With all  measurements taken Hannah was sent back on her way to clean and prepare for Hamish’s return. Rayne stayed with Lena in the sitting room to discuss more about the outfits Lena would be making for Hannah. The lady had already decided that there would be six outfits besides the three uniforms for Hannah, and now Rayne had to actually decide just what those outfits they would be. Lena had suggested three everyday outfits for when Hannah would be off the estate if she were to accompany Rayne around. Then one outfit suited for going out into the gardens if Hannah were to ever go on walks around the estate, maybe a stroll through a park, or even a picnic. And the last suggestion was for two nicer outfits suited for fancier or more formal events.

 Rayne happily agreed to all of them and internally debated on if she should order a ball-gown. She decided not to with the way Eda looked at her. Then it was onto what style and colors. The lady did realize that this was maybe a question better suited for Hannah because she wanted to make sure Hannah liked the clothes she got. She made a mental note to ask Hannah tonight and send a message to Lena in the morning if Hannah’s decisions differ from Rayne’s ideas. 

It was also so nice that Lena so readily came to her calling today. Normally one would have to schedule an appointment for something like this, though Rayne did recognize that most people would always readily answer the call from a family like the Haywards. The doctor was much the same and Rayne was sure he wouldn’t have looked over a beastkin for any other family. Sometimes high nobility and wealth really had its advantages.

Finally Lena’s work was done and Eda was kind enough to have someone walk her out. Though there was clearly an ulterior motive to not walking her out herself. “My lady,” Eda said, closing the door so they would have this conversation in privacy. Rayne also knew Eda not waiting until later in the day wasn’t the best of signs. “Must you spoil the poor girl so clearly in front of others?”

“How am I spoiling her?” Rayne replied. “All the staff have more outfits than your uniforms, and six isn’t even as much as most of you have.” The lady didn’t wish to sound so whiny but it did come off a little as such.

“That may be true, but there is not much need for a slave to have such outfits.”

“What do you mean? Many noble families put their beastkin servants in nice outfits. Some even spoil them with gowns and such.”

Eda sighed. “Yes, but all those doing so tend to be men who wish to show off their slaves as pieces of fashion, as well as something for other men to ogle at. Not to mention that most of those poor women end up in those mens bedrooms by the end of the night, whether they want to or not.”

Rayne crumbled lightly as she took a sip of her cooling tea. Eda was right of course, but the lady wasn’t going to give in. “There are fellow ladies who dress up their beastkin in pretty outfits. I even personally know some of those women, and those beastkin don’t end up in the men’s bedroom at the end of the night. At least not always.” The last sentence came out quietly under her breath.

“That may be so but they are not dressing them up for the sake of making their slaves happy. They are treating them as life size dress up dolls, not as people.”

“Then what else is Hannah supposed to wear on her days off if not her uniform?” Rayne asked with a notable hint of heat in her voice. As much as she appreciated Eda being her voice of reason, it could be annoying.

Eda took a slow deep breath before quietly and calmly saying, “My lady, slaves don’t have days off…”

The lady paused mid sip of her tea. Eda was right… Rayne hadn’t thought about that fact. She had just been equating Hannah to any other member of staff, all of which get half days off at the end of every other week and full days on the other weeks.  “But what if Hannah wishes to go out when everyone is off for the day?” There was no heat in her voice anymore.

“Rayne, slaves are not allowed to roam freely.”

“But what if she wishes to buy something?” Her voice was quiet now and she wasn’t meeting Eda’s eyes.

“With what money? She is a slave, Rayne.”

“I could always pay her for her work.”

“Then you would be one of the few, if not only woman in the empire to pay their slave and people would no doubt talk about it. Not to mention she still wouldn’t be allowed to go out on her own, unless she was given a direct order by you with proof that she was allowed to be there.”

“I could just give her a fake order from me…”

“Do you think Hannah is the kind of woman to stand up for herself in a situation where she might be approached by a constable? Or would she just give in with her low self-esteem? Not to mention even if she was able to stand up for herself the constables still might harass her. Or worse…”

“No one would dare touch my fox!” Rayne shouted, jumping up and spilling her tea all over the small table.

“It’s not a crime to rape a slave, Rayne. You could be able to claim damages to property and be compensated up to what you paid for her. And it would only be the full amount if she was damaged beyond repair.”

Rayne stood staring at her maid with her fists clenched and shaking. The thought of someone doing such a thing to Hannah made her blood boil like it never had before. Not only that but the thought of Hannah getting hurt made her heart ache as much as when she lost her parents.

“Rayne… I know you mean well. I truly do. You want to give her a life and freedoms she hasn’t had since she was taken, but that can’t happen in this Empire. You have to remember what she is here and what that means she is capable of.”

