"Charmed to make your acquaintances," Muriel tittered, at the collection of young men and women, "Really, simply charmed."

Tatiana simply nodded, sending a strained smile to Erica in return to her sympathetic look. At least she wasn't the only one uncomfortable in these surroundings. The two girls, twins, both seemed a bit too energetic for her taste, admittedly one much more than the other... Adalinda seemed to get swept up in her sister's nonsense and they'd both get carried away.

Frankly she was rather uncomfortable being surrounded by so many people. Too many personalities cluttered around clamoring for attention. Thankfully Lorelei was currently the center of attention, chattering away in a manner that reminded her eerily of her mother. And speaking of said woman...

"Well, I can see that you are all are upstanding young adults," She said with a wink at the rockstar singer, "And now that we've been properly introduced I feel absolutely no qualms with leaving my darling Tattie in your capable hands.

"Do see to it that she has a good time," She said as a parting remark before air kissing both of her daughter's cheeks, before turning about with a swish of her skirt and a cheery wave, "Cheerio darlings~!"

As her mother disappeared into the crowd, Tatiana tried to hide her sigh of relief, subtly rubbing her freed arm as she sank into the first available chair.

Jennings regained the stage, now with songs dedicated to the young ladies there. Tatiana didn't pay much attention to it all, preferring just to let the sounds of babble and music wash over her... she didn't expect to be one of the girls he sang about. At the sound of 'For Tatiana' her head whipped up to stare. The music was tasteful and while the melody was simple it was none the less lovely. And the lyrics... she had to look away and dab at her eyes.

Her eyes found her mother's form in the crowd. She was laughing and clinking glasses with a pair strapping men in suits, flirting like a woman half her age. Most likely she had not even heard the music. Really, freedom and breaking chains wasn't the best metaphor. She loved her mother really. But some peace and quiet... the freedom come and go as she pleased and the opportunity to chose the people she associated with would be... would be lovely.

The group of young people had mostly dispersed, young couples dancing across the floor. Tatiana fiddled with an empty glass on the table, content to watch and enjoy the boat ride while it lasted.

It wasn't long before they arrived however and soon they were disembarking. Awaited by carriages drawn by horses, and an actual castle up the hill. Tatiana heard her mother calling for her, and quickly climbed into the first carriage she could reach, hoping to stay out of reach for just a moment longer.

The castle was large and beautiful, and stepping out of the carriage, Tatiana had to admit it was as appropriate a place for a ball as any. Feeling like a proper princess she climbed the stairs...

"Tattie! Tattie dear!" The moment was ruined as Muriel returned to her daughter's side, "There you are, oh my isn't this a beautiful castle."

Her mother continued to babble in her ear, only stopping for a breath when they reached the older gentleman to nod regally at him as he welcomed them in.

Welcomed again by their host and hostess as they entered the ballroom, Tatiana took in the tasteful blue and silver decor, chandeliers and shining ballroom floor. Here the crowd was a lot less oppressive than it had been on the yacht with plenty of room for people to mingle and dance... and tiny private alcoves for couples to get away from the masses. As soon as she was free from her mother's clutches again one of those private spots would be hers, she promised herself, and braced herself to endure another round of meet and greet.

"Mister Jennings," Cried her mother as she dragged her towards the rockstar at the bar, and Tatiana tried not to shrink away too much, but could not control her blush, "That was quite the performance earlier. I just had to come express my appreciation. Our appreciation really, a ballad for my darling Tattie! Really you shouldn't have!"

So her mother had payed attention after all. Still, while she would never have barged into greeting the man like this, she did like the song... so she managed to give him a sincere smile, ducking her head before saying quietly, "Thank you sir, it was lovely."

Mister Acheson smiled as the author introduced himself. Gripping Garen's hand firmly, giving it two good shakes, "Indeed I do, though I must say, that is a bit of a weakness of my darling wife. I own several publishing companies, so she can get advanced copies of books before they are released to the public. She was particularly taken with your first book, saying your youthful ignorance mixed incredibly well with the horrors therein." He glanced over at Shinnston, who had been gathering up a few others that had expressed interest in a tour, "If you'll join us Mister Waldgrun." Mister Acheson politely excused himself, and joined his lovely wife on the dance floor. Shinnston, waited a moment, letting the tour group get acquainted for a moment. "Follow me please, and do stick with the group, wouldn't want anyone getting lost or hurt, would we?"

