NOVEL WEB Chapter 19: Walking Dress
“Lady Hayward,” Lady Ruth Pinkerton said, returning the smile to Rayne as the door to Lena’s shop closed behind her.
Hannah couldn’t help but look over the new woman that entered the store. She was a little taller than Hannah, and sported hair that was a shade or two darker than Hannah’s own hair, though unlike hers it was curly. It was rare for Hannah to see a human with orange hair. From what she knew that was a rare trait that originally came from Treysia. The fox couldn’t help but wonder if that trait came from humans and foxkin intermingling. It was only then that Hannah noticed the catkin waiting outside the front of the store patiently.
“It’s nice to see you again. Preparing for the season?” Rayne asked kindly. Ruth was half a decade younger than Rayne, so she was considered a little older for marriage but still fully eligible. Rayne was honestly a little surprised Ruth hadn’t found a husband yet, but then again, her father didn’t have the largest of dowries set aside for his surprise later-in-life child. It was truly a disgusting idea to Rayne that a dowry really could be the determining factor in a potential marriage or not.
“I am. Have a wonderful dress I’m here to be fitted for.” Ruth gave a quick glance to Hannah and spoke in a slight more commanding tone. “Would you go tell Miss Lena I have arrived for my fitting? I’m a little early but that should be fine.”
Hannah wasn’t sure what to do in this situation. Clearly Lady Pinkerton had assumed Hannah worked for Lena and it would only be polite of Hannah to do as a lady asked of her, but it most certainly wasn’t her place to go to the back where another woman was being fitted considering she didn’t work here. A little nervously she looked over at Rayne, hoping her mistress would tell her what to actually do.
It wasn’t a surprise to Rayne that Ruth would have assumed Hannah to be Lena’s. Admittedly Rayne had never seen a beastkin in the store before though, but she supposed Lena would be thought of as the more likely person to own a slave. “I’m sorry, Ruth, but Hannah here doesn’t work for Miss Lena. She actually works for me.”
Lady Pinkerton’s eyes went a little wide. “O-oh. I had thought…” The woman's cheeks turned just the slightest shade of pink. Her mind was clearly at work trying to understand this. “I suppose your brother’s eighteenth is coming up,” she said.
The smile on Rayne’s face left at the implications of Ruth’s words. “No,” she said firmly. “Hannah is not for Kaden. I would never do that.” Ruth’s face turned a deeper shade of pink as she clearly got a little more confused. “Hannah is actually the new librarian and teacher for my estate.” Though her voice had originally been only firm, now it was filled with pride.
It was apparent that this was even more confusing for the other lady. “Your librarian?” She glanced over at Hannah with a good bit of scrutiny.
“Yes. Hannah is the most well-educated member of my household, both staff and family.” Rayne realized she didn’t need to add that last part and could have just left it at yes, but she couldn’t help but want people to see Hannah as the intelligent woman she was.
Ruth looked at Rayne strangely for a second before smiling and letting out a good laugh. “Oh, Rayne. I didn’t know you were one for joking.” Ruth covered her mouth with her hand as she continued to laugh gently. “I don’t know if I’ve ever heard you joke before.”
“I’m not joking,” Rayne said plainly. The lady then turned to Hannah. “Would you kindly introduce yourself in Treysian?” From what Rayne knew it had been a few generations since Ruth’s family immigrated from Treysia, but they still had family there and they were known to visit often enough. All of the Pinkertons were fluent in Treysian.
Hannah gave a nod before turning back to the other lady. “My name is Hannah and I am Lady Hayward’s librarian and teacher for the estate. It is very nice to meet you, Lady Pinkerton.” At the end she gave a small curtsy to the lady. Hannah was actually a little proud of herself that she remembered to pronounce Pinkerton with the right inflections most would miss when saying it in Celian.
“I…” Ruth was taken aback, truly not having expected that. “It is nice to meet you too. Not many slaves I have met can speak fluent Treysian. Most find it difficult to learn if their native language is Celian.”
“Celian wasn’t my first language, so I didn’t suffer such difficulty, my lady.”
