Two chapters in one day? Awesome right? Hope you guys enjoy.

Disclaimer: I don't own Cassandra Clare's characters. If I did I would've had Malec's wedding published by now.

Chapter 12: The Other Queen

Everyone stared between Clary and Kiara. Clary kept her gaze locked on the queen across from her, who continued to avoid looking up. Moments passed like hours as all of them stared at each other in confusion, too shocked to ask the questions they were dying to ask. Kiara took a deep, long sigh before opening her mouth again.

"How long have you known?" Kiara's question was not accusing, nor was it surprised nor depressed. In fact, it seemed as though she had been expecting Clary to know.

"When we were attacked, before I blacked out, I remembered one of the girls saying something about a woman named Helena. At first, I didn't think much of it, but when we were in the baths the way Alyssa cut herself off seemed like she was hiding something. Then later that day, when we were passing through the castle to get to lunch, I remembered seeing a suit of armor in a glass case, with Greek Symbols for 'royal armor'. However, I didn't put all the pieces together until today. While waiting for Jace to finish healing, I asked Lady Hannah for something to do, and she gave me a book. It spoke about a civil war between the queen and her successor. By its account, it said the successor's victory caused a great schism between the people, and it has been that way ever since." Clary paused for a moment, refocusing her attention to the queen in front of her.

"That successor was you, wasn't it?" Her voice was tiny, yet so full of concern and emotion that it filled the room.

Kiara gave a weak, slightly knowing smile that was tinged with sadness. Alyssa leaned closer onto her wife, and Lady Hannah placed a comforting hand on the queen's other shoulder.

"You figured it out," Kiara said quietly. "I knew someone as smart as you would, Clarissa Fairchild." Clary gave a brief smile of thanks for the compliment before she became serious once more. At this point, all eyes fixated on the royal trio in front of them.

"Why was there a schism?" Simon asked, genuinely curious. "I mean, I know why nations split, but what was the story behind it? There is always a reason."

Kiara grimaced, her jaw tight and her eyes fell to her lap. Alyssa lifted her head to look at her wife in a worried way. Slowly, she leaned closer, attempting to comfort her wife with her closeness. Meanwhile, Lady Hannah continued to rub small circles into the queen's back. Nevertheless, the queen did not raise her gaze; she just gave a sigh of regret. They all watched and waited for the queen to answer.

"My lady," Lady Hannah said, slipping into her official business mode. "If you do not wish to recount the events, I shall do so in your place." Kiara raised her hand and the knight fell silent.

"That's not necessary," Kiara replied gently. "But thank you. It's just…I don't know where to begin."

"How about at the beginning?" Magnus asked patiently, as if trying to coax a wounded, frightened animal. "That's usually where a story starts."

"The entire story would take too much time," Kiara said remorsefully. "I'll just start from when I was rescued by the woman I called mother."

All of them became quiet and watched her, waiting for her to start telling. They let her take all the time she needed. It looked as though the story would be hard to tell, because it caused her pain. Then, she took a deep, shaky breath, and began to speak once more.

"It happened after I had just been appointed to the high guard. After…certain incidents in my life, I joined the werecats with a vow never to allow anyone to experience the pain I had. I made a vow to myself, to protect those who couldn't do so themselves, because I never wanted someone to feel as helpless and miserable as I had for years."

"Why was that?" Simon asked, his curiosity blinding him to the pain in Kiara's eyes. "I mean, why did you join them? And why did you make that vow? What happened?"

"Silence," Lady Hannah in a quiet, demanding tone.

"No, it's alright," Kiara answered shakily. "If you want to know, I will tell you the abridged version. A few months after meeting Magnus, I attempted to impress him by taking on a difficult job he had refused to undertake due to...less than favorable risks. As result, a lunatic kidnapped me and kept me imprisoned for fifty years, torturing me daily. At one point, the man told me that Magnus had been the one to hire him, because he hated me. That's why I've been so hostile towards him when you all first arrived, but I know now that it's not true. However, my mind was broken long before the madman told me his lie."

