Hannah hurried through the Guild Row Market’s main street as she struggled to keep the hefty and rough sack stable on her back. The thing was so heavy that even a little slip could send her tumbling down. That had happened a number of times before and it always ended poorly with a harsh punishment for dropping and damaging the supplies. But what could the fox beastkin expect as a slave in the Dewath empire? What could any beastkin expect when humans saw their kind as things barely above wild animals?

As she continued on her way the vixen could spot a few others of her kind lugging around their owner’s purchases. There were, however, a few stark differences between those beastkin and her. One of those being nearly all of them were following behind their owners by a few paces whilst Hannah was alone. Another was their appearances, or more accurately, the appearance of how well kept they were. Many of them wore nice clothing and even looked like they had bathed in the last few days. Hannah was very much the opposite of that, as she wore a dress made from an old sack, similar to the one she was now carrying, and was covered in dust, dirt, and soot, with matted hair and fur.

Her owners, the Strawfords, were not very kind people and truly didn’t see beastkin as anything but a living tool. Because of this they didn’t care to give her proper clothing that would have kept her at least somewhat warmer through the last winter while sleeping in a locked woodshed in the alley behind their home, nor did they believe she was worthy of a bath. The only real time Hannah was able to wash herself now was when it rained. Hopefully with summer coming there would be more rain for her to wash herself in. Regardless, her unkempt appearance made her look more like a slave from the mining camps rather than one from the best bakery this side of the Thelm river.

There was one slightly beneficial thing to her appearance, which was that nearly all goers through the market avoided her and purposefully stepped out of the way to do this. This made her journey back to the bakery easier. At least for the portion of it where she would be walking through the main street. As she got close, she was commanded to walk through the narrow and crowded back alleys to the store so that potential customers wouldn’t see her. They didn’t want anyone knowing that she was owned by the bakery, which Hannah found odd considering that not only did she go to the same stores every time, but she had to show a note of proof that she was allowed to be alone which had to be signed by them. She was already known to be from the bakery, so why did she have to take the back allies all that way?

Regardless, Hannah readjusted the sack and continued on her way down the street. She had better hurry up, too. The baker and his wife were already in a frenzy about this cake they had to make. She knew they had a month to prepare for the order, but they had waited until the day before to even get what they needed. Hannah couldn’t decide if them already being like this was good or bad. Either they would be too busy and just ignore her, or they would take their anger and frustration out on her. Usually that meant a beating but… when they were really mad they let their boys punish in their own ‘special’ way…

~~~

Lady Rayne Hayward strode down Guild Row Market with purpose as her head housemaid Eda, who also doubled as her personal lady’s maid,followed closely behind her. The lady had to pace herself so that Eda could keep up her long strides. She looked around and could spot many others of clearly noble status, but none of them quite reached her level of nobility. In terms of actual noble status though family lineage, Rayne wasn’t anything high up nor notable. However, in terms of wealth, social status, and business her family were one of the most well-known names in the capital. Nearly half of all tea bought or sold in the city, and much of the empire for that matter, bore the name Hayward or at least touched hands with people affiliated with the company. There had once been talk of her parents being named a Viscount and Viscountess, but with their premature deaths thanks to a drunk coachman, that never saw the light of day. It might one day in the future but that was up to her eldest brother to prove himself.

Regardless of all that, Rayne’s level of nobility would normally be seen in a much higher and more expensive market. There was little need for a woman of her wealth to stroll through what some lords and ladies called the ‘Middle-Class’ market. In fact, she was certain she could buy out a few stores in their entirety without so much as making much of a dent in her pocketbook. Though there was no true reason why she couldn’t come here if she so chose, it did leave the door open for gossip about her ‘diminishing wealth’. Gossip and scandal were the favorite pastime of nearly all the nobility she knew, and Rayne found it rather grating even when it could be entertaining sometimes. She cared not what people might say after having seen her in this market. Her family had faced gossip and true scandal before, so they could easily survive some baron’s third cousin twice removed saying she had to come here to afford things.

“My lady, are you sure you must be the one to talk to the silversmith? And must it be this silversmith? Would one from the Elmwood market not suffice?” Unlike her lady, Eda was a little concerned about Rayne coming to this market. She had been with the lady since her birth and had always been rather protective of Rayne. Regardless of what that protection might be from.

“Yes, Eda. This jeweler is the same that my father used his entire life, well before he married mother, and well after it too. It is only right that I should come here to have the ring fixed for Kaden’s eighteenth. I truly would trust no other silversmith than the man who made the ring in the first place.” Speaking of the ring, Rayne pulled it out from her pocket where she had been constantly toying with it and looked at it for the umpteenth time today. It was a simple family crest ring made out of plain silver and it had been worn down with time. The crest was smushed in in parts and there was a large crack in the band, something that if she recalled correctly happened when her father was playing a rather intense game of croquet and got hit in the hand. She also believed he broke a few fingers then, but this happened when she was very young and could barely remember it.

