So, in this chapter, there are some lines from The Bacchae, by Euripides, they are written in italics, but I think it will be pretty obvious which part I didn't write. Anyway, I thought instead of a literature citation, I'd just give credit up here. Enjoy!

The Madness of the King

Clary lay curled up in a mess of blankets on the floor before the fire place, watching the embers burn down and the shadows dance across the floor. She could have stayed that way forever, wrapped in the darkness, the blankets, and her thoughts. Not that they were happy thoughts, but they were something to push away the fear of the next day.

"You should know, Clary, that I'm sorry about everything," Jonathan had said. "About what happened in the past, I mean."

Clary felt her mouth hanging open; how could Jonathan speak so openly about their relationship in plain view of his court. She looked down, lowering her voice so the closest demon wouldn't hear. "You'll understand why I find that hard to believe?"

"I do," Jonathan had said, "but I still want to make this better. Can you ever forgive me for what I did?"

"I-I'm not sure, Jonathan," Clary answered softly. "I've spent my life since then living in fear of you, of our father, of everyone. How can you expect me to simply forget it?"

"I don't want you to forget it, but I want you to understand why I did it," Jonathan said, urgency in his voice. "You and me, Clary, we're the last."

"Last what?"

"The last Morgensterns," Jonathan said slowly, as if Clary were a child. "You and I are the children of Valentine Morgenstern, the last of his creations. We need each other."

Clary bit her lip. "Jonathan, I-"

"Listen to me, Clary," he said, and swung her around to face him. He held her at a distance, as if in reassure her that he wasn't going to hurt her. She looked up into his eyes and saw a bright light, a desperate, bright light, and she was reminded faintly of stars. "I was wrong, I was so wrong, and I know it, and I will never forgive myself for what I did. Every night I remember what I, and I every night I wish I could take it back; Clary, please believe me when I say that I will never forgive myself. It's one thing I cannot change…not without you."

Clary felt the pressure of eyes on her and she knew that she was being watched by the court. She could still remember her promise to the Angel to help Jonathan, and she couldn't quite forget the memories of Jonathan from her childhood. He was there somewhere, deep beneath the demon. "What can I do?"

Jonathan smiled suddenly, like Clary had said something he'd wanted to hear. "I need you, Clary, that's all. When you're around me, I'm a better man, I feel like a better man. I want to make you happy, and all the things that make you happy, all those good things you like, I want them too. But it's more than that, and I don't know what it is, but I like it; I don't want you to go because I like this feeling.

"Just stay with me, Clary, stay here in this castle with me. I promise you, I can make everything better; I can give you everything you want."

Clary swallowed. "I'll help you anyway I can, Jonathan."

"I'll make you happy, Clary. For all the bad things I did, I'll make them better. This place, this castle, can be your domain; your will will be made real. Tell me what you want, Clary, and it will be so. Just promise me, promise me, you will stay here with me."

"Jonathan, I don't know what to say," Clary managed to sputter.

"Say you will stay with me," Jonathan answered swiftly. "Say you'll stay here with me forever, just the two of us, and you can have anything you want."

"But, Jonathan-"

Jonathan took her face in his hands, pulling her in. "I always needed you, Clary, and I understand that now. It's why I wanted you, why I always wanted you. When we were children, you were my only friend, and when we grew up, you were the only woman I ever wanted. But it all makes sense, don't you see? I need you, Clary, I need you in every way."

Clary pulled back a little, thinking of Jace, locked in the castle. Where would he fit in? "Jonathan, I-I need you too, but…you're my brother," she whispered.

"And so?" Jonathan said evenly, still holding her face.

"I do care for you, I'll always care for you, but you speak of making this world anew, and what about Jace? I love Jace."

Jonathan shrugged, and Clary could see the light darkening in his eyes. "I don't care about Jace; you can have Jace. He's your husband, and I accept that, and I accept that there are things he can give you I can't, but he doesn't need you like I do. Have him, keep him for whatever you need, but stay with me."

Clary was shaking her head. "I love him, and it would be cruel to put him through that."

"But why does it matter?" The light in Jonathan's eyes was gone now, and they were shiny and dark. "This world is our world, and all the things in it are our things. We can use them as we see fit."

"I can't use Jace, I love him," she pleaded softly.

