Hours later, after they had talked a bit more about everything and nothing, they rode into the city just as the sun set. Alec had slept for a while and Magnus hoped that he was feeling better now. When they arrived, they quickly took care of Shadowhunter and then went to Alec's chambers.
"You really don't need to wait here for me to fall asleep."
"Oh yes I do. I told you I was going to wait for you to fall asleep."
"Magnus… honestly. Please go home and sleep. I appreciate you for wanting to help me but I honestly can sleep alone. Go home and get some sleep yourself," Alec insisted. Magnus looked at him and chewed his lip as he thought about his words.
"Fine, but if you look like you haven't slept by tomorrow morning I will definitely spend the next night here and wait for you to fall asleep and I won't let you talk me out of it, do you understand me?" he asked.
Alec just rolled his eyes but he nodded and that was all Magnus needed. He nodded as well and went to the door.
"Good night, Alexander."
"Good night."
Magnus left the room and closed the door behind himself, he walked down the halls and out of the castle, thinking about the day and about what he had told Alec. He had told him that he was in love with a guy! At least he didn't tell him that he was the guy, that was something he was actually proud of.
Oh by name of god, the things he'd seen! As soon as the picture of Alec, wet and half naked, came into his mind, he rushed home and just said a quick hello to Luke before he disappeared into his room and locked the door. He knew it was wrong but he just couldn't stop himself from getting hard. The memory alone was enough to leave him wanting. He closed his eyes and squeezed the bridge of his nose, trying a moment longer to stop himself but soon enough he gave up and got out of his clothes. He dropped them to the floor and got into bed.
Shit, Magnus you shouldn't, he told himself, but his body didn't listen. He moved his hand over his chest, down his stomach and finally cupped his erection. "Alexander," he whispered quietly as he squeezed himself through his underwear. He moaned softly as he slipped his hand under the soft material and wrapped his fingers around himself. Alec coming out of the water, his underwear soaked and clinging tightly to his body, his muscular, toned body. Magnus kept thinking about that, about how he could see the outline of Alec's cock through his wet underwear. He wished he could touch him and he moved his hand in the way he would do it to Alec, slow and teasing at first but soon the images in his head made his desperate and he sped up, twisting his hand at the top and swirling his thumb over the tip with every second stroke. He started to sweat a little and was panting, his hips were moving up and down and he could feel his orgasm building up. Magnus kept whispering Alec's name and after a few more strokes he had to cover his mouth with his other arm to muffle his moan as he came. He fell back on the bed and lay there, just staring at the ceiling. He shouldn't have done that, he had a girlfriend now and Alec was about to get married. He didn't get to enjoy the high of his orgasm for long because he felt guilty.
"Magnus… Don't worry… Focus on your mission."
Magnus jumped at that, who was that? And what mission? Damn, did someone watch him? He wiped his hand and pulled his underwear up before he stood up and looked around. "Magnus." It was the voice again! That voice!
"You're not getting away this time, I'm gonna find you," Mangus said to no one. He cast a quick cleaning spell, he'd gotten good at that now, before jumping into the first clothes he found and ran out of the room.
"Where are you going?" Luke asked surprised when he ran past him.
"I'm gonna find the voice," Magnus yelled before bolting out of the house. Luke probably thought he was crazy now, but he had to find it before it disappeared again. He ran down the stairs, following the silent whispers of his name that no one else could hear. "I'm gonna find you," He said.
He followed the voice into the empty castle, the guards by the door knew him and let him in. The voice came from under the castle, from the dungeons. Magnus ran and stumbled down the stairs, desperate to catch the voice that had been disturbing his sleep for weeks.
Soon enough he was in the dark corridors of the dungeons. Magnus knew there were guards patrolling the dungeons, but he couldn't care less. He would get past them. Magnus took a torch that was hanging on the wall and lit it with a few words. At least now he could see. He kept following the voice, but it seemed to end in nothing. A wall, a stone wall. But the voice was on the other side of that wall, Mangus could feel it calling for him! Magnus looked around himself to check that there was no one there. He whispered a spell, and with a few blue sparks and a pair of glowing eyes the wall in front of him disappeared, a dark, long corridor revealed behind it.
Magnus heard voices and footsteps coming from one of the corridors, the guards. He hurried into the passage he'd revealed and put up a quick glamour. It would still feel and look like the wall was there if you didn't know it was a glamour. And the guards wouldn't know. Another person with magic could have felt it, maybe. But not a normal human. Not a person without magic.
Magnus made sure the guards walked past the glamour without noticing it before moving on. The voice was getting louder, calling his name, telling him to focus, telling him it was fine. "Focus on what?" Magnus asked. "What do you want?" he kept asking. He never got an answer. When he saw more stairs he almost gave up immediately. It would be awful to walk up all these stairs later. But the voice kept insisting. "Come to me, Magnus. You're almost there, focus," it kept saying. So Magnus went down the stairs, and finally, after what felt like an eternity, he reached something that looked like a cave. The voice went completely silent.
"Hello?" Magnus called out. The cave was enormous, and Magnus was standing on a ledge. If he took a few steps forward he was likely to fall to his death. "Where are you? Don't disappear now!" he yelled. He lifted the torch up as much as he could to see if he could see anything.
"I couldn't disappear even if I wanted to," the voice came from under him. Magnus moved as close to the edge as he dared and looked down. What he was there was… unexpected.
