Alice's POV
I step through the portal and on the other side is the London Institute. It's as magnificent as I remember, though the other times I have seen it it's been more lively. I come here every year for the Christmas party. They are known for their Christmas parties. Arthur Blackthorn runs the institute. I've talked to him a couple times at the parties and he seems okay. The real reasons I decided to come here is that I love the city and I have become very good friends with William Goldhawk. I would much rather get to walk around the city with him every Christmas than get a bunch of useless presents. I wonder what his reaction will be to me showing up? Well. Let's find out. I take a deep breath and walk up to the grand front doors of the institute. Then I knock. I hold my breath as I wait for someone to answer and hope that it's William. If not then the chances of me being aloud to stay here are very slim. But, if he finds me first he can convince the others to let me stay, and they can convince my parents and the Verlacs. I am beginning to feel faint from lack of breathing when the door finally opens to reveal Will on the other side. I can immediately see the shock in his amber eyes and he appears to be too stunned to say anything.
"Hey Will." I say, smiling.
He smiles too. "By the angel. What the hell are you doing here? Mum and dad never said anything about you coming. Where's everyone else?"
"Back in Paris. And me being here is kinda a long story. Could we talk somewhere private? And I would prefer if no one else knew I was here for now."
He looks at me skeptically, but agrees. "Yeah, of course. I'll take you to my room. Mum and dad are out on a hunting trip and the king is asleep in his room."
"The king?"
"Arthur."
"Oh, right. Thank you. For agreeing to help me."
"I haven't agreed to help you with whatever it is that you are planning. I have agreed not to let everyone else know your here. For now."
"Well hopefully you will help me with the rest too."
"If it's anything like some of the other insane plans you've had, I might not." He says, but I can tell by the look in his eyes that he has already decided to help me.
"What if it's fun?" I ask in a playful voice.
He rolls his eyes. "All of your ideas are fun." He says as he opens the door to his room. I walk in and he closes the door. Once its closed I turn around and give him a playful smile.
"And what if this one involves us training together?"
He looks alarmed. "What are you talking about?"
I take a deep breath and tell him the whole story. Starting with Sebastian and I training and ending with me being at the doorstep of the London Institute.
"Okay, so let me get this straight." He says once I'm done. "You had a fight with Sebastian, so his parents kicked you out for six months to train in Idris, but you decided to run away before they could get you there, so now you are here hoping to train with me."
"Yes."
"Okay. I'm game, but what am I supposed to do? It sounds like you've already done everything."
"Not quite. I still need your parents and Arthur to be okay with me staying here and then get them to convince my parents and the Verlacs to be okay with it."
"And how am I supposed to accomplish that?"
"I dont know. It's your parents. Tell them that I would be okay here, and I would behave and that, and that if I stay here you can finally have a training partner who is your age."
"And what if I cant do it? What if I don't convince them? Then what?"
I look at him sadly and know that I am going to regret the words that are about to come out of my mouth. "Then we tell them that we want to be parabatai."
He looks shocked at first, but that quickly morphs to mimic the sadness that is in my own eye. "You're not serious. Are you?"
"I don't know. At this point I don't know what would be worse. Going to Idris for six months without knowing anyone or staying here with you and becoming Parabatai." Its not that I don't want to spend that much time with him and be that close to him, the problem arises with the fact that parabatai cannot be romantically involved. Will and I have never officially dated, but we both know that we like each other in that way.
"Okay. I'll convince them. Whatever it takes."
"Thank you." I say and give him a hug. Right when we pull away I hear the front door open and footsteps walk into the institute. "That's them. Go get em tiger." I say and give him an encouraging push towards the door. He sighs and walks out. I follow him. He rounds the corner into the main room where his parents are before I do and I wait, hiding behind the corner. I shouldn't walk in right away. I should give them time to get situated.
"William!" I hear his mother say in her beautiful, soothing voice.
"Hello mum. How did the hunt go?"
