Chapter 34: Mistress Penelope’s Fear

Mistress Penelope is already pacing the living room when I return from the latest portrait session in Freya’s apartment. She doesn’t look angry but there’s a brittle tension in her posture, as though she’s holding herself together with sheer willpower.

“You’re late,” she says.

“I’m sorry, Mistress,” I reply, even though I’m on time. “Freya needed help with the new portraits.”

Mistress Penelope stops pacing. Her eyes narrow, not in fury but in something I recognise as fear disguised as irritation. “You spend a lot of time up there.”

I swallow. “She needs me to sit for the portraits that the gallery require, Mistress. It’ll only be for another two or three weeks.”

“And you believe that I don’t need you?” Mistress Penelope asks quietly.

The question hits harder than I expect. I open my mouth, but before I can answer she lifts a hand.

“No. Don’t answer. Just ... listen.”

She steps closer, her posture straight, her voice controlled.

“I rely on you, Sally. Every day. My business has expanded to the extent that I can no longer manage it on my own. You keep this apartment running. You keep the dungeon running. You help me in ways that I cannot explain.”

“I do my best, Mistress,” I say softly.

“But lately,” she continues, “you’re distracted. You’re ... elsewhere.”

She doesn’t say Freya’s name, but her meaning is clear and it hangs between us like a dark shadow.

“I’m still here, Mistress,” I say. “I’m doing everything you ask of me.”

Mistress Penelope’s gaze sharpens. “I’m going to need more from you.”

My breath catches. “More, Mistress?”

“Yes,” she says. “More discipline. More focus. More obedience.”

The words land with a familiar weight ... one I’ve carried since moving in with her. But tonight they feel heavier, tinged with a hint of desperation.

She normally hands me a list of the tasks I’m required to complete before bed. Tonight, however, she fetches the box containing the collection of restraints and bondage items she keeps in her room. It’s weeks since she last showed any interest in using restraints on me. I still wear my leather harness each day, but my limbs are rarely restrained, and usually only as a punishment for a mistake I’ve made.