Chapter 12

It had been a month since the announcement of her betrothal to Sebastian that had been so terribly interrupted by an attack of rebels. Somehow that battle that had taken place on the Verlac's estate was the beginning of a full on civil war. At first everyone thought things would be settled the next day, a week at the most, but everyone had been wrong. The battles were still raging on all over and as they continued to go on the temperature continued to drop. It was well into fall and winter really wasn't all that far away.

Currently Clary was curled up in a chair close to the fireplace in the library with the latest letter from Sebastian that she had just finished reading in her hand. As she glanced towards the window, Clary saw that the rain was falling harder than it had been a few minutes before and that the wind seemed to be blowing even stronger. She would have liked to have gone for a ride or take a walk in the garden, even though all the flowers were long dead by now, but it was so miserable outside there was no way she could.

The sound of the grandfather clock striking seven o'clock in the evening rang out throughout the house and Clary sighed as she was reminded of how silent the house was now. Not only was Sebastian off fighting, but so was both of her parents, Luke, and even Simon. A voice in the back of her mind stated that Jace was undoubtedly also somewhere fighting. With only her and a few servants inhabiting the house clary felt extremely lonely. She had reread every book she had received from Sebastian and several she already had, gone through an entire song book of sheet music for the piano, used up an entire book of drawing paper on art work, and had even knitted a scarf and a blanket. Frankly, she was running out of things to do with no one around to keep her company.

As the lonely feeling grabbed ahold of her once more, angle was rekindled within Clary. She was still upset with her father for not letting her go with them to battle. She would have been happy just to help draw iratzes and other helpful runes on the others and help in other ways, but her father hadn't even given it a seconds thought. Clary had hoped that since she had done so well at the Verlac's that her father might let her actually let her do something, but that hadn't been the case at all. Not even five minutes after Clary had woken up in her own bed was Valentine reprimanding her, albeit with a look of pride in his eyes. But none of that really mattered. She was still stuck at home all alone while the others were risking their lives.

"Miss, would you like some supper in hear?"

Clary jumped a little at the voice behind her and turned her head to see that one of the servants was standing in the doorway.

"Oh, no thank you. I'm not hungry, but I would like some tea." Clary said as her heart beat regulated itself. The servant nodded and scurried off to retrieve the tea.

Sighing, Clary sat the letter down on a nearby table and picked up the book she was currently reading. So absorbed in her book, she did not even notice the servant come back and place a tea set on the table beside the letter. It wasn't until Clary had finished the chapter, which had probably taken about twenty minutes due to its length, that she even realized that the servant had come and gone. Clary stood up to stretch her legs and placed the book on the chair. She then poured herself a cup of tea and added a little honey and lemon and walked over to the window. The tea was still warm, thankfully, and it helped sooth Clary as she drank it. It was dark outside, so dark in fact, due to the weather, that Clary could barely make anything out with her eyes. Taking another sip of tea, Clary turned away from the window and retrieved her book. She then started to make her through the house to the stairs to go back to her room. She wanted to answer Sebastian's letter immediately.

However she was stopped as she started to put her foot on the first step by someone calling her name, again. Looking behind her she saw her father's servant, her babysitter, walking quickly towards her with a package in hand.

"Marcus?" Clary said with a questioning look.

Marcus was a few years older than her father. He wasn't a Shadowhunter, but he did have the gift of sight and came from a long line of humans who had served the Shadowhunters. He was also one of Valentine's closest and most trusted friends, second to Luke and her mother of course. The man was also like an uncle to her in a way and even though she hated the feeling of being baby sat she held nothing but feelings of affection and respect for the man.

"From your father," he replied as he held it out to her. As he did he raked back some of the wet curly auburn hair that had come loose from the pony tail at the nape of his neck. Looking at him further Clary realized that his entire 6'1" frame was drenched from the rain and she felt a mixture of tenderness and appreciation as she realized he must have been out in that terrible weather.

"Thank you very much, Marcus. You should change into something dry and drink some tea to warm yourself up before you catch a cold."

"Yes, Miss Clary." Marcus said with an amused twinkle in his light blue eyes.

Clary gave a small smile and hurried up the stair and into her room to see what her father could have possibly sent her.

Clary untied and pulled the red string around the package and then quickly ripped off the brown paper, uncovering a box. She then also tore open the box and gently dumped the contents onto her bed. Three letters and two wrapped square object of different sized fell out. Clary opened the smaller of the two objects first, tearing the paper off to uncover what look like a small purple velvet box that was no bigger than the palm of her hand. She opened the lid and revealed a little wooden figurine of a horse and a silver necklace with a pendant of the commitment rune of marriage on it. She then unwrapped the larger box and saw that it was a new drawing book for her art. With a smile, Clary then opened the closest letter to her and saw that it was from her father and mother. It didn't say much other than that the wooden horse was from Luke and that they were all doing well and unharmed and that my father felt confident that the rebel forces would surrender sooner than later.

