Deep in the night, I opened my eyes as I heard a muffled impact. Dust was falling from the ceiling and made me blink. Amazing, I thought that I had unconsciously swept it all away with my tail. A faint moan fully awakened me. I grabbed my shirt in the dark and carefully turned around in my small room without stepping on the sleeping Freya or brushing the dark lantern off the table.

I opened the door slowly, not knowing what to expect. The rain had slowed to a drizzle, and I could see the moon behind the clouds. Then another moan, almost next to me.

A man lay on the ground at the wall next to my door, lying in an unnatural position, next to a large bag. It looked as if he had run into my wall at full speed. In the dim light, I could only guess the dark stains on the wall and ground. But I could smell fresh blood. He was not moving, but his moaning meant he was not dead. Why would someone run into my wall? Just to be sure, I looked up. It was too dark to see much. But I knew there were no windows above, just tiny slits to light up the dreaded spiral staircase next door. Nobody could fall from those.

I hurried back inside and shook Freya until she woke up. "Freya, come quickly. Healing!" It took Freya a few moments, but 'healing' had given her inner gears a mighty kick. "Where?" she murmured.

Since she had her shirt on, I did not bother with words, just carried her to the apparent crash victim. When she saw him lying there, she sprang into action. Like the arrow, not a moment of hesitation, her movements were precise and quick.

"Get the other healers!" she shouted.

I raced to the third courtyard and was there fifteen seconds later, banging on the healers' door. To their credit, someone answered a few seconds later. "Lady, Kiara."

"Freya needs help. Ride me!" I placed the still half-asleep healer on my back, who was now fully awake. Before he could utter a word of protest, we were underway. I was back in no time and placed a slightly dazed healer next to Freya. Seeing the victim, he forgot the circumstances of his sudden transfer and went to work as well.

I took a step back and returned to the healer's room at a slower pace. The door was still open, my abduction had been too quick. So I entered. Another healer was just waking up. "We needing light! Freya and healer. My room. I going back."

And with that, I left, sure that things were moving. Back in the courtyard, Freya waved me closer for mindspeak. Her hand was slightly bloody, so she touched my paw. "The spine is not injured. So we can move him. Carry him in as carefully as you can. Move the leg as little as possible."

I bent forward as far as I could and held him under my shoulders. With my right front leg, I held him by his thighs so that the rest of his leg was clear of the ground, and I walked the fifteen three-legged steps to my mattress. Freya looked critically at my slightly uneven gait but made no comment. I laid him down even more carefully.

By now two other healers had arrived with a stretcher and two lanterns. I went to the far corner of my room and moved the table next to the mattress to give them as much room as possible. In the light of the lanterns, the injuries looked even worse. He was bleeding from head to toe, from his forehead, left shoulder, both hands, left hip and the whole left side of his left leg. As if he had hit my wall with his left side at high speed. How very strange.

"Your knife!" Freya's request brought me back quickly.

I handed her my not-so-sharp knife. She began to cut off his dark blue trousers. Even before the knees, some bone was visible.

"To the side!" I shouted, retching. And with a great leap that almost touched the ceiling, I was out through the door, nearly knocking the Senior Healer over.

"Good evening, Lady Kiara."

"Good evening." I retched. But the cold, damp air outside helped.

He put his hand on my shoulder and used mindspeak from the start. "Lady Kiara, you look unwell. Can I help you?"

"The man inside is badly hurt. A bone is poking out." I stopped and started gagging again. But talking helped. And the Senior Healer did something, I felt much lighter.

"A story is usually told from the beginning. So please tell me what happened."

"But won't I distract you?"

"Hrrmpf!" Even in mindspeak, it carried immense authority. "Four excellent healers are inside. I could not be of much help. But I would like to know what happened."

So I told him about my sudden awakening, how I found him, what Freya did, how I got the healer, and even how puzzling it was that someone could hit a wall with such force, but only with the left side.

"You say his clothes are dark blue?"

I nodded.

"That would mean a mage. Maybe someone tried a translocation spell."

"Translocation spell?" Even pronouncing it in Earth carried little meaning to me.

"Travelling by magic. It is very difficult, I had heard, even to a known location. If this was indeed a translocation spell, this mage was either very confident or very desperate."

That explained something that had bothered me for quite some time: If there was magic in this world, and I was the living proof of it, why on earth was there no magical communication or flying carpets? "So magic doesn't work well?"