A big, golden dragon standing right there, looking up at him. With a flap of his wings, the dragon burst up, throwing Magnus back with the wind that came from his powerful wings. The dragon flew into the air, but didn't get very far before Magnus heard rattling chains. The dragon was forced to come back down. He positioned himself on a stone so he was right in front of Magnus. Magnus was still on the ground, looking up at the dragon in wonder and amazement.
"What- What do you want from me? What mission? Why are you here? Are there other dragons? Why do you communicate with me and how?" Questions burst out of his mouth.
"Calm down, little warlock. Everything will make sense soon," the dragon said. "I am Ithuriel, angel of the divine."
"Angel? But… you're a dragon," Magnus pointed out. "And… warlock?"
"Dragon is simply the form I took when I came to this earth. And yes, warlock. Son of a human, son of a demon. A warlock."
"I am a warlock? And you're an angel?" Magnus was still trying to grasp that.
"Yes," the dragon, the angel, Ithuriel, nodded.
"Oh god. This is… a lot. Wow."
"I know, but we have more important things to talk about now and we don't have much time so listen closely, Magnus. This is about the whole shadow world, and about your king or rather your prince at the moment. And about your destiny."
"What... what about it?" Magnus asked. "What about the Shadow world? And Alec, and my destiny?"
"The destiny of a great kingdom rests upon your shoulders, Magnus. The once and future king will defeat the queen, but he won't do it alone. Without you, the queen will win. It is your destiny to help the once and future king fulfill his destiny."
"But what am I supposed to do? How am I supposed to do that?"
"You must figure that out yourself, warlock. I cannot tell you how to fulfill your destiny." With that the dragon flapped his wings and disappeared far into the cave, far away from where the light from the torch reached.
"Wait, come back!" Magnus yelled after him. "You can't just leave, come back!"
"Come back in times of need," Ithuriel's voice echoed in his head. Magnus cursed and turned around to leave, already dreading all the stairs he had to climb.
Alec looked at the door that Magnus had just closed behind himself and sighed. On a normal nigh,t he wouldn't actually mind if Mangus absolutely wanted to make sure he slept. But tonight… tonight he'd just seen Magnus pretty much naked and soaked, and he was human after all! He had eyes, and he had hormones. And right now they were going crazy.
Alec made sure to lock the door behind Magnus, he didn't want anyone walking in on him. Once he was sure the door was looked he went back to his bed and shrugged out of his clothes on the way. He had intended to just leave them on the floor but once he reached his bed and looked at the mess, he stood up again and neatly folded his clothes. Yes, his body was screaming for something else but he knew he wouldn't have been able to focus on anything with a mess in his room. Also, if he didn't clean it now he wouldn't do it at all before morning, and then there was a risk of Magnus seeing it and getting suspicious about what he had been doing. And then he would insist on cleaning it up himself, which Alec couldn't allow.
However, as soon as the clothes were folded and stacked, he returned to the bed immediately. He let his hands wander over his chest, pinching his nipples and stroking skin, leaving him desperate for more. He closed his eyes and imagined it was Magnus touching him, Magnus, who also liked boys. Magnus who was attracted to boys. He imagined Magnus's hands were trailing down his body, Magnus' hands slowly pushed down his underwear and wrapped his fingers around him. He could imagine Magnus sitting between his legs, his hand stroking Alec slowly, teasing. After today, he also knew how Magnus would look like without clothes on. Magnus's wet underwear hadn't left much to the imagination. He'd studied every inch of his body while he wasn't looking, every single delicious inch. He knew what it would feel like to have Magnus on top of him after countless hand to hand combat training. He could imagine it all, Magnus' hand around him, Magnus on top of him, it was almost too much.
Would he be able to do this after the marriage? Lydia would be sleeping in his bed, he couldn't touch himself with someone else's name on his lips with her right there. Especially not a boy's name. So he had to enjoy it these last few months, cause he had a feeling everything would be much harder after the marriage. Or, softer, rather. He was getting a bit lost in his worries about Lydia and lost the moment but then he thought about Magnus and how the water had been running down his chest and thighs, and all thoughts about Lydia were forgotten. Soon enough he was thrusting into his hand, pumping himself quickly. He came after a few more strokes with Magnus' name on his lips, his come spurting all over his hand and chest.
Alec fell back on the bed, breathing hard. I should clean up, was his last thought before he fell asleep.
Magnus had his first night of sleep without any interruptions from the dragon. It was nice, not waking up in the middle of the night to a mysterious voice calling for him.
Magnus got out of bed to follow his usual morning routine. Wake up, breakfast, clean up, brush his hair and teeth, get dressed, and then leave to train with Alec. Usually he had twenty, fifteen minutes of extra time which he used to talk to Luke or read a book. Today was no exception.
When he finally set out towards the castle he couldn't help but be reminded of what had happened the night before. The dragon, angel, whatever. Ithuriel, and the conversation they'd had. Apparently the kingdom rested on Magnus' shoulders, and it was up to him to make Alec succeed. Well, since he had heard about Alec's destiny he knew he had to help him so why did it suddenly feel so different? Just because a dragon/angel had told him that it was his responsibility?
Magnus thought about that, about why it felt different now, on his way up the stairs to Alec's chambers.
He was about to walk in, as usual, when the door didn't open. "Alec?" Magnus called, trying the door again. It was locked. "Alexander, are you in there?" Magnus heard a loud thud and some other weird sounds before Alec's voice came through.
"Yes, just give me a second!" Alec said. He heard a lot of shuffling around and tried to figure out what was going on for a few minutes before Alec finally opened the door.
