NOVEL WEB Chapter 17: Warm Bath
The warm water of the bath filled the room with steam as Hannah sat there, stuck in her own thoughts and not washing herself as she should be doing. She and her mistress had spent the night in each other’s arms and the fox was having lots of thoughts and feelings about it.
Last night was quite possibly the best night of sleep Hannah had in years. Before she was taken as a slave Hannah and Elaine would spend most nights curled up by the fire, playing with each other’s ears and cuddling till it was time for bed. There were quite a number of nights where the pair fell asleep cuddling in the living room and for some reason, Hannah liked those nights the best, even if the pair was also used to cuddling in bed. There was just something about being in the comfort of someone’s arms and not intending to fall asleep but doing so anyway that warmed her heart. It made her feel at home and safe.
Physical affection could be very hard for Hannah even with people she loved, like her father. Up until now Elaine had been the only person she ever felt comfortable enough to stay cuddled up to for extended periods of time, let alone fall asleep cuddling. Now Rayne was added to that list and there were so many strange feelings around it. One part of her dearly loved that she felt comfortable enough to be held again after so long without loving, physical affection. Another, smaller part of her was angry with herself that she would let this happen with someone she hadn’t even known for a week. Someone that quite literally owned her and was the same race of people that took everything from Hannah. Then there was maybe the biggest feeling, and that was embarrassment. Not embarrassed that it happened, but that Eda had caught the pair in that state. That was the feeling that confused her the most.
Hannah shook her head to get all of those thoughts out of her head so that she could get focused on cleaning herself. Eda had told her that she should take a quick bath, but it was hard to rush when you loved the feeling of being in a bath again. Still, the fox did her best to hurry up. Honestly, the part that would take the longest was drying herself off, thanks to how bushy her tail and hair. Eda had mentioned that it would be good to get her hair cut, and Hannah couldn’t agree more. She was ready to have hair that didn’t reach her rear. By the time Hannah left the bathroom she was mostly dry and hoped her still slightly wet tail wouldn’t make the back of her uniform wet. That would be annoying to sit in, but there wasn’t much she could do about it.
There were only a few other staff at the table this morning and it made Hannah wonder if that was because most people had left already or if they had decided to sleep in. There also wasn’t a fully prepared big meal like normal, but there was still enough food prepared for Hannah to get a full meal out of it. She had to admit she liked how peaceful and slow this morning was. She missed having slow, easy days, not that as a slave she was ever going to have a real day off like the rest of the staff. Would her days be easier because it was an off day though? Or would she still be expected to put in as much work as she would any other day?
She soon finished her breakfast and started making her way to the sitting room Eda had told her to wait in. On her way though she ran into Mr. Williams who appeared to be looking for her. It was a little strange for Hannah to see the older gentlemen not in his normal butler attire and wearing clothes she was more used to seeing on people in the markets. She wasn’t sure why it was strange, but maybe it had something to do with how much dignity he carried himself with when in uniform compared to the more relaxed attire.
“Good morning, Hannah,” the butler said.
“Good morning, Mr. Williams.”
“I realized we might not have informed you of your duties on off days. I just wanted to be sure you were told.”
Hannah gave a gentle nod. She actually hadn’t been told yet, but she was expecting to be when she met with Eda and Mistress. “Mistress and Miss Eda have asked me to meet them in the sitting room upstairs where I think they will tell me their plans for my day.”
He gave his usual curt nod. “Very good.” He stepped to the side to let her pass.
“Thank you,” Hannah gently said before stepping past. “I hope you have a nice day off, Mr. Williams.” She hadn’t heard him discuss what his plans were for today last night, but she did hope she had something nice planned. Everyone deserves to have a good day and a day off of work.
That appeared to surprise the older man just a little bit. “Thank you, Hannah. I hope your day is pleasant as well.” With that the man was off.
It might have just been a small interaction and pleasantry for the two of them, but it did make Hannah feel good. Mr. Williams clearly hadn’t been the most pleased with her arrival and status among the staff, but it felt like he was coming around a little. Which was more than she could say for most of the disapproving humans she had worked for. Maybe in time he would truly just see her as another member of staff as equal to anyone else.
