After a long session of trying numerous corsets on her former schoolmate, Padma was sweating with the exertion of cinching an already toned waist into the ribbed prison of her mistress’s most restrictive corsets. She felt a tinge of guilt at the relief she felt earlier, that Narcissa’s request to add in a variety of expensive headdresses and masks, this surely meant that she had earned a reprieve for herself and her sister. She relied on Pavarti’s help in tightening the waist stays on the heavier corsets, she was single-minded in her determination to avoid punishment. Their mistress egged them on warning them to keep pulling, forcing the waist compression until Padma could hear the sharp shallow breaths that this new restriction forced on the captive. She tried to block out the pity she felt for this prisoner, but she knew when given the choice she would continue to protect her own family.