Shinnston led them from the main hall westward, down an expansive corridor, indicating they were entering the west wing. "This island was owned by the original Acheson's, as were all islands down the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. They were the original settlers of these, as many natives tended to avoid them for a variety of cultural reasons. Isle Potestas has always been the home of the patriarch of the family. When the Revolutionary War was due to break out, the Acheson family used several of the islands to train men and women as spies for the Colonies. These spies were critical in the outcome of the war, however, shortly after, several of the Founding Fathers found it prudent to not have a bunch of trained spies amongst them with no enemy to fight. As such, the United States military marched on the islands, under the guise of natives, killing and slaughtering any they came across. My great-great-great-great-grandfather was one of the youngest spies in their employ at the time. He'd managed to find little baby Fredrick Acheson. He escaped with the only surviving member of the family, and fled across the sea to Europe. Since then, my family and the Acheson family have been working together to restore the family's wealth and honor, and have finally come home."

The tour led through the many lavish bedrooms, parlors, sitting rooms, before pausing in the absolutely massive library belonging to Mrs. Acheson. Shelves from floor to ceiling, and was bigger than the ballroom. Dark woods, comfortable seating, and a fire in the hearth. "Let us break for a moment, refreshments are available now." At that, a few servants came through with platters of finger foods and drink. "I can answer any questions you may have before we continue."

The man that had shared a carriage with Ada and Lorelei saw the lovelier of the two sisters looking lonely on the dance floor. He moved toward her, gently taking one of her hands in his, "Join me?" He definitely stuck out in his military garb, but he didn't mind. He was a good dancer, and she appeared to be a bit more relaxed than she'd seemed in the carriage. Smiling down at her, "I'm Kvist, and it is my pleasure to meet you again miss."

Jennings' eyes and smile appeared momentarily sad, before he quickly lit up as Lorelai spoke to him. "Ah, well you definitely deserved every word. Are you enjoying... this, my dear Lorelai?" He downed his drink, turning to face her properly, "Why aren't you dancing with one of these fine gentleman?" His smile never truly appeared genuine, and there was always a spot of sadness behind his eyes.

As the older woman and her young daughter joined them, Jennings once more greeted them, tiring of this parade. He'd been considering retiring lately, there just wasn't as much joy in it as he once thought, it never filled that hole in him. He exchanged a few pleasantries, before finally fed up of the atmosphere, "Would you two ladies like a private tour, just me and you?"

As Erica, Denn, Odette, and Kest danced, one of the plainclothes security personnel, one of the newer guys, could be heard by Erica as he spoke into an earpiece. "--Ell service has been cut? Hardline too? On my way." The tuxedo adorned man turned toward the back of the ballroom, and if Erica looked, she would be able to make out a few wires that had been cleverly hidden in the designs of the room ran to the door he entered.

Meanwhile, a pair of young, very buxom servant women approached Gerald and Chester, "Why hello there." They had quite a variety of piercings and tattoos, and the look of predators in their eyes, "You two look bored, might we help? I'm Felicity and this is my sister Natasha."

Odette was still giggling when a young man appeared out of nowhere, startling her. He was one of the men at the bar on the boat. She and Kest had arrived late to hear most of the names. That wasn't about to keep her from dancing, though. She curtsied to Alden, taking his hand.

"I know we met briefly, but I don't think we were actually introduced." Odette pulled the man in closer to her, the whiskey still strong in her, "My name is Odette, and you are..?" without really waiting for an answer, she took charge of the dance and led him about the floor.

Kest looked on, a bit annoyed that Odette had been taken from him.. again. He could see the young lady he was with roll her eyes and he smiled. At least he wasn't the only one. That is, until she held her hand up in an offer to dance. He hesitated for a moment, unsure, but looking at Odette, maybe she would feel some sort of jealousy if she saw him with another woman.