All of them stared between Kiara and Magnus in shock. Magnus was looking down at his pants, his jaw tight and his hands balled into fists on his legs. Fury clouded his eyes, as well as regret and sorrow for past actions he long since regretted. Alec reached over and placed a hand on one of his boyfriend's, and Clary placed a hand on his back as well. At the same time, Kiara glanced up to see her half brother deep in thought and frowned at the look on his face.

"It's not your fault Magnus. I don't blame you, not anymore," Kiara said to him softly, her tone so tender and kind that it seemed impossible to believe that less than a day ago she had spoken to him with such venom. Magnus gave a deep sigh before glancing up at his half-sister. When they looked at Kiara, her position was similar to her brothers, refusing to look at the others, eyes glazed over with pain and anger from memories. She paused for a moment before continuing.

"But I digress. Where was I? Oh, yes. I was rescued by the werecats because my captor had captured a couple of their own. When they attacked the prison, they released all the captives, but I refused to leave. It was Lady Hannah and her sister, the current Queen Helena, who brought me here. They saw over my recovery and took me in. At first, I wanted nothing more than to be left alone; I wanted to calcify or die or just vanish from the world entirely. However, neither Hannah nor Helena would allow that."

At this, Lady Hannah gave a motherly smile. Kiara looked up for a moment to smile back, and leaned towards the woman, bumping their shoulders together. The moment ended when Kiara leaned away, but instead of looking to her lap, she looked towards her guests. Her eyes were angry, regretful, and nostalgic. Alyssa just continued to lean on her wife.

"Once I began to recover emotionally, I made my vow of strength. I begged the queen and Hannah to train me, to teach me to be strong, and they agreed. From that moment on, I viewed Queen Helena as more than a queen or a savior, I viewed her as a mother, an angel. In my eyes, she saved me and cared for me with the love and care that a mother would. That idolatry blinded me from the truth I should've seen."

"There was no way you could've known," Lady Hannah said in a comforting tone. "Helena knew how to keep her secrets well. Even from me, and I knew her better than anyone."

"Anyways, I trained under her for decades, until I became a member of her Honor Guard, the highest position in the queendom. The queendom celebrated, because it was rare for one to be appointed after so few years of training, but I had poured my life into it. However, my elation lasted for only a few hours. After that, I learned of my adoptive mother's sinister truth.

"Helena…she was committing crimes against her people in secret. Thinking about it, I cannot put into words what they were, because they were so awful. You can't describe something so horrible in a way that everyone will understand the gravity of it. However, it reminded me of my days of incarceration, what she was doing. All she was doing…it was so horrible…she was murdering her people with no qualms! It was wrong!"

Kiara's voice rose in anger, and little flicks of magic sparked around her. As her voice continued to rise, the ground shook and the temperature rose. A few times, they saw black, ink-like stripes flash across her skin, but they vanished so fast it seemed like a trick of the light. At her side, Alyssa wrapped her arms around her wife's torso, leaning up to whisper soothing words into the queen's ear. Lady Hannah moved her hand from Kiara's back to her shoulder, squeezing it tightly. Soon after, Kiara's body relaxed a bit and the shaking stopped. The tension in her body remained, as did her angry expression, but she seemed to have regained control over it.

"I made another vow at that moment to end Helena's reign. If this was how she treated her subjects, she did not deserve to be queen. I spent weeks planning a revolt with Hannah, who had found out what I was scheming and agreed to help me. Back then, I idolized Helena so much that I didn't realize that Hannah was my real mother, but that's beside the point.

"I spread the truth to those who believed me, and together we stormed the castle. It was a bloody fight, many died, but somehow we won despite being vastly outnumbered and out-skilled. Then I met with Helena in the royal chambers. As part of my preparations, I studied the laws in regards to overthrowing the queen, and the one way I could was to challenge her in combat and beat her, as tradition dictated. So I did.

"No fight before or since then has been so grueling or challenging to me. Helena was my teacher, my sensei, she knew everything I did, and knew more about combat than me. We fought for what seemed like centuries, and I would have been defeated had not Hannah given me a potion the night before. It increased my power and magic just enough for me to overpower her. Finally, she lay on the floor, powerless and vulnerable. Tradition and law dictated that in order to take the crown, I had to kill Helena but somehow…I just couldn't. Despite everything she had done, I still viewed her as my mother. She had saved my life, and in my eyes, I owed her a debt.

