The library was quiet except for the crackling of the fire and the sound of pages turning. Hannah liked the quiet. It had been so long since she could just sit in a quiet and calm pce. So long since she could handle books freely. It was all so nice, but the silence was also deafening. Her brain had grown used to the constant noise of Guild-Row Market. The constant chatter from the baker's family. Even the sounds of baking. The silence of her life now was more attention drawing then all that had been in the st few years. Hannah didn’t like that. She wanted to be used to the quiet again. It would take time, she knew, but how long was the question.
Maybe if she hummed to herself the silence would be less overwhelming. So, that was what she did. They were just simple songs from her youth, but it helped fill the void. She would have been beaten back at the bakery for doing such a thing, but there was no one here to stop her now. It was surprising just how calming the simple act of making some noise was, though she realized she had already known this. She used to hum all the time when she was back home. How… How had she forgotten this?
Hannah paused in her actions, all except the humming. How could she have forgotten how nice it was to hum? How could she have forgotten all the moments of catching Eine smiling at her while she hummed? How could she have forgotten all the hours she toiled away while grading papers and humming to herself? The vixen’s eyes found themselves staring off into a corner of the room, with a desire to curl up in it and just hum. To hum for no other reason than to do it. Hannah wasn’t certain how long she had been standing there just humming and staring at the corner but she came out of that urge. The urge to curl up in the corner. She continued to hum even as she went back to work.
~~~
Rayne made her way down the halls towards the library. Breakfast had finished and she didn’t have much time between now and the first meeting for the day. Still, she felt she needed to go and talk to Hannah. Having different stories of what happened and why floating around was going to be bad if those conflicting stories had come from Rayne and Hannah respectively. Also an apology was owed for divulging information Hannah might not have wanted publicly known. Rayne hoped that Hannah could forgive her for that, but she understood if not.
As she came up to the door, Rayne could hear the very gentle sound of humming coming from inside of the library. Rayne stopped at the door and stayed just out of sight. Was Hannah humming to herself? There wasn’t much time to waste but Rayne did find herself just standing there for a little while, listening to Hannah. She hadn’t heard the songs Hannah was humming and Rayne had to wonder if they were songs from her home. That idea filled Rayne with both joy and sorrow. After a few more moments of listening Rayne decided she really didn’t have any more time to dey. As she walked into the doorway, Rayne gently knocked on the door.
People occasionally walked through the hall outside the library and with her ears she had heard someone coming. She had ignored it however, thinking it was just a member of staff walking by, but it wasn’t. Hannah looked up from the notes she was making to find her mistress in the doorway. The hum inside her continued for just a second or two before fading away. Memories of st night fshed through Hannah’s mind and she felt her tail start to wag in response. Rayne had trusted her. “Mistress,” she said with a small curtsy.
Seeing Hannah tail wag in response to Rayne's presence filled the dy with so much joy. There was a strange sort of desire in Rayne to express her own happiness with more than just the smile that crossed her lips. As Rayne walked deeper in the room she said, “Good morning, Hannah.”
Why would Mistress be visiting Hannah now? Not that she was compining. Another part of st night’s conversation came back to Hannah’s mind. Rayne had asked Hannah to teach her Everlian. A mild panic built up in Hannah as she realized she hadn’t made any pns for that yet. If she had realized Rayne wanted to come this early, Hannah would have gotten as much prepared as she could, but she had nothing. In her mild panic the vixen’s tail slowed down as she looked to the desk, trying to figure out how best to start this. She was drawing a bnk though. “I’m sorry, I don’t have anything prepared for lessons yet.”
“Oh, no. That’s not why I’m here at the moment.” What could Rayne do to help Hannah’s tail pick back up its wag? The thoughts of hugs and kisses crossed the dy’s mind, but she had to shove those thoughts away. “I actually only have a few moments to spare before my first meeting of the day.”
The panic in Hannah died down, but the thoughts of needing to prepare didn’t fully leave. They could be put aside for the moment, but Hannah knew that after this she was going to go right into pnning. She needed to also figure out how to effectively divide her time taking inventory and preparing lessons.
“I…” Shame and embarrassment started to fill Rayne. Her eyes were downcast as she continued to speak. “I wanted to come and apologize.”