The heat and anger quickly faded away as the lady looked down at her own feet. As upset as she was with everything she was still thankful for Eda not holding back with her. It didn’t help with how to make Hannah happy though. “Maybe I could take her out on her days off. Then she wouldn’t be alone and no one would question it.”

Eda took a second to reply. “Yes, that could work, my lady. Though if you do it every time a half or full day comes people might start to talk or catch on.”

“That wouldn’t matter. We’ve faced massive scandal before when I was a child, so me taking a slave out every now and then would be nothing compared to that. Besides, if I’m going with the story that I bought her as a charity case then it wouldn’t seem out of place if I were to treat her better than other people would.”

“Yes, I heard of your little argument with Kaden from Mr. Williams. That might have actually done a great deal in helping Hannah’s standing among the staff. But is a charity case not the real reason you bought Hannah?”

“Well, yes that is true. She helped me and I didn’t want her punished for it.” Rayne paused and looked at her spilled tea. “There was more to it than that though wasn’t there? Even someone in my situation and beliefs wouldn’t have done as much as I already have for her.” Rayne started to grasp just how much her affection and attraction for Hannah had driven all her decisions around the fox.

Eda nodded, though Rayne didn’t see. “True, but that part never needs to be said out loud.”

Rayne nodded, feeling a very disorienting mix of emotions. She wanted to hide her feelings for Hannah for fear of it coming back to hurt both her and the fox. On the other hand, she desperately wanted to show it. To be open about her affection towards the vixen. She wanted to be proud of her feelings and not hide them away. The lady’s gaze fell from the spilled tea to her shoes. It occurred to her that Hannah still didn’t have shoes. “Have you found Hannah a pair of shoes yet?” She already knew the answer considering Hannah didn’t have shoes on when she was here.

“I was going to have a look around after this and maybe even ask some of the staff if they have olds pairs they wouldn’t mind parting ways with. Though if I don’t find any right away I’m sure Hannah will be fine for another day or two considering she probably hasn’t had shoes in years.”

Rayne nodded. “Maybe it would be good if I took her to the cobblers on this upcoming day off. I’m sure a good pair of shoes would do her wonders more than something already worn down with use.”

