Anne brought her hand up and slid a pesky tendril of red hair out of her face as she laid out the wares her family had brought to the market to sell that day. Every item had its place on the worn, scarred wooden market table; blankets folded neatly on the left, delicately woven women's blouses and skirts in the center, men's work shirts and pants on the right.
The most predominant colors were varying shades of grey, just like those worn by the rest of the vendors in the market, but the occasional swatch of brown could be seen, available in case a member of a higher caste chose to make an appearance.
"Anne, dear…" her mother said a bit too briskly behind her, busy at her loom with last a minute order. "Set the brown clothing out on the left today, in a pile of its own. And make sure it's folded neatly, you hear? I heard it said Mistress Silva Marie was going to coming through today and I want to make sure she sees what we have available."
Anne turned to her, nodding quickly and sweeping her vixen's tail to one side and bending to the task, "Yes mother…" It was a rarity that one of the higher castes would come to the market themselves, but her mother had never made special allowances for them before.
Passing her pawss over one of the exquisitely rendered brown blouses, she turned back to her mother with a curious glance. "Mother…"
Her mother didn't look up. Her expression instead became suddenly absorbed, her fingers flying over the loom with renewed vigor.
Anne sighed softly to herself and turned back to preparing their table. It probably wasn't that important anyway…
Her older brother interrupted her a few moments later, flying into the tent, his white on russet fur all askew. She danced over to him, giggling at the sight of his very animated eyes and muzzle. "She's coming! Mistress Silva Marie! Her carriage was spotted just over the rise!" he yipped.
Anne's brow furrowed as she watched her brother quickly groom his fur and re-arrange his clothes, his blue eyes sparkling with excitement as he made himself look presentable. She glanced down at her dress, the one her mother had insisted she wear this morning despite the fact it was to be saved for special occasions, then over at her mother.
"Mother!" she cried, stamping one delicately booted foot. Her mother looked up at her, her tufted ears splayed looking slightly guilty but her shoulders set in a firm line.
"Dear, it's your best chance to get out of here. You know that… If you could just be apprenticed to Mistress Silva Marie you wouldn't ever have to work at a loom again…"
Anne folded her arms and turned her back stubbornly on her mother, jaw clenching. Her brother scoffed behind her, "Mother, how do you know she wants a femme, huh? I'd like to get out of here too, you know…"
She heard her mother cluck her tongue, "Now now, Julian, you know I have high hopes for you as well, but you know as well as I Mistress Silva Marie's tastes."
Anne turned, looking at them over one shoulder. Silva Marie's tastes were very well known; young femmes, just budding into adulthood. Young femmes exactly like Anne. "But mother… I couldn't leave you, and father… And Julian!" she cried, hugging her brother impulsively.
Julian grinned down at her, tweaking her little black nose, "Nothing to get worked up about, little one. Just be that shy little femme you always are and Mistress Silva Marie probably won't even see you, let alone notice you…"
Anne giggled and batted his paw away, turning from him to finish with the clothes and linens. He was right. She was shy, she always had been. Silva Marie would never notice her. She heard her mother cluck her tongue behind her again, but this time ignored it.
Silva Marie arrived in their square a short while after, replete in her opulent brown skirts and bodice, her soft grey-furred shoulders left bare to the early autumn sun. Behind her trailed two servants carrying her purchases; badger femmes, both wore simple dresses of grey and brown. Anne recognized them as childhood playmates.
Julian came up behind her, jostling her to one side so he could get the best spot to show himself off to Silva Marie. Anne frowned, but for once gave in to her older brother without a fight, slinking off to the back of the tent to check the remaining inventory. She didn't notice her mother's ever-watchful eyes noting her reluctance to be anywhere near the market table.
Anne heard Silva Marie before she saw her. The femme's thick, rich voice thrummed in a silken purr. "Is this all you have for me to look at, today?" Her distaste was obvious.
"Anne?" her mother called from the front of the tent. She cringed, having hoped she'd been forgotten.
"Yes, mother?" Anne replied in her smallest voice.
"Get me that blouse you were working on the other night, the one with the sienna embroidery…."
"But I…" Anne began, then faltered. There was the blouse, sitting on top one of the fabric bundles. "Yes mother…" She would have sworn she'd put it out with the others already… Grabbing it, she moved to the front of the tent, keeping her eyes down and her shoulders hunched.
"Ah, that's a dear…" her mother said, relieving her of the blouse and handing it to Julian. He unfolded it gingerly so Silva Marie could have a closer look. The femme leaned in with a thoughtful, "Hmmmm," fingering the material, but her eyes were obviously on Anne.
Anne nodded mutely to her mother and took a step back, meaning to disappear into the depths of the tent again. Her mother's arm looped out around her slender shoulders, holding her fast before Silva Marie's gaze. She could feel the femme's eyes on her, moving over her body, peering at her in a way no man or woman ever had.