Jonathan's hands dropped and his eyes narrowed. "You love him so you can't love me?"

"Please, believe me," Clary began, and she saw that the demons were all watching her, staring hungrily as if they sensed an easy meal. "I love him more dearly than I do myself, it's as if this world is pointless for me without him in it; and for you, I love you like I always have, like it's something natural, like an instinct."

"But I love you as you love Jace," Jonathan said, and he seemed confused. "If I can love you that way, why can't you love me?"

"I can't choose how I love," Clary reasoned, and a few demons had moved closer.

"Why not?" Jonathan demanded sharply. "I'm more than willing to hand you the world, and all I want in return is your love!" Jonathan slapped Clary's reaching hand away and seemed to tower over her. "I would have you love me, and it is my will."

"You can't force someone to love you," Clary said quickly, trying to move closer and away from the demons, but Jonathan just pushed her back.

"It's not force," Jonathan snapped. "I'm offering you everything you could want, and you're too selfish to return the favor."

"Love isn't about favors!" Clary said desperately. "It's about desire and beauty and trust."

"Then you don't trust me?" Jonathan growled. "Or, perhaps, you think our love would be ugly? That's it, isn't it?"

"No, no, Jonathan, that's not it all," Clary began, but Jonathan grabbed her by her hair.

"It's you who is the ugly one, wearing your selfishness on your sleeves!" He dragged her away from the court, up to her room, ranting like a mad man. "I would have given you everything, but since you want nothing, I shall give you that instead."

"Please, Jonathan!" she'd cried. "Please, believe me!"

"I would have made the world for you, but since you don't want it, I'll make it for me instead." Jonathan spun her around suddenly, throwing her up against a wall. "I will have your love, Clary, and you will love me as you love your precious Jace."

Clary closed her eyes and pushed away the rest of the day's events; she didn't want to think about her brother anymore. She snuggled down into the nest of blankets and rolled away, hoping to warm her back. Beside her, Jace was lying on his back, staring up at the ceiling, thinking. She drew a little closer to her, and Jace stirred. He glanced down at her, saw her tired, glazed eyes, and wrapped an arm about her.

"I thought you were asleep," Jace said softly, tucking her head against his chest se he could kiss her hair. "Did I wake you?"

"No," said Clary after a moment. "No, I couldn't sleep."

"Oh," said Jace, and then fell silent.

Clary wished he would say something, wished he would tell her everything was going to be okay, but he wasn't going to pretend and lie to her. After Jonathan had stormed out of the room, laughing like a mad man, Jace and tried to wake Clary from her stupor, but she had just curled up against him, shivering and shaking. He had had to lift her up and carry her into their room, with every intention of getting her in bed and tucking her in as tight we he could before trying to coax Aline out of her fear, but Jonathan had destroyed the room more effectively than a pack of werewolves, upending tables and chairs, tearing the blankets and rugs apart, cutting deep gashes into cushions and mattresses. Jace gently deposited Clary on the floor by the fire and went to the bed to find as many undamaged pillows and blankets as he could and construct a bed on the floor. But the time he'd finished, Clary seemed to come back to herself a little; she crawled into the blankets and didn't cry when he said he had to go find Aline. Aline turned out to be much more a challenge than Clary, because she was hysterical; Clary had listened from her bed on the floor while Jace pleaded with her to come with him, to calm down, too look at the picture book again, to do anything by sob and scratch her arms. In the end, Jace had said Clary demanded Aline come and sit with them, and Aline wanted to be a good maid, didn't she?

Once Jace had herded Aline into the room, he'd joined Clary on the floor, looking utterly exhausted. He'd checked to see that Clary was comfortable and sleeping, and then leaned back to stare at the ceiling; he'd had nothing to say to her, no words of comfort, because there were none. They were in a tricky situation now, and for once, Jace didn't have the answers she needed.

"Tomorrow you'll have to go to the court with me," Clary said, her fingers curling around his shirt. "Jonathan will make us go together."

"Is that bad?"

Think of what the last court almost did to you! "I'm scared for you. I've made Jonathan so angry, and now he's going to want revenge."

"Clary, what happened?" Jace finally asked. "I thought Jonathan wanted you to be happy? I thought he was going to make you love him?"

"I don't know," she whispered. "He apologized to me for…everything, but then he just kept saying how he needed me, how he would give me everything if I would never leave him, how he loved me."

