Chapter Text
Her nails were digging into the palms of her hands, itching for a bow to hold. She was standing at the bottom of the stairs leading up to the guest quarters, keeping an eye out while Keyleth—turned into a rat—snuck upstairs to look for the lost member of their party.
What a fucking mess.
All joy had been sucked out of the evening when that name had rung out across the hall.
Briarwood.
It had all gone downhill from there. One moment they had been the celebrated protectors of the realm, the next they were the laughingstock of Emon’s high society, with her brother missing and Percy out of his fucking mind.
Watching Percy during dinner had been heartbreaking, and Vex'ahlia had wanted nothing more than to grab him by the arm and drag him far, far away from the table, from the palace, from the city. As far away as it would take to wipe his face of that horrible expression—but it wasn’t that easy, and she knew from her own experience that it didn’t matter how far you ran, the demon’s would always catch up in the end. So instead she kept her composure, observed, waited.
Any attempts at getting more information out of their friend fell on deaf ears, and he didn’t take his eyes off the Briarwoods even once, sitting upright and stiff as if something had paralyzed him, a bead of sweat slowly trickling down his temple.
It was a disaster. Vox Machina were behaving like peasants in the presence of the nobles. The only one who would be able to reign them in was frozen in his spot, undoubtedly going through a panic attack, undoubtedly keeping it together just barely. He uttered only a handful of words during the various dinner conversations, until he jumped up and accused Lord and Lady Briarwood of lies when they talked about Whitestone and the De Rolo family.
The disapproval of every noble and person of importance at the table, including the sovereign, the empress and every member of the council was plain to see.
If she hadn’t been frightened out of her mind for her friend, Vex would probably have died from embarrassment on the spot. But vanity and pride were irrelevant tonight, all that mattered now was to keep her friends safe. And she was failing miserably.
Her concern was doubled when the Lord and Lady Briarwood retired for the night prematurely, and Vax still hadn’t returned from his little stealth mission. She wanted to run upstairs herself, but Keyleth would be more difficult to spot in her animal form. While the minutes stretched, Vex’s mind supplied various scenarios about the whereabouts of her brother: being caught, being injured, lying in a pool of blood, weakly calling out for help. She tried to push the images out of her mind, flexing her fingers and feeling the sharp indents her nails had left in her palms. Vax could take care of himself, she trusted him in that,but worry and fear were powerful drives to the imagination, and with nothing else to do, it was hard to think of anything else.
When their resident druid finally returned she was back in her half-elven form, looking unconcerned as she approached, the hem of her dress trailing down the expensive soft carpet that covered the steps.
“Did you find him, Keyleth?” Vex insisted before she had reached her, all but running up the steps to meet her halfway. “Is he okay?”
Keyleth gave her a nod and a reassuring smile. “He is. He found a notebook in their room that he said holds crucial evidence. He said it would be safer for him to slip out the back entrance while we go out front, in case they find out they’ve been robbed and start to search the guests. He’ll meet us at the keep.” She reached a hand out towards Vex’s shoulder, but seemed to reconsider before she touched her and awkwardly dropped it again. He’ll be alright.”
“Right…” Vex said, still uneasy, but trying to hide it. Keyleth had seen Vax and he was alright. They should return to the public area to not raise further suspicion. They had already drawn enough attention tonight. Absent-mindedly she hooked her arm through Keyleth’s, earning her a little giggle from her companion, and together they returned to the main hall. Vax had a talent to stay hidden from prying eyes, he would be fine. They would reunite soon.
In the middle of the party, held aloft by a large spectral hand, Scanlan was still singing—to the obvious horror of Allura Vysoren, and the surprising delight of most of the guests—and Grog was over at the bar, a chalice in his hand, waving when he spotted them. Neither Pike nor Percy were in the room; she knew they had slipped out into the gardens to take a look at the perimeter.
“Did you find Vax?” Grog asked first thing when they joined him, not bothering to keep his voice down.
Keyleth leaned towards his ear, standing up on her toes. “He’ll meet us at home,” she whispered at a volume that wasn’t subtle at all, and again Vex felt uneasy. She could feel people watching them so she put a smile on her lips that didn’t reach her eyes. Keyleth and Grog were talking about the Briarwoods and their “creepy ass vibes”, but she was barely listening, her mind occupied with thoughts about her brother and how he had left the party without her. Nothing good ever came of them being separated for more than a couple of hours, they needed each other, they kept each other safe.
“Vex’ahlia!”
The sudden voice close behind her made her jump, and she turned around to find Arcanist Allura Vysoren standing before her: blond braid, blue silken dress, stern expression. Lady Kima of Vord stood beside her, looking uncomfortable without her usual suit of armour, clad in formal attire instead.
Only then did Vex notice that Scanlan’s performance had ended.
“Do you know where Percival has vanished too? Someone was asking for him.” Allura kept a mask of polite calm, but Vex could tell she was boiling inside, probably from a mixture of second hand embarrassment and anger.
“He and Pike went out to get some fresh air,” she responded, unable to come up with a better lie occupied as her mind was. Were the Briarwoods looking for Percy? She had to find him.
“I see, I shall take a walk myself then, some night air will do me good.” Allura gave a polite nod and walked away, followed by Kima, who turned around once more to shoot a very dark look at Vex..
She gave her a polite smile and turned around to Keyleth and Grog. “I don’t like this, we shouldn’t have scattered like that, we should find the others, and where is—ah,” she broke off when Scanlan hopped onto a high bar stool next to her and gave her a grin.
“Why the long face? Need some cheering up from your favourite gnome?” He raised his eyebrows.
