For the first time, Joseph was not blind to his master's heartache upon hearing his words, and immediately felt guilty for having spoken them. I've done this for too many years. To many previous masters, such obsequious sentiments were a reasonable substitute for my emotions. I could affirm my loyalty without lying about my feelings on the matter, simply by stating that my own opinions were unimportant. Most were fine with this. But Master Alexi, those words bother you more than you have ever let me see before, don't they? How many times did you shield your true sentiments from me, my dear Master? Serving you is my life, and I still had no idea of your true self until this plan began. I knew that you wanted a good life for your slaves, but I still thought that you considered us like pets or children, subjects to be cared for. Somehow, I was blind to the fact that you wanted true freedom for us.
And now, I know not how I should act. I do not wish to hurt you, but it is not my place to tell you how much I dread following your instructions. In your bid to end slavery, you are becoming one of the most difficult masters I have ever served. First with these horrible orders, and now, I have to figure out how to be a proper slave to a man who wants to end slavery? You are a challenge, Master. But I do love you.
However Joseph knew that that was a problem for another time, for now there was much to do before he needed to leave for the auction in just a few short hours. He knew that the Lord of the house did not want to be led and supported to his car, so he let him leave with only a little bit of concern, and headed off the opposite direction to the kitchens to retrieve Erik's meal, stopping along the way to pick up a small notebook
Soon enough, he returned to Master Alexi's room with a breakfast fit for a king, three poached eggs, sausage, bacon, tomato slices, orange slices, and waffles with syrup, jam, and grapes.
“You're going to turn me fat with all this great food, Joseph,” Erik joked, having smelled most of what was on the plate from across the room. The elder vampire set the tray down at a small table, and his younger counterpart sat down.
“Do not feel required to eat all of it. Forgive me, I forgot to ask what you wanted for breakfast, so I just got you a bit of everything the kitchens were already cooking. I hope that its satisfactory, but if not...”
“If not they'll cook something just for me? I suppose?” Erik quipped, looking up at the servant and smirking slightly. “I apologize, it's just, I could get far too accustomed to this. In this house, I'm a slave, and yet I'm living in the greatest luxury I've ever known. Let me save the rest for lunch or something. Resistance fighters don't waste food. And please don't apologize to me,” the youger vampire finished. Joseph began changing Master Alexi's sheets, and out of habit, Erik rose from his chair to help him, having only eaten a bite of his breakfast.
“You are not a slave, Leader Schumann. You may be a prisoner, but I suspect that's only temporary,” Joseph replied, as they worked on changing Master Alexi's sheets. “And you don't have to do this with me, you know.”
“I know. But I want to help. I'm useless here. At the camp, everyone works. It doesn't matter who you are. Two hundred year old habits die hard. I'll try and help keep things tidy from now on, now that I'm not so ill or chained up. Can't promise I'll be as good at it as you, our standards aren't quite so high, but I'll try. It's not like I have anything better to do, anyway.”
“As you wish, Erik. At least until Master Alexi gives you some more useful work. He will be coming back early today, between 1 and 2 pm, to speak with you.”
Erik waited for a few minutes as they finished making the bed, hoping that the elder vampire would explain further. When he did not, he finally pressed him.
“About what?”
“Hmm?”
“What does Alexi want to discuss with me?”
“Sharing your emotions... is proving troublesome for him. Since you are accustomed to them, perhaps you can help him cope,” Joseph replied, meeting the other vampire's eyes.
“Well, who's stupid fucking idea was that?”
“Mine.”
Erik sighed, the slightest bit of guilt threatening his ability to remain calm.
“Joseph, I don't know how I deal with my emotions. I just... do. That's not even a question for me. Where I come from, I don't have servants to wait on me hand and foot. I don't have a bedroom that's larger than most people's houses, or the money to waste on ostentatious finery. I have hundreds of people who need my guidance, who need to be fed, equipped, and trained. I don't have the option to let my emotions control me.”
“Well, as you've pointed out, you don't have that much to do right now. And isn't there a reason you asked for that notebook? Maybe you should take this time to learn to deal with the things that are bothering you in a healthy manner, for surely, a more truly calm mind would help you lead more effectively. Maybe, if you stopped resenting Master Alexi for half a minute, you'd find that talking with him would help both of you. And maybe, just maybe, you could learn from each other,” the vampire slave answered, his voice cool, but calm. The younger vampire involuntarily clenched his teeth for a moment, before calming himself. He hated to admit it when he was wrong.
“I'll never lead again. We both know that. But otherwise, I see your point. I did ask for the journal to try and work things out in my mind. And... and I don't relish the thought of seeing Alexi in such pain, even after what he did to me when I first arrived... at least, not anymore. I'll try to figure something out for him.”
You should not be so dismissive of your future, Leader Schumann, Joseph thought. I don't know what Master Alexi has in mind for you, but at this point, I would not discount anything. Now that I'm beginning to see bits and pieces of his plan, I realize that there is a reason he chose you, quite apart from mere curiosity. Your skills may be quite needed before this is all over. But I will not try and convince you. There is no point in arguing any longer.
“Thank you, Erik,” was all he replied, a small smile concealed behind his eyes. Silently, they went about the work of cleaning the bedroom, and Joseph found Erik competent, if not perfect. It went much faster with his assistance, and the elder vampire was grateful for that, given all he had to do. When they were finished, he finally addressed his charge once again.
“Thank you for your assistance,” he began, as Erik finally sat down to his breakfast. “Do you require anything else?”
“No, thank you. I'll probably do some writing and try to catch a nap before Alexi gets home. Thanks for the warning.”
“Very well. I wish you luck, and you know how to reach me.”
Erik nodded, remembering the pager, and tried to enjoy the amazing food that was still warn enough to enjoy.
~*~*~
Over the next few hours, Joseph took a very short nap himself, as he had been up half the night cleaning, ate his own brunch, and still found time to read the updates that the department leads had sent him on skills and jobs that they wanted. Lord Alexi had more slaves in this house than he needed, even for a mansion of this exorbitant size, but there were enough interesting (though unnecessary) side projects that he always found something for the new ones to do. The head slave worked long hours in making sure that the slaves were happy and doing something that they found at least somewhat interesting, and that there was never a task that they would find too difficult or dangerous.
An hour before he was to leave, Joseph showered and donned a white dress shirt, sports coat, matching black pants, and a dark blue tie, an outfit he rarely used. He put his old collar back on, and made sure to stow a copy of his papers in an inside pocket of his jacket, and to have his slave's ID and e-card in a small wallet. Looking in the mirror, he arranged his dark red hair and appraised himself. If it were not for this collar, you would never know. My skin is pale, but not even much more so than some humans; the master, for example. It took him less than a minute to decide he'd had enough of deciding just how slave-like he looked, and so he headed out an underground passageway to the garage, arriving five minutes early.
“Good afternoon, Elaria,” he greeted calmly, shaking hands with the fire drake who appeared in a sleek-looking spare uniform. “Are we ready to leave? I know it's a bit early, but that couldn't hurt.”
“Of course, Mr. Moreau,” she replied, grinning with just a bit of mischief in her eyes. She rarely called Joseph that, and it was clear she was teasing him, just slightly, as she opened back door of the car for the vampire to enter.