There was so much surprise on Ruth’s face and Rayne loved it, even if following the flow of two fluent speakers was a little challenging. Maybe it would be beneficial for her to get some lessons from Hannah as well. That would be a fun way to spend even more time with her fox. This conversation did bring up a point that Rayne hadn’t found the time to ask Hannah about and that was the other language Hannah knew, Everlian, though that would have to wait until later.
“A well educated beastkin must have cost you a hefty price,” Ruth said, turning back to Rayne. “Who would even educate a beastkin this much?”
Would it be appropriate for Rayne to say how much Hannah cost her? She had often heard people discuss such topics before, but it felt wrong to talk about it, especially in front of Hannah. How would it make her fox feel to know how much she cost? Rayne couldn’t imagine any price making Hannah feel good.
“Alright, all do—Oh, Lady Pinkerton,” Lena said, making her way back into the front room with another woman behind her. “I didn’t hear you come in. Sorry about that.” She laughed before turning back to the other woman. “I’ll finish up the alteration and send them to you in a few days.”
The other woman gave a gentle nod and a very quiet thank you to Lena. Rayne recognized her as Miss Elizabeth Duffey. From what Rayne knew, she was a rather shy young woman who had only been present during one season so far. They had never really talked before and by how shy she looked, Rayne wasn’t expecting much conversation. She gave the shy woman a smile and a nod, and received one in return before the woman quickly made her way out of the store.
“I hope you don’t mind, but lady Hayward was here first and you are a little early,” Lena said to Lady Pinkerton. “It shouldn’t take long, just double checking some fits.”
“That’s alright,” Ruth said. “Would you mind if I joined you for the fitting?”
That wasn’t an uncommon occurrence for ladies to join one another when getting fitted. Normally Rayne didn’t like being fitted anywhere but home. She felt just a little safer that way, even if every precaution was taken so no one noticed anything different about her. That being said, this was Hannah’s fitting not her own, so it was really up to Hannah. As such she turned to Hannah and asked, “Would you be alright with that, or would you like something more private?”
It was a strange courtesy to give a slave privacy, but it felt very endearing coming from Rayne. Hannah shook her head. “I don’t mind, Mistress.”
“Wonderful,” Lena said. “Why don’t you follow me and we can get started. With that the tailor was already off and Hannah quickly followed behind her.
“Oh, this is for the fox?” Ruth asked, seeming perpetually stunned by this whole encounter. “You’re really paying for Lena to fit a slave?”
Rayne followed behind, not looking at Ruth hoping to hide the tiny amount of heat the lady felt in her face. She hadn’t felt like this in front of Eda when talking about clothes for Hannah. Maybe it was because this was someone Rayne considered a friend and it was clear Rayne was spoiling her fox. “It is. Hannah didn’t have anything but a sack dress when she came under my employment. I thought it would only be right to get her some actually fitted clothes. Who doesn’t deserve that in their life?”
“It’s not the first time I’ve made clothes for a slave, and it won’t be the last,” Lena said as she guided them to the fitting room. The room was just as fancy as the front of the store, though it didn’t contain all of the clothes. Instead it was a smallish room with a platform near one edge, seated in front of three large angled mirrors . On the other side of the room sat a number of small chairs for those who weren’t being fitted to sit. “Right, up you get,” she said to Hannah and motioned for her to step up onto the platform. “I’ll go get the clothes.” Lena was apparently a very fast walker as she exited the room through a door in barely a second. While she did that, Rayne and Ruth both took a seat.
Hannah realized as she stepped up onto what felt like a display, that it was time for her to undress. It was still strange to her that for years she hadn’t felt embarrassed or nervous about being fully naked in front of people, but with her mistress she did feel that way. She rationalized that it had to be because of her scars. She still didn’t want Rayne to see them even if she already had before. There was the possibility of actually facing Rayne this time so she wouldn’t see, but with the mirrors the lady was going to be able to see no matter which direction she faced. Hannah decided to face away from her mistress and towards the mirrors, feeling that even if she caught Rayne’s eye in this process that it wouldn’t feel as… Hannah wasn’t quite sure if she could name the feeling she had at the thought of catching Rayne’s eye while undressed. Embarrassed of course, but it felt like there was more. Still with the mirrors making it a little more indirect her feelings felt more manageable. Quickly she started to undress, hoping to get this done fast.