His hair was a mess, half of it plastered to his face and the other half standing straight up. He seemed to have thrown on his clothes in a hurry, his shirt was backwards. When Magnus looked past him he could also see his room was messy, something Alec would never allow it to be.
"What's going on?" Magnus asked, trying to walk past Alec.
"Nothing. Everything's fine," Alec said. His voice was too squeaky, he was lying.
"Why is your room a mess? And why won't you let me in?" Magnus inquired. He tried to have a better look inside, to see if he could find out what happened in there. But Alec blocked his way.
"Magnus, it's really nothing. Let's go," Alec insisted, pushing at Magnus so he could close the door.
"You should at least get your shirt on the right way. And maybe do something with your hair." With that said Magnus reached up to try to flatten Alec's hair out. After a few minutes he finally deemed Alec presentable, as soon as he fixed his shirt, of course. Which he made Magnus turn around for, like Magnus hadn't seen him shirtless before.
Is this because of what I told him yesterday? Magnus wondered. What if Alec was freaked out after he told him he was in love with someone that wasn't a she? What if he thought it was weird and disgusting?
"You can, um, turn back now, Magnus," Alec said. Magnus turned back around to look at Alec again. Alec didn't look tired, but why was he so… Magnus didn't have a word for it. He looked like he had slept, but at the same time everything indicated that he hadn't.
"Please tell me you slept tonight," Magnus implored. He sighed relieved when Alec nodded.
"I did, actually. I slept very well." Alec was blushing, for some reason. But it didn't feel like he was lying.
"That's good."
"-ou in there?" Alec woke up to Magnus' voice calling for him. He was still sleepy, but as soon as he took a look at himself he was suddenly wide awake.
He was covered in dry cum, he was naked, and Magnus was outside. Thank the angel I locked the door. "Yes, just give me a second!" Alec said in response to Magnus's call for him. Which quite possibly wasn't the first one.
Alec rolled out of the bed, a little too quickly, and fell on the floor with a loud thud. He groaned before pushing himself up from the cold wood.
Hurrying over to the closet, he discarded some clothes before he found something good and pulled them on. He realized, when he looked back, that he had made a mess of his room. The sheets were on the floor, clothes were lying on the ground. It wasn't very messy, but in comparison to Alec's usually flawless room, it was awful. But he didn't have time to clean, Magnus was right outside!
Alec hurried to open the door, but stopped in the doorway. He didn't want Magnus to look in, and especially not to enter. Magnus would want to clean it all up, and Alec felt bad for making him do that when he could perfectly well do it later. No one would come to his room anyway.
He tried to convince Magnus to leave, but Magnus absolutely had to fix his hair first. Alec was fine with that, really. Magnus had a way of doing it, his fingers massaged his scalp while he tried to fix Alec's hair. Alec enjoyed it.
He did get scared when Magnus pointed out his shirt was wrong. There was still cum on his chest, which he would have to wash away as soon as possible. But Magnus would see it when he took his shirt off, and that would be… embarrassing. "Uh, Magnus, could you… turn around?" He asked. He changed his shirt quickly when he did.
"Please tell me you slept tonight," Magnus said as he turned around. Alec understood where he was coming from. Alec looked like a mess, his room looked even worse, and he had been asleep until now, which never happened. He always woke with the bells, no matter how tired he was.
"I did, actually," Alec said. "I slept very well." And he did, he'd sleep better than ever.
"That's good," Magnus said with a smile. "But are you sure everything's okay?" He asked, concerned.
"Yes, Magnus. Everything is great. I promise." Magnus frowned, but let it go. "Come on now, I want to get some training done."
"Of course," Magnus nodded and then they went down and outside onto the field. "What do you want to practice with?" Magnus asked, looking through the weapons they had in the field.
"Um, let's do some sword practice today," Alec said. If he had close, physical contact with Magnus now, he might just die from embarrassment. And true, sword fighting wasn't exactly fighting from a distance, but he couldn't do much archery when the field was full, and swords were better than hand to hand.
"Swords? Alright," Magnus said before he went to get some swords for them to fight with.
"Okay, let's fight," Alec said.
They got into positions, which Magnus had gotten really good at. He'd gotten good at all of it, everything Alec had thought him. Sword fighting, hand to hand combat, how to take care of swords and armors, and now he was doing pretty well on riding horses. Magnus was a natural at everything. I'll have to teach him how to use a bow and arrow one day, Alec thought.
But for the time being, they were practicing with swords, and Magnus was winning because Alec had started to get uncomfortable and bothered by the things hiding under his shirt. And maybe because Magnus was really good at sword fighting. But really, he had to get away so he could clean himself up and possibly the room as well. He tried to think of a plan on how to stop their training session but this only meant that he wasn't focussing enough on the fight and after a few moments he found himself sitting on the ground with Magnus towering over him.
"I won. I mean I know I'm not that bad but… where are you with your thoughts?" Magnus asked.
"Nowhere," Alec said immediately, too quick for it to sound true even in his own ears. "I mean… it's just, Lydia, the wedding. She's coming tomorrow." Well, it wasn't entirely a lie, he had been thinking about that a lot, but that wasn't what was really distracting him.
"Oh… yeah of course," said Magnus, somehow he seemed relieved by that answer and Alec wondered what Magnus had been worried about? "Are you sure you want to train now? We could also go into the library and read or spend some time with your sister or do some other fun things to keep your mind away from your… fiance," he suggested.
"Yeah, that actually sounds great," Alec said. "But before that, could you give me ten minutes to go to the bathroom? You could just wait here in the meantime." It was the only thing Alec could think of that Magnus would buy, because Magnus wasn't stupid. But it also meant he wouldn't have very much time, so he couldn't clean the room. He would have to do it tonight, so it was ready for Lydia. His father would be very disappointed if not everything was flawless.
