A/N: Okay, whoa. What the heck. I went to looking over the last chapter and there isn't any A/N, though I'm positive I wrote one. Well, whatever. Hopefully I'll be able to get one more chapter up this week.
Disclaimer: Cassandra Clare owns The Infernal Devices.
"One of the greatest rulers of England: Elizabeth. She was born in 15_3, in _wich Palace. When she was a child, she joined the _hold of her stepmother, Catherine Parr. Elizabeth's brother reigned for a short time, and soon after his and Lady Jane Grey's deaths, Elizabeth's older sister Mary rose to power. Her time on the throne was short lived, however, and Elizabeth was crowned when she was twenty-five. Under Elizabeth's reign, England prospered. Her prowess on the seas became known, the first colonies in North America being settled at this time. The theatre prospered as well. William Shakespeare wrote plays that are now some of the most famous in the world. Among these are Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, Macbeth, and A Midsummer Night's Dream. Along with these dramatic works, he also wrote _ sonnets ."
"Well, what is that supposed to mean?" Jessamine huffed.
"That's obvious, isn't it?" Will said, giving the paper to Jem so he could study it. "We need to find out what goes in all these empty spaces. That's easily solved, I'd say. The library will have books on all this. Should we go now? We've already snuck out."
"We don't need to be skulking around the school anymore than we have," Jem said. "Let's just leave it off for tonight and get on with it tomorrow."
"Fine," Will said in a resigned voice.
The Shadowhunters slipped back down into the courtyard. "I'll be going home now," Gabriel said, turning sharply to face the rest of them. "Tomorrow I'm going to the Institute to inform Charlotte what has been discovered tonight. I'll be back within…five days to see if you've done anything."
"Oh, so you're going to go back to your comfortable house and leave us to do all the work?" Will said. "Typical. Let us solve all the problems while you sit back and sip your chamomile tea. Gabriel, I must say, you never fail to try my patience whenever I talk to you."
"You know what, Herondale? One thing I've never liked about you is how you presume that everyone other than yourself is useless. Do you think that I'm going to do nothing and kick my feet up? Do you have any idea of what you're supposed to do once you've found all this information? No, I don't think you do. So while you research all of this, I'll find out what in God's name what it's supposed mean."
"You do that," Will said shortly. "And while we're on the subject, some things I've never liked about you, Gabriel Lightwood, are your pigheadedness, your pompous walk, your lack of style, and your inability to admit that you are a gormless prat."
"You should really think about what you say, Herondale," Gabriel hissed, growing red in the face, "before you end up with a bloody nose."
Will laughed. "Oh, you amuse me, Lightwood, you really do. You might be older than me, but certainly not a better fighter. I could knock you off your feet in two minutes."
"I'd like to see you try."
"I will, if you want."
"Gladly."
Jem stepped swiftly in between them. He looked at both of the young men. Gabriel's face was twisted with fury, while Will maintained a cool expression, the glinting in his eyes the only giveaway that he was cross. "Might you two take a momentary break in your conversation so we can continue? And just a refresher, I'd like to remind everyone here that Will is underage. You can settle this debate in a year, but not now. Gabriel, we'll see you back in five days, then."
"Yes." Gabriel swung his greatcoat around and stalked away. Will rolled his eyes.
"All right, let's turn in for the day," Jem sighed. "Will, I don't know about you, but I'm so tired I could fall asleep right here. Good night, Jessamine."
"Yes, have a good sleep, Jessie dear," Will said, smirking.
She made a face at him, thanked them, and then began walking the opposite way to her corridor. Will and Jem returned to their own rooms. Once there, Will pulled out the screen divider and the two boys changed into their nightclothes. They bade each other goodnight, and then Will saw the lamp on Jem's side of the screen dim and then was extinguished.
Will got onto his bed and lay down, staring up at the ceiling. Now that he was back in the dorm, he was feeling exhausted. He wished Jem hadn't fallen asleep so early. He needed someone to talk to. Tentatively, he spoke into the darkness.
"Cecily?"
Will didn't see her, but heard her just as well.
"You should be asleep," she scolded. "Jem already is."
"Are you spying on people while they're sleeping?" Will accused.
"Don't go lecturing me about my problems," Cecily said. "You've got your own fair share of them, William Herondale."
"As I have been told," Will replied smoothly.
"Tell me, Will. Why exactly have you been creeping around the school?"
"Doing some investigating."
"For what?"
Will hesitated. "Er…"
"Hmm?"
Reluctantly, Will gave a small, condensed summary of what had been happening.
"Who's Tessa?"
"Just some girl."
"'Just some girl'?"
Silence.
