As has become almost tradition for me, tomorrow (Feb 1st) is my birthday and today here I am posting!
This is my first for two particular tropes, both the Arranged Marriage and the Secret Relationship. Hope I've done a good job.
This story is Pre-canon, as is stated in the tags. It'll have three chapters, each around the same length. The whole fic is written already, just needing some editing.
This fic, like most of my fics, has a little piece of headcanon of mine, surrounding the wedded union rune that I got into my head before reading Clare's books and learning the truth. As I discovered after reading "Queen of Air and Darkness" shadowhunters draw two wedded-union runes on each other during the wedding: one on the hand and one on the heart. At the time I created my headcanon I did not know that, so I got this idea that only true love matches drew the wedded union rune on their heart, the other preferring to draw it on their hands (as it would be easier to erase it from there, if needed). Hope you all won't mind that, despite now knowing better, I'll be keeping to my headcanon where most (if not all) of my fics are concerned.
Having said all that, enjoy!
Hands and Hearts
By: Lalaith Quetzalli
"A rune on the hand, a rune on the heart", is how the saying goes. No one has borne a wedded-union rune on the heart in over a century. Love Matches are so rare nowadays. When Alec Lightwood finds out he's to have an arranged marriage his secretly romantic heart shrivels… at least until he learns who his groom is.
The Commitment
Alec's the last to get to the Ops Center right as the meeting's about to begin.
"You made it, hermano." His sister, Izzy, says in a drawl.
He knows the comment's more about the fact that he almost didn't, but he says nothing about it. Izzy's been trying to get information out of him for months, and has been left with a huge amount of nothing, which seems to both frustrate her, and make her try all the harder to get him to reveal something, anything. Some of it isn't exactly a big deal, or a secret. He spends a lot of time out of the Institute these days; most people think it's because he's made some friends with people who aren't shadowhunters, maybe downworlders, perhaps even mundanes. There was a really big rumor for a while that he was actually dating some werewolf girl whom his parents would never approve of and that's why he kept their dating a secret. People are such gossips… and they wouldn't see the truth even if it hit them in the face!
Thankfully his sister doesn't get the chance to insist, as their mother starts talking right then:
"As you're all aware, there have been… recent changes back in Idris, changes that affect us all, in a myriad of ways." Maryse Lightwood states. The tragic loss of Consul Malachi Dieudonné and several of the highest ranking Council members required us to make certain… decisions. Jia Penhallow, former Head of the Beijing Institute is, as of last week, the new Consul of the Clave. Inquisitor Imogen Herondale, while still remaining on her post, has requested the creation of a new rank, Inquisitors that will be under her orders, able to keep a closer eye on the Institutes. They will have the title of Inquisitor, while Madam Herondale will respond to the title of High Inquisitor. I have been chosen to be one of those Inquisitors."
There's some polite clapping, and even some whistling from Izzy in congratulations.
"Several important decisions have been made since this… change of the guard." Maryse goes on. "It's been decided that the time has come for a change. It's time to foster a better relationship between ourselves and the Downworld. To achieve that we're proposing new Accords, ones that will seek to treat all factions equally. For the Downworld to even agree to come to the table, after the events of the Uprising, we have to prove we're willing to be fair, that we're committed…" She pauses for a moment, her gaze straying, landing unerringly on Alec and he knows, in that moment, that whatever's coming next, he's not gonna like it. "And we'll prove it through an arranged marriage between our peoples."
Alec knew he wasn't going to like it.
It only gets worse from there.
When his mother ends the meeting, only to request his presence in her office he already knows what she's going to say. He's right of course. He's the one who will be marrying. As the heir of one of the Original Twelve Lines; two actually, as he's both a Lightwood and a Trueblood. He's the future head of the New York Institute, which lends credence to the whole commitment the Downworld might be expecting. After all, whoever he marries will be expected to one day lead the Institute alongside him. Already their Institute has one of the better relationships with the Downworld; and that's entirely thanks to Alec and his siblings, to the efforts they've made to be fair, and just. To do their duty wholly and without being racist or arrogant. It's also well-known that his siblings spend a fair amount of time in places that cater mostly to Downworlders, like the Hunter's Moon, and Pandemonium. And Alec… well, he's done his best too.
