Lydia spent an entire week in Idris. An entire week where Alec and Magnus had pretty much no time to be just them, an entire week that Alec spent showing Lydia around and talking and getting to know her. He seemed to like her, which was good. If he was going to marry her, the least he could do was like her. Maybe he could even fall in love with her.
Magnus had spent all his time looking for information about Lilith. Alec basically didn't need him, they didn't train, didn't go anywhere or do anything together. Magnus only took his clothes to the laundry room and brought them back up to his room when they were clean. So he had lots of spare time.
He read the myths and legends again, like Ithuriel had told him to. He took in every word, studied and thought about every sentence, but there was no information there. When he got too frustrated with that he read up on Malcolm's problem instead. It had been almost two weeks since he'd promised him to find him a way to be with his girlfriend. He'd found something, something he thought he could use. Instead of bringing the woman back, he could make sure Malcolm would go to her when he died. He said he would never go to heaven because of Lilith's blood in his veins, well Magnus had found a way to get rid of that, to purify his blood. Well, he'd read about the spell, now he just needed to find it.
From time to time Luke would come to his room and make him eat something, or ask him for help when he had too many clients to handle himself. But mostly Magnus just spent his time alone. Alec didn't come by, Dot was busy on the farm, Catarina's father, the blacksmith, had fallen ill, and Catarina had to help take care of him.
But every night Magnus left his room to go check on Alec, to make sure he was sleeping. He often found him lying awake on his bed, thrashing around trying to sleep. Nights like those he would stay there until sleep finally took Alec away. Alec had protested, told him to go away, insisted that he was fine. They were both stubborn, but in the end Alec would always give in.
One of the nights, three days after Lydia had arrived, Magnus had gone looking for Alec and found an empty room. That night he saw where the bruises on Alec's knuckles came from.
Magnus had been worried about Alec and went to look for him, of course he'd considered that Alec might spend the night with Lydia, but Alec would have told him. So Magnus walked through the castle and eventually found Alec, hitting a punching bag like crazy.
"Alexander!" he'd yelled, trying to make him stop. He'd pulled Alec away from the bag, and after minutes of convincing Alec to let him, he'd inspected his hands before Magnus took him back to his room. He was worried Alec might break a knuckle if he kept going like that. Alec knew how to punch, but he hadn't really been focusing on the technique when Magnus found him.
That night, after Alec was in deep sleep, Magnus had whispered a few words and let a healing spell cover Alec's hands. It wasn't enough for anyone to get suspicious about the fast healing, just a bit to relieve the pain and reduce the bruising a bit. It hurt him to see Alec in pain, psychological or physical alike.
Now, after an entire week, Lydia was heading back to her own kingdom. It was still dawn, but when the sun stood tall Lydia would be set on her way back. They would have two months before she returned for the wedding. Two months until Alec was getting married, until all of their lives would change forever. And not necessarily for the better. At least not Magnus's. Lydia and Alec seemed to like each other, which was good. It made Magnus feel a lot better, at least Alec didn't have to marry someone he hated. But it still hurt and Magnus didn't want Alec to get married. He knew it made him selfish, but he couldn't help but wish the wedding wouldn't happen.
But Alec was getting married, there was nothing either of them could do about it. Maybe Alec could refuse, but Robert would not like that, there would be consequences if Alec refused. And Alec wouldn't do that anyway, he would do anything to please his father, and he would do anything for the kingdom. Sometimes Magnus wondered if Alec loved the kingdom more than he loved himself, if he needed his father's acceptance to feel worthy of being who he was.
Magnus shook away the thoughts about Alec and went back to the book he was reading.
Hours later Magnus was standing next to Alec again, just like he did when Lydia arrived.
"Alec, it was a pleasure to meet you and I'll see you in two months. I'm actually very glad I'm gonna marry you," she said with a soft smile before he leaned in and kissed Alec's cheek. "And you, Magnus. It was nice to meet you. I expect to see a bit more of you in the future and till then… take care of my fiance."
"Of course, I will. And it was my pleasure to meet you, Lydia," Magnus agreed, it wasn't really a lie, he did like her, he just didn't like the reason she was there.
"I'll see both of you soon," Lydia said with a smile before walking down the rest of the stairs and getting into the carriage. Magnus and Alec watched as the horses took the carriage away, leading it through through the streets. When the carriage faded out of view, Alec turned to Magnus.
"Hi," He said softly.
"Hi," Magnus replied with a smile.
"It's been a long week. I've missed you," Alec said, his eyes shining with honesty.
"I missed you too." Magnus had missed him so much, it was almost ridiculous how much he'd missed him.
"Let's take a day off today, just do nothing," Alec suggested.
"Do you want to go to that clearing again and swim?" Magnus asked. That had been a great day, a day he wouldn't mind repeating.
"Actually, I was thinking we could stay in today. Do something here in the castle."
"Like what? There aren't very many things to do here, except reading maybe."
"I grew up in this castle, Magnus. I know all about how to spend time here," Alec said. "I can show you my secret room, come on!" He exclaimed, taking Magnus' hand to pull him along.
"Secret room?" Magnus asked.
"Yeah. The castle is full of hidden corridors and secret rooms, me and Izzy and Jace found one when we were kids, it was our getaway." Alec took Magnus through the corridors, but all Magnus could think of was Alec's hand wrapped around his, pulling him along.
It didn't take very long for Magnus to have no idea where they were. He wouldn't find back out without Alec, but he didn't think Alec would leave him alone so he didn't care about that, he just followed Alec.
"In here," Alec said. He let go of Mangus' hand to move a painting of an angel hanging on the wall. Behind it was a handle, and when Alec pulled it a door opened. Magnus would never have guessed there was a door there if Alec hadn't just opened it. It was almost like it was glamoured…
Magnus didn't have any more time to think about it when Alec entered the small corridor, almost too small for him to fit in it. But he did, and Magnus followed after him. The door closed itself behind Magnus, and they were left in complete darkness.
"Don't worry, take my hand," Alec said from the darkness. Magnus reached blindly in front of him and found Alec's outstretched hand. Alec pulled him through the darkness, and Magnus followed, trusting Alec to not run them off a cliff. He had to resist the urge to lit a light in his hand, the darkness was nerve-racking.
