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: A sorcerer challenged by Aslan. Love and friendship alike are tested by his presence. And the Gentle Queen faces her own challenge when the sorcerer's true colors are unveiled.

A/N: If you have not read the first eight stories in the A Light in the Darkness main story arc (Awakened, Shadowed, Revealed, Concealed, Rekindled, Refracted, Reflected, and Veiled), I highly recommend you do so for the full experience. However, I have included a quick summary of the previous stories so if you want to give this one a whirl on its own, you can.

Chapter Forty-Six: Almost Over?

Two days after their return, Oreius was passing by one of the smaller archery fields when he noticed Firemoon collecting arrows from one of the targets. Oreius stopped. He knew his cousin's strengths in weaponry and Firemoon had never used a bow before. He done almost as poorly as Alambiel when he performed the standard evaluation of martial skills. As he watched, the younger stallion grinned like a fool as he trotted over to where a blushing Centauress stood, bow in hand. She blushed even more when Firemoon offered the arrows with a deep bow. The wind shifted, blowing the filly's dark hair back. Oreius raised both eyebrows as he recognized Tanith.

"Silly, isn't he?" Stormwind grinned as he joined him and then nodded to the pair. "I've seen my brother do some questionable things but I have never seen a filly turn his head so thoroughly."

Oreius huffed, hiding his own amusement. "Your brother is supposed to report to his commanding officer for further training in less than half an hour."

"Are you going to tell him?"

"If I were the one to fetch him, it would be seen as a reprimand."

"I see." Stormwind heaved an exaggerated sigh, shaking his head. "Once again I must pull my brother's tail away from the fire."

Oreius waited until he saw Stormwind reach the other two Centaurs and then continued up to the palace. He needed to check on his study and on-

The colt slammed into him first followed by two grey Wolves. Oreius caught the colt before he could fall but the Wolves were in a tangle under his hooves. He sidestepped then reared with a grimace and a suppressed shout as one of the menaces bit his left foreleg just above his fetlock. The guilty Wolf yelped in alarm and the Greyback brothers scrambled to get out of the way as Oreius landed heavily. He glared at them. "What are you doing?"

"We were trying to catch the new puppy!"

"Princess Alambiel says she's going to hang me by my toes!"

"I didn't mean to bite! It was on accident! And I didn't bite hard."

"We just wanted to keep the new puppy from escaping, General!"

"I ran 'cause they chased me!"

"Silence!" Oreius took a deep breath and steeled his features into an impassive mask as he stared at the three troublemakers. "Tell me what happened." He raised his free hand as the cacophony of voices began again. "One at a time."

The Greyback brothers ducked their heads, yellow eyes pleading for forgiveness, as they whimpered. Romulus raised his head slightly and gave a timid wag of his tail. "We were trying to catch the new puppy because King Edmund said we had to find him and keep him out of trouble. We found him running out of your den and the Princess Royal was growling."

Remus nodded, his pink tongue lolling out as he smiled. "She wanted him caught and King Edmund wanted him caught. And we caught him!"

Oreius frowned. "I caught him." He turned to the young Prince. "Why was my wife angry with you?"

"Princess Alambiel said she's going to hang me up by my toes! I don't want to be hung up by my toes! I didn't mean to get it all ruined and then I tried to fix it and Princess Alambiel came back before I could and I slipped. And I broke it. On accident."

"Then we got to chase him. It was fun," Remus added unhelpfully. The Wolf pup looked at the colt. "Do you want to run again?"

"There will be no more running," Oreius stated firmly. He turned back to Prince Corin. "What did you break?"

"Just some painting. It wasn't done and I tried to help."

Oreius scowled. "You were told not to enter my quarters without permission."

"Princess Alambiel doesn't mind."

He did not want to deal with this. "I would beg to differ if she is planning to hang you by your toes." The colt pouted and Oreius took another deep breath. Then he spied his dark colt. "How!"

Sir Edmund jumped and then paled as he hurried over. "Corin, there you are. I was just looking for you."

Oreius' scowl deepened. "Sir How, when will that ship be ready?"

"Oh. Umm, tonight?"

"Good then you will be able to escort Prince Corin back to Anvard before the pass clears. I am certain King Lune wishes to see his son again."

The towheaded colt opened his mouth to argue but Edmund clapped a hand over his mouth. "Yes, General. I'll go help Corin pack."

"And do not let him out of sight."

"Yes, General."

Oreius nodded once then watched as his dark colt dragged the troublemaker off. Now, it seemed he would have to see his very unhappy wife. If that colt caused him to be in trouble . . . He started to move but then stopped. Remus Greyback was still sitting in front of him. "General Oreius, is your mate protecting the den because she's going to have puppies?"

And of course, he asked loudly as he happily wagged his tail. Loudly enough that a good number of passersby stopped to stare, their gazes speculative. Alambiel would stab him if he allowed or, Lion forbid, contributed to any gossip involving their herd expanding. Oreius scowled and snapped, "No. And what have you been told about appropriate topics for conversation?"

"Umm, only those get answers?"

"And questions about puppies and mates are?"

"Not appropriate." Remus ducked his head. "I'm sorry. It was on accident."

Oreius scowled. "There will be no more accidents or you and I will have a very long talk about what exactly constitutes as appropriate and inappropriate conversations. Am I understood?"

"Yes, General." The Wolf pup peeked at him, tentatively wagging his tail. "Can I go help King Edmund now?"

"Yes, go."

Oreius shook his head then went to find his wife. Entering his quarters, he went immediately to the room Alambiel had claimed for her painting. He could hear her muttering in Irish dire threats against menaces who ruin her finished paintings. Not that she would ever carry them through (except perhaps making Corin run suicides until he couldn't go any further). Oreius stopped just inside the doorway.