"…I took her crown and banished her. If she ever set foot in any werecat territory, I would kill her on site. Helena told me I was weak for letting her live. She told me that my emotions clouded my judgement as a warrior. Perhaps she was right."

She became silent again, catching her breath. Her voice was nearly a whisper, nearly inaudible over the crackle of the flames. In her eyes, tears pricked, but refused to fall. Alyssa continued to embrace her wife and Lady Hannah rested her arm around the queen's shoulders. All of their hearts went out to the girl. She looked so young, yet she was so old and tired. Magnus knew that pain all too well, and the rest of them understood it was painful beyond belief.

"When she left the kingdom, over half the people left with her. Her entire honor guard, nearly all the healers, about three-fourths of our weapon artisans…they willingly went with her. Most of them, I believe, blindly followed out of fear. She had been queen for nearly three hundred years; there was a reason she had not been challenged for so long. Some of them, like my best friend and battle partner Sasha, were manipulated and brainwashed with lies. When she left, she made a vow to return and claim what I had stolen. Before disappearing, she said to me 'I should have let you rot in that cell.' That was the last I saw of her."

All of them remained silent after she finished, the only noise in the room emitting from the fireplace. They soaked in the information they were given with disbelief and sorrow, as well as slight fear and intrigue. Alyssa continued to hold her wife as she attempted to get rid of the tears in her eyes. Hannah stopped her squeezing of Kiara's shoulder and placed her hand back on Kiara's back. For a few minutes, they all sat in silence, thinking about what was said and trying to find out what to ask or say next. Jace broke the silence a few minutes later.

"What happened after she left?" Jace asked. "Have you been at war all this time?"

"No," Kiara replied. "There have been issues, but not war. I don't want that. So many people died just to overthrow her. War is the last thing I want to resort to. However, she has attempted to instigate it in the past. Numerous times in the last century, she has sent assassins to end my life in her name, or she has sent small attack groups into the city. They've been sporadic; there is no pattern to it. Even after all this time, I still don't know what she is planning. I've tried to keep her monitored, but she vanished after her banishment."

"So the cats that attacked us?" Simon began to ask. "Were they—?"

"They are part of a rebel organization created by our people when Kiara took the crown," Lady Hannah finished. "Based on your descriptions and the evidence the scouts have gathered, we have determined they were your attackers. There is no other type of fighter who could do what they did."

"Why attack us, though?" Alec asked. "We had no idea you existed, so by contradiction we weren't a threat. Wouldn't it have been easier for her to just take you on without letting us know?"

"I assume she did it to throw me off my game," Kiara answered gravely. "My scouts around the world have been sending me reports. Apparently, numerous Institutes have experienced similar assaults in correspondence to yours. However, I've given them orders to block their minds of the incidents. This is not business of the Nephilim, it is my people's."

"She's trying to thin out your resources," Jace concluded. "With your forces scattered in trying to keep the Shadow World out of this, she has the time to gather her forces and attack you when you are weakest."

"Exactly." One question remained, though.

"Why didn't your scouts wipe our minds?" Izzy asked. "If this is happening all over the world, then why didn't you have your scouts wipe our minds before we could start investigating."

"You were the first attack," Lady Hannah explained with a frown that was only brought on when you were explaining something you wished weren't true. "And after you came into our domain, the attacks on the other Institutes began to multiply. Helena planned for you to find Kiara. She wanted you to find her and throw her off her game."

"That's impossible," Izzy said incredulously. "There's no way she would have known that a plan like that would have worked. It's so far-fetched, and so many things could have gone wrong or changed."

"And yet you are here, exactly as she hoped, I suspect," Kiara interrupted. "However, I am not surprised that this happened."

"Why?" Magnus asked.

"Helena remained queen because she was the most dangerous warrior in our nation. She is a keen observer, a master strategist, and cunning manipulator. As an immortal like myself and you Magnus, time is on her side. She possesses the time, patience, and mind to calculate the perfect opportunity to strike her opponent, and never moves until she is absolutely certain she will win."