"We're here," said Alec after a little while, and soon another door was opened. Alec let go of his hand and Magnus heard him fumble around before a small candle was lit, giving the room some light. Alec used that light to then light a torch hanging on the wall. The light revealed a small room, with a few bookshelves and a little fireplace. There was a table and two chairs. Nothing else, but since the room was so small it didn't seem empty.
"Wow… I didn't know such a room existed," Magnus said.
"We found this room when we were kids, dad was mad about something, so we were trying to find somewhere to hide from him. We ended up here." Alec gestured to the room. "After that we started coming here more often. We brought a chess board, it should be here somewhere." Alec started looking around the room, he opened a small box that had been left in a corner and smiled.
"Here it is," He said. "We haven't been here in years." He brought the game to the table and gestured for Magnus to sit down on one of the chairs. "Do you want to play?" He asked.
"Yeah, let's play," Magnus smiled. He'd only played chess a few times before. There had been one person with a chess board in their village, an old woman that lived alone. Sometimes she would invite Magnus to play with her. It used to be the most exciting thing that could happen.
The board looked handmade, and the pieces were of silver and gold. Magnus took one in his hand to admire it. This was nothing like the wooden pieces he'd used before.
"They're beautiful, aren't they?" Alec said when he noticed Magnus looking at the pieces. "It's been in our family for centuries, dad says it was given to the Lightwood family when we were first crowned."
"Didn't your father notice when you took it?" Magnus asked. Alec shook his head.
"Dad hasn't cared about games for years. He taught me to play when I was seven, and a few years later he started losing interest for that kind of stuff. I'm the one who taught Izzy and Jace to play, and then when we brought it here, he didn't even notice that it was gone."
"Oh. Let's play then," Magnus said, placing the piece down on its place. "Please be nice, I haven't played in a while and I didn't play it often in my life so far."
"I'll see what I can do," Alec grinned. "But I think I'd actually enjoy winning."
"I didn't ask you to let me win, just that I want you not to… completely crush me, and play nice. Once I get the hang of it you can play a bit more aggressively."
"Alright. I'll keep that in mind. Now… you start."
Magnus nodded and looked down at the board before he moved a figure. "Do you want to talk about how you feel?" he asked. "Or… about how I sat with you every night? What your plan is when Lydia moves into your room? Or rather when you two move into another room, since she can't move into your childhood bedroom. There is not enough space for a queen's closet"
"I don't want to talk about how you sat next to me. I want for us both to pretend it never happened. I am very… grateful, actually, that you did it. But nobody can know about that. You understand that, right?"
"Of course I do," Magnus said, and he did understand it, but it didn't mean that it didn't hurt to hear Alec say it like that.
"I also have no idea how it's going to work with Lydia. I mean I like her, I really do. She is very nice, intelligent and we work together very well but … I don't love her and I don't think I ever will. I am worried about sleeping next to her or… with her. I- I am not sure if I can, I mean Izzy actually told me a lot of things, most them were things I didn't want to know but she meant it's important for our marriage to work so… I listened to everything" They had moved more and more figures while they talked and it was starting to get a bit difficult for Magnus to follow the game and what Alec was saying.
"You shouldn't worry too much, Alexander. I mean... erm… this is a very weird question I know but… you are able to… you know?" he asked and looked down at his crotch.
"Yeah, yeah I… I can- That's not the problem," Alec said and blushed deeply.
"Okay… great, so this shouldn't be a problem then so stop worrying" Magnus suggested and looked up at Alec for a short moment before he focused on the chess board again. "Do you know which room you two will move into?" he asked to quickly change the subject.
"No, I don't know. Father will give us one, probably one that's closer to the office room and the other official places so we can be there quickly in case of an emergency"
"Mhm, sounds a lot like your father," Magnus agreed.
"I know… Magnus, I know," he sighed. "Now… this was supposed to be a relaxing day."
"I'm sorry. I just worry about you, Alexander. Just like you worry about everything else, except for yourself, I am here to do that for you"
"Thank you, Magnus, that's very nice of you." They played in silence for a while after that until Alec decided to talk to him again. "Listen, it's just… so much. I'm getting married in two months and I like her but she's not… my cup of tea. The problem is just that I will never be able to get what I really want and so I try to not want anything for myself because it's easier like that. And then there is also the Lilith thing. I mean, I'm supposed to kill the queen of hell and… yes, you are a big help but you are just a human, too so... What are we doing, what are we able to do? I am not the happiest with my life right now but I don't want to die because of that demon trying to kill me, you know? It's all… just too much and I feel very… very under pressure and I just want to curl up and cry."
"Sometimes it helps to cry. And you know I won't judge you. I understand all of that. It is a lot and there is a lot of pressure on you but I know you, you will pull through all of this and you know that I will be by your side the whole time. I love you, Alexander. You are my best friend and I'll do everything to help you." Magnus hasn't actually meant to say he loved him, it had just slipped out. But at least he'd said Alec was his best friend, so he would assume he meant that kind of love. It was true, Alec was his best friend. But Magnus loved him like more than a friend, wanted him like more.
"Thank you. That means a lot." The game was nearing the end, Magnus had taken one of Alec's towers, one horse, and multiple pawns. Alec was winning though, having taken one of the towers, one of the horses, both of the bishops, and pretty much all the pawns. And he'd already had Magnus in check multiple times. Magnus knew he wouldn't last much longer, he'd only managed this long because Alec was being soft on him.
"Checkmate," Alec said, leaning back in his chair with a smirk. Magnus smiled too.
"We already knew this would be the outcome," he said.
"Hey, you did not play badly. You were an excellent opponent, actually. You asked me to go soft on you, but you would have won if I had."
"Really?" Alec nodded. "Thank you, Alexander. This was fun." Alec smiled again, soft, hazel eyes looking into Magnus'. Alec shivered.
"Are you cold?" Magnus asked immediately, worried. The room was quite chilly, it was deep in the walls of the castle, there were no windows there and no one had been there in years, probably. "I'll lit the fireplace," Magnus said before Alec could even answer, already moving away from the table. He used the lit candle to start a fire, illuminating the room even more and giving away a cozy warmth. The small room immediately became more comfortable.
