A trickling chill followed in the wake of the cane's tip, her skin almost crawling under the wood. It almost seemed, as she knelt and sobbed, that she had not heard his instructions. Finally though her hands fell from the arms of the chair to the tear-dampened brocade, and she pushed herself upright with slow care, groaning at the agonizing shift of abused skin and bruised muscle.<br/><br/>Reluctantly she cradled his hand in both her own, lifting it and bbowing her head to press lips to withered skin and smooth wood. "Thank you my lord, for... For finding my limit for such pain."<br/><br/>Then her hands slid to relieve hi of the cane, carrying it cradled in hand and arm like a newborn babe to return it to its place in the ornately obscene cabinet. Her gait wasw slow and stiff, there and back, and there came a strangled whimper in her throat as she sank to jer knees, damaged skin of her rump stretching whilst she tilted her tearstained face up to her Lord.