She hated the girl.
Watching the love flickering in her eyes as she glanced at the blonde shadowhunter all while clinging to the mundane boy annoyed her like nothing else. The girl was selfish, wanting them both men for herself with no regard to their feelings.
And that fueled her desire to trap the girl here.
So when she saw the girls fingers skim the liquid in the glass, she saw her opportunity.
She whispered to Meilorn, informing him of her plan. He nodded and walked off.
The Queen smiled and twirled her own glass, knowing Meilorn would not let her down.
Instead she looked at the blonde boy, Jace, again. He was beautiful in a way different from the fairies. His hair was so light and soft, contrasting to the sharp striking features in his face. He was the image of a perfect shadowhunter.
And he looked so familiar to her…
The Seelie Queen had been in love once. A shadowhunter named Anthony Herondale who had come to her court out of his own longing to see it. He had been cocky and rude, and had sparked and interest in the queen like no other.
They would meet in secret. Sitting in the forest and sharing conversation and kisses under the cover of leaves paying no regard to time.
But one day he stopped showing up.
Weeks later, the queen would learn he had died in battle.
The Queen's heart hardened and she began to loathe the feeling of love. A feeling stolen from her by the grasp of the others mortality.
And that's why, seeing the girl, throwing her own love away on the basis of a lie angered the queen to no end.
As the meeting ended, and the group of shadowhunters stood to leave she stopped them.
"The girl must stay" The queen pointed to the red haired girl, Clary. "She has eaten the food of my court and now she cannot leave"
Jace stepped towards her
"I know that I will not leave my sister here in your Court," He said "and since there is nothing to be learned from either her or myself, perhaps you could do us the favor of releasing her?"
The Queen smirked, recognizing the desperate tones of love encasing his words.
"What if I told you she could be freed by a kiss?" She watched for his reaction but it remained unchanged.
"You want Jace to kiss you" Clary spoke up
The Queen looked at Jace. He was beautiful and reminiscent of her lost love, but she did not want to kiss him. She had not longed to kiss anyone for quite some time.
"Despite his charms," She glanced at him again "That kiss will not free the girl"
"I could kiss Meilorn" The girl, Isabelle stated.
The Queen scoffed
"Nor that. Nor any one of my court"
"That hardly seems necessary" This time it was the mundane boy "If a kiss is all…"
He took a step towards Clary and wrapped his arms around her. Clary's eyes darted around, making clear her lack of feeling for him and for a moment the Queen felt bad for the boy. But only for a moment.
"No. That is not what I want either."
Simon stepped away looking disappointed.
"Well I'm not kissing the mundane" Jace said, his arms crossed over his chest "I'd rather stay down here forever and rot"
"Forever? Forever's an awfully long time…"
"I knew it. You want to kiss me don't you"
"Of course not. But if-"
"I guess it's true what they say. There are no straight men in the trenches."
"That's atiests jackass. There are no atheists in the trenches"
The Queen snickered at the escalation of the conversation.
"While this is all very amusing, the kiss that will free the girl is the kiss she most desires. Only that and nothing more"
She watched everyone. Clary's face had gone red with embarrassment as it became brutally clear that the one she desired was not who everyone thought.
The Queen was overjoyed.
"Why are you doing this" Jace asked, spite filling his voice.
"I rather thought I was offering you a boon. Desire is not always lessened by disgust. Nor can it be bestowed, like a favor, to those most deserving of it. And as my words bind my magic, so you can know the truth. If she doesn't desire your kiss, she won't be free."
She was surprised at his reluctance. She had just given him the opportunity to rebuild his love and he didn't seem to want it.
"You don't have to do this Clary" Simon said in a desperate attempt to prove her love for him. "It's a trick"
"Not a trick. A test"
The Queen sat back and watched her work unfold. She was pleased with watching them flustered.
"Who cares anyway? It's just a kiss"
The Queen's smile grew. She knew how much a kiss held between two in love meant. It was far from being "Just a kiss"
Jace moved towards Clary as if he'd done it a million times before. He held her hands, and whispered to her as they both leaned in and their lips touched.
As she watched the kiss deepen, the Queen was transported back to her own love. The passion they shared in their own secret hideaways, where they couldn't be touched by anything else in the world.
She saw the same passion in these two shadowhunters. And as they broke the kiss and moved away from each other, pretending it hadn't happened, she hated them for it.
"Was that good enough? Did that entertain you?"
"We are quite entertained" She looked intently at Jace, seeing hurt in his eyes that only heartbreak could cause. "but not so much, I think, as the two of you"
And as her gaze stayed on the shadowhunter boy, lingering for a second too long, she felt his heartache, transcribed in her own heart, where it would stay for years to come.