“What for?” Hannah couldn’t think of anything that Rayne needed to apologize for. The dy had never done anything wrong to Hannah.
“Earlier at my breakfast I said some things that I am unsure that you would be happy with.” Hannah looked concerned and Rayne hated that. “It was clear that the topic of… your hands and yesterday were being discussed by my brothers before my arrival. I didn’t want people to think that it was the result of some punishment, as it was apparent people were already thinking. In my rush to squash those assumptions I ended up saying that it was the result of having cws in combination with night terrors of Eine being killed and then being taken as a sve…” Rayne could hear the shame in her own voice. “I also said fiancée instead of her name, so no need to have that fear.”
Hannah wasn’t really sure how to feel about what Rayne had said, but she did find herself responding to the clear shame that took over Rayne’s body. The vixen knew that feeling all too well and she didn’t want her mistress to experience such feelings. “You don’t need to apologize, Mistress,” Hannah said, taking a worried step forward. “I…” Hannah’s brain finally started to process what had happened. There had been talk of her hands during breakfast, though all in hushed tones trying to hide it from her. People hadn’t had the experience to know just how good her hearing really was and she heard it all. “I hadn’t considered how to stop people from talking.”
Relief was a good feeling, but made bitter by clearly being able to read Hannah processing what was said after her words of comfort to Rayne. What made it even worse for Rayne was seeing Hannah’s eyes drift down and her ears fold back in thought. There was a pit that grew in Rayne’s stomach. “I hadn’t considered the possibility of people even making such assumptions till I was faced with it. I fear that though my words might quell inquiries into what happened, that I shared something that wasn’t mine to share and again I am deeply sorry.” For once Rayne felt as if she didn’t know how to present herself and found her hands nervously clenching each other.
Since being taken, Hannah had never gone out of her way to hide that she had been engaged but she didn’t bring it up often. Not that she had very many people to talk to in the past couple of years. Still, here at the Hayward estate Hannah hadn’t hidden that she had a fiancée, but she hadn’t talked much about it with anyone but Rayne. In fact, up until Rayne’s breakfast, Hannah being engaged was probably only known by four people; Rayne, Eda, Hamish, and Nei. At some point as she grew more comfortable here with the staff she knew it would come out. Not the specifics of who Eine was, because Hannah had learned that lesson the hard way. How comfortable was she with people knowing that she saw Eine die?
Nervously, Rayne took a step towards Hannah, her body yearning to hug the fox and continue to say how sorry she was. The pit was only growing the long Hannah went without responding. Just as the dy opened her mouth to fill the quiet of this room Hannah responded.
“I might not have wanted people to know that about me,” Hannah admitted feeling ashamed of herself. “But I would prefer them knowing that to them thinking that you are the kind of woman capable of physical punishment.” Hannah’s voice got even more quiet as her eyes drifted down. “You have only ever acted kind towards me, even when I have done wrong.” Memories of listening in on a fight between Rayne and Hamish had filled her mind.
Those kind words were making Rayne’s desire to hug her vixen grow even stronger. So much so that Rayne still found herself moving towards Hannah. Albeit at a slow pace. “And I wouldn’t want them thinking that you have done anything remotely deserving of such a punishment. I know that is not the kind of woman you are.” Now only an arms length from the fox, Rayne found her hand reaching out. She couldn’t help herself. She wanted to comfort Hannah, but maybe a hug would be too much. Her hand gently cup the fox’s cheek and brought Hannah’s eye-line back up to hers. Those yellow eyes were so pretty. “You are a very good girl, Hannah.”
Hannah’s breath caught in her throat at Rayne’s st few words. The vixen’s heart felt like it stopped for a second before thundering in her chest loud enough that Hannah was sure Rayne could hear it. The words ‘good girl’ coming from just an imaginary Rayne the other night had been enough to send Hannah barreling into one of the best orgasms she had in quite a while. Now hearing those words truly come from Rayne was exhirating. Hannah’s face filled with a heat far hotter than she thought even the fire in the room might be. Not only that, but the heat was flooding more than just her face. It spread throughout her body while a good portion of it settled in her lower belly.