Magnus turned around and saw that while he had done that, Alec had looked through the bookshelves and now had another game in his hands. It was a game Magnus had played a lot before. He and his mother used to play it, they used small bowls and pebbles though, not an actual board. The game Alec had in his hands was mancala.
"Wanna play this?" He asked, holding up the board. Magnus nodded, a day off to just play games sounded perfect, and he had a feeling they wouldn't leave this room until they were both starving.
An entire week passed, one week closer to the marriage. Magnus and Alec had fallen back into their normal routine. Meet at eight, train for a few hours, eat, do some random stuff, train some more, go to sleep, and then everything again. Magnus kept insisting on staying in Alec's room till Alec fell asleep, he said that until Lydia and Alec moved into the same room he would do it every single night to make sure Alec was sleeping. Alec had never had someone worry so much about him, someone who didn't stop even when Alec asked them to. Maybe that wasn't entirely true, he'd had Izzy all his life, but she was family so that was different.
Alec didn't know what he would have done without Magnus, and he never wanted to find out. Magnus was a constant urge Alec had to resist, but he was also what was keeping Alec on earth, Alec's rock. Someone Alec could always lean on, count on. And they had barely known each other for a month. But Alec was just grateful to have him in his life now, now when he needed him the most.
He was in his room right now, waiting for Magnus to come. Their week had been pretty normal, but now Alec needed some change. He was going to take Magnus for a ride again, except this time they were going on separate horses, and they weren't going to the lake. They were just gonna take a ride through the woods.
There was a knock on the door and a moment later Magnus came through the door. "Good morning. Ready to train?" he asked.
"We're not gonna train today, I'm tired of training," Alec said, shaking his head. Magnus frowned.
"Okay, what do you want to do then?" He asked.
"We're going for a ride. On separate horses." Alec chuckled at Magnus's expression. "Magnus, you're excellent at controlling Shadowhunter, and I'll get you a horse that's just as calm and obedient, okay?"
"Do you think I'm ready?" Magnus asked.
"I know you're ready, Magnus. Trust me. And if something goes wrong, I'll be right there to help you."
"Okay, then. Sure, if you think that's a good idea," he mumbled and nodded slowly. "Where do you want to ride to?"
"Just a stroll through the woods, nowhere special. We could bring some food and have a picnic along the way," Alec suggested.
"That sounds fun. I'll go get food from the kitchen while you prepare the horses."
"Sounds great, I'll meet you in the stables," Alec agreed.
With that, they parted and went their separate ways. Alec moved to the stabled and got Shadowhunter ready and then looked at the other horses. It took him a little while but in the end he decided to go with Jem, he was usually pretty calm, although a bit difficult sometimes, but Alec had a feeling that he would go great with Magnus's style of riding. He was a beautiful stallion, his fur a shining silver color, his mane white, and beautiful, calm silver eyes. Magnus would love him.
Alec prepared him too before waiting for Magnus outside the stables. He didn't have to wait long for Magnus to appear, he showed up a few minutes later, a backpack with him.
"Hey," Magnus said as he approached. "The cook gave me enough food for the rest of the week, so we can stay out all day without having to worry about starving." Alec nodded.
"That's good. But you don't have to carry it yourself, come here," he said, gesturing for Magnus to come. When Magnus approached, Alec took the bag from him. He moved the contents to the saddlebags instead. "There, now you don't have to worry about that."
Alec looked back at Magnus to find him staring intently at the new horse. "Is this the one I'm gonna ride?" He asked. Alec nodded.
"Yes. This is Jem. He is very calm and very easy to ride on," he said. Alec watched as Magnus approached the horse carefully and put a careful hand on Jem's muzzle. Alec gave them a minute before he spoke again. "Okay, time to get on him," he said. He watched as Magnus got into the saddle. It wasn't perfect yet, but he managed, and that was all that mattered. Alec followed onto Shadowhunters saddle right after.
"Wow, okay. This is different," Magnus mumbled. It was his first time sitting on a horse without Alec either behind him or holding the reins, or at least standing right by him.
"Hey, Magnus. It's okay, you're doing great. You can do this," Alec encouraged.
"Thank you, it helps to know that you are there… but it's just very different to how it used to be when you were sitting behind me," he explained and slowly made Jem move forward a bit. He only spoke again once he stopped the horse. "So, where do you want to go then?"
"Nowhere specific, I just want to be on the move and have you there with me, since we didn't get to spend much time together when Lydia was here," Alec said and squeezed his legs together to make Shadowhunter move forward.
"Alright, yeah, yeah. I don't think I'll be able to talk while we are moving though, because I have to concentrate on not falling down and actually making Jem move into the direction I want him to move in," Magnus told Alec and looked after him so he could follow him.
Alec nodded and decided to move a bit slower, at least at first, until Magnus got comfortable and was ready to handle some more speed. He would be okay with not talking or not having someone to answer him for a while. He was just glad to be able to spend time with Magnus.
They started to ride in the direction of the forest and for a long time neither of them said anything, but it was comfortable. Alec let his horse make a lot of the decisions about where to go and Magnus was great at following him. Of course Alec checked every once in a while if Magnus was still behind him. He was greeted with a smile every time he looked at Magnus and Alec had to lie if he had to say he didn't like it. Magnus's smiles just had that effect on him, as well as others which he tried very hard to ignore.
"Let's take a break" Alec decided after they have been riding for about two hours and reached a small clearing, which just seemed perfect for a break. They didn't get to see much except trees and trees and even more trees. The most exciting thing that had happened, were a family of rabbits crossing the road, but Alec didn't mind this. On the contrary, he actually rather enjoyed it, to have something boring, something he didn't have to think or care about.
"Oh god, yes please," Magnus agreed, his butt was hurting and his legs were already sore. He did like riding but it was so exhausting and he still didn't get it all right. He needed that break, probably even longer than Alec. It was nice, in a way.
"What? Hurting already?" Alec teased and Magnus had to look away because this smile made him want to kiss Alec.
"Shut up! It's my first time riding alone, why did you never mention that it is this tiring?"
"It isn't, you just have to get used to it and then you'll love it."
