In the late night, after having updated River and Stace that she and the guards caught the supposed assassin, Adam Weaver, Sheena with her two following soldiers, as usual, walk down into the dungeon and through it's dark depths with dim light until they reach the call where Weaver is held at. She commands the soldiers guarding his cell as well as Lachlan Abney's and Sarah Esabelle McCafee's cells, which are next to his, to open it.

Inside, Adam is sitting on the floor against the back wall, looking up at the ceiling. He doesn't know if he'll be killed, or if he'll be imprisoned for the rest of his life. Honestly though, if those are his only options, he would very much prefer the former. Sheena enters into the cell and stands over him, looking down ominously. "Mister Adam Weaver, how long have you been connected to this conspiracy?" She asks him, though he stays silent and looks away so as to avoid eye contact. "Answer me, as I don't want to do what I had to do to your treacherous friend, Sarah." She tells him, referring to the torture she had to put her through to break her.

This threat works, as it makes his anxiety increase. He's not as cowardly as Lachlan is, and not as brash as Sarah is, lying somewhere in between. In that manner, his reactions are more level headed and cool minded. "I just... Thought it was a good cause, and... For a couple months now." He responds, as he continues to avoid eye contact. Though he's answering, so hopefully this questioning can work out quickly and efficiently.

She kneels down in front of him and grabs his chin, pulling his head to looking at her. "Look at me while I speak to you, understood?" As she releases his chin and stands, he nods. "Good. I have a question. How many people can you count that are in your 'organization?'" She asks him, placing her hands on her hips as she looks down upon him.

He doesn't want to answer this question, as he feels that it may be too telling, but worries that she may take harsh action on him if he doesn't. She does have her sword on her hip, after all. Ready to draw it at a moment's notice. "A few hundred. All across the nation and congregating at various places." He tells her, shedding some light on how wide scale this is.

The more Sheena learns about this conspiracy, the more terrifying the scope of it all is. A few hundred, if true, is the size of a small military. And with the war, this could even the playing field a bit. "I see... Who is this supposed 'true king' that I have heard about? The traitor told me of him, but not his identity. Do you know?" She asks, knowing that asking for that is the next logical step.

"He's..." Once again, Adam considers if he should say or not. Though in the end, he gives in and tells. "He's called... Julian Krill, son of the king before last." He answers, not thinking that there is much point to hiding it. Adam failed to kill his target and is now in custody, therefore he thinks that his life is soon to end for his treasonous actions. That is the standard procedure.

Honestly, it's baffling to Sheena how King Phosphorus, after discovering Xavier Homings' plot to kill him, who was more than likely colluding with these rebels, didn't pursue an investigation. If he had, this investigation could've been finished by now, even if he still got murdered. "Julian Krill?" Sheena knows that 'Krill' was not that king's last name, so it already paints a picture of potential deceit. Either he is lying, or he is a bastard child and has his mother's last name. If she had to bet though, she would say it's the former.

Adam nods, looking up at her. From his demeanor, it seems that talking about the topic of his leader's identity to an official makes him uncertain on if he should say it, but he does so anyhow. "Yes... He's- He's our leader. Though he doesn't show himself often..." Adam explains, speaking of him with caution, a sign of reverence in his gaze. To him and others, Julian Krill is followed as if a god. The ability to gather followers so devoted is a skill that could make any man, or woman, a major threat to any and all government or authority.

Going into this, Sheena was hoping to get some good answers, and her hope has been fulfilled. Adam has told her more than enough to push this investigation further along. "Thank you. That is all I'm needing at this moment in time. I'll be back if something that you can help with arises." She tells Adam, turning and exiting the cell, leaving him there.

As the cell door closes and Sheena alongside her two subordinates make their way back to the surface, this concludes a successful night of interrogation to a resoundingly successful day and operation. With this success, the next logical step in Sheena's eyes is to use the resident registry to find this 'Julian Krill,' if that is his real name, just as she had done to find Adam himself. With each twist and turn that this investigation takes, her sanity is put at risk of being lost if it leads to a dead-end.

The following day, River sits in her throne whilst Stace stands to the side like she always does, and the two talk. Talk about Abigail, the jester who was believed to have gone missing. Overnight, Stace has thought on it some, and she's come to an epiphany. "Are you sure?" River asks, uncertain of what she has said previously.

Stace nods, having never been more sure of anything else in her entire life. "Yes. I mean, think of it. She was awfully curious, and shortly after she left, war was declared." She responds to River's uncertainty with sound and perfectly understandable reasoning. It makes a ton of sense as it is explained, but River hates feeling betrayed.

The feeling she gets from this concept digs into not-so-old wounds, particularly regarding the betrayal she suffered by Haden Holstein. The man who killed her father, as well as the royal advisor, and attempted to steal the throne. "Okay. If she was a spy like you suggest... What do we do? She's already gone, so it's not like we can catch her." River says, bringing up a just as understandable point.

Though, Stace does have the answer in full. She's thought about this a lot since last night, after all. Smirking, she raises up the index finger on her right hand. "That's why we don't try to catch her." She says, making River a bit confused. "She's already left Lupresia, so she's definitely already given the information she gathered." She says, "So, we respond to this espionage with espionage of our own." Smiling, she says this. She has very much studied things as of late to make her advice and guidance more useful in the areas she has felt it's been lacking.

