Hannah let out a little sigh as she leaned back in the tub, just relaxing in the still warm bath. This was a dream come true and she was going to enjoy every second of it she could till Eda came back with some clothes for her to wear. Though the head housemaid had said that Hannah would eventually need to get some clothes tailored for a beastkin because none of the clothes on hand would work with a tail.

Being alone Hannah decided that for the first time in a long time she would just let all her feelings wash over her. Just let them come and go as she continued to just soak in the warmth of the tub. It felt so good to just feel and then let go as her muscles truly relaxed for the first time in years.

There was a small metallic click that came from the door. Hannah’s ears shot up at the sound that would probably have been too quiet for a human to hear. That must have been Eda coming back, so Hannah sat herself to greet her superior.

The door pushed open and in stepped a woman the vixen had yet to meet. From the outfit she wore it was clear this woman was another maid of the house. The woman brushed her brown hair out of her eyes and then locked them with Hannah’s. Both of them just stared openly at each other for just a split second before Hannah broke the gaze and sunk down a little in the bath to cover herself. It was more out of being timid and not good at looking people in the eyes rather than being embarrassed about being naked.

“I’m sorry,” the maid said, quickly turning her head away. “I didn’t realize someone was already in here.” She made to leave the room, but stopped herself in the doorway and did a double take at Hannah. The maid’s eyes instantly locked on Hannah’s large fox ears. “You’re a beastkin,” she said almost in wonder.

Hannah’s large ears quickly pulled back, ready for an insult to he hurled her way. Maybe even be yelled at for being in the same bathroom as the woman intended to use. It never came though, the woman just continued to stare at her as if trying to solve a puzzle in her head.

There was a cough from behind the maid that made both Hannah and the maid jump a little. Then the door was being pushed open more fully by Eda so she could make her way in. “Is there a problem, Neila?”

“N-no, miss Eda,” she answered quickly. “It was just my time to bathe, and I hadn’t expected anyone to already be in here.”

“Well then, why don’t you step outside and wait just a moment while we quickly finish up.” Eda gave her a gentle but insistent smile.

“Yes, miss,” Neila said while trying to gain one last peak at the fox. Eda was already ahead of her and stepping in the way before she could get a good look. Neila ducked her head down in embarrassment before quickly making her way out of the room.

Once the door was closed Eda turned and spoke to Hannah. “I am sorry about that. I should have locked the door when I left to make sure you had privacy.” She started to walk deeper into the room and set down a pile of clothes she brought in.

“It’s alright, Miss Eda. I hope I’m not taking away from someone’s time to bathe.” Hannah knew all too well what that felt like.

“Oh, don’t worry about that,” Eda said with a gentle smile as she grabbed one of the fluffiest towels Hannah had ever seen. “She’ll still have plenty of time to bathe. I must apologize for her staring though. There aren’t any other beastkin on the estate so I’m afraid you might get a bit more staring till everyone is used to your presence.” Eda stepped over and gestured to Hannah to get up.

“There aren’t any other kin here?” The surprise was clear in her voice as she stood up and took the offered towel. It was so soft.

“No there aren’t. The Hayward family has never been one to believe in slavery and up until you have never taken one.” Eda went to grab another towel to help dry off her tail.

The fox paused in her attempt at drying her mass amount of hair. Today had already been so confusing and it just kept getting worse. “They don’t believe in slavery?”

Eda shook her head as she went about trying to try the bushy tail. “No. Though they haven’t been able to fight against it too publicly. That doesn’t typically go well for people in the Empire.”

Hannah looked at Eda for a few seconds, not moving. “Then why did L—” She caught her mistake and blushed at the thought of using this word again. “—Mistress purchase me?”

Eda took a deep breath as she tried to think of how to best answer. “Honestly, I don’t know. I have some ideas.” Yes, ideas about answering a question she’s had about Rayne for many years now. “I’m sure we’ll get a more thorough explanation soon enough.

Hannah didn’t speak as she stared ahead and continued to dry herself off. Why would a woman who didn’t believe in slavery purchase her? Admittedly those beliefs would explain why Rayne had treated her so kindly. While she was confused, a large part of her decided to just accept this and enjoy this kindness. The kindness her mistress had showed her even if she felt like she wasn’t deserving of it.

“By the Goddess, does this thing ever get dry?” Eda asked in mild frustration at how wet Hannah’s tail still was even with her thorough attempt at drying it.