It's not… the idea of an arranged marriage is not a strange one to Alec. He always knew it was quite likely for him. Matter of fact, he and Aline made a pact, shortly after they revealed their preferences to each other… her girlfriend, Helen, is well aware of it. He supposes it doesn't matter now, he can hardly fulfill his own end of the bargain when he'll be marrying someone else. So no, the arranged marriage as such is not exactly a surprise, yet…
"Why now?" Is what he ends up asking.
"We all must do our duty Alec," Maryse states stoically. "You must do your part…"
"I know all about duty, that's not what I'm asking." Alec replies evenly. "I know my history, the next signing of the Accords isn't for a couple of years yet. So I ask again, why now?"
Maryse stares at him for several seconds before exhaling and essentially slumping back on her chair. That surprises Alec, he's never seen his mother be anything other than perfectly put together. It rattles him, more than anything else has (news of his potential upcoming marriage to an unknown downworlder included).
"It was the Circle." She finally reveals. "They were the ones who killed Malachi."
"The what…?" Alec blinks.
What follows is something that definitely wasn't included in their history lessons. The history of Valentine Morgenstern and his Circle. The group who followed him, initially believing they were to be a force of change, that they'd revolutionize the way things were done, the way the Clave did things. Would fight to get their people off the edge of extinction where they've been for a couple of generations now. Every year it's more the shadowhunters than die than the ones that are born. And it's so hard for the Clave to even consider bringing in new blood… or at least it was when it could still be done at all. With the Mortal Cup missing for the last seventeen years that's become fully impossible.
He's not sure why exactly, but when his mom finally reveals how she and his father were both part of the Circle he isn't exactly surprised. It's… Alec's never kidded himself, about the kind of individuals his parents are. They're not evil, no, but they aren't exactly the tolerant kind either. He knows that's made people wonder more than once, at where he and his siblings got their own attitude regarding Downworlders. Alec's preferences might not be exactly public knowledge, but it's not a secret that he'll sometimes visit either Hunter's Moon or Pandemonium without issue, has been known to visit the Dumort to talk with Raphael Santiago, and is fairly friendly with the new Alpha of the New York pack (not the old one, he couldn't stand the guy, though he does have high hopes that things will improve with Luke in charge now).
He doesn't really know what to say when his mom gets to the part where she and his father left, the fact that they did it for him, and for Isabelle (his mom was pregnant at the time) Alec truly doesn't know what to say, not even what to think anymore.
"I… I don't know how it happened." Maryse admits. "If Valentine just became unhinged after the loss of his father, or if it was the experiments he did on himself, trying to become… more."
"Maybe he was a monster all along." Alec cannot help but suggest.
"Maybe," Maryse concedes.
Though he can tell she doesn't believe it. Alec himself isn't sure. Then again, psychology, profiling, those things aren't really his forte so… And he supposes it doesn't really matter in the end. What's done is done. He needs to focus on his reality.
The rest of the story goes fairly quickly: the Uprising, the disappearance of the Mortal Cup, Valentine's death. Followed by the trials of the Circle members. Hodge and the Lightwoods got off lightly, all things told, as they abandoned the Circle just before the battle itself. Their sentence was essentially exile: to the New York Institute. Though only Hodge was bound to remain in it for the rest of his life. This also answers the question of why, even after all these years, the Lightwoods don't have the same power in New York that most Heads have in their respective Institutes. It's because they were never officially Vested with that kind of power and authority. For all intents and purposes they're and will always be Acting Heads only. That was their sentence. Having the duty, the responsibility of a Head of Institute, with none of the 'perks'. That sentence would have continued with Alec's generation, if it weren't for the arrangement being made. After all, it wouldn't be much of a commitment on the Nephilim's part if the shadowhunter in question couldn't take a mantle of authority. Alec supposes that's some good news at least. It means that, when his time comes, he'll be able to implement all those changes he and his siblings could only dream of. Well no, not he, they… and that's something he needs to focus on.
"Who am I to marry then?" He asks next. "And when?"