"That's an odd request for a demon," Jace mused.

"I don't think it's the demon, at least not completely." Clary bit her lip, thinking it over. "I think my brother is there somewhere, buried beneath all the hate and pain, and he's trying so hard to fight his way out. I think he's terribly lonely and I think he wants to be loved, but the demon is poisoning him, and making him think love means ownership, and that I have to love him completely for it to be love at all."

"If that's true, Clary, then it means your brother is still there, he's still fighting to escape," Jace said. "There's still hope for him."

"I should have told him I loved him," Clary murmured. "I should have just lied and said I would love him like he wanted. None of this would have happened and maybe he would have escaped the demon."

"I don't think so," Jace said thoughtfully. "I don't think you can lie to him like that. Demons feed off of hate and pain and lies, and the one in Jonathan would only have grown stronger with your lies. The love he's feeling and the love he's expressing are two very different things, and unfortunately, it's the love he's expressing that has been distorted by the demon. You'll have to reach Jonathan on a much deeper level to help him."

"How?"

"I don't know," Jace sighed. "I thought just having you around would do him good, but it only fed the selfishness and the lust and the want. The demon just wants more now."

"He wants us," Clary whispered. "When Jonathan told me he'd give me anything, I asked about you."

Jace raised his eyebrows. "And what did he say?"

"He said you were just an object in this world, and that he and I were people. That I could have you however I wanted, and he wouldn't care if it made me happy."

"That's generous," Jace snorted.

"He didn't want to kill you," Clary reasoned. "He wants to keep you alive now because he knows I want you, and he wants me to be happy."

"Well, I'm not sure what he meant by us being entertainment, but I don't think it has to do with your happiness."

"It's just a passing phase," Clary said distantly. "He wants me to see that I should love him, I think, and that if I lose everything I have, I'll want it all back. It's why he's keeping you alive. He knows I'll want you later."

"I suppose that's good to know," Jace grumbled. "It's always so heartwarming to know the only reason I'm alive it because of my wife."

"It's just how he thinks," Clary said. "What do you think he'll want for us tomorrow?"

Jace frowned and his eyes darkened. "I don't know, and, frankly, I'm not interested in knowing what demons think is entertaining."

"I never saw anything like entertainment in the court before," Clary wondered. "We always just went outside and played games or skated on the ice."

"I don't know what demons find entertaining," said Jace darkly, "and frankly, I don't want to know."

"Wake up, wake up quickly, the King calls for you," Aline whispered into Clary's ear. She stirred and tried to push herself closer to Jace. "Please, rise, before he comes looking for you."

"It's still dark," Clary gurgled. "Why is it still dark?"

"You must rise before the court so as to be there when they look for you." Aline tweaked the torn sleeve of Clary's dress. "Now, princess."

"A moment, Aline," Jace sighed, and stretched his arms above his head. "Just a moment to think is all."

"Think quickly," she said sharply, and hurried off, muttering to herself of something.

"You have to get up, we have to meet with your brother," Jace said gently, and he kissed her lips hoping to draw her out. "I'll be with you no matter what, remember that."

You being there isn't going to make this any better, Clary thought painfully. You being within Jonathan's reach is just going to make it worse and you know it. "Please be careful, Jace; you love to risk your life for nothing, and I can't lose you here."

Jace smirked, but his heart wasn't really in it. "Alright, I'll behave myself."

Clary nodded and then kissed Jace's cheek before sitting up. She was stiff and tired, and her fears had kept her up late into the night, haunting her dreams. When Aline saw that she was up and about, she hurried over and pulled the blankets off Jace and Clary. She flicked her eyes over them and she considered them sharply.

"I have costumes for you to wear, but yours will have to be taken in, mistress." Aline nodded and Clary and Jace exchanged looks at the word costumes.

As it turned out, they really were costumes, clearly meant for a play. Clary had seen many plays performed in the court for entertainments. Those, though, had normally been performed by a traveling troupe, not unwilling lords and ladies. She thought that perhaps it was going to be a masque, and when Aline gave her a list of scenes, she saw how long it was. She didn't recognize the play.