"Sure… but if you need ten minutes then you should definitely think about your diet," Magnus commented.
"Very funny, Magnus," Alec said sarcastically. "Considering we eat mostly the same things, maybe you should too, huh?" Magnus rolled his eyes.
"Don't you have somewhere to be?" He teased. Alec chuckled and shook his head, heading in the direction of the bathroom. He would have to find a way to get it off without a complete bath, he didn't have time for that. Once inside he quickly locked the door and looked around as he pulled his shirt off. There was nothing he could use as a washcloth so he sighed and decided to use his shirt. It would be fine, he could tell Magnus that he splashed some water onto his shirt when he washed his hands so he could also go into his room to get a new shirt.
He would just have to walk shirtless all the way from the bathroom to his room. And he would hope no one would be there to see him. Not that the servants hadn't seen him shirtless before, he often practiced shirtless when it was warm outside. It was just that… this as a completely different reason, and he didn't want to tell anyone what it was. And after a while the water lie would be pretty obvious.
He left the bathroom and tried to make his way through the castle unnoticed. He was sure a few servants saw him, but they didn't approach, so it didn't matter. He cringed at the mess in his room, but ignored it and went to pick a new shirt. He pulled it over his head before leaving to get Magnus by the field again.
As Alec left Magnus, someone else approached. Magnus didn't notice him until he was basically right behind him.
"Hey, Magnus," Jace said. Why was he talking to him? Ever since their first encounter they didn't talk. Even when Alec was with Jace, they both ignored each other, it was like a silent rule. But here he was, talking to Magnus.
"Uhm, hi, Jace," Magnus said, frowning. "Alec's not here right now, but I can tell him you were looking for him…" Magnus started, assuming Jace was there for Alec. That was the only thing that made sense.
"Thanks, but I am not looking for Alec right now," Jace said. Jace seemed kind of nervous and Magnus didn't like that at all. "I… You do know Clary, don't you?" Magnus frowned even more, but nodded slowly.
"Yeah, I know Clary. Why?" He asked. Then he remembered a conversation he'd had with her and Simon, what felt like long ago. Simon had been shocked to find out Clary had a soft side for Jace. Were they a… thing?
"I, um… I wanted to ask you for some advice," Jace mumbled.
"Why don't you ask Isabelle?" Magnus asked. It made more sense, Clary was Isabelle's servant, and Isabelle was Jace's sister. "Or even Simon? Simon's her best friend." And he was also Jace's servant. Jace had chosen him for some reason, despite it seeming like he hated Simon.
"Isabelle is my sister, that would just be awkward." Magnus raised an eyebrow. This was being awkward, so he wasn't exactly avoiding that. "And I can't ask Simon, because he never shuts up and would tell Clary everything," Jace said. "So that leaves only you."
"Alright… I guess I understand. What do you want?" he asked, he didn't know if he liked this at all. It was a super weird situation and he usually rather liked to avoid Jace, but it seemed like there was no way out this time, so he decided that it would be better to just help Jace and get this over with as quick as possible.
"Well, her birthday is coming up soon, and… I have no idea what to get her."
"You're a prince, you have access to everything, and you don't know what to get your girlfriend?" Magnus said unimpressed.
"Could you please not be so loud? We're kind of a secret, dad would kill us if he knew," Jace said. "And no, I don't know what to get her, that's why I'm here." Magnus took a minute to think about what Clary could want before speaking again.
"There is this thing Luke creates, it's for your nails. Isabelle loves it, and I can also say that it's nice, so why don't you get her something like that? Or… Take her out?" he suggested.
"I suppose I could do some of that," Jace said, nodding along. "Anything else she might like?" Magnus thought about the interactions he'd had with Clary lately. There was this time she's spent almost an entire hour complaining about running out of pencils…
"She loves to draw," Magnus said. "She's been running out of pencils, and they're expensive. Especially the green, blue, and purple, that's the ones she wants to most." Jace smiled.
"So, nail thing, take her out, and pencils. I can do that. Thank you, Magnus."
"You know, you don't need to get her all of that. She's not expecting you to spoil her just because you're the prince."
"I know, but I want to give her everything." With a quick goodbye Jace started to retreat before he seemed to remember something. "Hey, one last thing," He said. "I know we didn't exactly have the best start, but I want to thank you for what you've done for Alec. You mean a lot to him."
"I… thank you, Jace. Good luck with Clary." And with that Jace left, leaving Magnus alone. Why had it hit him so hard when Jace said that? That he meant a lot to Alec. He already knew that, Luke had told him, Isabelle had told him, Alec himself had told him! But when Jace said it… maybe it was because Jace supposedly hated him, and he had a close relationship with Alec, and now he'd told Magnus that Alec cared about him. It made a rather big smile appear on Magnus's face when he thought about that but it also reminded him that Alec was gone for a while now. Where was he? He couldn't really take that long, could he?
After Magnus had found out the queen of hell herself wanted to kill Alec, he was constantly worrying. He decided to wait for a few more minutes before going to look after Alec. However, he didn't need to when Alec came right before he was about to leave. And he was wearing a different shirt, for some reason.