"I'll take her," Silva Marie purred. Her mother nodded in response, a wide sharp-toothed smile cracking her lips. Anne realized belatedly that the blouse had never been the subject of interest at all--she had just been chosen.
Silva Marie smiled at Anne's mother, Julian, and Anne in turn, then nodded to her servants and moved on to the next market stall. Her servants nodded, dropping swift curtseys one after the other, and remained behind.
Anne turned to her mother once she knew Silva Marie was out of ear and eye shot, the shock obvious on her face. "Mother!? What did you just do?"
Her mother positively beamed at her, taking her by the shoulders and kissing each cheek, nuzzling her nose affectionately. "Oh Anne, this is your big chance! You're so fresh and innocent, Mistress Silva Marie is bound to be taken with you… You can only hope she'll do you the great honor of taking you on as an apprentice, dear, and make your mother proud."
Anne's mouth worked, but no words came forth. There was nothing to say. Her mother hugged her tightly, then bustled to the back of the tent. She sighed and dropped her gaze as tears made her bright blue eyes shimmer.
Julian lifted her chin on a finger and grinned rakishly at her. "Don't be down, little one. You'll see us again, and hopefully then you'll be wearing the apprentice's brown and grey. Or maybe… Maybe even brown!"
Anne giggled, tears darkening the fur at her cheeks, and moved into Julian's arms as he reached out to hug her tightly. "I'll miss you. Don't forget about us…" he whispered in her ear, "And I'm awful proud of you even if you do come back wearing the grey you left in."
She pulled back and smiled at him, then turned as her mother came up again, carrying a small bundle—her clothes and personal items from the house. Anne shook her head in disbelief, smiling at her mother despite herself, "Mother, I can't believe you sometimes," she said, taking the bundle and tucking it under one arm.
Her mother pulled Anne into her arms and hugged her tightly, then let her go, putting on a strong expression. "You go, now, no use for long good bye's. There'll always be a place for you here, my lovely little vixen. Don't you forget that."
Anne nodded, tears springing to her eyes again, then turned and walked out of the tent. Silva Marie's servants stood there waiting for her, cordial smiles on their lips, their beady black eyes unreadable. One took her bundle, adding it to the rest of their burdens, and then they moved on in the direction Silva Marie had walked just moments before.
She waved to her mother and Julian who were standing just outside the family tent's eave, watching her. They waved back, and Anne could see the shimmer of tears in her mother's blue eyes. Setting her shoulders and her sights on the future, she smiled, then turned and walked after the servants.
The ride to Silva Marie's estate proved to be a bumpy but interesting one. Rolling pastures passed by Anne on either side as she sat beside the woman in the carriage, her two servants sitting across from them. It was difficult to sit comfortably next to Silva Marie, who sat so rigidly beside her, posture perfect, her long feline tail-tip flicking now and then. Her fur smelled of sweet, exotic perfumes.
Anne didn't want to say the wrong thing, or move the wrong way, or even breath incorrectly, so she spent much of the ride staring out the window at the scenery. The clopclop of the black non-anthro horse's hooves became a dulling rhythm after a time, calming her nerves.
The carriage pulled up before Silva Marie's house. Her servants left it immediately, joining the others streaming from the house in helping to unload the back of Anne's possessions and the various market items. Vixens, badgers, felines—almost all femmes.
Silva Marie gave Anne a cordial nod, then stepped from the carriage and went into the house, leaving her bewildered and alone. She sat there for a moment, looking around at the servants swarming about, then left the carriage herself.
Her paws wrung with nervous tension as she stared up at the two story house, all its windows lit to the fading day, its walls strung with tendrils of climbing ivy. She felt a nudge at one elbow and turned to see a faintly familiar looking wolf girl dressed in the browns and greys of an apprentice; a maid. "Anne… I knew I would see you here one day," she said, grinning.
Anne blinked a few times, staring at the femme's grey eyes, the turn of her mouth. Was it… "Emily…? Is that you?" she asked, peering in disbelief. It had been years since her friend had disappeared…
The girl giggled and nodded, clasping her paws before her mouth and smiling. "The same," Emily said.
Anne laughed in surprise, hugging Emily tightly to her and then releasing her. She held her at arm's length and looked her over, finding that her friend was no longer a girl.
Emily's curly, golden-brown hair curled into an unruly bun, several free locks straying over her dark grey-furred shoulders and framing her face. Her pert, cute, muzzle remained the same, as did her dark grey eyes, but her body had bloomed into womanhood since she had been gone. The cut of her dress enhanced this, showing it off.
The femme grinned at her, noticing her inspection. "Yes, I'm a woman now, have been for a year or two. I grew up here, under the care of Mistress Silva Marie. She came to my family's house one day and asked for me, and I've been here ever since," she said. She turned, leading Anne into the house, "Come, let me show you the house!"