As promised, the last chapter will be updated on December 25! I shall do all my explaining at the end of this chapter. For the thank-yous, I want to make sure you all know how much your reviews have meant to me! You have all made me laugh or smile or simply made my day throughout the story. THANK YOU SO MUCH! Smitten By Marauders (I'm glad you liked it! Unfortunately, the story won't be going on forever… -tear- and I don't know about a sequel but see what you think at the end of my story…), anonymous, anonymous girl, JamSack (I have read Christopher Paolini's books… I really like them! I wish I could write like him, too. Thanks for the encouragement.), little mimi, Masked Dragonfly 0926 (I will keep my promise! I am sorry it's ending though –sniffle-), Whende (thanks for the critique… I fixed some of it already. Even through your editing I hope you can enjoy the story! You do like it… don't you? Just making sure…), enchantedwriter72 (you have a good Christmas, too!), Kat, Lady Laughter, flammingirl (you find out who Ruth is in this chapter ;-) ), Indian Ink, lynxygirl16. HUZZAH FOR REVIEWS! Wow… so many… it makes me so happy!

Of course, much explaining had to be done in full. The princes began talking at once at how they always knew there was something wrong with us, and they started telling us the story of their mother and her curse (which, of course, everyone in all Kyrria knew by then, but I refrained from pointing this out to them). The King and Queen gave each other a knowing look, but the Queen seemed upset. Lou couldn't believe that something as simple as a kiss broke our curse, but was happy and proud of us. We were quick to tell the whole story about Amelia, and for effect, Emma yanked me around and showed them my scarred back (the damage inflicted by Sarah), much to my embarrassment. I didn't want to be pitied.

Lou stared agape. He slowly turned to Amelia, who paled as she stuttered, "L-Lou, I-I, you can't – you can't believe that, can you?"

"Your mother did this? You knew about this? You treated my sisters this way!" He shouted at her, pointing at me as I quickly straightened up. I began to protest, "Lou, stop. It's not that bad, really." I had never seen him this angry, but it was rather satisfying to see him that angry at Amelia. He cried, "I loved you, Amelia! And behind my back, the whole time, you treated my sisters like slaves!"

Amelia, for once, had no smooth speech to get her out of this problem. Before Lou could yell some more, the King cut in, "I believe that you two should have some time alone. One of the servants will escort you to a guest room where you may spend the night before returning home."

King Charmount called on a servant, and so an enraged Lou and a miserable Amelia walked out of the courtyard. When they left, all of us let our breath out slowly. None of us had wanted to witness their argument (well, actually, I had wanted to witness the look on Amelia's face when Lou told her that he wanted nothing more to do with her). The King put his arm gently around Queen Ella, who finally burst out, "What did I do wrong!"

We all stared at her blankly. She continued, almost shouting, "Do you know the pain I endured to break the curse! And all I had to do was kiss my true love!"

Emma and I blinked at each other. John, however, was the one to reply. "If I may, your Highness."

Queen Ella waved a hand at him. "Don't call me that. What is it?"

John explained calmly, "I believe that they were under a different spell created by a different fairy, Queen Ella. With Lucinda, her curse was made to be a gift, and so you had to break the curse in a painful way because it was not meant to be broken. However, if I am correct, these two were given their 'gift' a while after Lucinda vowed not to give any more gifts, so it couldn't have come from her. This 'gift', I assume, was meant to be broken by the ones the gift was bestowed upon, and thus there was a way meant for them to break their curse, which happened to be true love's first kiss."

We were all impressed with his explanation, and the Queen was satisfied, even shoving aside her pride long enough to apologize for her outburst.

Happiness followed us all after that day.

John and I, Caspian and Emma, and Rilean and Lindaeyan were married on the same day in the royal court of Frell on Emma's and my seventeenth birthday. It was the most wonderful moment of my life. All of Kyrria (and many people from Ayortha and other countries) attended for the wedding of two strange elves and their beloved princes. There was much laughter and joy and plenty of food for all. To the amazement of John and I, a few real Elfian Warriors attended as well. My family came, including Flora, and Seek traveled from Gnome Caverns to see us. Special care was given to Moonlight, Ginger, and Cinnamon while they watched the ceremony. We were given so many presents beyond counting, and made more friends than ever imaginable. At the end of the ceremony Queen Ella winked at all of us and said, "May your love be strong forever. And of course, you will all live happily ever after."

Although Rilean and Caspian were twins (although not identical ones like Emma and me), Caspian was technically the older brother, and so he and Emma were to rule one day. Rilean and I had the same thought on the matter: "Better him/her than me." Emma spent the years before her marriage learning the ways of the royalty, and she found that it suited her personality well.

Rilean and Lindaeyan traveled through many different lands, extending Kyrria's friendship everywhere as the very best ambassadors of Kyrria ever. Rilean and I remained the best of friends and saw each other whenever possible.

My Mother and Father stayed in Kent, but with a little bit of help from Emma and Caspian, they lived comfortably for the rest of their days. Flora became part of the royal cooking staff, and became good friends with Mandy, the head cook at the palace.

