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Author's note: I had to remove lyrics she sang in this chapter to keep in the boundaries of site rules but the first song was "I Won't Let You Go" by Avril Lavigne. The second one is "Once Upon a December" from the movie Anastasia. I hope you all enjoy this chapter. Let me know what you think. I love reviews. I love them more if you sign in.

Ch3. Songs and Spells

It had been a year since she'd woken down here with no memory. She still had no solid memories and had taken to cleaning in the time she had in this place. The one who'd found her, whom she'd found out was a goblin, told her that if magic won the war the Bethmoora clan might return to their home. She figured they might like to find it clean.

Today she was cleaning the throne room. Often she found herself singing songs from her past. Though she remembered them she had no idea where she had learned them. Her goblin friend had heard some of them before and knew them to be human songs, thus eliminating siren from the possibilities list as they only sing the songs of their own kind. A new song came to her today as she scrubbed the floor. Hoping to spark a memory she began to sing.

About halfway through the first chorus she realized something was happening. Magic pulsed through her and while it scared her something told her it was a bad idea to stop in the middle of the spell. She completed the song and the magic slowly faded taking with it an uncomfortable ache in her spirit she hadn't even noticed before now.

Her hands stopped scrubbing and her body tensed as an unexpected memory flashed into the forefront of her mind. It was dark but she felt the sheets of a bed and someone was holding her. He was telling her a story. She remembered every word like she had heard it a thousand times. From the beginning of creation to the death of the prince and princess of Bethmoora. It was the story of the same golden army the goblin was currently melting down into metal bars for future use.

She smiled at the finding of her first solid memory and continued cleaning the floor. If she kept thinking about it she might be able to figure out who her story teller was.

Nuada stood confused in the center of the throne room. His most recent memory was of dieing in this very same spot on which he now stood unharmed. Feeling his confusion mirrored in his bond with his sister he looked to the raised platform where he'd seen her laying in her dear Abraham's arms for her last moments of life. There she stood staring back at him.

The sound of singing drew his attention to the blonde girl in elven clothes currently scrubbing the floor. He recognized the blue garments as his sister's clothes. Her hair tucked behind her ear revealed that she was not an elf. If she had noticed their presence she showed no outward signs. He began looking around for his weapons and when he saw none he moved to kill her with his bare hands.

His sister's voice speaking Gaelic stopped him, "Don't do it."

At the sound the girl paused and looked up. So she hadn't been aware of them. He narrowed his eyes. He was getting really tired of hearing Nuala use that phrase. This time he obeyed. They couldn't be sure that she was human and even if she was at least she was making herself useful.

"Hello," she asked, "Who's there?"

"I am Princess Nuala. Who are you," his sister walked towards the girl calmly.

The girl's mismatched eyes looked in the direction of Nuala's voice but where obvious, by the way she stared into space and did not follow their target, to show that she was blind, "I don't really know. I have few memories beyond this past year."

Nuala moved to kneel beside the girl, "Give me your hand."

She may not know much but she was sure of one thing. When you're vulnerable and royalty gives you and order your best bet is to do as you're told. Obediently she let go of the scrub brush and offered her hand. She felt the soft slender hand against her palm for a few moments before she was released to continue scrubbing.

"So it's true. You don't even know what you are. Though if I had to guess I'd say you're a sorceral being. It would explain how you can tell us where the dirt is for you to clean and how you resurrected us," the princess spoke gently.

"Us," the girl tilted her head to the side in confusion.

"My brother and I. He's here too but he hasn't spoken yet," Nuala explained.

"Oh, well I'll just keep cleaning then if neither of you have any other orders for me," she continued scrubbing.

Nuada stepped forward now and spoke up, "How about some food. Can you cook?"

She shrugged, "Don't know. By this time of day the goblin will have begun to make dinner and will call for me any minute. He always makes more than enough for us both to eat. Perhaps you could join us when he calls."

"That would be lovely. Thank you," Nuala spoke up before Nuada could voice his irritation at what he deemed as her disobedience.

She continued scrubbing the floor while the royal twins contemplated what they should do now that they were alive again. It was not long before they heard the goblin calling.

"Excellent job cleaning the stairs child. It's time to come down and eat now," she put down the brush and stood.

"Be careful on the way down. We don't need another accident," she heard him shout.

She stopped when she felt the edge of the top step beneath her foot. She realized then that she hadn't really thought this through. Upstairs was easy. Downstairs was dangerous. Nuada raised an eyebrow. This girl was going to be high maintenance whether she intended to be or not. She was currently taking one step at a time at a painfully slow pace. She was only on the third step down when he walked over and pulled her back to the top step.

