Act V: Getting Political
"Answers." Octavia demanded. Solitude prison was in chaos, guards constantly either bringing in or taking out prisoners. One pair had even been carrying the body of a Mer in Thalmor robes.
Xander was currently standing in one of the cells, facing his sister. L'laarzen was slumped in a corner, staring listlessly into space, and Cicero was skipping happily from wall to wall.
"I would love some answers too." Xander replied. "Did we get the guy? Could Cass save Vicci?"
"No and no." Octavia replied, tersely. "Don't try and dodge my question. You knew Vittoria was going to be assassinated. How?"
Xander sighed, and didn't try to hide his discomfort. It was perfectly normal for him to be tense in this situation. Even if the tension was for a far different reason than the one he was implying.
"I was visiting Solitude to check in on Dulurza and Elisif." He lied. "When we entered, L'laarzen—" he nodded behind himself at the Khajiit he was cellmates with, "said she spotted some people acting strangely up on the ramparts. I used an invisibility spell to go and have a look."
"You can't cast invisibility." Octavia said, flatly.
"Scrolls, sis." Xander explained. "When I got up there, I saw two people in the armour the killer was wearing. One male, one female. They were discussing the attack they were about to make. The woman was supposed to stay on overwatch while the man made the kill."
"And you let them?" Octavia replied, icily.
"I had barely ten seconds of invis left and I was alone." Xander replied. "I went down to warn L'laarzen, then came directly to you."
Octavia jerked her chin past him. "And the jester?"
Xander looked behind himself at Cicero, and gave a helpless splutter. "Honestly, I have no idea who that is. He was just…there when your men came and tackled us."
"Cicero is but a humble entertainer! A knife juggler here to ply his trade in the festivities." Cicero fell in with the story without so much as a pause. "When he saw the famous dragonslayers, he simply had to go and quiz them about their experiences! Only, then he started to see the bodies…"
Xander saw the moment his sister completely discounted the jester. Cicero was very good at not looking like a violent maniac when he chose to. Instead, Octavia turned back to Xander and asked "You said there was no present danger. That you'd uncovered a plot but Vicci was safe. Why?"
And here was the hardest part, and the most troublesome thing he'd blurted out during his warning.
Xander grimaced, hissing air out through his teeth. "L'laarzen went to get some Imperial soldiers and bring them to intercept the killer. I thought that they'd…I'm sorry. I was stupid."
Because if there were two things he knew Octavia Meteuse would believe, they were:
A) Xander was an imbecile.
B) The common soldiery was incompetent.
She sighed after hearing his words, crossing her arms. "No. You did the right thing. Better to come to me than to try and engage them alone. I apologise for being so reluctant to recognise your concerns. If I'd been faster, this might not have happened."
"This isn't your fault, Oct." Xander reassured, moving closer to the bars.
"What an unhelpful thing for me to think." She wrinkled her nose up, and looked at him. "Was Vittoria their only target? Or was there more?"
And now, more lies. "I'm not sure." Xander answered. "Their words, they…they made it sound like this was part of something bigger. But I don't have any names."
"You're sure?" Octavia checked.
Xander felt his gut twist, but nodded. "I'm sure."
Well well well, look at me being early! I said I might be, didn't I?
The plan is to start this act now and complete it over summer. That means you get (hopefully) weekly chapters during holiday season! Look at you!
The first chapter will come out Saturday next week, during which:
Someone gets a kiss, someone spills their guts, and someone bribes a guard.