The lady’s maid nodded. “That might be a good idea and would give you an actual reason to take her out. Though I’m unsure if her new clothes would be ready by then.”

~~~

After having her measurement taken the day had gone by surprisingly fast. Lunch was a very quick thing that was mostly grab and eat what you can between duties. That was still more than she had back at the bakery. There had been two of the other maids besides Hannah and Neila there, luckily neither of those had been Anna. Hannah hadn’t asked for their names yet and considering how fast they all ate, there really wasn’t much time.

Apparently, Hamish, Lady Rayne’s younger brother, coming back home was a really big deal for the house. Not only did it mean his rooms (bedroom, bathroom, and study) had to be prepared, but the whole house had to be for the upcoming ‘season’. The season meant there would be no end of visitors and gathers, maybe even a party or two, so everything needed to be in tip top shape. 

Hannah had nervously asked Neila what the season meant. She had an idea that it was just a nicer time of year for parties and such, considering at the bakery this was around the time sales went up. She hadn’t expected for Neila to tell her it was the time of year for humans to find a spouse. The fox found it very strange that humans had a season for finding a partner like actual animals, yet considered beastkin to be more like animals. Beastkin didn’t have a season for finding love. You could find it anywhere at any time, one didn’t need to wait for a certain time of year to find love.

Eventually after much had been done in the house it was finally time for dinner. Only after Lady Rayne had hers of course. From the chatter Hannah learned that Kaden had spontaneously decided to go out for dinner with some friends. Because there was more food than her mistress needed the leftovers had been brought down for the staff. Eda had informed Hannah that leftovers, even when there wasn’t as much, were still brought down and shared amongst the staff in addition to their meal.

Everyone stood around the table and waited for Mr. Williams to take his place. This was customary and Hannah had to admit it was a little strange but she said nothing. When he did take his place that meant it was time to eat. At first no one was very talkative as they all focused on eating, but it did pick up eventually. Tonight Hannah found herself sitting next to the hallboy, Derek is she recalled correctly but neither of them spoke to one another.  Hannah also noticed some of the few who hadn’t been too happy with her sitting at the table didn’t seem to mind anymore, which was a little strange. Anna though still clearly looked unhappy.

“Hannah.” Mr. Williams said.

A little shocked that she was being directly spoken to, she answered, “Yes, Mr. Williams?”

“Is it true that you stopped a thief who had stolen from Lady Hayward yesterday?” The way he asked it made it sound more like a statement than an actual question.

“I did, Mr. Williams,” the vixen replied a little shyly. “I heard a commotion as I was walking back to my previous owners and I turned to find the thief running away. I managed to knock him down and get back the ri—”

“Ah,” Eda chimed in, cutting Hannah off. “Sorry, but what exactly you managed to retrieve is to remain a secret till after Lord Kadens birthday. Don’t want any surprises being given away,” she said, giving a glance at a certain male member of staff. 

Mr. Williams nodded. “Thank you for going out of your way to help our Lady.”

“You’re welcome,” Hannah said with a light blush. She also noticed Eda giving Mr. Williams a small nod of approval.

Dinner went on and Hannah noticed that Derek shoveled food into his mouth as fast as he could. She was concerned he was going to choke, but she didn’t say anything. What really caught her attention was that he appeared to be doing this so that he could get to reading a book as fast as he could. It was clearly a children’s book, which made sense since he couldn’t be more than thirteen, maybe fourteen. Even if it was such an easy book, Hannah couldn’t help but look over and read along.

“After…wards…he felt…ge…nu…ine..ly…” Derek whispered to himself, clearly confused by the words. 

“Genuinely,” Hannah said, unable to help herself from wanting to help him. Even after all these years the teacher in her still came out so easily. “It’s a difficult word that doesn’t sound like how it's written. Sometimes a G can make a J sound instead, like in the word ‘gentle’ here.” The fox pointed to the word on the previous page. Finally Hannah looked up from the page and back to Derek to find him staring wide-eyed at her.

“You know how to read?” He was clearly in shock.

“And write,” Hannah answered without much thought.

“How do you know how to read and write?” another member of the staff asked, bringing Hannah’s attention away from the boy to find the whole table staring at her. 

Feeling on the spot the vixen felt her cheeks start to heat up. “I learned it in school when I was a kid, and I had to get even extra learning to be able to teach it.”

“Teach it?” Eda asked. “You were a teacher?”

Hannah nodded. “Yes, Miss Eda.”

“Now that’s a bold faced lie!” Anna practically yelled. “Slaves aren’t allowed to go to school, much less be teachers.”

For the first time Hannah met Anna’s gaze. “I wasn’t always a slave,” she said gently. “I was only taken as one after Ziteas fell and slavers started coming into our lands…” Somehow she was able to keep those painful memories at bay. Instead her mind filled with thoughts of the stew she had last night, and her mistress playing with her ears.

“Do you know more than Celian?” Eda asked before Anna or anyone else could say anything. Celian was the language spoken by the Dewath Empire as well as a number of neighboring countries. One of those countries had been Ziteas.

Hannah nodded. “I can speak, read, and write in Celian, Everlian, and Treysian, Miss Eda.” Hannah found it a little strange that Eda would ask that considering Everlial, her home, had its own language. Maybe that just wasn’t known in the empire.

“And you taught all of those?” Hannah nodded her response to Eda. “Was that all you taught?” Eda asked, continuing to speak before anyone else could. Seeing how she was also second in command of the staff no one but Mr. Williams would have the authority to cut in.

“I also taught sums, multiplications, and history.”

“History of where?” Mr. Williams asked, a little interested in the conversation now.

“I know both Everlial and Ziteas history, a decent amount of Dewathian history, and some Treysian history as well. Though, since I was taken I haven’t been able to keep up with modern events.” It shouldn’t have felt embarrassing considering the circumstances, but the teacher in her did feel it for not knowing all she could.

“Does that mean you have knowledge of the Orc invasions of Trysia?” Mr. Williams actually looked a little excited now.

“Some. I’ve only really read General Griffith’s memoir of the invasions, but not much else outside of that.”

“You’ve read General Griffith’s account?” Now the butler looked a little shocked.

The fox nodded. “I used to own a copy in the original Treysian.” Hannah was beginning to gather that Mr. Williams was a bit of an Orc invasion buff. Elaine had been as well, that was why they owned a copy of it. Hannah had spent months trying to track one day and Elaine had been so happy when she gave it to her.

“You owned a copy?” Now he looked at her in almost disbelief.

“I did.” Hannah looked away. “I’m pretty sure the slavers burned it down with everything else in my home.” Hannah tried not to think about how that included burning Elaine’s body in the home too.

That appeared to also hurt Mr. Williams as well. “Truly a disgrace to burn such a valuable book,” he said mostly to himself.

“Well, Hannah,” Eda said oddly cheerfully. Maybe she was trying to lighten the mood. “I think it's safe to say that you’re probably the most well-educated person at this table.” Eda chuckled. “I’m not even sure the lords and lady speak fluent Treysian.”

Hannah couldn’t help but blush at the compliment. When had she last been complimented? The fox wouldn’t have thought she was well educated compared to humans, but apparently she was. At least for this household. Though if the Haywards were as rich as they clearly appeared to be then it would have made sense that the staff would also have been well educated. Looking around, she could see that many of the staff looked impressed, except for a few. Anna was one of those few.

“Would you be able to teach me?” Derek asked.

Hannah looked at the young boy and felt her heart soar in a way it hadn’t in a long time. She could teach again. “I would love to.”