Sinful

A/N

Weee third chapter! *confetti*

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Chapter Three

"There is only one path to Heaven. On Earth, we call it Love."

-Anonymous

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JACE

After saying a quick and hasty goodbye to the boys, Alec and I saddled our horses in the quiet evening, the sun slowly disappearing over the horizon. Shadows dipped around us as we led our horses out into the street, their hooves clopping against the cobblestones, a painfully loud disruption of the silence that was always present in this part of town.

Alec's horse, Cross, a dark brown horse who had eyes almost as wild as Alec's, let out an impatient huff of air as Alec launched himself over the horse's back, aggressively landing on his saddle.

"Sorry," he muttered with a grin, stroking the horse's black mane as I saddled my own horse, Chance, a young, reliable mare who could ride like no tomorrow. Dallin, one of our soldiers, won him in a gamble- hence his name.

We set off at a quick pace, the wind rushing against us, making my eyes tear up.

"Jace, I am never going to let you live this down, son!" Alec yelled at me, laughing loudly, as he gestured at my streaming eyes, his eyes perfectly dry.

"Shut up!" I replied, laughing too.

We reached the outer parts of the city, the road slowly turning into grassy patches of land. The horses were panting lightly and we continued to push them harder. They were used to much harder runs than this. We took a turn and entered a dense forest with a slightly beaten path that we followed. Ducking from branches and the occasional prickly leaf, we eventually reached near the other side of the forest.

Alec, who was slightly ahead of me, shot out his hand and wrenched back the reins on Cross and he responded with a bitter cry.

I gave him a condescending look as I slowed down next to him and he ignored it, lightly placing his hand on my shoulder.

I followed his gaze to a group of people on horses through the dark pine trees that covered us from view. We nodded, knowing that that was the Elan royalty due to the mass of guards surrounding them. We tied our horses to a scrawny tree nearby and gave them water and an apple.

Alec slowly inched around the bushes and I took the rear when I noticed another figure crouched behind the shrubbery nearby. I elbowed Alec in the ear and he whipped around, glaring, until I pointed at the person.

I squinted at the mysterious figure, who, on closer inspection, had long, black hair covering half of his face and was spiked up in the back. I took notice of the loaded crossbow in his hand. Alec nodded at me and beckoned for me to lean in.

"I thought there would be some sort of mob attack where the soldiers could easily take 'em out," he whispered in my ear, "But that boy over there, that's Shin. Shin's got mad firing skills, it's no joke. They don't need our help. Let's just enjoy the view, hm?"

"Sure," I replied, sitting down on the damp forest floor, a cool breeze ruffling the leaves, a soothing sound.

The Elan crowd came nearer, their lanterns swinging in the darkness, and several arguing voices reached my ears.

"For the last time, Isabelle, your horse is not pregnant! It's just tired," a boy said dryly, obviously exasperated.

"Then why is its belly so huge?" an imperial voice retorted, "And quit rolling your eyes at me, Simon!"

"Izzy, Click's belly has always been that big. It's not our fault that you stuff your horse with crap every day," another girl said, her voice clear and patient.

I stifled a grin at her retort when Alec shoved me lightly, calling me to attention. We peeked over the bushes and finally caught a good glance at the party.

First into view was the King, Luke Garroway of Elan. His figure was slightly ahead of the three behind him and he was laughing, a deep boom echoing through the forest. I noticed that he kept a light hand on his sword that was strapped to his belt. He knew that there would be trouble.

The boy behind him, who I'm assuming was the eldest prince, Simon, was riding a white horse and was rubbing his eyes tiredly but was still smiling. He had messy brown hair almost coming down to his eyes and he brushed it away often. To his right was the next eldest daughter, Isabelle. She was shooting dagger glances at her siblings and was arguing and gesturing wildly, her long black hair swaying.

The youngest, whose name none of us knew, had red hair, almost like a beacon in the night. Her slightly curled hair was resting on her shoulders and her green eyes flashed as she laughed at Isabelle. When she smiled, I could feel my cheeks reddening. She gripped the reins lightly with long and nimble fingers as she got closer to our hiding spot.

"Watch Shin. He's getting ready," Alec murmured as he ducked back down.