River does know what espionage means, but she's never used a spy before. Therefore, she thinks to ask Stace for more details, to help her in that regard. "Espionage? You mean spies, right? I've never used a spy before, so... How do we pick a good person for it and make it so that they can avoid capture?" River asks her, curious about a lot when it comes to the practice. She wants to ensure that if they use it that it'll be successful and not fail, which motivates this curiosity.

Having anticipated a question like this, Stace is more than happy to tell her the ways to keep a spy afloat, so to speak. Books can teach a lot about nearly any subject these days, it would seem. "We'll need to think about it, as they'll need to fit into the masses and be in a position where they can get close to anyone who could divulge military information." She says, "As for who, that's a better question. Let me tell you what I'll do." Stepping out from standing beside the throne up the steps to her right, she spins around to face River from in front of the throne and puts her index finger up. "If you'll wait a bit, I'll gather some people for us to pick from. Actors, soldiers, etc." She tells her, "I'll be back in a moment." She proceeds to walk off and exits the throne room.

Despite not getting a chance to speak because of Stace firing off rapidly, River is happy to see her rising to the position like she's been wanting to do. It's taken a bit, but now River is feeling like the one on the back foot, more than Stace has as of late. Though, she understands that Stace isn't wanting it to upset her, and she knows that it's her own self making her feel such a way. Therefore, she dismisses any ill thoughts about it, any frustration that is directed at Stace. She loves her friend dearly, and always will.

It takes a bit of waiting, a couple hours since Stace was going all over the place to find suitable people, even venturing out into the greater capital in this pursuit. Some 'moment,' but it's admirable that she would take this much time to carefully select people who she thinks could be good candidates. The doors open and surprising River as Stace leads five different people inside. One soldier, a nobleman, an elderly woman, a theater actor, and an athlete. Quite a wide range, all of whom stand behind Stace as she stops in front of rhetorical throne.

Stace smirks and waves both hands outwards from herself. "I've returned with some pretty good candidates, my liege." Stace tells River, trying to maintain the veneer of a work relationship before others. "May I show you them one by one?" She asks River, stepping aside and waving for the first one to step out, the soldier. With his swooping brown hair and tall stature with handsome and hairless facial features, he looks good. "This is Amadeus Robertson. He is a member of the royal guard, and I saw he has a great aptitude for speaking eloquently and behaving in a noble manner. This could help him get into the fold of high society, don't you think? And being a soldier, he of course is good at swordplay if push comes to shove." She explains to River.

River is impressed that she found someone who could fit into such a specific place in society if needed. That could help him get close to royalty, if he were to pretend to be a nobleman, so it could be useful. "Wow, nice to meet you." She waves at Amadeus, who bows in a very polite manner. She then looks over at Stace. "So, who's next?" She asks. Although the first one may be a good pick, she must see what the rest have to offer in order to reach a conclusion.

Nodding, Stace motions Amadeus to get back in line where he was previously, and she motions the next one, the nobleman, to step forward. As he does, she speaks to explain what could make him good for the role. "While the previous one may be able to act the part of a nobleman, this one is naturally born. His name is Bryce Bartholomew, and he is also a fan of the theater and likes to partake in it himself sometimes." She explains to River.

This Bryce figure gets a grin like he is about to show off, and throws his hand out towards River. "Check this out! I'll honor you with the greatest show to ever land in theater!" He exclaims very confidently, so much so that he is OVERconfident. He gives a real over the top performance that is not very good, nor subtle. This is the first time that Stace has seen his true 'talent' as well, so she realizes how fast his performance to be selected is dropping. Being a spy, over the top performances are not suited, as the point is to fit in.

Stace looks at River with an uncomfortable smile. "Yeah, you can get back in line." She tells Bryce as she looks over at him. She looks back at River with a laugh. "Man, that was a lot." Looking back at the candidates, she motions to the next one to step forward. The elderly woman. "This here is Susana Brunswick, a kind woman I met on my search. She has the capability to blend in really well." She says, motioning for the next to come forward as for Susana to step back into line. She's really going at rapid fire now.

The next one, Frederick Brunswick, Susana's grandson, is a professional theater performer who is very good at subtleness in his acting. After him, the fifth and last one, is Dianna Schmidt, an athlete. She is muscular and very fit, with not many other defining qualities. Afterwards, it comes time for River to pick, and it's only down to three in her mind. Amadeus, Susana, and Frederick. "I pick..." After a moment more of thought, she comes to a definitive pick. "I pick Amadeus." She says, surprising everyone.

Looking at Amadeus, Stace smiles at him happily. She is so happy he was picked, as he's her favorite among them as well. "You hear that? You've got the job." She then looks at each of the other ones. "Sorry that you didn't get picked. All of you-" She looks at Bryce, "Most of you were great. You may go home now, I guess." She tells them, and they nod before walking off with a soldier escort leading them out. "Amadeus, I look forward to working with you." She says with a smile.

Amadeus smiles back at her and nods, happy to have been chosen for a role that is so important. "Thank you. I also look forward to serving this nation abroad." He tells Stace, bowing very politely. For the first time in years, Stace actually can feel her heart pounding and fluttering in a manner leaning towards the romantic side of things. She is VERY happy to be working alongside Him. Very happy.

With the picking out of a spy, hopefully espionage can help Lupresia get ahead of Avantasia in this war, and not just turn the table, but flip it over. While Stace is happy due to love, River is happy about this prospect. If this is to turn things around, then will public opinion be made better? Will the threat of being killed end? She can't tell, but she is excited to hopefully find out.

To Be Continued...