"I do not know. But there must be a reason why no one travels by translocation spell. It is used rarely for important messages. But maybe we can ask him later. Apparently, he is not in immediate danger of dying."

"How do you know that?"

"Neither I nor a cleric have been asked for."

I gulped.

"Lady Freya, it is refreshing to see that someone as capable and large as you, and with the fearsome attributes of a predator, can be such a kind and gentle person."

"I think my soul is mostly squirrel." I looked down.

"Why the gloom. Squirrels are very entertaining animals and quite lively too. Hug your inner squirrel."

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The senior healer knew his trade and brought a smile back to my face. I was about to climb the stone wall, so much I longed to embrace my squirrelness.

"Lady Kiara, this is going to be a long night for the healers. May I take you to our room where you can rest for the rest of the night? The night has been exciting enough." He tried to pick up the man's bag but "Ouch" and held his back.

"Let me." I was heavy as if filled with stones. The leather creaked as I lifted it. Still, my saddlebag had been heavier when I first came to this world.

The senior healer still held his back.

"Do you want to ride?"

He just pushed me gently forward and walked beside me. "No, Milady, I don't think it's appropriate, even in the middle of the night. There are rumours about Freya and her lady that I do not wish to add to."

"Eh?" He made me uneasy.

"Well, two ladies travelling alone, fleeing a highwayman. One riding the other. Did you really think that would not inspire the bored minds in this castle?"

"On the road, I was seen more as a horse than a person. Even at the city gate of Krenburg, I had to pay the toll as a mount."

"It might have stayed that way if you had taken up residence in the stable next to the centaur. But a lady is never a mount. And since only a woman can become a lady, you are a woman now. The extra legs and tail do not count. And to be honest, if your domain weren't an inaccessible alien world and therefore without any profit, hopefuls would have lined up to court you."

"Me?"

"Lady Kiara, you are indeed built like a warrior beast from afar. But," he shook his head, "you have a, hmm, well-endowed female part, and most of all your winning smile, not matter the fangs. Everyone who has met you tells highly of you. Even the servants like to please you and see you smile. And Freya is not the only one who thinks your heart is in the right place. No, Lady Kiara, the people were sceptical at first. Why did Vice-Administrator promote a beast to a lady? But everyone who has met you has had a change of heart. I have heard of servants taking a detour through the first courtyard just to catch a glimpse of you. No one in Krenburg Castle would dare call you a mount."

I blushed deeply. So much for keeping a low profile. "You mean," I began, "they see me as ... How do you see me?"

"As I said, a young, gentle lady, trying hard to fit in, with a winning smile. Yes, that one."

I blushed even more. He gave me a lot to think about.

After we had passed through the second courtyard in silence, the Senior Healer asked. "Are you all right? Anything I can help with?"

"No, I just don't know how to be a lady. I want to do the right thing. I mean, it is nice to have free food and a groom ready in the stable whenever I need one. And to make the servants happy with my smile. But all my life, I have depended on myself. I was brought up that way. I am not comfortable being a lady."

He chuckled, "And yet that is what makes you so pleasant as a lady. You may even surprise yourself. Ladies first!"

He held the door to the healer's room open. A lantern was lit here as well, and a healer was rummaging through pots on a large cabinet with dozens of small drawers, mixing some medicine.

I entered the room and left the man's bag by the door. The senior healer invited me to choose any bed or bunk. But there was really no choice: They were all too small for me. I simply walked up to the wall, tucked my tail under me and laid my head on my forepaws, as I had done so many nights on the journey. Within seconds I was fast asleep.

The idea of nobility courting me had followed me into my dreams. From silly, 'Kiara, let down your tail', to romantic, standing in a white wedding dress with a handsome nobleman who looked suspiciously like Count Radel in front of a beautiful castle with far too many spires, to horrible, a mob trying to stake me with a castle in flames in the background and a Count Dracula lookalike on my back. I woke with the latter images. It was still dark, I shook my head and tried to think of nicer things again.

* * *

Freya touched me gently. "Kiara," she whispered.

"Freya!" It took a moment to shake another staking mob out of my mind but then I was well awake. The early daylight shone from the door.

"He was coherent for a moment. He is a mage, travelled from Kwal by rune."

"Eh,"

"The man was a mage. Travelling by magic. Like you and the centaurs, all of you were once sent from Kwal to the battlefield by magic."

