I don't own the Characters. They are the property of Dick Wolf and NBC.

Lady Alexandra Cabot had always led a privileged life. She was the only child of Lord and Lady Cabot, who both doted on her. Her family was among those of the highest rank in the kingdom. She had servants waiting on her hand and foot and she never lacked for someone to talk to, whether it was her friends or the castle guards. She could get anyone to listen to her.

Right now though, she was looking for one friend in particular. Her best friend, in fact, Lady Olivia Benson. Olivia had not been so lucky. She was the daughter of Lord and Lady Benson. Before Olivia had been born, her father, a decorated soldier for the realm, had been killed in battle. Lady Serena had been heartbroken but was determined to stay strong for her child. Unfortunately she hadn't been quite strong enough. The day she went into labor, Lady Serena had survived long enough to give the child a name and leave her in the care of the king's scholars.

Olivia was very mature for her age. Forced to grow up early on in life, she was able to make her decisions for herself. Normally, King Cragen would have preferred if the young ladies of the realm had someone to oversee their actions, but he had watched Olivia grow up and knew all of her decisions were made with a considerable amount of thought behind them. It was because of this Olivia was able to study such things as fencing and how to plan a battle.

Alex was spending the summer season at the castle with Olivia. After hours of searching for her, Alex decided she would check to see if Olivia was in the Armory. Nearing the room, she could hear the familiar voice of her best friend, along with the voice of her fencing tutor, Sir Elliot.

Alex smiled. If she hadn't known any better she would have sworn Elliot and Olivia were brother and sister. The duo had practically grown up together. Elliot was from a long line of knights. His father had served with Lord Benson. After Olivia's parents had passed on, the Stabler's had made it a point to check up on Olivia every now and then. They had hoped to pair young Elliot and Olivia for marriage, but they both shuddered at the thought of marrying each other.

It was then that Katharine Warren caught his eye. When they met, Katharine had been training to become a royal midwife. While Katharine had been below Elliot's station, the elder Sir Stabler believed a match should be made for love and not profit so he allowed the match. Now married, they are expecting their first child.

Alex opened the door to the armory and just watched for moment. While she was in the privacy of the castle or in her lessons, Olivia chose to wear men's clothes. While Olivia did look lovely when she was dressed for a ball, or venturing out in society, Alex decided the men's clothes seemed to be more suited for her best friend. Alex imagined it was for more convenient. She could only imagine the difficulties of trying to engage in a sword fight while wearing a dress.

Neither Olivia nor Elliot had noticed her yet and she didn't think this battle would be over for a while. She decided to see if she could speed things along. "When you two are quite finished," she called out, "I need to borrow Olivia."

Startled by the sudden presence, Elliot stumbled, leaving him open to the "killing" blow Olivia executed. "That's not fair," Elliot whined. "Alex distracted me."

Olivia laughed at him. "You can't blame your loss on a distraction, Elliot," she told him. She gave Alex a small wink and a big grin. Alex just smiled back.

"Well, it doesn't help that you probably already knew she was there. You two always seem to sense when the other is around. You don't even have to look." Elliot crossed his arms and his face contorted into a pout.

"Honestly, Elliot, you look like a child," Alex laughed.

Elliot only scowled at her. He really didn't like to lose. "I have to go anyway. Katharine is expecting me." He bid the ladies goodbye and left the room.

Olivia turned to Alex, smile still in place. "Was that really necessary?"

"What?" Alex asked, feigning innocence. "I knew if left on your own, you two would be going at it until you exhausted each other. I just decided to help things along."

"He's right you know," Olivia told her. "We always do seem to be able to sense when the other is around. Why do you think that is?"

"We have known each other since we were five years old. That's almost fifteen years. You didn't meet Elliot until we were eight. Why is that by the way? I thought you've known Lord and Lady Stabler forever."

"I have known Lord and Lady Stabler since before I can remember, but Elliot had always been off training with some knight or another. He and his family were here for the festival that year. Remember?"

"Yes now I do. Anyway, put up your knife and let's go," Alex smirked. Olivia hated it when she didn't call various tools and weapons by their proper name.

"Sword," Olivia corrected with a serious face as she proceeded to put her sword away.

"Whatever," Alex said as she turned and smiled.

Olivia just shook her head and smiled as she followed Alex out of the room. "So what was so important that you needed to interrupt my training session?"

"There is a ball tonight and as my best friend it is your job to help be prepare," Alex told her as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"Allllex?" Now it was Olivia's turn to whine. "Do I have to?"

"Yes," Alex said. "Besides, I'm planning on helping you too."

The ladies continued to walk towards Alex's chambers. Olivia sighed. She knew there was no way she was getting out of this.