Time for a favor
"Now, I'm going to ask you for the favor I want", Dagna said as they walked further into the ship.
"What, not simply going to force me with your damned bracelet?", Amee spat as she walked.
"No", Dagna said laconically. "I could use the a’dam to give you so much pain that you'd slap your mother for laying with your father… but no. That's not how I operate. Some damane who will be complete with you will, so best not tempt fate. No…my favor is a fairly easy one, and you'll find comes with a reward for you."
Dagna led her to a room with a curtain set up halfway in the middle of the room. "There's a basin or two of hot water, some soap, a cloth, and a towel. My favor? Don't cause me any reason to punish you right now. Go behind the curtain and wash up. There’s some clothing there for you to change into."
Amee stared at her. "Your favor is me washing up?", she said, disbelief coloring her voice, and uncaring if Dagna could feel it in her Shadows-loving bracelet.
"Have you smelled you?", Dagna countered with a smirk as she turned and gave Amee some space to walk behind the curtain. "Believe me, it's a favor to me and everyone else. You're scaring the fish away."
Scowling at Dagna, Amee slipped behind the curtain. A stool bolted to the floor, two large basins of hot water, a bar of soap, washcloth, towel, and one of those dresses like Nura was wearing. Well, so that. But she DID need to shower, that was true. The chain from the bracelet was long enough that she could move around, and even had some degree of freedom. "Dagna, I need you to take this off so i can get my shirt off." The snort of laughter she got in return and the sensation of a phantom hand patting her cheek made her fume.
"That's a nice try. Slip it off and over the chain. I'll put the bracelet down, and then I can slide it over the chain." Dagna sounded calm, and she was. Even if Amee tried to grab the bracelet, she wouldn't be able to move it. Nor use it as a weapon. She heard a huff, and a stamp of feet and responded by sending a stinging slap to Amee's butt.
Amee flinched, but refused to give Dagna the benefit of a sound of pain. "What was that for, bitch?", she snarled, and received another. “Fuck you, you Shadow loving cunt!”, she yelled and got a swat of stinging nettles to her as. Gritting her teeth as heat bloomed across her backside, Amee refused to give in. "Kiss my ass and die”, she yelled, earning another swat. “I can do this all day, bitch”, she said, gritting her teeth.
“I believe you would”, Dagna said, marveling again at how like a torm her damane was. “But in the interests of time, and my nose, I'd prefer not to.” She grinned, having fun. Seanchan marath'damane were easy to train, by comparison. Obedient, and understanding that they were tools, less than human. But these new marath’damane had no understanding of this.
How exciting.
Amee could feel the chain drop as the bracelet fell to the floor, and she looked to see how much slack she had. Deciding, she pulled her pants and breechclout off, and began to wash. The hot water felt amazing, the soap fragrant, and as she delicately wiped between her legs, Amee realized how much she'd missed this. “Dagna.”
“Yes, Amee?”, Dagna asked.
“I need another washcloth”, she said, and frowned as Dagna tutted.
“How do you ask?”, the sul’dam asked. Not that she expected the proper form at this point. But this was a slow and steady path. She could wait.
“Dagna, may I please have another washcloth?”, Amee said, after a minute of grinding her teeth and wishing Dagna was there so she could punch her.
“Of course. Soon, I will not be correcting you, and if you do not ask properly, you will be disciplined. As I have told you, other sul’dam will look at your progress and judge you. And by extension, me. Should enough go to the der'sul'dam and raise their voice, they will move you to another sul’dam. One who is considerably less tolerant than I. Keep that in mind”, Dagna said as she threw a washcloth over the divide.
Amee grabbed the washcloth, soaping it up and letting it rest in the water as she considered. There were a few ways she could do this. But she also needed to plan for the future. Slipping her shirt off and unwinding her breastband, she put them both into the soapy water, along with her other clothes. Humming a tune that her mother always hummed while doing the wash, she began to wash her clothes. It meant that she needed to turn in a few awkward directions, but she didn't care. As long as it didn't pull the damn bracelet, it was good. She’d be a Shadowfriend before she wore that damn dress. Once they were soaped up, she rinsed them, then wrung them out over the basin and put them to the side. Grabbing the second washcloth, she began to scrub at herself. Making sure to wash her armpits and underneath her breasts, she was soon done.
Dagna cocked her head, curious what Amee was doing. She had no idea, and without being complete, couldn't tell what emotions her damane was feeling. But it was better to let her have her head and the illusion of control now, and slowly lessen it. Slowly steering Amee until her damane was used to her control. The sounds of dripping water filled the air, and water began to leak from behind the curtain. “All done?”, she asked.
“Almost. Why, don't you trust me?”, Amee asked as she wound her breastband back in place. Wearing wet smallclothes wasn't comfortable, but it wasn't her first dive and they would dry. She'd prefer any discomfort over wearing that shit.
