Chapter 20: Taming the Tal-Vashoth

Summary: The Inquisitor delivers Bull's punishment.

Warning: some serious pain affliction here (elements of BDSM), but don't worry, Bull can take it.

Bull awoke to the sound of the door creaking opening behind him. Judging by the light coming in through the small windows it was morning.

'Who's there?' he growled.

Kirah walked past without acknowledging him. Bull watched as she reached a table and examined the contents of a large case. Her white corn rows were longer than when they first met and were beginning to reach her back in little braids. She was wearing her usual Inquisition clothes, cream coloured fabric that hugged her curves so well. A deep yearning pulled at Bull's heart. He needed to touch her, hold her, breathe her in. It made him strain against the chains.

'Kirah,' he called hoarsely.

There was no response. However, Shrokrakar ambled into view at Bull's right, arms crossed.

'You don't speak to her 'til she gives you permission,' he said plainly.

Bull inhaled slowly, anger so close to the surface bubbling up again. He rattled his chains and growled a little. It hurt to talk anyway. The violet-eyed male simply raised a dark eyebrow and re-examined Bull's locks and chains before stepping back and observing him. Although the merc's lack of horns continued to disturb Bull, he found the emotion rapidly being taken over by his desire to smash the Tal-Vashoth repeatedly across the face.

'Alright, you can go, but not too far, I want you to be able to hear if I call,' Kirah commanded, approaching her prisoner.

'Of course, Adaar,' he nodded before striding out of the room and closing the door behind him.

'Kada-'

Whack!

Bull didn't finish the word before Kirah slapped him full across his face. His throat, so tightly encased in the collar, chaffed nastily across the top of the metal.

'Seriously Bull, don't fucking talk to me, unless I say. I think my Second made that perfectly clear.'

The Qunari was shocked. He searched her face for some recognition of what they meant to each other, but she merely fixed him with her amber eyes, narrowing them before turning away again to her case. With a sinking heart, he realised she wasn't wearing her dragon's tooth.

The Inquisitor turned around. 'Iron Bull, I'm going to punish you for disobeying my direct orders during a mission, for endangering the team, for threatening me and for leaving the Inquisition when you had committed to support it.' She paused and inhaled. 'You may now speak if you have anything to say.'

Bull swallowed. 'Boss, I… you're right to punish me.'

Kirah pulled a knife from the case. Bull's eyes widened. Surely not?

She strolled around to his left where he had no peripheral vision and for a terrifying moment, Bull wondered if he was going to be stabbed, but she merely undid his belt, letting it fall to the ground. Bull's harness and boots had been removed previously, but when exactly he couldn't remember. Kirah took her knife and sliced through the sides of his trousers, half tearing, half cutting the fabric, until he was standing in his shorts. Then she cut through these too, sparing him no tenderness as she yanked a piece that was still very much attached making him wince.

Naked and chained, Bull now understood why he was there and grimly welcomed it. He watched with trepidation as Kirah collected some sort of wooden paddle from the chest and purposefully moved behind him. He listened as she took a deep breath and then… whacked him full force across his bare ass.

Bright lights burst before him and he barely had a chance to register the pain before she hit him again. OK so now it hurt. She hit him again and again and again and all Bull could do was grit his teeth and grunt through it. He knew he was getting the full wallop her axe-wielding strength could give him, but didn't dare cry katoh – it could make things worse.

Adaar stopped for a moment and came around to face him. Her skin was a little flushed from the exertion, her eyes bright as she looked over his chains.

'You're trussed up like this because you acted like an animal. So it's only fair I treat you like one.'

She went to her case and threw the paddle inside. When she turned around again, she held a whip… no, not quite. It had a thick leather handle and… some fine metal chains for flogging. This wasn't like the suede floggers he knew in Orlais, oh no.

Kirah resumed her position. Bull squeezed his eye shut and held his breath. This time she whipped him across his back and shoulders. His muscles were already abused from hanging all night and now the vicious bite of the chains was the icing on the cake.

'Tell me why you acted like an animal?' she commanded.

'I don't know,' Bull murmured, growling as he received another whipping.

'Tell me.'

'I get restless…' Bull hissed. 'All I want to do is fight and then that's all that matters.'

'Why?'

Bull had so many jumbled thoughts in his mind that he didn't respond fast enough and got another lashing.

'Why?' Kirah calmly repeated.

'I don't know.'

Kirah repeatedly flogged his back in response.

'That isn't fucking good enough!' she shouted in his ear before throwing the flogger on the floor and going back to her chest. The truth was he knew why he was acting like this, not that he had any power to stop it, but it was blocked inside him.

Bull was fearful, but also strangely excited. He wondered if part of him actually wanted this - to be punished and hurt. Apparently a thin cane was the next instrument of his torture and he was vaguely disappointed. The Vashoth ran her hand along it, testing its give, it bent only a fraction. She then walked behind him again.

'Let me ask you another way,' she said carefully. 'Why don't you care about anyone but yourself?'

Bull opened his eye wide. 'That's not true!'

She whipped him with the cane, right across his stinging buttocks causing Bull to let out a very pained AH!

