Chapter 17

Magnus' POV

The warlock boy sitting on my bed looked like a human boy at the age of seven or eight. He had dark, tousled hair on his head and green eyes. His skin was white with black markings like of a snow leopard, small black horns were poking out of his forehead. He looked down at me, his fingers playing with my blanket. "Do you always make so awkward noises when you sleep?" I let my gaze travel around the room, looking for someone else in here, but we were alone. "Who is Alexander?" He asked the next question before I said something to the first one. His hand slowly came closer and he tried to grab my ear. I let it twitch back to my head and my head slowly gliding to the side and out of his reach, looking at him sceptical. I pushed myself into a sitting position, recognizing that a shower was very much needed. The boy let his hand sink down, turned his upper body around to grab something from the bedside table and stuffed it in his mouth, chewing very intensely. "Who are you?" He slid closer to me, bouncing down on the bed and trying to reach my ear again. "I'm your brother..." I ducked my head down and ignored the outstretched hand. "Aha... And how can I help you?" He grabbed something again, chewing loudly and visible. "I was instructed to bring you food."

I looked to the bedside table, there was a plate with sliced fruit bits, the half of it already eaten. "You didn't answer my questions. And why am I not allowed to pet you? I will be careful, I promise! And don't you wanna know my name? Or why I'm still here? Or how I got in here?" I watched him talking like a waterfall and tried to lay my hand over his mouth to shut it and stop his questions. He watched my hand coming closer to his lips, held it with both of his small hands and pushed himself up to look over it. "Are you not hungry? You slept so long and you were moaning and squirming as if you were in pain... Are you in pain? Can I help you somehow?..." "Okay, stop!" I held my hand up in front of his face, his small fingers still gripping my long ones, so it didn't really look like a stop motion. "It's nice to meet you..." His head followed every of my words with a nod and I pointed my index finger to him. "Ezekiel." "Ezekiel... wonderful. I need a shower. So if you would be so kind and leave..." His small fingers left my hand and I felt the sticking of fruit juice like glue. He grabbed a piece of pineapple from the plate and held it in front of my face. "Don't you want to eat first? You are so skinny and this is so so sweet. Like your cat ears, they look so cute. Can I touch them now?..." The piece of the fruit swung from side to side with his gesturing hand in front of my face.

I exhaled audibly, laying my head into my hands and regretting it immediately as my fingers stuck to my nose. "I'm not hungry anymore." I mumbled into my hands and heard him chewing the pineapple before he moved, kneeling next to me, his hands landed on my ear. I froze a few seconds while his glutinous fingers ran through my fur. I jumped up and out of the bed, nearly knocking Ezekiel down too. "Okay! That was nasty! You need a shower too. Please go and unnerve our father!" His sad eyes met mine, he sat back and played with my blanket again. "But I'm not allowed to go to him, I'm always with my mom but she's busy. They are all talking about you, you know? You were sleeping and all of daddy's other pets went crazy and mom told me I should bring your food in here and she looks after the other pets..." I looked at Ezekiel and said: "I'm really a pet for him now?" Ezekiel's look was wholehearted as he answered: "Yes... but you're a really cute one! And you're nice. I like you." I had to be true... somehow he was cute... a little bit... sometimes... "Ezekiel listen, could you do me a favour? It's totally boring in here. Can you get me a few books?" The boy nodded enthusiastically already gliding to the end of the bed and climbing down of it. "Okay! I will be back before you can say 'come back'!" He waved at me and ran out of the room without a problem. I sprinted to the bathroom, getting out of my clothes while running. So children didn't react to that neko thing... but I influenced adults even when I had wet dreams in another room, that was the bad thing. I stood under the hot water again, washing away the remnants of my dream... but for Lilith's sake, that was a hot dream!

Alecs POV

I woke up on the couch in our living room. How could I even have fallen asleep on that thing? It was so destroyed, the springs were poking into my side... It was way to silent, where were the others? I pushed the blanket aside and looked at my forearm where a rune was fading into my skin, I didn't know that rune. I remembered my dream in every detail and nearly wanted to look into the mirror and search for bite marks on my shoulder... yeah... that dream was hot. I threw my legs over the edge of the couch and... I needed a shower.

