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-Four: Forgotten, Remembered
Katerina stared at the Hag. There was something disconcertingly familiar about her and the evil emanating from her. Like a long-forgotten childhood nightmare slowly being breathed into life and niggling at her memories. The Hag raised her staff and pointed it at her, causing the trinkets of bone, silver, and stone to clack together, "The child of Lew. Brutus, how is it you caught her? The Great Cat placed His mark on her, much like He marked the four little usurpers."
The Hag didn't wait for Brutus to answer as she struck Katerina in the knees with her staff, forcing her to drop to her knees, and then the Hag approached her. Katerina resisted the urge to cringe away as the Hag placed a bloodstained talon under her chin, piercing just hard enough to be uncomfortable but not enough to break the skin, and forced her chin up so they could look each other in the eye. "You...you I did not expect. Brutus was supposed to bring me one of the four children, but you, you are a far greater prize, are you not? Ancient blood, royal blood. You will bring back the very one whose clutches you somehow escaped when She conquered Narnia. And, I, Beira, Matriarch of all the Hags, will spill the blood of the last of the Line of Frank." She clacked her beak and tilted her head so they were looking each other in the eye, "She will not forget my service this time. And, She should have heeded my warning concerning you. Despair, Alambiel, child of Lew, for our Great Mistress is far more powerful than your Great Cat."
Katerina could barely breathe from the heavy oppressiveness of the evil rolling off Beira. Aslan! Her plea seemed to work as she suddenly found herself able to breathe again. She narrowed her eyes at the Hag and pointed out in a steady voice, "And, yet it is Aslan, not Jadis, who defeated death itself for He is Life. You speak of folly, Beira. Your mistress is dead and even if she were not, she would forget you the moment you no longer serve her purpose." She leaned forward, allowing the Hag's claw to dig further into her skin, and whispered, "Your plan won't work."
Beira let out a harsh bird-like screech of rage and swung her staff at Katerina's head. And, then it all went black.
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Brutus watched, slightly impressed that Alambiel had once again provoked someone more powerful than she...and still breathed. Exactly what would it take before she was killed, so he could eat her? Beira pounded the end of her staff against the floor twice, clacking her beak angrily. The Hag hissed and swayed, "No one will forget me! No one! Not our Great Mistress, not my daughters, and not you Werewolves!" She pointed her staff menacingly in his direction and Brutus pulled his lips up in a silent snarl, but said nothing to the Hag. She canted her head to the side and clacked her beak before gesturing imperiously, "Keep the child of Lew under guard until sunset. At sunset, we will go to the place of sacrifice and finish preparing for the ceremony."
Brutus picked Alambiel up and slung her limp body over his shoulder. Wisely protected by the great prize of a sacrifice, he finally growled, "Why climb further up the mountain when we could conduct the ceremony in these caves?"
Beira half-turned, giving him a sly look, before she clacked her beak again and pointed one talon-tipped finger at him, "Because, Werewolf, this ceremony requires the entire ritual to be conducted outside under the light of the solstice moon and the darkness of the eclipse. If you had brought me a Son of Adam, a different ceremony could be used, but you did not. Now, take her away. And, remember not one drop of her blood shall be spilled unnecessarily or I will take the price out of your hide, Brutus."
He snarled at her then carried Alambiel to another smaller chamber and tossed her inside. As soon as they finished using her blood, he was going to eat Alambiel.
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Susan stared at Stonebrook in shock before her gaze flickered to Tuulea and Alithia, but the lack of surprise in their gazes meant they'd known for some time. She glanced at Lucy, who was sitting at the end of the bed, next to her feet, and her sister's blue eyes were wide, but then she giggled and clapped, "Oh, of course! Susan! This is why Kat looked so much like that picture of Queen Swanwhite I found a couple years ago!"
Susan nodded slowly, still trying to process everything. It did make sense and obviously it was the truth because she had never known Stonebrook to lie, or Tuulea and Alithia, for that matter. She frowned then and narrowed her eyes at Stonebrook, "Is that why that particular book suddenly could no longer be located?"
The Centaur elder smiled slightly and bowed, "I must admit I moved the book to a different and more secure resting place, so the information was not stumbled upon by just anyone."
Susan nodded again, "Well, we shall have to wait until Peter and Edmund and Kat have returned before we discuss any of this further." She looked at the window, which showed the sky was still dark, then turned back to the others, "What can we do to help them?"
Stonebrook cleared his throat, "More storms are coming from the west. And, it is already Winter Solstice, no other patrols would be able to reach the mountains and find the rescue party or the Fell in time to be of aid. Wisdom dictates that your majesties must be the shield to our people here."
Susan was silent for a moment before she gave a curt nod, "Very well. Then, I think it would also be wise for us all to retire now. After all, the best thing we can do for them now is to make sure things are well at home. Lucy, you and I will start checking on the preparations for the Yule festivities in the morning just after breakfast. And then we will proceed from there." She paused then looked at Stonebrook, "We can also arrange for some of the soldiers to keep a special eye out for their return?" He bowed in silent acquiescence and then Tuulea ushered him and Alithia from her bedroom.
Lucy curled up next to her and Susan absently pet her hair as her mind continued to race with worries of all sorts. Lucy's quiet voice cut through her listing of the probable outcomes of each worry, "Do you think they'll find Kat, Su?"
She almost hesitated, but then answered with surety, "Yes, Lu. I mean, it's not just Peter and Edmund, but also Oreius and the other soldiers. And, Oreius always finds Kat, remember? She was complaining about it just a few weeks ago."
Lucy giggled, as Susan had hoped she would, and quieted again, but just when she thought her sister had fallen asleep, she asked, "Do you think they'll be back in time for Christmas?"
Susan thought for a moment as she kept petting Lucy's hair, "Yes, maybe even by Christmas Eve. Now go to sleep, Lu." She continued petting her little sister's hair as she began to softly hum a lullaby she could just barely remember their mother singing...in that Other Place. After awhile, Lucy fell asleep, but Susan kept humming as she prayed fervently for Kat, Peter, Edmund, Oreius, and everyone else to return home until she too finally succumbed to sleep's gently persistent call.
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A/N: Please Read and Review! All right, we're building into the climax (maybe one or two chapters left before the climax) and we will find out what's going on with Oreius and the boys in the next chapter. Leave a review and let me know what y'all thought about this one.