The House of Tahvo

Chapter Nine

Over the next month or so, Aggie was able to receive and write two more letters to Karina. Each letter she received was like a ray of light piercing the night. She always knew how to cheer Aggie up and kept encouraging her to stick through it. Karina told her that things would eventually change, she just needed to wait out the storm. How Karina could stay so positive when she still hadn't been able to leave the House of Hagen was beyond Aggie, but she was incredibly grateful for her friend's optimism. Even though things with the women were only growing worse, it helped her to endure the hostility.
Granted, Tahvo had been exceptionally kind to her. In fact, she found that he spent most of the non-working day around her. Their conversations were always so engaging that they often forgot there were other people around. When Aggie had her days where she was free to do whatever she pleased, Tahvo often joined her and together they would walk around his gardens.
It was only on evenings that Tahvo had business to attend to, whether away from the house of with others at his house, that they didn't spend the evening together. On those nights, Aggie would retire to her room and read one of the few books she had brought with her. She had considered requesting that Tahvo give her books, rather than the pretty dresses, the jewelry, the shoes, or the scarves and hair accessories he had been giving her, but she felt that would be too forward. She didn't want to come across as though she expected the gifts, because she certainly didn't, however, if she were to receive gifts from him, she would prefer that they were more useful to her.
Because the women she shared the room with still hadn't returned, she had taken to using the free room to take care of her gifts. She hung the three dresses from a clothes line that she hang hung across part of the room. He had given her one pair of shoes and she placed those on the floor beneath the dresses. The jewelry, hair accessories, and scarves were hung from pegs in the walls. The room was starting to feel almost comfortable, though she felt bad that the other women who were supposed to be sleeping in there had left.
Derek had visited her once in her room. He had looked around and said, "You might as well request to move into a room that is all yours. That way the women can come back in here."
Aggie shook her head. "No, if they want to come back, they can while I'm here. I didn't tell them to get out of the room. I did nothing to make them leave. It was their choice. I'm not going to ask for yet another special privilege and have them become even more angry with me."
Derek nodded. "Yes, that makes sense. I mostly meant it as a joke, but you're right. The way they act toward you is ridiculous."
"I'm glad you agree," she told him. "I was wondering if it was just me. But then, of course, I see the way they interact with each other and it is nothing like how they interact with me."
"Well, you're always welcome to come share a room with me," he said and winked at her.
Aggie laughed. "You're terrible. And I'm pretty sure that Tahvo wouldn't appreciate us sleeping in the same bed."
"He's welcome to join us, too. The more the merrier," Derek told her, a mischievous grin spreading across his face.
She smacked his arm, laughing again. "I can't imagine we would all fit on your little bed. How would we sleep?"
"Who said anything about sleeping?" Derek asked.
"Oh knock it off," Aggie told him.
She knew that Lieber had seen the way the other women treated her, but she hadn't dared to say anything. Knowing that Derek agreed they were all being ridiculous made her feel better, but she still didn't know what to do about it. Lieber had told her, "You have to stand up for yourself. It's the only way things are going to get better."
Aggie shrugged. "I don't know. I keep thinking if I just ignore how rude they are they'll eventually give it up. They can't all be that angry with me."
Lieber looked at her over his glasses. "Honey, I know you're innocent, but even you have to see that the more time he spends with you, the angrier they become."
Sighing, Aggie nodded. "I know. But what if me saying something just makes the situation worse?"
"Don't you feel it's worth the risk?" Lieber asked. He stopped what he was doing and turned to her. "At least you could say you tried, instead of taking it in stride."
"I don't know," Aggie said, shaking her head. "I just don't know what to do."
About a week after Aggie's conversation with Lieber, Nadia approached her, seething with anger. The night before Tahvo had given Aggie a pair of earrings that matched a necklace he had given her previously. Aggie was carefully placing them in a velvet bag which she would keep under her bed when Nadia walked into her room without knocking, startling Aggie.
