Chapter Five: The Witnesses

Vex gritted her teeth in frustration. "And in that time, you saw nothing at all amiss?" she demanded.

"Not a thing, milady," the servant girl—Alana? Alora?—replied. "I-I was in and out of the hall all evening, serving food and drink, and there was nothing wrong. I mean, it was all a little tense, but Lady de Rolo tried so hard to keep the conversation civil. I was in the kitchen fetching more wine when… when…" She trailed off, shaking, as tears began to spill down her cheeks.

"It's all right, Alira," said Vax, softly, though not without a sharp glance at his sister—purely for the girl's benefit. "Just tell us what you did see."

Alira took a deep, unsteady breath, keeping her gaze fastened like a lifeline on Vax. Vex smothered a grin: the good-guard, bad-guard routine worked a charm every time. And it never failed to amuse her how easily Vax'ildan Vessar, rogue, thief, and generally sneaky bastard, inspired trust in others.

"I… I could hear Lady de Rolo speaking," Alira said slowly. "Something about… history or tradition or something? I'm not really sure. But anyway, suddenly she just stopped, mid-sentence. And somebody screamed." She swallowed hard, shuddering. "I think I-I dropped the wine. I heard something shatter. And I ran back out to the great hall, and she—Lady de Rolo, I mean—was just… standing there. Frozen. Staring, like she was in shock. And-and then she fell. And there was a dagger in her chest!"

"Mm-hmm." Vex nodded, the mental image still making her stomach turn. It took a deliberate exercise of will to not allow her imagination to put Percy in Cassandra's place. "Can you describe the handle of the dagger?" she asked.

Alira blinked at her, dumbfounded. "The… handle? What difference does that—"

Vex cut her off with a sharp gesture. "Just answer the question, Alira."

"Um, it was…" Alira closed her eyes, brow furrowing as she concentrated. "Uh, wood? I think? It was dark-colored. Maybe wrapped in leather. I-I'm not sure. I'm sorry!"

"That's all right, Alira, that's good," said Vax. "Very good. What happened next?"

Cheeks flushing pink, Alira looked down at her hands twisting in her lap. "I-I don't know, sir. I was so afraid, I… I ran back to the kitchen and hid in the cupboard until morning."

Vex sighed and pounded a fist into the tabletop, making the girl jump. "All right, I guess that's it for now," she bit out. "You can go, Alira, but don't leave the castle. We may call for you again, and you'd better be here."

"Y-yes, milady. Of course." Alira stood, gave a hesitant and awkward curtsy, and hurried from the room.

As soon as she was out of sight and earshot, Vex scrubbed her hands down her face with a groan. "How many different accounts is that, now? Eight?"

"Eleven," Vax ground out, sounding every bit as irritated as she was. "Regarding the weapon alone, our 'witnesses' have described five different daggers, three arrows, a crossbow bolt, and two goblets of wine—and only one of those said the wine was dashed in Cassandra's face. But I couldn't get a sense of deceit from any of them."

"Nor could I," Vex grudgingly concurred. "Which means all we've proved is that the testimony of serving girls and kitchen staff should be taken with a grain of salt the size of this whole damned hillside."

Vax raised an eyebrow. "That's surprisingly snobbish of you, Vex'ahlia."

"I know, I know,' she sighed. "I didn't mean it, not really. I just feel like we're getting nowhere fast, that's all. I hate it."

"Do you think Percival's having any better luck with the guards?"

"Gods, I hope so." Vex slumped back in her chair, folding her arms tightly. "I'm so worried about him, Brother. After everything he's lost, now this…?"

"It's not fair," Vax agreed, and there was steel under the velvet of his gentle voice. "Fate's dealt him a shitty hand, that's for sure. But that's what he's got us for." He gave her a knowing stare. "That's what he's got you for."

The tips of Vex's ears warmed, and she looked away. "I'm sure I don't know what you mean by that," she said, but her protest rang hollow even to herself.

And Vax, of course, refused to take the hint. "Oh, come off it, Stubby," he wheedled. "I've seen the way you two look at each other. He adores you, and I daresay the feeling is mutual."

Oh, so he could read minds, now? "You daresay, do you?" she snapped, glaring at him. "You're quite confident for claiming to know how I feel."