It didn’t take the fox too long to find herself at the sitting room, but it still did shock her at just how large this house really was. It was so much larger than any other building that she stepped inside. The door was open thankfully but Hannah still gave a gentle knock as she pushed the door open more.
“Yes?” Hamish said looking up from the letters that he was reading. He appeared to be a little shocked that Hannah was here. Not in a bad way, just clearly not something he had expected.
Hannah hadn’t expected to find anyone else in the sitting other than Eda and Rayne and she wasn’t sure what she should rightfully do in this situation. Honesty typically felt like the best policy. “I’m sorry to intrude, my lord.”
“It’s quite alright, Hannah. Was there something you needed from the room?” He looked around trying to figure out what she could have needed.
“No, my lord. I was asked to wait here for Mistress and Miss Eda.” Hannah stood awkwardly at the door while quickly adding. “I can wait outside the door for them.”
The lord shook his head. “No, it’s quite alright, you can come in and sit down.” He gestured to the seat next to his sister's normal seat. “Rayne did ask it of you after all,” he said, giving her a gentle smile before looking back down at the small pile of letters in his hands.
Giving an only-slightly-nervous nod, Hannah walked into the room, leaving the door open as she had found it. She quickly took the seat Hamish had offered and sat there, slightly unsure of what to do. There was no telling how long Rayne might be, and Hannah wasn’t used to waiting on someone. There were always tasks for her to do in the past but right now there wasn’t. Deciding it wouldn’t be too harmful, Hannah pulled her small romance novel out of her front pocket and started reading. It had occurred to Hannah that she needed to take every chance she could to read because she most certainly didn’t have time at night because of Mistress playing with her ears. She could read after that, but having her ears played with made her so relaxed and sleepy that she virtually passed out the second she got back into her room.
All too soon Hannah was engrossed in her story and her tail started a gentle wag under her dress. She was so engrossed, in fact, that she didn’t notice the wag of her tail made a gentle swishing sound that drew the attention of the lord sitting across from her. She didn’t notice just how long he watched her read, but she did notice when he quietly whispered to himself, “That’s still so surprising.” Of course her ears shot up at the words and focused on him, which he clearly noticed. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt your reading.”
Hannah glanced up, thought didn’t meet his eyeline. “It’s alright, my lord. I’m sorry to overhear. I understand humans are used to whispering to themselves without expecting anyone to hear.”
Hamish opened his mouth to say something but then stopped himself. He closed his mouth, opened his eyes a little wider in thought, then nodded to himself. “I hadn’t thought about that. I suppose for a race of people with exceptional hearing, talking to oneself out loud couldn’t really be private no matter how quiet.”
It wasn’t unheard of for beastkin to talk to themselves, even Hannah had to admit she did it from time to time, but for beastkin it was typically when you were fully alone. Or potentially what was being said was of no importance. “We do not do it often,” Hannah said in response. She didn’t know what else there was to say other than that. Even though she wasn’t meeting his eye-line she did still feel his eyes on her, studying her.
“You really were a teacher?” he asked, still looking at her as if trying to sense if Hannah was going to lie. Or maybe he was just truly looking at her for the first time.
“I was, my lord. It was just a small school though. There were only three other teachers.” It seemed like Hannah was going to have this conversation repeatedly with all the humans of this house.
“Was it a school like we have here?” Curiosity was clearly taking hold of the lord.
“I am unsure of what schools are like here. I have never been taken to one.”
Hamish nodded his head. “That was maybe a silly question. I suppose I’m more trying to ask if life back in your home was similar to ours here.”
Hannah had to think on that for a second. Though she had only known life in Dewath from a slave’s perspective, she did manage to gain a decent amount of understanding of life for non-slaves in her seven years here. “It… It is quite similar. We have villages, towns and cities, and though our culture is a little different we tend to live in many of the same ways. I suppose you could say the same about any other human nation as well, though I have only ever been in Ziteas to know the difference. Magic is a more abundant in our lives than I have seen it here for humans.” Hannah looked up at the magic lights in the room that weren’t lit at the moment. “The magic you use in your home is very similar to what most people had back in Everlial.”
