Alec arrived in front of the Institute slightly out of breath. His cheeks were flushed in the spring air, a mixture of heated skin and feverish excitement. It had been so long – too long really - since he had truly felt that he was a Shadowhunter and now he was back into it, full forth. The idea was exhilarating. With hardly any hesitation, he placed his pale hand onto the doorknob, reveling in the cool air that swirled around him as it escaped the Institute.
The first thing that greeted Alec was a soft murmuring, echoing in the long entrance way of the Institute. The halls were darkened, that was the second thing he noticed, as he followed the murmuring noise. Odd, that even Isabelle's and Jace's rooms were dark – their doors firmly shut and no light escaping from the thin crack between them and the floor. As was the weapons room and the library. Jace and Isabelle must have been allowed into the meeting, although Alec could hardly fathom why. Underage Shadowhunters were only allowed into official Clave meetings in dire circumstances, or circumstances that required a large and immediate task force. As far as he knew, this meeting would discuss neither.p
The murmuring grew louder as he grew closer to the meeting room. It resembled a muted roar, a chorus of dissenting voices each babbling on top of each. And it was heated, Alec realized belatedly, his steps quickening across the hallway. It had been such a long time since he had heard such a large fight that it shocked Alec. The idea of a fight – loud enough that he could hear it beyond the walls of the meeting room – was disconcerting. Whatever had happened must have been ground breaking.
He paused as he caught sight of two figures standing just outside the door, murmuring heatedly to each other, their voices merging in with the louder rumble just inside the door. It did not take much for Alec to recognize the long raven hair of his sister or the flashing gold of his brother's mane. He continued walking, ears straining to hear the quiet conversation over the loud babble of the crowd beyond. He was less worried now – Jace and Isabelle had evidently not been allowed into the meeting, which was a good sign – and his stride had slowed some.
Their murmuring abruptly stopped as Jace caught sight of him and Alec was surprised to see his tight, angry expression fade into a horrified, pale one. Isabelle, a moment behind, mimicked the older boy's action.
"What are you doing here, Alec?" she hissed, hurrying to her brother. She walked with an air of one desperate to get rid of someone and Alec could not fathom why. "You need to leave, like, now, go home and play with the twins or something. You can't be here, not right now!" She pulled slightly at his arm, applying just the right amount of pressure to make him turn away from the door. Impatiently and undoubtedly irritated, Alec pulled his arm away from hers.
"What are you talking about? What's going on?" He asked, glaring slightly at the two of them. He hated secrets in any form now, and the idea that his siblings were keeping him from whatever was happening beyond that corridor was irritating.
"You don't want to know, Alec. Trust me on this, just go home to Magnus. Before they come out, please Alec. You don't want to be here now." Jace's voice was pleading and that alone caused Alec to bite back his retort. But his warning was too late, as the murmuring suddenly came to a crescendo and the door behind the trio slammed open. Alec looked beyond his siblings and his heart stopped as he caught sight of the cause of the commotion.
His father, still as tall, still as proud and haughty as ever, stood in the doorway, his dark blue eyes catching sight of his three children. A wave of emotions hit Alec – happiness at seeing his father after so long, anger for the man who had left his mother, confusion as to what was happening. Robert Lightwood, the last his son had heard of it, had become the official Inquisitor for the Clave, a permanent appointment stationed at Idris. Whatever had brought him here, after the months of absence, must have been very important.
"Alexander," his father intoned, bending his neck minutely in acknowledgement to his oldest son. "Late, but perhaps not terribly so. You have come in time for the real action. Your mother tells me you have been ill, are you well enough to rejoin the field?" There was no sentimentality in his father's words, but Alec hadn't expected them. The few times he had spoken to his father since Max's death had been strained, filled more with questions of his sexuality than any real bonding between the two men. Still his tone of formality caught Alec by surprise. Perhaps the job required pompousness.
"Of course. But what is going on?" he addressed his father politely but watched as other Shadowhunters began to file out of the room, each as tense and pale faced as the last. Some looked angry, others determined. None gave Alec any hint as to what was going on.
"Your siblings didn't tell you?" Robert cast a small frown at the two younger Shadowhunters, both glaring back aggressively. "I was under impression that you stepped outside the meeting room to be able to inform your brother of what was going on?"
"No," Isabelle glared at her father with a passion that shocked Alec. He knew she and their father had never been terribly close, but there was hatred carved into the cold fury that was her expression. "We came out here because what you were saying sickened us." There was no more people leaving the room now, the three children and their father were left to themselves in the hallway, the only sign of other beings was the echo of their footsteps and the murmur of their voices, fading in the distance.
Robert stared at his daughter with a fraction of emotion Alec could not quite make out. Was it regret? It didn't matter, within half a second it was gone, replaced with the cold steel of an emotionless mask. "I am doing what is necessary of the Clave. It is unpleasant, certainly, but it must be done. For the good of everyone around us, Isabelle. I thought out of all of us, you would be the one to most understand. This is protection."
"This is murder!" Isabelle hissed, her chest heaving in her anger. Alec stared at the two figures, silent and glaring, before turning to Jace, hoping his younger brother held the answers. He had no idea what the two were talking about, but a dark feeling was erupting in his abdomen. Apprehension and fear, he knew. What did this… this murder have to do with him?
Jace was surprisingly pale, watching the two dark haired beings with something akin to worry, and when he caught sight of Alec looking at him, he shook his head minutely. He would not be giving Alec his answers, then.