“Oh,” Hannah said, breaking out of her confusing thoughts. “It normally takes a while to dry. But I can do something that’s a little more helpful than just trying to dry it right away with a towel.” Eda looked up at her curiously before giving a shrug that was more to herself and pulled away from the vixen. Hannah also took a few steps back as well before a fast shake started at her head. The increasingly fast shake spread down her body and all the way down her tail, sending water flying off of it with force. Thankfully the shake was aimed away from Eda.

Eda started on with wide eyes before letting out a small and honest chuckle. That was not what she had been expecting at all. She didn’t even know beastkin could do that and it was surprisingly cute, if messy. “Well, I’m a little surprised that it worked better than I thought,” she said, looking at the tail. It was still clearly wet but not soaked like it had been. “Just be mindful of how messy it can be.”

Hannah nodded her agreement even though she knew there wasn’t much she could do about the spray. She could at least aim more for the tub, but it would get other places. Then again, the bath made the room rather humid, even with the small, frosted window on the back wall open slightly.

“Now let’s get you dressed.” Instead of a maid uniform, which was what Hannah had expected Eda to bring her to wear, she had brought the fox a slightly too big nightgown. Though there was a maid uniform in that pile she got the night gown from, Eda said there were proper ways to tie parts and that they would deal with it in the morning. According to her there wasn’t much reason to get Hannah all dressed and ready to only be done in a couple of hours. 

The pair left the bathroom and were immediately met with Neila who was patiently waiting outside. Though it was clear she wanted to get a better look at Hannah again, a look from Eda sent her rushing into the bathroom. It wasn’t but a few seconds before they stood outside another door at the end of the hall.

“Alright,” Eda said, pulling out a set of keys from one of her pockets. “This will be your room. I hope it’s not too dusty. I hadn’t planned on needing to use it for a little while.”

Pushing the door open, Hannah was given a look at her own room. It was on the smaller side, but still far larger than she had since she was free. Not only was it bigger, but it also had furniture. There was a chest of drawers with a small mirror placed on top, a chair placed in one corner with a small table beside it, and best of all a bed. An actual bed, with a mattress and pillows. It even had covers. Hannah stared at it wide eyed and felt like she might cry.

“Is th-this really all for me?” Her voice was shaky.

The head housemaid gave the fox a small sad smile. “Yes, dear. This is all for you. Do what you like with it. You can lock the door when you’re in here, but only I have the key that can lock it from the outside. There has never been a theft under my watch, but I would still advise you to put any personal things you don’t want others to have in the bottom draw. It has a lock and there’s a small key sitting next to the mirror.” Eda went into her rehearsed talk about giving people a room and it didn’t occur to her that Hannah had nothing till after she said all that.

“I’m going to leave you here while I go about the rest of my duties. I’ll bring you dinner when it’s ready in a little bit. We’ll deal with the introductions and all that tomorrow morning. So for tonight you can just rest and relax here.”