'Why don't you care about us?'

'I do,' he pleaded through gritted teeth. 'I just… this is bigger than my rational feelings… it takes over.'

Mercifully there was no caning.

'Why?'

'I don't fucking know!' Bull growled. He knew he'd get it now, but he was angry. How can she say I don't care about her, about my friends?

Whack! Whack! Whack! Whack! Whack!

'Fuck!' Bull cried, his eyes watering. His ass was on fire.

VVVV

That last cry pained Kirah's heart. She knew Bull could endure a lot of punishment, but having to take it like this and not fight back would be exhausting. Then she had to factor in the fact he slept suspended by chains, after having been drugged for days… yet she knew full well she couldn't show any gentleness or hesitation, she had to be icy cold for this to have a chance. Bull needed to give voice to his issues and purge himself of his emotional pain. Pain that was trapped by years of training specifically not to show vulnerability. Affection and honesty sure, but vulnerability and pain, fuck no.

The fact remained: he was dealing badly with becoming Tal-Vashoth as many had before him. His inability to work through that pain was an element of it, another was because he'd been protecting her from his burdens. It pained Kirah to recognise she'd been part of the problem, but now she could be part of the solution. Afterwards she could hold him, kiss him, tell him it was alright. Now she had to do this. Inhaling, she gripped the cane.

'Tell me,' she exhaled.

When he paused, she was forced to hit him again. His skin was becoming very swollen and red, and there were welts all over his muscular back from the flogger – and this was far from over. Now he was getting angry and she needed specifically to hurt him when he was enraged.

'Tell me,' she persisted.

Again, Bull paused and again she dished out his punishment drawing from him a string of expletives in Qunlat and the common tongue as he strained against his chains. The fixtures were sturdy but dust fell from the ceiling as his fury inflamed.

'Stop fucking HITTING me!' he bellowed.

OK, so now she had to exhaust the anger out of him. Dropping her cane, the Inquisitor came around to face him. 'Stop hitting you?' she asked innocently.

Bull regarded her with the same look he had in Emprise de Lion: dark, heavy lidded, foreboding. His nostrils were flaring as he breathed heavily and he was trying to lower his horns threateningly. There would be no backing down this time. Adaar grabbed both horns and yanked his head towards her. The collar would now severely restrict his airway and, sure enough, his eye widened as he struggled to breathe.

'I will hit you until you tell me what I want to hear. If I have to hit you until you bleed, so be it. If I have to cripple you, so be it.' She would never do such a thing of course, but she had her script and she had to stick to it. That also meant waiting until he was nearly purple before releasing him. Finally, she stepped back and watched as he coughed and gasped for breath before slowly regaining his composure. The storm had passed.

Kirah picked up the cane and resumed her position.

'Tell me.'

Bull breathed heavily, and croaked as he tried to form the words.

'I… I'm Tal-Vashoth…'

Yes. 'That's right,' Kirah affirmed. 'Again.'

Bull paused and Adaar whipped him again across his buttocks, producing a very un-Bull like yelp.

'I'm Tal-Va-fucking-shoth!' he shouted and then immediately gasped, 'I'm s-sorry, kadan.'

'Say that precise arrangement of syllables again,' Kirah urged.

'No.' Whack.

'Say it!'

'Tal- whack-nnugh!'

'What?'

'Tal–swish-fff!'

'I didn't get that.'

'Tal-Va-fucking-shoth!' he quickly ground out before the cane could touch his beleaguered buttocks again.

'Yes you fucking are!' Kirah proclaimed.

After a few moments of listening to Bull's heavy breathing, she picked up the flogger from the floor.'This is for Krem's fucking arm!' she snarled, swinging it across his back viciously.

VVVV

Yeesss, Bull thought. He severely needed to be punished for that.

'This is for nearly ending Varric!' Thwack. 'And this is for threatening me.' Thwack. 'Your boss, thwack, your Inquisitor, thwack, your kadan.'

Yes, yes. Bull felt hot tears spring to his eye in tandem with a deep emotional pain as the chains cut into his flesh.

'You will never endanger my crew again,' Kirah growled.

Bull huffed air out of his lungs and felt a little dizzy.

'If you do I will crush you. Do you hear me?'

'Yes, boss,' he croaked. The stings were vicious but… the release was… gratifying. A bone deep gratifying.

His redeemer finally dropped her flogger and came into view, picking up a thick stick leaning against the wall. Bull's eye widened. Back in Seheron, he and his crew used sticks to master their fear. It was an old Qunari ritual. Did she know? He began to realise what this was all about and felt an overwhelming surge of love, despite the fact his whole body felt like shit.

'Repeat after me: I am no longer part of the Qun,' Kirah commanded.

'I… thwmp… am not part of… thwmp… the Qun,' Bull croaked. Despite the fact she was cracking him across his chest and upper stomach, it felt good, rather than painful. No, it was decidedly painful, but emotionally it felt good… Didn't it? Bull couldn't get his head around it. Perhaps it was only meant to be felt rather than analysed.

'I don't need the Qun to be a good, strong warrior,' she outlined slowly.