Bowing, Kest took the ladies hand and kissed her fingers. He stepped forward, placing his free hand at the small of her back with a smile and gently pulled her into a waltz.
"I hope I am as good a dance partner as your boyfriend." He didn't know if the man was her boyfriend or not, he just assumed that everyone that arrived with the opposite sex was connected in that way.

“Only ten bucks?” Chester exclaimed, obviously unsatisfied with his friend’s offer. Convincing someone to do a silly line dance in such an establishment obviously warranted a much higher incentive. “Throw in a McRib and a large Coke and you’ve got yourself a deal, man.”

Gerald guffawed, his cackling laugh echoing through the ballroom. "Oh, forget it." It wasn’t long before the boys had transformed once again into two ten-year-old boys trapped in the bodies of men, giggling incessantly, and slinging insults back and forth like crossfire on a battlefield. They tried their best to remember that they were in a fancy mansion and attempted to keep rough-housing to a minimum.

Soon their shenanigans were brought to an abrupt halt as the voices of two women pierced the air and shattered the pleasant calm that was fashioned when the two closed out the rest of the world with their nonsense. They once again realized that they were in the presence of others, and those people may want to talk with them. It didn’t help that these “others” in this case were women with a particularly obvious intention behind their purring voices. Gerald almost couldn’t bring himself to turn around.

Chester was the first to address the two women, being the more naive of the pair. “Oh, hello ladies. Nice to meet you...” He glanced nervously at Gerald, who returned a pained expression, his neck prickling with sweat. Oh God, why?

“Er, nice tattoos you have.” Ches continued, grasping for things to say. Chester was usually a very jovial and chatty type, but something about these women made him uncomfortable. It was that same something that radiated off that prying middle-aged woman customer with the red Buick Gerald and he both hated-- something predatory. He had often covered for Gerald when his friend could not handle that woman, but he really wasn’t in the mood to do all the talking now. He was caught off-guard.

Gerald stood there silently, his brain filling with profanities. No, we aren’t bored. he thought to himself. Couldn’t you see we were having a conversation? Damn, people can be so obvious. Do men really fall for this stuff?

“Gerald, here, he’s always wanted a tattoo.” Ches was not being of any help with his awkward attempts at polite conversation, especially not when he tried to drag Gerald into the exchange. He no doubt was just trying to keep some sort of interaction going to be polite, but the side effect was shifting the women’s focus away from himself. Gerald suspected that might have been a purposeful “slip.”

“Uh, yeah.” Gerald managed to mumble begrudgingly, again distracted by his own inner monologues. These women are servants in this house? He looked them over again, wondering how they got a job in a fancy place like this. On second thought, he didn't want to know. Shit, I’d hate to know what goes on in here... He felt like just running for the door, but he hoped it wouldn’t get to that point.

Adalinda

Had... she met him before. Ada's eyes narrowed as she looked him up and down, feeling herself slowly sober up. Kvist? What a weird name. "Kvist? What origin is that name? It's... interesting. I mean, I guess I can't say anything, my name is Adalinda. It's uh... German? I think? Not that I'm really German..." Ada rambled. Then, realizing she was rambling, she added, "Just call me Ada... I would like to join you." She answered, just now realizing that he'd taken her hand.

He looked very sharp and nice, she didn't even realize that next to him, they stood out, not something she really liked to do normally. But, she was feeling rather brave today, so what the hell. She'd get to show off her meager dancing skills she picked up from the many dances Lorelei dragged her to.

Lorelei

She hung on his every word, a soft smile on her face. Why wasn't she dancing with someone else? Well, when would she get the chance to casually talk to someone of his status. Though, she began to get this icky nagging feeling that she was being annoying and thick skinned. She looked the poor man over as more people came to greet him, her smile now. She could almost feel her heart breaking at the sight of him. She sighed and shook her head as she walked off to find a seat at one of the few tables in the room.

She eyed her sister with the man from the carriage and smiled to herself, moving a small piece of red hair from the side of her face to behind her ear. She sat down at a table and motioned for one of the servants over to ask for something to drink.

"May I help you?" He asked in his nice tux.

"Any chance I could get a whiskey?" She asked, winking at him playfully.