"Don't go playing around with her, Will," Cecily warned. "If I know you—"
"I'm not playing around with her," Will said. "Besides, Tessa's not like other girls. She's not one to be reduced to tears so easily. I don't think she's even interested in boys that much."
"I'm just telling you. She might seem strong on the outside, but the female mind is more delicate than you think."
"I'll keep that in mind."
"Please do."
A ruffle of air rushed through the room, and Will knew that he was once again by himself.
"All days are nights to see till I see thee,
And nights bright days when dreams do show thee me."
- William Shakespeare, Sonnet 43
Crawford told Tessa, "You'll have a day off today. That thing you drank will make you feel a bit sick for a while, so just stay up here and rest."
The girl nodded.
"Good. I'll see you later, then."
He called a meeting in his office. Hansen, Monroe, and Bartlett all came swinging in, big and burly. "Gentlemen, sit." Crawford was in his own tall leather chair behind a polished oak desk. He had dressed up a little for the occasion. His light brown hair was slicked back with pomade and he was wearing a fine new coat with fur trimmings and a gold pocket watch was hanging from his waistcoat. His cronies took the seats that he had placed in front.
"Gentlemen, I'm sure you're wondering why I've called you down here. Well, I'd like to inform you that Miss Gray has successfully taken the drink with no harm. The side affects are more severe than I anticipated, but she seems to be taking them into stride. In about…a week in a half we should be able to give her the instructions."
"And that's when the mind altering process starts?" Bartlett asked.
"Not quite," Crawford said. "It's already in the early stages of taking hold, but it won't sit permanently for a few more days. She's going to try to resist, we have to get over that first. It shouldn't take that long, though. I mixed the drink, so that she won't dream. All of her interpretation skills in reading have also been paused also."
"What's that supposed to do?" Monroe inquired.
"Well dreams could trigger memories of…anything. If she remembered something, that wouldn't be the best, would it? If she kept on dreaming, she'd keep on remembering things and have more of these memories in her head. They might snap her out of the charm. Now she can't dream, so it's guaranteed she won't and doesn't have any access to anything in the past.
"As for the interpretation part, she'll be able to read things, but won't know what to make of it. That way if she spots something that has to do with the plan, she won't understand it. She'll just brush right over it like it's a list of groceries.
"Now you all need to mind that this does have some drawbacks. She's not going to do everything by herself. Someone will need to wake her up every morning and get ready for the day, same at night. She doesn't need specific instructions; you don't need to tell her, 'Change into your nightgown', she'll do that as long as you tell her 'Get ready for bed'. You three will be in charge of that, telling her to prepare for night and day. Figure that out on your own time. You have to be specific about it, don't forget. Make sure you tell her when to do it, or else she'll be confused.
"Any questions?"
The three men shook their heads.
"Monroe, have you still been keeping the tabs? I want to make sure we don't need to waste any more time on gathering information if the information we have right now is faulty. She hasn't moved residence, has she? She doesn't have any suitors coming to see her?"
"No, sir."
"Of course not. No one would be seeing Anna, would they?" Crawford laughed cruelly. The men in front of him chuckled lightly. "Hansen, tomorrow I'm going to be testing how the drink worked. I want you to watch her, see how well she carries out the tasks I set to her."
"Yes sir."
"Well gentlemen, I believe we can adjourn this meeting for now. Another one will be held at nine o'clock tomorrow night to discuss the developments. Understood?"
They nodded and murmured their agreement.
The next day, Tessa was down at the dining table like normal. There were dark shadows under her eyes, like she hadn't slept, but other than that she didn't look any different. She stood at the edge of the room until Crawford called her.
"Miss Gray, a cup of coffee, if you will."
She took the pot and tipped the drink into Crawford's cup. "Now, please serve us some breakfast."
Tessa went around, giving each man a helping of eggs, a piece of buttered toast, and two apple slices. During this time, she didn't say a word. Crawford was smiling. It's all going well so far. Time to take it to the next level. He brushed his nose lightly, making sure Hansen saw. He nodded and took out a pad and a pen. Crawford cleared his throat. "Miss Gray?"
She looked around and came toward him.
"Parts of building are getting a bit disorderly. I want you to clean it, understand? First the parlor, then my office, the kitchen, and the washroom. Then my bedroom and Hansen, Monroe, and Bartlett's. Clean them in that order. Don't skip any, all right?"
"Yes sir."
"You can start after we finish up our meal," Crawford said.
A/N: Hope that answers the questions. Yes, I did mean to write Anna instead of Tessa, in case there's some confusion there. It will be explained. Also, just imagine the lined places in the clue are longer. I made them long that in my Word doc and again in the Doc Manager, but they got didn't stay like that, so I don't care.
Please continuing reviewing! You are awesome!