"What is all of this?" Clary asked in disgust when she was the dress laid out for her. It was strange, made of a fabric she didn't recognize, and cut in a way that wasn't suitable for the cold climate they were in. There was a tight, boned corset, inlaid and trimmed in beads. A skirt was attached to it, but they were fitted and draped close to her body and sagged on the floor like rages. "Who would wear this?"

"Agave," answered Aline, pointing to the script before her, then looked between Jace and Clary. "Agave wears the dress and Pentheus wears the robes."

"Pentheus and Agave?" Jace asked curiously. "Is this a Shakespeare work?"

"It doesn't sound familiar," Clary murmured, as she allowed Aline to dress her in the strange outfit, and then tie her hair in a loose bun. She fretted over the belt holding Jace's robe before letting them go, and the sun had finally peeked over the tree tops and shed light on their tired faces.

In the sitting room of the King's chamber, Jonathan was waiting. When he saw them arrive, dressed so oddly in their costumes, he smiled, pleased. "We have a masque today. You and Jace will play the lead roles, of course, as is only polite of me to give to visiting guests."

"What play is this?" Clary demanded, gesturing at her dress.

"The Bacchae, by Euripides, a Greek playwright of many ages ago. Have you heard it?" Jonathan's eyes were glowing when he saw their confused looks. "You will enjoy it, I promise."

"And will you take part?" asked Jace loudly, not liking the sound of this play.

"Oh, yes, but I shall have a minor role, the role of the forsaken son," Jonathan laughed. "The court is most anxious to begin our fun, though, so follow me."

Clary and Jace allowed themselves to be led out of the room and back to the Great Hall. When they arrived there, the court had already gathered and was discussing the upcoming masque in their hissing voices. A few looked very excited and when they saw Jonathan leading Clary and Jace, their mouths opened in smiles.

"Welcome, my loyal lords and ladies!" Jonathan crowed as he entered, lifting his arms in greeting. They howled and snarled in response and Jace felt that initial shock and fear Clary had at being so close to demons. "As you all know, today, we shall be enjoying ourselves with the retelling of the great play, The Bacchae. I trust you have all chosen your roles?" There was some nodding and Clary notices a group of demon women dressed like her, but in different, paler colors to her deep red. "Then we shall begin at once."

Jonathan summoned a bard up, who took a place standing on the platform where the king ate. He cleared his throat. "Please, get yourselves ready and take your places while I prepare the play."

Jonathan snatched Clary's and Jace's arm and dragged them away. "The bard will read the play to you, all you must do is follow his instructions. Do you understand?"

Clary rubbed her arms. "Yes, Jonathan."

"Very well, my gracious divas," Jonathan snorted at Jace. "Be ready, for once the play begins, I do not want to stop until the end. I think it shall be most entertaining for the court."

Clary and Jace pressed together, watching while the strange demon people whispered to one and other and dressed accordingly. Jace was sickened by the sight of the demons, looking so much like people, but so disgustingly distorted; in their costumes and with their hair, they looked like wild animals. One of the men looked over to him, smiled, showing a mouth full of dagger teeth, and then licked his lips. Jace frowned and recoiled from the creature. It had looked rather hungry. At his side, Clary tweaked his sleeve.

"Jace, what is The Bacchae? I've never heard this play before, and look at all the court, dressed like they've gone mad." Clary pressed herself against his side. "Don't go."

"I've never heard it, but I think it has to do with Dio-"

Just then, the bard had spoken up, proclaiming to the court the opening lines. "So spoke Dionysus:

"I've arrived here in the land of Thebes,
I, Dionysus, son of Zeus, born to him
from Semele, Cadmus' daughter, delivered
by a fiery midwife—Zeus' lightning flash.
Yes, I've changed my form from god to human,
appearing here at these streams of Dirce,
the waters of Ismarus. I see my mother's tomb—
for she was wiped out by that lightning bolt."

Jonathan moved forward then, bowing low and pretending to mourn over a tomb of a woman covered in grape vine. He was dressed in a deer skin pelt, with thistle in his hair and a spear in his hand. The bard continued, and when he mentioned Cadmus, Jonathan smiled warmly and invited a man forward. Clary gasped, for the man with Lord Lewis, Simon's father. Lord Lewis came too and joined Jonathan in morning the grave.

