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 Seven: A Snowy Ride, Part One

16 Yule 1006

Katerina smiled as she watched Thane and Shane trying to coax their mother into allowing them to accompany the Queens on their ride. Marsalla shook her head and led her youngest sons from the room. Katerina looked at Lucy, "I'm still amazed we managed to convince Susan to come with us today."

Lucy giggled, "I know, but since we haven't even reached Winter Solstice yet, she's willing to come for a short outing."

Katerina raised an eyebrow at Lucy, "You didn't tell her our destination, did you?"

Lucy gave her an impish grin and shook her head as they walked back to Katerina's quarters. "No, but Susan wants to come anyway so she can talk to you without interruption."

Katerina suppressed a sigh since she knew Susan was most likely wanting to question her further about the whole accepting suitors nonsense. If anyone she was remotely interested in ever tried to court her, then she would at least consider allowing him to pursue her. But no one ever had, so she didn't...of course, she had never thought about who she would be remotely interested in but that was beside the point. Katerina was suddenly grateful that Alithia was unable to join them...but if Caia joined them, she would have to be very clear about not wanting any of the suitors who had tried in the past because she knew Tuulea would be able to pry it out of Caia if she ever showed any hint of interest in someone. And, Tuulea in her matchmaking mode was quite simply terrifying. Lucy pulled open her wardrobe and looked inside, "Kat, are you going to come to the ball this Christmas?"

Katerina shrugged as she idly ran her fingers across her cloaks, "I haven't made my final decision yet." Never mind that she had never gone to one of the Christmas balls for one reason or another, but with Lucy looking up at her, she couldn't bring herself to make a flat-out refusal. She was such a pushover at times.

Lucy suddenly reached into the back of her wardrobe and pulled one of the most elaborate formal gowns out. The dress was without a doubt one of Tuulea's most beautiful designs for her, but Katerina had never seen a reason to wear it or the three other gowns of equal beauty and elaborate formalness. Lucy smiled at her, "If you come, you should wear this one. You'll look so pretty."

Katerina gently took the dress from Lucy and placed it back where she had hidden the most formal gowns behind all her other clothes, "I'll...think about it, Lucy."

Lucy cheered, "Oh how wonderful. You're going to have so much fun at the ball, Kat! Oh, but we need to go meet Susan in the courtyard. Come on, grab your cloak and let's go!" Katerina didn't even have time to wonder how Lucy had interpreted a promise to think about going into meaning that she had agreed to go. Instead, she grabbed one of her cloaks and quickly pulled it on, barely registering that she had grabbed the cloak that had once been Oreius' as she raced after Lucy.

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Frome snarled as he watched the Narnians below moving about their camp. He had gathered a third of the pack and once again scouted the pass leading from Narnia to Archenland, waiting for the Human whelps to return to Narnia so they could capture one of them. Frome would have preferred taking the dark one since he was the one who turned on their Mistress, but whichever one they could capture would do. Still, he felt Brutus was keeping part of the plan to himself. He scraped his nails against a boulder, leaving deep furrows in the ice. There were too many Narnians below that could easily chase and fight them when the whelps made their appearance with that Centaur...

Frome didn't even flinch as the wind shifted directions; after over two weeks using the Hag's spell, he knew with certainty that the Narnians wouldn't smell him or his brethren Werewolves. He snarled silently then turned to the fourth of the pack who was patiently waiting for Frome to issue orders; the third had remained with Brutus serving as beta while Frome was gone. "Let's hunt."

The fourth pulled his lips back, baring his teeth in a macabre smile, as he nodded then raced to alert the others. Frome leapt over the boulder in front of him landing in the snowdrift below just in front of several of his Werewolves. They immediately followed as Frome charged through the snow, leaping over boulders when necessary as they raced toward the Narnians. The thrill of rushing toward the unsuspecting enemy coursed through him, but it was nothing compared to the ecstasy that came when the Faun archer closest to him finally turned and saw him for the first time as he leapt upon him, relishing the taste of warm blood as his jaws clamped down on his prey's throat. All around him, Werewolves attacked the Narnians leaving a wake of brutal and deadly damage. Frome howled in triumph before he attacked a Cougar. This was the most fun he had had in two years, and as he carved a deep set of wounds into the flank of one of the Centaurs, he could only imagine how much more satisfying it would be to do the same sort of damage to that Centaur after he had ripped the heart from his still-breathing mate.

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A/N: Please Read and Review! Okay, starting to get to the real heart of the story. I will post the next chapter either tonight or tomorrow. Leave a review and let me know what y'all thought about this one and if you would like the next chapter tonight or tomorrow. Remember your reviews inspire me to write faster.