"You've ruined our banquet,assaulted political allies,and risked the security of our realm. Throw them in irons!" Uriel snapped. The guards approach Vox Machina. They glare at the guards,Isona tightens her grip on Vax.

"Sovereign,it's been a long evening. I will see that they're properly punished." Allura speaks up. Uriel stares at her with a frown,before scoffing at agreeing. He walks away.

"Allura,something is wrong with Uriel. He's under the Briarwoods influence,I can feel it." Vex tells her.

"That is a considerable accusation. Do you have proof?"   

"No. But,I can get it. I just need time and access to..." Allura cuts off Vex.

"Emon owes you a great debt,but that does not mean you're above the law. Thought,perhaps Uriel is being too brash. Until this is resolved,you are hereby confined to your keep under house arrest." The group all murmur out complaints.

"How can you arrest a house?" Pike puts a hand on a worried Grog's leg.

"Okay.Thank you,Lady Allura."

"I'll convene a formal inquiry at once. Your fate will be determined once we hear the Briarwoods' side of the story. If they'll even speak to us anymore."

"They're just going to lie to you." Isona calls out to a retreating Allura,who ignores her.

***

The group was escorted back to their keep. They cleaned themselves up,changed back into their regular clothes and patched their wounds. The guards took their weapons.

"Get your filthy hands off my instrument!" Scanlan complains,jumping to try and reach it in the guards hand.

"The more you resist,the longer this will take." The guard says,putting the instrument away.    

"Come on,man! It's not a weapon. I just want to serenade the group!" Scanlan says,motioning over to Vax,Isona and Keyleth.

"They're doing us a favor." Vax smirks.

"Your belongings will be returned if you are exonerated. All points of egress to this compound are being surveilled. If you attempt to escape,you will be executed." Jarrett,the head guard,told them. 

"Harsh." Isona says dryly.

"Are you fucking joking?" Vax scowled.

"I do not joke. I advise that you sit tight and wait for the Sovereign's inquiry." Jarrett then turns and leaves.

"And what,we're just supposed to sit here?" Grog calls out.

"You have the run of your keep. I'm sure you'll find something to entertain yourselves." Jarrett then slams the front door shut. The group all move to the dining area,the spread around,doing their own thing. Scanlan attempts to translate Delilah's book that Vax took,Grog lifts homemade weights,Percy is studying a map of the keep,Vex simply sits at the table,Keyleth grows a flower,Vax leans against a chair,Isona sits and picks at her nails in boredom. Percy snaps at Grog,who was grunting a lot while working out. 

"I know we have a lot to talk about,but I'm not turning into a vampire,am I?" Vax asks,turning to Isona. Isona raises an eyebrow at him,then motions with her head at the window. Vax turns and sees his reflection.

"I withdraw the question."

"What are we waiting for? Lets fuck up those guards and bust out of here." Grog says.

"Oh,so you want to be fugitives of the crown,wanted in every corner of Tal'Dorei?" Isona asks him.

"If Uriel is under a charm,maybe Pike has a spell that could cure him." Keyleth speaks up. She turns to said gnome,who was sitting in the corner with her back to everyone. She doesn't turn until Keyleth gets her attention.

"Huh? Oh,um,I-I don't know. What she said." Isona gives her a concerned look. She looks away when Scanlan speaks up.

"Screw all that. We should focus on this book. I mean look at it,dead bodies,wolves. It's some kind of fucked up evil dairy."

"Does it have evidence that can clear our name?" Isona asks,putting her elbows on the table and leaning on them. Vax sits next to her and pulls the book closer to him.

"You think you can read this thing?" He asks Scanlan. Isona leans and looks at the language unknown to her that it's written in.

"Well,yeah,I mean,I only just started translating it. And Delilah's handwriting is the worst but..."

"Uh huh. So what does it say?" Vax pushes the book back to Scanlan.

"Oh,uh,it says 'pyramid','spirits of the dead' and right here in tiny letters it says,'fuck you Vax'."  Scanlan says,flipping Vax off.

"Oh,lovely. Care to translate this?" Vax holds up both middle fingers. They both throw the middle finger at each other.

"Can you two stop?" Pike suddenly snaps. Vex stands and takes the map from Percy.

"I was using that."