"This is bad," Clary whispered to Jace and he was about to wrap an arm about her when three women came over and tore her from Jace's grasp. She struggled, shouting, "Jace, stop them!" But other men came to hold him while Clary and the women moved into the center of the room. The bard was still speaking:

"Thebes is the first city of the Greeks
where I've roused people to shout out my cries,
with this deerskin draped around my body,
this ivy spear, a thyrsus, in my hand.
For my mother's sisters have acted badly,
something they, of all people, should avoid."

The three women behind her pushed Clary forward before Jonathan and she tumbled in a heap, they hissed in laughter behind her. When Clary looked up, Jonathan stood before her, smirking down on her face. Clary thought for a minute me might strike her, but instead, he circled the small group of women, hissing at the others while Clary regained her footing.

The bard continued and Clary soon understood. Semele, the sister of Agave and the three other women, was Dionysus's mother, and she had lain with Zeus. Her sisters, thinking that she had lied to hide her adultery, doubted Dionysus's true heritage as the son of a god. Now, Dionysus had returned to seek revenge on the city of Thebes and its king, by driving the women mad. They had left Thebes and went out into the mountains where they dressed in animal skins, and hunted, and drank wine, and danced, and did all other sorts of atrocities.

Clary was forced into a horrid dance with the other demon women, and when she tried to leave, they pulled back and snarled and her, slashing out with their claws. They were determined not to lose their fun. Clary was forced to watch from the circle of dancers while Jonathan waved forward Jace and the two men holding him. The bard said:

Now Cadmus,
the old king, has just transferred his power,
his royal authority, to Pentheus,
his daughter's son, who, in my case at least,
fights against the gods, prohibiting me
all sacrificial offerings. When he prays,
he chooses to ignore me. For this neglect
I'll demonstrate to him, to all in Thebes.
that I was born a god.

Jonathan watched while Jace came forward, flanked on both sides by the demons, and smiled slowly at him. He repeated loudly and clearly, "I was born a god."

The play moved quickly from then on, and Clary soon realized Agave was Pentheus's mother and Dionysus's aunt, making Jonathan and Jace cousins. For much of the play, Clary stayed with the Bacchae, dancing, hunting, and drinking wine, and occasionally interacting with Dionysus, who would come and dance with them. Jonathan took these occasions to pick Clary out and force her to dance with him, drink with him, sit near him, allow him to stroke her hair or arms. Across the room, Jace was always in the company of Cadmus, Simon's father, trying to find a way to stop the rouge god.

Jace was forced to act the role of the petulant, dubious king, and when the scene came that Dionysus was captured and brought before Pentheus, Jace and Jonathan faced off. Clary, who was now being physically restrained by two of the Bacchae, strained against their hold when Dionysus gave a great speech and freed himself with his god-given powers, wreaking havoc through Thebes. In the course of this, Jace lunged for him, more of a chance to hit him than in act, and Jonathan punched him squarely in the chest, cracking a rib. Clary screamed then, and a demon woman grabbed her and held her down, very suddenly biting into her forearm.

"Stop! Stop!" Clary cried, but the madness was too infectious for the demon court. They broke into wild dancing, tearing the clothing off each other, eating the flesh of their fellow actors. The demon that had bitten Clary sat on her hips, staring down at her with eyes completely black. It grinned and tongue slithered out of its mouth and began lapping at the blood on Clary's arm.

"You, little princess, you taste good," it said while Clary rocked back and forth. "A pity Jonathan keeps you to himself. Perhaps he will share from now on."

Clary pulled back her hand and managed to break its grip before she smashed the heel of her hand into its face. It fell back, shrieking and moaning, but the cries of pain only added to the insane cacophony of the court. Clary jumped to her feet, looking rapidly about and saw Jonathan standing on a set piece, a pile of rocks like a throne, and below him, Jace being held down by two demons while another was licking his neck and face with a fat, purple tongue.

"Let him go!" Clary ordered, and darted through the crowd. She crashed into one of the two holding Jace, and Jace managed to kick the one licking him away.

"That's not nice, Clary," Jonathan reminded her from above.

The third demon scythed the air with a clawed hand, but Jace dodged it and caught the wrist, snapping it effectively. It moaned in agony. "Make this stop, Jonathan!" he said.

"But, why?" Jonathan jumped down and joined them, smiling back and forth between the two. "This is wonderful, isn't it? This lawlessness, this freedom, this is what my world shall be. No more rules, no more unjust monarchs, no more corruption of the few."

