The noise of chalk scraping against ste was covered by the gentle hum of the only person in the library. An alphabet filled the massive ste board that Ms. Eda had told Hannah about. It had been sitting in the attic for years collecting dust thinking there were no more lessons to be learned in this house, but Hannah had found it and decided there was still so much it could teach.

  Of course, bringing such a heavy and delicately constructed board down was something far greater than she could handle alone. She had to ask Mr. Williams if she could borrow the footmen to help bring it down for her. Though he hesitated at first, no doubt still worrying about getting everything ready for Lady Keating, Hannah managed to win him over by providing a full list of all missing books from the locked case. It was simple and quite literally her job to provide that, but he really seemed to appreciate how neat and organized the list she provided was.

  James and Richard at first were relieved to get away from Mr. Williams’s not so gentle style of micro-managing, but when they realized just how heavy the board was and how many floors they had to get it down they weren’t as relieved. It took a while but they did it and most certainly earned a bit of a break along with some warm tea.

  Taking a step back Hannah took in her work. Everlian had an alphabet simir in size to Celian, but there were a good few diacritics that really set the nguages apart. Elven had even more diacritics, but Hannah didn’t have to worry about teaching that yet. The physical appearance of the letters had a lot more flourish to them compared to the blocky letters of Celian. She did know that fact often made it more difficult to learn for those going from Celian to Everlian rather than learning it first. That being said, Hannah did find writing in Everlian had far more continuous flow than Celian.

  How hard was this going to be for her mistress? How was she going to react to Hannah’s teaching style? Was there a style that would be better suited for helping Rayne learn? Would Rayne like her lessons?

  Those questions floated around in her head, but were slowly repced by just thoughts of Rayne in general. Her tail was indeed a little sore from how hard it had wagged earlier, but that didn’t stop it from continuing to wag every time Hannah thought about Rayne over the past few hours. Especially so when she thought about aspects of Rayne that Hannah realized she had great admiration for. One that kept popping into Hannah’s mind was that Rayne stood a full head above Hannah. Hannah had to look so far up when Rayne stood close to her and even just the thought of it was triggering something in her mind.

  That something was definitely stirring warmth between her legs but it was still taking her a while to actively pce what the thought and feeling was. Though her eyes remained focused on the board, her mind drifted as she tried harder to work through this. Then it hit her and the smile on her face faltered and the wag of her tail halted. It was the same thing she felt when Eine would pin her up against a wall, pressing her rger body to Hannah’s. The same thing Hannah felt when Eined loomed over her, fingers deftly pying between her legs, but purposely never enough to push her over the edge till she was begging. It was the desire to submit…

  Yes, in this instance it was a desire for sexual submission, but it was still submission. A long ago almost forgotten feeling of defiance sparked to life again inside of her and whispered thoughts of disobedience against those who thought they owned her. Against the humans who told her what to do.

  The hum still in Hannah’s throat grew in intensity but lost any melodic nature as the will to give in and the fire to fight back battled inside of her. She didn’t fear what Mistress theoretically wanted her to do, nor did she fear how Mistress would respond to Hannah’s submission or disobedience. So there weren't any feelings of true harm or hateful nature present in situations involving Rayne. Hannah did in fact feel safer with Rayne than she did anyone else in her current life. In that regard the desire to submit did feel good, as it had with Eine. The desire to disobey however… That fire inside her was growing and that felt exciting. The fire wasn’t rge enough to do anything drastic but there was excitement at the idea of not doing what someone told her to. How long had it been since that fire burned inside of her?

  After far too long the still battling feelings yielded to Hannah’s logic of still needing to prepare before lessons. There was a time to let those feelings sort themselves out and while rushing to make sure she had everything ready wasn’t the time. Maybe ter tonight whilst she y in bed as flickers of warmth still danced across her body at the memory of being called a good girl would be a good time to let those feelings run wild.