Rayne watched almost in awe at just how red Hannah’s face had turned. The warmth from her vixen’s red face was almost burning the dy’s hand, but she didn’t dare take it away. The only thoughts that were truly going through Rayne’s mind were just about how cute Hannah looked with a red face. Of course Rayne had seen Hannah blush before, but it had been nowhere near as bad as this. It was so unbelievably cute. It took only a few heartbeats before Rayne’s mind thought that Hannah’s face turning red might not actually be a good thing. In fear she had clearly overstepped a boundary Rayne made to pull her hand away, only to stop at the sound of swishing. Her eyes gnced down to find Hannah’s tail wagging from behind her with astounding speed and force. So much so that Hannah’s body started to shake with the wags. She had never seen Hannah’s tail wag this hard before.
Though the fox was blisteringly hot, her body felt frozen in pce. All accept her tail which was doing its best to show Rayne just how much she had loved being called a good girl by her. It almost hurt with how fast it was going, but the pain wasn’t what Hannah was focusing on. Her mind was focusing on the features of Rayne’s face and just how much warmth it stirred in between her legs. To the clear shock of both the women, the clock on the mantelpiece over the fire chimed. Rayne looked away from Hannah, but Hannah didn’t look away from her mistress.
“Damn,” Rayne whispered quietly. She had thought there was more time before her first meeting, but apparently not. Gray eyes turned away from the clock and back to the orange haired woman before her. Hannah’s tail hadn’t slowed down in the slightest, nor had any red left her face. Those yellow eyes were still wide as she looked back into Rayne’s. Not having time to think about what this reaction from her vixen could mean, Rayne pulled her hand away. “I’m sorry, but I’m going to be te. Please excuse me, Hannah.” Begrudgingly Rayne’s feet started pulling her away from the fox she desperately wished to keep touching. This meeting couldn’t be missed. Her mind wished to ponder what Hannah’s reactions meant, but she needed to focus for the meeting. Still once she found herself at the doorway, she looked back to the fox to find that nothing had changed with Hannah. That tail was so fast. “I’ll see you ter for lessons,” Rayne said as if trying to assure herself that she would see Hannah again.
With a throat too tight to let anything more than a raspy breath out, Hannah watched as her mistress’s visage disappeared into the hallway, leaving Hannah in silence again. Her eyes stayed glued to the open doorway as she still tried to process what was happening. Well her mind was struggling to understand, her body however knew very well what it was feeling. It was so hot and begging to be touched and called a good girl again.
“Oh, no…” Hannah finally managed to voice in her native tongue. Attraction was of course something she had felt throughout her life, though sometimes it could be hard to recognize that was what she was feeling. Since the death of Eine, such thoughts and feelings had appeared to slink away from Hannah’s conscious mind as she grew accustomed to this new life as a sve. Not just because it felt wrong to feel attraction after losing the love of her life, but also because such feelings were only going to cause her trouble. Be it to another kin or even a human. Eventually any such thoughts just disappeared from Hannah’s daily life. Maybe once in a while she would think someone looked very pretty as she walked through the Guild-Row Market, but fear of her work being hindered and the threats of punishment occupied her mind more.
“Oh, no…” Wide yellow eyes finally drifted from the open door and back to the desk where her work still y out before her. Her mind couldn’t shift back to work though. Nor could she force her body to do anything more than move to the thunderous wag of her tail. The echoes of Rayne’s words flittered through her mind and settled into the heat between her legs. With effort she tried to force her mind away from the memory of sound, but found her mind retaliating by depicting an image of Rayne in all her beauty. It made her body respond in the same way.
Rayne’s physical appearance hadn’t made Hannah feel this way before now though had it? Sure even before this Hannah considered Rayne beautiful. She had admired those bright gray eyes and gently chiseled face as one might admire a work of art. Admired the height with which Rayne towered over Hannah. Admired the curves the dy so clearly defined with her clothes… Was it all purely admiration, or had there truly been desire mixed in this whole time? Maybe deep down there always had been notes of desire and attraction, but Hannah hadn’t been ready to acknowledge that part of her. Rayne’s words didn’t care if Hannah was ready or not, they had brought those thoughts to the surface with force.
