My exams are finally over! Hurray! And thank you, thank you, thank you so so much for your lovely little reviews. Every single one of it. Love you all. :) And of course to those who have added my story to your favorite story list. You don't know how much this means to me..
Soooo, because I have been feeling extremely guilty, I have decided to make this chapter extra thick. Alright, not gonna hold you back any longer.. Go ahead and enjoy!
Kiss of Winter-Chapter 7
I stifle a gasp as I step inside. To say that it is merely beautifully furnished is perhaps the understatement of the century. The walls are a rich shade of burgundy. The modern fireplace in a corner emits an ambient glow. A mural work is painted on the domed ceiling.
And the size.. Imagine a huge football field, roughly a hundred feet long and fifty feet wide. That's the size of the hall in his 'non-existent' house…. The massive bed pushed up against the walls on one corner catches my attention. No, so it's not quite a hall. A bedroom. His bedroom, if you are keen on particulars. And I have never seen such a huge four-poster bed in my entire life. It's nearly the size of four king sized beds placed side by side. A light bulb goes off in my head. It's all to accommodate his pair of wings.
"See something you like?" He turns around to face me. A smirk works it way onto his lips. "Your jaw looks like it's going to drop. Do you need any help closing it?"
"Don't patronize me," I scowl. I think I have done a fair share of scowling these days.. But I guess where there's an arrogant bastard, there's a prickly bitch. "It's just that, I wasn't expecting any of these," I slide my fingers across the smooth surface of the mantel, marveling at its fine handiwork. It's of high-polished mahogany. I wonder where he gets his money from.
His eyebrows arch a little "Sorry they don't meet your expectations,"
"No, that's not what I meant. What I meant was.. you have..exquisite taste…" . Oh wait, of course he knows what I mean. The jaw-dropping comment he made earlier tells me that he already knows that I'm impressed. So… right, he wanted an outright appraisal and I foolishly gave it. I'm Conned. Duped. Again. Whatever.
His lips twitch and his eyes are alight with humor. It's as if he is enjoying some private joke. I don't care,really, except that most of the time, I feel that he is laughing at me.
"What's this? " I furrow my brows as I point at a framed painting hanging on the wall. It's a picture of a dark lone figure hunching over someone or something, I can't quite discern, in a 's familiar, like I have seen it somewhere before. I struggle to remember but nothing comes up..
"A painting," he mutters. "What else does it look like?"
"Hardly looks like one to me. You sure it's not some inane drawing done by a three-year-old kid" Ouch, maybe that was unnecessary. The painting may not have a professional look to it. But it's not that bad. What I'm merely looking for is a little payback.
He practically glowers at me.
"It's badly done… The brush strokes are uneven.. The color doesn't blend in nicely. " I feign an innocent front "Did you buy it from some online gallery? Or a wholesale market? Don't even bother with a refund, just burn it to ashes."
"I don't want a refund and I don't care if it's badly painted. I like it. Mind your own business," He shoots me a glare, capable of burning two symmetrical holes in my face.
He's being a tad bit too protective over his little painting.. Unless..Realizations slams down on me.. I have to stifle laughter, "I get it!" I whirl around and jab a finger in his chest, "You painted it. Oh my god, this is completely priceless. So that's what you do doing your free time? Painting? Do you do pottery too?"
He wraps his hands around my finger and tugs them away, " What I do during my free time is none of your business either, " Now, I'm going off to bed. And you can have the couch for the night. Its just right outside. I trust you can show yourself out,"
"Wait a minute. This wasn't what you said earlier. You told me I could have a room, remember?"
"That's before you decided to piss me off so bad,Fray girl."
"That's rather sore of you,." I glance around me. If this room is so spacious, I'm sure his entire house is gargantuan. And it wouldn't be difficult to find myself a nice, comfy room. He wouldn't even know.
"Are you thinking what I think you are thinking?"
"What do you think I'm thinking?"
He sigh. "No you can't"
"What?"
"No you can't go room hunting,"
"Why not. Because you keep a harem in one of the rooms and you are afraid I stumble upon your dirty little secret?"
"No, I shoved Valentine's dead body into one of the rooms and it should be infested by maggots now, I think"
"Really?"
"Bloody hell, Clary. You can't because this place has only got one bedroom. And it's mine,"He sounds exasperated.
"You are joking, " He has got to be joking. What kind of a house has got only one room, even when its 'non-existent'
"Look at me, " He says, "Do I look like I'm joking?"
I look hard. Shit. No. "Yes,"
"You know I'm not. So go sleep on that couch and be a good child for tonight, "
"I'm not a child. And don't you speak to me in that stupid condescending tone of yours, " I glare daggers at him.
