Chapter One
Some Things I've Kept From You
"When we least expect it, life sets us a challenge to test our courage and willingness to change; at such a moment, there is no point in pretending that nothing has happened or in saying that we are not yet ready. The challenge will not wait. Life does not look back. A week is more than enough time for us to decide whether or not to accept our destiny."
-Paulo Coelho
Clary gaped, open-mouth, at her new home. Growing up in New York, she grew used to a cluster of apartments packed uncomfortably close to each other. She grew used to the constant roar of noise outside her window that displayed busy streets below. Nearly every corner she turned, there was a hot dog vendor sharing the sidewalk with a fire-hydrant and a homeless man.
But here in Idris, there were endless fields of green grass and unpolluted sky. Everything was clean and fresh and peaceful. For the first time in all of Clary's sixteen years of life, she could hear herself think. And the houses were more like mansions with no less than three stories high, cluttered far apart over the vast hills. Now she looked at such a mansion. Apparently it was her family home: The Fairchild Mansion. She'd nearly fainted when Jocelyn told her they were rich and from a foreign land she'd never even heard of.
"Clary," her mother called, approaching her cautiously. "I've been thinking,"she said, picking at the paint stained to her thumb. "...maybe we should get out of New York for a bit?"
Clary turned away from her sketchbook and sat up in her bed. She expected to see a playful smirk on her mother's face, but was met with wary expression. It was the look Jocelyn wore when Clary was six and asked her what a dad was."You're serious?" Clary asked.
"Yes."
"But...what? Why? Where? How?"
Jocelyn heaved a great sigh before dragging her fingers through a wild curtain of red hair that was not unlike her daughters.
"Clary...there's some things I've kept from you."
Jocelyn had explained that she had run away from Idris when she was twenty. She was pregnant with Clary and her parents had just died. She explained that she had become ungrateful with all of her wealth. She'd grown arrogant and cruel and turned away from her family.
When her parents died, it was a wake up call. She could no longer live in Idris, for it was a heartbreaking reminder of the person she became. She did not want to raise Clary in a place like that, so well off and spoiled at such a young age. Her greatest fear was that Clary would grow up to relive her mistakes.
"But why go back now?" Clary asked, still not fully understanding why they needed to leave New York.
Jocelyn's voice dropped low when she spoke," I fell in with a bad crowd in Idris. They were part of the reason I became so cruel. They had to leave Idris for completely different reasons than myself and were banned for life. I have an informant here who has told me they're here in New York. They're looking for me and the safest place now is Idris."
Clary's eyes rounded in shock. "Mom,what are they looking for?"
"It's best you don't know sweety."
"Is there anything else, aside from the mega-huge bomb you just dropped, that I should know?"
"Yes. Clary, you're a Fairchild not a Fray."
So there they stood, looking at a mansion that Clary had never seen and Jocelyn had not visited in nearly seventeen years."Let's go inside," Jocelyn suggested quietly.
As expected, the inside was just as grand as the outside, despite the cob-webs and severe dust. A golden chandelier hung above them in the foyer. Clary looked closer and saw that there was strange stones decorating the frame of the chandelier; they looked like a strange type of crystal. Jocelyn placed her palm against a panel and light erupted from the strange stone filling the entire hall. "Witchlight." Jocelyn answered at Clary's complete confused and amazed expression.
"What?"
"That's what the light's called. It's only made here in Idris, because the stone used to make it is very rare and only found here. It was our ancestor who invented it actually."
"Really?"Clary asked. "It's beautiful."
"Yeah," Jocelyn agreed. "I've missed it."
"What was their name?"
"Who's?"
"Our ancestor who made the wishlight?"
"Witchlight," Jocelyn corrected. "His name was Henry Branwell. He was the inventor here in Idris. He made many things for our people."
Our people? What does she mean by that; the Fairchild's? Clary thought to herself.
"Oh? Like what?" Clary asked.
"Er- a lot of things," Jocelyn laughed awkwardly."I can't remember them all Clary."
"Well did he invent something to help us clean this mess, because this is just horrible." Clary said, motioning towards the dust.
Clary had chosen a room on the second floor. It was about the size of her apartment back in New York and had a large four poster bed in the center. The walls were bare except for a painting against the wall across from her bed. It looked like an angel rising from a lake with a cup in one hand and raising a sword in the other.
"Raziel." Jocelyn told her. Clary turned and saw her mother leaning against the door frame of her room. "There's a legend here in Idris, that he created this land. They say he is the father of it's founding family's. We're one of those family's."