"Why, certainly ma'am." He answered, bowing slightly before walking off to retrieve it. While she waited, Lorelei leaned back in her seat to watch those around her.

"Would you two ladies like a private tour, just me and you?"

Tatiana had felt her eyes glazing over, when Mister Jennings easily cut through her mother's twitterings and gigglings of the same banal pleasantries they'd both heard a million times before no doubt. The sudden offer had her blinking at the man, as he couldn't possibly be the type that desired more of her mother's company- But her mother's eyes lit up with delight, a hand going to her cheek in a delicate show of surprise.

"Why Mister Jennings," She said sincerely, looking over at her daughter before a sly thought flashed in her eyes, and with a slow smile she turned back to the star and fluttered her lashes at him coyly, "We would be delighted to have a tour from yours truly, the both of us i'm sure. But..." She paused dramatically before turning her smile into a pouting moue of disappointment, "I'm afraid I promised a dance to a lovely charmingly dapper fellow I met on the ferry and I would hate to disappoint him. You understand."

"Oh but please," She continued brightly, the pout vanishing like it had never been, "Don't let my absence keep you, I'm sure my darling daughter would love to take you up on your offer, wouldn't you dear."

Muriel glanced at Tatiana with a pointed smile as she nimbly disengaged their linked arms, and maneuvered her so that she was now standing at Jennings' side, "I'm sure you two will have a marvelous time, and you simply must tell me all about it when we get back, dear-heart."

She patted Tatiana's cheek, and then turned to offer the rockstar her hand, palm down, in farewell, "It's been an absolute pleasure, Mister Jennings. An absolute pleasure."

"Now, if you'll excuse me darlings, I have a date," Muriel said with a near sing-song tone and twirled away with a cheery, "Ta Ta Tattie dear! Don't do anything I wouldn't do~!" But not without sending her a wide smile wink and okay gesture behind Mister Jennings' back.

With the whirlwind of a woman sweeping away to another part of the ballroom, Tatiana heaved a sigh of relief before realizing that now she found herself alone at the bar with the rockstar. Albeit one she did not know all that well, but still a man whom was probably more likely used to being the center of attention from hundreds of fawning young girls, rather than entertaining just one quiet and mousy girl like her that he'd just gotten roped into...

"Sorry," She said before she realized she'd spoken and she blushed, "For my mother I mean. She can be quite... overwhelming. At times. Or most times. You don't have to give me a tour- I don't mind, really."

Kest took Erica's hand, saying he hoped he was as good a dance partner as her boyfriend. Erica let an amused smile appear on her face. Even if Denn had been her boyfriend, which he wasn't, Kest would not be hard-pressed to surpass his dancing skills. She'd be surprised if Denn had ever attended a formal dance in his life. And indeed, from the glimpses she caught of him while waltzing with Kest, she could tell that Denn had no idea what he was doing.

Denn was actually having a good time, despite tripping over his own feet. The only reason he wasn't tripping over Odette's feet as well was that she was very deft at avoiding his missteps. When Odette had introduced herself as she first pulled them out onto the dance floor, he'd replied with a friendly grin, "I'm Denn. Pleased to meet you, again." He chatted about this and that as Odette led them around. As he stumbled yet again, he observed, "You seem to know what you're doing. Where did you learn to dance?"

Erica and Kest had danced their way to where Erica could hear a man talking into an earpiece. Just a normal person on the phone, or some sort of security? she wondered. She couldn't tell until the man entered a doorway. She almost missed the hidden wires running to the door, because Kest now spun around, blocking her view. She was much too short to be able to see around his shoulder. But at least now she could assume that man worked for the Achesons. She wondered how many other staff members were hidden in the crowd in plainclothes. The spinning of the dance made it difficult to observe any single person long enough to determine anything, since they were only intermittently in her field of vision.

The blonde reached out with a hand adorned by tigers, taking Chester's hand, firmly and in control. "I'm Amanda, and who might you be?" She asked as she pulled him away from his brother, across the ballroom. Her black dress clung tightly to her curves, her strapless shoulders covered in vines and flowers that couldn't quite be classified. It appeared she was pulling him toward the wall, just to the side of the bar. Upon reaching it, she looked around for a bit, then she pressed on the design, and the wall opened as a hidden door. The woman pulled Chester into the hidden corridor, locking the door behind him.