“Not as far as I could throw this ship”, came the bland reply from Dagna.
“Awwww, that hurts my feelings. Why not?”, Amee asked, sounding so terribly NOT upset about it. Slipping her shirt back on, she grabbed her breechclout.
“Probably because you made a serious effort to kill me and free yourself from the a'dam. I won't let you get a second chance, Amee. I'll treat you like a dangerous animal until I know that you're not trying anything stupid. You know as well as I that the a'dam will never come off. When you're done, let me know.” Dagna was perfectly content to wait, since she could come and go as she pleased, and Amee was stuck where she was. But just to be sure, she made sure that the porthole was closed, and too small for Amee to get through. “Take all the time you want. I ate already.”
Amee grimaced, and stamped a foot in anger. After taking ten breaths to cool her temper, she tried to walk back. But she couldn't, since getting near the rope that held the curtain up was a problem. “Oh, flaming fish shit”, she muttered as she had just had a distinct vision of using it to strangle Dagna.
“Oh? Is there a problem?”, Dagna asked mildly, not hearing any movement.
“Not really. Just that you won't come a little closer”, Amee muttered, trying to figure out how best to fix the situation. “You should. Just to check on me and everything”, she said and heard a short laugh.
“Oh, well, now of COURSE I'll do just that”, Dagna said sarcastically.
Amee made a noncommittal noise, and pulled her pants back on. Once she was fully dressed, she nodded to herself. ‘This should do it.’ “All done.”
Dagna looked at the bracelet that was still on the floor. There was no shirt or anything on the floor near it. “And the dress?”, she asked, already knowing the answer.
“That flaming dress can go to the bottom of the sea, with you wrapped in it!! A pox on you and your fucking dress”, Amee spat. “I'd rather die than wear that shit.”
Deciding to let Amee win this fight for now, Dagna smiled and nodded. “Very well, Amee.” She snapped the bracelet on, and smiled as she felt the cauldron of emotions emanating from her damane. Rage, satisfaction, hatred, resolve… well, an interesting blend. “Come along, Amee. Contrary to what you think, I DO care about your health. We just have different ideas about what the rest of your life will look like”, she said quickly, foretelling any argument more than the scoff and spit on the ground Amee sent her way. Even more interesting was the way that Amee sidled around the curtain. “Let me guess. You pictured using the rope to harm me?”, she said, grinning. “Well, hopefully you learned better. Now come.” And just for good measure, she gave Amee a solid thump with a paddle to her butt. Her damane merely grunted, glaring at her. “Watch how you speak to me, or you'll get far worse.”
Amee glared daggers at Dagna, but followed her to the galley without sound. And there was her next surprise. The chairs were all bolted down, as she had expected, as was the table. But they had an odd feature she didn't understand. Each one had a wide space next to it, with what looked like a small cushion set into the floor. What she didn’t expect was that none of the chairs had a place setting by it. As she inspected the table, she saw that there were hooks set under the table, two to a side. ‘For those Shadow-loving bracelets.’
Dagna led Amee to a chair and waited. The moment Amee made to sit in the chair, she gave her the sensation of burning chirushl weeds rubbing across her ass. The damane stiffened, and glared at her. “What the flaming fuck was that for, rotfish?”, she was asked. Rather loudly. Dagna imagined that she heard at least one gasp from the kennels, and assumed it was a fairly impressive curse from Amees home. She repaid the curse with more chirushl, this time rubbing along her stomach and chest. Impressively enough, the only sign that Amee felt it was a narrowing of her eyes, and a swelling of stubborn fury through the a’dam. Delightful.
“Stop that and tell me what's going on in that open cesspit of a brain, bitch!!!”, Amee demanded, and balled up her fist. She saw Dagnas eyes flitter to her fist and then back up. What infuriated her the most was the small smile on the cunts face. The next thing she knew, she was on the ground, holding her stomach and trying not to vomit. Worse, it hurt to breathe. ‘Fuck that was a bad idea.’
Dagna sighed, even as she grinned inside. “And here I thought you had learned better. Clearly, you're less intelligent than I thought.” Dagna was proud that she kept the wince out of her voice, since it had been a solid hit. Her Amee was far stronger than any Seanchan damane. ‘That’s going to bruise’, she thought as she watched Amee moan. “Now, if you're done being silly, you can ask, and I will answer.”
Amee panted as the pain slowly faded, her stomach aching less and less with each breath. Clearly, it had been a bad idea. “Ask? Ask what, fishlips?”
“Where you’re supposed to sit, you silly damane”, Dagna said, as if it was the most obvious answer in all the world.
“The chair”, Amee said, confused. She got another swat across her ass, and hissed. “Where else am I supposed to sit? I'm not an animal, you bitch.” THAT got her two swats with those burning switches, one on each leg. Swats that she refuses to acknowledge.