Lou followed his Father's footsteps and became one of the best – and tallest – traveling chefs. I really never found out what happened between he and Amelia; nor did I care. Lou came to visit whenever he could, but he never mentioned Amelia ever again, and I did not push to ask him what happened between them.

I never knew what became of Sarah – yes, Sarah, not "Madam Sarah" or "Mistress" or "Aunt Sarah" – or Robert after that. All I know, is that after the whole story about how they treated us got to my parents, my parents and Lou never spoke to them or spoke of them for the rest of their lives. My parents and Lou apologized to Emma and I for not seeing our dilemma sooner. We accepted their apology slightly grudgingly.

Seekaran – Seek – joined John and I in our travels, giving us much laughter and advice the whole time. Whenever anyone I knew needed any armor repair, Seek was always the one they went to. He became one of the best blacksmiths, and became Co-Head Blacksmith for the Elfian Warriors (along with an elfian blacksmith, of course).

As for Emma and I? Well, Emma and Caspian, along with Rilean, Lindaeyan, John and me, had many adventures as "royal diplomats" throughout the surrounding countries. But that, of course, is another story.

John and I traveled to Forretha Gladiu and really did train to become Elfian Warriors. I was the first part-elf/part-human to ever join the ranks of the Warriors. Our intensive but rewarding training ended when we turned twenty-one, and we were looked upon as true Elfian Warriors. Once again, that is another story. We returned to Kyrria without disguises and with much pride and happiness at knowing who we really were.

A few days after returning to the palace at Frell to see everyone, I decided to spend some time alone with my ever-faithful Moonlight. We galloped down the trail that we had gone on so many years before when Rilean first saw me as a girl. My life had changed a lot since then. While I was reflecting on my life thus far, Moonlight stopped dead from a gallop, rearing up gracefully (he had been trained to do this while training to become an Elfian Warrior mount; he was very proud of himself and did this often just to show off the fact that he could do it). Luckily, I was used to this from my training and tuned my ears to whatever might have made him stop. Moonlight snorted, and took a few steps forward aggressively, challenging whatever made him stop.

"What's wrong, boy?" I asked softly, patting his muscular, glossy neck. Then I heard it: a giggle that triggered something in my memory. The giggle sounded like softly jingling bells. Where had I heard that sound before?

"Show yourself!" I called out. Moonlight's ears pricked forward, and I gazed expressionlessly at the fairy that just appeared a few feet from Moonlight's nose. The fairy grinned mischievously. "Hello, Ruth."

"Madam, I believe you are mistaken. I am not Ruth." I punched myself mentally at sounding so much like Rilean.

The fairy cocked her head to one side. "No, I am not mistaken. You are Ruth, and that is just as true as me saying that I am Madria. Oh! I forgot!" She giggled again, "I made it so you wouldn't remember. Very well, then."

The name rang through my head. So familiar, and yet just out of reach… Madria approached, and Moonlight backed away, ears pinned flat against his head. She said softly, "Remember, Ruth. Remember who you are, Ruth Elisa Kent."

I stood up straighter in my saddle. "My name is Elisa! I am-" Suddenly, memories came flooding through my head that I had never known I had. Ruth Elisa Kent. Growing up in the suburbs, with electricity and cars; my mom and dad, and my younger brother, Mark; my love of root beer; childhood memories; getting a tan in the back yard on a gorgeous summer day reading Ella Enchanted… a fairy, a gift, darkness…

I blinked. Two different lives swirled inside my head. "So… which one is real?"

Madria winked. "I think you know the answer to that one. But now, come. You haven't finished your life in Earth yet."

I stared at her incredulously. "You can't be serious! This is my life! I belong here! Sure, now I remember that life and all, but this is my true life! I HAVEN'T FINISHED THIS LIFE YET! I'M NOT LEAVING!"

Madria raised an eyebrow. "That's funny. I thought Elisa never showed her true emotions."

I calmed slightly, trying to get under control. "My life here has just begun. I cannot leave now to finish a life I couldn't remember until this point in time."

"Your life on Earth has only been for fourteen years. You are now twenty-one human years. Your life on Earth must be completed."

I stood there, fiercely trying to blink back tears and trying not to show it. "But, Madria, why? Why did you give me this experience and now you want to take it away?"

Madria cocked her head to the side as she replied, "Well, I gave you that experience because you wanted it. Honestly, if you're going to read the book twelve times then the only logical explanation is that you want that experience yourself. Oh, cheer up, Ruth. I didn't take that experience away from you. Your experience was over. After all, there wasn't much in the book after they broke the curse anyway, now, was there? Dear, I never did like arguing, and now we've wasted so much time. Let's go."

My last thought was that I loved John so much, and I felt Moonlights silky mane slip from my fingers, and I remembered no more.

Another Major Must-Read A/N: IT IS NOT THE END! (AGAIN) Please don't kill me! ((hides)) Hope you enjoyed the chapter. I might revise it later, but I have to go now and I have to update fast! I love you all! Please review a lot before Christmas! Have a wonderful Christmas! I'll give you my Christmas present to you then!

Much love,

VerdeFuego