"This is corruption of all," Clary rasped. "Look at them!"

The scene of the court of monstrous. The demons, unaware of the feelings of their human hosts, were eating each other, eating themselves, eating anything in sight. There were others that were dancing about a fire they had started, cooking small rodents that had lived in the castle. Still others were exploring the human bodies they inhabited, cutting off bits of themselves in their exploration. Clary, watched as the demon who had been licking Jace rolled on its back, reached its arms above its head, and pushed itself into a backbend before walking away like a distorted crab.

"Make this stop, Jonathan, please," she begged as a pain shot up her arm.

"You could have made this stop," Jonathan pointed out. "But since you will not free me, then I shall not free them. We play on! Bard, begin!"

It took some time for the demons to come around again to themselves. Finally, when they had some semblance of humans, the bard picked up the play towards the end, having lost much of the script in the fray. He began to speak, and Clary found herself being escorted by the same demon who had bitten her, back to the corner where the Bacchae were staying. She watched, terrified as Jace and Jonathan again met.

Dionysus, disguised as an old man, convinced Pentheus to save his mother, Agave, by taking him to the woods where the Bacchae live. Pentheus agreed to go disguised as a woman, and the old man took him away. Clary shivered as Jonathan wrapped an arm about Jace's shoulders and pulled him toward her and the other demon women; they licked their lips and allowed drool to pool out of their mouths. In the play, Dionysus left Pentheus hidden in a tree when the Bacchae found him. Clary saw Jonathan wink at her and she knew something horrible would soon begin.

"And so it was," said the bard, and read the scene:

"His priestess mother first began the slaughter.
She hurled herself at him. Pentheus tore off
his headband, untying it from his head,
so wretched Agave would recognize him,
so she wouldn't kill him. Touching her cheek,
he cried out, "It's me, mother, Pentheus,
your child. You gave birth to me at home,
in Echion's house. Pity me, mother—
don't kill your child because I've made mistakes."
But Agave was foaming at the mouth,
eyes rolling in their sockets, her mind not set
on what she ought to think—she didn't listen—
she was possessed, in a Bacchic frenzy.
She seized his left arm, below the elbow,
pushed her foot against the poor man's ribs,
then tore his shoulder out."

Clary looked to Jonathan in horror, knowing she was Agave and Jace was Pentheus, and there was nothing she could do. "Please," she began, but the demons behind her were snarling in their fury, and one darted around her, at Jace.

Jace ran for the table, for a dinner knife there, and just reached it as the demon came upon him. He slashed at its throat and Jonathan roared in rage. "That's not the play!"

"Stop this, now!" Clary crowed, and ran for Jace. Another demon followed, but Clary struck out, breaking its jaw with one blow. She skidded to a halt before Jace, wrapping her arms around him. "I won't play these games anymore, Jonathan!"

The demon crowd had now closed in, all of them gurgling in their throat, and broke when Jonathan came. He stood there, looking between Clary and Jace, and then tilted his head to the side. "Well, I didn't say you could stop."

"Why are you doing this?" she asked.

"You had a chance, but you didn't want it." Jonathan reached past Jace and plucked another knife from the table. He held it out to Clary. "In the play, Agave tears off his head, but I certainly don't want Jace dying. I'll settle for his hand."

Clary stared at the knife, feeling Jace's chest rise and fall beneath her. "I can't. Please, Jonathan, you're angry with me; it's me you should be punishing."

"You've denied me once already, do you think it wise to do it again?"

"I cannot know, but I will not do this." Clary twined her hand in Jace's. "I won't hurt the people I love, Jonathan, I wish you wouldn't either."

Jonathan blinked in surprise and she saw confusion flight across his eyes, like what she had said had resonated with him on some deeper level. Suddenly, as if furious, Jonathan drove the knife into the nearest demon, and watched it fall back and whither on the ground. He spun on Clary, eyes wild. "Look what you do to me! You two worthless slaves, look what you do!" Clary pressed herself against Jace. "Leave me! Go, go sit in my rooms and wait for me. I said go!" he roared when Clary and Jace just stared. They didn't need telling twice; they fled the hall and demons as fast as they could, but as they ran, they heard Jonathan call after them. "Can I have nothing?"