Once Upon A Time
Chapter 11
Sorry it took a little longer to get this chapter up but I hope you like it!
Clary P.O.V
I find myself wandering the corridors of the sleeping palace in the dead of night. So much is running through my head and I can't seem to make sense of any of it. Does my father know what Jonathan is like? Does he even care?
Dry tears irritate my cheeks as I walk down the cold corridor. The party is long over and I have absolutely no idea where I'm going, and really, I shouldn't know how to navigate these halls, but I do. It feels like a kind of sixth sense.
Eventually, I end up in front of a simple door. Quietly, I push it open with my fingertips.
Beds line the walls and beside each one is a small table, on which an unlit candle stands. There is only one bed occupied, but I can't quite make out who is in it.
"Hello, Clary dear. Or should I call you Seraphina?"
I smile at the familiar voice and sit down on the edge of his bed. "Hello Magnus,"
He sits up in the bed, puffs up his pillow, and leans back, his green-gold cat eyes gleaming in the dark. He smiles slyly and gestures at my elaborate emerald dress. "Nice dress, where did you get it?"
I finger the fabric in my lap. "I think it was my mother's, but I don't know."
"So," He says, looking at me expectantly. "How was the party?"
All the emotions of the past day flood back to me in a tidal wave, and next thing I know, I'm curled up against Magnus' chest, sobbing uncontrollably. I cry about everything that has ever happened: Growing up without anyone to love me, all those night I cried myself to sleep, the fact that I'll probably never see my friends again. No Isabelle, no Alec, no Jace. And then I cry about everything that hasn't happened yet: My supposed marriage to an abusive psychopath and my future reign as a Queen that I have no idea how to accomplish.
"I'm going to take a guess and say it didn't go so well." He says.
I try to answer, to tell him I'm fine, that it's just been a tough night. But the only sound that comes out is a strangled wail.
He shushes me and strokes my hair. "It's okay. Just breathe, just breathe."
I listen to him and start to focus on my breathing. In. Out. In. Out. My sobbing quietens to little more than a whimper.
"Now," Magnus says, pulling me upright so I sit in front of him. "Are you going to tell me what's wrong?"
"Everything," I stammer, rubbing at my red eyes. "Everything is wrong. Nothing feels right anymore and I don't know what I'm going to do, I don't know..." I fade off, my throat swelling shut.
"Clary," He says, cupping my face in his tanned hands. "I can't help you if I don't know what's happened."
"He kissed me." I blurt, staring hard into Magnus' slitted eyes. "Jonathan kissed me."
"Jonathan," He repeats, his brow furrowing. "Jonathan Morgenstern?"
I nod and wipe my nose with the edge of my dress. "I-I've never been kissed by anyone before, and I always imagined that it would be sweet and with someone I love-"
"Someone like Jace?" He asks, raising an eyebrow.
I stop in my tracks, frozen in shock. "What do you-"
"Please," He says with a wave of his hand. "I saw the way you two looked at each other. Trust me, I know love when I see it."
My strange feelings towards Jace start to piece together. Is this what love feels like? This constant worry about whether they're happy, whether they're worrying about you? But whatever this feeling is, I like it. And I love Jace.
Magnus laughs, throwing his head. "Took you two long enough."
"It's not like you can talk, what about you and Alec?" I say, poking him in the chest.
He rubs the spot where I poke him and sucks in a sarcastic breath. "Careful with the merchandise deary, I'm still recovering here." We laugh together, and for a moment I feel normal. Like maybe everything is fine again.
His laughter fades, along with his smile, and he begins to fiddle with a loose string from his bed sheet. "Alec is, something else." He says, shaking his head, a goofy grin on his face. "I just," He looks around, his lips pressed into a thin line. "I just wish he would accept who he is, accept my feelings for him." He looks down and shakes his head again.
"I think, sometimes, the reason we don't accept ourselves, is because we don't think we deserve the love we're being offered."
He tilts his head, a smile on his face. "You know, for a girl that's been stuck in a tower her whole life, you seem to understand people pretty well."
I shrug and stand up from the bed. "I better let you sleep. I wouldn't want you to get sicker."
"I think you're the one that needs sleep. Go. I'll see you in the morning."
I wave goodbye to him and push open the infirmary doors and let them shut behind me. The walk back to my room is quite peaceful, that is, until I almost stumble upon Jonathan and my father.
The moment I see them, I stumble back behind the corner. Out of simple curiosity, I peek out to see what they could possibly be doing at this hour of night.
"It seems you and Seraphina get along well." Father says, standing in the yellow light from his semi-open door.
"Yes, of course. We get along splendidly." Jonathan replies, a smile I would once find charming but now find demonic on his face.
"The arrangements have been made for you to propose to her at the town festival for her return tomorrow. Are you ready?"
"The quicker I'm betrothed to your daughter, the better."
"Brilliant. Now, you need a long rest. Go to your quarters, I will see you in the morning."
"Of course, Sire."
Father walked into his room, closing the door behind him and shutting out the light my eyes had become accustomed to. When they refocus, Jonathan is gone.
Tomorrow? He's proposing tomorrow? What does he think is going to happen, that I'll say yes?
"There is no way in hell I am marrying him." I say to myself.
"Oh, I beg to differ."
I whirl around, temporarily overwhelmed by shock. Jonathan stands behind me, his hands crossed over his chest. He smiles like he knows something I don't and, almost too quickly for me to see, has me pinned against the wall, his arms barriers around me.
My breath catches in my throat and I swear for a moment my heart stops entirely.
He leans down close to my ear and I shiver in revulsion. "Because if you ask me," He whispers. "I'd say you're going to say yes." He trails a cold finger across my jawline and I have to physically force myself not to bite it off. He drags it across the bare skin of my throat and down towards the top opening of my dress.
I slap his hand away and he grabs my chin between his thumb and index finger with bruising force.
"I wouldn't if I were you." He hisses in my ear.
I can't help but whimper he holds my face in place, eyes locked with his.
"Now, here's what's going to happen tomorrow." He says, his voice quiet and as sharp as a shard of glass. "I will get down on one knee, and give you a heartfelt proposal," He laughs, a quick, sharp noise that makes my skin crawl. "And you will say yes. That is your part done. We get married, I become King, and all that's left for you to do," He pauses, his eyes lingering on my lips and chest. "Is produce me and heir."
"Let me go." I say, my voice strained.
His lips crash against mine and he groans against my mouth, pushing me harder against the wall with his body.
I push him away with all my strength but he barely stumbles.
Eventually, he releases me from the kiss and I feel like my insides are churning.
I'm going to throw up.
"Until tomorrow, my dear." He says, backing away and disappearing into the darkness.
Review, please :)
See you tomorrow,
ByTheAngel99