Valentine stopped his pacing when he heard noise from behind him at the Portal. He strode quickly over to Jonathan as his eldest son emerged from the light and placed a hand down onto his desk, trying to catch his breath.
"Jonathan, you look terrible."
It was true. His son was covered in dirt and blood. His eyes were red—why were his eyes red? "What happened?" Valentine placed a hand on his shoulder and looked behind him for the slightly shorter form of Jace, and discovered with alarm that he was nowhere to be found.
"Jonathan, where is your brother?" his voice held a very sharp tone that managed to surprise even himself. Jonathan looked up and around.
"What? He-he was right behind me!"
Jonathan suddenly moved back out from under Valentine's touch.
"Tell me what happened." The man said in a deadly calm voice.
Jonathan struggled to keep his fear in check.
"We got into the Silent City. I did everything you told me to do. I got the Sword...but as we were leaving, the Institute Shadow hunters showed up, maybe even some of the Clave. We were running to the Portal…I swear Jace was right behind me…"
"So to sum it up, you left your brother to the wolves?"
"No! I told you I thought he was with me! I…I did everything you asked…" There was a long silence then, a silence that Jonathan was unwilling to break. And then—
"Let me see it."
With a strong and unknown feeling making Jonathan tightly clench his teeth, he reached his arm back and slowly pulled the heavy sword free from its sheath at his back. The greedy look in Valentine's eyes strengthened the unknown feeling, and for a foolish second, he considered not handing it over.
But the second passed, and then the sword was in his father's admiring grip. A long time passed in more silence and Jonathan grew impatient.
"So that's what you wanted so badly? What's it for?"
Valentine didn't take his now loving eyes off of the heavy blade. Jonathan noticed that he had never looked at either of his sons with even a fraction of that love. Jonathan closed his eyes as a horrible crushing guilt crashed down over him.
Jace…you were right…I've been so stupid.
"That's none of your concern," Valentine replied softly, like his conversation with Jonathan wasn't worth removing his attention from the blade. Jonathan raised an eyebrow.
"Not my concern?" Jonathan scoffed in disbelief.
Valentine finally looked up at him.
Jonathan approached him, now realizing that the unknown feeling that was making the demon inside him thrash and fester was rage directed at his father.
"I could have died getting you that goddamn piece of metal I almost did die! And Jace!" Jonathan gestured wildly behind him at the Portal. "Jace had to kill Silent Brothers! For me! Do you have any idea what that's going to do to him? I killed a Silent Brother. We're traitors, Valentine," Valentine stared at him blackly, but did nothing more than that to acknowledge his son's blatant show of disrespect: his son's never called him by his first name, at least not to his face.
"It's funny you talk of Jace's well-being when you were the one who abandoned him in the first place," Jonathan swallowed.
"I didn't mean to. I already said that-"
"Yes, yes that it was an accident, that you swear he was right behind you, yes Jonathan…I heard you," Valentine lowered the Sword so it hung down the length of his leg and closed the distance between them.
Jonathan stared up at his father's face, knowing and dreading what he was going to say next.
"But do you actually think that I believe that? Do you actually, for one second, believe that I think you're telling the truth? What reason would you have for making sure your brother made it back home safely? Love? See, I know you, Jonathan. I know your soul. And I know that you deliberately left him behind."
Jonathan stared at him, horrified.
"No! I wouldn't, I didn't! Why would I-?"
"So he would take the fall of course."
Jonathan felt his knees beginning to buckle. His head ached horribly and his vision began to become blurry. He could still smell the iron of the dried blood on his upper lip and it was making his stomach churn. Valentine took advantage of his silence.
"And do you know what they'll do to him when they catch him? If they haven't already?" Jonathan didn't answer. "They'll use the remaining Silent Brothers to claw around in his head to find out what he's most afraid of…and then they'll do it. To find out what he's hiding, why he did the things he did tonight."
"He's tough, he won't tell them anything." Jonathan said with blank eyes. Valentine chuckled.
"Always thinking about yourself, aren't you?" Jonathan's eyes lit up with black rage.
"That's rich, coming from you. Who sends their sons out on a near suicidal mission to get a fucking sword and then doesn't even believe that they're important or equal enough to tell them why they almost died to get it? You have some nerve telling me that I'm the selfish one. You know I can't believe I ever listened to you…"
Valentine smiled patronizingly, before setting his palm down on Jonathan's shoulder.
"Son, you're overtired. And it's understandable, you've had a trying night. Why don't you wash up and go rest before you say something you don't mean."
His hand tightened slightly on Jonathan's shoulder, just in case he missed the threat.
But Jonathan didn't miss it. In fact, he welcomed it.
"Say something like what? Something like…what I really think of you? How I think you're a fucking coward? Sending your sons to go do your dirty work so you can keep your own hands clean?"
Jonathan shoved his father's hand off his shoulder then, feeling every cell in his body prickling with rage and adrenaline.
"You're pathetic," he hissed.
Valentine narrowed his identical obsidian eyes at him, his body language taut with threat in response to his son's challenging remarks.
"Watch yourself, boy." he whispered.
