Chapter 4
The gloves that Rohan wore made her hands and fingers sticky with sweat. Her coal black hair was plaited back tightly and she was wearing light slate grey colored tunic and leggings. She struggled to pull down the magnifying glasses that she wore, they were silver framed and had several adjustments that could be tweaked so she could see easily. More Steam-Punk-esque rather than mad genius.
Finally, able to see what she was doing, she twisted open the clasp that held the poison within her dual long daggers. The poison was sent throughout a thin lining along the blade when she rubbed her finger against a tiny flickering piece that worked like a lighter attached securely to the side of each blade's hilt. She poured the poison into the open clasp and twisted it back down tightly. The toxin glowed like amethyst resting in the glass vial that was set between the hilt and steel that crafted the weapon.
She wanted to be out hunting with her elder brothers, but they deemed her too young, her father did not want her to be raised any different from them, besides her better etiquette and manners. But hunting was apparently far too bloody for her to see the deaths of furry woodland creatures. Rohan growled in anger, set her magnifying glasses on the table perhaps a bit too roughly and spun toward the wooden targets, she had suspended from the ceiling of her little workshop with rope.
The Half-Blood Princess of the Unseelie Court challenged all her rage and betrayal, all of the hurt that she felt, aimed, and released them from between her fingers. Her cry echoed against the walls and bounced back, until she finally let herself break down, sobbing.
The daggers split right through them like butter, acid from the poison making them split in half seamlessly. But Rohan was now leaning against the opposite wall for support while her weapons were wedged into cracks along the brick on the other side, vibrating a little from the impact. The metal door to her sanctuary opened and to her shock the Unseelie King entered, she had expected one of her elder brothers to check up on her, she had assumed as always that her father was far too busy.
His robes smelt of lavender and honey. They were a deep rich black with silver trim, almost as if her father was in mourning. Mourning the loss of his heart or mourning the loss of Rohan's mother? Not that she was dead, just a Shadowhunter version of a nun, immortal, and damned to make weaponry for the rest of her life. It had been a week since Esther Bloodkey was punished by both the Unseelie King and the Clave. Her father cocooned her in his arms like a child, buried in the fabric of his long and elaborate sleeves.
He was also wearing a porcelain mask on the half of his face that resembled death. The mask was the color of granite engraved with different symbols that meant death, held it his face by a black silk ribbon.
Rohan reached her hand to touch the ice cold surface of his mask. "Why do you wear a mask around me?"
"If you were to see the other half, I fear it would give you nightmares." the Unseelie King replied softly as he used the sleeve of his robe to wipe away the tears from her cheeks and eyes. The only children he wanted to fear him, were his sons.
"I could never fear you." his daughter said as she kissed him ever so softly on the cheek and slid out of his embrace to retrieve her daggers from the wall. She oiled them down carefully and then sheathed them into the black leather holders she had made for them on her own that now rested on her hips.
Her flame orange eyes met with her father's black, she had not inherited either her mother's eyes or her father's, and had always thought she might have gained the unique eye color from an ancient relative. She always looked into her father's only working eye, the one that was actually there and not the hallowed socket. Grabbing her sketch book off the table she sat down beside her father and showed him her different weapons designs and the ingredients for her different toxins that she fused with her weaponry. He made slight adjustments but otherwise left them alone and allowed his daughter to continue her work, while he sat and watched her with pride on his face and gleaming in his only eye.
It was later in the evening after she shared a dinner of duck and wild rice with her brothers and father, and her father had thought that she was sound asleep in her bedchamber that Rohan snuck off to the World of the Mundane and the Shadowhunters that protected them from the creatures that lurked in the dark. The Half-Blood found herself stepping through the barrier between the world of Shadowhunters and the Fae. Sighing, she sucked in the chilled air and breathed out slowly, giggling a little as her breath came out in a white fog.
