Chapter 1 TRAINING
"He doesn't like me, Jace" Clary said pouring milk into her cereal. Jace had woken her this morning and suggested she do some training with Alec today while Jace was in Idris for a meeting with the Clave.
Jace dropped a spoon into her bowl and climbed onto a stool next to her, "Alec? Well, it's not that he doesn't like you, um it's more that he doesn't trust you and therefore doesn't want to associate himself with you whatsoever."
"Jace! How is that any better?" Jace just laughed into his bacon sandwich. "I can't train with him and plus he'll never go for it."
Suddenly Church who was sprawled out in the doorway peacefully erupted in a screech when Alec came in stumbling over him. He looked tired, his eyes half shut, a wrinkled blue t-shirt, the same shade of his sleepy eyes, and his hair was a tangle of messy dark curls. Although Clary wasn't very fond of Alec, like at all, she found him extremely attractive, there was something beautiful and a sense of grace about him, his blue eyes, pale skin, and his tall and slender structure. If she were to draw him, she'd map his body out in charcoal on a white page with sharp pencilled out features yet his hair would be black ink and watercolour for his eyes. His eyes would be the hardest to capture, they fascinated her most. He was beautiful but he was still an ass. Alec jumped off of the cat and wondered lazily over to the fridge, pulling out a carton of eggs. Within seconds Jace had stolen the eggs from his parabatai's hands and was guiding him towards a stool at the kitchen counter.
"How about I make you breakfast, brother?" Jace said cracking one of the eggs into an empty bowl.
Alec narrowed his eyes, "What do you want?"
"What do you mean?" Jace laughed nervously glancing sideways to Clary, "okay so basically I need you to train Clary today because I'm in Idris from 11. Pleas Alec."
Alec paused for a moment and then spoke moodily, "No. I refuse to be on babysitting duty for the little girl." Alec stood from his stool and began making his way towards the door when the golden haired boy swiftly moved to block his way. Jace was quick, fast strong, Clary thought. Izzy had said to her that he was 'the ultimate protector' and that he was most likely, one of the greatest shadowhunters of our generation. He was built for it, Clary thought whilst her eyes wondered the length of his body. He had broad shoulders, large arms and was almost as tall as Alec. Although they were very similar heights, Alec had a different structure to his body, he was more slender yet he looked just as strong. She didn't know whether he was strong but if he agreed to train her today, she might find out.
"Alec, please, look just a few hours in the training room no more. Please, for me?" Jace gave a cheeky smile and seconds later Alec turned abruptly to face Clary.
"20 minutes," he said "you have 20 minutes and then meet me in the training room." Jace gave him a brotherly slap on the cheek and winked at Clary whilst gathering up his jacket and stele from the counter. Before leaving, he took a mouthful of his bacon sandwich and called back "Good luck!"
Alec didn't waste any more time with Clary and headed into the hall, silently, making his way to his bedroom.
When Alec entered the training room, he caught Clary at the end of the room, practising some punches on a dummy. He hadn't realised how small she'd been, she was so petite, looked fragile even although she was definitely strong. She was knocking the dummy backwards over and over yet kept shaking out her wrists.
"You're doing it wrong," Alec said, appearing next to the dummy.
Clary let out a sigh, "What a lovely day this is going to be."
"Look," Alec took her hands, curling them into fists and positioning her arms appropriately, "You can't bend your wrists, you'll break them. That's why it hurts. Like this, straight on." He brought Clary's fist into contact with his palm, "See?"
Alec held up his hands which now wore pads. Clary positioned her feet shoulder width apart and threw a cross over punch to Alec's right hand which was returned with a light knock to the head, causing Clary to lose her balance. She gasped, "What was that for, I thought you were meant to be teaching me to punch?"
Alec threw the pads to the side, "Guard up and don't be so rigid." He tapped her hips, "you need to loosen up or you can't move, turn, block. Keep on the balls of your feet." He illustrated what he meant and Clary copied. After about an hour of sparring, they moved on to balance.
Clary watched as Alec swung himself up, expertly, onto the wooden beam, like a monkey throwing itself from one vine to the next. The beam was placed about 8 feet off of the ground and stretched from one side of the wall to the other of the training room. Other shadowhunters walked along it further down and were throwing themselves off of it into complex flips and spins, some landing on their feet or falling into a flawless and expertly crafted roll. There was no way Clary was doing that.
"How do you except me to get up there?" Clary looked up at Alec. His tall figure loomed over her now and he was surrounded by hanging ropes and there was one more beam about 2 foot higher than his build behind him.
"Jump," was all he said. Clary burst out laughing and returned her gaze to him all serious all of a sudden.
"No," she said.
"Then climb," Alec grinned, pushing a floor length rope towards her. Clary took it in her hands and tugged on it. It hung from the ceiling and seemed stable enough. She gripped it up high and jumped, pulling her body as far as she could go, burying her bare feet into the rope. She rose higher on the rope, feeling a burning of friction on her hands and looked up to find Alec laughing at her subtly. Something burned in her stomach. He didn't think she could do it. So it was simple, Clary just would. She brought herself higher and when she reached the height of the beam she attempted to swing the rope towards it. Alec stepped to the side to allow her on, but as she took a leap from the rope, she slipped missing the beam. He caught her hand and hauled her up impatiently, "Well that was entertaining." Clary shook herself from his loose grip. It was quite a way down now that she was up here and the beam was very thin, she could fit her feet side by side but if she moved anymore she would fall and that didn't seem like a very appealing option. Clary huffed, "now what?"
Alec gestured to the rest of the beam, "Walk to the fourth hanging rope and walk back."
"Are you kidding me? You got me up here to walk 10 feet?" Clary sighed and began shuffling along the beam carefully.
