Book 2, Chapter #4: Magnimar
The gnome's face rises from the ledger, her large violet eyes blinking in shock and surprise. "But, Cato," she said, with that little bit of drama that she was not able to resist, "that would be a lie!"
"Better to tell the truth," she then suggested to the guard, patting his arm and then hopping off her chair with the folded ledger under one arm. "Best to tell the truth," she continued, her shock of but a moment ago having vanished completely. "You know they'll sense a lie. They're good at that. That's what they do."
"Whether you report this or not is up to you. Er, excuse me, could you kneel down here for a moment so we can talk face to face? Thank you," Pisca continued after tugging the guard down to her level with a handful of his tabard. "I'm sorry, it was my mistake to bring you up here. I've put you in more danger. But, at least you know how far this goes now. How deep the corruption. How high it could possibly go into government circles."
"Follow your conscience. But, if you do decide to report this, I suggest that you be very very sure first that your family is in a safe place. Make sure that the person that you are going to report to is someone that you trust. Also make sure that the person that you report to can defend him or herself and his or her family, because, by reporting this, - if they are trustworthy - you'll very likely be placing them in danger as well as yourself."
"Do you understand?" And Pisca ended with a pat of her small pink hand upon the guard's armored shoulder. "Now you should go. The more you learn here the worse off for you."
Then the gnome whispered a few short words into her magic, "That might give us some time, at least."
BTW, can I have a sense motive check to make sure that the guard is himself trustworthy.