A short festive story set some years before the On Dark Shores series.Nereia, all of seven years old, is very excited. Preparations are underway for the celebrations in the gracious house on the cliff top, and her Mama and Papa have told her that this year for the first time she will be allowed to take part in the Yuletide ceremony - but there is mystery in the air...Papa is away, and Mama is watching for every carriage that passes. Something is afoot... Nereia sets herself to find out what - or who - is the surprise that her father has promised her.