Standing before the conspirator that Sheena and her soldiers had captured the night before, who is chained to the cell wall by his wrists, Sheena holds a paper to write down his answers in this hopefully rather auspicious interrogation. Three soldiers, one on guard at the cell and two tasked with accompanying Sheena stand outside the cell door as she is inside for the sake of getting the answers that they need. "Allow me to start... You said before that you were the attacker, but you have to tell me your name. What is it, exactly?" She asks him, ready to write anything down that he says.

He looks at her, and from her serious expression, he can that she is not one to be trifled with. A lesson that he nearly learned last night. "I-I am- I am... L-Lachlan Abney." He says with a nervous gulp, downright scared and frightened by Sheena thanks to the near trauma he sustained last night. Oddly enough, he's not had a blade at his neck many times before that.

"Okay then, mister Lachlan. I have another question to ask." She says to him, making it rather clear from her tone and demeanor that she isn't playing. Though that is largely a tactic to get the information necessary, as she has learned he caves when scared. "So, tell me... Why were you alone in that hideout last night when we came to seize it?" She asks him, knowing that he must have the answer if he was a part of said group.

Still scared and gulping nervously again, he trembles all over. He's more hesitant to answer this question than the previous one but is so terrified of the consequences of not doing so that he must. "We..." He gulps again, sweating nervously despite the chilliness of the dungeon. "W-We found out... Abou- About the plan..." He glances off very sheepishly, once again trying to avoid eye contact. He knows it's probably a fear tactic to make him spill the information she wants to acquire but is too scared to tempt fate.

Sheena writes that detail down as he explains it, using bulletin points to keep track of each. She then looks back up at him with another question on her mind now that she knows they somehow found the plan out. "And how did they find out about our rather safe-guarded plan? Such an informal group doesn't seem like they would have the capability of espionage." She tells him, making her next question known and looking at him with daggers for eyes.

Nervous and feeling like he's about to break, he knows that if he says no it could end with death, and that if he gets out after ratting on his groupies it could end with death as well. A tricky situation indeed. But he also knows that he will probably never be freed for having been tied to an attempted assassination and might even be killed anyhow. So, his choice seems clear now. "It- It was a... Soldier. A-A royal guard..." He answers, bringing a situation to the forefront of Sheena's mind that she had not previously considered.

She hadn't considered a traitor being amongst her guard before, as to join the ranks they must pledge their undying loyalty in their induction ceremony. "I see." She writes that down too, and pry's some more to hopefully learn even more. "What did they look like?" She asks him, trying to take this line of thought as far as it can go. She is anything if not inquisitive and persistent to an absurd degree.

Knowing that there is not much to hide, and having made his mind up already, largely because of the perceived hopelessness, he answers immediately after thinking of how the guard looked. "F-Female, thin- thin, and... With blonde hair and- and parting bangs." He answers her query with a surprising amount of openness. She honestly did not expect such a quick and ready answer from him but welcomes such a change as it makes things far quicker and easier.

"Okay." With this last answer, she feels like she can leave the interrogation here for now. Not that she may not come back to question him again, but it's clear she has a traitor to catch, and they are female. There are far fewer female royal guards than male ones, so that will help. "We are done here." Closing the book as she stands and unlatching his wrists, she starts to walk to the cell door. Before stepping through it, she turns to look at him one last time. "For now..." She says, walking back through the dungeon with her two guards following behind, the soldier on duty staying, shutting the iron bar door and locking it shut.

At the capital harbor, a large sea vessel comes into the harbor and stops along one of the many docks. It's a massive white ship with cannons all along either side, three rows of them in fact. A war vessel. The most troubling part though, is that it is clad in an Avantasian flag. As people on the docks take notice of this with shared curiosity and anxiety, a delegation of three, being guarded by a few Avantasian soldiers, walk down the now lowered gangway and onto the dock.

Although not knowing why they are here or what they want, the morbid curiosity that everyone feels leads them to draw quite a bit of attention. One person to have his attention stolen by their arrival is none-other than Elias Homings himself. He watches them with curiosity and skepticism. He knows that their queen was known to be a bit insane in previous decades, being known to react to negative news harshly, which makes him think about why they are here.

In the castle, River sits in her throne again after her and Stace's moment earlier. The doors swing open as a royal guard leads the Avantasian group, delegates plus their own soldiers into the room, it shocks River and Stace, who did not expect a foreign delegation arriving today. Approaching the throne and halting before it, the three delegates take a bow to show their supposed respect for a foreign royal. "Good day, Queen River Lucrece." The delegate at the forefront, a middle-aged man with some wrinkled features, says as he stands. His voice is refined yet weathered. "We have come the fair nation of Avantasia at the decree of her holiness Queen Isabella." He says to her, clasping his together in front of his rather fancy attire.

