Sarah was in a hotel room, sitting on the end of the bed. Mallory sat on a chair across from her.

“How are you feeling?” asked Mallory.

“Fine,” said Sarah. The last she remembered, she was as miserable as she’d ever been. But she wasn’t worried anymore. And she wasn’t worried about not being worried, either.

“Good to hear.” Mallory was in a nice, crisp suit, and her accent was unplaceably middle-American. Sarah wondered if she’d been putting her on in the pickup, or if she’d always looked like this and Sarah had just been instructed to see something she’d expect. “You and Iliana did quite a tag-team on your brain.”

“Don’t get down on her. She does her best.” Sarah felt like she should be defending Iliana more fervently, but only in a distant way, and she didn’t act on it.

“Hmph. ‘Her best’. I’m going to make damn sure that next time her ‘best’ is better than just running a tale of how I’m controlling her and everyone else past her secret-policewoman and then trusting it to all work out in the morning. If she ever comes up with such a stupid idea again, she’s going to keep it to herself.”

“Well, she was right. I was right.”

“You were correct. I don’t think there was anything right with you by the time I caught up.”

Sarah shrugged. What had happened to her was a long time ago, and was fixed now anyway.

“So, what am I going to do with you?”

“Something nice, I hope.” Sarah’s fate was of middling importance to her, like a favourite edition of a book she’d had for a long time.

“I could, at that. You’re tougher than you look. Like to be a mistress? I could set you up out on the West Coast, I’ve got an opening there now.”

“I’m not sure it’s me.”

“I think you’d grow into it well.”

“If you like.” Sarah shrugged again. “It’d defeat the purpose if one of your mistresses was always pulling her punches against Iliana.”

“I can make sure you wouldn’t.” 

“I… wouldn’t like to not.” It was troublesome to make the sentence work, but Mallory must have understood, because she leaned forward and her eyes glittered.

“You have it bad, don’t you.”

“Iliana is my -” Mistress. Owner. Goddess. Purpose. Centre. The words floated across Sarah’s tongue, but none of them were right. “She is my friend,” she said, and her voice was firm for the first time since she had woken up.

It wasn’t what Mallory expected, apparently, because she blinked and leaned back. “They always find a way to surprise you,” she said, slowly, then grinned. “If it were just about the control, you know, my name would be on your lips every moment of every day, and you’d all be serving me on some sunny Pacific island. But it’s not about the control - well, not only. It’s about seeing new things. I was so bored just having a bevy of women obey my every order. None of you could deny me anything. If it takes a hands-off approach and some fake infighting to get things moving again, well, I’ve been excited to see what each new day brings ever since. Best decision I made since I built the Chair in the first place. And when push comes to shove it’s not like you can deny me anything now, either.”

“I couldn’t, I suppose,” agreed Sarah.

“The best one’s that security guard of yours,” Mallory confided. She put on a passable imitation of Lucy’s growl. “‘Intruder! Stop where you are! I’m going to - oh, I’m going to drop to my knees and tongue your clit in remorse, forgive me, Mistress.’ She says it every time I visit and it’s always the hottest thing in the world.”

“Heh,” replied Sarah, though it wasn’t funny or hot. It was just a fact about the world, unconnected to her feelings or to anything else.

“But I’m drifting. I’ve clearly been spending too much time around Iliana: I’m starting to chat up the help. You, my dear, are mistress material, and I’m not letting that go to waste. You’re going out to Oregon ASAP.”

“I don’t want to fight Iliana,” said Sarah, something coming back into her voice. “Don’t… don’t make me fight her.”

“Oh, don’t worry, Sarah. Your Mistress understands. Something this exciting and new deserves to be cherished. And I’ve thought up a plan I know we’ll both enjoy…”