The Princess of the Unseelie was no longer wearing her tunic and leggings, or her navy blue nightdress. But instead a slate grey dress, that barely brushed the top of her kneecaps and had long sleeves. The entire dress was decorated with black ravens in flight. She had knotted her hair back into a bun and had strapped her daggers so they were resting on her hips and easy to use, along with freshly crafted hunting boots made from the most durable of black leather.
Her father did not bother her about her sudden change of attire after her tenth birthday, he probably thought that with her want of modest and flattering dresses that could still be worn for fighting if the need arose was just his daughter maturing. But that was only part of the reason, her mother had given her the Mark of the Shadowhunter and she using her more modest attire to hide it from the Fae, that she called Father. She did not want her father to see it, afraid of what it would do to him, emotionally and mentally. Also that he would banish her from the only home she had ever known, just as he had done to her mother. A broken King was not what the Unseelie Lands needed.
Six months before her mother was caught by the Unseelie King and then the Clave, she had given Rohan a memorial tenth birthday surprise. It was the early dawn, when her mother awoke Rohan from a dream about becoming her father's knight. Her silky raven colored hair was loose and like a curtain. She wore her navy blue nightdress with decorations of the constellations in silver. Her butterscotch colored Dumbo-eared pet rat, Dandelion slept beside her head on the pillow. When Esther Bloodkey entered, Dandelion yawned and stretched and made herself comfortable once more, but this time hidden in Rohan's hair.
"Mother, is something the matter? Is Father hurt?" Rohan asked, still not fully awake as her mother sat on her bed.
Esther ran her fingers through her daughter's hair. "No, honey, your father is perfectly fine."
The Shadowhunter and now Mistress of the Unseelie King found it odd how he was able to control the time flow in certain areas. Her daughter still aged normally, but she herself, aged slowly like a sloth, she had been nineteen when she entered the Unseelie Lands, and now the Shadowhunter was unsure of how old she was or how old she was supposed be. She must have been in her thirties by now, but felt and looked as if she was in her late twenties.
The colors of dawn were erasing the colors of night as Esther Bloodkey looked down at the steele she had in her hands. The only daughter she had beside her, was now ten and even though she knew of her Shadowhunter heritage, Esther was afraid her daughter would not accept it.
"Mama, why do you have your magic pencil with you?" Rohan asked, knowing with joy that now it was officially her birthday.
"I want you to receive the Mark of my people...would you like that?" Esther inquired, ignoring the fact that her daughter had just called one of the most used tools to a Shadowhunter a "magic pencil".
The Half-Blood Princess looked down at her ink colored covers, twisting them in her calloused hands, swordsmanship and archery practice with Noll had ruined her so-called soft and dainty skin. Dandelion's pink nose was now snuffling around her pointed ears. "I would love it, Mama. Father will be angry though won't he?"
Esther smiled, "It'll be our secret, sweetheart."
She removed her nightgown, so her mother could find a place to put her Mark where it could be easily hidden, while Dandelion munched on a handful of sunflower seeds, resting by Rohan's thigh. She bit down into the fabric of her pillow as the pain and smell of burning flesh alerted her senses to the fact that her mother was indeed adding the Mark of the Shadowhunters on to her skin, it would rest on the start of her hip, where it could be covered by dresses or leggings.
Now her mother was gone and she had left her beloved rat, Dandelion to sleep on her pillow with a bag of sunflower seeds and cashews waiting when she awoke. Rohan knew that if she brought her pet with her to the Mundane world, she might lose her forever, the female rat was active and had a need to explore, she would want to run off and the Half-Fae was not willing to lose her best friend forever.
Now all alone, Rohan struggled to find her bearings as she found herself in front of a open twenty-four hour coffee shop and stepped inside. The scents of pastries and different caffeinated beverages filled her senses. She glanced around for a clock until she finally located the one on the wall that was shaped like a tea pot. Three in the morning. No wonder the mortals were not out and about. She grabbed a copy of the New York Times to catch up on what had been happening in the world that was hidden from the Unseelie and Seelie Fae alike. She fled from the shop, just as she heard some poor soul stuck with the graveyard shift start shuffling around in the back by the kitchens.