I heard low voices coming out of the dining room and went over to my bedroom. The door was open which meant Tessa and Jem were awake. I took a long shower and slipped on fresh clothes before I entered the dining room where everyone sat around the table, stopping their conversations as I came in. All eyes were on me, Jace, Clary... everyone was smirking... "Mmh... Hi..." Jace answered: "Hey. Slept well and had nice... maybe erotic dreams?" I blushed at that and only said: "Mmh... yes... I slept well... But what's that?" I showed them my forearm and the faded rune. Clary looked at it as if everything was alright. "It's a sleeping rune, or an anesthesia rune if a nephilim can't stand the pain. It's one of my new runes." "But why do I have it on my arm? And why can't I remember how you draw it?" Izzy watched me, her eyes a mixture of worry and sadness "You needed the sleep and rest. You were in such a bad condition you wouldn't remember it when the world had gone down. We just left you alone when it became clear what you were dreaming about..." Simon grinned and said: "Yeah... the sounds you made... You made us all hot and bothered." Izzy slapped his arm so hard he made a face. "Ew! It's my brother you're talking about!" "Ow! You're stronger than it seems..."

I sat down with a face as red as a tomato. "You're pigs. Really, all of you." I grabbed a piece of the pizza that was enthroned in the middle of the table and took a bite. "I didn't need to rest, so it's not my fault you had to listen to my sounds. Did Hayden call again after you euthanized me?" Tessa swallowed her bite of food and said: "No, he didn't. We try to find a way to Nah'raz, but to tell the truth... we will need all resources we got and contacts which are not very compatible with the accords..." Jace let his pizza slice sink down on his plate. "That doesn't matter. We often use ... mmh... everything we can without the clave knowing it. The only one who always argued about that, sits there..." he pointed in my direction. "... but I don't think this time he will also do that, right?" They looked at me expectantly, I watched my plate with the pizza, my sweating hands rubbing over the jeans on my thighs. "No... No, we have to use all we can. Everyone who wants to quit, you have the possibility now. I won't be mad, I would understand it. I will do anything for Magnus, I love him more than something else, but I can't demmand that from you." All motions stopped during my speech and as I looked up again, all eyes were on me, the cheese on Jem's pizza slice glided down on it in strings like in slow motion without him recognizing it. Simon spoke in Clary's direction then: "Are you sure your new high tech rune to let him sleep didn't destroy a lot of his brain cells? He didn't say such nonsense before you put that rune on him..." Izzy smiled at Simon. "Yeah... He's just very brave, I wouldn't dare to say something like that." She took my hand in hers and nothing more was said about that.

Magnus' POV

I left the shower and worked my way into my trousers, while Ezekiel came back, his arms full of books. He let them fall onto the bed and sat himself next to them. With my shirt laying over my shoulder I went over to him and took the first book I got 'A Tale of two Cities' and had to smile a little as I remembered it was a favorite of Will Herondale. "They will give you a little time to enjoy, I hope..." I ruffled Ezekiels hair and answered: "Yes, thank you very much." I picked the shirt from my shoulder, but before I could pull it over the door opened again. A woman came in, a silver collar surrounded her neck a chain went from the collar to the hand of the keeper, wrapped around his wrist but hanging loosely between both of them. I looked over to Ezekiel but... he was gone, or not visible anymore, I don't know...

The woman definitely was a slave, the black silky cloth that flowed around her curves showed more of her skin than it hid. She seemed human and somehow remembered me of Jocelyn and Clary. She had milky skin, dark red hair that was tied into a high ponytail and flowing down her back in soft curls. Her green eyes looked to the ground, not even a short glance went into my direction, but she was striking beautiful even in her submissive behavior. She had a pile of clothes in her hands, a small silver box sat on top of it. She sat down on her knees and calves, still holding the clothes. The keeper, slightly shorter than me but tenfold of my muscle mass, moved his wrist a bit and the chain snapped back out of the collar and wrapping completely around the keepers wrist without disturbing the slaves motions. He looked at me with his completely black eyes and nodded to the bed. "Where did you get the books from?" "They were here after I came out of the shower." He watched me, squeezing his eyes in disbelief but didn't say anything more, he just closed the door and I knew he will wait in front of it.

The woman was brave enough to look at me, after her keeper left. "Our master wants you to wear this to the audition." She held up the clothes and the box. I took them and threw them on the bed. "He's my father, not my master!" I nearly screamed at her, she looked shocked and picked the clothes from the bed without standing up. I tried to stop her and grabbed her wrists but tried to be gentle. "Stop that... I won't wear those clothes. No matter if he says it or orders me to do it. Come on, stand up." I tried to pull her up but she wiggled her wrists free and watched the floor with a traitorous gleam in her eyes. "They will punish me if I don't get you ready for the audition... please..." She sobbed quietly and her shoulders shrugged lightly. "Please do as they command..." I looked at the "clothes" on the bed, it had even less material than her outfit had to offer. It was a long white loincloth that would cover my front and ass, but was slitted on the sides and would show my legs completely up to the golden decorated belt-like top of it. Fine golden chains would decorate my naked skin on the legs at the sides when I would wear that ... thing. I opened the silver box and found a golden upper arm bracelet in form of a snake and... a collar. No fucking way! I won't wear that!