Hannah was never going to be able to look at Rayne the same way again… and her body very much liked that.
“Oh, no. This isn’t going to go well…”
“Was that Elven?”
Hannah jumped and let out just the tiniest yelp at the sudden appearance of Lord Hamish. Her heart was still pounding from Rayne’s words so the scare of Hamish wasn’t as jolting to her body as it was her mind. The wagging of Hannah’s tail finally slowed down and she already knew that she was going to be a little sore in a while. It was hard to clear her thoughts of Rayne and focus on the lord before her, but she managed. Mostly.
“I-I’m sorry, my mind was elsewhere, my lord.” With her mind finally catching up to what was happening, Hannah gave a small curtsy.
“It’s alright. I didn’t mean to scare you,” Hamish said with a gentle smile. “Was that Elven that you were speaking?” The lord looked clearly intrigued and maybe even hopeful.
“No, my lord. That was Everlian, my native nguage. It does sound very simir to Elven.”
“It certainly didn’t sound like any nguage I have heard before. You do also speak Elven though, don’t you?” Again that hopeful look filled the middle child’s eyes.
Hannah nodded. “I’m more accustomed to reading it rather than speaking it, but I can easily get by in a conversation. Not that there are many people to converse with.” The smile that spread just a bit further on Hamish’s face was the same kind of smile Rayne had, and now Hannah’s mind was drifting back to her mistress. What could Hannah do to make Rayne smile?
“Would you mind speaking some for me?”
It took a good second longer for Hannah to process what was said than it normally would have thanks to thoughts of Rayne’s smile. “When people ask me to say something in Elven I never quite know what to say.” How many times was Hannah going to have this same conversation over her time at the Hayward Estate?
Hamish’s smile only grew. “What did you say?” When Hannah repeated her words back in Celian Hamish let out a little chuckle. “Well, maybe that’s on us for never specifying what we would like to hear.” A more serious expression overtook the lord’s face as he turned to look at the fire. Again it amazed Hannah just how simir Hamish’s expressions were to his sisters. “I have some friends I was thinking of inviting for a poetry reading some day in the coming week. Probably after cousin Margret has had a day or two to settle in.” He turned back to Hannah with a gentler but still serious expression. “Some of them have old Elven books of poetry and I wanted to ask if you would be open to reading them for us.”
“Of course,” Hannah said with no hesitation. “I would love to.” There was a warmth that filled Hannah at the idea. Standing before a group of people to read out to them would almost feel like reading out to a css full of her students. If only she could have that again.
“Wonderful.” The smile had returned to Hamish’s face, only there was a hint of something that Hannah couldn’t pce. “I think we will also host it in here, if you don’t mind. I love the feel of a library for such things.”
“Not at all.” All that meant was that Hannah was going to really make sure the library was in tip top shape for everyone. Maybe she could even move the furniture around to make a “I’ll make sure everything is prepared and set up.”
“Good. Once I have a day scheduled I will be sure to inform you.” There was an unmistakable sound of keys jingling from down the hall and Hannah turned to face the door, causing Hamish to look confused and then to the door himself. Clearly he couldn’t hear the keys like Hannah could. Within just a few seconds Eda was standing outside the library floor. “Miss Eda,” Hamish said before turning back to Hannah. “Popur today I see.”
“Apparently,” Hannah said a little sheepishly. The vixen had been hoping the next person she saw would have been Rayne again.
“My lord,” Eda said. “I don’t suppose you're also here to schedule lessons with Hannah?”
Though Hannah had been here a little while she hadn’t seen the staff interact much with the family. Of course she had seen Eda and Rayne talk a good bit, but Hannah had assumed that gentle loss of formality was unique to just Eda and Rayne’s interactions. Maybe that wasn’t the case, at least for Miss Eda.
Hamish opened his mouth, but no words came out of it right away. “Well, I wasn’t,” he turned back to Hannah, “but I have said that I was interested in getting your help with some Treysian poetry. Also, depending on how this coming reading goes I might ask for some other lessons.”
Since hearing Rayne call Hannah a good girl her tail hadn’t ever stopped fully wagging, but it had slowed. Now, though, it was picking the pace back up. How much better could today even get?
Trinidia