Eda very quietly let out a small sigh at her lady’s words, which was highly inappropriate behavior for her to do. It didn’t really matter though, since the relationship between Rayne and Eda had long past polite formalities. Rayne preferred Eda being fully honest with her and treating her as she might any other person. She needed that honesty sometimes. “Yes, my lady. But you could have sent me on my own to do this. There was no need for you to come to this market.” Eda looked around and scanned the crowd. “I wish you would have worn something less obviously expensive. I fear there could be ruffians or pickpockets who will look at you as an ideal mark.”

Rayne chuckled and looked back at Eda over her shoulder. “Eda, this is not the lower end, nor the outskirts. Do you truly believe someone would try and rob us here, in broad daylight? Any pickpocket would be a fool to try their lu—” Rayne hadn’t been watching in front of her, so she didn’t see the lad barely into his teens burst out from around a corner and bolt into her shoulder first. Young he may have been, but he was fast and strong. Strong enough that it made Rayne stumble back a few steps, almost tripping, and the air left her lungs. She barely even noticed the boy’s hand pluck the ring from her own. Far too quickly the boy, with ring in hand, was off and running for another alley on the opposite side of the street.

Hannah was just about to turn down into the alley, dreading having to snake her way through with the sack, when she heard a commotion on the other side of the street. She should have ignored it and continued on her way, but for some reason she actually turned to look. It was good that she looked because when she did, she saw a boy about to run right through where she was walking. Without a doubt he would have easily knocked her down as he ran down into the alley to get away from the ladies Hannah could see behind him. One of them held out a finger and pointed at the boy while yelling, “Thief!”

The vixen acted before she could even think. With the weight of the sack and the momentum of it rolling off her shoulder, she was able to swing it like a club. By the grace of the Goddess, timing was on Hannah’s side and the sack was able to connect with the thief just as he was running past her. The thief, the fox, and the ingredients, which had flown free from the now ripped sack, and the ring all tumbled to the ground. 

The boy was the fastest to recover because it wasn’t but a second before he was up and running again. Hannah on the other hand was bruised and grazed looking over the mess she had just made, but through all of that something caught her eye. A ring lay just before her. It shouldn’t have been what she focused on. She should have instantly worried about the ingredients, but the ring was what her mind focused on. She reached out and picked it up, which caused the band to break off. In a panic she grabbed that too and cradled it in her hands as she sat up. It was a family ring that read Hayward.

Her large ears picked up on the footsteps making their way over to her and she looked up. Approaching her were the two women. The one who stood in front was an older woman with a full head of gray hair tied up in a neat bun. She wore an outfit that was reminiscent of a maid’s but spoke of higher status than just a maid. She had been the one to yell ‘thief’ Hannah realized. But the vixen’s eyes were now on the woman behind her.

The second woman was clearly of nobility by the outfit she wore. Though it wasn’t an outfit one would see on a woman. It was a suit like a man would wear but tailored to her shape and curves and highlighted her long legs that showed her imposing height over most men. Her hair was black as coal and tied up in a bun as well, but one so intricate that Hannah knew she could never replicate. Even with all that it was the gray eyes that Hannah locked on to. Eyes that appeared to look straight into her very soul.

Rayne studied the fox slave as she hurried to her feet as they approached. Even without the scratchy looking collar around her neck and animalistic parts, it would have been easy to recognize this woman as a slave. One that looked very out of place for the market they were in. She looked more like a slave from a mining camp than one allowed in the Guild Row Market. Her presumably bright orange hair was dirty and knotted in many places and the same could be said for her tail. Its bright white tip was a dark gray and it all looked so caked in dirt and grime that the tail looked thin and sad when Rayne knew it should be bright and bushy. The vixen’s yellow slitted eyes were cast downward at her feet, clearly even too afraid to look Eda in the face. Even through all that, something about the fox was captivating to Rayne. She couldn’t look away.

Hannah’s ears were folding back against her head as she looked up just enough to see the older woman holding her hand out to Hannah. Quickly she placed the ring in her hand and quietly spoke, “I’m sorry, but I broke the ring when picking it up.” She had a realization that she felt a hundred times worse about having hurt the ring than having scattered all the ingredients across the ground.

Eda handed the ring back off to Rayne and she studied it. The band was broken fully now and there were probably a new handful of scratches on it. Still, it wasn’t much worse off than it had been before. “It’s alright,” Rayne replied, looking back up to Hannah. There was a strange feeling of unease when Hannah wouldn’t look up to meet her eyes. “The ring was already on its way to be repaired. Thank you for stepping in when you did, or I don’t believe I would have ever seen it again.”