A heavy knock on the door echoed from the walls and the shouted question of our guard: "What takes you so God damn long?!" The woman threw a pleading gaze in my direction, a tear running down her cheek. "I won't wear that stuff!" The door was pushed open and bear number two came in, with a turn of his wrist the chain connected to the collar of the woman. I miss my magic... The guy watched me very calm, crossing his arms... or... mountains of muscles others would call it. "You could have it the easy way, pulling those clothes on yourself, or the hard way, that includes me helping you. No matter how many bones I have to break, I can heal you before your father will see anything of that. Knocking you out is another possibility, but maybe it lasts too long, you know how impatient your father is."

I was pushed back to the wall by an invisible force and couldn't move away from it. I hissed in his direction, my ears twitching back to my head as he pulled hard at the woman's chain, throwing her backwards to the floor with it. He grabbed her arm, pulled her into a standing position and pressed her arm into her back with so much force the woman cried out. He looked at me grinning as his other hand grabbed her wrist and let the forearm break with a quick motion. The loud cracking sound of breaking bones and the scream of the now heavily crying woman penetrated my ears. I tried to get over there, but couldn't get away from the wall. I had to watch while that beast let his hand wander over the throat of the crying woman down to her breast, kneading it roughly before red sparks sank into the skin on her arm through his other hand. She screamed again as the bones jumped back into the right position and connected again. She looked like she was about to faint any second only still standing because of the keepers grip. "You know very good how it works, High Warlock... What do you choose?" He let the spell, that pinned me to the wall go, I sank down onto my knees but before I could storm over to attack him, he grabbed the woman harder and signaled me that he would break her neck without hesitation. I hissed again, stood up and grabbed that loincloth from the bed while glaring at him.

He pushed the woman to the floor and let the chain snap back to his wrist, letting go of her collar. "She will help you. Hurry." He left the room again, the woman crawled over to the silver box that fell to the floor and picked up the collar and upper arm bracelet. She stood up but didn't look into my eyes, she just closed the broad gold ring around my neck, the emeralds which were embedded into the gold, shimmering in the light. Three filigree gold chains in different lengths hang down from the collar and fell over my breast, the snake bracelet was following, placed on my right upper arm. I stopped her as she tried to open my trousers "I can do that myself." I searched the bed with my eyes for something more to wear... some undies maybe, but found nothing. "Is there something I can wear under that...?" She just shook her head and didn't even turn around while I threw the loincloth back onto the bed and opened my jeans. "If you want to I can turn around, but believe me, you won't get any discretion here anymore. Shame means nothing in this realm with our master." I hesitated a few seconds more before I pushed everything down and stepped out of it, the chains on my chest accentuated every move with a quiet clangor.

She took the loincloth from the bed and began to close it around my waist and then pulled it down to my hips and draped the material into the right form and to the right places. "Thank you, by the way..." She gently pulled my tail through the hole in the loincloth. "I can take much, but I can't watch someone being killed because I'm stubborn and pride. What's your name?" She picked a gold chain out of the silver box and connected it to the collar at the back of my neck. "They call me Emerald, because of my eyes." "The name suits you. Why don't you want to touch me all the time? I just ask because since I'm that neko thing, everyone can't let the hands off of me." She looked at me and it seemed like a smile wanted to fight it's way onto her lips. "I want to... but when you were raised to not give in to what you want..." "If you do, you would get punished, I guess." She nodded and her fingers tried to tame my hair, making my ears twitched at the slightest contact. "Sorry..." "It's okay. I'm still not used to them. Do you know a little boy running around here?" Emerald grinned and said: "You mean Ezekiel... Don't tell anybody about his visits. He's funny and very good in hiding his actions, but what he's doing is not allowed." She turned her back to me and opened the door without getting an electric shock. Bear number two looked more than pissed. "Took you long enough!" On his way through the door he took the end of the golden chain from Emerald and flicked his wrist to connect the silver one to her collar. I learned very fast that when he pulled the chain, the collar felt like acid on the skin, burning its way into the throat, so I followed him like a good dog.