"If you feel so strongly against this, you may leave. You are underage still; I will not require you to fight amongst us." Isabelle didn't even hesitate, her back was turned before Robert had even finished speaking, "Just realize," he called to her retreating form, "that for every one of our people hurt or killed tonight, you bear partial blame. Every person brave enough to fight, will suffer at your cowardice." Isabelle stopped, her back rigid as her father's words sank in. Alec was horrified. How could their father say such a terrible thing?
"Call me a coward," Isabelle replied, her voice eerily calm as she spoke, "I don't care. Just realize this," she turned then, her dark eyes boring into her father's, "that if you go through with this, you are no better than he is. Two murderers, lining the innocents like ducks in a shooting gallery." She turned at that, and all three of the men she left watched her go.
"Never mind that," Robert stated, his voice and face calm, as if his only daughter had not just walked away. He turned to Jace, who stiffened immediately. "Will you be fighting with us, then?" Alec could see the hesitation, the confusion, behind Jace's calm façade. He knew two fundamental pieces were fighting inside Jace. His morality – he obviously believed their father's actions to be wrong just as much as Isabelle – and his sense of duty – his honor bound oath to protect and fight for the Clave. Finally, he gave a stiff nod. He would go, and fight, like the soldier, Alec thought, he was bred to be.
"Thank you." Robert said, "'The Law is hard, but it is the law.'" Alec's father either didn't notice or ignored the slight tremble that ran through his eldest son, at his words. "We are doing what needs to be done." Jace nodded again, his body stiff. He tried to make eye contact with his brother, but Alec was fastidiously studying the floor boards beneath him. A deep sense of betrayal, one Alec did not want or understand, had risen up inside him and Alec could not meet his brother's eyes in fear that Jace would see it. How could he feel betrayed, when this action had nothing to do with him?
He watched his brother leave without saying a word, the only sound the echoes of Jace's steps. "You are wondering then, what this is about." Alec could hear the sigh in his father's voice as the silence broke around them. He nodded, the angry betrayed feeling he didn't understand fading away to more apprehension. Whatever this was about, both Isabelle and Jace hadn't wanted him to be a part of it. "I would have thought your sister would understand, after what happened to Max. But she had always been rather soft of disposition. Perhaps she can't stomach the hard choices Nephilim must make sometimes." Alec fought a strange urge to snort. Isabelle was a lot of things but soft had never been one of them.
"What does Max have to do with this?" Alec asked finally. Was this about Sebastian then? But if it was, why was Isabelle so upset about it? Anything that could bring him down had to be done. She understood that as well as anyone.
"It doesn't in any straight way, but a roundabout one. This attack tonight will, I and the council believe, strike at Sebastian's forces heavily. After what happened to Max, I had thought your sister would be willing to do whatever it took to hurt their forces." Alec felt the apprehension grow more fierce. She would do anything, he knew, except this, evidently.
"And this attack? What is it?" Alec asked finally, forcing the words out through his suddenly dry throat. His father watched him with an unreadable expression for a few moments before answering.
"A few months ago, before you returned, Maryse contacted Idris with information about a heavy concentration of demons in an abandoned ranch home north of the city. Normally of course, this would warrant an immediate attack to eradicate the demons or at least force them away from the mundane. However, the demons were not killing or attacking the mundies around them in any way, and we gave Maryse the authority to conduct a quiet investigation rather than terminating the group. A few weeks afterwards, she had the answer. The demons were guarding something," the disgust was evident in his tone, "that something turned out to be a small child, probably around the age of five."
Alec tried hard to keep his face neutral as a spasm of horror shot through him. His father was planning to attack a home that had a child in it. No, his mind corrected with another shot of horror, his father was planning an attack on the child. "No," he said, the word forcing out of his throat through a wave of bile, "Dad, you can't! You can't kill a child!"
"We have no choice. We have reason to believe that the child is like Sebastian, and if so, we have to strike before it can grow into another deadly weapon for their side."
"Weapon? It's just a child! You don't know what he or she will do! They might not hurt anyone!"
Robert pierced his son with a sharp look, "This child," he said with disgust, "is a monster. There is nothing we can do to change that. It will have no emotions like we understand them. No remorse. No compassion. Just a deadly, callous murderer like Sebastian. There is nothing else it can be." Alec shook his head, horrified and disgusted. Was this what awaited his twins? A few years and then callous murder?
"I'm not telling you to kill the child, Alec. I can see that you have hesitations about it. We need skilled fighters to hold back the demons as others go in to eradicate the threat." The threat. Such a cruel terminology. One life, burned out because of parentage. Isabelle was right, their father had become no worse than the monster they were fighting.
"If I refuse?" He asked finally, not meeting his father's gaze.
"Then I'm forced, by the will of our Covenant, to punish you for insubordination. You must fight Alec, or the Law will come down on you." Alec hesitated only a moment.
"What's the punishment?" he asked, finally raising his head to meet his father's gaze. He would rather be punished, he thought savagely, than take part in this. This time there was no mistaking the emotion in his father's gaze. Regret.
"For something like this, Alexander, for willingly disobeying a direct order given from the Inquisitor in times of war, there are only two outcomes. Imprisonment in the cells in Idris, for a determined amount of time, or…" he paused momentarily before continuing, "or immediate disbarment from the Clave."
So, I did say it was going to pick up right? Right? Well, I hope you liked the chapter. Again, I have to thank A Really Gay Spider for their fantastic ideas and betaeing skills. Thank you for reading, and I'll try to update again soon.