  With the ste board finished Hannah went to the desk to get some practice sheets ready for Rayne to try writing a little. Back at her school for children just started maybe learning the alphabet and practicing writing all in one lesson was a bit much, but Hannah was sure someone as smart as her mistress could handle it. It was a strange feeling to sit down at a desk and work on lesson preparation. Not a bad feeling, just strange to be feeling something like this again after assuming it would never happen again. The process of preparation didn’t come back as easily as Hannah had hoped, but she pushed through it. This was only the first lesson after all so there wasn’t a drastic need for a deeply thought out pn. This was going to be a time more designed to help Hannah understand how to teach Rayne than to actually teach a full intricate lesson.

  ~~~

  Rayne stood in the hallway around the corner from the library. It wasn’t three yet but her meeting had ended early and Rayne wasn’t quite sure what to do with herself. Coming early was always an option and Rayne was sure Hannah wouldn’t mind. Maybe she would as Rayne didn’t know how much prep her fox needed. Rayne bit her lip as she looked down the hall to the corner. It had been a long time since the dy had ever felt timid and she really didn’t like feeling it now.

  It was true Rayne had been so eager to spend more time with Hannah, but that eagerness really had clouded her memories of being taught a nguage other than her native Celian. She had said something to Hannah already about not being one of the best students, but she probably hadn’t really expressed how much she did struggle with learning another nguage. Lessons about mathematics, history, etiquette, business had gone over well with the dy, maybe only after being humbled a little bit by her teachers, but Treysian… Those lessons had gone far from well. She had even continued those lessons well into her te twenties, mostly due to wanting better business retions with some Treysian trading partners, and still she struggled to keep up with conversations. She could be far worse at Treysian but after over two decades of lessons she felt she should at least be fluent.

  Once a teacher had told Rayne that dreaming in another nguage was the sign of fluency. Whether that was true or some nonsense Rayne wasn’t sure, but to this day she had never dreamed in Treysian. That fact stuck with her every time she was around Treysian speakers. Maybe not always at the forefront of her mind, but it was still there. A gentle voice telling her that even after all her hard work she just wasn’t good enough.

  Rayne pulled out her pocket-watch and checked the time again. Ten till three… That felt too early, but what else was she going to do in ten minutes? Putting away the watch Rayne looked down the hall. Maybe she could go grab her and Hannah some tea and biscuits, though… Knowing Eda so well there was already tea and biscuits set to arrive just before her lessons. Thinking of Eda caused some words of hers to echo through Rayne’s head.

  You two need to be more subtle.

  A dy grabbing her own tray of tea to bring to a beastkin wasn’t subtle… All she had done for Hannah wasn’t subtle and people were already talking about it. A gentle pain filled Rayne’s heart knowing that she wouldn’t be able to share in the open and gentle kindness and courtesies two people shared in courtship. Not that Rayne was one to abide by rules society set for her, but before the only one that could be hurt by that was Rayne. Breaking those rules and expectations with Hannah put her fox at risk now too.

  Rayne leaned up against the wall feeling, feeling a weight she had been ignoring more often than not. The secret she had kept since she was seven wasn’t something that wanted to push its way to the surface. It didn’t want to make itself known, but this new secret… The secret of her love for Hannah was something that so proudly wanted to be shouted to the world. Love wanted to be known and fought against those who tried to hide it. It was fighting against her better judgment of how to act and it was winning. Mostly. Rayne couldn’t act the way she desired to so openly. Again Eda’s words flittered through her head.

  What would be more strange, to continue to act the way she had been openly acting towards Hannah, or to suddenly stop? Would stopping upset Hannah? It most certainly would upset Rayne, but the dy wasn’t sure how much her actions had meant to Hannah.

  The deep hole of thoughts of Hannah Rayne so often fell into was dragging her down further again. Most of the time this rabbit’s hole only led to pleasant desirable thoughts of her fox, but right now it just made her sad. Why must her society dictate how and to whom she showed love? Why couldn’t she show affection to the woman that pulled at her heartstrings?

  “My dy.” Eda’s voice was like a lifeline dragging Rayne from the depths.

  Looking up Rayne found her ever faithful housekeeper holding a tray of tea and biscuits. “Eda. I’m sorry, my mind was elsewhere.” Straightening up, Rayne gave Eda a gentle and maybe nervous smile.

  “Worries about lessons for another nguage?” Eda made her way up to the dy and returned a smile, albeit a bit of a teasing one.

  Rayne gave a quiet chuckle. “Not wholly, but yes…”

  “If there is one thing I have learned about you over your life,” Eda started, with a gentle gesture to follow as she started for the library again, “it's that even when you struggle with something, you push through and don’t give up.”

  The smile on Rayne’s face lost a bit of its nervousness as she followed Eda. “My only worry is that I don’t know when to quit.”

  Eda’s own smile got rger. “When it comes to Hannah you really don’t. That being said, maybe that’s what she needs. Someone that’s not going to quit on her, even when she feels like she doesn’t deserve someone's affection. Just be careful with what others see. Don’t have to worry too much about people overhearing, because with ears like hers, she will know if someone is around.”

  Those words filled Rayne’s heart with a gentle warmth. “Oh, I have learned just how good her hearing is.” The door to the library was fast approaching and Rayne felt that apprehension again. This time with Eda at her side it didn’t stop her.

  “Every time I come to the library she’s already looking at the door expecting me.”