Jonathan smirked, remembering when that tone would have instantly put him back in his place. Well he'd had enough.
Jonathan stepped back and drew his blood crusted sword as he felt his body settle into an aggressive fighting stance.
"Or what? Are you gunna lock me in the cellar and have Angel Boy cut me to pieces? He wouldn't do it, he already got his revenge…if he's even still alive."
Hurt and guilt surged through Jonathan, making him feel even more reckless.
Surprise flickered across Valentine's eyes at Jonathan's words but he said nothing.
Jonathan felt it rather than saw when his body shifted into a similar offensive position, though he still didn't raise the heavy sword in his hand.
"You don't want to do this, Jonathan." he warned.
Jonathan smiled like one possessed as he rolled forward onto the balls of his feet.
"No, I really think I do."
They stared at each other until Jonathan felt his lip lifting like an angry wolf's…and then he slashed out at his father with his sword.
The clang of metal on metal hurt his ears and the power of the strike sent vibrations all the way up his arm. He quickly pulled his sword back as he spun around to the side, looking for an opening past his father's defenses.
Valentine matched every hateful blow and it infuriated him; made him swing harder…made his aim wilder.
He soon realized how bone tired he was but he knew that he could show no weakness now that he had made this giant foolish leap…he had to make this worth it.
It was luck when his blade slipped off of Valentine's and sliced a shallow cut in the man's arm.
The bright red sheen of his father's blood distracted him—Valentine turned his blade inwards and slammed the heavy pommel into Jonathan's finely sculpted nose.
He felt a sickening crunch and tasted blood thick in the back of his throat as his eyes blurred with tears from the blow. He felt a big hand grab him by the back of the neck and toss him to the carpet as easily as a doll; and Jonathan had only a second to move his sword so he didn't impale himself on it.
Jonathan rolled over onto his back, blinking his vision clear as he heard superior laughter from above him.
Was this all that he could manage? Not more than a minute's worth of anger fueled flailing? His father seemed to wonder the very same…Jonathan gritted his teeth, tasting blood from his broken nose as he slashed out with his sword and felt it slice through fabric and flesh.
His eyes widened as they both stopped and looked down at the long gash that split Valentine's expensive white shirt.
Blood was spreading slowly and surely downwards; it had been a good swing. Valentine looked up at him just as Jonathan was beginning to spring to his feet.
But Valentine's booted foot to his cheek sent him back to the ground and made him see bright spots of spinning light.
Completely against his will, Jonathan's grip on his sword went slack as the fight sank down thoroughly away from him into the carpet like blood.
"I must say, I'm disappointed in you, Jonathan. I expected better from the second best Shadowhunter of the age," Jonathan swallowed hard to stave away the nausea.
"Oh go to hell, Valentine. I swear you only talk to hear your own voice."
Valentine kicked Jonathan's sword away from him, making it clear that the fight was over.
Jonathan knew from Jace's episode of rebellion what part came next. But even though it was staring him in the face, he couldn't feel afraid.
He was too damn tired. Jonathan lay on the carpet with his arms spread out like an angel that had been shot down from the sky, eyes closed, knowing that he couldn't feel anything except extreme exhaustion.
But as Valentine set the point of The Mortal Sword down onto Jonathan's thigh and began to lean his weight down on it, Jonathan opened his eyes and began to feel again.
Back in the Bone City, when he had pulled the large sword down off the wall, it had fooled him. It hadn't looked very sharp then. He knew better now.
Jonathan hurried to sit up, his hands moving to push away the heavy blade. His fingers reached it just in time to feel it sink down through his leg. Jonathan yelled and began thrashing—stupidly, because that only made the pain worse.
Valentine leaned his full weight on the blade and Jonathan was sent past the point of pain; he heard metal scraping against the side of his femur, and then between the sounds of his screaming, the wet fleshy noise the point of the sword made as it came out of the back of his thigh and stuck into the carpet.
Jonathan grabbed uselessly at the blade, cutting his hands as he tried vainly to pull the sword up and out of his leg with his bloody grip.
Valentine said nothing to him as he released the pommel of the Mortal Sword and stepped away to his desk to ring the bell that summoned the butler.
Valentine settled back against the lip of his desk with his arms folded across his chest and observed Jonathan continue to struggle with the blade.
He was stark white and making small helpless sounds now, probably because he had never seen so much of his own blood.
Valentine looked up emotionlessly as Samuel entered his study. The butler had long since learned to never comment on the events he saw taking place in the Manor, and though this was not a usual occurrence, still he made no remark about it.
"Yes, Master Morgenstern?"
"Summon Jasper for me. And when he gets this sword out I want you to make sure it's cleaned up," Valentine said as he began to cross the room. "When it is clean put it in the safe for me until I return," Samuel nodded once.
"Where might I ask are you going, sir?" Valentine walked around Jonathan to the doorway, but aimed his reply over his shoulder to the boy still pinned to the floor.
"To find my son," Valentine walked out of the room without a backwards glance and headed towards the weapons room before shouting back over his shoulder.
"Oh and do try to get all the blood out of the carpet will you?"
