Seramine's experiences in the palace of the Shadow Mistress did not vary significantly. Some days she could glimpse her daughter while Jirah watched her followers in Tharel. Other days were continued psychological torture, designed to break her spirit.
She quickly realized that the glimpses of her daughter were not meant to be the rewards which she had first thought they might be. They were in fact another form of torture. Each time, her daughter appeared distressed or in danger. This was not the worst, to see her daughter distraught and unable to help, but each time, her daughter grew older. Through her teenage years, when a girl most needed her mother, Seramine only watched. When her daughter, alone, would wish for her mother's return, she was watching. Unable to respond. Unable to escape from this prison.
One by one, all those she knew and loved disappeared from Jirah's window to Tharel. Seramine did not age, but her skills became atrophied. She could no longer remember the spells her mother used so long ago, or the use of her mace.
Decades passed in this manner. Seramine was a shell, a dull reflection of her prior self. She only knew service to the goddess and continual degradation on all fronts.
Then one day, in the goddess' throne room...
"Seramine, you begin to bore me. Where is your spirit?" The goddess laughed cruelly.
Seramine stared dully at the floor just inches from her nose.
"I have decided to offer you a reward for your service, Seramine." The goddess continued to smirk. "You have seemed to finally learn your place! And I know where you would like to be. I have decided to send you back to Tharel. You have lounged in my luxurious palace for long enough. It is time for you to continue my work in the land of mortals once more."
The goddess snapped her fingers, and a beautiful handmaiden glided forward from a shadowed alcove, drawing a long knife from her belt.
"Bind your soul to me, Seramine, and I will ensure that she is quick in her work to send you away."
For the first time in almost as long as she could remember, Seramine raised her eyes to look straight at the goddess. Perhaps a flicker of surprise passed the goddess' face, but then she continued to stare at Seramine expectantly. A spark of defiance lit her eyes.
"No."
Jirah gestured sharply, and the handmaiden closed the distance swiftly, and Seramine began to scream. Pain, worse than she had ever felt. The goddess stood over Seramine and the handmaiden as she did her work.
"Swear yourself to me, Seramine, and it can still end. Else you will be a long time in returning to the mortal world."
She writhed, and the goddess watched the spark of defiance wink out once more.
"Yes." it was almost a sigh, but in her heart, there was another voice. "NOOOO!!!" The handmaiden raised the knife high, and as it plunged down, Seramine's eyes widened once more, another thought, "Freedom, at last." The knife plunged into her heart, and all was black.