"Hey, sorry I took so long," Alec said as he approached Magnus. "I got water on my shirt and had to go change it…"
"Alright… well, you used the time well, because you look better. A bit more like yourself," he said and then cleared his throat he still wasn't sure if Alec was okay with knowing that Magnus liked a boy, or if he felt weird about it. They definitely had to talk about that sometime, but Magnus felt like if he brought it up that would be the end of everything. Maybe Alec was just trying to ignore it, and if Magnus played along he would eventually forget about it. So if Magnus brought it up, he could ruin everything.
"Yeah. I guess some cold water was all I needed." Magnus nodded.
"So, what do you want to do to get your mind off Lydia? We're gonna try to avoid your usual methods as they are probably going to hurt you," Magnus said, referring to the bruised knuckles, which Alec said was his way of getting his mind off things.
"I don't know. Do you want to do anything?" There were a lot of things Magnus would like to do. He wished he could tell Alec about the dragon and his magic, and another part of him wanted to just grab him and hide inside a barn for a while, but none of these thoughts were possibilities so he just shrugged his shoulders instead.
"Not really…. I mean we could ride again? Maybe I'll be able to sit on one alone sometime soon so we could go for a ride together… it would probably much easier with two horses," Magnus suggested.
"Yeah, that's true," Alec said. It looked like he was thinking something else, but he didn't say anything. "Do you want to try to ride Shadowhunter alone?"
"Are you sure you're fine with me doing that? I mean, he's your horse…" Magnus started.
"Nonsense," Alec interrupted. "Yes, he is my horse, but as long as it's okay with him, anyone can ride him. And I think he likes you," he said. Together they walked to the stables. Magnus noticed, as he'd done so many times before, that he was walking close enough to just take his hand, or to bump their shoulders together, simply touch Alec. But he didn't, he couldn't. He was a servant, Alec was the future king. He had a girlfriend, Alec was engaged. And Alec was straight, and their relationship was purely platonic, no romance.
"That's nice. I like him as well. I mean, I still respect him a lot, but I also like him and I think he is a very good learning horse, you know? I don't have to be afraid of him because he is gentle and knows that I may need a bit more time. Do you know what I mean?" he asked.
"I know exactly what you mean. My father tried to teach me how to ride on an old, stubborn horse. She refused to do as I said, despite me doing it right. I guess dad just thought I was hopeless, and I was kinda surprised when he got me Shadowhunter. But as soon as I tried to ride him, as soon as he was old and big enough, it was much easier, he listened to every command, even the ones I didn't say. It was like he always knew what I wanted, what I needed. And he's still like that." Alec smiled as he told the story, he seemed lost in his own world. Magnus listened and smiled too, it made him happy to see Alec like this. He fell more and more in love with this man by every second he spent with him.
A few minutes later they arrived at the stables, and Magnus readied himself for another riding lesson, this time alone.
"It's nothing to worry about, Magnus. You were great last time, and you're a natural at everything."
"Thank you, Alexander. And you're an excellent teacher." They smiled at each other for a second before Magnus pulled himself together and looked away. "Let's go ride a horse then."
They spent the rest of the day with Shadowhunter, and at the end you could say that Magnus was almost ready to ride all by himself. Not that he wanted to, but he knew he could and that was something. Once Shadowhunter was fed and taken care of both Magnus and Alec went home, Magnus being very sore, riding a horse was absolutely not easy but it was fun and he had taken Alec's mind off the events of the next day, at least for the evening.
She's coming, she's coming, she's coming. Alec's brain was on repeat, and only one thing had been running through it all night and all morning. And now she really was coming. Alec could see her carriage from where he standing on the staircase waiting for her.
He had his best clothes on. At least what his father considered his best clothes. According to Izzy, they were "silly and old-fashioned". He was wearing a red and white tunic with a leather belt holding a sword at his hip. He was also wearing the traditional red cape and a small crown his father had forced on him. Alec didn't like the crown, it represented everything he'd never wanted. And it was flashy, with diamonds and rubies and sapphires, it attracted too much attention.
At least Magnus was by his side, waiting with him. He'd told Magnus he didn't have to be there, but Magnus had insisted. "She's coming," Magnus whispered to him, like Alec needed a reminder.
"I can see that," Alec replied.
"Try to relax, maybe she is nice. And who knows, maybe you'll end up falling in love with her and everything will be perfect," Magnus said quietly. It was nice to hear those things but Alec knew that this would never happen. He wished it was possible, that he could fall in love with a girl. He'd begged every god and every angel he knew of to make it possible, to let him love a girl. It hadn't happened. He agreed anyway.
"Yeah, maybe." The carriage stopped a few meters away from the staircase. The horses were tired and anxious about the new place full of people, but they were quickly taken away to the stables by some servants before another one came to open the door and help a young, beautiful woman get out.
"Wow," Magnus couldn't help but whisper. Because she was beautiful, extremely beautiful. Alec knew he wasn't attracted to her, and never would be, but she was beautiful, and Alec could live with that, right? The woman, Lydia, walked up the stairs with a natural grace, despite her high heeled shoes and the long dress, and she effortlessly caught everyone's attention. She walked up to Alec, it was probably pretty obvious he was the prince she was going to marry, since he was standing in the middle of the staircase and had a crown on his head. Nobody wears crowns, only the kings! The princes and princesses wearing crowns was a rare event. Mostly because they were heavy, pointless, and annoying.
But either way, Lydia walked up to him, and Alec noticed Magnus bowing for her. Lydia smiled at him and gave him a small nod before turning to Alec. "You must be prince Alexander," she said.
"Yes, I am and you must be Lydia Br… Branwell," he said and bit his lip, how could he forget her name?! He was supposed to marry her, he had to know her name. "It's very nice to meet you." Lydia chuckled quietly and let Alec take her hand to kiss it.