Daggers shot from Nadia's eyes. "Just who do you think you are?" she asked, crossing her arms and blocking the door so that Aggie couldn't leave.
"What exactly do you mean?" she asked warily. She was tired of the way the women had been treating her. After all, she couldn't help it if Tahvo liked his time with her better than he liked his time with the other women.
Nadia huffed. "You come in here all sweet and within a matter of weeks you have Tahvo, master to all of us, wrapped around your little finger. He spends most of his time with you, he hasn't asked for any of the other women in weeks, and he is constantly giving you presents. The way I see it, you're trying to get him to name you Alpha so you can serve him and be in control of all of us."
Aggie laughed out loud. "You think I have purposely placed myself in this position? A position where all of the women I'm supposed to work with, and in theory, befriend, will hate me?"
"Then explain to me what exactly is going on here," Nadia told her, waving her hand in the air.
"Tahvo seems to enjoy the time he spends with me," Aggie said. "Clearly more than he does his time with you. That's not my fault."
"Well, since you seem to think you're better than the rest of us, and that you can do a better job than I can, why don't you run us for a day? See how well you do," Nadia said, her voice icy.
"I don't want your position!" Aggie yelled. "I'm so tired of you not believing me! All I want is to get through the day without having everyone talk behind my back and glaring at me every time they see me."
"Oh, you poor little thing," Nadia replied, sarcasm dripping from her words. She folded her arms across her chest. "Did you get your feelings hurt?"
Aggie threw up her hands in frustration. Tears filled her eyes. "Please just leave me alone, Nadia. We can continue on like we have, you pretending I don't exist and me doing my job each day."
"I don't think so," Nadia hissed. "I want you out of here. I'm going to tell Tahvo that if he wants you as the Alpha, then he's going to have to let me go. I won't serve underneath you."
Trying not to let the tears fall, Aggie sighed. "I'm done with you, Nadia. I have treated everyone here as kindly as I possibly could. I've never been mean or cruel, never said one bad thing behind anybody else's back, and never treated anyone like I have been treated. I've tried to be helpful and courteous, and what do I get in return? I get all of you treating me like I'm less than a slave!
"I'd rather be back in the House of Hagen, because at least there I knew where I stood and I had people who treated me the way I treated them! I might have been punished when I performed poorly, but I was always rewarded when I did well. I knew what each day was going to bring. Here, I never know what it is going to be like because of how you all treat me. I have two friends and neither of them are women, the people who are in the exact same situation I am."
Once she was finished, Aggie ran out of the room, throwing the door open behind her. About six of the other women jumped back, surprised. They must have been listening to Nadia and Aggie's argument. She didn't care. She pushed past them and ran down the hallways, taking each turn quickly, until she had reached the door that led to the outside.
She couldn't take it anymore. The other women had to get over themselves and start treating her better, or she was going to request to Tahvo that he let her go back to the House of Hagen. The thought of leaving him made her stomach twist, but she was tired of being unsure of herself whenever she wasn't around him. He made her feel happy and whole, but then when he wasn't around, she had no idea where she stood or how she should act.
Aggie wandered through the gardens, thinking about her decision. The thought of returning to the House of Hagen wasn't exactly appealing, but at least if she did, she could see Karina again. And then Karina would make everything better. She would help her get over Tahvo and she would tell her that all the other women were just jealous brats who couldn't handle having someone new in the house.
Sitting on a bench, she watched the moon rise. The air was growing cold and she shivered, but Aggie didn't care. She would rather sit outside all night, freezing, than go back in to where she was sure Nadia was waiting for her. Well, for all Aggie cared, Nadia could wait all night. She wasn't going to return any time soon. In fact, she decided, she may even take Derek up on the offer to sleep in his room, just for the night, though that might make Tahvo mad.
She shook her head, sighing deeply. Nothing she did seemed right and she felt as though she was running out of options. It wasn't as though the other women were going to change just because she had blown up at Nadia. In fact, it was even less likely once Nadia told them what had happened.