A torturous wedding
What would happen after Jem proposed to Tessa in the Clockwork Prince? Will/Tessa
Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments. Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove:
O no! it is an ever-fixed mark
That looks on tempests and is never shaken;
It is the star to every wandering bark,
Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken.
(Sonnet 116)
"You look fine in that dress, Miss Gray. This dress is perfect for you," Sophie said, admiringly.
This has been, what, the seventeenth dress? The eighteenth? Tessa has lost count after the tenth, and honestly, she could not really tell the difference between all these white dresses, except the fact that some of them are extra tight on the waist like this one.
"Can I at least pick a wedding dress that I can breathin?" Tessa asked.
"But of course, Tessa dear. Here, try this on." Charlotte replied.
It has been nearly six months since that night of celebration. Charlotte's belly has swollen significantly since then, so has Henry's over-protectiveness. She had to spend almost a day to convince Henry to let her come pick a wedding gown for Tessa. Tessa smiled involuntarily at the memory of Henry glaring disapproval at the Institute's front steps when they left on the carriage.
"No, Charlotte. I think the dress before would do. I liked that one." Tessa protested.
"Very well then, we will take that one." Charlotte said, disappointed.
On the way back to the Institute, Tessa recalled the many times she had to stand before the Council, asking for their approval. Jem was right, of course, the Council had to spend months investigating her peculiar origin. Meanwhile, they were able to marry in the mundane way. For a mundane marriage, the Council could not object, but they had to recognize it.
"It holds less power than a Shadowhunter marriage, but it is a marriage no less," Jem assured her.
Tessa wondered about Will. They have not spoken since that night. Every other night, Tessa would see Will leaving the Institute at twilight and come back just before dawn. According to Sophie, he would always come back drunk, howling like an injured animal. "At least he's not cruel, miss. He just refuses to speak to us, that's all." At the thought of Will, Tessa looked nervously towards Cecily. She had accompanied them to the bridal gown shop, yet she had kept her silence. She had this quiet sense of hostility towards her, though why, Tessa thought, why? Did she know what happened between Tessa and Will?
When they got back to the Institute, Cecily slipped a piece of paper to Tessa.
Meet me in the west corridor at midnight.
That night, Tessa went as she was told to. She was surprised by Cecily's rapid progress of knowledge about the Institute. There, she can see her Herondale black hair stark under the witch light. Cecily waited for Tessa to approach, and wasted no time.
"Miss Gray, I'll be honest with you. The first night I've spend with you and my brother, I could already see that he loved you," she stated. Tessa widened her eyes in surprise.
Cecily continued, "Don't look at me like that. Though we've long been separated, I still know my brother. I understand that you also cared for him.
"Uh…" Tessa stuttered.
"I've seen the way you both look at each other when you thought the other couldn't see. The pain in your eyes has to stand for something, does it not?" Cecily rebutted.
Tessa was struggling for an answer when a voice howled through the corridor. It was unmistakably Will's voice. She and Cecily both looked at each other, then panicked down the corridor to find Will, with his long limbs sprawled awkwardly around him, collapsed on the floor.