"The wedding is to be next week." Maryse announces, which shocks Alec into stillness, though it doesn't stop there, as she pulls out a scroll. "You must sign this, as proof that you're aware and committed to seeing this through. That you're going into this marriage of your own free will. As for who you'll marry… I will be the one to choose, once the Spiral Labyrinth has a finalized list of candidates. I should have the list by tomorrow, will be expected to make a choice by the next day, on the third you'll be meeting with your intended. There will be an official engagement followed by a meeting to officially revise the new Accords the next day, and finally the wedding at the end of the week."
"The Spiral Labyrinth?" Alec's mouth goes dry. "I'm to marry a warlock then?"
"In order to prove our commitment, we need to have a wedding that both our peoples view as true and binding." Maryse explains. "That means as many traditions as possible will be folllowed, on both sides… including the use of wedded-union runes…"
"But Downworlders cannot be marked…"
"Most cannot, that is true. There is a single exception… or rather, a number of them. As you probably remember from demonology classes, while warlocks can be the offspring of any number of demons, the more powerful ones are the children of Greater Demons…"
"The most powerful of whom are seven, I believe the Downworld calls them Princes of Hell…" Alec adds for good measure. "To us they're the Fallen. The ones who used to be angels, who fell from heaven along with Lucifer."
"Exactly. It's long been a theory among some of us demonology scholars that those warlocks sired by a Fallen might be able to… interact with angelic tools more or less like we do. Not with the same results of course, they have demon blood after all, rather than angel one, but the fact remains, that their fathers weren't always demons, and we know from the battles fought back in the Time of the Angels, that at least some of them didn't lose all that made them Angels, in the Fall…" She shakes her head, that's not the important part. "We've been able to confirm that they can activate thinks like seraph-blades and witchlights, they glow an eerie shade of red, rather than white, but the fact remains. They can also bear runes. Most of them cannot be permanent, as their own nature fights against the angelic marks, but…"
"They can bear the wedded-union rune." Alec finishes for her. "Which would make the marriage binding for us nephilim."
"Yes. We'll accommodate for some of their traditions as well, of course. The ceremony will have a blessing, along with the usual exchange of rings, and the vows will be changed slightly. The decorations will probably vary from our traditions as well. Aside from that, we've been told that the warlock can infuse the wedded-union rune with their magic, allowing it to serve as a magical mark as well. Which means that it will be as binding for them as it will be for us." She makes a pause, staring at her son for several seconds. "There is a lot at stake here Alec…"
"I know, you need not say anything more mother, I will do my part." Alec says simply.
He says nothing else as he opens the scroll, giving it a quick perusal before signing it, it says basically what she told him before. It's essentially a contract, where he agrees to the arranged marriage. He doesn't even know who it is he'll be marrying. With the dates they're using there's the chance he won't know until all arrangements have been made. It's… it shouldn't surprise him really, and in some ways it really doesn't, and yet… that doesn't make it hurt any less.
"Am I dismissed?" He asks, voice devoid of any emotion.
For a moment it seems like Maryse might say something, but in the end she holds her silence, just nodding once. Alec's out of the chair and at the door in seconds. Maryse Lightgood is left alone in the office, pondering choices made and their consequences. Her and her husband's choice to join the Circle so many years ago even now keeps causing them all trouble. And the worst part, is that it's not just on her and Robert anymore. The exile was never a big thing for their children. Having to live in New York, away from the Nephilim homeland that Idris is supposed to be… it was never a big deal for them, they didn't know anything else! But now… now her eldest is being forced into a marriage he probably would have never chosen, and all for what? To pay for sins not of his making, to undo mistakes he'd no part in. There's nothing Maryse can do to change that. They need the Downworld to sign the Accords, and it needs to happen, now, before it's too late for them all. And the only way the other factions will even come to the table is by having the nephilim prove their commitment. Alec's been made into a sacrifice for the greater good. It makes Maryse almost ill just to think it. She supposes the only thing she can do now is find the best possible intended for her son, and she knows just how to do that… her children might not believe it, but she knows them, better than they'd think.