A feeling of warmth washed over Hannah at being thanked for the first time in years. It made her cheeks flush red in embarrassment. “You’re welcome, Miss Hayward.”

“It’s Lady Rayne Hayward,” Eda said both firmly and gently. The way one would correct a child that hadn’t truly done something wrong, just something that needed correcting. That being said, it was very obvious Rayne was of nobility and that should have been how Hannah responded.

Hannah tensed up and the blush on her face only got worse. How hadn’t caught herself in that obvious mistake? “My apologies, Lady Hayward,” the vixen said with a small curtsy. In all her time as a slave Hannah hadn’t been around nobility but she believed that was the right thing to do. Hopefully.

“That’s quite alright,” Rayne said just before Eda could speak up. The formality of what conversation was allowed between a noble and a slave had already finished so it was a surprise to both of them that she kept speaking. Then again Hannah by virtue of being a slave had to respond to whenever being addressed by anyone, so there wasn’t really anything wrong with Rayne continuing to speak. A thought did suddenly occur to the lady. “I must ask, how did you know my name?”

It was a true surprise that Lady Hayward was still addressing Hannah personally, and not something she could turn away from. No matter how much seeing the supplies scattered on the ground was making her antsy. “I read it on the ring, my lady.”

That took both the lady and maid by surprise. The ability to read was not something taught to slaves in the Dewath Empire. It was seen as something above the beastkin, but very rarely one might be taught after they gained high trust and standing from their owner. Most of the time it was nobility that did this as a way of showing what good ‘stock’ the slave was from. It was also very clear that Hannah was not one of these trusted slaves.

“Where did you learn to read?” Rayne could hear the surprise in her own voice.

The antsy feeling inside of her was only getting worse the longer this conversation was going on. She needed to pick up everything and hurry back, but she couldn’t deny this lady answers. “I learned it at school, my Lady.”

“School?!” Eda said with enough surprise for both her and Rayne. “How were you able to go to school?”

“I was born in Everlial, before Ziteas fell and slavers came and took us.” The antsy feeling was washed away by the memories and Hannah did her best to shove them all down. Shove them where they couldn’t be seen.

“O-oh.” That was even more of a shock to Rayne. There were schools in the freelands? She could see the deep and terrible emotions flicker across Hannah’s face before being shoved away, and the lady realized that this was a kind subject of conversation.

Slavery of beastkin had been a practice in the empire for hundreds of years. Since the very founding of the Empire in fact. As the empire grew it conquered lands and took as many beastkin as it could. Those that escaped this were said to have run far past the borders, through the neighboring country of Ziteas and what humans called the freelands on the far side of Ziteas. The beastkin of the freelands called their new and safe home Everlial and had been safe for hundreds of years, thanks to Ziteas holding firm of not letting slavers through.

However, twelve years ago there was a coup in Ziteas, which led to a small civil war in the country. A war that lasted for around four years until one side won. But the country was weakened. Many of its men were dead and the economy was decimated. The Emperor of Dewath, in all his ‘genius’, saw that as an opportunity for the empire to expand. So the armies of the Empire swooped in and took the entire country in less than three months. All of a sudden Ziteas didn’t exist and the Freelands weren’t guarded.

This was something that the Hayward family had despised. Unlike many of the older houses of the Empire, the Hayward family had never agreed to slavery in its long history. Sadly, with the state of the empire, they had never been able to very publicly speak out against it. That didn’t typically end well for the most outspoken. So, the family made a very big point of never owning a slave, even if they didn’t talk about it much.

“Why aren’t you a noble’s sla—” the words caught in Rayne’s throat. It felt so wrong to openly call this woman a slave. “A noble’s servant if you can read and, I presume, write.”

Somehow Hannah had managed to squash the memories back down, but this new question brought up a whole different set of memories. She just found herself speaking without thinking. “I wasn’t always accepting of my status as a slave. I… I had a tendency to fight back at first.” There was still part of her that dreamed of having that courage again. To have the willpower to defy those who beat her down over and over again. But those beatings did tear her down eventually. Then what the boys did even more so…

Rayne was at a loss for words. How does one reply to that? What could one ever say to turn this conve—

“Hannah!” a new voice screamed out. All looked over to find a woman steaming her way towards them, with a face so angry it was red. “What the hell have you done?!” Misses Strawford blasted into Hannah large and sensitive ears, as she grabbed the fox by the collar. “Why is all the food on the ground? Don’t you know how to carry shit?”

