FanFictionFantom: Lily reminds you of…now we can't have that. I'll have to work on that won't I?

Magewhisperer: Yeah, they're dead now…Well, Jon is…

Mycatcoco7: And to heaven you shall fly if you keep reviewing…

Ari: Wow, thankyou very much! You made my day!

Some Random Reviewer: I'm going to summarize below to help with the confusion.

Lutefa: Yup Numair died, sobsob

Summary For those Confused: Okay, Kallisto/Morgan/Helene/ Guinevere/Mona Lisa/Elizabeth are all the same person. She fell in 'love' with Thom, was forced to marry Rasputin and ran away to the Temple of the godess. Thom thought she was just playing with him and went to the swamps to study magic and drown his sorrows in swamp muck. Neal figured it out and goes to fetch Thom. Meanwhile our leading lady decides that she is being continually underestimated and goes slightly evil for reasons that will be explained later. Rasputin starts this war and that's where we are today. Hope that helped.

Unwanted Beauty: Chapter Twelve: In Which It Begins to Begin

He grinned as he watched the puny Mage attempt to re-direct his storm. His storm. His storm could be redirected, for a day or so anyways. He had been counting on it actually; apparently the lover needed some more time to get to Corus. Fine, he would let the mortals prattle around in their amusing way until he bored of them, which would not take long.

He knew where she was hiding. He could see her. He watched her berate servants and then cry and plead her case to the Great Mothers in the temple. He watched her laugh when they left her. He watched her snicker. He watched her eyes grow cold again. He had underestimated her worth. He had taken her as just another warm body, when she was much more. She was his Fair Ice Queen, and she had now been deemed worthy of him.

Rasputin laughed as he watched the redhead and his two friends gallop up to the castle. It was time. With a wave of his hands the storm swelled with power, and the mage lights of all the castle mages snuffed out. Again he laughed, the sound bouncing from the rocks, becoming even more sinister as it echoed across the valley.

--:--

Thom, Keladry and Neal stared. The king was dead. The King was dead. And the Dominion Jewel had broken in two. "Find the Prince." Neal told the servant who had let them into the Kings study.

"Sir?" The servant asked in shock.

"Find the next surviving heir!" He roared. The serving girl looked wildly between the two of them, her eyes wide with fright. For a moment she looked as though she was going to cry, and then she was gone tearing off down the halls yelling orders as she went. The country would not crumble now.

--:--

"Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit." Lily repeated to herself over and over as she pushed her mount onward. She had to get to the city. Lily had no idea what that idiot's that claimed to be the kings mages thought they were doing. There is no way to absorb a storm. It's a freaking force of nature. You do not mess with nature until you have to. What the idiots should have done was put a protective bubble around the city and watched as the storm went past. But nooooo! No, the idiots had to try to absorb it, and in doing so feed it more energy. Fanfuckingtastic. She thought to herself.

--:--

Helene had to laugh at the mages attempts to still the storm. Even she knew that the only way to fight nature was with nature. She also knew that human mage's couldn't call up a storm to fight Rasputin's. She was still smirking slightly when one of the Apprentice's came in, tears streaming down her face. Helene bit her lip to keep from throwing another angry remark at the girl.

"What's happened?" Helene asked moments later.

"The king is dead. Long live King Liam!" The Apprentice breathed before fainting.

"Ugg…Peasants." Helene growled. This was it. This was the opportunity she needed. The new king would need all the support he could get. Support from a beautiful woman. You can be Queen. The selfish part of her brain murmured to her.

But what of Thom? Part of her was still attached to the stunning figure that was Thom. Bright fire-red hair and eyes of violet. He was the first person to see her for what she really was, more than a pretty face.

Thom doesn't really know me. He wouldn't want me if he knew the truth about me. He'll get over me. She thought as she grabbed a woolen cloak.

You're being selfish and rude.

Yes, I'm taking what I want. For once in my life I will get what I desire.

--:--

Liam sat, surrounded by his father's old advisers. Some of them were men that her respected, others were men he knew to be old and stuck in his ways. Behind him stood boyhood friends, fiercely loyal.

I can't do this. Roald was supposed to do this! I haven't been trained…He wasn't supposed to be helping them with that spell! Stupid, impulsive…I can't even get properly angry at him…"Alright, I believe we all are aware of what's going on. Rasputin is rumored to be staying behind this ridge; I have some of lower rank Mage's scrying for him now." Liam paused; there was a disturbance at the door of the War Chamber.

Those in the room heard a loud thud and then a short woman with wavy brown hair that fell like a waterfall down her back walked in. She was by no means the most beautiful woman anyone had ever seen. Her appearance was decidedly messy and untamed. Her clothes were clean but stained with tea. She had a scar above her right eyebrow, and more littered her hands, the result of mismanaged spell work. She was also terrifying, a woman, barely more that five feet tall was terrifying. Why?- You ask. Because within her was stored power that fed from anger, hate, and dislike.

"Hello, alright. Rasputin is a MageLord which basically means that we're going to have to stab him in the back while he's not looking or he'll just light us on fire with his mind. Secondly, you can't get rid of a storm; I don't know whose idea that was. What you need to do is put a bubble around the city and wait it out like normal people. Thirdly, where is the confounded girl this whole thing is over?" She asked in a rush. There was no time for pleasantries she needed to come up with a good distraction.

The room had been stunned to silence. "Who are you?" Liam asked, slightly affronted by the girls upfront manner. She had, in a manner insulted his father and Numair.

"Oh, Lily DeLorento." She said as casually as possible. Liam nodded and pulled a page close to him. He whispered urgently to the boy, who was nodding and nodding, Lily wondered for a moment if his head was going to fall straight off.

"Okay, he's gone to get someone to fetch the mage's and the girl. Now what kind of a diversion would you recommend?" he asked as he crossed his arms. He's barely out of boyhood. Lily thought with despair. He has no idea how to be a king. He's just as confused as the rest of the city.

"Thom!" A cry of shock was launched from the door. Lily turned in time with the rest of those in the room.

"Morgan!" The red haired man gasped.

"Guinevere." She corrected with more strength than was necessary. Thom frowned for a moment but accepted it with a smile. The room watched as the lovers whispered urgently to each other, Liam with well disguised envy on his face. Few ever got to see such a beautiful woman, fewer less got to hold one so close. Liam wanted to be the one holding her. He shook it off and the room continued to speak of distractions…