Taking a seat at the head of the table, Rayne smiled at both her brothers Hamish returned a smile and sat down to her right while Kaden wouldn’t look at her or even Hamish, much less give them a smile. She still wasn’t happy with Kaden at all, but it had been quite a while since the whole family was together and that was deserving of a smile. She missed the days when it was all five of them at the table. “It’s a nice feeling to have the whole family back together for dinner.”

“It’s nice to be home.” Hamish gave a light chuckle as Mr. Williams and the footmen started bringing out the food. “I’ve definitely missed Mrs. Vera’s cooking. Don’t get me wrong, the cooks at university are good, but you can’t beat the cooking you grew up on.”

“I’m sure Mrs. Vera will be happy to hear that,” Rayne said as she was poured a glass of wine. “Thank you, Mr. Williams.” The butler gave a gentle bow at her thanks. “Your letters said you’ll be staying for the whole season this year.”

“I will. Though there will be a few times here and there I might go back for a day or two. Nothing too long. Just long enough to get out of the eyes of all the pestering Mamas.” Hamish took a sip of his own wine. “Though I won’t be the only one being pestered this year, now will I, Kaden? You’ll be old enough to marry this season.” Kaden’s only response was to shrug. Hamish sighed. “Kaden, stop sulking.”

“It’s unbecoming of you,” Rayne said, getting an eye from Hamish.

“Rayne, don’t make this worse.”

“It’s true,” she said only slightly defensively before turning to Kaden. “You were wrong, Kaden, and that’s okay. It's okay to be wrong as long as you learn and grow from it. You weren’t the only person who was wrong when it comes to beliefs about beastkin. I didn’t even know they had villages in the freelands let alone schools and teachers, but after I learned that I accepted that my previous beliefs were wrong and moved on with my now greater knowledge.”

“I can’t tell you how many times I’ve found myself wrong at university,” Hamish said, joining in. 

“It’s just poetry,” Kaden said with a slightly annoyed tone. “How can you be wrong at poetry?”

“Oh believe me,” Hamish said with a laugh as food was placed in front of him, “you can be wrong with poetry. Well, in some ways. Not in others. It’s really a personal experience that can be interpreted wrong in terms of what the original poet meant, but most say the real meaning is what one personally derives from reading it. For example John Herackl—”

“What Hamish is trying to say is that there will always be times in your life that you are wrong,” Rayne said, cutting her brother off before he could go into one of his famous half hour spiels on random poets. “Even on rather large things. I’ve most certainly made mistakes based on wrong beliefs when it comes to the family business, but I learned and grew from them. That's what you need to do now, not sulk around.”

“You’re almost an adult, Kaden. Sulking is not how a Lord handles himself.” Hamish started putting food on his fork. “So what a beastkin is more educated than us. You’re only seventeen, thats plenty of time to learn and grow more educated.”

“That's very true,” Rayne said with a smile. She was going to say something about Hannah being able to teach Kaden, but the lady realized that probably wouldn’t go over well with her youngest brother.

After swallowing a mouthful of food and letting out a pleased sigh, Hamish then said, “I might even ask the fox to help me with Treysian poetry.”

“I’m sure Hannah would be more than happy to help you, or any of us,” Rayne said before taking a bite of her own food. It was as delicious as ever. Kaden didn’t respond to either of them and just started eating as well. The next few minutes were spent eating in silence before Rayne spoke up again. “Oh, I wanted to let both of you know that I’ve invited Azaphan Vestar to come visit during the season.”

“Vestar…” Hamish said clearly thinking about it. “The chap from Casiden?”

“The desert dweller?” Kaden said.

“Do not call him that,” Rayne said with a hint of anger.

“What? He lives in the desert. He is literally a desert dweller.” The words came out with a defensive tone.

Hamish spoke up after a sip of wine. “I wouldn’t call him that to his face or anywhere he might hear it, brother. Casidens are very smart and witty people who are not afraid to publicly embarrass those who annoy them. Trust me they will go out of their way to do so.”

“Spoken like a man with experience.” Rayne gave a sly smile at her eldest brother.