A stab of adrenaline shot through me as I saw Shin lean on his knees and pick up his crossbow. When he did shoot the arrow, one of the royalty would die. And it might be the red head girl.

Shin loaded his bow with a feathered arrow and rested it on his thigh. "Clary, you're getting behind! Pick up the pace!" the King called over his shoulder.

"Clary," Alec whispered, "So that's the princess's name."

Clary, I repeated. Clary. My eyes raked over her striking features, drinking in her face. Her long eyelashes were drooping from exhaustion as she lightly kicked her horse forward.

"Sorry," she whispered.

"Here he goes," Alec whispered excitedly, nudging me.

One of the guards threw out his hand and the party stopped abruptly.

King Luke was slowly pulling out his sword when Shin burst out of the bushes, crossbow aimed straight in the middle of the group.

"At arms!" The guard yelled, "You will not come any closer to this riding party!"

"What makes you think I'll listen to what you have to say, Elan dog?" Shin growled, and he fired.

To my horrified eyes and Alec's gleeful ones, the arrow flew in an impressive arc.

And missed.

Completely.

The arrow sailed over Clary's head and embedded in the soft dirt behind her. I found myself laughing with relief and Alec suddenly cursed, stood up, and sprinted toward our horse.

"Alec, what are you do-" I cut off as I saw what he took out from his horse's pack.

A crossbow.

"Alec! Are you kidding me?" I whispered angrily, gesturing at the guards who were wrestling down Shin.

"Come on, Jace, we're here for a reason! I can't believe Shin missed," he muttered as he loaded his bow, "And this is the perfect time."

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CLARY

My heart thudded horribly as I watched the guards wrestle the attacker down, adrenaline pumping through my veins. I took several deep breaths and glanced around at my family.

Isabelle was flapping a hand at her pale face and Simon's eyes were wide open with shock. My father clapped a hand on Simon's face and his gray gaze rested on me.

"Clary, are you okay?"

I nodded shakily. "Let's get out of here."

"Not until the shooter's incapacitated," he replied.

He glanced over at our guards who were dealing with many blows dealt by the perpetrator. His eyes were a dark brown, sharp and rebellious. He was greatly outnumbered but still held his own until Garrett managed to slam his fist into his temple. His eyes rolled up into his head and he fell into the dirt.

"Finally," Isabelle huffed.

Suddenly, another person appeared in the forest, his face shadowed by the leaves. He held another crossbow.

"Help!" I screamed, and all heads swiveled to the man.

But it was too late. The guards were too far away to take down the attacker.

He raised the crossbow and another man stood up next to him, speaking angrily. The brown haired one shoved the blond away with an impatient hand and with an angry glance, shot the arrow.

I was frozen in shock as I heard the twang of the bow and the arrow whistling through the air. It flew straight and true, aimed directly at my heart. I screamed and impulsively put my hands in front of my face and waited for the impact.

"Clary!" I heard Simon and my father shout, and a sickening thump reached my ears.

But I felt no pain.

I cautiously looked up and saw Isabelle and my father staring at something directly in front of me.

It was Simon. There was an arrow in his shoulder, blood streaming down his shirt.

"Oh-oh my God! Simon!" I shrieked, hastily sliding off my horse and running over to where some of our guards helped Simon down and others chased down the second cursed shooter.

"Simon, can you hear me?" I heard Isabelle demand.

"Yeah, calm down, Izzy," he replied weakly with a small smile, "I'm fine. Except for the thing in my shoulder."

Tears trickled down my cheeks. "I-I'm so sorry, Simon. You shouldn't have gotten hit."

He lifted a weak arm and took my hand in his. "Shut up."

With a sigh, his eyes closed and his hand slipped out of mine.

"Simon? Simon!" My father said, "Get him on the horse! We have to get help, now!"

"Is he knocked out?" Kent, our healer, asked, "He is? Good. I'm getting the arrow out."

Efficiently and quickly, he pulled out the arrow in his flesh. The tip was covered in blood-blood that should have been mine- and Ken quickly set it aside. He bandaged his shoulder and nodded to the guards.

In my blurry vision, the guards hauled a limp Simon out of my frozen grasp and set him in his saddle.

"Where do we go? We're too far from Elan to get proper care!" Isabelle cried, sobbing.

"There's only one place to go," my father muttered grimly, "The Stygian palace."