Cass had nightmares about this room. The jars of unknown ingredients, the drain on the floor, and the table with shackles, these things would have her wake screaming more than she cared to admit. But this time, Cass was watching from a different position. Saurius Hall and two mages she didn't know were preparing the ink for the tattoo, which seemed to glitter due to the small crystals now added to the material. Those crystals were the inhibitors that, hopefully, would allow the subject to survive.

Now that she was here, Cass was having second thoughts about her theory. She had forgotten that her owners had no compunction using people off the street for test subjects. Cass’s idea would cause another human being to be tortured like she was, and, if she was wrong, she will have killed them.

Hall seemed to notice her feelings, and said to her earlier, “Do not think of them as equal to you. Even as a slave, you are a mage, and beyond that, you have real potential. These test subjects are nothing but dirt beneath your feet.”

“Master,” It had been easier and easier for Cass to respond and hold conversations, though she was still timid with everyone but a very few people. “I was one of them, I am one of them really. Maybe most of them are worthless, but I wonder how many with potential are missed and lost. Maybe you could give them more of a chance?”

Hall sighed, “Perhaps you are right, I suppose I have my own bias. You are proof that some dregs have value.”

“Thank you Master,” maybe she was in a position where she could make a difference, hopefully Maurice would be happy. Her displeasure with the direction that Cass’s feelings for Hall had been going was a wedge between them, and it hurt. Hopefully this would help bridge that gap, she was trying to follow the dream that she told Maurice about. Even if that dream had become hazy for some reason…

But for now, all she could do was hope her theory was right.

The door opened, and the guards pulled a man in… Was that…?

“Rat?” Cass asked, surprised. She had thought him to either be dead or continuing his arrangement with the guards, Cass had never expected to see him here.

Rat’s eyes focused on her. “You,” he growled. “So the little mouse was alive, eh? I still regret not having a chance to hear you scream.”

“Unfortunately for you,” Cass might be timid with the people in the castle, Hall had rubbed off on her to some extent. She had no reason to be timid or merciful to Rat. “I will be the one doing the listening, though I doubt your voice will be enjoyable to listen to at all.”

Rat’s eyes widened, than narrowed with rage and he lunged for Cass, but was restrained by the guards and eventually shackled to the table as Cass was. Hall walked over to him, much as he had for her when she first was brought here.

He smiled at Rat, “You really should regret that, you know. Her screams and whimpers are beautiful.”

Hall’s smile disappeared and he scowled, “But scum like you don’t deserve to hear that sound, you don’t even deserve to be given the chance to be useful, so you should be grateful that I have decided to give you one!”

Soon afterward, they began to apply the glyph to Rat. This formerly terrifying thug was now and crying and whimpering as the tattoo was created. Cass was actually quite glad that Rat was the one who was chosen, she had no reason to pity him. If anything, she was quite glad that he was suffering. Though Cass had to add that feeling to the list of feelings that were worrying her.

The process took a long time, but finally, it was the moment of truth, the final part of the glyph. Rat grunted in pain, but did not show the same reaction Cass did. Of course, Cass’s particular reaction was caused by her own magic, so it would have been surprising if he had reacted like that. Still, it was clearly very painful, and, in every experiment beside Cass’s, lethal.

But Rat slowly relaxed, breathing heavily, and swore at Hall angrily. He survived! Cass smiled and nearly jumped for joy! She had been right, and the other mages, including Hall, were also ecstatic!

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“Unbelievable, with this the Court will be undefeatable!” One of them said excitedly.

“Indeed, this is not only the end to rebellions, but perhaps Haj’s path to ruling the continent.”

“Hush,” Hall reprimanded them, but not very harshly. “All of that is Sealed to the Tower.” He turned to Cass, and congratulated her.

“Well done Cass,” Hall grinned. “You have given us more than you know, I will have to think of a special reward.”

“Thank you Master!” Cass was also smiling happily, overwhelmed by the praise.