"Ever been in a secret tunnel before?" She purred, the double entendre fairly obvious. She pressed him against a wall, her body against his, moving her lips just a breath's away from his.

Meanwhile the auburn haired companion was eyeing Gerald fiercely, grinning, with an eyebrow raised as Chester had been dragged away. "And I'm Helena. It seems it's just you and me now, with plenty of time to... explore. Care to escort me?" She held out her arm, indicating for him to entwine his arm with hers. "Any particular room you'd like to see first?"

Kvist smiled as the woman rambled, clearly not remembering him from earlier. "Denmark, though by name alone." He then pulled her close, not obscenely so, just, intimately. He led her through the variety of dances, his playful gaze and toying grin meeting hers every so often. "So Ms. Adalinda, what is it you" He asked curiously, before teasing, "Aside from forgetting your carriage companion."

As the servant returned with Lorelei's whiskey, he handed it to her, seeming a smidge more nervous than previously. He handed it to her on a napkin, most unusual, for this was a classy event, not some sports pub. "H-h-here you are miss." Then as suddenly as he arrived, he bee lined away back to the kitchens. Visible through the bottom of the tumbler, was writing on the napkin.

"Meet me in the kitchen. Important."

Had he not chosen to maintain his manners, Jennings might have rolled his eyes at the mothers attempt to pawn off her daughter. It certainly seemed that those that appeared the classiest were the most classless. He was glad she was gone at least. His charming smile having never left, he found himself observing the quiet girl. She was certainly pretty, prettier than the dossier that had been sent to him for the song he wrote. He chuckled at her response, "Isn't that most mothers though? My own seemed fervently determined to get me into the theater. I just can't stand tights." Then deciding to continue with his offer, "I actually was looking for an excuse to go somewhere more... quiet. A life such as mine, amongst fans and strangers galore, a little bit of solitude is true sanctuary. But I'd rather not be... completely alone. So the offer still stands."

He ordered a couple of cognacs, with a secondary glance at the bartender. As the drinks were given, he handed one to Tatiana, then stood and slipped an arm around her waist. "So where to first? The library? The dungeons? The stables?"

Chester had a bad feeling about these women as soon as they walked over to him, but the moment the blonde took hold of his hand with the death-grip of a starved anaconda, his fears were confirmed. It seemed the woman shared more than just her grip and predatory nature with that deadly snake. Ches was a fairly fit man and was larger than both the women, but the blonde's strength, coupled with his own shock and bewilderment, made him a hapless victim as she dragged him across the ballroom. His eyes fixated on the ferocious tigers that adorned her clawed fingers, and he felt as if they had leapt from her skin and assisted her grip on his hand. Her tight grip was beginning to hurt now.

Without really focusing on what he was doing, he heard the words "I'm Chester..." tumble from his lips. He instantly regretted telling her his name. What was he even doing?

There was a moment of relief when the woman took her attention off of Chester to search along the wall for something, but her grip still remained strong. Chester took this opportunity to shoot a glance back toward Gerald. While the man wasn't being abducted as he was, Gerald wore the deer-in-headlights expression of a man so utterly overwhelmed by the sudden happenings that he could barely process what was going on. Of course, Chester thought, No help from him... He shot a glance at the nearby bartender, who simply replied with a wink. No, I am not enjoying this! Help me! he wanted to scream, but fear claimed the words before he spoke them.

He felt himself pushed hard against the wall, then the wooden paneling that was being driven into his spine seemed to disappear and he was pulled backward into a dark passage. As the blackness fell over his vision when the secret door shut, Chester felt his body freeze and the cold, clammy hand of fear grasp his forehead. He never thought he'd end up genuinely terrified at a fancy dinner party, but honest-to-goodness horror washed over him and sent his mind spinning into hysteria. His heart pounded in his ears and the only other thing he could hear was himself repeating Oh God, oh God, oh God... in his thoughts. He was usually capable with dealing with flirts, much more so that Gerald, but this was taken lightyears too far. Here he was, locked in the darkness in a secret passage that quite possibly nobody else even knew about. The music in the ballroom was loud enough to drown out one's own thoughts, let alone any attempts at screaming. Gerald was probably busy having a panic attack by now, so there was no hope of help from him either. It was all up to him now.

