Hannah woke up feeling good. So much so that she was already up and dressed with a smile on her face before Eda even came to knock on her door. Sadly that feeling sted only as long as it took to see the concerned look on Nei’s face when they met up to start working. With everything that had happened st night, Hannah had almost forgotten about the fact that she hadn’t worked yesterday. She had almost forgotten about the reason for that, and all it took was Nei gncing down at her still bandaged hands to remind her of everything. Maybe she should have taken off the bandages before getting back to work…

  “Did something happen?” Nei asked in a rather hushed tone. The look on the maid’s face was a little strange and awkward as her eyes kept gncing at the bandages.

  Hannah felt her ears ftten against her head, even more nervous now with not being able to read Nei’s expression. What was the best way to respond to the question? Hannah didn’t want to admit the truth of hurting herself and she didn’t want to admit to Rayne having been in her room as well. She didn’t want to lie though. Lying was never something Hannah was good at. “It was just a bad morning and Eda let me rest for the day.” The vixen’s yellow eyes wouldn’t meet Nei’s as she started walking to the first room to prepare. “It was the first day I’ve had to myself in over seven years.”

  “Oh.” Nei’s voice still had that awkward sound to it. “Are you going to be okay working with your hands?”

  Injury on hands could be rather annoying to deal with, but Hannah had spent her life dealing with this issue. “I’ll be fine. I won’t do anything too demanding.” Would Rayne even be okay with Hannah doing morning cleaning after getting worried about Hannah just carrying a tray of tea? Rayne wouldn’t be up yet to say anything to Eda though. Hannah knew her own limits though, and having wounds while still continuing to work wasn’t something new for Hannah. Her back was a testament to that.

  “Alright. Well, just say something if you need help.” Hannah nodded her response. “Did you at least have a good time to yourself?”

  Again Hannah nodded. “I was able to journal a lot, which was really nice.”

  “That sounds fun. I tried it once, but the journal was expensive and I felt bad writing in it with my terrible handwriting.”

  Finally Hannah looked back up at Nei, a little glimmer of hope building inside of the fox. “Do you need help with writing?” She already had one student in Derek. And now she had another with Rayne, which even just the thought of made Hannah’s tail wag. Would she be able to have a third student? None of the other staff had asked her to teach them yet, but Hannah deeply hoped at least one would. If that one was Nei it would be even better.

  “It’s not that bad…” Nei’s face started turning a little red. “Maybe it is a little bad,” her voice came out quiet now. “I can barely read it back…”

  “I can help with that.” Hannah tried her best not to sound pushy, but she couldn’t contain the excitement she had.

  “Well, I don’t really have a need to write…” Nei almost sounded upset with saying that.

  It did still surprise Hannah how little of a need to write most human’s had in their life here. Back at the bakery she wasn’t even sure if the boys even knew how to write. “You don’t need to have a practical need to do something to want to get better at it. If you want to get better at writing, that’s all you need.

  Nei’s expression changed to one of slight embarrassment, but with maybe a slight hint of vindication in it. “I-I can see with Miss Eda if there is a time I could have off to learn.”