"It was fine. Not too many complications. Most of the Mundanes in the area were drunk so it was easy to convince them that they had imagined it all." His father tells him.
"Good." Will says.
"Oh Will! We got an interesting fire message a few moments ago about that Fairfox girl that you like." His mother says and I have to work hard not to laugh as I imagine the blush on his face.
"Mum!" He says, embraced.
"What? It's not like she's here. Anyway, we got a fire message from the Paris Institute saying that she got in some trouble and is being sent to Idris for some time. She most likely wont be at our next Christmas party, so it will probably be a while before you can see her again." Now seems like a good time to butt in. I walk around the corner and his parents see me right away. His mom gasps. "Alice? But you're supposed to be in Idris. What are you doing here?"
"My so called 'fight' with Sebastian was just a misunderstanding. He was mad and trying to get me in trouble. His parents want to force me to go to Idris, but I don't want to. I would much rather come here for six months than go there, so I figured maybe there was a chance that I could convince you to let me stay."
"I don't know." His father says. "Your parents and the Verlacs made their decision."
"Then maybe you could change their minds." William says, helping me. "I trust her. I know that she will train long and hard and prove that she isn't prone to violence like they think she is. You guys could help her and watch her train, make sure she stays in check. Plus I would finally have a training partner. It couldn't hurt to let her stay here, would it?" I smile at him gratefully before turning towards his parents and waiting for their answer.
They look at each other and then back at me. "We will consult with Arthur about it in the morning." Wills father says.
"Thank you." I say
"But we have to notify your parents first." His mother adds and my heart sinks.
"Is there anyway that you could hold off doing that until you've talked it out with Arthur?" I ask.
They look at each other again."Very well." His mother says. "But if they call us and ask if we have heard from you, we will not lie to them."
"Of course. That is perfectly fine. Thank you so much."
"No problem." His father says. "William. Find her a room to stay the night in."
"Yes sir." He says politely before turning around and giving me a huge smile. He picks me up in a bear hug and we both laugh. "It worked!" He exclaims.
"So far." I remind him when he puts me down. "We still have to convince the king."
"Yeah, but he shouldn't be too hard to convince."
"Then we have to convince my parents and the Verlacs."
"The Verlacs will definitely be difficult, but I think we can do it."
"Alright. Well let's worry about it tomorrow."
"Sounds good to me." He says as he shows me to my room. He opens a door that is across the hall from his room and ushers me inside. "Here we are." I look around. It's a relatively plain room. Obviously no one has lived in here for a is one thing that this room seems to have a surplus of and that is books. They are scattered throughout the room.
"It's like a library in here." I say and turn to look at Will who is smiling.
"I thought you'd like it. The last person who lived in the room was very fond of books."
"I can tell. What was their name?"
"Tessa Gray. She lived here about 130 years ago. Stayed in this room for a while, before marrying William Herondale. The two of them ran the institute until he died. I'm not sure where she lives now."
"You mean she's still alive?"
"Yes. She's immortal."
"Was she a Vampire, Warlock, or Faerie?"
"None of the above. Though she was closest to being a Warlock. Her mother was a Shadowhunter who had been raised as a mundane and therefore bore no marks. Her father was a demon. She was something new. The only one of her kind."
"Wow. How do you know all that?"
"I did some research on this place."
"Who was the last person to stay in your room?"
"James Carstairs. He lived here at the same time as Tessa. I read something about them being engaged, but he was very sick and was forced to become a Silent Brother if he wanted to stay alive. They never got married. Instead she married his parabatai."
"William Herondale."
"Yes."
"Well thank you for the history lesson, but I do believe that it is about time the two of us got some sleep."
"Yes, probably"
"My bag is in your room."
"I'll go fetch it for you." He says before disappearing through the door. A few moments later he reappears with my bag in hand. "Here you are."
"Thank you." I say, taking it from him. I kiss him on the cheek and then take a step back. "Goodnight Will."
"Goodnight Alice."