"That's me," she said with a smile. "Lovely to meet you too."
Alec wanted to hate this woman, this person he was being forced to marry. But she was just as much of a victim in this as he was, and she was so nice, Alec couldn't hate her, couldn't even make himself be mad at her.
Alec tried to think of something to do, something to say, but he didn't know what. He didn't know this woman, and she didn't know him. And they were supposed to get married. Alec shot Magnus a look, a silent plea for help. Magnus, being the angel he was, immediately went to rescue.
"How about we go inside?" He suggested. "Much more comfortable than being out here in the sun, right?" He said. Then he seemed to remember Lydia was there and quickly added, "Your highnesses." Lydia smiled at him and nodded.
"Wonderful idea," she said. Alec offered his arm to her to show her the way and gave Magnus a thankful smile. Alec lead Lydia through the corridors, Magnus following after them at a small distance, but still close enough to come to immediate help. Alec loved him so much… No, I don't! He didn't. He had his future wife right beside him, and he would love either her or no one.
He showed Lydia to his chambers, which he had cleaned the night before. "Could we please go inside? I want to sit down for a moment," Lydia said.
"Of course." Alec lead her inside and gestured to the bed and the chairs. "Make yourself at home," he said. Magnus closed the door behind and then probably waited outside of his room. Now Alec was left alone with his future wife and he had no idea what to say to her.
"Uhm, do you… need anything? Want anything?" He asked.
"Yes, actually," she said, sitting down on the bed. Alec looked nervously at her, wondering about what she could possibly want. "I want you to stop being so formal with me. We're gonna get married, I want to know the real you, not the price, but Alexander."
"Oh," Alec said. That was the most intelligent thing his brain came up with. "You, um… oh." Why was this leaving him so shocked? It wasn't like what Lydia was asking for was absurd, it made sense for them to really know each other. It was just… Alec didn't even know.
"Are you okay? I'm sorry if that was surprising, Alexander." Alec shook his head to try to focus. She'd called him Alexander, for some reason it felt wrong. It didn't feel like when Magnus called him that, it felt… well, wrong. She wasn't Magnus, and Alec couldn't deny that he would have preferred it if she was.
"Yes, I am fine. But please call me Alec. Only my father calls me Alexander and when he does it's never something good," Alec told her and hoped she would understand.
"Of course. Alec it is. Come sit down, Alec." She patted a spot next to her. How was she so confident? This was Alec's room, Alec's kingdom. He was supposed to do the talking, the showing around. And instead he was awkwardly standing in his room while Lydia was driving everything forwards. Alec moved to sit beside her.
"Tell me about yourself, Alec."
"About me? There's really nothing interesting to tell. My name is Alexander Lightwood, I'm 21, I'm the future king of Idris, and that's about it."
"Those are the facts, I already knew that. I want to know who you are."
"You mean like… I enjoy riding my horse and my favorite weapon is the bow?" he asked, he wasn't sure if those things would count but he tried.
"Yeah, stuff like that. Tell me more," she urged him to go on.
"Okay. Um, I love my siblings, but sometimes I get really annoyed by them. I love to go swimming, in lakes and rivers, and even in the sea, I just love to swim. I love all kinds of animals, wild and domesticated alike. I find nature fascinating, and I like to study plants and animals." Alec kept ranting, he got so lost in telling Lydia what he liked and loved that he almost told her a little too much. "I love the color of the sky when the sun sets, I love Ma-" Alec cut himself if with a fake cough, realizing what he had been about to say.
"You love what?" Lydia asked.
"Nothing, it was nothing," Alec insisted. "I've told you a lot about me now, tell me about you." Lydia proceeded to do that. She told him about her love for fighting, which reminded Alec of Izzy. But Lydia wasn't like Izzy, she was strong in her own way, and from what she said she liked, she could kick a guy's ass. But then she also liked other stuff, like the beauty of a flickering candle, or the sounds the waves make, or the feeling of wind when you're riding a horse. The more they talked the more he liked her and it was weird because he really wanted her as a friend. But maybe that was good? Maybe they could make this marriage work. Yes, they would have to make a kid, but they could figure that out. And other then that, as long as they were around each other, it was fine.
It was fun to talk to Lydia, she was smart, had a good sense of humor, liked the same things Alec like, and she seemed great. If only I could fall in love with a girl. She's perfect.
He didn't know how much time had passed when a knock at the door interrupted them. "Who is it?" Alec asked.
"Um, it's me," came Magnus's voice from the other side.
"Magnus, come in." The door was opened and Magnus stepped inside.
"I'm sorry, am I disturbing anything?" He asked.
"Not at all. What is it?"
"Your father wants both of you to officially announce the engagement and the wedding date, now. He's waiting for you on the balcony, they said you would know which one." Alec nodded and stood, Lydia following right behind. Instead of linking her arm with Alec's again, she walked up to Magnus. "What's your name?" She asked.
"My name? Um, Magnus. Your highness." Magnus had never acted this way around Alec, not even in the beginning of their time together. It sounded weird how he was answering her. It was forced and Magnus just seemed tense overall. Alec decided that he would need to talk to Magnus later to ask him if he was okay.
"Magnus. I'm Lydia," she said, stretching out her hand for Magnus to take. "It's clear that you don't usually act very formal with Alec, since you always forget titles. Please don't try just because I'm here, just be like you normally are." Magnus seemed to relax a bit at those words and shook Lydia's hand.
"Okay, if that's what you want."
