text: [Themes: fantasy]
  
  Having gotten yourself to what you believe is a presentable state you knock on the owners door. He emerges and gives you a once over.
  
  "Well its not bad at all for a first try!" he smiles at you before fixing various parts of the suits that are hanging wrong and showing you how to put on cufflinks. "Well you wont ever pass for some highborn sop who lives in a mansion but I rather think that it makes you a better man for it. Now follow me, I'm sure my daughter has had enough time to change as well."
  
  Your lead back to the large room where all tables and chairs have seemingly vanished and a small string quartet has started playing soft music, a few couples are already dancing near them on the open floor. The owner leads you to the side of the room to a small drinks bar.
  
  "Ok its time I did my mingling and information gathering, the serious meeting shall begin in a few hours when most of the guests here are gone." He walks away towards a group of men smoking pipes before calling back "The music is just warming up, make sure you dance with at least one girl while your here!"
  
  You're no master on the dance floor but you know the basics and as long as the songs are slow you're sure you could keep up. The music gets louder and more people move to the dance floor when you see two things happening. The Owners daughter enters the room looking beautiful in a flowing red dress and is immediately approached by several men asking her to dance, and the woman who approached you earlier detaches herself from the group she was in and slowly heads your way.
  
  > The lady from before is beautiful, in a low cut blue dress and is clearly flirting with you in a way the Owner's daughter never did, meet her on the dancefloor.
  You see that the daughter is still surrounded by men talking to her so you head onto the dance floor and meet the lady in blue half way. "Have you come to ask me to dance?" she asks coyly
  
  "Of course my lady" you reply before taking her hand and beginning to dance.
  
  The next hour or so passes rather quickly as the Lady dances much closer to you that you know is appropriate and keeps you to herself for the whole time the music is going. You do see the owners daughter dancing with a few men but she doesn't seem too happy. You consider asking her for a dance too but she has entirely ignored you since the dancing started and your current partner isn't sharing you.
  
  Once the music and dancing has ended the Lady extracts herself from your arms with a little pout. "Sadly Glor this is where you have to go to a meeting and I have to head home, but I do promise I'll be seeing ALOT more of you soon."
  
  Left with the strong suspicion she would be taking you home with her if she could you head over to where you see the owner and his daughter talking to a small group.
  
  "Ah Glor just in time, we are all going to adjourn to a smaller room for some drinks and our little meeting." turning to his daughter he asks if she would like to join them but she says no and walks away without looking at you. The owner gives you and her a quick glance before muttering "Ah well." and leads you into the meeting room.
  
  > The Truth
  After everyone is seated the Owner addresses you "Now Glor I have explained a little of why we are here during our trip down from the mines. This family I have gathered together is for the purpose of getting the truth out and showing the king that he is being tricked. We have tried getting evidence straight to him but the rest of the council has him surrounded day and night and I cannot do anything for fear of being caught and this entire group being put in danger."
  
  "Which is why we are sending an expedition." one of the other men joins in. "I am a commander in the 3rd company and will be sending some men along with a relief detachment to the border. they will be carrying proof of everything that has been happening over the past two years. We have had to wait this long as gathering the evidence without raising suspicion has not been easy but it is done now and we must hurry as we think the council are preparing for something big using two captured Carn ships. You will be drafted into the 3rd under my orders and send along as well, it'll become your job to help get the proof to Carn."
  
  You think for a minute before answering. "Why are we sending the proof to Carn, why not get it to our king?"
  
  "We tried, many times we tried, most of the men were killed and the rest searched and all the documents they had destroyed so they couldn't risk saying anything without proof, that would just lead to us all being killed before we could prove anything."
  
  "so when does this expedition leave?"
  
  "It was going to be in over a month, but now that your here, the man you know as the Owner of the mine your were in has planned to make them leave in 1 week. Your group will be riding alone instead of with a relief detachment but the papers we provide you should get you there just fine."
  
  > A New Morning
  You spend the night in the large mansion and you wake thinking you don't think you slept anywhere so comfortable before in your life. You find fresh cloths and a note inviting you to breakfast in the solar at the end of your bed so you quickly get ready and head out of your door. You immediately realize that you are entirely lost and have no hope of finding the right room but are luckily saved by a butler who appears to materialize beside you arm.
  
  Once you have been guided to the solar for breakfast you are left with the owner and a table laden with food. "All from my own farms and holdings!" he says happily "Now dig in, we have a long day ahead and you have received this invitation, so you may have a busy evening too I'd imagine." You inquire about his daughter but he says she broke her fast earlier.
  
  You start on the food as you read the impeccably written invitation to dinner at Lady Bridleworth's manner house. Before you can even ask the owner tells you that its the lady you danced with the night before. Well you've never been invited to a dinner in a manner house before and she did seem very interested in you. You ask him if he could accept on your behalf and he gives a little nod to one of the footmen nearby who heads off with the invitation in hand.
  
  The rest of the day is spent around the house and its grounds, speaking about the mission and plans for the next few days but you are mostly thinking about the invitation you received, luckily the owner is lending you a suit for the occasion so at least you will look presentable.
  
  > The Dinner Meeting
  As evening fell you are sent from the Owners mansion in a small carriage. It only takes a few minutes to reach the destination, which is a house almost the same size as the owners. You are dropped off and head up to the gate a little unsure of the protocol but the gate keeper greets you first. "Master Glor, my Lady has been expecting you, if you head to the main doors the butler will show you in."
  
  Clearly someone has done some research on you if even their doorman knows you by sight but you think that this is what it must be like when living in high society so head on in.
  
  You are met by the butler who ushers you into the house and through a small maze of joining rooms. You are finally led into a room with a single round table in the centre and several chairs around it, only one is occupied and the lady is wearing an even more low-cut dress than the night before. She rises as you enter and you are about to greet her when she raises a hand to cut you off.
  
  "Sadly Glor I had many VERY enjoyable plans for you tonight, and having dinner was the least of them, but we heard this morning that that despicable little man had moved his plans forward to only a week away because of you." You are very confused by this but she continues. "You see, he is a member of the kings counsel, but unlike the rest he is trying to foil the plans to start a war. One which we have been preparing for years, we would decimate Carn and double our territory in a matter of weeks. Sadly I am currently not on the council even though the king knows my family and myself so I have had to take steps to correct this. I help remove the meddling pest and I claim his seat, a fair deal no?"
  
  "Wait.. But..." you stammer out
  
  "Oh I know sweetie and I AM sorry" She looks you over like a hungry man looks at a steak "We really could have had so much fun. But part of the deal was I hand you over to these gentlemen from the councils intelligence section so I must give you up."
  
  You feel your arms grabbed by men either side of you and are dragged through a sliding panel in the wall and down into a deep basement. You try and struggle, even as they strap you to the table. Sadly there are more of them than you and once they start injecting you the pain overwhelms everything.
  
  During your torture you tell them everything, you even try to make things up to please them but they always know you are doing it and they make the pain worse so eventually they know everything you do. Once they are finished they untie you and let you stand. They have done relatively little damage to your body, it was mostly your mind that suffered. You head for the door but are blocked by a large man "Sorry but I'm afraid you were found here under a collapsed ceiling after heading to fetch some wine for the lady." he gently pushes you back into the room then shuts and locks the door. You watch helpless as the closing door knocks one of the beams away above you and the roof caves in on your head.