at odds and ends

by Mia-Zeklos

In a universe where the Shadow World is almost entirely controlled by the Seelie Court, Magnus Bane - High Warlock and the Queen's right hand - is starting to doubt everything he knows about the society he rules over. When he realises that his life is at risk, he resorts to the only sensible option: leaving the past behind and hiring a Shadowhunter to guard him.

1. Prologue

Notes: So! This is my go at a multi-chaptered story based on a version of events where the Shadowhunters lost the Uprising and the Downworld gained the upper hand in the following years. It's shaping up to be a pretty ambitious project for me, but hopefully I'll manage. This is just the prologue and the first chapter will be posted shortly; after that, updates will be on a weekly basis every Monday. I hope you enjoy it and feedback is always welcome!

Magnus shoved his phone back into his pocket as if it had burnt him as soon as he'd ended the call and took another quick look at his surroundings just in case. He seemed to be alone, but there was no way to be sure – some of the Queen's servants were far too small for him to see them but still had enough magic to be able to report back to her immediately.

And it wasn't just her, that was the trouble. The Queen was a local, manageable threat – and one that shouldn't have been a threat in the first place – but there were much worse things that had to be taken into account; things that he couldn't bear to ignore any longer.

The signs were all there. The Queen refused to listen, sure as ever of their defences and their impenetrability, and for the first time Magnus realised that he didn't need her to. Despite their alliance, she had the entire Seelie Court behind her back, ready to step up if there was even the slightest possibility of her being in danger and no matter how often she assured hm that the same would be done for him, Magnus knew that he was on his own. The Unseelie Court had openly rebelled against her years ago, way before the Uprising, and Magnus would only make his situation that much more complicated if he tried to contact the King.

His first option, of course, was to ask for one of her men. The Seelie Queen was surrounded by knights and she would be able to recommend him someone capable enough, but Magnus was well aware that he would never trust them entirely. To top that off, it would be just one more way in which he was connected to her and he would have to show her that he was feeling vulnerable for one reason or another and given everything that had happened over the last couple of months, that was the last thing he wanted.

No, he would have to actually come in contact with the Nephilim.

It wasn't forbidden, per se. Nothing was ever forbidden for the people who decide what the laws were – another one of the Queen's rather inadvisable policies – but it was still risky enough for him to hesitate at first. No Nephilim would dare hurt him, but they wouldn't be too eager to help him either and he'd have to up the ante if he wanted anyone actually worth hiring to say yes. Not that that was much of a surprise – there was a reason they were so sought after and so difficult to afford. They were light years ahead of any other soldier and once they'd sworn to protect someone, they wouldn't go back on their word.

At the end of the day, it was his best shot whether he liked to admit it or not. With a long-suffering sigh, Magnus reached for his phone again and started dialling a number he would have preferred to be able to forget.