“You are damane. You are lower than an animal. This is a fact of your life”, Dagna said with no emotion in her voice. As calm as if she was discussing the weather, or the state of her shoes. “You sit where your sul’dam tells you to sit, and you eat what you are given by your sul’dam. Sitting at the table is a treat for well-behaved damane. That, Amee, is not you. Not yet. But soon, it will be. You will sit here, on the cushion. If you misbehave, I will take that away from you. Misbehave again and I will make sure you eat in the bilges. The smelliest ones I can find, with the most unappetizing food I can find. Believe it, Amee. Now, what will your choice be?” She held Amee's eyes, promising the truth of her words.
Amee frowned, looking at the cushion and mulling her choices. Starving herself would be pointless, and would harm her in the long term. There was nothing to be won in this particular fight, and if she let Dagna think that she'd won… Well, perhaps the cunt would lower her guard. Huffing, she nodded her chin at the cushion. “Fine”, she spat, and moved to the cushion and dropped onto it, crossing her legs and sitting easily.
“You see? If you get out of your own path, you can make a good decision”, Dagna said mildly. It wasn't hard to read Amee's emotions and figure out what her damane planned. Probably a show of meekness to get her to relax, and another escape attempt. Silly damane. “Hands underneath your bottom, and legs straight out in front of you”, she said, and waited for Amee to comply. Once her orders had been obeyed, Dagna reached behind to a covered dish that was sitting on another chair. Dagna put it in front of the cushion behind Amee. “Good. Now turn around, and sit on the cushion behind you”, she said, having taken a step or two away.
Amee huffed again as she got up and walked to the space behind her. “Stupid flaming rotfish”, she grumbled as she sat down. There was a bowl with some chunks of meat, vegetables, and some sort of grain. It smelled good, but that might have been hunger speaking. She looked around for a spoon, and as she picked it up, she looked over at the food, and then at Dagna. As soon as she did, the thought of using the spoon to escape flashed through her mind.
Amee shouted in pain as her hand and arm began to cramp almost immediately. Excruciating pain ran up her arm in waves, making her howl as she fought to hold onto the spoon. Gritting her teeth, she tried to hold on even as her fingers twisted and her palm bent up, but after a few moments, she was forced to let go.
Dagna was actually impressed. For a damane to hold onto a weapon for THAT long was quite the sight. Still, she couldn’t show just how impressed she was… She privately wondered if she was impressed, or disturbed. “Well. So that happened”, she said blandly as the spoon hit the ground and Amee held onto her forearm, whimpering as she massaged the limb. “You need to get away from whatever you envisioned using to hurt me”, she told the girl. “As long as you’re too close, it’s going to hurt.” She could feel the fury coming off the girl. ‘If looks and thoughts could kill, I’d be a pile of flaming bones right now.
Amee glared up at Dagna, lip curled with fury as she stayed. Right. There. “And what am I supposed to eat with?’, she said as she massaged her arm. “I’m not an animal. I refuse to eat with my hands.”
“No, you’re not. An animal is useful, Amee. Right now? Right now you’re an obstinate waste of my time”, Dagna said. “But”, she said as she raised a hand, forestalling the inevitable answer of ‘so let me go’, “You’re also too dangerous to be freed. We know the danger that marath’damane are. The carnage and havoc that they can create. So no… No matter what, I will not be letting you free.” She considered, and then shrugged. “But I DO think that you need an abject lesson in where your place is. And that place is wherever I decide that it is.” She smiled and raised her voice. “Sukirila? May I have you and your damane in here for a moment?”
The sul’dam entered a few moments later, her damane coming in behind her. “Yes, Dagna? How can I help?” She listened as Dagna whispered, and then looked down at Amee.
Amee grunted as an invisible force began to push her down. “Hey!!! What…what the flaming fuck!!!! What the hell???”
“Well, you said you will not eat with your hands”, Dagna said. “So I'm helping you learn your place”, she finished. She could feel Amee's emotions. Hatred, rage, disbelief. And soon humiliation as she was pushed onto all fours, her face in the bowl like she was an animal. “You will eat on the floor, like this, until you have the ability to use silverware again. Perhaps then you'll appreciate the gift I've given you.”
Amee ground her teeth in rage and shame. She fought the invisible force until she was sore, but to no avail. Yet another defeat. She began to eat, mind whirling as she began to concoct plan after plan. But she had learned her lesson, and she never even gave a thought to using the bowl to harm Dagna. Because then where would she eat, she rationalized to herself. No, she needed her strength. She stiffened as fingers began to card her hair, unable to shake them off because of the force being applied to her.
“There you are. See? It gets better if you don't struggle”, Dagna cooed. She knew perfectly well that Amee would only struggle harder after this. Good. Once she was tired, tired of fighting and losing, then Dagna could begin steering her. So she praised her, using the a’dam to give the tiniest, entirely unnoticeable push of warmth to her next words.
“Good damane.”