Pay little or no attention to Vessa's warning.

"She looks real to me." You tell Vessa.

"Succubi can take up the form of anything & anyone, using enough of their life energies." Vessa whispers to you. "She must have taken the real queen overnight, and took her somewhere."

"What do you suggest?" You ask your court mage.

"We may not have the enchantments to take her down yet," Vessa whispers to you, "and we do nae know what she is capable of. If you must expose her, then please be careful. If you do not wish to do that, then I would advise Akina & the royal spies to find out where the real Amazon queen is."

"If I have to take a guess," you tell Vessa, "then somewhere with a cave or tunnel that leads into the depths of the earth."

"Ahem!" Queen Cielina interrupts. "May we continue our talks, King Bryce?"

"Aye, of course." You tell her.

Your talks with Cielina continue, hearing the details of what she and her felow Amazons need to withdraw from Phebis, and return home. For a tiny kingdom like Phebis, and your relatively mid-sized kingdom of Itheria, it's quite a high demand. However, with the clear evidence of the number of Phebian lives that they have taken, you know that your trade partner and ally would not likely not accept any peaceful demands. In the end, as your wits and intelligence cancel out the abilities of the apparent succubus in the disguise of Cielina, you find yourself unable to come up with any peaceful solution to the conflict at this time. So as you and your group of royal guards and advisors begin to return to Phebis, without any further conflict, you start to wonder what your next move will be. At the gates, however, you find Akina waiting for you.

"Report, Akina." You tell your master spy.

"Your highness," Akina replies, saluting along the way, "my spies and I managed to eavesdrop on a conversation that the queen's spy had with the queen herself in private."

"What did you find out?" You ask her.

"At first," Akina tells you, "they spoke in the common language, but as they talked about preparing the raiders for a coming battle, they started to talk in a more demonic language. I, however, have learned enough of the demonic language to determine what they spoke about. They are hoping you & Phebis send the armies into an open conflict with them. If enough blood is shed, then they can open a demonic gate to the Realms of Hell, allowing more of their kind to enter."

"That is what I'm afraid of, your highness." Vessa adds in. "Sometimes, a demon or demoness acts on their own accord. But if what Akina says is true, then we must take **** caution."

"Even if it means finding where they are hiding the real Queen Cielina." You tell both women. "Akina, did you find out more about where they may be hiding her?"

"They talked about a volcano to the northeast." Akina replies.

"There is only one volcano that matches the description," you tell them, "and that is Mt. Sargasso."

"What about Phebis?" Vessa asks you. "What if they decide to try and engage the Amazons in open conflict again?"

"Akina," you tell the master spy, after a moment to think, "make sure the Phebian King doesn't decide to attack. I will advise Garret to keep the army on battle readiness, ready to assist Phebis, should open conflict be unavoidable. I will take the royal guards, and head to Mt. Sargasso. Vessa, you and your best mages and healers will come with me."

"As you wish, your highness." Both women reply to you.