"Close the doors if you're coming in. It's still the middle of winter." Alambiel didn't look up as she continued sorting through her supplies. "And the Otters just finished scrubbing up the spilled paint so please don't cause ice. We don't want another attack by Murphy and his law."

He moved to join her but Alambiel closed the case holding her painting supplies and then rose. She glanced at him and forced a smile. "Other than Corin ruining my painting by adding to it and then tumbling through the canvas and breaking the easel, it's not that bad."

"Sir How is returning the colt to King Lune tonight." Oreius caught her hand as she approached and pulled her into his arms. "Prince Corin will no longer be under our hooves and accidentally breaking things. He did not seem to realize your painting was finished."

Alambiel sighed. "So finished that I was going to be able to gift it as a belated Christmas present tonight. Now I have to start over. But I do not plan to be wandering around Narnia and Archenland for the next few months at least so I should be able to finish the next version within a relatively reasonable amount of time." She looked up at him as she wrapped her arms around him and offered a more genuine smile. "Do you have anything pressing for the rest of the day?"

Oreius considered. He had planned to conduct a surprise inspection of the barracks but it was not unusual for him to conduct such inspections two days after his return from any extended travel and he had noticed a flurry of activity in the barracks. He touched his forehead to hers. "The only pressing matter I must attend is the task of doting on my pretty bride."

"Trying to make up for the Succubus."

"I did not kiss her. And all I saw was you." Oreius traced his lips from Alambiel's temple to her cheek. "Beautiful and wild." He traced his lips from her cheek to the corner of her mouth and whispered, "Dangerously alluring in your glorious fury." Then he captured her mouth in a kiss as he dipped her.

It was not until much later that Oreius remembered his intention to check on his study. He had relieved Ruffalo and Ptah and Leeta of their duties as soon as Alambiel remembered the three were nearby. He looked at the closed study door.

"Oreius?"

He glanced down at his wife and then smoothed his hand over her hair, pushing the gold and white locks back from her face. "I will answer your question, sweet, but I need to check on the messages. Forgive me for not doing it earlier."

Alambiel raised her head and then shifted over so she was no longer lying on his shoulder and arm. "Go."

He scrambled to his hooves quickly, not wanting to leave the nest they had made of furs and blankets in front of the fireplace for long. "And I saw that. Put the knight back."

"I'm still winning."

He snorted and shook his head. Minx. He had married a minx. Oreius made quick work of the letters and newest reports. Setting the last report down, he braced his hands against the desk and bowed his head as he sighed. There was no sense in delaying, though, and he returned to Alambiel. His wife looked up at him with a hint of trepidation in her blue eyes. Oreius settled down next to her and clasped her hand. "No news."

"That's almost two months of silence. Do you think it's over?"

Oreius tugged her into his arms and kissed her hair as he held her. "Perhaps."

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"Come now, Markus, try."

The sickly sweet words cloyed at him. The boy shook his head. "I don't want to kill him."

The ringing slap knocked him to the floor. Jadis loomed over him, an expression of eerie calm contrasting with the explosion of wrath. She smiled, her eyes nearly hidden by her eyelids. "Markus dear, if you do not use your magic the way I tell you, how will we learn what Frank's children are doing? You want to know what they are doing. What if they are planning to attack us?"

"Why would they do that?"

"Because we have power and they do not. They fear us. They planted a horrid tree to keep me out of their lands. So sickening."

He shook his head. Otec had said to be wise. Otec had said to stay away from the dark magics. Otec-

A snarl echoed through the dungeon. The boy whirled. A huge snarling monster charged straight toward him. His inner flame bloomed to life and the boy raised his hands. Jadis leaned down and whispered in his ear words that he, in his fear and panic, repeated. The snarl changed into a cry of horror and fear as the flames consumed the creature from the inside out. And then the creature's shape changed, shrunk, until it was no more than a half-grown youngling. A mere child.

The boy staggered back. The feel of his magic had changed. It felt wrong. Bile rose but he forced it down. In the dull mirror behind Jadis, he could see his eyes glowing red. They had never glowed red in Charn or Heia. He looked up at Jadis. She smiled. "And now you are mine. You've killed an innocent, Markus. You can never turn back now."

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"Markus, a word!"

He stopped in his tracks and turned. The High King was striding toward him with a determined glint in his eyes. Markus bowed politely. "Your Majesty."

The High King glanced around then muttered, "Not here. Come with me."

Based on the iciness of King Peter's gaze, Markus more than half-expected him to lead him into the dungeons. To his surprise, they only walked to one of the small solariums. The High King nodded to his guards. "I am going to speak with him alone. Station yourselves outside discreetly." At the twin disapproving looks from the Tigers, King Peter rested a hand on the hilt of his sword. "This shouldn't take long."

Indeed, no sooner had the doors closed than King Peter asked, "What are your intentions toward Our sister, the Queen Susan?"

"I intend no dishonor or harm to her or any under your protection, High King."

"Then what was that kiss all about last week?"

"Mistletoe." He gazed down at the man. "It was mistletoe."

"Do not do it again or you will answer to Us. Do not toy with Our sister's affections or We shall seek recompense from your hide."

Markus bowed. "I hear and understand. The mistletoe decorations have also been removed and that is the only tradition I know of that requires a man to kiss a woman even if they are strangers to one another."

The High King's eyes hardened to blue ice as he nodded frostily. "Good. Then we have an understanding."

"Yes, Your Majesty." He needed to be more careful.

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A/N: Please Read and Review!