It was a bright and clear autumn morning - a welcome refuge from the downpour that had blanketed London for the past few days. Sunlight streamed into the drawing room through great windows that looked over the stone courtyard below, bathing the quiet room in brightness.
Sophie squirmed when she felt the breath against the side of her neck and her lips curled into a smile as she leaned back into a solid embrace. He smelled of metal and leather, a hint of tea and the electrifying scent that she could only attribute to Gideon Lightwood.
"What was it you wanted to show me?" Sophie asked, slowly spinning within the circle of her fiancé's arms. She looked up as he towered over her and smiled sweetly. This was Gideon Lightwood, the only man she knew that saw her for the woman she was behind the scar. She breathed in his scent, which sent tingles to the very tips of her fingers and resisted the overwhelming urge to run her hands through his sandy blond hair.
Gideon seemed a little jaded when he stepped back and held out a gold ring in his hand. It was the Lightwood family ring - she had seen the family crest enough times on the side of the Lightwood carriage to recognise it without a second look.
"It was found at the manor after it was searched by the Clave," Gideon said with a hint of sadness in his voice. "Charlotte returned it to me this morning."
"It's where it should be," Sophie said, taking the ring from him. Before she could slip it onto his finger, he grabbed her hand.
"No," he said. "I want you to wear it." Taking her hand in his, he slipped the ring, which was a few sizes too large, and slipped it onto her slim fingers where it rested loosely beside her engagement ring.
"Gideon-" she started but his look silenced her. Instead, she smiled and leaned into him - their bodies fit together like pieces of a puzzle - and they stood together for moment - or a while, she wasn't entirely sure.
The sound of screeching metal brought them out of their moment and the two peered through the large windows to see a black carriage pass the iron gates and pull to a stop at the entrance steps.
Recognising the emblem emblazoned on the side, Sophie turned to Gideon, whose face was contorted in a deep frown.
"Tatiana," he said flatly.
By the time Gideon and Sophie had made their way down to the entrance, Tatiana had already been greeted by Charlotte and Henry who stood dutifully by her side. Will and Tessa were standing a small distance away by the window, their subdued tones betrayed by the large sweeping gestures Will was making. Will and Tatiana locked eyes with one another with looks full of daggers, before he turned back to Tessa.
"Tatiana," Gideon said flatly, though he'd managed to keep the smile on his face. Be nice to her, Sophie had asked of him, though he couldn't fathom why given the way Tatiana had spoken of them in the past.
"And what brings you here, dear sister?"
Gideon turned to his left to see Gabriel and Cecily reach the end of the staircase, both dressed in shadowhunter gear from, what he assumed, their earlier training. He turned back to Tatiana and smiled inwardly when Sophie laced her fingers with his.
"Gideon, Gabriel," Tatiana acknowledged. She held her head high, peering at them with a look of distaste.
"Perhaps we should move to the drawing room," Charlotte suggested.
Beside him, Gabriel scoffed. "I do not think she should be afforded such kindness."
Gideon would have chastised his younger brother's rudeness had he not seen Cecily do just that with a slap to Gabriel's arm. He turned back to his sister with a steady look and offered her another smile. "How are you Tatiana? Perhaps we should-"
"I'm well enough," Tatiana interrupted. "Which is more than I can say for our family. I'm here for your apology."
"Our apology?" Gabriel said incredulously.
Gideon looked to Gabriel and slowly shook his head, hoping to avoid the conflict that was almost certain to erupt between the three siblings. He felt Sophie squeeze his hand and turned to offer a tired smile and resisted the urge to pull her close to him and bury his face in her hair. Instead, he sighed and squared his shoulders, pursed his lips and then turned to Charlotte, who was looking at sympathetically. "Would you mind giving us some privacy," he asked politely.
Charlotte looked startled for a moment. "Oh, yes, of course," she said, ushering the spectators through the double doors that led to the drawing room. He felt Sophie turn to leave and quickly pulled her back. His eyes pleaded for her to stay and his body relaxed at her nod.