"That's a weird legend." Clary said, walking away from the painting.
"Indeed."
"So when do I start school?" Clary asked after a beat of silence.
"Uh, well I haven't had that arranged yet. We'll get to it on Monday."
The entire weekend Clary spent her days exploring the Fairchild mansions. It really was huge and she'd gotten lost several times and was just getting used to the place. She nearly had the second floor memorized. So far she had counted a total eight bedrooms, five bathrooms, a library and some kind of knife-friendly gym. How were the two of them going to maintain this place? As if on cue, a familiar voice broke the silence that Clary was yet to be accustomed with. She never thought the day would come, but she missed the constant bedlam of New York.
"Clary!" her mother called from the sitting room on Sunday morning.
Clary made her way down the stairs and found her mother sitting with two strangers. There was a woman in her twenties not much taller than Jocelyn and a skinny bespectacled boy around Clary's age with her. They resembled each other with matching wavy brown hair and wide brown eyes. She had deduced that they were brother and sister. They stood up from the couches as she entered the room.
"Clary, I'd like you to meet Simon and Rebecca Lewis. They are going to helping us from now on. Rebecca will assist with the cleaning and cooking, and Simon will assist with manual labor."
Rebecca smiled politely but her brother's eye's had practically popped out of their sockets as they took in Clary. She tried to ignore his stare but he was just so obvious about it. She could feel the blush creeping up her neck and to her freckled cheeks.
Clary had very little experience with boys in a romantic way. All the boys she'd ever been around were the ones she grew up with, and they saw her as a sister. It wasn't until this year that any of them had actually started to notice her as more than just one of the guys. She'd catch them looking and furrowed her brows together in confusion as they quickly turned away.
"They're acting weird." She said to Jocelyn one day.
"Your not a little girl anymore," was all Jocelyn had said. She hadn't figured what that meant until Isaac Rowe, a boy she'd gone to school with since the fifth grade, kissed her after school. One moment they were talking about homework assignments and the next Isaac's lips were over hers. It was sloppy and rushed and she hadn't realized what it was until it was over.
They never spoke again and Isaac acted as if he'd never known her. Maybe something was wrong with her but she's just didn't like boys in that way. She certainly wasn't lesbian, but Clary just never had any instrest in romance.
Rebecca elbowed Simon and he cleared his throat."Simon!" he blurted out so abrubtly that everyone in the room jumped. "M-my name is Simon." he finished awkwardly.
"Yes, Simon, that was established," Rebecca said with a sigh. She was obviously embarassed. Simon was petrified and Clary looked to see her mother's expression, expecting to see the snarly face of a momma bear but was only met with amusement.
Traitor, Clary thought.
"Simon will also be helping with your riding lessons and maintaining the horses." Jocelyn said, trying to force back the smirk that was crossing her face.
It had surprised Clary at first that the only form of travel in Idris was either by foot or horseback. But then she remembered how fresh everything was and how unpolluted the air felt.
"Great. Well it was nice meeting you both." Clary said, not meeting Simon's eyes and focusing on Rebecca. She turned to leave but Simon spoke up.
"Would you like to come with us to collect your horses?" he offered. He turned to Jocelyn, reallizing that he may have ruined a surprise or spoken out of turn but she smiled warmly at him.
"That's a great idea, Simon. Clary's been cooped up all weekend. She should really get to see Idris. "
The hugest smile split across Simon's face as he turned back to look at Clary. She quickly hid her grimace and returned his three of them walked to the stables and were greeted by two lagre horses. Clary had never been so close to a horse in her entire life. They were amazing, both coated with chocalate brown and spotted with white."What are their names?"Clary asked.
"This one is mine," said Simon and he walked to the one who had the spots gathered mostly on it's hind legs. "Her
name's Java Jones." he said proudly.
"Why?"Clary blurted before she could stop and Rebecca chuckled.
"Because Simon's a strange one, even for Idris."
Simon ignored his sister. "There is a peculiar reason behind the name. The morning we got Java Jones, I had this really weird dream. It was in a cafe and there was this band called 'The Unwelcome Occupants of the Invisible Kingdom' playing music and singing, only they sounded terrible. The entire song sounded like horses crying and the crowd just turned around left."
"What does that have to do with Java Jones?"
"It was the name of the cafe. I took it as a sign." Simon shrugged.
"You're right." She said to Rebecca.
"Strange."She laughed out loud and Clary decided that Rebecca was easy to get along with.
"He grows on you. I'm just glad Java wasn't named after the band."
