Now that he was free to roam around the room, Erik was actually slightly confused as to what exactly to do with his lovely freedom. His first thought was how easy it would be to kill Alexi, to smother him with a pillow, break his fragile human neck, or simply punch his skull until it caved in. But several things stopped him. For one, he suspected that there was at least one other alarm in here that would stop such an action. Alexi Vandros was many things, but stupid was not one of them. Secondly, even if there was no such safeguard, he still would have no way to escape this room, so it would not solve his real dilemma. Thirdly, for all his attempts at threatening airs, he had no desire to kill Alexi, not anymore, at least. He still was leery of trusting him, but he had agreed to fall into his plan on the crazy hope that he was telling the truth, and that his secret plan would actually work, would actually save the magicals from their lives in chains. To kill Alexi, or really even to attempt to kill him, would be to throw away that hope, and that trust, so Erik had no desire to do that.
The first thing he did was to explore the expansive room, looking around at all the little knickknacks, books, and wall paintings. Though he had seen it for three days now, he was still quite amazed by the size of it, at least twice the size of a dorm in his cell that would hold twenty people. No matter how much he looked at it, he could not get over the luxury. He chose a few books that he'd like to read while Alexi slept, for he felt extremely energetic now, thanks to the infusion of blood.
Next, he opened the door to Alexi's bathroom, which had been out of reach when he was in the chains. Immediately, the vampire's jaw dropped. He had never seen anything so luxurious in his very long life. The bathroom was decorated in Greco-Roman style with marble-looking columns, and four bathtubs that each had several taps to choose from. It essentially looked like a modern version of a Roman bathhouse, and was almost as large as the bedroom that it adjoined. “God damn... it's like that bastard over there has infinite money...” he said aloud. It was all of thirty seconds before he had begun filling one of the pools so that he could jump in within just a few minutes. It occurred to him that the collar he wore might not be waterproof, but the worst case was that it short circuited, and that would actually be a good thing. Besides, he highly doubted that Alexi would have given him one that could be subverted so easily.
~*~*~
By now, Joseph was quite behind on his chores. So now that he knew that Master Alexi was asleep, and that Leader Schumann, whom he would never insult by calling “Master,” was well fed after his three-day fast, he set to work on his “normal” chores, knowing that the rote motions would calm him down. He even took another liberty that he would have never allowed himself even one hundred years ago, to listen to music while he worked. He found that he worked more quickly, focused better, and enjoyed what he was doing far more. The violin solo that played into his earphones was lovely, and for about an hour, he could almost forget his concern for Master Alexi, his curiosity about the master's plan, his fear that Leader Schumann was far too angry to be trusted alone with the master, his guilt that he could not tell Master Mois everything that his brother was up to, for fear of -
The thought hit him like a train. I left Master Mois just sitting in the dining room, expecting Master Alexi to come. I never even attempted to inform him that his brother couldn't make it. Goddamnit! he thought, nearly dropping the can of wood polish he was using. Leaving his supplies and his headphones in a bucket by the door, he bolted out of the room, quickly making his way back to the dining room. Not finding the human, he walked briskly over to the kitchens, and calmly asked to speak with the head cook.
“Did Master Mois leave for his cottage?” he asked, managing to hide the near panic and breathlessness from his voice. The head cook, a female dwarf named Roni, answered, her voice sounding slightly guilty.
“Yes, Mr. Joseph. He had fallen asleep, and the servers wanted to know if they could remove his plate, so they woke Uwin and asked him to awaken Master Mois.”
“Well, that was needlessly complicated,” Joseph replied. “If they were afraid to approach the Master, then why did they not just notify me? You all have my cell number,” he asked, his voice remaining calm and, if anything, curious. Despite his many attempts to make himself accessible to them, many of the other slaves still saw him as an authority figure, and were nearly as afraid of him as the Masters. He suspected that that was the cause of such behavior, and he was unwilling to worsen the perception by being too irate now.
“It seemed like something too trivial to bother you about, sir,” one of the other slaves piped in, hanging his head, fear written all over his face.
“Very well. I understand. Please notify me of something like this in the future. Nothing is too small for my attention. There is no reason to awaken anyone else in his or her time off. Are we clear?”
“Yes, Mr. Joseph,” answered both Roni and the other slave. With that, Joseph waved them back to their duties and made the short trek out to Master Mois' cottage. It was twilight now, and the light was not strong enough to be a problem for him, so he enjoyed looking at the lovely gardens and the rising half moon.
Sighing softly, the vampire servant knocked at the door, practically afraid to bother the elder brother.