Ember positions the knife, and begins to carefully cut.

It's not as bad as the whipping. That's about all that can be said for it. The dull point of the knife cuts a little raggedly, bringing bright, sharp pain to the fore all along her forearm.

She holds her position as best she can, but isn't able to prevent her breathing from becoming a bit laboured.

Ember gives her a deep and genuine smile, full of very pointy teeth. 

She keeps cutting.

Kumi grits her teeth, waits, and bleeds on her nice chair a little. 

It takes a while to complete the design. There is much forearm to cover. 

But eventually, the work is done. 

As Ember puts away her knife, Kumi casts Cure Moderate Wounds, and the damage heals into a neat pattern of cross-hatched silver scars. 

It's starkly beautiful. 

"Thank you," she says. "I consider it a gift."

"It is nothing. It was good to see how you bear pain." Ember smiles. Her gaze lingers on Kumi's forearm.

"So there is no debt between us, I will feed you for today." 

She gets up from her chair, takes the bowl of blackberries from her icebox, and casts Abstemiousness over them. 

"Eat these and you need not consume anything else today."

Ember looks at the berries and raises an eyebrow, but takes one, puts it in her mouth, and bites down. 

Got you.

It's intensely sweet, and rich and filling and delicious. It doesn't hurt. 

She wants another one.

Kumi looks at the expression on Ember's face, and extends the bowl. 

"Another?"

She shouldn't. 

She absolutely shouldn't accept this poisoned gift. 

But all of a sudden all her strength seems to have left her. 

"No," she says softly.

"The way the magic works, you must eat the whole handful to be fed for the day."

It's not even a lie.

"... Alright."

She takes another. Rests it on her tongue. Bites. 

The juice floods her mouth with sweet, sticky richness once more. 

Kumi is going to hold out this bowl until it is empty or Ember refuses more clearly.

She eats, one berry at a time. She takes her time. 

The pleasure passes, eventually, as all pleasure must. 

She pushes the empty bowl away.

"There," she says, keeping her tone as businesslike as she can. "It's done."

You can hide how much you enjoyed that from my priestess, but not from me. 

It must hurt terribly, denying yourself like this. Why do you do it?

Kumi simply nods and puts the bowl away. 

"Your designs are good," she says. "They are beautiful. They bring me pleasure to look at. And I think they do the same for you, do they not?"

She freezes. 

This woman - 

Her thoughts jumble together all at once.

"It's alright," Kumi says. "To care about something is not a weakness. It is a strength. If you had not cared about these designs, would you have left? Would you be the woman you are? Your designs have given you a purpose, and that purpose has made you strong when others have failed and broken. You are strong because you have something you care about. More than pain. More than yourself, even. Something you have to do."

Kumi shows her freshly-scarred arm to Ember. 

"Let me help you accomplish it."

... it is so, so tempting to believe. 

She thinks she half-believes it already. 

But this woman doesn't know her. Even if she bears her design. Even after the blackberries. Even after the leg. She doesn't understand her. 

She can't. No-one can. There's no such thing. 

She shakes her head. 

"... I need time to think," she says. 

"May I keep your designs, for the moment? We can meet again tomorrow."

"They are nothing. Keep them."

She picks up her cane and her supplies and goes to the door. 

"I will have more for you tomorrow."

"I'm looking forward to seeing them then." 

Kumi gets the door for Ember.