It started with her guard, a buff soldier named Garrison.

In the weeks passing that night with Will, Cleo had been so demanding of Lexa, with a threat on her lips every step of the way. Cleo had replaced Adelaide's entire court, placing the positions with people that she could trust- and were loyal to her alone. Bennie had betrayed her, and Lexa refused to converse with him out of pure spite. He had reached out numerous times, and Lexa could tell that he was truly suffering without her. Glances of grief and looks of longing followed her strides when she passed him in the hallways. But it served him right. A little bit of heartbreak would put him back in his place.

She supposed that he could transport to her any time he choose, but he kept his distance as well, knowing all too well how Lexa would feel about such an act.

To anyone else, Lexa's recent misfortune would have been devastating. But she had found a way to turn it into a blessing.

Garrison was a man with a copious amount of strength, but for what he seemed to have in brute power he lacked in intelligence.

Lexa's favorite kind of person.

Being her guard, Garrison had to always be around her, no matter what. Especially after the whole incident with the real Adelaide, Will had made sure that her guards were consistently astute. So when her all of the maids in the castle came down with a mysterious strain of nasty food poisoning, someone had to help the fragile Adelaide when she "accidentally" fell out of the bath. She had screamed, he had rushed in, and after large amounts of flaming red cheeks and a hopelessly small towel, he had returned to his post. He had probably thought that would have been the end of their communication, but with showering him in thanks the next morning, he soon found himself wrapped around the finger of a princess.

Days had passed then. She had whispered numerous lies to feed his need for her. "I love you," Adelaide would say with the innocent, troubled eyes of a doe. "I wish that it was you that I was being wed to." Each lie was like fuel to his fire of infatuation. She could see it in his eyes, just how much he would give for her. Anything, they seemed to say. I'd give you anything.

And with those carefully woven tales, the soldier fell hard into a hole that he would not climb out of alive. Though she doubted that he would ever want to.

And the best part of all, he kept his mouth shut. Unlike another man she knew.

Lexa had shoved away the thoughts bordering the edges of her mind, that perhaps Bennie wasn't just any man. That maybe after 7 years of plotting together he meant a bit more.

But Bennie wasn't around, and she sure as hell wasn't going to go looking for him.

She needed more. Lexa coveted more than just one simple soldier to do her bidding. Then she set her greed upon a small legion of guards in the castle. She had listened to the laughter of the superior guards, guffawing at the weak and pathetic group. They should go back home so that they could beg their mothers to kiss their wounds, one would say. Another guard would laugh, adding that they might as well start making legions of woman if they were going to have this group.

The misfit legion. Where all of the barely passable soldiers went to watch their careers die in front of their eyes.

There were seven guards to the group, ranging from the ten year old twins to the twenty five year old man without a right arm. Anyone after that age soldiers were worthless to the kingdom if they had not already gained their places.

People saw nothing in them, so they were nothing.

But not for long. They were hers now, each and every one of them.

So while traveling the city on romantic carriage rides with Will and fighting it out with Cleo confiscated her days, Lexa made sure that building her army confiscated her nights.

Though this time she did not manipulate lust to create the loyalty that she needed of them. Instead, she implied what she called the three F's. Food, friendship, and perhaps the most important- fear.

Food was what had caused Lexa to gain the starved boys' trust, and it was a faux of friendship that allowed for them to accept her as one of their own. But it was fear that made her leader, that made them loyal, and made them oh so talented at keeping secrets. They were a family, this legion.

And everyone was afraid of losing their family.

To most, the boys would be seen as misfits. But to Lexa, they were the secret legion of the queen.

Perhaps the most talented of the group were her twins. Aaron and Alex had been much too small for even the ten year olds of the trainees, but their tiny stature was just what made them so capable.

They say in front of her, scoffing down the chocolate pastries that she had brought them. With brown skin and dark eyes, the boys were parallel images of each other, like a splitting reflection in the mirror. Even the way they moved seemed to coordinate in unison, as they chewed, bit, and finished the pastries in the exact same moments.

Garrison stood behind her, watching her every move like the loyal guard he was. She could feel that gaze upon her, but she ignored that feeling of longing emanating from him.

"I've got a mission for you boys. You think that you could do that for me?"

They cocked their heads to the right in the exact same way. Aaron, the louder spoken of the pair, retorted, "that depends on the amount of these pastries you have in your arsenal, ma'am."

Smart boys. People who knew how to get what they wanted got far in life.