“Really?” He looked up at the lights. “It was all rather expensive and difficult to obtain, but it’s not for you?” Hamish turned to see Hannah shaking her head in response. “Huh. You know, we are taught that you aren’t anything like us in the freelands, but I guess we are actually very similar. We live similar lives, learn the same way, love the same way,” he mused that last sentence more to himself than to Hannah.
“Our love is more open than yours,” Hannah said before she could think to hold herself back. Besides the slavery of her people the one thing she found she didn’t like about human culture was how restrictive they were in their love. She did quickly realize she should have kept her mouth shut when Hamish looked back at her with a curious but also hurt expression.
“What do you mean ‘love more openly’?”
Hannah looked down at her book as she felt her face start to heat up. What she had actually intended by that was to reference their abstinence from same gender love, but she wasn’t going to say that out loud. She didn’t know how the Hayward family, including Rayne, would react to that. “We…” She needed to say something, but what? “We do not have the same attitudes towards the maidenhood of a woman and the need for marriage to lose it. Nor do we care about how open a woman might be about her sexual life. We see all people equal in their sexual activities and exploration, no one is limited by who they are.” She didn’t look up at Hamish because she was afraid to see how he would react. Humans were so strange about their views on sex.
After a while Hamish spoke again. “So your culture doesn’t care if a woman isn’t a maiden and wants to marry?” The fox shook her head. “Really?” It sounded as if he found that hard to believe.
“My fiancee didn’t care that I had sex with other people before them, nor I to them with other people before me.” Hannah was making a habit about speaking a little too openly and she didn’t like it. Something inside her had changed, though, and she found it easy to be open to some degree. Rayne had broken down so many walls she had built up over the years and Hannah didn’t know if that was a good thing or a bad thing. She did know it was going to get her in trouble at some point, and the only real question was if Rayne breaking these walls down meant Hannah had a little fight in her again.
“You have a fiance?” Hamish asked and Hannah gripped her book harder. “I’m sorry, that was stupid of me.” He went quiet as Hannah tried to hold her feelings at bay. “I don’t suppose slavers care to keep couples together,” he once again whispered to himself.
“No,” Hannah said quietly, feeling tears in her eyes. “Nor do they care to keep children with their parents.” She had fought so hard to keep the children safe and even harder to try and keep them with their families, but the humans didn’t care. It was almost as if they purposefully sought to rip families apart in any way they could.
“Fuck.” Hamish sat himself up straighter and looked at the letters in his hands as if they would hold the right words for this moment. “I’m sorry, Hannah, I shouldn’t have brought all this up.”
“It’s alright, my lord.” She quickly wiped at the tears so that they wouldn’t fall on the open pages of her book.
There was a silence between them for a short while before Hamish spoke again. “You know, we are a rather influential and wealthy family, maybe we could track him down so that you two could be toge—”
“They didn’t take my fiancee as a slave,” the vixen said abruptly. Elaine was long dead, and she didn’t want anyone to bring up the hope of being reunited because they could never be. The only chance Hannah had at seeing her love again was in death and even that held no promises.
“Did… did he escape?” Though Hamish knew he should have dropped the topic, his curiosity still got the better of him.
Wiping at more tears Hannah spoke so quietly she wasn’t sure if he would even hear her. “The slavors left a lot of corpses in their wake. They burned h—”
The door to the sitting room was pushed open and Rayne walked in. “Ah, you’re already here waiting,” the lady said as she glanced at Hannah. “I hope I didn’t leave you waiting too—” Her vixen finally looked up at her and Rayne instantly saw the tears in her eyes. So many emotions rushed through Rayne in that moment. Fear, pain, longing, and anger, just to name a few. Anger became the most prevalent, though as she quickly noticed that Hamish was also in the room with Hannah. “What did you do?” Rayne said calmly, looking towards her brother while making her way over to the crying fox.