"That is what I want. Just be completely relaxed, I'm not gonna throw you on the dungeons."
"Thank you. It will make my life a lot easier." he smiled and then stepped aside. "Your father is still waiting for you, Alexander."
Alec nodded and quickly looked at Lydia, hoping that she didn't notice that he felt a lot different about Magnus calling him by his full name. But Lydia didn't seem to have noticed, or at least not to think anything about it.
When they walked out of the room a few minutes later, after Magnus had straightened Alec's crown because "it's not standing straight, Alexander! It doesn't look good like that." It had certainly been embarrassing because of Lydia watching them with an amused smile. But when they finally left the room Alec and Lydia were walking together, their arms linked, and Magnus behind them. This was how it was going to be in the future. Every time Alec and Lydia were going to walk together, Magnus would have to walk behind them. And they were going be married, so they would be going a lot of places together.
Alec lead them all to the balcony Magnus had mentioned. It was the balcony used to make statements, tell news, basically when they needed everyone to know something, they blew a horn and went to tell the news on that balcony. The square under was also the one used for executions. So yes, Alec had known immediately which balcony his father had meant.
There was a crowd in the square under, so the horn must have been blown while they were in Alec's room. There had to be over a thousand people down there, waiting to know the news. Alec would be the one to tell them. He would have to tell all these people he was getting married.
"Give me a second, please" he requested and once Lydia nodded Alec turned back to Magnus. "I can do this, right? I will get married and everything is going to be fine."
"Yes, Alexander, you can do this. And maybe not everything will be fine, but life will be pretty great, it'll just be something to get used to. But you can do this, okay?" Alec took a deep breath.
"Okay." If Magnus believed in him, he could do it. He turned back to Lydia, and together they stepped onto the balcony. Alec faced the crowd nervously. It wasn't his first time on the balcony, it wasn't even the first time he was the center of attention. But it was the first time he would have to speak more than a few words to his kingdom. He took a deep breath and then looked around.
"Thank you all for coming here today. I have some great news for you all. This is Lydia Branwell, she is a princess from the Londistute Kingdom, and she is also my fiance. We will get married in October, and from that moment on she will live here in Idris by my side as my wife, to help me in need and to support my decisions as well as guide me in my life and raise our children," he called. "Please welcome Lydia Branwell, my future wife!" Alec was proud of himself for managing to say that, and for managing to sound so excited about it. The crowd roared with applause and cheers, and Alec was glad he could make his kingdom so happy. Even if it cost him his own happiness. But he could still be happy, even without romantic love, right? The problem wasn't that he needed love, he didn't. He could do just fine without it. The problem was that he was in love. And he'd fallen in love with the wrong person.
Alec looked away from the crowd to look at Magnus. Magnus gave him a bright smile and a thumbs up, but it didn't reach his eyes. They definitely needed to talk about what was wrong later but for the moment Alec nodded and then he and Lydia spend a few more minutes on the balcony before they went back inside.
"You must be tired, I'll show you your room. We are not married yet, so you can enjoy a bed all for yourself," Alec said to Lydia.
"Yes, thank you, Alec. I'll have to enjoy stretching out on the whole bed while I still can," she agreed. Yet again, Lydia and Alec walked arm in arm, Magnus behind them. It felt wrong not to have Magnus beside him. Alec led Lydia to her room where she was meet by a servant that had been assigned to help her during her stay. After some quick goodbyes, Alec and Magnus left, Magnus finally standing close enough for Alec to touch him if he wanted. And still, Magnus was weirdly silent.
"What's in your mind?" Alec asked.
"So much," Magnus sighed.
"Tell me, let me help you carry it." Magnus shook his head.
"It's nothing, don't worry."
"Magnus, I don't care if its something to worry about or not. It's on your mind, it's clearly been bugging you. So tell me, I want to help."
"You're so sweet, Alexander." Magnus sighed. "I'm thinking about you getting married, I can't believe it's happening. And I'm also worried… about Lilith. I've been trying to find information on her, but it's like everything's been erased. There's the common knowledge, she's the queen of hell, she was the first woman to walk on earth, she's the mother of all demons, stuff like that. But there's nothing more, nothing useful. It's like it was purposefully destroyed."
"That's what's been distracting you all day? You've been worrying about me?" Alec asked. "Magnus, you… thank you, but you need to live for yourself too, you can't just think about me."
"I know that. But that can't stop me from worrying." Alec sighed at took Magnus' hand in his. Magnus didn't pull back.
"Listen, we will figure this out, and we will defeat Lilith. But there's no point in exhausting yourself. Right now there's no immediate danger, let's take this time to relax. Okay?" Alec gave Magnus' hand a quick squeeze, and if his heart fluttered when Magnus squeezed back, no one would ever know.
"Okay," Magnus said with a sigh. "Thank you, Alexander." Alec nodded.
"Of course, no problem." Alec wanted to pull Magnus in for a hug, hold him tight and forget about all their problems. Come to think of it, he hadn't hugged Magnus yet, not even once. But before he could gather up the nerve Magnus pulled away.
"Good night, Alexander. I'll see you tomorrow," He said and walked away, leaving Alec alone in the middle of the corridor. This was so unlike Magnus, what could be wrong with him? Was he ill? Alec shook his head and ran a hand through his hair. Well, tried. The crown was in the way. Fuck the crown. Alec didn't want it, he hated it. Hated everything it represented, hated the weight it put on him.