She yelped in surprise and irritation, "Hey, I was making progress."

"Not fast enough," he said strictly as he picked her up bridal style.

She struggled against his hold, "Put me down."

"I will put you down at the bottom of the stairs. Now hold still or you're going to hurt yourself," he began his descent to the bottom of the stairs.

She growled and he could have sworn she sounded like an angry cat. Ignoring his warning she began hitting his shoulder repeatedly. His grip tightened almost painfully as he nearly lost his footing. She yelped, sensing his feet stumble, and held onto his shoulders and neck for dear life. Luckily he had the sense to freeze his movements long enough to catch his balance.

"Okay, I'll hold still. Please don't drop me," she whimpered.

She wanted to ask him to loosen his grip but based on the story and his current attitude he was trying to be kind and was a bit out of practice. Instead she just held on and waited for him to get to the bottom of the stairs. When he finally set her down she took a moment to regain her balance.

Nuada was surprised when she stepped back and kneeled, bowing her head to him. It had been a long time since anyone had bowed to him and here she was, a complete stranger who had just been fighting his hold on her, bowing to a Prince she knew nothing about.

"Thank you My Lord. I apologize for my rude behavior a moment ago. I hope you can forgive me," she said solemnly.

He wasn't sure how to react so he went with learning how to predict her behavior, "If you knew you were being rude then why did you behave as you did?"

Her breathing quickened and she bowed her head lower indicating her sense of shame, "I panicked My Lord."

He fought the urge to roll his eyes, "I know that. I want to know why you panicked."

She seemed to shrink at his irritated tone, "I'm used to the ground being against my feet My Lord. Being picked up startled me. That's all."

He nodded in understanding after a moment of taking this information in, "I see. Have you finished cleaning the throne room?"

She gave a barely noticeable shake of her head, still keeping it respectfully bowed, "No, My Lord. I haven't."

He thought for a moment and decided his next move, "Then tomorrow you will finish cleaning it and the next time I pick you up to carry you, you will behave with the same respect you are showing me now. Do I make myself clear?"

She swallowed and nodded, "Yes, My Lord. Crystal clear," that phrase almost sparked a memory as she got the strongest sense of dejavu.

Noticing her sudden uncertainty in what little of her face he could see he moved to kneel in front of her and drew her just close enough to whisper into her ear, "If you are going to serve me little witch then you'll have to learn to trust me. Is that clear to you?"

When he began speaking she pushed her thoughts aside to listen to him, causing the momentary confusion to fade from her eyes, "Crystal clear, My Lord," there it was again. That feeling that she had uttered those words before to someone important.

Realizing that the memory wasn't coming she filed it away in her mind to use later. Instead she noticed a scent, also ringing a bell. She just couldn't place it but there it was. It seemed to be coming from Nuada. As soon as she figured out that she was sniffing him she quickly pulled back into her bow, hoping he hadn't noticed.

He had but chose not to ask. He'd scared her enough for today. Instead he gently gripped her shoulders and pulled her to her feet as he stood, "We should go eat. The natural light from above is fading so I assume we should be getting to bed soon after dinner."

She nodded but made no move to go back to her room where said dinner awaits. She may know where the prince is but she was not sure where se was standing. He seemed to know that since he took hold of her hand and began leading her in the correct direction.

Nuala and the goblin had witnessed the whole scene but chose to keep their thoughts to themselves until they were all sitting down for dinner.

The goblin finally broke the silence during their meal, "So your highnesses how did you come to be alive again?"

"Ella brought us back," Nuala replied.

"Ella," the girl asked.

"From what little memory you have that appears to be your name," the princess said.

"What indicated that," she inquired.

"When the man that was telling you of my people you asked him a question and he called you Ella when he answered," Ella then recalled that small detail she had pushed aside.

She swallowed feeling a fear grow in her heart, "That's the name the voice in my dreams calls out. I'd been hoping it was not calling for me."

"you're nothing to fear from a dream. It's gone when you awake safely in my kingdom," Nuada commented.

Part of her knew he was right but another still feared to sleep in case that dream came back. She did her best to school her features and brush fear aside, "Yes, My Lord."

"Oh, child I've been meaning to tell you, it's safe to go to the surface. The war has ended," the goblin said after a moment of silence.

"Who won," Ella asked.

"We did," he replied.

"So the humans are gone," she finished her soup and pushed her bowl aside.

"Indeed they are. We can live in peace now," the goblin looked pointedly at Nuada who smiled and nodded his agreement.

TBC…

AN: Okay there is the first interesting chapter… at least in my opinion it is. The story will pick up pace as I continue. I have most of it written. I just need to get up the energy to type it out. Reviews are good motivation…hint, hint.