"Oh, I do like it, Alec. I just find it… not easy and exhausting," Magnus explained, and he did like riding. It was a fun thing to do and it made him feel free, like he could go anywhere. He slowly crawled down from Jem's back and sat down on the ground, leaning against a tree as he watched Alec get down from his horse as well.
"Here, you should drink something."
"Thank you, and you should sit down as well," Magnus commented as he took a bag of water from Alec, who was still standing in front of him.
"I'm fine…" Alec mumbled and looked down for a while. "How will it be? When I'm married, will I never have time to see you? To train with you or to go for a ride?"
"I... I don't know, but I don't think so. I mean the first few weeks you'll be busy with Lydia, since you are basically on your honeymoon, so you should show her everything and spend a lot of time with her but… after a while, you'll get back into your normal schedule and that's where I come back."
"Hm… I don't want that. Could you imagine being her... Servant as well? That way we might get to spend more time together? I would have you to ask if I needed help or advice, which I will definitely need in the future," Alec mumbled.
Magnus didn't know what to say, he wanted to spend time with Alec, too but becoming Lydia's servant as well? He wasn't sure if he wanted that. It would mean a lot more work for him and he'd have to work for the woman who was married to the man he was in love with.
"Erm… I'm honored that you are thinking about me but… I don't think this is such a good idea, I mean how can I train with you but at the same time help her get dressed or do whatever she needs me to do? I think I can only work for one of you. Is it even legal to be the servant of two people at the same time?"
"Yeah, no. You're probably right, sorry. It was just an idea."
"The idea, itself wasn't too bad, Alexander. It's just that it wouldn't work. But you will always know where to find me if you need help. And once you and Lydia find a rhythm I'll come back into the picture to train with you and help you with whatever it is that you need." Alec smiled.
"Yeah, that makes sense. It'll be awful without you though."
"What, are you scared you won't manage to get your shirt on alone?" Magnus teased. "You'll be just fine, Alec. And I'll be back before you even notice I'm gone," he assured him. "Sit down now," he said, pulling at Alec's sleeve. Alec finally sat down, and Magnus stood up to get the food. He returned with the saddlebags and sat down beside Alec. He handed him a sandwich.
"Thank you," Alec said. They started to eat in silence, none of them knew what to say to the other.
"Can I ask you something?" asked Magnus after a while. It had been the way it always was but some part of Magnus just had to make sure that Alec was not weirded out by him, since he knew that Magnus was interested in a man, but still dated Dorothea.
"Of course, what is it?" Magnus took a deep breath, it was now or never. He had to ask him, had to know.
"Are you… do you think it's weird? That I like- love. That I love a man?" He asked, holding his breath while he waited for an answer. He couldn't look at Alec, he was scared of what he would see on his face.
"What? Magnus, no. Look at me," Alec said. Magnus glanced up at him carefully. "I don't think it's weird, you love who you love, there's nothing you can do about it."
"But don't you think it's wrong for me to be dating Dot when I know I'll never love her like that? It's unfair to her, she doesn't deserve it."
"Magnus, if you think it's unfair to her, why haven't you broken up with her?"
"I don't want to disappoint her, hurt her. I… I care about her, I like her. But just as a friend."
"Maybe you should tell her that, I'm sure she would understand," Alec suggested.
"I... yeah I might do that, I mean I should and I will… I just had to make sure you don't mind it. I have been... well, scared that you might not be okay with this and that you would think less of me or think I'm different."
"Magnus, I would never think differently of you. You're still the same, still you." Magnus smiled lightly and looked away.
"Thank you, Alexander." Alec looked like he was about to say something, but a strange noise from behind them interrupted him. They both turned around to look where it came from, but there was nothing there.
"I'm sure it was just a deer," Alec said, turning back.
"Yeah, a deer…" It could have been, but Magnus didn't think so. If only because of the different atmosphere that had set in the clearing. Like some kind of weird energy. "Hey, can we get out of here?" He asked Alec.
"Why? Is something wrong?"
"No, no. Nothing's wrong. I just… I wanna ride Jem again," Magnus lied. He was actually just fine on the ground, but he'd started to get a bad feeling, so he ignored his hurting butt and stood up.
"Erm, yeah sure. Further in or back home?"
"Back home, please." Alec nodded.
"Okay then, let's go." He stood up too and went to get Shadowhunter. The horse seemed anxious too.
"Let's get out of here," Magnus mumbled as he got on Jem as steadily as he could. He gave the order to walk, but Jem didn't move. "Um, Alec? He- he's not moving," Magnus said. Alec turned around on Shadowhunters back to look at him.
"Try again," he said. And Magnus did. He tried three more times. "He's not moving, Alexander," Magnus insisted.
"And he won't be moving," said a voice from behind them. "He's under my spell." Magnus turned around as much as he could in the saddle and looked for the source of the voice. There was still nothing there. Alec was already unsheathing his sword, looking around them to try to spot the person who'd spoken.
"Where are you?" He asked. "Show yourself!" Something started to flicker in the middle of the clearing. Slowly a woman took form in front of them.
"I'm right here, king."
"I'm no king," Alec said. He maneuvered closer to the woman, Shadowhunter was following orders just fine. The woman scolded at the horse for a second before looking back up at Alec.
"You are the king everyone is waiting for. You are the once and future king."
"Will people please stop saying that? Who are you?"
" I am the spirit of this clearing. You woke me up when you stepped on it."
"Oh. I'm… sorry?" Alec said, looking confused. Magnus sure as hell was confused.
"Um, why won't you let me leave?" He asked the woman.
"You… you are something special, aren't you?" The woman said, looking curiously at him.
"What? What do you mean?" Magnus asked.
"There's so much power inside you, I can feel it." Magnus blanched completely. If the woman was a spirit she would be able to tell the energy from his magic. And if she told Alec… shit.
"Why won't you let me leave?" Magnus asked again. Right now he really wanted to leave.
"I want to move on," the woman said. Magnus frowned.
"What?"
"Only the king can send me to the other world."
"What are you talking about? What other world?" Alec asked.
"I am stuck in the shadow world, only the king can help me through the veil."