Alec walked the rest of the way to his room, where he closed the door behind him before collapsing down on the bed. He wanted to throw the crown away, throw it against a wall and hope for it to break. But he didn't. He took it off and placed it on the bedside table carefully before taking off the belt and the sword too, leaning it against the wall by the bed. He thought about getting out of the rest of the clothes, but he couldn't bring himself to bother.
Usually Magnus was here, and he would refuse to leave before Alec was ready for bed. If he was here now he would have pulled Alec out of bed, helped him out of his clothes, and then tucked him into the bed. What would it be like when Lydia was going to sleep with him?
Without Magnus here, Alec simply lied on the bed and hoped to fall asleep. He knew he probably wouldn't, couldn't. But he hoped, and he begged that someone would have mercy on him.
Now that Magnus thought about it, he should probably have followed Alec all the way to his room. Knowing him he wouldn't even get out of his clothes, much less get any sleep. But the urge to embrace him, hold him tight and shield him from everything trying to hurt him, had gotten so big, he had to leave before he gave into it.
It wasn't that he thought Alec wouldn't want it, it would just be a friendly hug. It was really just because Magnus didn't think he could do it. If he hugged Alec, he might never let go. And he had stuff he needed to do anyway.
It had been less than two days since he talked to Ithuriel, but he needed to talk to him again. He'd spent all his free time trying to find information about Lilith, both in Luke's books and in the castle's library books. There was nothing, anywhere. And Ithuriel had told him to come back in times of need, well this was a time of need.
Magnus walked in the direction of his home until he was out of view, and then turned around to head towards the dungeons. He avoided all guards again and found the glamoured wall. That had been his biggest fear, that he wouldn't find it without the voice calling for him. But he did, and he followed the dark corridor again. He hadn't brought a torch this time, instead, he lit a blue flame in his hand. He'd started to get the hang of it, he could make it brighter, dimmer, bigger, smaller. He could even make it move around in the room, although that required some concentration.
"Ithuriel!" Magnus called into the cave as soon as he got to the ledge. He shined as much light as he could, but didn't even get close to illuminating the whole cave. He kept calling and yelling for him, but Ithuriel didn't appear. Magnus was about to give up, but he tried one last time. He put all his strength into the words, tried to make them as commanding as possible. Maybe if he sounded confident enough, Ithuriel would come. He said the words loudly, but not yelling like he'd done earlier. "Show yourself," he said.
Barely a second passed before he heard a loud growl from the darkness. "You're playing a dangerous game, son of Asmodeus." Magnus heard the flapping of wings and rattling chains before Ithuriel came into the light, his golden eyes looking at Magnus with anger.
"I'm not playing any game, I need answers!" Magnus took a step closer to the dragon. He wanted to be as close as possible, but he couldn't go far without falling to his death, which he would prefer to avoid.
"I know what answers you seek, and I do not have them," Ithuriel said.
"What do you mean you don't have them? I thought you were an angel, aren't you supposed to know everything?"
"We only know what we've seen, and we do not see the demon's doing."
"Are you saying a demon erased all information on Lilith?" So Magnus was right? It had been destroyed on purpose.
"There has never been any knowledge about Lilith. She keeps to herself, and she keeps it a secret. Only the myths can tell you about her weakness."
"I've read all the myths! Multiple times, again and again, looking for something. There's nothing in them, no information, nothing that can help."
"Look closer and you might find the knowledge you need. I cannot help you with this, son of Asmodeus."
"Fine. Coming here was a waste of time," Magnus snapped. So much for having an angel helping him.
Magnus headed back home, he left the dungeons and made his way through the castle. He stopped himself when he passed the corridor to Alec's room. He should at least go check if everything was fine after he'd left.
He made his way to Alec's room carefully. Jace and Isabelle's rooms were in the same corridor, and he didn't want to wake any of them. He didn't knock at Alec's door, if Alec happened to be asleep he wouldn't want to wake him. He opened the door as carefully as he could and stepped inside Alec's room.
Alec was lying in the bed, and he didn't seem to hear that Magnus had come in. Maybe he was asleep. But as Magnus approached he could see Alec was still wearing his clothes. He'd at least taken off the crown and the belt with the sword, but otherwise he was still in the clothes he'd used all day.
"Alexander?" Magnus whispered, just to check if he was awake. He didn't get any answer. Carefully he pushed at Alec's shoulder to make him turn over on his back. "Oh, Alexander." Alec's face was tearstained, like he'd cried himself to sleep. "It's okay now. Everything's going to be okay." Magnus brushed his hand over Alec's cheek, pushing a black lock out of his face. As carefully and silent as he could, he started to undress Alec.
He pulled off the shoes and socks first before moving to his tunic. He pulled it over his head and folded it before putting it down and moved to the pants. Alec's eyelids fluttered open. "Magnus?" He mumbled.
"Yes, is me. Go back to sleep, Alexander," Magnus said softly. He left Alec in his underwear to pull the covers out from under him. He pulled them up to Alec's chin before running a hand through his hair. "Sleep well, Alexander," he said. Without thinking about it he leaned down to kiss Alec's forehead, his lips lingering on the soft skin. He pulled away before he did something else, like actually kiss Alec. He quickly moved back from the bed, closed the door behind him, and left the castle.
Should this stay on mature or should I make it explicit? I don't know, what do you guys think?
Also, I don't know if any of you noticed, but Lydia is from the Londistute kingdom, basically the London Institute because I suck at making up names. Please don't judge me.
Also, I love reviews, feedback, comments, questions, whatever. And I love favs too. But I don't want to ask you to leave one, because that way it feels like I'm making you leave one. If you feel inclined to, please leave one of the mentioned things.