"I need you to spy on someone. Perhaps the most important person in this kingdom other than the king. She's quite dangerous, but I know that you two can handle her. I want information about the rebels."

Aaron grinned a feral grin. "You bet we can. So who's this lady you talking about?"

"The immortal sorceress of the empire."

"Run away with me, My Adelaide," the guard whispered between wet kisses at her neck. She let him embrace her, for it was all part of the game.

It was all a game with Garrison. For Lexa found that dangling the promise of her in front of him like a carrot could be prime entertainment.

"We could finally be together. Fully." He spoke, depravity filling his tone. He tugged at her corset, but she shifted his hand away.

She batted her lashes at him. "You know that I cannot, my love. We have spoken about this. I need to secure the alliance between my nation and Catala."

"But-..."

Garrison froze in that place, with his hands upon her. He was paralyzed, with not a single blink to flutter his eyes.

She shoved the frozen body off of her like a rag, knowing exactly what this meant. A scowl grew over face.

She heard his teasing voice before she saw him.

"So is that how you're doing this now, Lexa? Letting everyone get their hands all over you so you can manipulate their hearts?"

Bennie's voice echoed throughout her thoughts, leaving nothing left for her to hear. Though she was still bitter about his actions, and planned to make that known, the sound of it came as a shocking relief.

Lexa knew that without her, Bennie had found it hard to breathe, to function. But it hadn't occurred to her that perhaps she felt just a sliver of the same.

Lexa was certain that she had never felt frightened before. But that thought alone sent shivers up her spine.

"It doesn't mean anything, Bennie. He's just a guard that I need loyal."

"Just like your sorcerer pet." He retorted.

Lexa hesitated. "You're more to me than him."

He shrugged, as if he had no cares. But Lexa could tell with just a simple glance that that was not the case. "I'm sure that's what you tell all of those people you need loyal."

Lexa watched him, discerning his every move. The way he leaned up against her bed post, the rare scowl covering his face.

"You don't really care about this guard, do you?  You're just bitter that I haven't talked to you in weeks."

"It's been a long couple of weeks. Gwyneth had been insufferable as her deadline grows closer to exterminate the rebels. I'm assuming that you found out about that, somehow, as you always do with such matters. I could have used your help."

Lexa stared him down, reminded of just how angered she still was about the incident. "You deserve it. You could have ruined everything."

He twitched under her fierce gaze. "I won't do it again, alright?" He flashed that infamous grin of his, that one that held mischief in its entire expression. She glared at him. "So you're talking to me again?"

She stared silently at him, simply to prove a point.

"I can't wait till you see how I've made it up to you." He continued, his voices drawled as he knew he was leading her on. "You'll be ecstatic. Maybe even crack a smile."

Impassive, she spoke, "What did you do?"

He stood straight from where he had leaned leisurely against her bed post, his mischief grin expanding.  "Ah, ah, ah Lexa. Patience is a virtue. Didn't anyone ever tell you that?"

It was starting to bother her now, this curiosity. "Tell me now. Or I'll stop speaking to you again."

"Sure, Lexa. You do that. You'll regret it though, once you have found out what I have done."

"Tell me." She demanded, gritting her teeth as her frustration threatened to boil over. It was a rare event that Lexa did not receive what she demanded.

He strides over to her, as if he was going to whisper it in her ear. She leaned in, eager to know.

"Sorry, you'll just have to wait for it. Have fun with your-," his eyes cut to where Garrison still remained frozen. "friend in the meantime."

"Just remember when you do find out though..." he leaned in even closer, so near to her that she could feel his breath on her neck. He left her words that carried like notes of music, lingering in her head for what felt like ages.

"You're lucky to have someone like me. I'm more powerful than you could ever dream of."

And with that, a gush of wind took him away. His absence left only coldness from where the heat of his body had once been, so close to her.

Garrison unfroze, shaking his head with confusion. "What the hell was that?" He asked, gazing at her.

Lexa felt something in her heart, something that she could not explain.

"I have no idea."

Threes days later, the castle had erupted with yet another pandemic of rumors. The High Sorceress of the land had been killed, the whispers spoke. Somehow a rebel had managed to kill her, a feat unexplainable to most.

Most were frightened by this news, as they feared for their own safety now that the rebels had grown stronger. Before this, few had known of their presence, and the ones who did thought nothing of them. But that changed with this assassination. People were scared now.

But Lexa was not afraid. In fact, Bennie was right. She was ecstatic.

For Bennie, her best friend, was now the high sorcerer of Catala.