"You know what, I'm tired of this. Can you either start making sense or let my friend go?" Alec snapped, a reaction Magnus totally agreed on, since he was really starting to hate all those cryptic messages from everyone concerned in this forever king scenario. Why couldn't they just speak clearly what it was they wanted, or what they meant?
"I am bound to this clearing by a promise I made. Only when the king is ready can I go."
"When I am ready for what?"
"When you are ready for the sword."
"What fucking sword?!" The woman waved her hand, and in the middle of the clearing the ground split as a stone rose out of it. And on the stone was a sword, sticking out of it.
"I vowed to protect the Soulsword till the king was ready for it. You must pull the sword out of the stone," the woman said.
"Pull it out? Sure, yeah. No problem." Alec sheathed his own sword and gracefully jumped off Shadowhunter's back and went to the stone. He gripped the handle and pulled it hard. It didn't move an inch. He pulled it harder, tried again and again, till he suddenly pulled back with a yell.
"What was that?" Alec exclaimed, looking at the woman as he shook his hand hard, like he'd burned it.
"That means you are not ready, the sword does not find you worthy yet."
"And it had to electrocute my hand to get that point across? It couldn't just, I don't know, write me a letter?" the woman scolded.
"The sword does not work that way, young king. You must make yourself worthy to pull it out."
"What am I going do with the damn sword anyway? I already have a countless amount of swords." The woman shook her head.
"This isn't just any sword, this is the Soulsword, the sword of kings, the sword destined to kill the queen."
"I thought there was a person destined to kill the queen, not a sword," Alec commented. The woman shot him a pointed glare. He really was pressing all the buttons.
"The king will kill the queen. The king will wield a sword when he kills the queen, that's this sword. The king will also need help to be worthy of the sword, and to get to Lilith. The king will kill the queen, but he won't do it alone."
"And I suppose you're the one supposed to tell me how to be worthy of the sword."
"No, you have someone else for that." The woman's eyes flickered to Magnus, but they looked back at Alec before he had time to follow their line of sight.
"You know what, whatever. If you have to stay here till I can pull the sword out, and refuse to tell me how to do it, you'll just have to stay here longer. I'll figure it out, I'll come back. Now let Magnus go." the woman sighed.
"I wish I could tell you how to be worthy, but I do not know. Come back when you are ready, young king. The shadow world depends on it." With those words, the woman disappeared but the stone with the sword stayed in the middle of the clearing.
"What the hell just happened?" Alec asked, turning to look at Magnus. Magnus shook his head.
"I have no idea. Let's get out of here," he said. Jem was moving again, so they could finally leave the square.
"Yeah, let's go home," Alec agreed, jumping back up on Shadowhunter.
That night Magnus went to see Ithuriel again. He knew he probably wouldn't get any usable information, but he had to ask about the sword. How was Alec supposed to make himself worthy of it?
"Ithuriel!" He called out to the cave. He wasn't very surprised when he didn't get an answer. "Tell me about the sword!" He yelled. "Come on now, be helpful for once." Magnus heard a rumbling noise, and then the familiar sound of wings as Ithuriel got into the line of sight.
"The sword is destined to kill the queen, and only when he is worthy can the king pull it out."
"Why does everyone keep repeating the same thing? Tell me how to make Alec worthy."
"That you must figure out on your own. I cannot tell you."
"What can you tell me? You only ever tell me what I already know, and when I think you're saying something useful, it turns out to be just another riddle. Will you ever just spell everything out? Not everyone can see everything," Magnus snapped up at the dragon.
"It is not my job to tell you how to do it. I simply tell you what you have to do. You must figure out yourself how to get through with it." Magnus sighed again.
"Thank you, Ithuriel, for being so helpful. What would I do without you?" He mumbled under his breath as he turned around to leave.
He spent the entire week buried in books. Sometimes even when he was with Alec they would go to the library to try to read anything about the Soulsword. They didn't find much, at least nothing useful. They found out the sword could bring out the truth, although they had no idea how. And they read that the sword would only be wielded by someone worthy, although it didn't say how to become worthy.
"Magnus, do you ever think this is all a mistake? Maybe I'm not this king, maybe everyone just thought it was me," Alec had said after a day in the library.
"I honestly have no idea, Alec. But I know that if anyone can defeat Lilith, it's you." Alec hadn't looked convinced, but Magnus couldn't blame him. It was kind of ironic, how what was supposed to be a calm day out in the woods just made everything worse for them.
"So basically you are saying that you do believe it's me," Alec said and sighed.
"Well... yeah" Magnus admitted and shrugged his shoulders. "I do believe that you are the future king and that you are meant to save the shadow world and all its people."
"This is a lot of pressure Magnus but I'm glad to have you so... I know I'll find out what to do"
"I'll do my best to help you at least." They were both unsure, but about completely different things. While Alec was unsure about whether or not he was this once and future king, and if he would ever be worthy, Magnus was unsure about how he played a part in this. Ithuriel had said multiple times that he played an important part in helping Alec, and the woman at the clearing had looked at Magnus when she said Alec would need help to be worthy. But how was Magnus a part of this? How could he help Alec? Magnus didn't have any of those answers, and he couldn't find an answer, no matter how much he searched.
"Hey, I know you are kind of avoiding this but… did you start looking for clothes for your wedding?" Alec shook his head.
"No, I don't want to. And Izzy won't let me anyway, she's insisting on keeping me in the dark and buying me something. She's probably gonna buy something, you know, like Izzy." Magnus chuckled.
"Yeah, I know. At least that way we know you'll look good."
"I just hope she doesn't make me wear something ridiculous."
"I'm sure she'll take your clothing style at least somewhat into account," Magnus assured him.
"Yeah, let's hope so."
"She will, she's Izzy and she loves you so much" smiled Magnus and reached for Alec's shoulder.
"I know…. She means so much to me. I don't know what I would do without her, Jace and you"
"I'm sure you could manage just fine without me. There are plenty of people out there just waiting to be close to you. To be your servant." Alec frowned and stopped to look at Magnus.
"Yeah, I know. But they aren't you. Magnus, you are so much more than just a servant for me, you… you're my best friend," he said, not letting Magnus look away.
"I… I am?"
