When Clary woke up she was cold. Her eyes fluttered open to see that she was alone. She sat up in her bed and looked around sadly to see that Jace had indeed left at some point. Then she glanced over at the clock, it was already 10 am. Slowly she got out of bed and threw on some shorts and a t-shirt. She left her room to instantly hear probably hundreds of voices.

People were milling about in the halls. They were down and upstairs. Clary started walking around to see dozens in the foyer, the kitchen, the ballroom, the library. People were everywhere and she recognized them as nobles, Downworlders, and commoners. She walked back to the foyer in search of someone she knew and ended up seeing Simon and Isabelle. They were talking near a stairway.

When Clary reached them she looked around at all the people again before turning to her two best friends. "What's going on?" She asked thoroughly confused by why all these people were here.

"The queen has an announcement," Isabelle answered.

"And it's raining out," Simon continued. "So she invited everybody inside the castle."

"What announcement?" Clary wondered aloud. Jocelyn hadn't told her about anything.

Isabelle shrugged. "No idea, she's been waiting for you to wake up."

"Speaking of which," Simon said. "You should go and find your mom. I think she was in the grand hall." Clary was about to turn away from her friends when she remembered why she had left her room in the first place.

"Have either of you seen Jace?" She asked and they both shook their heads.

"I'm pretty sure he's at the Herondale manor," Isabelle said after a second and Clary nodded. She walked away from the two and made her way to the grand hall where it turned out that most people were gathered.

Clary walked slowly through the room. Her eyes were wide as she took in all the people surrounding her. It appeared that everyone in Idris that wasn't imprisoned was here. Every thought Clary had slipped from her mind as she became more and more confused about what was happening. What was so important that literally every able bodied person in all of Idris had to be here? And yet Clary still didn't know what was happening.

It was only then that Clary realized everyone around her was dressed up. People wore beautiful gowns and glorious suits while Clary was in a pair of blue shorts and a band t-shirt that Camille had snuck in for her when she visited. Needless to say, Clary felt extremely out of place.

Just as she crossed the entirety of the grand hall and hit the opposite wall Clary heard someone say her name. Of course, it could've been literally anyone but she looked around for the source and quickly her eyes landed on Luke Graymark.

"Clary," He was smiling. "There you are. We've been looking everywhere for you." Without another word, Luke grabbed her hand and started dragging her from the crowd.

"What's going on?" Clary asked as she struggled to keep up. "What announcement is my mom making today? Why is everyone so dressed up? Luke answer me!"

"You'll see soon," Luke said without stopping. "But right now we need to worry about getting you in the right attire."

"What do you-" Clary was cut off when they reached a back room where Magnus was waiting with Alec. The sparkling Downworlder popped up from where he had been sitting and grinned widely at Clary.

"Perfect timing." He said as Clary looked around the room. There was a rack of ball gowns with matching shoes beneath them all and a desk covered in makeup and hair supplies. All Clary could do was the give the three men a confused look as Luke pushed Clary towards Magnus.

"Guys you're seriously starting to scare me," Clary did a 360 looking around. "Will someone please tell me what's going on?" She looked at each boy individually. When her gaze landed on Alec he looked away immediately causing her to push further. "Alec? Do you really want to be keeping secrets from your princess?"

The Lightwood boy continued to refuse to look at Clary though he did speak. "We'll see you in a bit, Clary." Was all he said before he and Luke turned and left the room. They closed the door behind them leaving Clary alone with Magnus.

She raised her eyebrows at him expecting an answer but all Magnus did was grin. "First," He said turning to the rack of dresses. "We need to choose an outfit. Then hair and makeup. But we must do this all fast. The queen wants to make this announcement by noon."

"Magnus, what announcement?" Clary begged. "Please tell me the truth."

Magnus stopped running his hands over the fabric and turned to Clary. All he did was shrug. "Sorry biscuit, I don't know. Only the queen knows." He turned back to the colorful dresses and started pulling a few to examine them. "What I do know is that I have orders, and those orders are to get you looking beautiful."

Roughly an hour later Magnus stepped away from Clary to examine his work. He smiled down at her before motioning his finger in a way that told her she could look in the mirror now. Clary slowly turned around to see that the girl before her looked like a true princess.

She was wearing a heavy blue ball gown that poofed out at her waist. Though she couldn't see them under the dress Clary was wearing 3-inch heels despite her protests that she would break her leg again. Her hair sat on her head in swirling curls of fire. Magnus had gone light on the makeup thankfully but Clary could still see the red on her lips and the pink on her cheeks. There was a thin line of eyeliner and her eyelids were faintly covered with gold.

Clary turned around to Magnus. "Thanks," She said sheepishly. "I actually look..." She trailed off searching for the right word.

"Beautiful," Magnus finished and Clary smiled brightly. "You always look beautiful though. Now come on, I'm sure your mom is waiting for you."

Magnus and Clary left the small room they had been in and went up to a stage-like platform that sat at one end of the grand hall. When they got there most people in the room didn't seem to notice or yet care, that they were there. Clary assumed that her mother had already been up there for a while so they all just continued to talk as they waited for her to start talking.

On the platform, Clary looked around to find her friends. The first person she saw was Alec. Magnus was approaching him and Clary didn't realize that he had left her side until she saw him out in the crowd. Besides the two were Simon and Isabelle. They both smiled up at Clary when she caught their eye. She gave them a weary smile back as she continued to look around for one other person.

Clary's heart dropped when she didn't find the familiar gold hair of Jace. She figured he must have still been at his parent's manor. Er- it was his manor now, she supposed.

"Darling," Clary'd head turned when her mom spoke. Jocelyn put her hand on Clary's shoulder and smiled. She admired how well her mother had managed the past week since Valentine betrayed her and died, but still, Clary could see the large bags under her eyes indicating her lack of sleep. They probably matched the circles Clary wore under her own eyes. "How have you been today?"

"Alright," Clary answered honestly.

"Well," Jocelyn said as she turned to a mic stand that had been placed in front of her. "I'm not entirely sure how you'll feel after this.

"This past week," Jocelyn spoke into the microphone. Her voice boomed out across the room and everybody immediately went silent. Clary stood quietly at the Queen's side. "Has been hard for us all. Many of you have lost loved ones, and our nation has lost its king. Indeed, this has been hard for us all.

"Which is why I thought that we could a fresh start. I've done much thinking lately, about what's best for Idris, what's best for the kingdom, for my daughter," Jocelyn glanced over at Clary and she suddenly felt every set of eyes on her. "I've consulted with my dearest friends and I've slept on this decision for the past couple of days.

"At the beginning of this long, long war I was forced to give up my only child. My husband and I were broken over that. It was the hardest decision we ever made, but recently I learned that the only reason it was hard for him was because he wanted to raise the child to be just like him. So now I'm gladder than I had ever been that she was sent away. I'd like to think that Valentine Morgenstern wasn't always the way he was, but I think we all know that's a slim chance."

Jocelyn paused and took a shuddering breath away from the mic that only Clary could hear. She only stopped speaking for a moment though but it was as if that moment lasted an eternity. Because the next words that spilled from her mouth changed everything. The room froze in silence as it sunk in and it took all of Clary's strength not to pass out.

"So I would like to step down from being queen, and in just a little over a week hold the coronation that will make Clarissa Adelle Fairchild the new Queen of Idris."

Hey, my Angels! Tell me what y'all thought. What did you think Jocelyn's announcement was going to be? Did you guess it halfway through the chapter or was that a total plot twist?
I hope y'all liked this chapter! I'll update soon!