Big trouble.

You have no idea where she came from. Her voice is angry. "Did you just... Do you have any idea rare that sort of spirit is? Let alone how hard it is to—" She took a breath to calm herself, then she raises her voice again. "You broke it!"

Your stomach churns with shame at her displeased tone. You shake your head. "I'm sorry! It was an accident!"

She seethes, snatching your leash from the wall. "I was going to just play with you a little bit to teach you a lesson about thieving since I had recovered the Control Collar. But this... now I'm upset."

You flinch at her words and the special weight she added to the last word. "I'm sorry! I really didn't mean to break that... thing."

She pulls on the leash, grabbing you by the chin with her other hand to **** you to look up at her. She was regaining her composure, if not exactly becoming calm.

The move sends a shiver of fear and anticipation down your spine. You raise your eyes to meet hers.

"That 'thing' was the Crystal Tiara of Ruin. Very expensive. Much more valuable than y—" She pauses, considering something. Then she sighs.

"I wish you understood what you've just cost me."

You gasp as new knowledge fills your brain. A vague awareness of endless worlds, dimensions, and realities. Within them, precious few where it's even remotely possible that a neutral-charge variant of a certain already-rare sort of energy-spirit entity could form. One could search a hundred lifetimes and never find one. You learn that capturing them is an extremely painstaking process, requiring other rare materials and months of preparation, and you learn that the tiara you've broken had been infused for three full years with magic to bend the spirit's power into a very specific mind-altering function, useful for many sorts of evil deeds. It was worth a staggering amount, easily the wealth of many kingdoms.

Your mouth drops open and you look again at the broken crystal, now worthless. Then up to the woman, who regards you with a very strict expression.

"So. You see there's really no way you can make this right. You can't replace it and you can't pay for it, right?"

You nod slowly, feeling deeply ashamed and more than just a little terrified.

She leans in, looming over you. She's even taller now that you've lost your shoes. "You belong to me know, kitten. If you're a good girl, I will release you in a hundred years or so. But if you're not... well, that could be fun too. Not for you, of course."

You gulp nervously, knowing she's actually being very reasonable, all things considered. "O-okay."