Clary then opened the next letter and saw that it was from Simon and was surprised that it had been sent to her with the rest of the package. It must have been her mother's doing because unlike Jocelyn, who was quite found of Simon, her father didn't approve of their friendship all that much. This letter said much the same thing as the last, that Simon was doing well and that it seemed that the Rebel forces were waning and that everyone was hopeful of a speedy victory. Finally Clary opened the last letter and her smile grew as she saw that it was from Sebastian.

My dearest Clary,

I am glad to say I am doing fine and have not been wounded in any serious way, the most severe wound so far being shallow gash on my forearm that an iratze was quick to heal. The weather here had been tolerable until recently. I hope you haven't had to endure as much rain as it seems we have received within the last week or so.

I also hope that you enjoy the book I sent you for you to continue creating more art work, I have no doubt in my mind that if you haven't already used up all of your previous paper already that you are down to your last couple pieces and in dire need of more. And while on the subject of gifts, I greatly appreciated the scarf you sent me, it has come in quite handy with the current weather. The necklace is a gift of thanks, in case you were wondering. I was in a village just long enough a couple days ago to buy you the paper and while I was I couldn't help but get you the necklace as well.

Now, on to more serious subjects, because I know you are very curious as of to what is going on. The rebellion is going as well as expected I suppose, and should be solved up within a few weeks if the weather allows. There have not been too many casualties to the Shadowhunters, but there have been many when it concerns the demons and Downworlders. But I suppose that was to be expected to some degree. I am happy to say that you parents are both well and have not had many injuries at all. I also saw the Lewis boy, the one you are friends with, not too long ago and he seemed to be doing quite well also.

Back to the weather issue, I do hope that the weather cooperates so that we can all go home, for I cannot wait until I can see your beautiful face once more. I must admit I miss you terribly and long to hold you in my arms and to see your smile. Every night my dreams are filled of you and your laugh and quick wit and smart mouth. They are also full of us going on pleasant walks in the garden and going on long rides together in weather much more tolerable than the present. I sincerely hope you miss me as much as I miss you.

Longing to see you again,

Sebastian

Clary reread the letter several times before putting it up. Not wanting to wait until morning, she wrote letters back to her parents and Simon. She also wrote one to Luke thanking him for the horse figurine and inquiring how he was doing. Once done with those she wrote a lengthy one to answer both letters she had received from Sebastian today. As she was sealing the last letter Clary heard the clock downstairs ring out eleven o'clock and was shocked at how late it had gotten.

Feeling a little less lonely Clary changed and went to bed, falling asleep easily. She dreamed of summer and being in her garden with her family and friends. There was no war and there was no sadness.

The next morning Clary woke up to it being sunnier than it had been for a while and she silently hoped that today would go fairly well. With the weather straitening up she could go for a long ride or even a walk in the garden or even both if she desired. She quickly got dressed and made her way down the stairs to the kitchen to see what the cook had made for breakfast this morning.

After having eggs, cinnamon toast, and bacon, Clary went for a long ride that last what was left of the morning and went into some of the early afternoon. She was had just entered the house from coming back from the stables when she heard the sounds of conversation near the front of the house. Wondering if she would be lucky enough to receive yet another letter from someone and to make sure her letters had been sent off, Clary quickly made her way towards the voices. As she entered the parlor of the house the voices quieted and Clary looked up to see Marcus holding an open letter in one hand and his other running down his face as the man beside him placed his hand on Marcus's shoulder and stopped talking at the sight of her.

Marcus turned to see Clary and she saw that his eyes held a looked made up of a mixture of pain and disbelief. Clary's heart skipped a beat and she felt her nearly perfect day start to crumble apart.

"Marcus, what wrong?"

Marcus looked back at the man, Clary guessed he was the messenger, and then looked back at her.

"Is it my parents?" Clary felt terror flow through her at the very thought of something happening to either of her parents.

"No, your parents are fine." Marcus said a little hesitantly. Clary felt relief flood through her just for another terrible thought to bring back the sick feeling from a few second ago.

"Luke?"

"Luke is fine as well. And so is Simon," Marcus added when Clary opened her mouth. "Everyone is fine."

"Then what is it?" Clary asked as she relaxed a little but still prepared herself for whatever had happened. But nothing could have prepared her for Marcus's answer.

"It's Sebastian. It was found out that he was the leader of the rebel forces."

As always, I hoped you liked that chapter. Please let me know what you think about it.