Joseph nodded respectfully at Master Alexi's words but did not reply. He felt that if he dared to speak, far too truthful words would emerge from his mouth. Besides, it was clear that his input was neither requested nor required in this case. When he was dismissed, he bowed and exited the room, knowing that he would follow these instructions to the letter. But until the delivery arrived, he worked on cleaning a few rooms, quickly checked in on the various teams, and counseled two slaves in a minor dispute. Sure, the elder vampire probably could have gotten away with delegating some of his usual work given the extra stress on him with the current situation, but he did not want to do anything to arouse suspicion as to what he and Master Alexi were up to. There was enough curiosity as it was. Besides, he preferred being busy. Idle hands meant an idle mind, and in Joseph's current state, that was rather dangerous.
In any case, it was about 2 o'clock when the package came, and Joseph walked it into the bedroom. But at the time, the prisoner was asleep, and the elder vampire did not have the heart to awaken him. He could still remember just how difficult it could be to sleep with the pain and illness, and he had no desire to make things even worse. For three hours, he left, completed a task, and then returned an hour later to check on Erik, but it was not until 5 o'clock that he found Erik awake, and currently retching into the basin.
“Good afternoon. My name is Joseph. We met yesterday,” he began, his tone level and diffusing some of the awkwardness of the wordchoice.
“Ahh, right. I thought you were the strong and silent type,” Erik joked sardonically, staring up at the ceiling.
“I speak when it is necessary, for example, now. Master Alexi has requested that I offer you a set of clothes we chose for you to wear. You'll find that the outfit breathes more easily than what you have on at the moment. I can also bring you the supplies to wash yourself, and assist if you desire. Of course, no one is going to force you to change or to wash, but you and I both know that the reek of bloodlust is difficult to withstand. To be perfectly honest, it is not easy for me to be in the same room as you right now, so I know how horrible it must be for you with your illness,” the vampire butler responded, sounding rather professionally detached, regardless of the deep emotion he held for the prisoner's predicament, and handing Erik a bottle of water.
Erik's first instinct was lash out and to refuse any help from the slave, and he opened his mouth to speak, before realizing that it would prove nothing. It was illogical to resist help, and at least it was from one of his own kind, someone who seemed just as trapped here as he was.
“Fine, bring me the damn supplies. I can bathe myself though,” the younger vampire finally muttered, glaring at the elder servant. Joseph merely nodded and bowed out of habit, before fetching a large basin full of warm water, some expensive, but unscented soap, and a large washcloth.
“Would you like to tell me your name?” Joseph asked calmly, as he set down the soap and cloth.
“Don't you already know it?”
“My master only informed me that you were one of the rebel leaders, but there are only about ten of those whose names people actually know, and we all know there are more cells than that. So what is your name?”
“Leader Erik Schumann,” the rebel replied with a certain pride as he sat up and swung his legs over the side of the bed. He began removing his trousers with little complaint, and looked up to see Joseph returning with a pair of scissors.
“I have to cut your shirt off. But Lord Alexi will buy you an identical one if you want. I just can't take you out of the cuffs,” Joseph said calmly, only a hint of apology in his voice. Erik just closed his eyes for a second, and reminded himself that it was the price he had to pay to escape just this small part of his suffering.
“Fine. It's not like it's expensive anyway,” he finally responded, looking down at the filthy, threadbare piece as Joseph stood behind him and cut it off of his back. The basin was too shallow to act as a proper washtub, so he began to bathe himself with the sponge. Trying to give him some privacy and dignity, Joseph turned away and began work on cleaning the rest of the room.
But he kept a close enough eye on the prisoner just in case he tried anything. Not that there were many options, Joseph had made sure of that. So within thirty seconds of Erik seeming to be finished, he brought him a large towel and the black toga-like outfit.
“The color won't show the sweat-stains as much, and the material is opaque, but light enough to breathe,” Joseph muttered, as he began to assist him in the process of putting the clothes on, as the wrap-around design was rather complex. Erik just grunted, unhappy with being dressed up like a doll, and certainly not willing to thank his captors for anything.
“Why does he want me here,” the prisoner finally asked, red eyes glaring up into Joseph's calm blue ones.
“I haven't the faintest idea. He has merely told me bits and pieces, and he says he has some kind of plan.”
“Lovely, no more than I know then. How long have you been his slave?”
“Since his birth. I've been owned by the Vandros family for over five hundred years, since the Great Cull.” Erik took in a deep breath at that idea. It was well nown that a vampire could live that long, but he could count on one hand the number of vampries he had met who lived through that age.
“How does he treat his slaves?”
“Does it really matter how I answer? You'll think I have Stockholm syndrome either way. But he treats us well, better than any other slave owner I've had or heard of, and just about as well as can be expected under the law.” There was no hesitation or strange tone in Joseph's response, nothing to suggest that he was lying or stretching the truth in the slightest. But Erik had to admit that the elder vampire was right, he did suspect that the slave just had Stockholm syndrome and simply could not concieve of a better life. After a moment's pause, in which Erik's befuddled mind blanked on more questions or conversation, the elder vampire returned to his work.
It was about thirty minutes later when Joseph had finished changing the sheets on both beds, vacuuming the floor, and replacing the waste buckets, including those that Joseph had utilized, along with putting away a few loads of Master Alexi's laundry. Just as he gathered his supplies and turned to leave, Erik surprised him with another question.
“Are you happy here?” the former rebel asked tentatively, voice clearly shaking with the pain he was under. The head slave hesitated only a short moment before responding.
“As happy as I deserve to be,” he muttered, and strode out of the room, closing the door behind him.