  Hannah’s tail had already been wagging, but now with the chance to help teach a friend it was wagging harder.

  ~~~

  Rayne sat back against the pillows of her bed, enjoying the slight morning breeze coming from the open window. Last night went well. So very well, and it felt like a massive weight had been lifted off of the dy’s shoulders. Today was going to be a good day, and she was already looking forward to seeing Hannah tonight. Rayne had asked questions st night, but she was sure by the time night came around she was going to have more. Even if there weren't any questions she was just excited to talk more about it.

  There was maybe just the tiniest bit of worry about how this might affect Hannah and Rayne’s physical retionship. It didn't affect Rayne pying with Hannah’s ears st night, but would it in the future? It was intimate and now that Hannah knew Rayne desired intimacy with another woman would it change that? Admittedly Hannah also shared the desire of intimacy with another woman and had continued to allow Rayne to py with her ears. Then again Hannah probably didn’t desire a deeper romantic intimacy with anyone but Eine…

  The breeze blew a little harder as Rayne sank deeper into the pillows. Did any of that really need to matter right now? Rayne came to the conclusion that any and all worry about this could be put off for ter in the day. Maybe even ter this week. For now she was just going to bask in the happy feeling of being honest with someone who shared her experiences. What else could someone ask for?

  Soon enough there was a knock at Rayne’s door and she responded. “Come in.” As it was every morning, Eda was the one at her door. “Good morning, Eda.” The dy’s voice was gentle and quiet as she still basked in the happiness of her morning.

  “Good morning, my dy,” Eda said, closing the door behind her. Almost instantly after doing so the elder’s eyes lock on the open curtains. “Must you always open your own windows?”

  “They are my windows and I like the breeze.” Though this conversation was had most mornings, it never appeared to tire the two of them.

  “I’m sure you could wait a little while for me to come and open them.” Eda started walking deeper into the room.

  “If I did that I wouldn’t get to sit here and enjoy it. You would open up the windows and get me out of bed and dressed before I knew it.”

  “You are capable of telling me to open the windows then come back in half an hour.” Eda walked over to the side of the bed and handed Rayne a letter. “But you like to be up and out of bed at a certain time.”

  It was a little unusual for Eda to be handing her a letter in the morning. Normally all that could wait till she arrived at breakfast. “Is it bad?” Rayne asked, before opening the letter.

  The wardrobe was the next thing on Eda’s agenda. “It arrived with five different trunks of women’s clothes, which had Stewart panicking a little.”

  “I did not order that many…” Rayne read through the letter. “Margret is on her way and set to arrive tomorrow.” With a sigh Rayne set the letter aside. “Her and Auntie Ethel are not seeing quite eye to eye and Margret decided to come a little early.” Though Rayne was rather used to the fluff and formalities of letters she did really appreciate Margret’s direct and concise style of writing. It felt like Margret had little to hide when conversing with Rayne and Rayne enjoyed doing the same back.

  “Wonderful. I am sure Stewart won’t have any anxiety over this.” Eda started sorting through clothes. “Color for today?”

  “Will everything be ready in time? And a dark green might be nice.” The thought of green brought Rayne’s mind to the walking dress Hannah had tried on at Lena’s. There was already a gentle smile on Rayne’s face and it only grew with the thought. Would it be strange of Rayne to wear a matching dress with Hannah? It felt like it would be cute but there was a nagging part of Rayne’s brain that told her people would take it as an owner dressing up a sve to match. That thought didn’t sit right with the dy and the smile faded ever so slightly. Either way Rayne couldn’t wait to see Hannah in that dress again.

  Eda gave a light chuckle. “Everything will probably be ready within three hours of informing him.” Pulling out a dark green dress, Eda turned to Rayne to look for approval.

  “Wonderful. Both to being ready and the dress.” When would Lena be finished with Hannah’s clothes? She hoped it would be soon, but six custom made outfits would probably take a while. Not to mention Lena most certainly had other work with the season right around the corner. As Eda made her way over to the mirror, Rayne finally started to climb out of bed. “How was everything this morning?” The look Eda gave Rayne told the dy that Eda did know what she really meant by that. Defensively Rayne said, “I do wish to know how everything was this morning along with how Hannah is.”

  “Everything went alright first thing.” Eda set the dress aside and started undressing the dy from her nightwear. “Hannah was already up and smiling by the time I knocked on her door.” That made Rayne very happy to hear. “She did look uncomfortable at breakfast though.”

  “What for?”

  “Everyone noticed the bandages on her hands and that combined with Hannah not appearing at all to them yesterday did stir the pot as it were. Admittedly no one said anything to her face, but I did hear hushed voices of assumptions of punishment.”

  The chill air was now a little too chill on the dy’s exposed back at this revetion. “I would never do that.”

  “No, but the Haywards have never owned a sve before and the staff don’t know what to expect in that regard.” Eda gave a gentle sigh. “I will admit that I have already done my best to squash such talk, but I haven’t come up with an expnation that would satisfy the staff.”

  “Would not just saying Hannah had an accident suffice?” Rayne hated the idea that anyone could imagine her punishing Hannah or anyone in such a way.

  Eda shook her head. “They might accept it but they would wish to know more. They always want to know more,” she said with a gentle sigh. “I can have a talk with Hannah and try to figure out a story that she might be comfortable with. If not we can just try and quash the idea of it being a punishment and try to distract everyone with Lady Keating’s arrival.”

  There was a gut feeling inside of Rayne that this was going to be an issue and one faced before talking to Hannah. She didn’t like the idea of addressing this without Hannah’s permission or knowledge. Rayne’s mind was split as she tried to pn ahead for how to handle this but at the same time tried to continue basking in the warm happy feeling of having shared her truth with Hannah. There was also the matter of Margret. Then Rayne knew she had three separate meetings today. Not to even mention the letters she had to reply to. Rayne let out a sigh. The ease and comfort of sitting in bed this morning was already wearing off, but so was life. “Thank you, Eda.”