"Sounds like the Seelie Queen," Jace muttered, and the others nodded in agreement. However, the three royals narrowed their eyes.

"Worse," Lady Hannah corrected. "Not only is she as patient and cunning as the Seelie Queen, she is a warrior herself. She is a master tactician, and has more patience than anyone in the world. In order to get what she wants, she will wait as long as necessary before she makes her move. I imagine for the past fifty years she has done nothing but analyzed everything about me and my people as she could. If I know her, she will have already memorized our battle strategies, attack patterns, and thought patterns."

"How?" Clary asked.

"She has spies all throughout the world, and perhaps in the city," Kiara answered gravely. "When she trains her warriors, she makes sure they execute their missions perfectly, and if they are compromised she has no qualms about exterminating them. To her, those who fail are not worthy of serving her. Often times she eliminates those who failed before we have the chance to know they were there. She has probably been training her people for a war for fifty years, while I have done everything in my power to prevent it."

"Wait, how would you know what she is thinking?" Jace asked, somewhat suspiciously. "You seem pretty confident in that you know what she was planning."

This time, it was Alyssa's eyes that narrowed at the accusation. Kiara didn't change expressions, and neither did Hannah. It was like they had been expecting a question like that. As Hannah opened her mouth to explain and answer, Alyssa cut her off with a tone that was more deadly than a diamond dagger.

"The information we gathered on our side was limited, but enough for me to formulate the most probable plan she concocted. About five years ago, we finally managed to capture one of her assassins before she could eliminate herself. When we questioned her, she said not for us to worry, because the time wasn't now. She told me that Helena was doing research on a special group of New Yorkers that might work in her favor. And then she promptly died via concealed syringe she injected . Also, remember that she trained me how to fight as a warrior that would be worthy to serve her. That means that I would have to understand her way of thinking in some way. Hannah also knows Helena better than I do, and she agreed with me that this was most likely what she is planning."

As she finished, all of them stared in shock, while Alyssa's widened in shock. Immediately after she finished her rampage, blush covered her face and she turned, burying her face into her wife's shoulder to hide her embarrassment. Kiara and Hannah gave brief smiles of amusement and pride before turning serious again. Subtly, Kiara reached around and gave her wife a quick, one armed hug before placing her arm back. All the other eyes remained wide for a minute before Kiara snapped her fingers to snap them all out of their shock.

"Why us though?" Jace asked, but Alec answered.

"Because she knew Magnus was your brother, and that you hated him," he explained. "Since she knew you so well and you trusted her so much, I'm guessing you told her all about what that man said Magnus did to you?" Kiara nodded her head in shame, balling her fists again.

"I trusted her with everything because I thought she was caring for me like the mother I lost so long ago. In the end, she was just using me for her own personal gain. She fed my anger towards Magnus, as well, telling me to show him no mercy if I met him again."

"I'm guessing that she was hoping you would be blinded by your anger at him so much that you would make irrational mistakes when she began to make her move?" Alec pressed on. Another shameful nod. She then looked up to her brother with regretful feline eyes.

"I wish I had never believed them," she said to him. "I should have tried to find you and talk to you instead of assuming everything was true."

"You were emotionally and physically broken," Magnus countered softly, emotion filling his voice. "I admit, I was angry that you blamed me for everything bad in your life, and for doing something I didn't do, but I don't blame you now. It still hurts a bit, but you were taken advantage of when you were vulnerable. Trust me, I know what that's like. I understand, and I don't hold it against you." Kiara gave him a water smile, which then vanished as she turned to face the rest of the group.

"That about sums it up, I think," Kiara concluded with a tone flooded with sorrow and authority. "Is there anything you wish for me to elaborate on?"

"Let me see if I have this right," Simon began again, looking at his hands. "So you are saying that your arch rival, the woman who wants you dead, deliberately sent her spies to attack us specifically, so that we would become suspicious and go searching for your people. She planned for us to suspect the werecats, go search for them, then find the right place, only to end up being captured and held prisoner for a week, only to finally be allowed into the queendom by you?" Simon looked up as he asked the question, his eyes pleading that her answer would be the opposite of what he knew it would be.

