Naiobe caresses the mark on her dryad's shoulder in passing, handing the knife back down to the little pet. "You're welcome, beloved. Now clean it, and put it away." The torment doesn't end with the pain, but with cleaning the sap off of the blade and preparing it tomorrow morning. A place for everything and everything in its place, even fear.<br/><br/>"You'll be accompanying me today," she adds almost casually. Added to the fact that the dryad will be crawling on hands and knees all day, the little pet is in for a humiliating day indeed. "I expect you in the wardrobe closet after you've cleaned that, so that I'm not wondering where you are when I'm ready to head downstairs. We have visitors today, I believe, though Father has not yet told me of their nature." A cool smile curves across Naiobe's lips. She hopes they're ambassadors from elsewhere. Ambassadors are trained never to call the court of another barbaric, for they are supposed to keep their goal in mind. It means that Naiobe and her siblings can make them quite uncomfortable with few repercussions.