Hamish hid his face behind his glass of wine. “I have no comment on the matter. It will be quite a while before he gets any message and even longer before he manages to get here. He might miss the whole season.”

“That won’t be a problem,” Rayne said with a smile. “I sent the letter via the Arcina guild.”

Hamish spat out his drink while Kaden choked on his food. “You can’t be serious, Rayne?” Hamish managed to get out, wiping his face. “You used the magic to send it? That must have cost a damn fortune!”

Rayne shrugged. “We aren’t strangers to magic in this home,” she said, nodding to the lights.

“Maybe, but sending a letter at least a third way across the known world in an instant is still expensive!”

“We can afford it,” Rayne said casually. “Besides they needed some tea and spices for something I don’t fully understand so we were able to make a deal where it wasn’t as expensive, nor will it be moving forward.” Of course one would think that a wealthy family such as the Haywards wouldn’t be phased by sending a letter through magic for an exorbitant cost, and that was true. They could easily afford it and now with the deal for spice and tea (That Rayne had actually sorted out around three weeks ago) it was much more affordable. It was always good to be looking for new business opportunities and that felt like a rather beneficial one to Rayne.

Hamish sighed and leaned back in his chair. “At least tell me there is a good reason for inviting Mr. Vestar.”

The lady nodded. “It's been quite a while since we’ve met in person and now felt like a good time. I have some new ventures I would like to propose and of course seeing each other again would be nice.” Yes, that was the whole reason. Just to see an old friend and talk business, and had nothing to do with him being the only person she personally knew that currently had lip rings and presumably easy access to buying them. She definitely didn’t ask him to bring an assortment with him when he came to visit, hoping that some would please her vixen.

Hamish looked at her with wide eyes and a raised eyebrow, to which Rayne returned a rather nasty glare. The lord quickly looked away and spoke, “Right, well I hope that goes well. It’ll be nice to see him again after so long. Speaking of the upcoming season, while I was at university Uncle Allan invited me over for dinner one night.”

“Did you really go visit Uncle Allan while away, yet insist you were too busy to come back to visit us?” Rayne asked dryly. Uncle Allan Keating wasn’t actually their uncle, neither of their parents had siblings, but he was their first cousin once removed on their maternal great grandparents side. Since he was the same age as their parents and grew up alongside one another he was the closest thing they had to an actual uncle. He was also the father of Margret Keating, their second cousin who they just call their cousin. She was also the cousin that sent the letter Rayne read the other day.

Hamish gave a gentle chuckle. “Maybe.” He glanced away from the annoyed look his sister gave him. “Anyway, I was invited over as Uncle Allan proposed a marriage between cousin Margret and I.” Both the other Hayward children starred with wide eyes at Hamish. 

“O-oh,” was all Rayne could get out. She honestly hadn’t expected that at all.

“You’re going to marry cousin Margret? Simple Margret?”

“Do not call her that, Kaden!” Rayne yelled at the youngest sibling. “Keep calling people unpleasant things and I will send you to your room like the child you keep proving yourself to be.”

“I’m not a child!” Kaden spat.

“Prove it.” Rayne stared him down. The boy opened his mouth but found no words under her intense stare. After he appeared to be sufficiently subdued, she turned back to Hamish. “So, you’re going to marry Margret?” She still couldn’t believe this.

Hamish shook his head. “No. No. No. I am not ready to marry yet.” He gave a nervous laugh. “I’m still too young for that.”

The lady raised an eyebrow at him. “Too young? Well if you wait much longer you might end up a spinster like me.” She narrowed her eyes at him.

“You are a sp—”

“Don’t.” Rayne didn’t even look at Kaden to cut him off.

Hamish nervously chuckled. “I’m fine remaining a bachelor for now. At least until I’ve finished my studies. Anyway,” he said, changing to a lighter tone, “I turned him down, but we continued a pleasant discussion. In it he asked if we would be open to hosting Margret for the season in hopes that she might find a worthy man. She did just turn twenty two recently and he was hoping she would marry soon.” Hamish gave Rayne a gentle smile. “What do you think? I think it would be rather nice to have cousin Margret here for a while.”