She needed to find Shiloh, just to make sure that the Half-Blooded outcast was alright. Safe and loved, that was all Rohan wanted for her little half-sister.
First she needed to track down the High Warlock of Brooklyn, Magnus Bane. Surely, the fellow Downworlder would be willing to help her. She calmed herself by breathing in through her nose and out through her mouth slowly until the count of ten. She would be fine; she would be safe. It was her father and brothers, and her sister's father, Noll, who taught her how to fight, and she felt confident that she could defend herself against demons and other Downworlders who wanted to do her harm.
With her long daggers belted and sheathed around her waist, she found that her naturalist Fae powers could help her in this world, just as they did in the Unseelie Lands. She could understand the languages of the animals here, more so if they were nocturnal.
She conversed with a raccoon for quite some time, the furry bandit would not lead her to Magnus unless she bought him a proper New York style pizza that he could share with his family. Rohan hated bargaining, deals with Fae kind never seemed to end well. But all the hungry little mongrel cared about was food.
"I cannot acquire for you, what you ask. I have no way of paying for it." she told the raccoon, whose name was apparently Pipino.
The raccoon gave her a look of disgust. "Fine, what about a hot dog…with ketchup and mustard...and pickles?"
Rohan dug into her pocket, until the watch she had found sticking out from underneath a wheel of a dumpster, the glass cracked and the band torn, before she had spotted the raccoon digging in the dumpster just above her head. Now with the watch in her palm, a thought to get money flicked inside her mind. "That I can do...I think…"
The pair found a pawn shop, the raccoon paced outside while the Half-Fae was able to get quite a bit of money for the watch. With fifteen dollars in her pocket, separated between one ten-dollar bill and a five, she and the grumpy raccoon made their way to central park. She bought two massive hot dogs from a street vendor with a rather bushy mustache with a beard, and tattoos on his arms.
The raccoon and the Half-Fae daughter of the Unseelie King sat on a park bench eating their cheap New York style breakfast. Rohan had decided to go without the pickles, but had instead opted out for more mustard and ketchup. Pipino when he was finished looked like a clown of sorts with mustard all over his nose and whiskers, which nearly made the young Shadowhunter child choke on her hot dog.
The Princess of the Unseelie Court did not end up on Magnus' front doorstep until close to seven in the morning, Pipino abandoned her for a dumpster that had a box of day old doughnuts. She had to ask a couple of not-so-bright pigeons for directions and it took her three times of getting lost, before she was able to locate the place that Magnus Bane called home. Not really sure what else to do, she knocked on the door and waited until a somewhat sleep deprived Shadowhunter with a baby resting against his hip answered the door. The Half-Blood could tell by the Runes marking his skin that he was indeed like her mother, or like her mother had once been.
The exhausted man, barely into his twenties, jostled the child in his arms into a little more comfortable position. He glanced at her and then at the daggers on her hips. He raised an eyebrow at the suspicious Downworlder.
"What do you need?" His voice was thick with the need for sleep.
"I am looking for my little sister. I was hoping Magnus Bane would know where she is." Rohan answered, shivering a little, it was not particularly warm in the Mundane World.
"Your sister?" Alec raised an eyebrow and bounced one-year-old Rafael, his son staring at the strange Half-Blood girl.
"Her name is Shiloh, she has silver hair and blue eyes. Pointed ears like I have." Rohan explained.
"Right. I'll go get Magnus, remove your weapons please." Alec said keeping an eye on the Princess as she unbelted her daggers and got on her tiptoes to hang them on the coat rack. She turned to look at him and the Shadowhunter nodded his approval and led her to the living room where she was to wait while he went to get the High Warlock of Brooklyn.
She looked around the room and smiled when a rather small cat with munchkin legs, dots for eyebrows and stripes, peered at her cautiously from underneath a chair. She was just about to try coaxing the feline from out of his hiding place, hoping he would join her on the couch, when Magnus suddenly appeared in front of her.