Outside Alec's just stepped out of the office when he's already fishing his phone out of his pocket. He's dialing even as he walks down the hall, entering the first empty room he can find, locking it and drawing a privacy rune on the door-frame for good measure. The phone rings only two times before a voice answers on the other end.
"Hello darling!" The voice is warm, husky and so… so perfect. "How are you calling me? I thought you had a meeting?" Alec feels a sudden, imperious need to cry, it's so strong that a strangled sob actually manages to escape him. "What's wrong…? Alexander?!"
"I love you so… so much…" He makes himself gasp past the knot in his throat.
"Alexander? Darling?" His beloved calls. "What's wrong? You're scaring me love!"
"We both knew from the start this was never going to last. We knew, but we went ahead anyway, didn't we? Because we believed that whatever time we might have together would be better than no time at all… Angel, I don't know how I'm going to do this. How am I supposed to do this baby? How am I supposed to move on without you?"
"Without me…? What…? What's going on?!"
"I'm getting married. In a week."
"What…? Alexander…"
"It's official. Nothing I, or anyone else, can do to change it."
"I don't understand…"
"I'm sorry. I swear I didn't know about any of this until just now. I'd have told you, I… we both knew this could happen some day."
"Alexander, my love, don't give up, not yet…"
"It's done. I'm sorry." He swallows the tears that want to fall from his eyes "I love you Magnus Bane. And I swear to the Angel, I always will… Good bye…"
He hangs up, going as far as turning the phone off entirely. He's not sure he's strong enough not to answer his call, or to say goodbye again… Angels! He knew, he's known all along this day might come and yet he hoped… Well, it doesn't matter what he hoped. It's over now. He'll do his duty and have to be content with the memories, with the knowledge that at one point he loved someone with his whole heart, so much he'd have given all of himself if he'd but asked; and he was loved just as much. That memory will have to sustain him in what's to come. As he does his duty, to the Lightwood name, and to the entirety of his people. For the good of not just them as shadowhunters, but the Shadow World as a whole. It will be worth it… that's what he's telling himself, that his sacrifice will be worth it, for the good of them all, of all those he loves: his family, his parabatai, his friends, his people, and even his beloved, his people and the rest of the Downworld… It will be worth it. It has to…
xXx
Alec spends the rest of the day, and the next couple of days doing everything in his power to avoid… pretty much everyone. It's not easy. Even those in the NYI, who are far more tolerant of downworlders than any other shadowhunters, they all look at Alec with a mix of worry and… something that's almost pity. Alec hates it. He also knows that his siblings don't understand. They'll tell him to fight it, to refuse. He has to be willing, for things to work as they want them to. They'll insist that he can say no, and he should. They do not understand. It's always been so easy for them, believing that if the world pushes at them all they have to do is push back and push harder. Jace… he's the golden boy, the best fighter of their generation, and Izzy… she's the only girl, the apple of their father's eye. Their parents might not like their choices, might hate some of them, but they'll never come down on them as hard as they do on Alec. After all, Alec's the eldest, the responsible one, the heir, the one upon whose shoulders' lays the burden of carrying the family name, their honor… Though that's not why he's doing it. Truth be told, after learning about the Circle; and in the last three days he's looked up books, and journals, and files, used his name and his rank to find out so much more than his mother told him, than she probably ever wanted him to know; after knowing that, and knowing his parents were a part of it all, that the so-called 'family name' they always claimed he needed to uphold is in ruins not because of anything he and his siblings have done but because of them, because his parents stomped on it and on everything that it means to truly be a shadowhunter, a protector… he couldn't care any less about what they want or might demand of him. However, it's not just about them, in fact, where Alec's concerned it's not about their parents at all. It's about his siblings, about them getting the chance to live their own lives, to make their choices and not have anyone try to push them into molds they'll never fit. Alec will do anything for his siblings, will sacrifice anything, even his heart…
On the third day, as the time for the formal dinner comes Alec dresses in some of his better clothes: black slacks, a dark-blue button-up and his recently cleaned black-leather boots. He knows the significance of the color blue for warlocks and he hopes that whoever his intended might be will appreciate the gesture (he'd rather not think of how it is that he has such knowledge in the first place).
