There had been a reason that Lexa had come to converse with the rebels. An intricate web of a plan, already set in motion but just needed the shove that only the rebels could provide. Everything that she needed though, she had eventually gotten. Already, she could tell that they were falling into Lexa's plan. Although their major hunter had been replaced by Bennie, the opportunities for the band of idealists and vigilantes were only diminishing. And they were desperate. Oh, so so desperate. With even more whispers between the rebel leaders and words of persuasive tendencies, everything was right where Lexa needed it to be.

Of course, there were two outliers, the two thorns stuck in her side. The first being time. Lexa had not planned on being knocked unconscious by Mortolo Hebalia, and that was a major problem. She had planned on spending a night with the rebels, only the amount of time she could stay before the sun crept up at dawn, and Lexa would have slipped back into the palace before anyone noticed her absence. But that did not happen. She did not know how long she had been here, for there were no windows to see the sun, but she did know Mortolo hebalia. She knew it's effects, and she knew that very few would have been able to escape the herbs clutches only in a matter of hours. Days, at the very least, was how long she had been here. Long enough for a palace to notice the absence of its princess. To start asking on questions on where she had gone, and why. Though Lexa doubted the circumstance that they would assume she had gone willingly, for it was quite the conclusion to leap to, it would not fare well for her if she could not convince the rebels into her plan.

And the second was standing right in front of Lexa, a frown growing there that Lexa had previously thought impossible for what Lexa had bemused as such a cheery girl.

It was turning out, though, that there was much about Adelaide's life that Lexa did not know. Too many holes in her limited depth of knowledge.

Lissa, for all her efforts, appeared to be on the verge of tears. She watched Lexa, somehow fierce and grief stricken at the same time. The way she looked at her, with that heavy weighted gaze, paralleled the way one would look at the dead. Like Adelaide was someone that had died, replaced by someone knew.

Of course, that wasn't too far from the truth.

However, that was not the meaning held behind Lissa's stare. The awkward silence between the two only grew more and more as the girl expressed that look of betrayal.

Her face was covered with shadows, but still Lexa noticed that twitch of her body before she spoke.

"You promised me, Addie. Before we left for Catala, you swore to me that you wouldn't change. You barely lasted a day before you cashed aside all of our plans for a prince and that bastard girl." Her tone curled in contempt at the mention of Cleo, resentment still lying there.

There was no point in pretending, no feasible way that Lexa could convince Lissa otherwise. Because Adelaide had changed.

If there was anything that Lexa was good at, it was lying. But even she knew that denying the evidence in front of you would only make you to be a fool.

"Plans change, Lissa. And so do people."

Lissa's head shook with refusal. "Not in a matter of only weeks."

"They do if the circumstance demands it. I did what needed to be done for Wallachia."

Lexa watched as Lissa's frustration only grew, with long angry strides as she started to pace in front of her shackled friend. "And the plan we made together wasn't good enough for that?"

"No. It wasn't. A week in the Thortan palace taught me that, and it should have taught you that too. Either you play the game or you get pushed aside. I needed Cleo's influence to get me to where I need to be."

Lissa's tolerance broke like a twig, and she exploded. "And you were willing to push me aside for that? You were willing to do that for influence? You shipped me off to some old husband like a cattle! If the rebels hadn't had raided the carriage I was in, I would have been ended up the wife to some old geyser who does who know what to his wives!"

Yes. That was exactly why she had done it, and Lissa was a fool for not seeing it in the first place.

But she had to be Adelaide now. And that's not what Adelaide would have done, whether she had changed or not.

"I was willing to do it for Wallachia. And I would have thought that you would have had the same willingness, to do what you needed for our country. But I guess I was wrong. I guess I was wrong when I thought you had what it takes."

Lissa coiled back, like she had been struck. The words almost left a visible impact on the girl, as they shifted her demeanor from rage to conflicted in only seconds alone. 

Lexa could see it now, that emotion she needed. She continued weaving her words, a convincing tale of lies of innocence that would leave Lissa trapped.

"But I forgive you Lissa," she spoke, carrying Adelaide's iconic innocent tone, "We all make mistakes, and I can't say that I wouldn't have done the circumstances differently if I was to make the decision again. It hurt me to see you leave. And though if being separated from my very best friend would be something I would do for my country, and hope that you would do too, I'd miss you everyday."

In all the time that Lexa had analyzed Lissa, she noticed only one thing. That Lissa was a very emotional person, one susceptible to another's words of empathy and kindness.

It wasn't difficult taking that to her advantage. Lissa broke down at these words, releasing that fury she had previously held like a butterfly to the wind. She crumpled to the ground beside Lexa, her head hitting her knees and her long hair concealing her face.

Emotions were such pesky things. They broke people down, made them weaker.

Made them prey for predators like Lexa.

"And that's why I'm so happy you're here, my sister. I'm so glad that I'll have you by my side when we drag Catala down."

Lissa, slowly, lifted now puffy red eyes from her lap, looking at Adelaide.

"I am willing to do anything for Walachia," she croaked, her voice hoarse. Lexa could tell that Lissa lingered on what Adelaide had said, having taken it more personally than what was beneficial for her.

They locked eyes, and Lexa suppressed a smirk as she saw determination in the other girls gaze. Fierce, burning hot desperation to prove herself.

Desperation that Lexa would use as she continued to prod Lissa's barriers. "Then help me. Convince the rebels to work with us, so we can assassinate the king that threatens our borders."

Lissa didn't say anything, only mulled through Lexa's words.

"Do it for me," Lexa added, "do it for all the times we spent together. For all the things that we shared that are now threatened. So we can go back to them, together. Put all of this behind us."

Lissa's mind, if it hadn't been before, was made up in that moment with those words. It was written all over her face, every emotion she displayed and every desire that crossed her mind.

And now, Lissa was willing.

At this, Lexa did smile. Even if she did not know Adelaide's past, she could still wear her mask like any actress.

"Let's kill a king then."

-------------------------------------------------

When Lexa had killed Adelaide, taking her body from the princess and claiming it as her own, it had been the success of phase one.

There were three phases. One would make her princess. One would make her queen. And the last would make her ruler.

This moment, as the rebels begrudgingly agreed to her plans, was the beginning of phase two.

And the end of it could only result with a king five feet under and her soon to be husband on the throne.

Let the queen reign, forevermore.