Hamish quickly stood up, very easily recognizing the mask Rayne wore when angry. “I’m so sorry. This is really all my fault. I was asking Hannah about her home and I wasn’t thinking how hurtful those memories could be.”
Hannah also quickly stood before saying. “It’s alright, Mistress. Lord Hamish didn’t mean any harm.” She wiped at the last tears before willing herself not to let any more fall. Rayne had seen her cry enough in the past few days.
It took a good bit of willpower to not reach out and touch Hannah in front of Hamish, but Rayne managed it. She did however find herself stepping closer to Hannah than should be appropriate. Hopefully Hamish wouldn’t take it any other way than Rayne just wishing to be nice to Hannah.
“I truly didn’t mean harm. I’m sorry Hannah, I should have been more thoughtful,” Hamish gave a very light but still noticeable bow towards Hannah.
“You don’t need to apologize, my lord. I understand humans are very curious people.” Rayne’s exploration of Hannah’s ears every night but last made Hannah believe that without a doubt.
“We most certainly are,” he said with only a slightly nervous chuckle. As he stood back up his eyes couldn’t help but glance at his sister, hoping he hadn’t upset her.
Rayne couldn’t blame Hamish for letting his curiosity get the better of him. He had always been that way and even the lady had to admit she was like that sometimes. They got that from their mother. She was always asking questions and trying to learn new things. Rayne hadn’t seen much of that in Kaden, but she dearly hoped that was just her missing it and not that he truly wasn’t curious. She took a deep breath and nodded her head in agreement. She turned back to Hannah and spoke. “I hope what I have planned for today might help you feel better.” She couldn’t help but give a gentle smile to her fox.
Hannah was determined not to let this upsetting moment ruin her day. “It will, Mistress.” Realizing her book was still in her hands, she quickly closed it and put it in a pocket of her uniform. She missed how Rayne stared at that little movement intently.
“Good. I do have a bit of a busy plan for us. Well, busy might not be the right word. Adventurous maybe.” That made Hamish raise his eyebrow, though he said nothing at Rayne’s words. The lady wasn’t too concerned if Hamish stayed in the room or not to hear what she had planned because word of this was going to get out anyway. Not that she believed Hamish would spread gossip about her. “There are places I would like to visit in the Riverside Market, and I thought I would take you with me and give you a chance to go to a market as any staff might on an off day. Would also give us a chance to see Lena and pick up any outfits she might have ready and maybe even stop by a cobblers to get you some proper shoes. If you’re alright with going out today on an off day?”
Mistress wanted to take Hannah to the market because it was something any other member of staff would be able to do? The fox was a little stunned. She would have expected to be taken to the market simply because that was what Rayne wished to do, but the lady was giving Hannah the option to go with her. Also, for some reason Hannah felt that the way Rayne had said it implied that this too was a day off for the vixen even though she was a slave. If it really was meant to be an off day for her, even as a slave she wouldn’t be able to go to the market for herself, so it made sense that Rayne would offer to take her.
There were many swirling thoughts rushing around in Hannah’s head at all the implications that this could mean for her and her future here at the Hayward house. The most prevalent thought was about how kind her mistress was. Rayne wanted Hannah to have some semblance of a normal life, even if she was a slave, and that fact made Hannah feel all warm inside. No human had ever treated Hannah this nicely before and Hannah was struggling a little to really process all of it. “That… That would be nice,” she managed to say while feeling strangely shy in the presence of Rayne.
The lady couldn’t help but smile. She was going to do whatever she could to make sure Hannah had a good day today. “Wonderful.”
“If you’re going to the market would you mind if I joined you in the carriage on the way there?” Hamish asked gently. “I have some plans of my own near Riverside for this afternoon and can find my way home later, but it would make sense to share on the way.”
Rayne had been looking forward to some private time alone with Hannah in the carriage, but she wasn’t going to deny her brother. In fact if Hamish joined them in the carriage then that might mean Hannah would have to sit next to Rayne and not across from her. The lady liked that idea quite a bit. “That would be fine.”