“She really didn’t have any other clothes when you bought her? Often slaves come with wardrobes. Especially high end sla—” Ruth cut herself off as Hannah pulled her uniform off, revealing the barrage of scars that lined her back. The younger lady’s eyes were glued to Hannah’s back.
It was evident to Rayne that Ruth had most likely never seen the evidence of slavory’s cruelty before. Most of the slaves a member of nobility interacted with were all very well-behaved and very rarely were ever in need of harsh punishment. They were often said to be bred that way. Rayne couldn’t imagine a woman would want to see such scars on the slave she used to play dress up with, and that was what Rayne believed was Ruth’s extent of deeper interaction with slaves. “No, she didn’t. As I said, I thought a wardrobe was well deserved.”
“Here we are,” Lena said, scurrying back into the room holding a large bundle of clothing. “Let’s start with the uniform first.” Somehow the woman managed to hand the uniform over while balancing the rest of the clothes. Which was odd because she followed that by immediately putting all of the clothes down on a stool, which would have been much less hassle to do first.
Hannah took the offered clothes and quickly started donning them. After two days of Eda helping Hannah properly put on the outfit, the fox didn’t find it that difficult anymore. There was just a specific way things were expected to be done and tied and Hannah was good with instructions. The only difference with this outfit, besides from the even higher-quality material, was that there was a hole for her tail. The hole opened wider with a few buttons, but her tail was rather fluffy and still got caught a little. It wasn’t anything Hannah couldn’t handle, though. Still, Lena appeared to pull out a small notebook from somewhere and started marking things down while mumbling about measuring the tail of foxes.
Rayne couldn’t help but stare at Hannah’s tail. It had been a number of days since she had last seen it, and it felt good to see it again. As she had often thought, it felt unnatural to see Hannah without it, even if she had seen her with it hidden more than she had seen it out. By the Goddess, it looked so fluffy and the lady so desperately wanted to touch it. Would it be as soft as Hannah’s ears? What about the fur on Hannah’s back? The lady bit her lip in frustration knowing that there probably wouldn’t ever be an appropriate time for her to touch that fur.
“Alright, how does that feel?”
The fox moved around a little to get the feeling for the uniform. It was a little tighter than the one she had just had on, but tighter in a more fitted way. Still, Hannah found she didn’t like the feeling of something tighter around her chest. Not that she had too much there to really compress. Should she say something? It was her fitting, after all, but she didn’t want to tell a human that they had done something wrong. Her eyes quickly glanced up at her mistress in the mirror and found those gray eyes looking back at her. There was nothing harsh in those eyes, in fact they were maybe the softest Hannah had seen them, which was odd. It almost looked like longing, but human expressions were always a little hard for her. Still, she looked away feeling her face heat up. “It’s a little tight in the chest.”
Lena made a ‘hmm’ sound as she came to Hannah front and gently started tugging on the front of the outfit. “Yeah, it’s probably a little tight. Sorry, I’m used to people wanting to… well, have things prominently displayed. Good thing I made the other a little looser,” she said with a beaming smile, as she went to the pile of clothes and pulled out a second maid outfit.
“You’re always so thoughtful,” Rayne said, knowing well that this was just how Lena worked. She had always been that thoughtful with Rayne.
“I wouldn’t be the best tailor in the capital if I didn’t think ahead.”
Rayne couldn’t help but chuckle a little at Lena’s boastfulness. She was right, at least in Rayne’s eyes. A good portion of Rayne’s clothes all came from here.
Ruth had finally shaken off the shock from seeing Hannah’s back. “A bold statement. I’ve heard there’s a new tailor at the other end of the market that’s doing rather well for herself,” Ruth gently teased.
Lena waved her off as Hannah finished putting on the new outfit. It surprised Hannah how casual Lena was with people that were, by social terms, above her. “She might know what looks good, but she doesn’t hold a candle to my stitching work. I’ve heard one of her dresses started pulling apart at the seams for a certain barrenness during a rather mild game of croquet. Apparently gave some of the men in attendance an eyeful.”
“Really?” Ruth asked, very excited and eager to hear the gossip.