"I can hardly speak in an appraising tone to you when you have done countless of unimaginably stupid mindless things-"
I blush. He is obviously referring to the kiss. I decide to try to steer clear of that topic.
"Alright, I'm going to pretend to be good and sleep on the couch. But my good behavior is only on a temporary lease. By temporary, I mean a day. That will give you about 24 hours to conjure up a room for me," I say as I walk towards the set of carved wooden doors that links his bedroom to a possible living room outside
"I'm an Angel not a bloody Magician," He scoffs, "Have you been filling your head with fantasies?"
"What I do doesn't concern you, " I shoot back at him. There 's no need to tell him about the bookcase next to my bed back in the Academy and that it's crammed tight with all my favorite fairy tales from when I was young. I'm not going to give him another reason to laugh at me,"But really, I'm sure you can get me a room if I'm stuck here… forever?"
"Not forever, Clary…"
His words continue to ring in my ears until exhaustion claims me and I fall into a fitful sleep. Not forever, Clary… What is forever? And what isn't?
It's him again…. No, not Valentine. Nor Ithuriel. Him. Jace. He's pacing in his cell and all the while mumbling something beneath his breath. There's a look of agitation on his face. My footsteps causes him to look up. "Clary?" he says "What are you doing here? It's dangerous" I shush him and jam the iron keys in my hands into the door of his cell. It flings open.
"There's no time to waste. Come on," I beckon to him to follow me."I know a way out," Even to my own ears, I sound so convincing. So sure of myself So... in control of things. However, beneath the calm facade is a sea of terror that's threatening to drown me.
He looks at me questioningly, "You know the way around here?"
"Yes," I whisper as I turn into a corridor and then take a couple of steps forward before kneeling on the cold stone floor to fumble with a small iron ring. It comes loose with a distinct click and I watch tensely as the stone floors pull apart to reveal a flight of stairs into the underground tunnel. It's a secret route out that I discovered when I was about thirteen and lessons with Valentine were so tough that I needed a break. So, I sneaked out every now and then. He doesn't know about it. Valentine.
" Jace, do you trust me?"
His pair of tawny eyes flickers towards me and accesses me for a second, " I don't know if I should-"
I tense.
"But," he continues, " I do."
I turn around to hide the foolish smile tugging at my lips, '' Okay. We go down here. It will lead us to the surface again"
"Good. I'm starting to hate the musty smell of damp earth"
"I know," I really do know. Valentine used to cage me up when I rebelled and refused to attend lessons. I lead the way and Jace trails behind me.
Suddenly, there's a sudden whoosh. The tunnel is engulfed in protruding steel blades. They come out of the walls from both sides, as if we have just entered inside a demon's mouth. I escape with barely a scratch on my shoulders. A few feet back, and I would have been julienned. A few feet back… Jace?
"Jace!" I scream as I whirl around just in time to see the blades pull themselves out from his wings and disappear into the walls again. The holes on the stone walls close up and I'm left wondering, hoping perhaps that I am delusional.
His white wings are shredded beyond redemption. Blood oozes out of the multiple wounds. Drip. Drip. Drip. The crimson droplets fall onto the cold stone won't stop. Make it stop. Please make it stop.
"Jace," I whimper as I take another step in his direction.
"Well done Clarissa. Well done indeed!" Valentine's deep and rich voice booms into my ears as he comes into sight. He walks past Jace as if he's invisible and claps my shoulders "You never seem to fail me" He smiles at me. A smile that doesn't quite reach the eyes. Of course he knows.. He knows I have betrayed him…
"Jace…" I take another step in his direction. His eyes are golden orbs boring into my own pair of green ones, questioningly. Why did you do it, Clary? They seem to say. Why?
"I didn't-" I start. I need to explain. Unbidden, tears start to roll down my face. He's in pain. He's dying. Don't let him die. Please. Please. I beg silently.
Valentine puts a death grip on my shoulders preventing movement of any sort. I try to pry his fingers off but they remain intact. "Boy, what does it feel like to have been betrayed by the one you love? "
.No. I shake my head silently, looking at him with widened eyes and begging for him to understand.
"Clary, -" Valentine continues, nodding his head in my direction, " is my daughter. Do you know that? No? I sent her to assassinate you, Jace Wayland. Make sure that you will never see the light of day again. I had her lead you here. And you- ," A malicious smile creeps onto his lips as he points a finger at the Jace, now crumpled on the floor. "You foolishly trusted her. You thought she loved you, didn't you?'
"Jace, its not like that,"
"How.. so?" His words, barely a whisper now, cut through me like a sharp razor blade.
"I…"
"Alright, the drama ends here, kids,"Valentine cuts me. To his armed men,he says "Don't touch the boy. Let him die a slow and agonizing death. An hour at-."