Hannah finally walked into the room and touched the bed; afraid it would disappear under her very touch. It didn’t. It stayed. She had a bed. She couldn’t quite make herself form any words. They would all just come out in sobs, so she nodded to Eda and soon enough she was alone. Alone in her own room. A room with a bed. A bed that she fell onto and let out those sobs into.

~~~

Rayne was looking over the last of the paperwork she needed to deal with today. Though she wasn’t technically the heir to either the Hayward name or Business, Hamish, her younger brother, had no true interest in running the business. As such he named her head of it because she genuinely wanted to run it, even if he was the actual owner. With her running the business it meant he was free to go study to become a poet of all things.

Though many other women Rayne knew could find business a bore and annoyance and prefer to live a simple life of gossip and drinking, Rayne rather enjoyed all of it. Of course, it could be bothersome at times, aggravating even, but she always worked it out in the end and enjoyed the fruits of her labor. The world of tea, and their recent expansion into spices, was an ever-growing one.

Today was a little different than most days of work though. The lady couldn’t immerse herself in her work as she would normally do. Her mind kept moving back to the fox she had bought just a few hours ago. Rayne couldn’t help but keep wondering how Hannah looked all cleaned up. Was her tail as bushy as she imagined it to be? How soft was her fur now? How was her vixen feeling right now?  

A knock at the door broke Rayne’s wondering. Looking up from the papers she hadn’t been reading she found Eda already stepping through the door. “Yes, Eda?”

“Dinner will be served in just a moment, my lady.”

Rayne nodded. “Good.” As she made to stand up, she found Eda still looking at her, with a very specific look. A look that told Rayne her lady’s maid had something she wanted to talk about. Something typically important. “Is everything alright?” Her brain jumped back to Hannah. “Is there something wrong with Hannah?” Worry so easily filled her in a way she wasn’t used to.

“Hannah is doing fine. She’s bathed, cleaned, and resting in her room right now. When washing her I noticed she had a number of bruises and scrapes on her body, nothing that looked too serious but enough to know her life wasn’t easy. She’s also a lot thinner than I think is healthy, but hopefully a good few meals in the coming weeks will solve that issue. Still, I might suggest you have a physician come to look her over, just to truly make sure she is fine.”

The lady gave a nod. That wasn’t too far off what she had expected. Her life here should solve all those issues in due time. She wasn’t going to accept anything but a proper life that would leave Hannah happy and healthy. Well as happy and healthy as one could be as a slave. Even so behind closed doors she might be able to make it even better than for any other slave in the Empire. “Call for a physician tomorrow to have Hannah looked over. Is there anything else?”

Eda gave a sad look and stepped deeper into the room as she spoke. “I also happened to notice a good number of nasty scars on the girl’s back. When she said she used to fight back I truly believe she did actually fight back not just disobey.” Rayne felt a stab in her heart. She couldn’t imagine what kind of pain the vixen must have gone through. “There… There is more, but I am unsure of how to properly address it.”

That worried feeling was back instantly. “What do you mean?”

“Goddess forgive me for sharing this,” Eda quietly muttered under her breath. It felt like both her place and not her place to share this information. It was obviously something very personal and secret to Hannah, but knowing this was happening to the poor fox without saying something was a burden Eda did not wish to bear. “Those were not the only scars Hannah bore. On the outside of her right thigh there are a large number of scars. Very thin but long and systematic scars. Some of them were even still fresh.”

A strangely calm rage built inside of Rayne. “Are you saying they were torturing her?” That was the only place the lady’s mind could go. What else could explain scars like that? She was going to ruin the Strawfords bakery for this.

“No,” Eda said calmly as she now stood at the side of Rayne’s desk.

“Then how did she get those scars?”

“I… I believe she did them to herself.”

Rayne blinked a handful of times as her mind tried to process those words. “What?”

“Hannah did them to herself.”

“What? Why would she do that to herself?” Eda wasn’t making any sense.

Eda sat herself on the edge of Rayne’s desk and took a deep breath. This was highly inappropriate of her to do, but the two of them had long passed all that. “I can’t speak too specifically because this is not truly my story to share, but I… Do you remember when you were around twelve and I had to leave for six months?”

“Somewhat,” Rayne admitted, but she couldn’t see where this was going.

“I was looking after my cousin. He was in a very dark place having just lost his wife while she tried to give birth to their child. For some reason he blamed himself for all of it. I really shouldn’t share this, but I had to look after him because his sister-in-law caught him hurting himself one day.” Eda was a strong woman but even so she struggled to reign in her emotions. “Sometimes when people feel they have done wrong, when they hate themselves, it can drive them to do bad things. Bad and harmful things to themselves. Some take to drinking, and some take to punishing themselves physically. Sometimes that punishment can lead to them trying to end it all. That was the fear with my cousin.”

Rayne had rarely ever seen Eda cry or even come close to tears. Rayne knew all too well how it felt to lose family, but she couldn’t imagine losing one to their own hands. She opened her mouth to say something but couldn’t make the words happen.

“Hannah has obviously not had a very good life as a slave. I don’t know if those things are what has made her feel like she needs to do this or if there is something else making her feel that way. Even if it’s not, I’m sure being a slave doesn’t help.”

“What… What can I do?” Rayne asked. It struck her that she asked what she could do herself and not what could be done in general, but she pushed that realization aside. There were more important things to think about.