"We need to talk. All of us." Isona turns her attention to her.

"Certainly. What would you like to discuss,Vex'ahlia?" Percy asks in a slightly sarcastic tone,and sits in a chair.

"For starters,what the hell happened back there? You never thought to mention that the Briarwoods killed your family?" A sudden crash causes them to turn to Grog.

"My bad!" They turn back to Percy.

"I wan't aware that you were owed information about my past."

"When your past comes to kill us,I'd say we deserve a heads up."

"And how exactly was I to know the Briarwoods would be attending?" 

"I want to know about the smoke!" Keyleth suddenly interrupted. She realized that she stood and yelled,she sheepishly sits back down.

"Smoke? My weapon burns black powder. Perhaps that's what you saw."

"What we saw was you shooting an innocent kid." Isona speaks up with a glare.

"No one in the employ of the Briarwoods is innocent."

"They boy knew nothing! He was terrified!" Isona shouts,slamming her hands on the table.

"Even more so after you exploded his hand." Vax states. Percy sighs.

"Maybe I got carried away. But you don't know the Briarwoods. What they did to my family."

"Then why don't you tell us?" Keyleth asks gently. Percy sighs again.

"When they arrived in Whitestone,the Briarwoods came as allies. But they brought dark ambitions. And allowed no one to stand in their way. Not even children. They slaughtered us in cold blood,seizing my ancestral home. Even our tutor,the man my parents entrusted with our safekeeping betrayed us. After enduring weeks of torture,my sister Cassandra and I tried escaped together. But..." Percy trails off. They could guess what happened. "The Briarwoods know I'm alive now,and they are not in the habit of leaving loose ends."

"So,whats your plan?" Vex asks. Percy looks at everyone,they look back at him with determined looks. He softly smiles. Percy leads them to the lower levels of the keep.

"The thing about an old keep like this,it's quite easy to miss small details." He knocks on the bricks,effectively finding a secret passage. He leads them down it.

"Could do with some light,Pickle." Vax calls over his shoulder. Pike instead asks Keyleth to make sunlight. She tries and fails.

"Forget it,we're here." Percy says and pulls on a chain,opening a way out.

"And so are we." They look up to see Jarrett and the other guards. 

"Whoops."

"Oh,seriously."

"Fuck a duck."

The guards separates the group. Isona was tossed in a room with Percy and Keyleth. She and Keyleth sit on top of a table,Percy goes over to one in front of them and opens a secret compartment.

"So it's just us in here. Uriel sure was mad." Keyleth speaks up.

"Well,I would be too if someone ruined my dinner." Isona says.

"We didn't ruin his entire dinner,just dessert." Percy pulls out what looks like plans for a gun. "Didn't know about your past. But I guess none of us have shared that kind of stuff." Percy stays silent,working on his gun. Keyleth gives Isona a look,who's staring at the ground. "I may never see my family again."

"What?" Percy finally speaks.

"Yeah. My Aramenté. I don't get to go home until I complete it and prove myself worthy. Which might not happen so..."

"I didn't know that."

"I did." Isona says,mainly to herself,Keyleth softly giggles at that. 

"Well,at least you guys know,or knew,your family." Isona says.

"What do you mean?" Percy asks,finally turning around.

"I was left on the steps of an orphanage when I was just a few days old,with nothing but this hair clip." She answers pointing at the clip in her hair.

"You never found out who your parents were?" She shakes her head.

"No,and it wasn't for lack of trying,it's like they just disappeared. Probably thought I was unworthy of being their daughter,or something."Isona turns to Keyleth,who looks back at Percy.  

"We're just saying,we know you think you're alone. That we don't know what you're going through. But you don't have to be." Isona nods at Keyleth's words.

"I appreciate that,Keyleth,Isona,truly. And for the record,I think your both damn worthy." The girls smile at each other and turn back to Percy.

"But there's a world of difference your struggle and mine. Keyleth,whether you succeed or fail,your family is still alive. Isona,even if your family didn't want you,there's still a strong possibility their alive." Keyleth and Isona stare at Percy. Sudden shouting from the hallway makes them pause.

"That doesn't sound good." 

___

Quick lil update to celebrate over 100 reads! Usually I try to keep episodes in one chapter but I didn't want to type anymore and I wanted to update lol