The Little Fawn Slave

Ch. 4



Ceadda shooed away his servants and was totally preoccupied with a letter in his hand. “Baba!”

The hag ran up and curtsied in a crude way, “Yes, Master Ceadda?”

“Baba, I’ll need my duffles packed quickly, only necessities for two weeks.” He didn’t look at the hag as he spoke, instead he mounted the stairs and headed to his chambers, the servant tagging along as slow as a cripple.

“Two weeks, Master Ceadda?”

Ceadda nodded, “I’ll be gone for four at the most but I can only carry the necessities. I’m needed at the border.”

“Of course Master Ceadda.”

Heading into his chambers Ceadda sighed at the state of his desk. “I’ll leave the estate to you of course. Take care of this mess.”

“Yes, of course Master Ceadda.”

Flying into the bedchamber he disrobed to his bloomers and splashed water on his face and upper body before pulling on a new set of battle-ready leathers. The hag was mumbling something about his gifts but he wasn’t prepared to listen to her grumblings.



Hearing the commotion Damhnait opened the door between her rooms and Ceadda’s to have a look at the madness. The hag was gesturing wildly and yammering on about Ceadda leaving her with work she couldn’t do while the master of the house dressed himself hurriedly.

Ceadda turned to the hag with a frown, “Baba, I don’t have time for this.” He moved to hurry out when Damhnait’s terrified face in the doorway interrupted him. “You, come here.”

Damhnait moved forward hesitantly and the hag was silenced for the moment. She could feel both of them looking at her and wished she had worn her cloak still. “Yes?” Unsure if she ought to call him Sir or Master or what she left off the title.

“I’ll be gone for four weeks. You’ll do as Baba here says and help as much as you can. Understand?” Ceadda looked the girl over, appreciating her beauty as much as he allowed himself to for the moment.

Damhnait nodded, glancing at the disgruntled hag before returning her gaze to a pair of worn battle boots. She couldn’t help but ponder at how large this man was, how barbaric.

Ceadda hesitated a moment, thoughts plaguing him left and right. Finally he leaned forward and kissed the girl hard on the mouth, surprising her into kissing him back a second before they parted, then he was off. Damhnait and Baba watched him hurry out to his horse from the bedchamber window, viewing him riding off back to the borders of Cagatay and Odhran.



Thankful for the bath and the privacy Damhnait reflected over her situation. She was a slave, sold into the trade by her father to pay the family debts. This was a common occurrence in the land she used to live in since girls are fairly worthless when it came to farming and she was the youngest of three girls. She had very little dowry, none when it came to the point of their debt. None of this made her situation hurt any less.

Washing the gold dust out of her hair and off her body she pushed her thoughts forward. Due to her state of virginity, she was sold into the custody of the King and put through merchandise prep by what she could only guess to be the keeper of the royal harem. Sir Columba had been good to her but she knew better than anyone that everyone has his or her motives.

Delighting in the feeling of being washed she got out of the tub and wrapped herself in a large towel, the whole act felt luxurious. At the palace she was given into the hands of the King’s new Ward Duke, Ceadda Mael. From what little Damhnait knew of Ceadda he was a barbarian turned trusted friend to the King. However, the King’s favor on Ceadda was not shared by the nobles of Cagatay.

Returning to her bedchamber, she watched two servants hurry into her private bath to clean up after her. The whole business was all so new and strange. Damhnait sat at her vanity and gently touched and examined each piece. They all were old, with the exception of the things sent with her form the palace. Taking the brush she worked the knots in her topaz hair and glanced at herself in the mirror.

She was War Duke Ceadda Mael’s concubine. The very ideal made her feel weak and shaky. She sat the brush on the vanity and fidgeted with the end of her towel. With a sigh she tried to make herself feel better, mentally scolding herself for detesting her situation when it could be worse, she could have been sold into a brothel.

There was a knock at the door before the hag, Baba, entered. “Brought ye a night gown. Is nuttin pretty or anythin’, jus’ somethin’ to sleep in.” She laid the nightgown on the bed and shooed the two maids who finished with the bath out the door.

Baba had been previously busy with the other gifts the King sent for Ceadda and was not able to attend to the maiden who was to be Ceadda’s concubine. She knew herself how hard it was for such a maiden but had no idea how to comfort her. She noted how strong Damhnait was pretending to be, the calm demeanor, not necessarily haughty, just observant and careful. Baba respected the girl immediately.

“You get some rest. Can’t have you ruin your face with no sleep.”

Damhnait watched the haggard old woman and nodded when she was spoken to, compliant and timid as a kitten. She changed, her nakedness before the hag being nothing after the ordeals she had been put through just the day before. Baba made note of the girl’s figure, seeing quickly that she would be fertile unlike the thin, malnourished girls sold in the nearby village market place who were to week to pull a turnip let alone bring a child into the world.

Once dressed in a simple white nightgown that was a foot too long Damhnait sat on the edge of the bed, staring at the floor. Tears began to fall down her face, silent but heavy with personal burden.

“Now, now,” Baba began but stopped herself and nodded. “Sometime the body needs a good bawl, so you just cry, let it out like a good girl,” she cooed and sat next to the girl, taking her shoulders like a well-practiced granny. Damhnait turned and sobbed into the older woman’s shoulder, her whole form shaking violently with each burst. Baba patted on her and rocked her a little, “There you go, there you go.”

It took a good part of two hours for Damhnait to calm herself but Baba never left her. After the episode finished and Damhnait was cleaned up the two sat and talked. Damhnait did most of the talking, telling Baba about her family, the two sisters who were married to good farmers and her poor little mother who couldn’t bear a son. She told Baba about her cats back home, the little kittens she had helped after their mother died, and about her love of books and reading though her village probably only had twenty manuscripts in all its homes. Baba listened and nodded, making little comment except when the statement called for one.

“Well, if you can read a bit you’ll be a lot of help to me,” Baba stated at the end of Damhnait’s little tale. “I can’t read but a bit and only write my own name. A few of the other servants can read a little, but I don’t trust a single one. They’ll steal the hair off your head if they feel it’d get ‘em a coin. You now, you’re well-being is tied to this estate so it wouldn’t make sense for you to lie to me.” She stood and turned down the bedding. “Tomorrow, you’ll help me settle the mess with the deeds the King give to Master Ceadda, an I’ll tell you how the Mael place runs. For now, you sleep.”

Damhnait nodded and crawled into bed, letting the woman tuck her in just so and pat her on the head as if she were a child.