Disclaimer: I don't own Narnia or any characters you may recognize from the books or the movies, I wish I did but I don't... I also don't own the Narnian Calendar. It belongs to Elecktrum who was kind enough to let me borrow it for my story. Her own stories are awesome and you should go read them too.

Summary: 21 Yule 1006 will see the first lunar eclipse to occur on the Winter Solstice in four hundred years. Enemies of Narnia rejoice! For the time of the Golden Age will come to an end with the spilling of royal blood and Jadis will be revived!

A/N: If you have not read the first three stories in the A Light in the Darkness main story arc (Awakening, Shadowed, and Revealed), I highly recommend you do so. However, if you want to give this one a whirl on its own, you can.

Chapter Thirty-Three: Mending the Fray

31 Yule 1006

Susan sighed as she rubbed her forehead, "Please tell me that Faun Nausus regained consciousness after last night and is in a more agreeable mood."

Lucy giggled, "He's conscious and his wife said he's going to be in an agreeable mood whether he wants to or not because he's getting too old to be disagreeable all the time."

Susan just shook her head. Admittedly, Faun Nausus collapsing after turning a furious shade of red upon reading a copy of the edict for the fourth time had been the most dramatic reaction among their council and the court, but there were plenty of others who had requested private audiences with her siblings and herself in order to question them about the edict. The audiences had taken all day yesterday and lasted into the night since they decided to read it to the Parliament of Owls as well and the nocturnal residents of Cair Paravel had been present, along with anyone who had somehow missed the reading that morning. Kat had wisely made herself rather scarce so they had time to make sure things didn't get out of hand as news spread about Kat's heritage and the resultant edict.

Edmund and Peter walked into the room and collapsed on the settee with twin groans. Susan didn't even scold them about their posture. Instead, she focused on what Peter was saying. "That was the last audience and the last query regarding Kat."

Edmund raised his head up just long enough to add, "Praise Aslan."

Susan sighed in relief and then she noticed Lucy was peering intently out one of the windows, "What are you looking at, Lucy?"

"Kat's on the bluff."

Moving to join Lucy at the window, Susan spotted Kat standing out on the bluff overlooking the ocean. In that moment, she made her decision. She was already heading for the door when Peter called out, "Where are you going, Su?"

"To talk to Kat." She had barely reached the turn that would take her to her rooms so she could grab a cloak when Lucy and their brothers caught up with her. As soon as they were all sufficiently bundled against the cold, Susan led the way as they walked out to the bluff. She had been slightly surprised that Oreius wasn't there but then again he could be around somewhere watching over all of them. Kat must have been out there for some time because her cheeks and nose were quite red when she turned to look at them and she had wrapped her dark red cloak tightly around herself. "Why didn't you trust us?"

Kat smiled sadly, "I trust you, but some burdens are meant to be carried alone for a time…at least until the time is right for those burdens to be revealed. You know I love the four of you like family and we all know I cause enough headaches for you lot...not to mention Stonebrook...without adding the additional complications of my being a royal."

Susan had to admit she did understand, but Edmund spoke before she could say anything. "You know you cause Oreius headaches too, right?"

Kat grinned, "Those are on purpose...mostly." She grew serious again as she continued, "Something you need to understand is that it doesn't really matter to me about my rank. My search was solely to find out who my family was and to unlock my memories of my life before I went to the world of the Sons and Daughters of Adam and Eve. And, that is what I did. Moreover, I was never actually intended to rule. I was the youngest and I had six older brothers, all but one of whom were married. My eldest brother, the crown prince, was a grown man with three children of his own, and my eldest nephew was a year older than me. I am perfectly happy with my life of service. It gives me purpose to be the protector." She smiled slightly as she added, "Not to mention I don't want run this nuthouse, I'm busy enough going from chief nut to cracking the troublemakers."

Susan exchanged looks with her siblings and then nodded, "That...that makes sense, Kat. It's very logical…" She trailed off then quipped, "Although it lends some more relief to all the times you've given back the Cair after staging one of your coups."

Kat laughed, "I'm sure." She looked out over the sea again for several minutes before turning back, "Does this mean I'm forgiven for not telling you sooner even though it was for your own good?"

Her siblings nodded, but Susan hesitated, "Well...maybe after we do this!" She threw the snowball she had formed while Kat was looking at the sea and laughed when it struck Kat in the face.

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Oreius chuckled from where he'd been watching as the Gentle Queen hit Alambiel in the face with a snowball. Almost immediately, the others also began pelting Alambiel with snowballs, who rushed to form some sort of defense amidst shouts of laughter and mock threats. Alambiel had almost gained the upper hand when the Queens threw their arms around her...and shoved snow down the back of her tunic, judging by her shouts. The Kings joined in the group hug a moment later and they overbalanced, toppling all five of them. They rolled down the hill leading up to the bluff, but no one was injured since Alambiel immediately began running for a more defensible position as the Four chased her. Watching the five of them in an impromptu snowball fight, Oreius was certain that the bond between the Four and Alambiel had mended.

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A/N: Please Read and Review! Okay, only one chapter left. Leave a review and let me know what y'all thought about this one.