  “You’re welcome.” There was a moment of quiet between the two women as Eda helped Rayne get dressed. Eventually Eda spoke up again. “I assume st night went well since both you and Hannah greeted me with unprompted smiles.”

  That warmth came back a little, and a little in the dy’s face as well. “It did. I was honest that I’m attracted to women and…” The dy’s thoughts went to the feeling of Hannah’s warm arms wrapped around her. “Hannah was very comforting about it.” Though Rayne felt she couldn’t quite meet Eda’s gaze she did see the smile on the older woman’s face.

  “I’m gd you have another person you can be open and honest with.”

  “I am too.” The smile on Rayne’s face grew bigger. “Oh, that reminds me, I asked Hannah if she would teach me Everlian so I need to find some time to set aside for that going forward.” Rayne was a little surprised that the smile on Eda’s face only grew.

  “You’re the second person today to ask me to find time for them to learn.”

  “Really? Who else?” Were staff finally asking Hannah to teach them? Rayne was so excited for Hannah.

  “Nei, the maid I have Hannah working with in the morning. She said something about needing better handwriting.”

  The stress of the day and the warm glow of this morning’s comfort were still battling inside of Rayne as she finally made her way to breakfast. Maybe some warm food would give an edge to the warmth inside of her. It was also a little surprising to find that both of her brothers had already arrived.

  “Good morning, brothers,” Rayne said as she made her way over to the seat Mr. Williams so kindly held out for her. Rayne could smell the sweet scent of the sausages before she even id eyes on them. Suddenly there was a graving inside of Rayne to have some of that Zitean spiced sausage she had on her day out with Hannah. Maybe she would have to ask Ms. Vera to try making some.

  “Good morning, Rayne,” Hamish responded with a smile that had only the tiniest hint of concern. Kaden also gave her a smile, but more clearly filled with curious interest.

  And what Rayne had felt early was already making itself apparent. Rayne took her seat and let out a little sigh. “If you are both wondering about why our newest member of staff had bandages on her hands and didn’t appear to work yesterday, it was not some form of punishment. I could never bring myself to do something like that to anyone.” Rayne looked down at the food being brought out to her, hoping to give an air of this not being a big deal. She did catch a glimpse of her brothers sharing a look, as well as the two footmen. They had probably been talking about this before she arrived. Oh how people loved gossip. “Though it is up to Hannah’s discretion of telling the events of yesterday, I could surmise that having night terrors of memories of seeing your loved ones murdered before your eyes and then being taken as a sve does not mix well with cws.”

  Rayne hated that she gave what could be perceived as an actual answer without talking to Hannah first. It had been done now though and Rayne hoped they could move on quickly. In fact she wasn’t pnning on allowing this conversation to continue on, but before she could speak Kaden spoke up.

  “I heard they don’t mix well with humans.” The youngest sibling’s voice was quiet, but still loud enough to be heard by all.

  “What do you mean?” Rayne had no idea where he was taking this.

  “As I have been informed, that fox of yours has cwed out eyes more than once.”

  Now that was news to Rayne. Hannah cwing out eyes? It was hard to imagine her sweet little fox doing such a thing. Then again the scars on Hannah’s back painted a very clear picture of early rebellion against her status as a sve. She was about to ask where Kaden had heard that from, but from the look Mr. William’s immediately gave Richard it became clear.

  “Really?” Hamish looked doubtful, but of course there was some intrigue as well. “Hannah cwing out eyes? No offense to her, but she appears a little too timid to even say no to someone.”

  How should Rayne handle this? “Whether or not she has or hasn’t, I believe we could all agree that if we also watched someone murder our fiancée that going for the eyes wouldn’t be the only thing we tried to do.” There was an awkward silence as everyone took that in. It did also occur to Rayne that Hannah might not have wanted many people to know about the murder of her fiancée, so now Rayne had to add an apology to her lists of tasks today. “In more important news, Margret will be arriving tomorrow.”

  “Tomorrow?” Hamish asked, clearly feeling a little whipsh from the change in topics.

  Rayne could clearly hear Mr. Williams take a deep breath and hold it for a few seconds. “Yes. There were apparently some disagreements in their household and Margret has decided to arrive a little early. Many of her clothes have already arrived this morning. Will that be a problem, Mr. Williams?”

  “No, my dy. We shall have everything prepared in time.”

  “Wonderful.” Rayne turned back to her brothers. “I expect the both of you to be on your best behavior. As far as I am aware this will be the first time she has had extensive stay somewhere without her immediate family present, and we all know adjustment can be a little strenuous for our dear cousin.”

  “We’ll do our best to be as warm and inviting as possible. And scare off any unsavory men that might test their luck during this year's season. Won’t we?” Hamish’s question was aimed at Kaden with a smile.

  “Of course. Though I do believe Rayne is also far more capable than us at scaring off men.”

  Rayne narrowed her eyes. “I’m not sure whether that was a compliment or an insult.”

  Kaden’s reply was immediate. “Only a compliment. Hamish and I can do the typical man strong arming, but you are the one capable of ruining their livelihoods.”

  “You’ve done it before,” Hamish added.

  That was true. “Only when deserved,” Rayne said. A strange but familiar sense came over the dy. It was almost like anticipation and hindsight mixed into one, but yet removed from both. “Why do I have the feeling a lot of men’s livelihoods are going to be tested this season.”

  There was a brief pause before Hamish said, “That’s a little ominous. I would hope most men aren’t incompetent enough to try and challenge you.”

  For some reason something inside of Rayne said it wasn’t going to be her specifically doing it. She didn’t voice that feeling. “One would hope. Regardless, let us all do our best to be welcoming to our cousin.”

  Trinidia