Chapter 5

Mothers who were eying a chance to get their children settled moved quickly. No more than four nights had passed before Lady Marklund and Lady Clary arrived at Ashlon. Alec was there to receive her. There were no gates in Ashlon. Rather, you entered by air or through one of the passageways hidden near the main roads running through the region. These led to a stable large enough to hold all the Fernargs and Grinars of the fortress and the surrounding farms. The many large animals filled the space with sounds, and the smell was quite distinct. Alec sighed, feeling awkward, standing in one end of the stables, hands folded behind his back, as he waited for the arrival of the woman his mother wanted him to woo. Maryse had taken the time to make sure her son looked suitable, flattening his hair and dusting of the shoulders of the tight-fitted black coat before she'd send him to the stable.

The large Carriage pulled up, finally, and one of the stablehands quickly opened the door to let the passengers out. Clary met him with heat in her cheeks and coyness in her eyes. She was dressed prettily in the dark colours befitting a younger daughter of a lord. Alec managed a smile as he stepped toward her.

"Welcome, my ladies. I hope your journey here was peaceful despite the troubles of the times." He made sure to address his words to the both of them, while keeping his attention on Clary. She blushed and smiled just as she was expected to.

"The journey was pleasant enough, as these things go." Lady Marklund was a no-nonsense kind of lady. Her red hair was tightly braided and her black dress simple and practical. She wasn't here to impress, but rather to make sure that her daughter did. "Though it was dusty and long." Alec smiled obligingly at the lady.

"I will escort you to your rooms, where refreshment and a chance to wash up awaits you." He offered his arms to Clary, which she accepted with a smile that was probably supposed to be shy. He led the two ladies and the entourage through the archway that led to the fortress itself, fighting to keep the smile on his face when they passed Magnus on the stairs. The rider simply bowed in greeting one hand atop the other. They were halfway to the guest quarters when they met Jace. A meeting that wasn't nearly as accidental as Jace pretended. Clary was walking next to Alec, and had been running a steady stream of words - compliments and observations about the place. She stopped when she spotted Jace. In fact her entire body paused for a moment, which Alec probably wouldn't have notice if they hadn't been standing as close. Jace was ready to charm, no doubt in an attempt to help his brother. He smiled and complimented effortlessly, as was second nature to him. Alec let him take over as they followed the ladies the rest of the way to the guest rooms that had been prepared for them at the bottom of the fortress with a view over the Hall through the crystal pane windows. Clary seemed genuinely impressed by it all, standing a long moment by the panes to take in the view. The smile on her face when she bid them farewell was more honest, too.

"Well, she's hot." Jace smirked, bumping his shoulder against Alec's "Good for you." Alec didn't even try to keep up his smile as he followed Jace up the stairs to the higher levels. The ladies had only just arrived, and already he felt exhausted.

(***)

"Alec, what are you doing?" Alec couldn't even muster up the energy to be shocked by Izzy's presence in his room. She was sitting on his bed, bathed in the silvery light omitted by the edges of the crystal panes. Yet another dinner, the second since Lady Clary's arrival, had finally ended. Izzy was still dressed in her black dress, her hair hanging in elegant curls around her bare shoulders.

"What do you mean, Izz?" Alec climbed onto the bed next to her, letting her take his hands into her own. His head ached, as did most of his body. Clary had spent as much time talking to Jace as she had to talking to Alec. Still, the quest for trivial topics of conversation was taking its toll. Courting a young lady for the sake of an alliance didn't excuse you from your other engagement, and Alec's days were now not only filled with trade-talks and war meetings, but also with lunches and walks about the countryside.

"What are you doing letting our mother force you into this?" Izzy slowly massaged his hands, and he could feel his muscles relaxing.

"She's not forcing me into it, Izzy. Marklund never liked the Border Force. I need to give him good reason to stick to the alliance." Izzy watched him for a moment, her dark eyes calculating.

"Is this alliance really more important than your happiness?" Alec rolled his eyes at her, letting that serve as his answer. "Don't get me wrong, I like Clary. I wouldn't mind having her as a sister. But she is not for you, big brother. She's simple, impulsive. You need someone stabile, someone who will debate with you, challenge you when you need it, and support you. Clary wont be that for you. She can't." Izzy spoke calmly, yet her eyes betrayed how deeply she felt her words. That was why Alec didn't just brush them of, but carefully took them in.

"Thank you, Izzy. For knowing me, for having my back. If I had time and choice I'm sure you would be right. But I have neither." he squeezed her hands in his. "This is how it has to be." Her eyes had lowered to watch their hands, long black strands of hair falling to partially cover her face.

"I just want to see you happy, Alec." Her voice was strained.

"I know," Alec lifter her chin with a finger so that she could see the honest smile he sent her. "And I will be. In my own way." She sighed and nodded, a sad spark still lingering in the corner of her eyes even though she tried to hide it. Alec folded his arms around her, pulling her in for a hug. "Do you want to stay here tonight?" He whispered in to her hair, feeling her nod against his shoulder. "Good." He pressed a kiss to the top of her head. "Then you can help me pick a spot for the picnic I am apparently going on tomorrow."

