Once the deepest of the four tubs was filled, Erik grabbed a towel from the wall and placed it beside the pool. Then, he stripped off his stupid slave's robe, dropped it by his towel, and jumped into the perfectly warm water, barely resisting the urge to shout “Weeeeee!!” or something equally silly. After all, he was a leader to hundreds of people, and he was still in a dangerous and suspicious situation. Besides, he was over two hundred years old for God's sake.

And yet, as he allowed his body to relax in the perfectly warm water, a luxury that the Resistance could never afford, it seemed that perhaps life as a prisoner was not so terrible. He was not even fully conscious of the realization, it was just that for the first time since he had arrived, he was able to let go of his fear and distrust, if only for one luxurious bath. He even forgot that he was wearing a collar, and that he was a prisoner in these two rooms. Untying his shoulder-length hair, he began to swim laps in the pool and to dive underwater. After a few minutes, he emerged to the surface, giggling like he had not in months, not since he'd gone swimming in the river with some of the newer recruits. 

~*~*~

Joseph entered and strode over to the living area, but chose to remain standing. He was too embarrassed about his mistake to sit down, but he hoped that Master Mois would forgive him, and decided to get right to the point.

“Master, please forgive me. While I was out of the room, Master Alexi sliced his wrist open to give Leader Schumann some blood. For now, the rebel has agreed to go along with your brother's plan, though it was for... a different reason.” Joseph paused here, unsure how much he should tell the elder brother. He had raised, protected, and trusted them both, and it was difficult for him to favor one over the other like this, but it was ultimately Master Alexi who was his owner. “Suffice it to say that the Master has done something that convinced the rebel leader to comply, at least for now. He will be taking the proper potion in the morning. I did not want to draw any more blood from Master Alexi to mix it right now. He needs to sleep and time to regain his strength.

Please forgive me for not informing you more quickly. To be honest, I forgot that you were waiting on him, but I know that that is no excuse."