Sweat now trickled down his forehead and his spine. He felt positively soaking wet. His breath was shallow and ragged, and became more so as the woman pressed herself nearer. While it was too dark to see his own hand in front of his face, he could tell the woman had her face less than an inch from his own. The scent of her perfume burned in his nostrils. She could not get any nearer if she tried.

He felt the woman's hand creeping up his chest and, momentarily propelling his body from its frozen-with-fear state, shoved her away with all the strength his adrenaline-filled body gave him. He did not care if he hurt her at this point. Animalistic terror possessed him.

He could not see her in the darkness, but feared she would grab hold of him again. He half expected her to be able to see in the dark, watching her prey scrabble around helplessly, like the nocturnal predator that she was. He began running blindly down the passage, groping the walls in search of some way out. He knew if he ever made it out of this alive, he'd probably end up just like Gerald with every little innuendo, flirtatious gesture, or double entendre sending him spiraling into a repulsed frenzy.

-------

Gerald watched helplessly as his friend was dragged away. Sparkling purple dots began invading his vision, and he felt lightheaded. Soon the pitch-black curtain would follow, along with his legs turning to jelly. Not here, he thought, willing himself to overcome his panic, Not now.. These were the panic attacks that he would sometimes get when placed in a situation with people would be too explicit around him. It was always something that surprised everyone he knew; the cynical and smart-alecky auto mechanic was incredibly sex-repulsed, so much so that he felt physically ill whenever someone talked about their sexual relations or made some vulgar joke. His repulsion and anxiety almost always got the better of him and manifested in this way. And now here was his friend, being dragged off somewhere no doubt to be molested by one of these predatory females and he could barely do anything to help. To make it worse, now he was stuck alone with the other one. This was not how he expected this trip to be.

In an attempt to fight the purple-spangled black velvet from invading his vision, he propped himself up by the wall and bent over with his head down. He braced himself with his hands on his slightly bent knees and took a deep breath. He did not realize that the bloodthirsty lioness next to him had spoken to him. He was so befuddled that he did not even catch that the women claimed to have different names than when they first introduced themselves. He did not even care that he left the redhead waiting impatiently with her arm out to be taken. The last thing he could possibly notice was where the blonde had taken Chester. For all he knew, they had just disappeared into thin air.

Kest smiled at the young ladies expression. From it he could tell the man dancing with Odette was in fact, not her boyfriend.
"Good to know I'm not intruding."

Since there were only sparse partners dancing, he could always see Odette. She had taken charge of the dance and wouldn't let her partner take the lead. That was just like her, she was very independent. Plus it looked like he wasn't very good at the waltz. Odette was basically pulling him around the room. This caused Kest to smirk, that is until she stopped, putting her hand to her head, and walking off the dance floor leaving the man hanging.

Kest was going to break away from his own dance to check on her, but he noticed she was looking around rather at him.
"Is something amiss?" he followed her eyes, but only saw a bunch of people. He looked at her and wondered what she could possibly be trying to see.

Indeed a pleasure, Denn. her voice was becoming crisp, the drink was starting to wear off and that meant she was going to start closing up again, but she didn't want to be rude to Denn after he so graciously asked her to dance. This was a ball after all. "Kest wanted me to take lessons before we arrived." one look and you would be able to tell she was lying, and she burst out giggling again, "I'm joking. I took lessons when I was in college. They were free."

All the spinning was starting to make Odette dizzy. She knew she would need to sit and drink some water before she danced again. Unfortunately for Denn, that time was now. She stopped mid dance and doubled over, breathing deeply. When she felt stable enough to stand straight, the room started spinning again. She put her hand to her head and groaned, walking to a nearby table.

"I need to be more careful next time." the words were whispered to herself. Odette knew she couldn't hold her alcohol very well. Combined with with the dancing, it was a recipe for disaster. She crossed her arms on the table and rested her head on them, relaxing her breathing.