"But we did not end up like him. I mean, I was not injured?"

"No, and I think the magic had been improved many times. I am not sure how it went the first time." She shuddered. "We were able to stabilise him and he will survive. So we can ask him later. Maybe tomorrow. He is still in shock, lost a lot of blood, had a bad concussion, broken ribs, arms and legs. We put him into a healing sleep. Jerris thinks we can save his left leg, maybe even rebuild it completely. She yawned. "I'll sleep here. I hope you can do without your translator this morning."

"No, I'll freeze to death." I grinned. And then out loud. "Sleep well."

"You too, sleep well!" With a last effort, she climbed into her bunk and immediately snored Freya-like.

I stood there for a moment and smiled but went serious again at the thought of the mage. The healing room smelled of sweat and strange herbs that made my eyes water. I went outside.

It was light outside and the drizzle had stopped. It was mild and the sun was was just rising, illuminating the dissolving clouds. Well, it had rained long enough.

I went to the stable as my room (or rather my chamber pot) was still inaccessible.

The groom was already awake and hurried to clean up after the lady, which was so embarrassing.

Then I went to see Larina. She was dozing, her upper body resting on the partition of the stall. As another victim of the mages, she should be the first to hear the news.

"Larina, good morning," I whispered.

She was awake immediately. "Lady Kiara? Good morning. What happened?"

"Mage comed, was cominged, err, a mage is here."

"Please, Lady Kiara. Do you mean a mage has arrived here at the castle?"

I nodded. "Yes, yes. He with going magic. He getting wall." I crashed into the partition, which shook and knocked a brick out of place. "Sorry."

"The mage travelled by magic and crashed into a wall, I understand. Was he hurt?"

"Yes, very. Freya healing, all healers healing. All night. Mage will good."

"Dear Lady, thank you for the news. Since we are awake, would you like to try some grains for breakfast?"

"Oh, stop! Not eating that. Stop," I saw her surprised look, but she put the bag down. I nodded and headed for the stairs to the kitchen.

A servant spotted me before I had even crossed half of the courtyard and bowed. "I bid you a good morning, Lady Kiara of Earth."

"Good morning." I did my best to smile. "Two breakfast in stable with centaur? Please?"

"You like to have your breakfast with a guest in the stable?"

I nodded. "Just vegetables. And egg."

He bowed again. "I will convey your wishes, Lady Kiara of Earth. Please allow for some preparation."

"Thank you." And I bowed, which irritated him again for a moment and he tried to bow deeper. A game he had to lose, with my counterweight I could touch the cobblestones with my forehead. Embarrassed, he gave up. I smiled at him. "Good morning and thank you."

I should stop doing cringy things like that. I'm a lady now! So I strut back into the stable like a dressage horse with its hopping gait, to Larina to coax her out of her stall. Away from the horse stench, not Larina’s but the other horse’s, into the other room with the smithy and the large grooming area. Outside her stall, I could understand why she felt uncomfortable about her well-visible stallionhood.

Not being able to communicate my intentions well enough, I took a broom and started sweeping the straw away in a corner near the wall. The two grooms came running. But I had already cleared a small corner. So I just handed the broom to one of them. "We having breakfast here. Thank you." And smiled.

They hastily produced a blanket to cover the floor. It was a well-worn horse blanket, but I appreciated their efforts.

Then two servants arrived with a large tray and a maid with a folding table. They set the table, even with a tablecloth, and decorated it with bowls, plates and cutlery. I was embarrassed again at the special treatment, even if I enjoyed the luxury.

I stood aside and smiled. And then I bowed and smiled again.

Then the maid found her courage: "Lady Kiara. You were in Kerwnough?"

I nodded. "Yes?"

Everyone was ahhing and oohing. "You walked from there?"

"Yes. Healer apprentice Freya riding me. And translating me."

More surprised faces. "I cominged world ten and one days. No good speaking. Only Freya mindspeak." I took her hand. "Please touching. Good fur?" I smiled.

The maid was rather frozen with fear.

"I no eating you! Only salad eating."

But she quickly withdrew her hand. "Lady Kiara, is the battle over?"

Oh, that was her concern. "Yes, over. Kren Republic good. No war!" I smiled.

"Thank you, Lady Kiara."

They bowed again and then fled before the strange lady did anything embarrassing again.