"Chairman Meow is rather shy." He said and sat in a chair across from her. His yellowish-green eyes were tired but filled with curiosity. He wore an amethyst kimono with dark blue birds decorating it. "You resemble the Unseelie King…"
"He's my father." she said, looking at her lap. "Does that mean you won't help me?"
"I will do what I can. But we both want to keep Shiloh safe don't we?" he spoke gently to her, which was comforting to the Half-Blood Fae.
"Of course…" she said, not looking up from her lap. "But she is safe?"
"Yes, she has two people who will take care of her and protect her."
"That makes me feel a little better. I did want to see her though, apologize for being such an awful older sibling." Rohan bit her lip and shook her head. "That wouldn't be safe. My father probably hates Shiloh as much as he despises our mother now."
"You can see her without endangering her." Magnus said with a smile.
Instead of taking an hour to explain how Skype worked, Alec showed her. It took a couple of minutes, but Helen Blackthorn answered.
"Magnus, Alec is something wrong?" the Blackthorn family's eldest child asked, she was wearing an apron and had a wooden spoon in her hand, water boiling in a pot on the stove behind her.
"Everything's fine." Alec reassured her. "We just have someone here who would like to talk to Shiloh."
The six-year-old Half-Blood came running into the kitchen and Helen easily scooped her up and plopped her on to her lap, earning giggles from her adopted daughter. Shiloh's blue eyes grew wide with excitement and happiness when Rohan came on screen, sitting in between the Warlock and the male Shadowhunter.
"Ro!" Shiloh exclaimed, earning a weak smile from her big sister.
"Hello, Shiloh. How have you been doing?" Rohan said, trying not let her guilt soak into her words or show on her face.
"I miss you, but I'm not going to get hurt and I won't be lonely. Aline has been teaching me how to sculpt ice and I've been practicing piano. Oh, and yesterday, we made chocolate chip cookies in the shape of rabbits!"
"That sounds fun-" Rohan started to say, but Shiloh interrupted her.
"A-And Helen is just like us! She has pointy ears, and her eyes are bright like yours, Ro !" Shiloh grinned, Helen kissed her on the cheek and made her get off her lap for a moment and Aline to her place.
"So are they your new parents?" Rohan asked, as Aline snuck Shiloh a rabbit-shaped cookie while Helen had her back turned focusing on extra-cheesy macaroni and cheese.
Between bites, Shiloh answered. "Yep, but don't worry I won't forget you or Mommy or Daddy either." when the six-year-old realized what she had said her face fell and tears began in her eyes.
This started Rohan crying as well, feeling guilty and Magnus quickly handed her a tissue. Sniffling, Rohan managed to apologize to her sister. "Shiloh, I am so sorry...if I had been there…"
"I-I know...I still love you." Shiloh said as Aline wiped the tears from her face with the sleeve of her shirt.
"I love you too." Rohan said softly, Helen turned to face the camera, three bowls of macaroni and cheese balanced on her arm as a waitress would.
"Okay, dinner's ready." Her inhuman bright green eyes were shining with unshed tears and she could not help but notice the concern that was etched into Rohan's face. "Don't worry, Aline and I won't let anything happen to her, I-we promise."
Rohan nodded and said goodbye, but before Alec could end the call, Shiloh was back on screen. "Magnus, can I please talk to my sister like this again? Please, please, please?"
The Warlock of Brooklyn chuckled quietly, "Of course, Shiloh."
"Thank you! Bye, Ro!" the call ended and the screen returned to the background of a picture of Alec, Magnus, and Rafael.
"Thank you, Magnus and you too, Alec." Rohan said as she set her weapons back around her waist and left the house and then the Mundane World.
When the Unseelie King entered his daughter bedchamber, the door already slightly ajar, he found her fast asleep in her queen-sized bed with Dandelion nested in her coal black locks. Clothes scattered on the floor and her weapons hanging on the chair in front of her vanity.
He shook his head and shut the door as quietly as he could. She had traveled to the Mundane world, which had nearly caused him to send guards out looking for, he worried for Rohan and if he lost as well not even the Mundane world would be safe from him any longer.