"I have nothing to say to you," Gabriel said angrily and followed the others, leaving Cecily staring at him incredulously. She looked sheepish for a moment before stalking after Gabriel with an irritated look plastered on her face.
"Really!" Tatiana exclaimed, her eyes boring holes in Gabriel's back as he left the room. "Hardly a year in this place and already he's lost all sense of good manners."
Sophie securely by his side, Gideon wearily approached his sister. "Tatiana, why have you come here. You couldn't possibly have expected an apology of any kind."
Tatiana made a disapproving noise and turned to stare at Gideon, her eyes travelling down his arm to Sophie. She crossed her arms, her eyes darting back and forth between him and Sophie.
"So the rumours are true then," Tatiana finally said, her voice critical and sharp. "You intend on marrying this...this mundane."
"Sophie is a shadowhunter," Gideon replied calmly. "A gifted one. And yes, I intend on marrying her."
"Really, Gideon!" Tatiana threw up her arms theatrically and began to circle them, scrutinising them from every angle. "Father always had such high expectations of you, though I daresay he'd be quite disappointed with the choices you've made. To bring someone so beneath us into our family, I can only assume you've done this due to some impropriety on your part. She must be with chi-"
"ENOUGH!" Sophie's voice was sharp, slicing through the air like a whip, echoed through the hall. Gideon watched in silence, startled, as Sophie gathered herself, her face a vision of calm and collected. Tatiana, her face reddening, glared at Sophie venomously.
"Ms. Blackthorn - Tatiana." Sophie spoke with a tone of admonishment. "You may insult me to your heart's content but I will not allow you to speak about your brother in that manner. Gideon is a good man; he is kind and proper."
Tatiana seethed on the border of hysteria. She turned sharply to Gideon. "Will you let a servant speak that way to me?"
Gideon shrugged, stifling his smile. "She is not a servant. It was well deserved."
"Well deserved?" Tatiana repeated. Her expression darkening with anger which she turned onto Sophie without concern. "Gideon, she is a beast! Unsophisticated, uneducated. I do not know by what sort of witchcraft you've dabbled in to seduce my brother-"
"TATIANA!" Gideon's booming voice echoed across the marble floor, leaving behind a startled silence in its wake. Both women looked at him in surprise; compared to Gabriel and his father, he never raised his voice anger. Gideon closed in his eyes for moment, willing his anger to dissipate before standing his ground. "Do not insult Sophie in front of me," he said slowly, each word dipped in anger.
Tatiana reeled back in surprise. "Gideon!"
"I think you should leave," Gideon said. When she didn't move, he sighed. "Now, Tatiana. Before we do something we will regret."
Gideon's body relaxed as soon as Tatiana held her skirts about her, turned sharply on her heels and ran through the large iron doors of the Institute. Turning around he pulled Sophie against him and buried his face in the crook of her neck, the scent of her lavender soap calming him. "I apologise," he said sadly. "For what Tatiana said; you do not deserve to be talked to that way."
Sophie shook her head and held Gideon's face in her hands. "It is to be expected. She is only one of many that will question your decision to marry me. Many will see me as nothing but a mundane, or a maid. I have accepted that."
"But I don't-"
Sophie silenced him with a finger to his lips. "Shadowhunters are proud, and I don't imagine many have hearts as kind as yours, Gideon Lightwood. I have my family here and I have you. That is all the acknowledgement I need."
"I had hoped - a long time ago - that my wife would be proud to marry into my family, to bear the Lightwood name. I fear that hope is now all but lost."
"One of the Lightwoods I know is quite respectable," Sophie said lightly. "I would be more than happy to take his family's name as my own."
Gideon smiled and leaned in to kiss her, his arms pulling her so tightly against him they could each feel the other's heart race in tandem. "I love you, Sophie Collins," he murmured happily with a smile that changed his entire face.
Sophie laughed and answered him with another kiss.
A/N: Thanks for reading. If you liked it, please leave review and let me know.