Rat had fainted, and was being dragged away. According to Hall they planned to add several more glyphs to him to test the viability of the original plan, a plan to create enchanted soldiers and an invincible army. Cass would be allowed to attend those applications as well, and she gladly accepted the offer. She had learned a lot just by watching the mages work.

However, with this Hall would have to leave for a while. As a first part of her reward, she would have the few days he was gone reporting to the Court off, to spend as she wished. Hall teased the second part of her reward would be more than she could imagine, but that did not stop Cass from trying to.

Though… Some of the things Hall had said raised questions for Cass, and she decided to ask, even if it was awkward.

“Master,” Cass said, slightly tentative. “Do you really enjoy hearing me in pain?”

“Which answer would you prefer?” Hall grinned at her slyly.

“I- I don’t know.” Cass stammered, “And that scares me. A normal person would be able to answer that immediately.”

“And if I were to say yes?” Hall’s eyes were cruel, “What if I was to say, that as much as I enjoy your success, I am disappointed I don’t have an opportunity to hear them?”

“Master… I know that this is part of your experiment, but could you explain it to me someday?” Cass started to cry, “because… If that is what you think…”

The room was empty, save for the two of them, Hall watched as Cass removed her tunic and braced herself against the table.

“I don’t understand what you are doing to me,” Cass said, starting to cry. “I don’t know why I am doing this. I feel like my very mind is bending and breaking sometimes and I find myself like this, thinking… If you want to hear me scream and beg, I am willing to do it for you… Just, please, let me understand what is happening to me!”

Hall rested his hand on her back, lightly tracing her glyph. He was silent for a moment, then began to speak quietly. “Prisoners taken as slaves during the Empire’s conquest of other lands have always been a risk. Why, after all, should they obey their taskmasters when they outnumber them greatly and it is too expensive to collar them all.”

She shivered as he brushed down her spine.

“The taskmasters were formerly officers in the military, and they came up with a solution. By combining brutality and generosity, they found that even the most resistant slave would become obedient. I have been studying the system with the hope of applying magic to it, and to understand it, I needed to perform it myself.”

He left her for a moment, out of the corner of her eye she saw Hall picking up a long thin rod he got from one of the cabinets. A part of her wondered what it was used for normally, but she knew what it was being repurposed for now.

“As you might expect, I have been using you for that test.” Hall swung the rod, and Cass’s breath quickened when she heard it swoosh behind her. “The taskmasters know their work it seems, because you are close to breaking altogether. But that is not your fault, it is simply human nature to become obedient and worshipful of someone who controls both their suffering and pleasure.”

Cass cried out as she was struck, “Master…” She gasped, “Will I even still be me?”

“No.” Hall struck her again, “You won’t, but then who were you to begin with? Some trash off the street? Do you even want to be that?”

“I- I am not sure…” She gasped. Hall and Maurice, both of them were asking Cass who she was, both of them offered very different views on the world. Both of them had managed to touch her emotionally, and both had asked her to become something more.

Maurice was gentle, but her path had no guidance. A future dream is wonderful and beautiful, but it was a life without structure and Cass did not have confidence in herself to keep to that life. It was a path she could fall off at any time and become lost again.

Hall was cruel, but he was also kind, and he guided her. Cass could lose herself in his vision and his desires for the future, and she would never need to think about what she was doing with her life. But ‘Cass’ would disappear, be broken and molded into the perfect tool for Hall’s use.

As she cried out from the abuse she had actually asked for, Cass realized that she was almost unconsciously choosing that route to begin with. If her Master wanted to hear her scream, she offered herself to him… As Hall pulled her up and thanked her for doing so, Cass knew she had to do something. She could not let herself go further down that path, or she would be nothing more than his toy. Cass may let herself do that someday, but if she had choices, she wanted to see them first.

Tomorrow, she would talk to Maurice and ask her for help. These next three days, Cass felt that if she didn’t do something, she would break soon after...