A sudden loud crash drowns his words. The world explodes into a roar of shattering bricks and tearing metal. Jace is lost in a mass of wings and he rises up into the dark blue skies, disappearing from sight. Everything happened so fast I am left wondering if it had been my imagination gone wild. But of course, it isn't. Those were his shadows. The group of Angels who dutifully protects him....
My eyes spring open. I bring my shaking hands to my face and find that they are damp with tears and suddenly, I'm filled with a chilling certainty that it had been more that just a dream. Or a nightmare. It's a part of me. My memory.
I pull the covers away and head for his room. I didn't get a chance to explain then. I have to . Before it's too late again.
Jace's Point Of View
I pace back and forth in my room. Jittery? I don't sense Valentine anywhere near. Worried? Clary is sound asleep on the couch, wrapped in thick white duvet covers like a burrito. No reason to be jittery. No reason to be the slightest bit worried either. But I'm feeling them both.
A knock on my door interrupts my trail of thoughts.
"Clary?" I say, pulling the doors open " Aren't you supposed to be as-,' That's when I notice the look on her face - The puffy red eyes. The tears pooling in her eyes as she swipes them away with the back of her hand in a hurried manner, as though.. it isn't meant for me to see it.
"Is something wrong?" I say carefully , trying to maintain the calmness in my voice, even though it's breaking me apart to see her in such a state. I want to pull her into my arms and assure her that everything will be alright, that I will not let anyone lay a finger on her. But is it the right thing to do? What is?
"Jace," she says, catching my eyes and looking straight into them with an intensity that sends shivers down my spine. "There's something-" Her voice catches in her throat. She tries again, "There's something I need to tell you"
"What is it, Clary?" The anguish in her voice demands my full attention.
She bites her lips nervously "Do you remember the incident in the… the underground tunnel? The one I said was a secret route out of Valentine's prison?"
That explains it. Another bit of her memory has resurfaced during her sleep, the knowledge acquired penetrating her hazy awareness " The memory is getting a bit rusty,"
"Its fading…but still there right?" She reaches the conclusion herself without waiting for another answer. " I didn't… I didn't betray you to Valentine. I really meant to help you escape"
"That didn't seem like it," My features harden involuntarily. After all these years, will I be finally getting the reason to her betrayal? Understand the reasons to the choices she had made? I wait for an answer from her.
"I didn't know how Valentine came to know about the tunnel… When I helped you escape from the cell, I have already made up my mind to…" She swallows. Her hands are clenched into small white fists. Unclenched. And then clenched again.
"Jace ..I realized some time back then that I couldn't kill you. I realized that.. I would have to fail Valentine. That I would do anything within my power to ensure your in the end, I couldn't t do anything." Her voice has sunk to a barely audible whisper now as she tears her eyes away from me and stares down at her knotted fingers.
"Clary.. I.." I stop for a moment, unsure of the right words to say.
She shifts uncomfortably." I just wanted you to know that I didn't… that killing you wasn't on my mind then… " She trails off, "That's all actually. So that you can stop calling me the black pot and claim yourself as the angelic kettle," She shrugs hastily and plasters a smile on her face. It's a weak attempt at trying to assure me that she's alright.
She doesn't wait for me to say anything. Instead she turns around and walks away. She may have sounded fine, but the look in her eyes and her slumped shoulders tell me otherwise. She's hurt. Badly.
I slump against the walls and bury my face in my hands, trying to straighten things out. Do I believe her when she says she wasn't involved in Valentine's idea of a final showdown back at the underground tunnel? I allow myself to think about it. All this while, I have refused to answer that one question. I take a deep breathe. Do you trust me? The exact words she had spoken echo in my head, bouncing of the cavern of my skull, demanding an answer.
The question was answered a long time ago. And the answer remains the same. I do. Trust her. This girl by the name of Clary Fray.
Then why do I keep trying to hurt her? Why am I keeping her at arm's length?
Because…because I am furious.
No, not furious that she worked for that that Devil, Valentine
Furious because.. I have to see her die over and over again, have to watch her memories being snatched from her repeatedly when she eventually remembers….. And it's been going on like this for the past sixty years.
Three lifetimes. Three deaths. Three lost chances.
And she doesn't know about it...
About how painful it is to be watching the one you love die. Not once. Not twice. But thrice...
A/N: Yes, I'm sure you realized that a part of this chapter is on Jace's P.O.V. The idea was proposed by magic_noctum and seconded by littlebells. Oh, there's something I need to inform you… I will be posting up a chapter of Kiss of Winter on a weekly basis from today onwards. I figured it will make things easier for some of you anonymous readers out there and as for the rest of you, how do you like this new arrangement?
Review, darling chickens. It might prompt me to conjure another chapter before my Saturday dateline…