“I don’t fully know. With my cousin we had a doctor of the mind come and visit him a few times a month. They met in private, so I don’t know what was talked about or done, but he did eventually get better. Though from my understanding he still saw that doctor for years to come. For Hannah though I don’t know if one of those doctors would be willing to have a beastkin as a patient. Hopefully the kind of life she can have here because of you will do much in the way of helping her. One thing that did help with my cousin was making him feel like an asset and not a burden, and maybe that might help with Hannah as well.”

Rayne leaned back in her chair and thought deeply. A doctor of the mind would be great, but she couldn’t deny they might not find one willing to work with Hannah. How else could she help Hannah though? What could she do to make Hannah feel better and happier in her life? How could she help her vixen?

There was an awfully long pause in conversation before Rayne finally made to stand from her chair. Dinner was probably well on its way to being served this very minute and she could ponder all this even while eating. However, she noticed that Eda didn't move. “There’s more?”

After another long pause that gave the lady enough time to sit back down Eda spoke, “Rayne.” Even when formalities were dropped between them the one that rarely ever did was the lady’s name. She was always ‘my lady’ or ‘Lady Hayward’. But when Eda said ‘Rayne’ it meant that what was about to come was both serious and personal. “I have been with you since the day you were born. Those six months excluded. In that time, I have looked over and guarded you as best I can. Because of that I like to think I know you rather well.”

“I would say you do. You know me better than anyone, Eda. You know all there is about me.” It was true. Eda was her most trusted adviser and knew all of her deepest secrets and always guarded them.

“You know I would never judge you. I respect you for who you are. The woman you are.”

“Why do I feel like there’s a but coming?”

“No,” Eda said, shaking her head. “I just wanted to say that I would never judge you for who you might love or feel attraction to. Whether that be a man… Or a woman… Or even a woman who may or may not have the ears of a certain orange creature.”

Flabbergasted, Rayne stared at Eda. Could she seriously be insinuating that she was attracted to Hannah? That was preposterous! Rayne had never put much thought into her love life or attractions, much less even experienced them. No man had ever once caught her eye, nor did she ever feel one was deserving of it. Of course, there were other reasons why she couldn’t potentially find love with a man. Still, she had never worried or even thought about that.

There was a time briefly where she had been worried that she felt physical attraction to other women, but that had only been jealousy. Jealousy of their bodies, even though Rayne was truly happy with her own. Beyond happy even. Mostly. One part of her body could be troublesome, but also enjoyable. Still, even with that she felt immense euphoria every morning when she looked in the mirror. That mistaken attraction to other women was still only jealousy.

The lady couldn’t be attracted to Hannah. No, she wasn’t attracted to the vixen she had just saved from a horrid place on a whim, breaking her family's long held belief, and only doing so because she looked adorable and incredibly sad, and Rayne wanted nothing more than to see her smile. To see her fluffy tag wag behind her instead of hanging low between her legs. To be close to the sweet little fox. So that she could hear Hannah call her mistress. To have Hannah under her, begging her mistress for more. She could in no way be attracted to the vixen that tugged at her heart so!

By the Goddess, Rayne was attracted to Hannah…

The lady’s eyes went wide with realization as she somehow managed to slump back even further into her chair. Eda, meanwhile, watched Rayne and gave a very light chuckle and a smirk as if to say ‘I told you so’. “What have I done?” Rayne asked in almost shock.

“So far,” Eda said, laying a hand over Rayne’s. “Experienced a crush and saved a poor woman from a terrible life. It’s what you do from here on that truly matters, Rayne. All I want is for you to be happy and more importantly safe.”

“What do you mean?” Rayne’s wide eyes narrowed a bit.

“This empire is not a kind one. It would never accept a woman who loves another woman romantically. It would never accept a human who loves a beastkin. And if both those things were combined, I believe it would make the Emperor’s head explode. Alongside that Hannah has a lot of healing to do, which will take time. Time best spent focusing on helping her, not forming a relationship.”

Rayne did her best to take everything in, but her mind was a blur with everything. 

“Like I said, all I want is for you to be happy and safe. Know that even in the sanctity of your own home, there are always eyes and loose lips. Also keep in mind that if anything does grow between you two, there will be a secret you have to share.”

“Right…” Why did Rayne have to feel this way about Hannah?

“Though, if I remember one thing that I’ve heard about the Freelands is that out there beastkin were ones to have all kinds of ‘abominable’ relationships.” Eda shrugged. “What that could exactly mean I don’t know. Also do remember that earlier Hannah mentioned a fiancé.”

“Oh.” How could she have forgotten that? Of course, Hannah would already have a lover. Who wouldn’t fall in love with that adorable fox? “Well, that’s probably for the better.” Rayne didn’t like that she could hear defeat in her own voice.

“Maybe.” Eda didn’t feel the need to talk about the fact that said fiancé probably wasn’t in the picture anymore, probably not by either of their choices. Regardless she would help Rayne find her way, as she has always done.

“Alright. I guess it’s time for dinner.” Finally, Rayne managed to stand up without immediately sitting back down.

“Yes. I’m sure everybody is already waiting on you,” Eda said, standing up herself and making her way to the door.

“Eda,” Rayne said just as the head housemaid was opening the door. “After her dinner and I’ve already retired to my sitting room, would you please bring Hannah to me?” Eda gave her a look. “Please. I just want to talk to her.”

Eda nodded. “As you wish, my lady.”