"Of course, Magnus. I love you." After a second's hesitation, Alec pulled Magnus into a hug. Magnus realized how much he loved hugging Alec. How much he loved to be safe in his arms. He also realized he'd never hugged Alec before, never had him this close.
"I love you too," He mumbled into Alec's shoulder. He wished Alec would get the real meaning behind them, understand that Magnus loved him. But he didn't. Of course he didn't.
They stayed like this for a lot longer than society would deem acceptable but Magnus didn't care, he liked this so much.
When they eventually did pull apart they were both longing to just get into the other's arms again. But they couldn't, they had work to do. And if someone walked past they might find it weird to see a servant and the prince hugging. Sure, most of the servants knew about Magnus and Alec's friendship, but not everyone. Robert didn't know about it at all, and he would probably find it appropriate if he knew. He didn't know about Isabelle's friendship with Clary either. Or about Clary and Jace. Come to think of it, it didn't look like Robert knew much about his children.
Together he and Alec made their way to the field. It was late in the evening, so it was mostly empty. Perfect for archery training.
As the weeks passed and the marriage got closer, Magnus and Alec kept struggling to find out more about the soul sword. It was driving them both crazy, and they'd pretty much given up after the third week. They had other things to focus on, like the wedding and Magnus still was working on how to make sure Malcolm could get to his girlfriend in the afterlife, he was pretty close to a cure but he still needed to work on the finer details. He also had to send a few messages to him so Malcolm knew that Magnus was still working on it and how his progress was. Magnus also had to take time to speak to Dot. He couldn't keep using her, the guilt was eating him alive every time he saw her. He had to speak with her as soon as possible.
Now, two months after Lydia's first visit, the wedding was just a week away. Lydia would be coming this evening to get accommodated here and to get ready for the wedding. Alec was nervous, like he'd been the first time she was coming. Except he knew that this time she wasn't leaving. She was coming, and she would stay there. Lydia and Alec, sleeping in the same bed, eating by the same table, doing the same things, going to meetings together. It wouldn't be Magnus and Alec anymore, or even just Alec. It would be Lydia and Alec, from that day on, and till death separated them. That was the vow they were going to make. That was the vow that was gonna change Alec's life. Maybe it would be for the benefit of the kingdom, and maybe it would finally make his father proud, but it would completely ruin Alec's dreams. Dreams he knew would never come true anyway, because his dreams consisted of him and Magnus. Together, doing the kind of stuff that couples do. Which was never gonna happen, which was why Alec needed to stop thinking about it.
It the end, Alec had one big worry, really. One thing that he had no idea what to do about, one thing he couldn't change. He would need to get Lydia pregnant. He would need to have sex with her, the night of the wedding. He had actually talked about that with her. It had turned out that she wasn't really into the idea of marrying him but she acted like him, she knew her place and she was willing to sacrifice her own happiness for her kingdom. She also was in love with someone, back in her hometown. He was the son of the baker and therefore out of the question. Alec had offered to let him move into Idris so she should stay in contact with him and have him as her 'affair' so at least she would be kind of happy. Maybe they could even get to an agreement, if this guy got Lydia pregnant instead. No one would notice, as long as they told everyone it was Alec's.
The only problem was he wasn't sure he would be willing to come. Lydia had said she would tell him about the offer, but the guy's father was getting old and very dependent on his son to make income. Lydia didn't think he would abandon his father, not even for her. And there was nothing Alec could do about that, he could just hope.
For the time being, he was stuck with Izzy who wanted to check that the clothes she'd gotten fit him.
"Is it too tight? It looks perfect, but I don't want you to pass out from lack of air," Izzy commented.
"Maybe you should have thought of that before you got a shirt too small!"
"Yeah, yeah, whatever. It's fine, we just have to…" Izzy moved to unbutton the top buttons, but Alec pulled away.
"What are you doing?" He asked.
"I'm unbuttoning your shirt, what does it look like I'm doing?"
"Izzy, I can't go to a wedding with an unbuttoned shirt," Alec said, pulling her hands away and doing the buttons again.
"Of course you can, it'll just make all the girls swoon."
"I don't want anyone to swoon! Come on, Izzy. I'm getting married, not going to a tavern." Izzy sighed.
"Fine, I'll get a bigger one later, but unbutton it for now so we can see how it looks with the rest of the outfit," She said. Alec sighed and agreed.
In the end, the clothes she'd gotten weren't too awful. White and gold, like the tradition was in Idris. A white shirt and golden jacket, black pants and a black bowtie. Not too bad, except the shirt didn't fit and the pants were too tight for Alec's liking.
"Are they supposed to be so tight?" He asked. "I think they're too small too."
"Alec, it's already hard to find pants for someone as tall as you, and they look good. You can move in them, right?"
"You're impossible," Alec responded instead of answering her actual question.
"You love me."
"Unfortunately."
"I love you too, brother," she smiled and leaned in to kiss his cheek. "And I am heartbroken to know that you are giving up so much by marrying her. I mean I like her but… I know she's not Magnus and you are falling harder and harder for him. It's almost painful to see how much you love him," She said. Like she thought Alec needed to be reminded. It was painful. To have Magnus there all the time, to be so close to him. And to be promised to another, to know he could never have him. Even if by some crazy miracle Magnus actually wanted him, they couldn't be together anyway. His father had said he could have hundreds of mistresses and no one would care. But one boyfriend and it would be a scandal.
"Can we please not talk about him?" Alec begged. It was bad enough to be with him, he didn't want to talk about how much he loved him. Especially not with his sister, he feared he might actually have a breakdown. He couldn't do that now, he had to be strong.
"Sure… but the truth will come out one day anyway," she said and stroked his cheek with his thumb. "Please know how to be ready to face the truth one day"
"I will never be ready for that. If it ever comes out, I'll probably panic and run away to another kingdom." It wasn't a lie. Alec had actually thought about it, what he would do if it got out. If Magnus found out, maybe he could live with it, maybe they could keep going. But if his father found out then everyone would know, the entire kingdom. Alec couldn't do that, couldn't live with that. If that happened, he would disappear.
