"Shall we sit?" He gestures to an empty chair.
"You must have questions," he blankly states. Clary raises an eyebrow.
"You would be mistaken," she says, crossing her arms.
"Fiesty." I'll ask questions then." He says, smiling slightly.
"What's your actual name?"
"Clarissa Fray," Clary responds stoically.
"Why did my mother select you as my wife?"
"Straight to the point, hey?"
"When I ask you a question, I expect you to answer."
"Fine. My mother couldn't get out of the debt my father left us with so she made a deal." "Her debt paid off entirely in exchange for me."
Clary was surprised that she got through the sentence without breaking into another torrent of sobs. She refused to look weak in front of Jace.
"That must have been a bullet to the heart." Jace says, glancing at me. His eyes seem sorrowful.
"It is what it is." "I mean, now I'm here, with a complete stranger, who I'm about to marry." Clary says that in hopes it'll cut him deep, or at least a little bit.
"Ouch," he says. "So now I assume you're telling yourself that you're going to completely shut me out, be a friggin' ice princess and not tell me anything." He stands, pacing. Clary watches him warily. "But here's the thing. You're going to be my wife. I don't want this any more than you do, but this happening whether you like it or not." He stands. "Say goodbye to your mother, if you want to." "I'll have the maid escort you to your room, where you will be staying until you move in with me, after our wedding." "Excuse me," he says, "I have buisness to attend to." He goes to leave the room.
"Wait! Clary says, wrapping her hand around his arm. He freezes, her touch warm on his skin. He looks at her. "What?" he asks.
"I just... never mind," She releases her grip on his arm. He exits the room. Clary sits back down. What she was going to tell him was that she was sorry, and changed her mind. But all she could really think about was the feeling of her hand on Jace's arm. She is broken out of her reverie when a maid enters the room.
"Follow me, miss." "I am to take you to your mother and then to your room."
She quickly exits the room, and Clary follows. Her first meeting with Jace Wayland, Prince of Idris, heir to the throne. He wasn't exactly what she had been expecting. He was certainly handsome. Different from Simon. He was like day and Simon was night. He somehow saw right through her disguise, her tough exterior that she'd spent years perfecting.
The two walk in silence, Clary trailing behind the maid.
"What's your name?" Clary asks, trying to break the silence.
The maid stops and turns to her, surprised.
"It's Mailyn, your ladyship."
'Interesting name," Clary mutters.
They walk through the extensive hallway. It's quite beautiful, Clary thinks. The warm cherry wood that lines the walls as well as the floors gleams with detail. The ceiling of the hallway is domed, painted with scenes of angels and saints. They pass by door after door, before she finally stops and turns the knob of one. The two enter a large but cozy room. Clary immediately sees her mother.
"Clarissa Fray, your majesty," the maid announces.
I bow low, as is required.
"It cannot be that time already," the queen exclaims. Jocelyn stands to her feet.
"We will leave you two alone. You have five minutes."
"Clary," Jocelyn says, crossing the room to her daughter and wrapping her arms around her. Clary stands stiffly, not hugging her mother back.
"I know you must be angry right now, but soon you'll understand."
Clary feels the rage boiling inside her, and it finally erupts.
"YOU RUINED Me!" she rages, pulling out of her mother's grasp.
"YOU ARE FORCING ME TO MARRY A MAN I DON'T KNOW, FORCING ME TO GIVE UP THE ONE I LOVE, BE PUT IN A ROLE I DON'T WANT!" "I CAN'T FEEL ANYTHING NOW!" "I HATE YOU!"
Clary was out of control. She picked up a glass vase of flowers and threw it across a room. The sound of shattering glass caused Celine, the maid, and Jace to burst in, who had been waiting outside the door. Clary was continuing her rage, shouting horrible things at her mother. Her mother was cowering in a corner of the room, from her own daughter who hated her. Clary was oblivious to all this, the fire in her acting as a blinder. Jace cautiously approaches her from behind, wrapping his arms around her, holding her back. She struggles against him, before the fight finally leaves her. She falls in his arms, chest heaving, breathing heavily.
"Hey hey hey hey hey,' Jace says. "Calm down." His lips brush her ear as he talks, his warm honey voice washing through her. "I'm going to let you go now." "You need to not freak out again." He feels her nod her head against his chest, and it surprises him that he almost likes the feeling.
Clary was exhausted after what had happened, and her vision, which had gone blurry during her rage. Slowly, she became aware that she was in Jace's arms, and she relaxed. He released his hands from her waist, and she dropped to the floor, in a puddle of blue dress.
"Mrs. Fray, I think you should leave now," Jace says firmly, before sinking to the floor with Clary, wrapping his arms around a girl he barely knows, in the middle of a now broken room, while the queen watches on.
"Mother, will you leave us, please?"
"Of course, Jace." She leaves the room, leaving the two of them alone.
"Clary, what the hell was that?" He asks.
Clary can feel the agitation radiating off him. It makes her inch away. She doesn't know how Jace will react to anger, and it... scares her. He's certainly seen her, but she hasn't seen him. She hates being out of control.
"I- I'm sorry, Jace. I was just so mad, and I don't know what came over me. All my anger just exploded and it got out of control." Clary starts to turn her head to see the damage that she had done to the room.
"I'm sorry about the room." Clary mumbles, yawning.
"Yes, that is a problem, but It's covered by us."
"Thank you," Clary responds.
"It's about four o'clock, dinner is at seven." "I'll take you to your room." "I expect you for dinner at eight." Jace stands, taking Clary with him. As she stands, she notices that a corner of her dress is ripped.
"Damn," she mutters. Jace notices, but says nothing as she examines the rip.
"This way," Jace says.
He walks over to the door, carefully trying to avoid broken glass and wood that litters the floor. Clary follows, holding the bottom of her dress up, as she gingerly follows Jace through the room. The couple walk silently, with nothing but the sound of Clary's heels clicking on the wood floor.
Jace stops so suddenly that Clary almost bumps into him.
He opens the door to reveal a bedroom.
"Here you are. The maids will be here at seven to help you dress. We have a lot to discuss. My mother won't be joining us." Jace turns and Clary watches him walk back down the hallway, and enter another door.
Clary slowly walks into the room. Clary walked through the wood room, past the living room, to the balcony. She opens the doors, feeling the still warm September sun on her skin. It seemed wrong. She felt like it should be cold, or at least overcast and rainy given the grave circumstances that happened today. Despite the beautiful view, all Clary can do still wearing her ripped dress and no shoes, is fall to the ground and cry.