Gossip was always something that didn’t fully make sense to Hannah. Yes, it was nice to hear stories of other people on occasion, but something about how sneaky the way people acted around it didn’t sit well with the fox. What did sit well with Hannah was this uniform. The chest wasn’t too tight, nor was it too tight anywhere. It felt like the perfect fit. “This feels good,” she quietly said. She swished her tail back and forth loving the feeling of her tail being free again. She loved it so much that she couldn’t help it from continuing to wag gently.
The sight of Hannah’s wagging tail filled Rayne with joy. Rayne had to debate whether seeing a smile on Hannah’s face or seeing her tail wag was better. Both were amazing, but the tail felt like it held a little more honesty than an expression of the face Rayne had known people to hide. At least Rayne had the feeling stopping one’s tail from wagging, especially for Hannah, was harder. She honestly loved that Hannah’s tail clearly couldn’t betray her inner feelings.
“Great. I know the tail hole is still a little tight, though, so I would probably fix that,” Lena mused more to herself as she gave gentle but clearly thoughtful tugs at different parts of the uniform.
It was surprising how upsetting the thought of giving these clothes back was to Hannah. Deep down she really did desire to have properly fitted clothes, even if there was still a part of her that said she wasn’t worthy of it. She didn’t want to go back to wearing something that constricted her tail all day long. “I-It’s fine. I don’t mind,” Hannah said quietly.
Lena shook her head. “No. I’m going to do this right.” Lena motioned for Hannah to take the clothes off. “Won’t take me but a few seconds. You can try on the last outfit I have ready while I quickly mend that. Oh,” the tailor said, suddenly turning to Rayne. “I’m sorry, I should have asked what you think of the outfit. I know it’s just a uniform but,” she shrugged, “it is your money.”
“I think it’s fine,” Rayne said with a smile. Honestly, there was part of Rayne that wished Lena would have left her out of this and just focused on what Hannah thought. That wouldn’t be appropriate. At least not without Rayne having plainly stated that beforehand, and she oddly felt embarrassed to bring that up in front of Ruth. She didn’t like that feeling. “I’d love to see an actual outfit and not just the uniform.”
“Oh, I would too,” Ruth said with a smile. “I think she would look cute in something other than a maid’s dress.”
Lady Hayward had to readily agree with Ruth on Hannah looking cute in normal clothes. She couldn’t say that their reasonings were the same though. Rayne’s came from attraction and the desire to see Hannah happy. Ruth’s came from the childhood fun of dressing up dolls. A practice Rayne knew Lady Pinkerton kept into adulthood, only the dolls were replaced by beastkin. In the past Rayne had often pushed away thoughts of viewing other noble women in a negative light due to their actions with slaves, because she was expected to be a sociable part of society and you couldn’t have that with disliking all the other noble women. Now, though, seeing that desire directed at Hannah made her feel different. She didn’t want anyone seeing Hannah as anything less than another person worthy of respect and self governess.
Rayne’s fists gently clenched as she pondered how her relationship to other members of society was going to change now that she was directly involved in slavery. This season was not going to be easy, she realized. Her life had irrevocably changed with the purchase of Hannah, regardless of why she had purchased the fox. What had she done?
Hannah liked the light green and cream of the walking dress Lena handed her after she undressed. It was a softer green than she might have chosen for herself, but she couldn’t deny that it didn’t look beautiful. The fabric was soft to the touch and it felt lighter than she would have expected such a dress to feel like. Then again, she had always wondered how women of the Dewath Empire wore such dresses in the heat of summer, and she was happy to know they were in fact light and more breathable than she thought. It would most certainly make it more comfortable to wear outside.
The dress wasn’t difficult to put on, in fact though it looked fancier than the maid uniform it was actually much easier. For the first time in a very long time Hannah saw herself in a mirror wearing normal clothes. Clothes that any other woman might wear. Granted, they were a different fashion than she was used to back in Everlial, but she had grown accustomed to the fashions of this empire. She couldn’t help but watch herself as she gently touched the outfit feeling a strange sense of fulfillment. A very genuine smile grew on her face as her tail started to wag, and she couldn’t help but blush when she saw her own smile. Her eyes shifted to nervously glance at her mistress in the mirror, wondering what Rayne must be thinking. Hannah hadn’t seen such a big smile on the lady’s face before, but she found she really liked it. It further cemented in herself that she truly wanted to try and make Rayne even just a fraction as happy as she had made her.