"I thought about it," Simon teased. They all shared a laugh. Maybe Simon's not so bad. Hopefully he'll stop ogling and we can be friends.
"And what's your horses name?"Rebecca smiled. "Toots. As in Tootsie Roll. I named her this since it matches the color of her coat and it's my favorite candy."
"That makes sense," Clary said and giggled.
"Well that and I get to say, 'Let's go Toots', and it's so much fun to say."
"My horse is faster." Simon mumbled as he climbed ontop of Java Jones. He held his hand out to Clary and she hesitated. "It's just a horse Clary. She won't hurt you. If you act scared they'll sense it."he told 's not the horse I'm hesitant of, Clary thought, but she took his hand. He pulled her up and for the first time ever, she mounted a horse.
"Are you two ready?" Rebecca asked.
"Ready." Clary and Simon answered at the same time.
"Let's go, Toots," Rebecca called as she clicked her heels againts Toots side.
The horse sped forward and Java Jones followed. They trotted down a dirt path that led them to closest mansion near the Fairchild's. The horses slowed as they approached the stables. There were over a dozen other horses in the stables. Rebecca had walked to Clary and Simon so that she could assist with Clary's dismount. As her feet hit the ground two men appeared from behind one of the stalls. They were both tall with dark hair but it was obvious to Clary they were not related although they shared similar signs of being caught doing something wrong. Hmm...a gay couple perhaps? Clary wondered.
As they got closer Clary could see that they were just boys closer to her age like Simon.
"Good Morning," one of the boys greeted. He was extremely pale with long jet black hair. His dark blue eyes locked onto Clary's bright green eyes with curiosity. "How can I help you?"
Clary was about to introduce herself but Simon stepped forward and extended his arm for a handshake.
"Good morning. My name is Simon Lewis and this is my sister Rebecca. We're here with Miss Fairchild to-"
"Did you just say Fairchild?" The other boy interrupted. He stepped closer to get a better look at Clary. He must be Asian, she thought as she noted his slanted eyes. There was something strange about them but when she looked again, his eyes were an average shade of brown.
"I thought there were no longer any Fairchilds left in Idris." The pale boy mused.
"We've just moved back." Clary answered."Are you apart of one of the founding families too?" She asked as she looked over her shoulder to the mansion that was bigger than hers.
"Yes. I'm Alec Lightwood." The pale boy- Alec answered in a mystified tone.
"I'm Magnus Bane. I'm not a founder but my mother always said I was special." The other said with a chuckle.
Is that glitter? Clary asked herself. Yep, definitely a gay couple.
"How can I help you Miss Fairchild?" Alec asked.
Clary opened her mouth to answer but at that moment there was a loud commotion coming from behind them. In the distance Clary saw what looked like a boy struggling with a horse. He was riding it and the horse seemed to be doing his best to shake the intruder off.
"Damn it, Jace!" Alec yelled before going after the boy named Jace and the angry horse. Without thinking, Clary ran after them. It was some force of nature that made Clary feel the need to save this boy, though she had no clue how to do so.
"Clary!" Simon called, but she didn't slow as she reached Jace and the horse.
She stopped dead in her tracks when she saw the boy.
Cords of gold blond hair and honey colored eyes overwhelmed her senses. Jace was stunning even as he looked distressed with his current situation.
It seemed as if time had slowed down and all sound disappeared as their eyes locked.
It made no difference that a wild horse divided them, they were connected in a way that Clary did not recognize. The horse bucked up and stood on its hind legs successfully removing Jace from its back.
Time and sound seeped back into focus for Clary. The horse twisted it's body so that it could trample Jace but Clary simply walked forward. She had no idea why she did it but she reached out and lay her palm against its side. The horse lowered its front legs gently to the ground and away from Jace.
"Is okay, boy" she murmured to the horse. It huffed but walked a short distance away, visibly calmer.
"Clary," Simon called but his voice was much closer this time. Alec had called Jace's name too and both of their concerned friends surrounded them.
"What were you thinking?" Both Simon and Alec yelled at their targets.
"Keep your hair on, Alec." Jace said as he stood up. He locked his eyes onto Clary as he walked to stand in front of her. He ignored both Alec and Simon as he smiled down at her. Clary's heart kicked into over drive. God that- he- Jace was sexy. She felt fantastic and sick at the same time. All of her nerves were being pulled in opposite directions; overlapping each other in their confusion. Her body had never experienced such an intense reaction to someone else's mere presence. Her heart and mind had no idea as to which emotion it should lock onto. Is this...is this what liking someone feels like? Clary God, it's awful.
"Who are you?"