"Pretty much," Lady Hannah said with a shrug. All eyes stared at the royals, unbelieving and astounded. The room became silent, even the crackle of the fireplace seemed to decrease in volume. A sense of fear and confusion filled the room to the brim, making everyone tense and stiff.

"That's impossible," Clary murmured. "I mean, Sebastian wasn't as clever as you make her sound. How did we allow this to happen?"

"You had no idea we existed until now," Lady Hannah tried to reason with a gentle, soothing tone. "It was not possible for you to prevent it."

"Still, how is this even possible? It shouldn't be possible, and yet it is," Izzy continued in her place. "We are the impossible, and I can't believe something more impossible is happening. How?"

Kiara did not answer right away, her face a mask of pensive thought. Slowly, she unwrapped her wife's arms from around her and stood up. Silently, she glided over to one of the bookshelves and leaned down, opening one of the cabinets beneath. After a moment, she removed a small box from inside, closed the door, and retook her seat on the couch. All of the guests watched as she dumped out the contents onto the coffee table between them.

Inside was a checkered board and a set of black and white marble chess pieces.

One by one, Kiara placed the board and pieces in their correct positions, positioning the white side closest to her. Once all the pieces were set up, however, she snapped her fingers so that the black row had an additional row of pawns. Also, strangely, she changed all the white chess pieces except for the king into pawns. Then, she took one of the black knights in her hand to display it to everyone.

"If this were a game of chess, imagine the white represented you and the good guys along with my race, while the black represents the bad guys you and I have faced," Kiara began. "In this game, I imagine that Sebastian Johnathan Morgenstern would have been a knight. He had the power to move around, but in a way, he only moved in a certain direction and pattern, towards his own goals and ambitions. Valentine moved in a similar way, but more limited, as a rook or bishop. His goals were the same as his sons, but he was not nearly as close to achieving them as his father."

She stopped for a moment, placing the knight piece off to the side of the board, along with one bishop. Then, with a look of repressed anger, she picked up the black king.

"Compared to them, Helena is the black king. She remains motionless, and allows her underlings to do her dirty work and protect her. In this game, she is the defining factor, the one thing that must be eliminated to achieve victory. On the opposite end of the spectrum, I would represent the white king, though I try to move with my people. Everyone else are pawns, including you. I assume all of you understand the goal of a chess game?"

All of them nodded silently.

"Eliminate the other king to win the game," Alec answered for them. Kiara nodded gravely, her eyes clouded over with dark emotion.

"For nearly two hundred years, Helena and I have been locked in this chess game, with her eliminating my pawns and pieces one by one. At the same time, she increases her pawns and pieces to protect her. She plays dirty, breaking the rules in order to win. Helena wants me to declare war. She has been using my constant rejections to increase her ranks so she can demolish us when I am left with no choice but war. Gradually, I have been backed into a corner; all of my higher pieces have been turned into pawns in an attempt to leave me powerless. "

"And what happens if she traps you?" Clary asked quietly, fearing the answer. "If you do declare war, and she wins?"

Silently, Kiara moved her right hand over the white king. As she lifted her hand, blue sparks flicked to life, animating the black chess pieces to demolish the white chess pieces until only the white king remained. It looked like a real-life Harry Potter chess board, but much more terrifying. When the white king was left standing and surrounded by all the black pieces sans the black king, the sparks vanished. Remaining silent, Kiara used one finger and tipped over the white king.

As it fell on its side, it shattered into a million pieces, as if it were made of glass rather than stone.

All eyes widened in fear and apprehension as the sight before they turned their attention back to the queen. Alyssa was clutching to her wife desperately, shaking as the stared in fright at the shattered king, while Helena's fists tightened on her lap as she stared right back. Kiara's face remained calm, almost impassive but rueful at the sight.

"Check mate," was all she answered.

Here you go! This is my shortest chapter to date, but I just couldn't really stretch this out much more. Anyways, here is another thing I'm working on: I'm writing out a literal history of how the werecats were first created. I have been hand writing it for about a week, but I'm really proud of it. I know what I want it to say and how I want it to progress and end. Would any of you like me to publish it when it is finished? Let me know in the reviews.