All human beings make mistakes, and those of us in power-exchange relationships are no exception. Most of those mistakes are small ones, but sometimes Master or slave makes a mistake so grievous that it threatens the continuation of the relationship. Forgiveness of those mistakes is essential to the process by which the participants successfully move past the incident and continue on their journey together. 

With respect to this issue, I think slaves are in the more enviable position. 

When a slave commits a grievous error, his Master can define the precise conditions of atonement, whether that be a severe beating, a suffering payment, or something else. Ideally, the understanding between the two of them is that such atonement by the slave earns the Master’s complete and irrevocable forgiveness. Payment of this penance allows both to put the experience behind them, preferably never again discussed or even considered as they move forwards. Indeed, I think this is one of the great benefits of power-exchange relationships. 

But the relationship’s asymmetry makes the situation quite different when the Master is the one who has committed the grievous error. Indeed, the Master finds himself in a very lonely and isolated place when he knows himself to be guilty of having done so. The relationship dynamic does not realistically allow the slave to demand the Master’s penance, and only the Master can thereby define the conditions of his own atonement, something he largely has to bear alone. 

So I ask this of slaves: If your Master finds it necessary to ask for your forgiveness, please appreciate the gravity is what he is doing in an effort to save what you have enjoyed together, and seek to be generous in granting what he asks.