"Hello..." River says as she looks down at them from the throne, glancing over at Stace for a brief moment, seeing that she is just as confused as she herself is. And River is unsure as to why they are here, since it is so sudden with no prior announcement. "Why are you here?" She asks the delegation, wondering the question on most people's mind, broaching the topic of their reasons for coming to Lupresia,

Hearing her question, the leading delegate looks back at his two constituents. They seem to be like-minded on what they are here for, and he looks back at River. "Yes, an understandable question to ask. We have arrived out of the blue, after all." He says, clearing his throat with closed eyes. Opening his eyes, and putting his hand down, he continues. "We are here to deliver a rather unfortunate declaration." Pulling out a sheet of parchment, he begins to read it. "'It is by my supreme decree that the nation of Avantasia issues this declaration. For the wrongful death of the son of Queen Isabella Holstein, Prince Haden Holstein, the holy nation of Avantasia declares war on the nation of Lupresia.'" He finishes reading, putting the parchment away again.

This declaration is a paramount issue, as Avantasia is a larger and militarily superior nation. River knows hardly how to process what she has just heard, as she has just been in power for a few weeks at this point. First an attempted assassination over a week ago, and now the nation will be embroiled in war. "No, that is false! He attempted to overthrow our king, killing him! We had nothing to do with it!" Stace exclaims, speaking while River is unable to.

The delegate looks over at Stace with an uncaring look. "We are merely messengers. It is not our job to sway the queen's decision." He informs her rather condescendingly that they don't play into the making of decisions. Merely deliver them. "And much like that, it is not our job to determine what is true and what is not. We have delivered our message, and we will now return to our ship. Good day, Queen River." The three bow and turn, their soldiers following behind as the royal guard escorts them back through the door. The door closes as they leave River and Stace looking worried. River, new to leading, will now have to do so in a time of war while assassins lurk.

A bit later in the day, Elias is sitting at a table in an office-type building in the harbor. This shipping business, co-owned by one Jonathan Abel and Haralda 'Herald' Andreasen, is a long-time trading partner of his father's and now his own. Jonathan is around his late father's age, though pudgier with fine brown neatly brushed hair and a very nice bar mustache, meanwhile Herald is in his early seventies, wrinkles galore with long gray hair, bare face, and bony figure. The three men sit at this table with drinks.

Jonathan laughs as he tells a story about Xavier, Elias' father, where the two men in the early partnership made some dumb decisions. It's quite silly, but Elias merely chuckles a tad. And looking at Herald, it is clear he's in a bit of a bad mood for whatever reason. "Boy." Herald says to Elias, staring him down. "You have been rather silent, have you not?" He asks Elias with a bitter voice. It being clear to tell he is a bit of a miser and a stickler for traditions as well, Elias feels like he is testing him.

Looking at his business partner, Jonathan can feel how things are a bit palpable between the two. "Now now, let's not scare the boy off Herald. He's just taken over his father's business within the past few weeks." He tells him, looking over to Elias to see that he is not 'scared' in the least. "I know I said that, but this boy really is his father's son. The only man who ever stood up to Herald's eccentric nature..." Jonathan thinks silently to himself, impressed to see such a young man not intimidated by his old friend.

Turning his attention to Jonathan, Herald looks upset by what he has said. "Scare him off? If he is fit to own a company in such a cutthroat business as trade, he shouldn't get scared... If he can stay motivated, he passes." He looks back at Elias, who he sees is not scared, much like what Jonathan has noticed as well. "See? He is not scared in the slightest. Young man, you pass my test." He tells Elias with a smirk, admittedly happy to see that he has passed with flying colors.

Nodding as he is told this, Elias takes a sip from his glass. "Thank you, good sir." He replies with a smile, not trying to get an overinflated ego, but failing miserably. "I mean, what can you expect? I am a hero after all." He says as he puts the glass down. It should be no surprise that he is drinking wine and is a lightweight when it comes to alcohol. He is of course tipsy after only a few sips, which certainly does not help his efforts to keep a level head.

For once, Herald makes quite the wisecrack, a rarity for someone like him. "All you need to work on is your alcohol tolerance." He says as he sips from his own glass, and Jonathan and Elias both laugh while he stays dead silent like he is one to do. But it was funny to the other two, who can't help but laugh wholeheartedly, as for such a rare occurrence, it is like a thing that only occurs once every millennium. All around, this meeting is far more entertaining that the typical business meeting's that he has had.

Elias can't quite tell if it's the alcohol talking or he is genuinely having a fun time, but either way, he is starting to look forward to meetings with these two more.

To Be Continued...