Fear and sheer panic were currently flooding Hannah. She already knew what this level of anger meant, and she started crying already. “I-I-I’m sor—”

Miss Strawford shoved Hannah to the ground, not even giving her time to answer her questions. “I don’t care what excuse you were about to give. Pick it up and get back now!” The woman was almost panting with anger as she watched Hannah scurry to pick everything back up. For Rayne and Eda’s parts they were honestly a little too shocked and stunned at how openly forceful she was with the fox. Sadly, she was fully in her right to treat Hannah however she wished, but most kept harsh treatment behind closed doors. Not out in the busy market street for the world to see. With great speed and efficiency, Hannah managed to gather everything up into the sack in a way that they wouldn’t fall out again. Then with as much force as she used to shove her down, she yanked her up. “Get back now, and you’ll be lucky if I just let the boys have at you tonight.”

“N—” Hannah started, clearly about to beg, but she stopped herself. Tears were already running down her face as her brain just told her to run. So that was what she did. She turned and ran down the alley as fast as she could with the sack.

With Hannah now out of sight, Misses Strawford finally turned to Rayne and Eda. “I’m so sorry about my slave, my lady. I hope she didn’t cau—”

“What did you mean by ‘let the boys have at you’?” Rayne said cutting the woman off as she stepped forward and used her height to its full advantage. She couldn’t help but look down at the woman with clear disdain as she instantly lost all respect for her when she shoved Hannah down. Now though, after what she implied, Rayne was truly angry.

“Oh-I-um,” Misses Strawford stammered as she quickly grew shy under Rayne’s intimidating height and threatening glare. “Well… You understand, my lady. Boys will be b—”

“No, say it. I want to hear you say it.” Rayne very much enjoyed how this monster of a woman cowered from her.

This felt like a time that Eda should say something. Something to bring Rayne back down from her anger, which was clearly close to overboiling. That in and of itself was a surprise to the older woman as Rayne had never acted like this before when it came to slaves. Then again, Rayne hadn’t ever truly been present when an owner was genuinely angered by a slave. That was always kept behind closed doors in noble houses. Stunning as this reaction might be and knowing it truly was her place to reign Rayne back in, she was not getting in the middle of this. She knew all too well the fury Rayne harbored inside.

“You let them rape her, don’t you?

“I-I-I mean, there isn’t any harm in it. It’s not like she can get pregnant with the seal on her.” 

The seal… It was one of humanities’ few magical achievements. A form of birth control that could apply to women and men alike and would stop fertility on either side. Rayne even knew a few friends who had them so that their more hidden and promiscuous activities would result in scandal. There was a large difference between those her friends had and the ones on beastkin slaves, and that was removability. For her friends it was simple to remove, something one could do themselves in a matter of seconds. Rayne didn’t really know exactly how it was done since she would never have a need to. For beastkin it was placed on them in a way similar to what some would call a curse. They had no ability to take it off themselves and were subject to the whims of their owners to decide where, when, and with whom they made children.

“And she’s just a beastkin. It’s not like she’s a person.”

Rayne let out a very slow and clearly heated breath at this woman’s words. “How much?” Both Misses Strawford and Eda looked up at her confused. “How much did you pay for her?”

“Uh… Two hundred crem, my lady.”

“Eda,” Rayne said, holding out her hand to her lady’s maid. She didn’t even think about how this would break her family’s long held belief. She was just thinking about getting Hannah away from these people and get her to somewhere safe.

“My lady, are you—” Rayne cut her off with a quick glance and Eda nodded. “Yes, Lady Hayward.” Still uncertain but not going to question her lady, Eda reached into her bag and pulled out the lady’s pocketbook. Now Rayne might have kept it in the pocket on the inside of her jacket, but it messed with the shape of her breasts, so she let Eda hold onto it.

“L-lady Hayward.” Misses Strawford said in aww, knowing the name well.

Rayne took the pocketbook with surprisingly gentle hands for someone so clearly mad. Then she pulled out four hundred crem in paper bills and shoved it at Misses Strawford. 

“Wh-what is this?” the baker’s wife was almost too afraid to ask.

“Four hundred crem. Double what you paid for Hannah.” That was the first time Rayne had spoken Hannah’s name and it rolled off her tongue so naturally.

“I don’t understand.”

“I’m buying her off of you. Double should be more than enough to cover her and allow you to get another.” Rayne was getting impatient. 

“But, my lady, she isn’t worth th—”

Rayne pulled out another two hundred. “Triple.”

“I-I don’t u—”

“Take it,” Rayne practically spat at the woman, and thankfully she did take it.

Trinidia

Well it happened! I posted a new thing! I'm sorry if it was a little rough, I haven't found anyone to proofread this yet but I just wanted to get it out there. I hope you liked it regardless and please let me know what you think!