That might explain why Margret sent her a letter, then again Rayne did see Margret as a genuinely sweet person who would have done that regardless. Honestly Rayne didn’t think it was a bad idea, she would even enjoy having Margret stay with them for a while. She found she was inclined to agree, but she still saw through Hamish’s gentle smile. “I think you’ve already given an answer before you even thought of asking me.”

Hamish gave that nervous laugh again. “I wouldn’t say that.” He looked down at his food and started moving it around with his fork.

“Hamish,” was all Rayne needed to say.

“I said we would send him a letter letting him know when she can come.”

Rayne sighed. “Alright, that’s completely fine. I just wish you would have told me first. We can discuss specifics tomorrow. You don’t happen to have anyone you’ve invited to stay with us do you?” She asked Kaden.

He scoffed. “No.”

“Good. Any other news or things I should know about?” She looked between her brothers. Kaden shrugged and Hamish shook his head. “Alright, now how has university been treating you?”

~~~

“Hannah?”

The fox looked up from her food and swallowed the juicy cut of beef in her mouth. “Yes, Miss Eda?”

“How old are you?” Eda gave a not-so-subtle nod towards the blonde maid currently splitting her time between eating and glaring at the vixen.

“I’m thirty years old.” So Anna really had told Eda that she was lying when she wasn’t.

James, Lord Hamish’s valet, spat out the tea he was drinking. “Thirty?!” Clearly a few others shared his sentiment.

“I told you she was lying,” Anna said, crossing her arms.

“I’m not lying…” Hannah said quietly.

“James, I’ll ask you to refrain from spitting at this table,” Mr. Williams spoke up, giving the valet an eye. “I don’t know what manners you are now used to at University, but here we do not spit out our drinks.”

“Sorry, Mr. Williams,” he said, blushing only slightly.

“Now, why would you say Hannah is lying, Anna?” The butler turned to look at said maid. Hannah was a little surprised that Mr. Williams was speaking up and not Eda. From the look on her face Eda was also surprised.

“Because she's clearly not thirty.” The anger was clear in Anna’s voice.

“We all know not to judge age from appearance whilst serving Lady Hayward,” Eda said before taking a sip of her tea.

“Yes, I agree,” the butler said, giving Eda an appreciative nod.

“What reason would Hannah even have to lie about such a thing? It’s not like she can hit an age of retirement as a slave.”

“Well… Because…” Anna opened and closed her mouth a few times while Eda raised an eyebrow at her. “I don’t know why she would lie about it.”

“Well, I believe that solves that,” Mr. Williams said before turning back to his food.

“Are you really thirty?” Derek asked Hannah from his spot next to her.

The fox nodded and gave a small smile. “Yes, I am. How old are you?”

“I’m fourteen, Miss Hannah,” he replied.

Miss Hannah… Memories of her students flooded her mind. For a second she was back in the classroom full of children. Their voices were clear as day as they played and chatted. One of them came up to her and called her Miss Hannah. She was back home…

“Hannah?” A hand landed on Hannah’s shoulder, causing the fox to jump out of her flashback. “Hannah, are you okay?”

Hannah turned around to find Eda looking at her with concern. “I’m alright,” she replied a little jarred. Why was her throat suddenly tight?

“You’re crying,” the elder woman said as she kept her hand on Hannah’s shoulder.

Confused, the vixen reached up to her face and found that there were tears running down her cheeks. Why was she crying? “I… I’m sorry, I don’t know why I’m crying.” She wiped her face and finally started putting two and two together. She missed all of her students so much…

“Did I upset you?” Derek asked, his voice a little timid.

“No,” Hannah said firmly as she turned back to him. She couldn’t help but feel bad seeing how upset he now looked. “You didn’t upset me. I think I just remembered something from a long time ago.”

“Oh, I’m sorry…”

“No, it's okay,” she said with a smile. “Would you still like to have me teach you once we finish?”

A smile grew on the boy’s face. “I would, if you don’t mind.”

“Not at all.” It occurred to Hannah that after dinner there wasn’t as much time as she would like to assess his reading skills before she was meant to go meet with Mistress. “Why don’t we finish fast so we can get to it?”