"You won't. Alec, I know you. You love us too much to leave us. You'll stay and find a way to deal with it, maybe he can help you? I mean he knows how you feel. You told me he opened up to you so… talk to him"
"Are you saying I should tell him I love him? What's the point, Izzy? He's in love with someone else and he even broke up with Dot, because his feelings for this man are so strong."
"Urgh, no. But that you have feelings for a man as well. Just talk about that."
"But it wouldn't change anything. I would still need to marry Lydia. He'd been trying to stop this wedding from the beginning, if I tell him he'll just be even more motivated to stop it. Maybe, maybe I'll tell him. After the wedding." Izzy sighed.
"Fine. It's your choice, Alec. I just think you should talk to him, talk to someone."
"I can talk to you, can't I? I think that's enough."
"You can always talk to me," Izzy assured him, pulling him into a hug.
Dear Malcolm. I have found everything you need to finish the spell. I will make a list of the ingredients you need as well as an extract from the book I found it in. I hope we are even now. Thank you for telling me about Alec. You can be with your girlfriend now. From Magnus.
Magnus read through the letter he'd written one more time before setting it on fire, watching it burn away to Malcolm. It had taken him a while, but despite everything else going on he'd managed to take time to look at Malcolm's problem. It was a complicated process that required lot's of rare ingredients, it would take Malcolm a while to do it. But at least now he knew what he needed to do. At least now he knew there was hope. Magnus would do anything to know that about his own problem. All of his problems, actually.
He went to place the book he'd been reading back in the shelf. It was one of the ones on the top, he had to use a ladder to reach it. Luckily Luke had a ladder around for that. He climbed to the top and put the book back into place. On his way down his sleeve got caught up in the ladder, and Magnus gripped at the shelf to not fall. A book fell out of it, landing on the ground. Magnus sighed and climbed down the rest of the ladder to pick it up. The book had opened on a random page, Magnus was about to close it when something caught his eye. A drawing. Of a stone. With a sword sticking out of it.
It was the same stone, the same sword, no doubt. Magnus looked at the text around it, wondering why he hadn't found this book before. He realized quickly when he saw it wasn't in any language he knew. It was in Latin. Of course! The real information would be in the old books, the ones Magnus couldn't read.
"Luke! Luke?" Magnus called for him. He brought the book with him to the pharmacy, Luke was stitching up a knight. Magnus didn't exactly know what had happened, but he had a big wound on his forehead. Probably fell off a horse or something, it didn't matter. "Luke, can I talk to you?"
"Magnus, I'm busy," Luke said, not taking his eyes away from what he was doing.
"Yeah, yeah, I can see that. But this is very important."
"Unless someone's dying, it can wait five minutes." Magnus sighed. Of course Luke couldn't stop in the middle of what he was doing. And this could wait five minutes, that wouldn't make a big difference. Magnus stared at the words in the book like he could understand them if he looked at them long enough. It only frustrated him more. He started pacing around the room, trying to make sense of the words, trying to gather information from the drawings.
"Magnus, your pacing is very distracting."
"Sorry, I'm stressed."
"Go be stressed in the living room, please. I'll join you as soon as I finish here." Magnus sighed again but did as Luke said and moved to the living room. He'd barely gotten out of the room when he felt an incoming firemessage. He looked around himself to check that he was alone before unglamouring it and snapping it out of the air.
Dear Magnus. Thank you very much. This will take a while, but I'll get it done. We are even now, and I'll be more than happy to do more business with you in the future if you ever need my assistance. Thank you very much for your help. From Malcolm.
Magnus smiled at the letter before saying a spell to set it on fire. He couldn't risk anyone finding it and realize he'd been working with Malcolm all along. Alec and Luke knew, but no one else. And Alec didn't know he'd kept contact with Malcolm, and Magnus would prefer if it stayed that way.
"Now, what is the problem Magnus?" asked Luke as he entered the living room.
"Luke." Magnus turned around to look at him. "You know all those languages, right?" Luke nodded. "I need you to translate this for me." Magnus showed him the page he needed. "Especially if you see something about how to be worthy." Magnus handed Luke the book. Luke picked the book out of Magnus's hands and studied the pages carefully. He was silent for a few minutes before looking up at Magnus again.
"It says here only the king can get the sword out of the stone, I'm assuming they mean the once and future king."
"But Alec already tried, it didn't work!"
"Let me finish, Magnus. It says that to be worthy the king has to bare his soul and tell his biggest secret."
"What?"
"It's the sword of truth, Magnus. It makes sense that to wield it you have to let the truth out."
"Yeah, yeah, I guess that makes sense." Magnus sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I have to tell Alec," he said. "Thank you, Luke. I'm gonna go find Alec." With that he bolted out of the house, not even saying goodbye. He didn't know where Alec was, he'd left him with Isabelle hours ago, but surely they were finished.
Magnus didn't have to search for very long, Alec was on the steps to the castle. With Lydia. Magnus had missed her arrival! How could he have lost track of time like that? He'd promised Alec he'd be by his side, and he hadn't been.
"Magnus!" Alec looked up startled when he saw him. "Where were you?" He asked. Magnus shot a careful look at Lydia before deciding he could trust her.
"I found out how to get the sword," he said. Lydia looked confused at him, but Alec understood what he meant immediately.
"Really? How?"
"It's the sword of truth, so to be worthy of wielding it you must reveal your deepest secret," Magnus explained. Alec blanched.
"What?" He asked weakly.
"What's going on? What are you talking about?" Lydia asked before Magnus could speak. Magnus looked carefully at her.
"Have you ever heard about Lilith? The queen of hell?" He asked. Lydia nodded, confused. "Well, she's real, and she's gonna do something bad. There's a prophecy, that a once and future king would be born in times of need to kill the queen. Alec is that king, and he needs to pull a sword out of a stone to be able to kill her." Lydia's frown deepened, and Magnus couldn't blame her. It sounded ridiculous to his own ears. "Listen, it doesn't matter. We have to pull out that sword as quick as possible."
"Yeah, totally" Alec agreed and nodded. "But I can't go just now. I mean Lydia just arrived, what will people think if I ran away with now into the forest"
"I'll come with you," Lydia said immediately. She earned herself two confused looks and two very loud "No!"
