The Little Fawn Slave

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The dawn was announced by the sounds of servants scurrying busily through the house, breakfast being made, and other things being attended to. Baba scolded the cook for burning the new maiden’s oats and plated some fruit and tea instead. “She’s a young thing so mayhap somethin’ sweet’ll make her cheer up a bit,” she muttered to herself as she wobbled up the stairs carrying the small tray.

Damhnait slept hard through the night, hardly stirring in her bed so that she looked nearly serene when Baba entered the room and looked at her sleeping.

Setting the tray down the hag got to work sorting through the few things that were sent with her and was displeased to find that other than the indecent gold undergarment and the cloak she had worn on her arrival the girl had nothing to wear. “This jus’ won’ do at all…” she muttered to herself, scuttling over like an ancient crab to open the draperies and let in the morning sun.

The light fell on Damhnait’s face causing her to first squint, then turn over, then open her eyes and remember exactly where she was. Slowly, she raised her head, turned, and greeted Baba with a bleary, thoughtful stare. “Morning.”

“Mornin’ girl. Brought yer breakfast,” Baba picke dup the tray and sat it on the girl’s lap with an air of completeness. “Firs’ off this mornin’ I’ll have to get ya summat to wear. Those smart an’ powerful men up at the city didn’ send ye a scarp of cloth to wear, ‘spect they think we can dress ye jus’ fine with all that cloth they sent. Don’ they know it takes time to cut a dress? No, no they have more important things to think of I s’pose.” She busied herself with these thoughts while Damhnait fell onto her breakfast hungrily. It didn’t take long for her to devour the fruit and drink the tea.

After draining her first cup of tea the maiden contemplated what had been said. “I’m a fair seamstress, I can sew some things for me to wear, if it is no trouble,” she offered meekly.

Baba laughed, a cross between a howl and a wheeze, “Oh, oh me! So many manners. Well ye be sewin’ your clothes then, after we’re done getting those damned papers tidied up in Master Ceadda’s study. I’ll get ye a slip of somethin’ to wear while you finish your breakfast.”



The study desk was indeed a mess. The deeds and papers were piled in no order and tipped to some wayward side by a scroll here and a scroll there. Baba crooned and squaked over the piles while Damhnait, clutching at the two extra feet of length at the end of her baggy shift that Baba had procured from some dusty chest, sat in the chair and took a deep, long breath. “Well, we should start with putting deed together in one section and certificates of title in another, putting whatever is left in the middle.”

The two worked for hours, Baba handling the piles and stacks whiel Damhnait read each one carefully. When a servant came in to ask Baba a question the hag flew into a fit and sent the servant away in tears. It wasn’t until one of the butlers announced luncheon that Baba seemed to lighten in mood.

“Dearie, what a dearie, I must say. You work very hard. My eyes would fail me now if I read all that,” she cooed, taking a deed to some worthless land in the north from Damhnait and putting it on the unsorted pile. “Let me get ye some dinner and mead while you rest that smart pretty head of yours.”

Damhnait didn’t argue. She ached through out her body; her neck from craning and twisting to compare documents, her head and eyes from reading and re-reading, her bottom and legs from sitting until they were numb, her fingers from flipping with tiny cuts here and there that stung terribly. The whole experience had left her ill.

Baba returned with a stew of sausage and cabbage and a pint of mead sweetened with honey and spices. This helped very much and soon Damhnait was feeling in high spirits. She spoke with Baba about some of the documents, explaining many of the words and reasons for their gifting.

“Most of the land is worthless except maybe for roadways,” She mused, “But there is a rather large plot in the south that would be perfect for growing barley…but the planting has already begun and will be over before Duke Mael returns…”

Baba shook her head, “we could use the grain for all the prices going up after last years mess with the cursed grain in Ghen. All those poor souls down there loosing their babies that weren’t even born yet. Lord, the ones that were born, terrible creatures they were. Had to burn the crops, even the ones near here.”

Damhnait nodded, the rise in grain prices had hurt her family badly. “There’s no chance of getting the approval from Duke Mael before the month ends?”

The hag shook her head, “Be lucky to get him the message before the next moon, lass.”

Tapping the deed to the good land Damhnait pondered over the issue. “You have authority in the household, could you not send the order for the plot to be sewn?”

Baba nodded solemnly, “But I daren’t till I get orders. Not my land to till, no not at all.”

“But, this is your well being too, this house and it’s ups and downs.”

The old woman contemplated this fully, her brow furrowed and mouth puckered into a scowl. “This be true, lass, an’ yet it is my well being in a pit if Master Mael don’ like my decisions made ‘round here. He can have a right fine fit if he get his mind on it.”

“He could have a right fine fit over grain prices too, or he could sit on a pile of barley and be very grateful for your forward thinking,” Dmahnait retorted then sighed. “If it were my land I’d have it worked on before the day was through. Grain is grain, can never have too much of it, sell or store what we can’t use right away…”

Baba seemed effected by the maiden’s words and the two were quickly sending a man out to put laborers to work in the new plot. After this the paper work went quickly and the two women were in high spirits except for the nagging worry of what Ceadda would really think of their decision.