~~~

Rayne smiled as she gently played with the ears of the fox in her lap. This truly was the perfect way to end out a day like today. To end any day really. The only thing that could make this better would be to also be able to pet that fluffy tail that was still hidden under the ill fitting dress. That was the next goal of the lady’s and she just had to wait two more days. At least she hoped Lena would have an outfit or two ready for Hannah.

“You were a little late today,” Rayne said gently. She wasn’t mad about it, since she was more than happy to just let this last a little later. Still she was a little curious as to why.

“I’m sorry, Mistress,” Hannah said with a blush Rayne wouldn’t see. To be far she was already blushing from having her head in Rayne’s lap, it just got worse. “I got a little too caught up in teaching Derek. It won't happen again.” She needed to be more mindful of the time when teaching. That was a struggle she always had. The fox would just get so sucked in and suddenly it was time for everyone to go home.

The lady suddenly felt bad and a little torn. She wanted her vixen to do as she pleased and teach to her heart's content. Hannah deserved that at the very least. That being said Rayne didn’t want it to take away from her time with Hannah. She bit the inside of her lip in thought. “No, it's okay.” Her voice was still gentle in an effort to make sure Hannah believed her. “You don’t need to apologize for that, Hannah. Maybe we could set a time aside for you to teach during the day. That way you wouldn’t have to rush yourself after dinner.”

Hannah’s eyes went a little wide. Was Rayne really suggesting that she teach not on her own time? “But I have to clean and work during the day.”

Rayne couldn’t help but smile. “Not if I say you don’t. If I say that it's part of your job here to spend some time teaching during the day, then that's your job. Hamish even said he might ask for your help with Treysain.” Her hands gently glided across those big fox ears. “Would you be okay with that?”

“I…” Hannah felt tears start to well up in her eyes. Her mistress was really saying that she could be a teacher as part of her job, not just something she did on her own time. Quickly Hannah wiped at the tears on her face so they wouldn’t fall on Rayne’s expensive clothing. “I would really like that, Mistress.” Her voice had come out all wobbly from clearly being on the verge of breaking down.

The shakiness of Hannah’s voice made the lady just want to pick her up and hug her all night long. She settled for continuing to play with her vixen’s ears and watching the tail hidden under her dress start to wag hard. “Then I’ll talk to Mr. Williams and Eda tomorrow about expanding your duties in that regard. We could even set you up in the library. That’s where my brothers and I were taught.” That made the fox’s tail wag harder. “Have you been to the library yet?” How could Rayne have forgotten to tell Hannah about the library till now. Did she even know she could read books from it?

Hannah nodded, still wiping the continual stream of tears from her face. “I was there earlier today. I helped stoke the fire and clean for Lord Hamish to use tonight.”

“He does rather enjoy quiet nights in the library.” It was a very comfortable room to relax in in Rayne’s opinion. It was open to anyone at any time so there wasn’t much secured privacy if one was looking for that. Would Hannah prefer to have their time together in the library? The lady pushed that thought out of her head, mostly because she would be too scared to play with Hannah’s ears like this in front of other people. It was a very strange feeling to feel scared of showing affection and Rayne really hated that. She also was fairly certain Hannah wouldn’t feel comfortable having other people seeing the two of them doing this. “I’m sorry I forgot to mention the library to you sooner. Were you told that you could check books out for yourself?”

The vixen nodded again. “Neila told me today. I even looked through and found a book while we had some free time before dinner.” Hannah wasn’t sure she could put the joy she felt about being able to check out a book from a library again into words. Her tail on the other hand was exceptional at showing her joy, no matter how much she tried to calm it down. It was strange that it had only taken three days before her tail to start wagging again after years of hanging limply between her legs. Even stranger still that she felt like she didn’t have enough control over stopping it.

Rayne wanted nothing more than to see that tail unhindered by the uniform. Two days… It would just be two days before she would see it again, and by the Goddess she was going to touch it. As long as Hannah would allow her of course. There wasn’t as much taboo about touching a beastkin’s tail as there were ears right? “I’m very happy you were able to find a book, Hannah.”

Trinidia

I know this chapter was a little different than my normal chapters with it being three smaller scenes, but I hope you guys still liked it!