"Come on, this is clearly important, and if I go with you it'll look like a romantic walk or ride or whatever. And then as soon as we're out of sight we'll stop acting and get that sword." Magnus looked at Alec.
"That would work," he said hesitantly. Alec sighed.
"Yeah, it would." He ran a hand through his hair. "Let's go then," he said. They followed Alec to the stables, where he prepared Shadowhunter while Lydia looked around in the stables to choose a horse for her. Magnus prepared Jem, and he was pretty much done when Alec came to check how he was doing.
"You're getting good at this," he smiled. Magnus smiled back and nodded before going back to fastening the saddle. He heard Alec and Lydia talk behind him, probably deciding which horse would be best for her.
A little while later they were all sat on their horses. Lydia had gone with a black, white, and gray horse called Moonshadow. She was a beautiful, tall mare, perfect for a future queen. They set out on their way, Magnus behind Alec and Lydia as to not raise suspicion. It couldn't be a ride between two lovers if they weren't by each other's side. This way it would look like Magnus was just there so they were not alone, kind of like a chaperon.
They rode into the woods, following the main path for a while, just like Magnus and Alec had done the first time they found the clearing. After a while, as soon as they were far enough away from the city, Magnus sped up a little to catch up with the other two. Alec looked nervous and uneasy, and Lydia was riding silently beside him.
"Would any of you mind telling me what's going on?" She asked when Magnus broke into a fast canter beside them.
"It's kind of a long and complicated story…" Magnus started.
"I'm not going anywhere." Magnus nodded and started to tell her, leaving out a few unnecessary details.
"Well, I became Alec's servant by saving his life. Just a little while later someone tried to kill him again. So I started to wonder if there was any connection between the two attempted murders and I managed to get answers out of one of them. He told me Lilith, queen of hell Lilith, had sent him to kill Alec because Alec is the once and future king, destined to kill the queen. Anyway, we were riding through the woods one day when we found a clearing and decided to rest there. When we tried to leave a spirit appeared and told us Alec had to remove the sword out of the stone because the sword was necessary to kill the queen, but when he tried he wasn't worthy. And now we've spent almost two months trying to figure out how to make him worthy, and I found it by accident today in one of Luke's Latin books," he told her.
"That sounds… very fake. But I guess I'll believe you when I see the sword." Magnus looked at Alec, he looked unnaturally pale.
"Alexander, are you okay?" He asked. Alec shook his head quickly and looked at Magnus.
"Hmm, me? Yeah, I'm fine."
"Are you sure? You look sick," Magnus said.
"Magnus, I'm fine. Come on, it's in here," Alec said and took a sudden left turn into a smaller path. It was a good thing Alec was paying attention to the road, cause Magnus certainly wasn't and Lydia didn't know the way.
They rode the rest of the way in silence until they finally arrived at the clearing again, the stone still there and the sword still buried deep in it.
"Oh wow, this really exists" huffed Lydia.
"We told you. So... Alec, who do you want to talk to? About your biggest secret?" Alec ignored his question and hopped off the horse. He went to the stone, stared at the sword and ran his fingers over the handle. He turned back to them.
"You can both stay. You… you deserve to know, both of you." Alec took a deep breath. He closed his hand around the hilt. "I… I'm in love," he whispered, it was rather difficult for Magnus to understand him, since Alec was a few feet away and was talking very quietly. He is in love? With who? And why did Alec never mention it before? Magnus was surprised and very curious.
"I- I don't think that's enough, Alexander. But you can try the sword," he said. He almost wanted for it to not be enough. Wanted to know who had caught Alec's heart. Alec tried to pull the sword, it didn't move. Alec looked and Magnus again and then closed his eyes.
"I love you," he said.
"I know, Alec. So you can tell me anything."
"No, Magnus. I love you. I'm in love with you." Magnus was sure he must have heard wrong. Had Alec just said that? No, he couldn't. He'd heard wrong.
"You… what?"
"I love you, Magnus. I love you so fucking much, it's ridiculous. It hurts and I'm sorry, I know you are in love with someone else and that it will never work with us for so many reasons but I can't help it. I fell for you the moment I saw you and it only grew stronger and I… I just love you"
"Alec, Alec look!" Lydia said, filling what would have been an awkward silence as Magnus took in the words. She pointed at the stone, the part where the stone and the sword connected was glowing. Alec pulled lightly at the sword, and it came out without any fight, the blade glowing. But only Lydia was actually paying attention. Alec was looking at the ground and Magnus was staring at him.
"Erm… boys I think I'll… well, I'll leave you two alone for a moment," she mumbled and turned around to move away from them.
"Alec?" Magnus asked quietly after just looking at him for a long time. Alec just turned around, not looking at him.
"I'm sorry, Magnus. I- I didn't want you to know," he said. Magnus got of off Jem as fast as he could and then went up to Alec.
"Alexander…" Magnus reached up to touch Alec's shoulder, turning him around. "Alexander." Magnus tried to catch his eyes, but Alec seemed to be avoiding them at all costs. "Alexander, look at me," Magnus insisted. He moved his hand from Alec's shoulder up to his neck, turning Alec's head. When he caught Alec's eyes, he didn't let him look away as he said, "I love you too." Alec looked away from him again.
"Don't lie, Magnus. I know you're just saying that to make me feel better or something, it's not worth it."
"Alexander, I'm not lying. The sword reveals the truth, right?" Magnus closed his hand over Alec's, still holding the sword. "I love you, Alexander Lightwood. I love you and I'm going to do something now that I've wanted to do for so long." And with that, he leaned up and kissed Alec.
Alec made a small noise of surprise in the back of his throat before melting into the kiss. Magnus had done this a few times before, with Dot. But that was nothing compared to now, to Alec's mouth on his. The kiss was slow, gentle. Just lips on lips. No tongue, no teeth, just a careful kiss. "I love you," Magnus whispered against Alec's lips when he pulled back.
"I love you too,"
After that, Alec dropped the sword and hugged Magnus and the two of them just stood there hugging for a while until they heard a small voice.
"Thank you, future king. Now go fulfill the damn prophecy," the woman's voice said.
You guys wanted Malec? Here's your Malec, enjoy it while you can.