Vax met her scowl with that smug, I'm-right-and-you-know-it grin he wore when he was about to win an argument. "Come on. I've known you my whole life, Vex. Don't try to tell me you can't read me like a book. I can certainly read you, and I know you care about him."

"Of course I do," Vex shot back. "The same way I care about you. Vox Machina is out family. Percy's like a…"

Vax gave her that smirk, damn him. "Go on. Tell me he's like a brother to you. Say it, I dare you."

"All right. Percy is like a br… a b… oh, fuck you, Vax," she huffed. She turned her head aside to avoid his piercing gaze. "Fine, I can't, are you happy now? You're right. The way I feel about him is totally different from the way I feel about you. But…" She sighed in surrender. "But… maybe it's just as strong."

He said nothing, and she still didn't look at him, but she could hear him shift in his chair.

"You're jealous," she said quietly. The same way I was of Keyleth, until she turned you down. I deserve this, I suppose.

"What? No, of course not!" When Vex turned back to him in surprise, she saw his cheeks redden, just a little. "All right, maybe a little," he admitted when she cocked a skeptical eyebrow. "But really, can you blame me?"

Gods above, that grin was too much. Vex leaned toward him and punched him lightly on the shoulder. "I saw him first," she teased.

His astonished blink and accompanying deepening blush indicated her joke had struck more true than she'd thought. She grinned. Vax might still be carrying a torch for Keyleth, but there was no denying the utterly incriminating look on his face. "Hah!" she crowed in triumph at having successfully turned the tables on him. "I knew it!"

"Oh, shut up, Stubby," he growled. "That's not what I meant!"

Vex chuckled. "Sure it isn't, Brother."

"I mean it, it's not!" he insisted. Then with a wry smile, he admitted, "But maybe it's a little bit true." His smile faded. "Just don't say anything to him, all right? I… I have a lot of things I'm still sorting out. I don't want to get in your way."

"Not a word, I promise." It wasn't the first time they'd both admitted feelings for the same person, and it had long ago ceased to be awkward between them. But there was something different about it this time, a pull in her heart she didn't really know how to examine, that compelled her to add a quiet, "Thank you."

His eyes widened in understanding.

After a moment's silence, Vex cleared her throat and took the pages of notes from Vax's hands. They had work to do. "All right, let me see something here. Is there anything all our witnesses actually agree on?"

"Not much," sad Vax with a shrug. "Most of them say Cassandra was standing and speaking when the attack happened. But what she was saying, the weapon, the reactions of the guests—they all described those differently."

"Hmm." As Vex flipped through the notes, pausing now and then to decode her brother's awful chicken-scratch handwriting, one thread began to stand out. "They all agree that Cassandra sat at the head of the table, which makes sense. And in every account, the direction of the attack is always the same—from the front." She looked up at Vax. "It would be helpful if Cassandra were coherent enough to speak. She may have seen her assailant."

"Unless they used an invisibility spell," Vax pointed out sourly. "We may be looking for a decently powerful mage."

"Not necessarily," said Vex with a shrug. "I've seen you all but disappear into the tiniest sliver of shadow. Is there anywhere in the great hall an assassin could have hidden?"

Vax rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Perhaps. Let's go take a look."

As they entered the great hall, Vex studied the wide, airy room critically. The western wall was composed of more glass than masonry, windows that stretched from waist-height nearly to the vaulted ceiling allowing the late afternoon sunlight to flood in and paint the white stone in shades of gold and orange. It would have been dark outside during a dinner party, though. The light in the hall would have come from the many sconces in the walls—enough oil lamps to illuminate the area as bright as day. There would have been few shadows to be found.

Vex moved to the head of the table and stood behind the thronelike chair. Looking out over the hall from here, there were few places she couldn't see. A couple of lush, leafy potted plants could have perhaps provided a hiding spot, but that was about it. "Vax, see if you can hide over there," she said. "I want to test a theory."

Eyeing the plants dubiously, Vax nevertheless chose one and pressed himself to the wall behind it, crouching down to be as invisible as possible. The concealment wasn't perfect, but if Vex hadn't known he was there, hadn't been expecting or looking for him, she might not have noticed him. "All right, good. Stay there," she instructed. "I can't really see you from here. We know Cassandra had some advisors with her that night, though, so I'm going to see if anyone else might have—"

She broke off abruptly as something sharp poked into the small of her back, and a voice hissed in her ear, "You're not going anywhere, sweetheart."