(***)

A soft breeze rolled over the newly harvested fields, making a hissing sound in the orange stubbles still peaking out of the teal ground. There was a sharp coldness to it that turned ears and noses red. From out here, Ashlon was nothing more than three slim, tear-shaped diamond towers rising above the mound in the fields. Max and Alec were crouched down in a little hollow in the ground, watching a little group of Snërkels digging for roots a little way of. Alec silently nudged his youngest brother, and Max raised his *shooter, taking aim carefully. Max had just turned 14, and still had that boyish roundness to his face, that made his cheeks scrunch up whenever he smiled. He was in a battle with his mother over whether he could grow his hair long, and with everything going on at the moment he was currently winning. Thus his black and blue streaked hair was a fluffy mess curling down below his ears and around his neck. There was a determined draw around his mouth as he let go of the little trigger on the shooter, sending a small fireball toward the group of Snërkels. He cheered when he got a hit. Alec couldn't help smiling, ruffling his little brother's hair. He had missed this, their little hunting trips.

"So are you really getting married?" Max asked as they got up to go gather up the Snërkel.

"I suppose I am." Alec said, settling his bow more comfortably over his shoulder.

"Okay." Somehow Max made it sound simple. "So what happens when you get married? Are you moving away from us?" He looked up at Alec with round blue eyes.

"No. Clary would move here." Alec knew the answer, but he hadn't really considered it. He hadn't really considered anything beyond asking her to marry him before she left for Farseya.

"Good." There was relief in Max' voice. "It's going to be weird though, right? Having a wife."

"I suppose," Alec mussed. They had reached the Snërkel. It was laying on it's side, four little legs sticking out to the side, and long neck craned backwards. It's black eyes were lifeless, staring endlessly at the sky. Max deftly knelt next to it, checking that it was dead before reaching for a piece of string tied to his belt.

"A wife that is always there. In your room, at mealtimes, when you sleep. She'd want to talk to you about everything." Max chatted almost idly, tying the Snërkel's legs together with sure movements. He got back to his feet hauling the animal, which was about the length of Alec's lower arm, over his shoulder. "Do you think she'd want to have kids soon?" he asked, making his way towards the path that would take them to the passageway.

"I don't know." Alec said, distractedly, following Max over the stubbles of the field. These were all things that he had somehow, amidst the walks and the meetings and the dinners, not stopped to think about. Max kept chattering to him about all the things that would happen when Alec got a wife, but he wasn't really listening. He was trying to figure out where in the fortress he and Clary would live, how his life would change when someone like her would always be there. He wasn't paying attention. So by the time he'd called out for Max to get down, it was already too late. Max immediately threw himself to the ground, but the bullet aimed at his back tore through his shoulder instead. The scream that rang over the field echoed deep in Alec's bones. The assassin fell to the ground before he could re-aim the shooter, one of Alec's arrows lodged in his throat. Alec crouched down next to Max, who was now sobbing and crying out in pain, unable to stay still on the ground.

"You're going to be okay," Alec tried to whisper, as he frantically scanned the fields for further attacks, arrow ready on his bow. The blue-green Shegr from the bullet omitted a slow smoke as it started burning its way through Max's coat. He needed to get it of, needed to get them back to the fortress so the healers could help Max before the fire spread to far. Some of it would be in his wound already. Alec could feel panic bubbling in his throat, stealing his breath and his thoughts. Max screamed again, trying to curl into a ball, but Alec kept him still with a firm hand on his shoulder.

"It burns!" Max shouted, pain and fear so clear in his broken voice. Alec pulled a dagger from his belt, and cut of a chunk of his long coat. He wrapped the strip of fabric tightly around one hand.

"I know Max. I'm so sorry. Just hang in there. Just a little longer." he tried to keep his voce calm as he used the dagger to tear up Max's coat and shirt. The heavy beat of large wings had Alec look up. Rider Jem's sun-yellow dragon had taken of from it's perch in the Southern tower, and was headed straight for them. "Rider Jem is coming to take us back to the fortress." He watched as the dragon landed heavily next to them, and Rider Jem was of it's back in a flash, kneeling next to them.

"What happened?" he asked, urgently. Together, he and Alec got Max rolled onto the side, so that Alec could use his covered hand to push away the burning fabric.

"There was a shooter." Alec's voice was tight, focused. "I didn't see him for what he was until it was too late. I thought he was a farmer. I shot him." Rider Jem nodded, quickly, relaying the information into the communicator tugged into the collar of his uniform. He used a cloth from his belt to tie up Max's shoulder as he received and relayed orders that Alec barely heard. Max was still crying, reaching for Alec, looking at him with pleading, pain-filled eyes. Alec took his brothers hand, squeezing it tightly. "We need to get you back," Rider Jem got to his feet, carrying Max in his arms. Alec helped him get Max unto the dragons bag, then swung into the saddle behind the rider. The wind roared in his ears as they sped back to the fortress.