'I don't… thwmp… need the Qun… thwmp… to be a good, strong warrior.'

'I am The Iron Bull and I am Tal-Vashoth.'

'I am The Iron Bull and I am... thwmp.. Tal-Vashoth.'

'And I'm a good man.'

'And I'm a good man.'

VVVV

Bull's eye was a little unfocused, Kirah noticed. Shrokrakar had told her not to push him so far he lost consciousness, but she had to get him pretty damn close. His breathing was ragged and the cuts in his back would need tending. That's enough, she decided. Narrowing her eyes, she said in a low warning, 'I will drag you down here and flog you to within an inch of your life if you do anything like that again – do you hear me?'

'Yes…'

'Yes what?'

'Yes, boss.'

Kirah examined Bull. His eye was glazing over. She had to resist giving him water or comfort, but he desperately needed attention.

'Shro!'

Shrokrakar came barrelling in.

'My prisoner needs cleaning up.'

He examined Bull's back, his pulse, his eye and nodded. Kirah remembered he'd brought salves and potions galore so left him to it. She couldn't bear to look at her handiwork any longer and was feeling sick.

As she emerged into the fresh air, Kirah bent over and inhaled shakily. Dorian appeared seemingly out of nowhere.

'Inquisitor, may I trouble you?' he asked, taking her arm reassuringly.

Somehow she managed to straighten and say calmly, 'Of course.' And then she allowed herself to be steered up to the mage's chambers.

'Here you go,' Dorian said, pouring her a glass of brandy almost immediately as they entered.

Kirah knocked it back before lying down on his bed and covering her face with her hands. 'Maker Dorian, that was AWFUL.'

'Did he talk?'

'Yeah…'

'Did he pass out?'

'No.'

'Then my dear, it was a success. You'll see.'

'Does Krem know?' she asked, concerned.

'No, no, no. I doubt he would remotely understand. Better to keep it between the precious few of us.'

'Will he forgive me?' Kirah asked, tears squeezing out the corners of her closed eyes.

She felt Dorian sit beside her on the bed. 'Of course he will,' he said softly. 'I'll wager he'll love you even more.'

Kirah wished she could be certain of that.

Bull felt very woozy. He suspected he'd been drugged again after the stupid, handsome Qunari… no, Tal-Vashoth, gave him some water. He didn't even care that the man was touching him and cleaning him up. Shrokrakar unlocked his collar, but explained he was leaving Bull's arms chained to hold him up while he tended to his wounds. Bull felt comfortably detached. There was no anger towards his captor this time, no need to punch him repeatedly.

After a few moments, or hours, Bull couldn't tell, the Tal-Vashoth was joined by the Avaar. They undid the rest of his chains and helped him lie down sideways on a blanket, his neck propped up a roll of other blankets to accommodate his horns. He vaguely recalled the Avaar saying he had an impressive pair, but Bull wondered if he meant balls or horns and chuckled to himself.

He must have slept for hours because when he opened his eyes the torches were lit and no more light came in from the windows. He inhaled and stretched causing himself a great deal of pain. As he cried out, a big hand squeezed his shoulder and then brought a bitter drink to his lips. The bronze tone of the hand's skin told him it was Shrokrakar.

'How long have I been out?' Bull asked hoarsely.

'Not long enough, go back to sleep,' the merc responded, though not unkindly.

The warrior wasn't going to argue and drifted back to sleep.

Bull slept for a full day and, when Shro deemed him ready, was moved to his quarters, under the cover of darkness. Kirah had been fierce in her demands that this was dealt with discreetly and so far things had gone to plan.

She was yearning to see him and explain, but her Qunari advisors (Shro and Dorian) had told her to be patient. Apparently he was healing well. Shro even told her she did an admirable job, avoiding any permanent damage. She'd felt nauseous when he said that, burying her face in her hands. Her Second quickly explained that when it happened to him he'd been in a far worse state. It was of little comfort.

'Do you think I'll need it one day?' she asked.

'Nah, boss,' he chuckled. 'You weren't brought up in the Qun so you won't need to get fucked up to get over it.'

'We are more physical than other races though aren't we?'

'Sure, we use our bodies in a different way. Kids are encouraged to fight off their hormones when they come of age and throughout our lives we enjoy a certain level of aggression, but, as you can see, it needs a proper outlet and serious control.'

'Taming the wild. Order out of chaos,' Kirah said, nodding, remembering what Bull had once said about dragons.

'He's going to be fine, Adaar,' Shrokrakar smiled. And then he laughed. 'So, you did end up with one of us after all.'

Blushing, Kirah grinned. 'Yeah.'

'Well, he's damn impressive physically, I can see why you would,' he chuckled, nudging her. 'Like I always said, when you go Qunari, you don't go back.'

Adaar snorted at his bad joke but couldn't agree more.

AN: I realise this was a bit painful (in more ways than one!) but I felt it was necessary. I remembered Bull getting the Inquisitor to whack him with a stick after their foray into the Fade and it sparked from there. Hopefully it makes sense why he needed it. Thanks for sticking with it! We'll have some feels and fun in the next chapter.