  Their conversation cut out, both wanting to be quiet to see if Hannah really will be there already looking for them. The fox did not disappoint, as she was already facing them just as they arrived. Rayne couldn’t help but smile as she watched Hannah’s tail start to sway with a hearty vigor. Not as strong of a wag as earlier in the day, but it still made Rayne feel so good. Then for some reason her eyes left the fox and gnced at that dreaded board from Rayne’s childhood.

  The dy’s chest felt tight as she took in the almost magic looking letters on the board. They were so foreign to the letters she used. Even Treysian used the same letter system as Celian so while the order of the letters had been strange, she still had some understanding of them. Everlian was something she was going into completely blind. There was nothing in her past that she could call upon to help her, and that was honestly a little scary for Rayne.

  These feelings must have shown on her face for when she finally pulled her eyes away from the board she found Hannah’s tail had slowed while Hannah looked at her. Now Rayne internally berated herself for letting any negative feelings show on her face. Quickly she hid any of those thoughts and worries and put on her best smile.

  Though it could often be hard for Hannah to read someone, especially a human, after years of teaching it was clear when a student felt a little overwhelmed. Rayne had that look on her face now and it made Hannah feel a little sad. Had she gone overboard with the board? Was it too intimidating? She knew Everlian would look difficult to a native Celian speaker, but she had tried to make it look rather simple. In truth, though Hannah had taught Everlian, she hadn’t ever taught someone who already spoke another nguage. Maybe this was too much when coming from a pce of already speaking something compared to learning it as your first nguage.

  “Don’t worry,” Eda said quietly as she set the tray down. It was unclear if she was speaking to Hannah or to Rayne, but both of the other women heard it. She looked up at Hannah’s board and studied it for a few seconds. “I’m sure this will go better than either of you expect.” Eda gave Hannah a smile before turning and giving one to Rayne. “My dy,” she said before making her exit, leaving the two both slightly nervous women alone.

  “Mistress,” Hannah finally said, giving a small curtsy.

  Was it strange for Rayne to think that she didn’t like Hannah curtsying to her whilst it was only the two of them? Maybe that was something she could talk about tonight. Oddly enough thoughts of tonight just sitting down with Hannah helped calm the dy a little bit. “Well, I can confidently say I haven’t seen a nguage like this before.” Stepping forward, her eyes gnced anywhere but the board and found her eyes nding on the teapot. If she couldn’t bring Hannah a tray of tea herself, she could at least pour her a cup and bring that to her.

  Hannah saw Rayne go for the tea and immediately had the urge to rush over and pour it for them, but the ease that the simple action appeared to give Rayne stopped her. If this helped Rayne calm a little before the lesson, then Hannah would be a poor teacher if she stopped her. This also wasn’t the first time that the dy had poured Hannah a cup of tea. That little spark of defyance also triggered in Hannah’s brain at the thought of having a noble dy pour her a cup of tea instead of the other way around.

  Before long Rayne set Hannah’s cup of tea down before her and took a seat at the desk. “Shall we?” Though she was nervous she still couldn’t help but smile at her fox. She had watched Hannah teach before but now she was going to have the experience of being taught by Hannah.

  The teacher part of Hannah’s brain took over, pushing away the thoughts of Rayne’s form as her eyes gnced over the Lady. This wasn’t a time to think about her sudden recognition of attraction to Rayne, this was a time to teach. Other thoughts could be put away for ter and they were, mostly. Hannah managed to get through the introduction to Everlian and even the first few simple greetings in Everlian without much struggle. Rayne had to make quite a few attempts to say even just hello with the right inflections, but she managed it. It made Hannah feel so happy and warm inside.

  The beginning of the lessons went well in Rayne’s opinion. It was a struggle but the nguage was a bit of a wonder to her. It really sounded like what she imagined elves would sound like, and to try and make her own voice sound like that was challenging. Seeing Hannah’s reaction to just a simple hello made all that struggle worth it. Then came the alphabet… Learning to associate a new letter with a new sound was not fun, and only made a little worse by Hannah adding the diacritics. Rayne’s brain struggled with that, but again she pushed through. Finally it was time to try and write out some letters.

  Hannah watched as Rayne started writing out some of the alphabet like she had shown her. Unlike children first learning to write, Rayne’s work wasn’t sloppy and hard to read. Of course it was a little difficult to be writing a whole new set of letters, but Rayne had decades of writing experience to draw upon. The letters were well formed, but Hannah could still see that Rayne struggled in areas most students did.

  Rayne paused as Hannah moved behind her to go get them both another cup of tea. A thought occurred to her suddenly. “Hannah?”

  “Yes, Mistress?”

  “Is Hannah how you actually pronounce your name?”

  The question surprised Hannah. No one had asked her that before. Her ears folded ft against her head as she looked down at the tea. “It’s the Dewathian accented way of saying my name. Hannah would be the way it’s said back home.” Hearing her own name said properly sounded strange to her own ears after so many years, and that really hurt her deep inside.

  “Ha—Hannah,” Rayne managed to say very gently.

  Hannah looked up from the tea she had been staring at without actually pouring. It had been years since she had heard someone say her name with the right inflections. Her chest suddenly felt tight, while tears threatened to start pouring out of her eyes. The tail behind her started to wag, and even more seeing a rge smile on Rayne’s face.

  “Hello, Hannah. It’s nice to meet you.”

  Oh, that wasn’t fair… Hannah had only just realized that she was physically attracted to Rayne. Now the dy was pulling at her heartstrings and the vixen realized this wasn’t the first time she had done that. This was just the first time Hannah acknowledged it for what it was. She couldn’t deny it anymore…Hannah had a crush on Rayne.

  Trinidia