He's at his bedroom door and about to step out when it's opened abruptly, his sister bursting in, all intensity and righteous anger:
"Alec you cannot possibly do this!" She yells.
"It's done." Is all he says, before walking past her and down the hall.
He's walking fast, taking full advantage of his greater height, not wanting to give her the chance to catch up to him and continue the argument. He thinks he sees Jace in passing but doesn't stop to make sure. If it isn't him, he doesn't need to know, and if it is him… the only one who could make an even bigger mess of things than his own sister is his parabatai. And he just has no time… not for any of it. He has a duty, and to that he'll hold. For his family, for his people, not just nephilim, but the Shadow World as a whole, he will do as he must…
He's so focused on that, on his own steps, and not coming across anyone who might try to stop him, that he's actually a bit surprised when he suddenly finds himself going through the doors of the formal dinning room in the Institute.
"Alec!" His mother calls the moment she sees him arrive. "There you are, just in time."
Alec takes several deep breaths, focusing on building up his walls, on being serene, emotionless. He's doing his duty, nothing more.
"Mother," He greets evenly as he steps to her side.
As he turns to face her companions he realizes they're warlocks: the woman less evidently than the man: she looks young, late teens to early twenties, with gray eyes and brunette hair in an elegant loose bun at the nape of her neck, she's wearing a somewhat old-fashioned cornflower blue dress and black mary-janes. She has no visible warlock-mark, though that doesn't mean she doesn't have one, and Alec knows better than to ask. The man beside her, who looks middle-aged in comparison, is much more obvious about his faction, with green skin and thick, if short, horns coming from the edges of his wide forehead, short white hair on his head. Alec bows his head respectfully at them both, waiting for the introductions:
"Alec, this is Ragnor Fell, former High Warlock of London; and Tessa Gray, who's representing the Spiral Labyrinth." Maryse finally speaks up when Alec remains silent. "Mr. Fell, Miss Gray, this is my eldest son, the Heir of the Lightwood and Trueblood lineages and future Head of the New York Institute: Alexander Gideon Lightwood."
"Alec please," Alec finally speaks up. "Pleasure to meet you Maese Fell, Lady Gray."
"The pleasure's all ours Mr… Alec." Tessa speaks first. "Please call me Tessa."
"You may call me Ragnor." Is all the male says.
Alec knows his mother's vexed at him, that she thinks the warlocks might be offended by his silence. But he knows it's the other way around. He was being respectful of them, of their ranks and power, waiting for someone else to introduce them rather than pushing himself on anyone. He can see they, especially Ragnor, are pleased by his respect. He also looks like he knows something they don't, he seems somewhat… eager.
That's only emphasized when Ragnor turns behind Tessa to call the attention of someone else. Someone who's back has been turned to them all along.
"And of course, your intended," Maryse speaks up right away, clearly not wanting to risk silence extending too long yet again.
Said intended turns towards them right then, stepping forth to stand in between Tessa and Ragnor. Dressed in tight-fitting midnight-blue pants, black calf-high boots, a fairly tame black button-up and a velvet long jacket that while it appears black at first sight, when the light hits it just right sparkles in various shades of blue. There is also blue decorating his artfully spiked hair and in his makeup as well as a number of necklaces and rings on him.
Alec feels like he's been punched, right in the middle of his solar plexus. There's no breath left in his lungs and he's not sure he could draw any in, in that moment. The shock so great he's frozen still, hazel eyes fixated straight on gold-green slit-pupiled ones, not quite believing that this is truly happening, that the one he's staring at, his… his intended is in fact…
"… Magnus Bane."
As always, full size cover/poster in my DA account.
Please don't forget to like/kudo/bookmark, comment/review this fic.
Also, if anyone's interested, I have published works. My 3 original novels ("Jade", "Xochiyao" and "Silver Quetzal") are available through Amazon in paperback and digital formats. While the first one can only be found in Spanish, the other two can be found in both Spanish and English (I wrote them in both languages).
Also, I'll be signing up for this year's Fandom Trump's Hate, so if anyone would like me to write or make some fanart for them while donating to some worthwhile causes, don't forget to look me up! (and all the other awesome creators you'll find there).
