an injustice if this were the truth.

But I kept my hope, the slightest hope. Maybe the nobles were also part animals, and perhaps I had a chance to change my fate.

Not that I would accept this now so well.

I was so lost in thought that I didn't realize how cold it had gotten. My little body was shivering with the chill, and that was because the place we were in now had many more holes in the wall than just the windows. Plus, a bit of mold and a nasty, old, poverty smell.

There were more servants here, mostly women, not yet fully dressed for work but better dressed than me in that thin nightgown. I cringed with cold, still being pulled by the hand. If the bossy woman bear had said anything to me, I would've not listened, so absorbed was I in my own situation.

I noticed the difference from where we were when we entered through a door into the foul stone hallway. The old door wood creaked and gave us a view of a vast but poorly decorated room. I immediately missed the beautiful room where I had woken up and its warmth. I felt the hairs on my fuzzy tail and ears stand up with the icy air that the rest of my body felt on my skin.

Inside there were about five other girls, all half-human, of course. Two of them seemed to have dog parts, one was a cat, one that I couldn't identify which animal it was, and the last one was a little mouse. It was obviously a mouse from the tail, size, and ears. The smallest of them in there, and also the cutest. Not as beautiful as me, but cute.

They all seemed startled by our arrival, which was a little loud because of how the bear woman opened the door. They watched as she led me to one of the beds in the corner and sat me down on it. They were all very curious, and the only one who looked at me ashamed, with her head down, was the cute little mouse girl. The bangs of her short grey hair covered her eyes, but I could still see her curiosity in our direction.

My gaze lingered on her for a few seconds before the resounding voice of Mama Bear caught my attention. As I was sitting on the bed and she was standing in front of me, she seemed much larger than I thought. I cringed even more from the cold and a little from fear.

- What is your name, miss? - the bossy bear asked. Despite her posture demanding an answer, with her hands on her hips and expression of severe curiosity, she seemed a bit gentle. I believe her mature and beautiful face helped with that part.

Now confronted with that question, I became aware that I didn't know whose body that was. I had no identification and no memory of who was there before. I just took the body, and now it was mine.

I could use my former name, but on second thought, I didn't want to be me of the past anymore. Never again, Cerelia. The noblewoman with the scarred face was dead. It was necessary.

- Come on, girl! Cat got your tongue? Speak your name! Or have you suffered some kind of forgetfulness?

I looked at the woman in front of me, showing my fear and coldness. This seemed to soften her haste and imperativeness in speaking to me. She was filled with patience, or so it seemed when she gave a deep sigh and ran her hand over her face as if she had just been given a difficult task. But with all her years of experience, she knew how to handle complex tasks well. This would be another one. That was the impression she gave.

She sat on the bed in front of me, which creaked loudly for its larger size and weight. She took my small hands in her larger, gloved hands. My hands were shaking, and she felt it, making her sigh once more before she began to speak.

- Look, little one, I don't know why you are dressed in these clothes or in a noblewoman's room. If I didn't get you out, if someone saw you there, I pity what would happen to you. I don't want gratitude. I just want your name, to know who you serve in the castle or if you are a novice. My name is Beda, I am one of the people in charge of this wing of the servants, but I have never seen you here. Trust me, I just want to know who you are.

Faced with that heartfelt plea and how she treated me, I decided to cooperate. However, much of the injustice of being an employee still gnawed at me. I intended to speak the truth, part of it. I wouldn't say I was a noblewoman from another world, that would be foolish, and she might lose patience with me quickly. She seemed like a woman with too many things to take care of, she couldn't waste time on something like that.

- I just remember waking up in that bed, in those clothes... I'm not a maid, am I? I don't even know who I am, ma'am, but I must not be a maid.

All the girls in the room began to whisper and giggle, except the mouse girl.

- Girl, cooperate with me! - asked the bear woman, squeezing my hand a little tighter.

- But I am cooperating! I'm telling the truth! I swear... I'm not a servant! Haven't you mistaken me for a noble? - With that question, I intended to find out if there were any half-human nobles.

Immediately my hands were dropped, and the woman stood up. Her face was impatient but not angry. She wouldn't waste any more time on me.

- Stop being silly, girl. If you have those ears and that tail, you are not noble. As noble as I am, if only! I have a lot of work to do today, stay here, and I'll have a uniform ready for you. Then we'll see who you are and what we'll do with you. Today you will work on helping Chia and get this idea of being a noble out of your head. I don't know how hard you've hit that little cute head of yours, but there's a limit to madness!

She headed towards the exit when she stopped and returned again, in the middle of the room.

- We have to come up with a name for you, girl. Tell me what you want to be called.

- But ma'am, I don't remember... - My voice came out a little louder than usual, though frightened. I had no idea for a name, and I wanted one as beautiful as I was. These things can't be chosen overnight.

But the woman did not think so. Her voice came out shouting the order.

- GIVE ME A NAME NOW!

- LAYLA! My name is Layla!

- Excellent, Layla. Work hard, and you'll be fine. Chia, take care of her for today.

Chia was the mouse girl. She was the one who nodded in agreement.

It was only after the bear woman had left, slamming the door to the room we were in, with the buzz of the voices of the other girls, minus Chia, filling the room, that I remembered where I had gotten that name from. Something I didn't even remember knowing.

Layla was the name of the maid I had hurt.