She scoffed. “Stop that, the situation is serious. We need to find Percy and Pike and we have to get out of here. Party’s over.” She didn’t wait for a response, she turned around and began heading for the wardrobes. She didn’t need to turn around to know the others were following her. At least she could count on them.
The same elf that had taken their coats and weapons earlier was still on duty, mood visibly dimming when they came closer. “We’re leaving,” she informed him. “Hand us our things.”
“I need the ticket with the number I gave you,” he told her, sounding bored and tired. Vex turned to Keyleth. “Pike has it, right? Fuck.” She turned back around to the elf. “This is an emergency,” she said, giving him her best convincing smile.
“I am sure you remember us? Vox Machina, Protectors of the Realm, Honorary members of the Tal’Dorei council and all that,” Scanlan added, giving the elf a wink.
“Without the ticket I can’t hand you your—“ that was how far he got before Grog grabbed him by the collar, dragging him onto the counter, bringing their faces very close together.
“Listen here you little shit, I don’t care about no ticket, I just want my axe.”
“But my orders—“
“Fuck your orders!” Grog told him in a threateningly polite tone. “Now will you be nice and quiet while these ladies get our things?”
The elf nodded meekly and remained silent.
Vex jumped over the counter and began to hand their things to Keyleth and Scanlan, who either put them back on or—in case it belonged to one of their absent companions—stored them in the bag of holding that usually hung on Grog’s belt. When she joined them in the hallways again, Grog pushed the elf away. He looked like he was about to protest again, but being outnumbered four-to-one seemed to make him reconsider. He huffed and straightened his clothes, simply waiting for them to leave.
Her hands wrapped around her bow like it was a lifeline, Vex didn’t waste any more time, striding towards the exit. “Terribly sorry,” she could hear Keyleth mutter as she passed the counter with the dishevelled elf. “Have a good evening.”
And then they stepped out into the night. The sky was clear and Catha, half full, was currently rising, hanging low over the city glowing in a soft orange. The cool air did little to calm her nerves, but at least breathing became a bit easier away from the stuffy interior of the palace walls.
To her relief, she soon spotted their friends, standing next to a fountain close to the building. To her surprise Allura and Kima were nowhere in sight.
“Percy,” Vex called, breaking out into a jog. “Are you alright?”
Percy didn’t answer, his eyes were dark. Pike gave Vex a weak smile. “Let’s talk later, okay?”
Keyleth wordlessly placed a hand on Percy’s shoulder and Vex nodded. “Let’s get home. Vax is already waiting there for us. He said he found something that—“
“HALT!”
The voice echoed across the courtyard so loud Vex assumed it had been magically amplified, or maybe it just felt way too loud because she was so tense. They all whipped around in unison, and were faced with a group of royal guards carrying spears, slowly beginning to circle them. She could feel the soft spray of water from the bubbling fountain on her neck, where her hairs were standing on edge. This wasn’t good.
The one that had called out raised his voice again. She dimly recognized him as the captain of the guard, broad and tall in heavy armour, thick square jaw covered in stubble and short black hair. She couldn’t recall his name. She didn’t want to recall his name. She just wanted to go home. “By order of the king you are hereby arrested, surrender your weapons.”
“Why?” Percy hissed, the first word Vex had heard him speak since he vanished into the garden.
“You are not to ask questions. Lay down your weapons and kneel, hands raised. Don’t try to resist. You might be the protectors of the realm, but you are outnumbered here.” Spears were pointed at them from all sides. Her hand itched to reach for an arrow, but she didn’t. She stood up straighter.
“No!” She huffed desperately. “This is a mistake, you can’t— we need to get home!”
“SILENCE!” The captain bellowed, making all of them except Percy wince, even Grog. Vex bit back tears of frustration.
“You don’t understand, my broth—”
“Your brother is a wanted thief, and it is only a matter of time until we arrest him too.”
His words cut through her like a blade.
“We should do what they say,” Keyleth whispered, her voice shaking. “I’m sure this is a misunderstanding, we can fix this. We can fix this.” She was obviously trying to reassure her, but when she turned to Pike and muttered, “right?”, her tone was full of doubt.
“Surrender your weapons, or my guard will take them by force!” the captain bellowed, “last warning!”
Keyleth was the first, laying down her staff onto the damp grass, followed by Pike who put down her mace. Grog dropped his axe with a disgruntled noise of disappointment, and Scanlan shrugged before he casually put down his lute. Her movement stiff, Vex bit back a curse and slowly placed her bow and arrows on the ground, and knelt down next to her friends.
A member of the guard stepped up behind her, pulling her hands behind her back to put heavy iron manacles around her wrists.
Vex had to suppress the urge to call out for her brother, abandon the childish hope he was nearby, hiding in the bushes ready to save her—to make all of this go away.
Maybe he would at least be able to hide from the guard. She longed to see him, but she’d rather it not be in chains. Also, Trinket was all by himself back in the keep…without her brother and her faithful bear, she felt small and helpless.
She barely noticed when they made her stand up again, wet stains on her skirt from where she knelt in the grass. Scanlan hummed a little tune, Keyleth muttered something to herself. Nothing felt real. She walked down the path in front of the palace as if in a dream.
As they were led off the premises toward two heavily armed coaches, Vex’s eyes met Percy’s for a heartbeat, and the cold terror she saw in them mirrored the panic that had taken over her heart.
They were separated: Keyleth, Percy, and Vex pushed into one coach. Grog, Pike, and Scanlan were forced to enter the other one.
When the heavy barred door slammed shut behind them Vex closed her eyes and retreated into herself.