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 Twenty-Three: Waking Up

It was dark when she opened her eyes. No, that wasn't true. There was a single taper burning just to her left, which allowed her to make out the familiar furnishings of her bedroom and...and someone was curled up beside her. Her gaze darted to see who it was and she rasped, "Lu?"

Lucy jolted upright and immediately threw her arms around her neck, "Susan! You're awake!" Susan was slightly surprised that she could return the hug because she had a vague memory of the healer muttering something about frostbite and her hands had been hurting so much. She winced slightly when Lucy shouted, "Tuulea! Alithia! She's awake! Susan's awake!"

Susan tried to speak, but she couldn't quite force the words out until Lucy quickly offered a soothing cup of tea. Tuulea and Alithia came in just as she finished drinking the tea, "What day is it?"

Lucy answered while Tuulea and Alithia both checked her, "It's an hour past midnight, so it's the 21st of Yule. Winter solstice. Caia and the others brought you back earlier this evening. She told us what happened with Kat."

Susan shivered as she tried to stand, only to sway before Tuulea caught her shoulders and forced her to sit back down. "You can't go anywhere just yet. You've lost quite a bit of weight in a very short amount of time, even the cordial won't fix that, young Queen. You need to eat before trying to move from this bed again."

Susan tried to protest but she felt herself already giving in to weariness. She sighed heavily, "Kat asked me to give Oreius a message...it didn't make any sense to me but he seemed to understand it. He left in the middle of the night to go after her."

Tuulea paused in the middle of fluffing her pillows, "What message?"

"That she released the five from their oath." Susan narrowed her eyes at Tuulea and Alithia as they exchanged worried looks, "What does it mean?"

Tuulea cleared her throat, "It would be best if Stonebrook explained it, majesties." Alithia immediately pushed Susan back down when she tried to sit up while Tuulea gave her a scolding look, "Stay still. I will bring Stonebrook to you...I will also see about food for you. A nice broth will do for now and more tea."

Susan and Lucy looked at each other in surprise as Tuulea fairly ran from the room then they looked at Alithia and chorused, "What do you know?"

The Centauress merely lit a few more candles before she casually replied, "Enough to know that Stonebrook needs to be the one to explain it to you, your majesties."

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A/N: Please Read and Review! Okay, short and not much action in this particular chapter, but we're back to Kat and the Hag and the Werewolves in the chapter. Oreius and the boys may make an appearance too. Leave a review and let me know what y'all thought about this one.