This is a very important chapter - so please read thoroughly and tell me what you think..

Chapter 15…

{Clary's POV}

I had been told today was my trial. I wasn't afraid of the sword.

But I was afraid of seeing him. Jace.

As it turned out my father's supposed betrayal had been a mistake.

But Jace's betrayal hurt more, he had taken down one of my walls. Something nobody had ever been able to do.

And that scared me, I was in uncharted territory for me.

However, I could never give him the satisfaction of knowing how much he had affected me. Even with his perfect blonde hair and soft golden eyes…

No Clary. Don't.

I was grateful when two of my guards strode in, interrupting my wild thoughts.

My security had been upgraded to 6 guards now, after the incident with Jocelyn.

Normally I would have been able to take 6 guards - but since they were all fully geared and I had nothing it would be almost impossible even for me.

They unchained my ankles and grabbed me by the shoulders, shoving me roughly out of the room.

As I was pushed out I saw 4 other shadowhunters take up positions.

2 in front, 2 beside and 2 behind me.

They were not taking any chances - I was flattered.

{Jace's POV}

I hadn't slept very well the previous night, I had a bad feeling about the trial.

I couldn't help feeling that the truth really would come out, and I wasn't going to like what I heard.

It was about 8am when I finally decided to put on my black cargo pants and a black sweater.

Clary's trial was at 9am, so I had one hour to kill.

And I had the perfect way to spend it.

I went to knock on Izzy's door,

"Yo, Izzy!"

I heard a mumbled response, and then the door opened.

"Yes Jace, what do you want? Some of us don't like to be up at the crack of dawn"

I could tell she had just been woken up - her hair was a mess and she had her glasses on. Izzy never let anyone see her in her glasses, I felt privileged.

"How about a quick session in the training room?"

I saw how fast her eyes flickered up to mine, they were shining.

"I will meet you there in 5, get the room prepped" she demanded.

I gave her a salute with a sharp,

"Yes Sir!"

{Time Skip 5 Minutes}

Izzy walked into the training room with her gear on and I chucked her 2 oak staffs.

"Ready?" I asked

She swung one of the staffs at my midriff that I just barely dodged, I took that as a yes.

{Alec's POV}

It is 8:45am where are they?

We had agreed to meet at Jace's room before Clary's trial, but they were both 10 minutes late.

And then it hit me, of course they would be there.

I fast-walked/jogged to the training room to see Jace and Izzy landing large hits on each other with their wooden staffs.

I could already see a deep bruise on Izzy's hip - nice one Jace.

"Jace, Izzy!" I called out.

"Hey Alec, we're kinda busy here"

Jace spoke as he blocked Izzy's attack on his head.

"Do you even know what the time is?"

They both stopped instantly and looked at the large clock on the east wall.

"Shit!" Isabelle said loudly.

"We must have lost track of time, we only have 10 minutes before the trial!" Izzy further exclaimed.

"We don't have time to change - we need to go to the hall right now." Jace explained in a collected tone.

"Here Izzy put on my sweater"

I said as I shrugged it off to reveal my tank top underneath.

I handed it to her and she smiled at me gratefully - probably wasn't going to be the best idea walking in on a Clave trail with just a crop top on.

"Alright lets go"

And we set off down the corridor.

{Clary's POV}

I was kept behind a large wooden door for several minutes before they let me in.

I could hear the murmurings of shadowhunters from the other side - it seemed like there were alot of them. About 80 at least.

Then a loud, commanding voice seemed to silence them all.

And I could hear people rustling to take their seats or stand.

Only the high clearance Clave Members got a seat - my father had told me that much.

They were the ones I had to convince.

So the second I was shoved forwards I had to be in character.

When the guards in front of me opened up the door I began to stumble my feet, anticipating the guards to grab my shoulders and pull me along.

I could see people gasp as they caught sight of my face - bruised and bloody. Perfect.

Anything I could use to make me appear weak would be an advantage.

The men shoved me forwards and I pretended to falter and then just caught the platform in which the sword lay.

I heard a couple people catch their breath - probably thinking I was about to fall.

Then I looked up.

Of course it had to be him.

His eyes had to be the ones I first saw.

I had stared straight into his golden orbs.

And Jace was looking straight back at me, his expression a mixture of perplexion and horror.

There weren't any mirrors down there - but I had managed to see my reflection in the glass. And boy was my face a mess, my lower lip was cut open and had continued to bleed slowly, my left eye was blackened, and my right had a cut just below it and not to mention the countless bruises trailing down my neck and face.

Disallowing myself to linger on him, I turned my attention to the inquisitor.

"Nephilim, you are to pick up the sword" she ordered me.

I internally groaned at even pretending to follow orders from her.

As I picked up the sword I was shocked.

It was burning into my hand, but it didn't feel like it was just my hand. It felt like my whole body was simmering.

But I kept my grip on both ends of the sword - ignoring the pain.

"State your name"

I nearly sighed allowed that i did not feel a compulsion to speak the truth.

So I let my lies flow out with ease.

"Clary" I responded.

"We are aware of that, what is your full name"

"Clary is the only name I know to have"

And I added in a wince of pain at the end - to exaggerate that the sword was working to the council.

A few confused glances were shared around the room - I was wrong before, there was easily 150 people in here. All of their attention focused on me.

"What institute did you study at?"

"None"

"So where did you learn to fight and become nephilim?" this question seemed to radiate with genuine curiosity.

"Morgenstern Manor"

I spoke this name with as much confidence as I could muster whilst still remaining in my character I had created.

"But that's not possible - Morgenstern Manor was burnt to ashes during the Uprising" came a loud voice from the crowd.

I couldn't help but reply to this one,

"The Clave has always been known to believe in things with their eyes haven't they?" I directed the question at nobody in particular.

A loud but frightened voice came from the crowd,

"Clary, is Valentine alive?"

I noticed the voice was from Jocelyn, she was asking the question everyone was thinking.

"Yes, he is"

Everyone fell silent, nobody knew what to say.

Until the Imogen finally spoke up and said,

"So you have been with him all these years?"

This is where I had to be convincing,

"Yes, he has kept me as his prisoner for 16 years. I don't know who I am, the name he gave me was Clary"

This lie made a lot of sense really.

It seemed believable that a man would name his 'adopted girl' after the one that had supposedly died in the fire.

"So Valentine is alive?"

Imogen said, although it wasn't really a question. So I did not answer.

All of a sudden an agonising pain shot up both my arms from where I was holding the sword. I tried to drop it, but it would not leave my hands. I screamed out in pain.