I haven't been able to update because of finals. It feels like I haven't written for a month, but here it is.

Beauty

If there was anything Attolia did not give a moment's notice to it was her beauty. She wasn't one of those pretty little dolls out there on the ballroom floor, twirling and giggling to her partner's jokes as if she were some fickle air headed fool. She was the image of an ice queen, sitting emotionless on her throne as if she were carved from stone. She never danced with anyone. She was there only there for appearances.

Beautiful, yet ruthless.

She knew she was beautiful of course, but she never fluttered her eyelashes or made useless and inane small talk. She detested all of it. The only time where she resorted to such foolish tactics was when she was deceiving Nahusaresh and even then she felt like vomiting every time she dawned the facade. Woman all over Eddis, Attolia, and Sounis would have killed for her beauty, but she would only show it off if there was something for her to gain. She would only use her beauty as a last resort. To her, beauty was only a means to an end.

Other girls would make up their hair according to the latest styles of the court and cake their faces with makeup until they were hardly distinguishable, while Attolia would simply pull it back into a tight bun held in place by tens of hairpins; concealed from sight, and put on a light layer of powder so as to look accountable. Other girls would wear outrageously frilly dress and heavy jewelry to show off their father's or husband's wealth and power. Though she wore only a simple gown, she could make it look the most elegant dress in the room. She wore only a single pair of earrings and the crown she had fashioned for herself after Hephaestus'. Other girls' type of beauty was shallow and weak minded.

When she was young, she had been just like them. She had been shallow and narrow minded, seeing nothing beyond the walls of the palace. That is, until her brothers and father had died and her fiance had taken over the throne. She had been so helpless, so pathetic. She didn't want be vulnerable anymore. She wanted to have control.

So she had decided to poison his wine.

After that, her beauty had changed considerably. She became beautifully ruthless and merciless. No longer a meek and obedient little mouse. She had power now. Hundreds respected and feared her. She swore she would never be weak again.

She built a wall of stone around her, allowing no one to get close enough to peer into her thoughts. Her face was a mask that she had grown so accustomed to that she began to forget what it was like to smile. Her beauty had turned frigid and cold.

Then she had met Eugenides and all her walls and masks of stone crumbled in his hand. Her beauty, something that she had never payed attention to, had begun to take her notice. She felt self conscious in front of him. As if he could see through to her very soul.

She decided she wanted him. She offered him a place in her court as her thief.

He had graciously refused; saying that although she was more beautiful, Eddis was more kind.

This truth stung her. For she knew that though she was very beautiful, you could never call the Queen of Attolia kind. She had been momentarily stunned, but she regained her composure and gave him a cold, bitter smile that he returned with a mischievous one of his own. She hadn't realized the butterflies in her stomach weren't that of anger, but of love.

This had been their first meeting.

Months passed and she found the thief once again in her presence; caught sneaking around her palace. She decided not to be so lenient this time and decides to punish the thief with the loss of his hand. She feels twinge of guilt as she hears him beg and scream and cry, but she tears that guilt into pieces. With a chop and a sever, his hand was gone. She felt the twinge of guilt return.

Again she met him as he kidnapped her. As they traveled down river, he confessed his love her. She couldn't believe her ears. Him love her? It was ridiculous, almost laughable. He is but a child compared to her. she is deadly beautiful and he is a jester in Eddis' court. But as she sees the sincerity on his face, she has doubts, though she does not let him see it. Her stone beauty cracks a little.

After Eddis and Attolia have defeated Nahusaresh and momentarily fought off the Mede, she was faced with the decision of marrying the thief. She looked at Eddis and wondered why she couldn't have been like her. Though she is not beautiful, her heart is not filled with ice like Attolia's. Attolia understood why Gen chose kindess over beauty. In the end, out of duty to her country, she agreed to wed him.

Things between them were cold. Though Eugenides had confessed his love to her and she had agreed to marry, It did not mean that she loved him. She was determined to prove this point to him. She only to spoke with him when necessary and never showed the slightest bit of emotion. Though she tried so hard to distance herself from him, her mask cracked every time she saw him.

Slowly her mask crumbles bit by bit and her heart pounded until she cannot take it anymore. She asked him if he truly loved her. He replied that he did and she saw no deceit or lies in his piercing gaze.

"I love you too." And she accepts his love and her mask disintegrates like sand into the ocean. In that moment her stone beauty melted and something warm began to grow in its place. Before she knew it, it was love.

Years later, she sits coldly upon her thrown. No expression whatsoever upon her face.

Now as she gazes over her court with a hawk like precision, taking in every single detail of scenery, she notices a pair of eye watching with a slight smile on his lips and his wooden hand smugly at his hip. He holds his one good hand out to her inviting her to dance. She looks at him neutrally and takes his hand. They twirl and twirl to the soft music. As she looks into his deep dark eyes, she blushes a little. He gives her a mischievous smile.

It is only in the presence of this goat footed thief does she feel conscious of her beauty.

A/N: R&R Please!