"Yes because your balance is absolutely appalling and this twelve feet and back will be a struggle for you," Alec walked up behind her gracefully.
Clary kept her eyes on the beam, "oh yeah and why's that?" In that moment, her heart dropped as her foot slid off the side off of the beam. Alec's hands came under her arms firmly and he lifted her back into place. She turned around to face him, whilst steadying herself on his arms. They were bigger than she had thought and she could feel the scars of his many runes under the thin cotton of his top.
"Your posture, that's why," Alec said, placing a hand on her lower back and the other on her stomach just below her chest. He straightened her back and gestured for her to follow him as he took a step backwards on the beam. She followed one step at a time, her arms stretched out either side of her. "Clary, posture," Alec straightened her back again, his fingertips grazing her bare skin. She jumped back a little however managed to stay planted firmly on the beam. "What's wrong?" he questioned her. She took a deep breath and shook her head quickly and returned to walking towards him. He looked confused yet continued walking backwards and steadying her when she swayed.
"Okay I think I've got this now, can we do something else?" Clary said. Alec glanced down at the ground.
"Jump," he said, "Jump and land on your feet."
"Are you joking, I'll break my legs," clary said, steadying herself. Alec leapt from the beam and fell to the matt below him silently and gracefully, landing on two feet. Clary thought that must have been the soundless rune she'd seen carved into his neck at breakfast. She'd had one too, Isabelle had given her a few runes yesterday after lunch and one of them had been the soundless rune along with the angelic power and deflect. But none for balance, and it showed.
Alec looked up at her, "We don't have all day."
"Actually we do," Clary crossed her arms, she wasn't jumping, "and plus I can be brave but I'm not stupid, if I jump, I'll break something."
"You aren't used to falling, jump," Alec said holding his arms out.
Clary laughed, "Wait so you think you're going to catch me now?"
Alec sighed, "If it will get you used to falling and we can actually leave this room today then yes."
Clary peered down at the fall again and closed her eyes for a second. She inhaled deeply and then launched herself down towards Alec. She came falling down onto him and they both fell backwards. One of his arms clutched her waist while the other pushed her head against his neck so she wouldn't hit it as they hit the matts. Alec laughed loud while Clary didn't look up. Once she gathered they weren't falling anymore she gasped, "Alec, oh my god are you okay, I'm so sorry." She found this odd sort of guilt in her stomach of which she was unfamiliar with when it came to Alec. Usually, she's be glad to give him a good bashing over the head but today had been different, and the way he'd cradled her body when they'd fallen, it had made her feel strange.
"Clary I'm fine," he laughed sitting up, forcing Clary up too. She sat in between his thighs on her knees and was fussing over his head, checking for any scrapes, "Clary, really, I'm fine."
"You keep saying that," Clary sat back leaning on her hands, staring at him intensely.
"What do you mean?" Alec furrowed his brow.
"My name, you keep calling me Clary. You never call me Clary, I'm either 'Valentines daughter' or 'little girl' or 'oi'" Clary said.
He just laughed and leant forward. "Well, you seemed less like a little girl today, you can throw some punches, Clary Fray"
She smiled down at the ground and when she looked up she realised how close she was to him. She was practically encased in his legs and his arms which he leaned on his knees. She could feel the heat from his body and his face was so close to hers that she could have leant forward and kissed him. No why was she thinking of kissing him, no it was Alec. She straightened her face, her posture and stood up, holding out a hand to help him. He gratefully took it, as small as it was. She had tiny hands and slender fingers, artists fingers whereas Alec's hands her large and calloused from training and use of weapons yet graceful and scarred. As Clary helped him up she saw the scars on his palms and fingers and they were like a map woven into his skin, they were beautiful.
"By the angel look at the time," Alec glanced up at the large clock at the end of the training room of which indicated it was almost half four.
Clary looked surprised, "I didn't realise we had been here that long, oh no Isabelle would have already started preparing food for tonight." Tonight, Isabelle and Alec's parents were coming back from Idris with Jace who was their adoptive son and they were having a big meal to welcome them home. They hadn't seen them in 4 months and Clary had never met them before. They were the heads of the institute.
Alec smiled, "I ordered in food for seven o'clock, don't worry no one's eating what Izzy cooks."
Clary laughed as they both headed out of the training room, "So what do I wear, is it a formal sort of dinner?"
"Yeah I guess so, ask Izzy she knows more about this than I do," Alec gestured to an open door of which through the archway, a panicked Izzy with flour on her nose was mixing some brown goo in a bowl. Alec walked in first and came around the back of his sister peering over her shoulder. He made a disgusted face and spoke dismissively, "Iz, we aren't eating this."
Isabelle dropped the bowl to the counter and wiped more flour across her face with a huff, "That's not fair, I work my ass off in this kitchen and you come in here and tell me you're not even going to eat something I poured my heart and soul into making." She turned to face him.
"Yes, Izzy, and plus your efforts are needed elsewhere," Alec stepped away from Isabelle and the bowl and stood behind Clary, placing a hand on her back. Even though he wasn't touching her skin, it felt oddly strange, his hand. "Clary needs clothes advice."
Isabelle was about to get excited when she registered something. She narrowed her eyes and tilted her head.
"What happened in the training room?" she demanded.
Clary looked up at Alec and then back to Izzy, uncertain, "what do you mean?"
"You are standing oddly close to each other, normally you wouldn't be within 5 feet of each other and you have spent the whole day together and neither of you look murderous. Explain," Izzy said firmly.
They both laughed and Clary said, "Iz, you're crazy"
Alec headed for the door, "I'm going to take a shower and get ready, and I suggest you two do the same." And with that he disappeared leaving Clary with a very curious Isabelle.