Its so hard not to respond when she stamps on his work boots. That's a vicious little attack - but their conditions are unequal. She has bare, dainty feet. He has steel toecaps, heavy stitched leather with metal eyelets holding the threads in place, with finest quality (reinforced) leather along the shins, down to the ankle and instep - it hurts, but no thing's going to break. Once again, he thanks his forsight.  There are very few places a manacled slave can actually try to hit you, he'd recommend a stout pair of boots to anyone. The great slave trainer Ladorius always swore by them. As for trying to break free from his grip  - good luck. For his party trick, Maschor pulls horseshoes out into straight bars.<br/><br/>This is resistance, and resistance should bring pain, but again, that would defy his logic. That would suggest that her resistance was annoying. Inconvenient. He wants her to realise that she is so helpless her best efforts are -<em>irrelevant</em>.<br/><br/>His hand reaches up to her neck and his thumb presses in behind her ear. From this position, if he pushed downwards, it would trap a bunch of nerves between thumb tip and jawbone - the pain would be exquisite. But then - that would be punishment. Instead, he pushes<em>inwards</em>, using his thumb to cut off the blood flow to her brain. Four seconds is enough to make an average person groggy, eight will bring near un consciousness. It all happens so quickly, most people don't even kn ow what's going on before they become semi-conscious and compliant. And it doesn't even leave a bruise.<br/><br/><em>Oh yes, she's dealing with someone who knows his business. The other might think of his as a dillitante, but he's the one who's read the books. <br/></em><br/>And<em>still,</em>he doesn't say a word. Just forces a bored snort.