Getting the call from Tessa that Magnus had been arrested hadn't exactly been a surprise to Ragnor. Or at least, it shouldn't have been. After seven hundred years and counting, Ragnor had watched as far too many of his friends were arrested and put to death for finding their Shadowhunter soulmates. But finding out that Magnus had been arrested was an entirely different story. If Tessa had told him that Magnus had been arrested because he'd gotten drunk and desecrated a statue of Raziel, Ragnor wouldn't have had a second thought about it.
But the fact that Magnus had been arrested because Alec was apparently his soulmate made Ragnor's chest squeeze just a bit tighter. The first problem was that Magnus had always been so cautious about being around Shadowhunters. Alec was truly the first Shadowhunter Magnus had ever genuinely let in, and Ragnor had a bit of trouble believing that Alec was his soulmate. It wasn't Alec himself, Ragnor actually adored Alec, though he would never admit that to Magnus. But it was the fact that, after all this time, after Magnus had built so many walls, Ragnor couldn't see how things had so quickly changed.
The real reason the entire situation caused Ragnor to pause for a few moments, frozen by fear, was the fact that, although he had loved and lost way too many friends, Magnus had been by his side the longest of them all. Ragnor had been essentially alone for over three hundred years, or at least in the way that he hadn't had anyone immortal by his side for any length of time. But his friendship with Magnus had lasted almost four hundred years, over half of Ragnor's life. And the thought of Magnus being ripped away from him was enough to keep him from functioning for several minutes after hanging up with Tessa.
"What's wrong?" Raphael asked him as soon as Ragnor opened his door. Ragnor had completely forgotten that Raphael had been planning on coming over, too overwhelmed with his worries about Magnus to truly think about anything else. "Ragnor, you look like you just got a death threat, what's going on?" Ragnor could hear the concern in Raphael's voice, something he knew was rare for Raphael in general.
Ragnor shook his head ever so slightly, but in the end, he gave in and told Raphael exactly what was going on. "Do you really believe it?" Raphael asked. Ragnor hear the worry Raphael tried so hard to hide. Most people wouldn't be able to hear it at all, but Ragnor easily picked up on it, though he knew Raphael would deny that he cared for Magnus if asked.
"That Magnus's soulmate is a Shadowhunter or the legend in general?" Ragnor asked, looking away from Raphael when he knew that he was becoming entirely too worked up about Magnus's situation. Ragnor wasn't entirely sure how he felt about the legend, but he was fairly certain that his feelings were pretty close to Magnus's. After centuries, it was hard to hold on to hope, plus he'd always held a healthy bit of skepticism.
For centuries, Ragnor had gone back and forth between believing in the legend with all his heart and dismissing it as a mere fairy tale. He'd watched Magnus give his heart to people over and over, regardless of the fact that none of them were his soulmate, and he often wondered how Magnus actually managed to do so. Sure, seven hundred years without any true love had gotten a bit lonely from time to time, but Ragnor had finally come to the conclusion that if he was meant to find his soulmate and fall in love, that he would eventually do so. But until he found said soulmate, he had sworn he would never give his heart to others, not in the way that Magnus had.
Ragnor looked over at Raphael with an expression that he hoped was unreadable. He had always tried to keep his heart protected by a wall, and for over six hundred years, it had worked. Until he'd met Raphael. Ragnor had pushed with everything he had to keep from falling for Raphael, but he'd quickly realized that holding himself back from it would be impossible. Even then, he'd only truly admitted it to himself when Magnus had directly asked him about his feelings for Raphael. Ragnor was willing to bet that the only person who would ever know about those feelings would be Magnus, and that was very okay with him.
"I know too well what your stance on the legend is, Ragnor," Raphael replied, and Ragnor smiled in acknowledgement of that. Ragnor had shared much of his thoughts on the legend with Raphael, but the one thing he'd only ever shared with Magnus was his tattoo. Magnus had tried to get Ragnor to share his tattoo with Raphael, but Ragnor couldn't bring himself to do it, knowing how crushed he would be when it only confirmed that the two of them weren't soulmates. Ragnor had always hated his tattoo, a cross on the inner thigh of his left leg. He hated it mostly because he wasn't particularly religious, and he had always hoped that it wasn't a sign that his soulmate would differ from him in that way.
Ignoring the question Raphael had presented, Ragnor turned toward the door once more. "I think we need to go see Alec," he said, suddenly realizing that Magnus's life was completely and utterly in Alec's hands. Ragnor turned away when it seemed as though Raphael was going to try to say something comforting; the last thing he wanted at the moment was to be comforted. Raphael couldn't give him what he really wanted. Raphael couldn't give him Magnus's freedom.
"I don't understand this Law in the first place," Alec said, looking down at his foot much in the same way that Magnus did when he was nervous. Ragnor softened ever so slightly when he realized this; he hated to admit that he liked seeing such a familiar mannerism on the young Shadowhunter. "I get that the Clave likes to hide their hatred behind the Law, but if this was purely hatred, then we wouldn't be able so much as date Downworlders. There has to be more to it than that, and I want to know exactly what."
Ragnor smiled ever so slightly at the way Alec looked at him, as if Alec knew that Ragnor was just old enough to be one of the few people outside of the Clave who still knew the true reasons for the unwritten Law. "It's a bit complicated," Ragnor said, his smile widening when Alec sat down as though he was ready to listen to anything Ragnor had to say. "Essentially, it creates a bond between the Shadowhunter and the Downworlder, almost like a parabatai bond in a way."
Ragnor was well aware that all eyes in the room were on him, especially Raphael's. Raphael was likely wondering why he'd never heard this before, but Ragnor rarely admitted that he knew it. "It's a very old sort of magic, but if the two are allowed to fall in love, they begin to share each other's powers. When the Clave realized this, they became afraid that if they let this happen, this would allow Downworlders to overthrow them. A warlock with both his magic and the physical abilities of a Shadowhunter is a rather formidable force."
The way Alec's eyes filled with anger made Ragnor terribly happy; he knew that Alec was filling with anger at the Clave, and that told Ragnor that he could likely trust Alec with Magnus's life. "It's always been about hatred, but combine that with fear, and the Clave very quickly became murderers. They've always been about power, and the moment they thought that having Shadowhunter soulmates might give Downworlders a bit of their self-esteem and identity back, they decided they had to ensure that never happened. It's always been about ensuring that they're the superior race. And they're doing a very fine job of it if you ask me."
"This is ridiculous," Alec said, shooting up from his seat faster than Ragnor would have thought possible. "They think that giving Downworlders a few more powers will mess up the order they've created for their world. They think that instilling fear will keep Shadowhunters from standing up for their soulmates." Ragnor slowly nodded; Alec was terribly correct. "They think that if one Shadowhunter stands up for themselves that they'll turn the order inside out. All they think about is their damn order. We'll I've got news for them; it's about to turn inside out."
Everyone was silent, and Ragnor almost felt as though he could hear his own heartbeat. When Ragnor heard someone tell them to get out, he didn't first process the fact that the man was talking to him and Raphael. When he heard Alec yelling at his father to stop, he still hadn't processed the fact that he needed to get out of the situation as quickly as possible. It wasn't until he felt a shooting pain in his leg, blackness quickly overwhelming him, that he realized Robert Lightwood was one of the Shadowhunters who was obsessed with that order.
It wasn't until Raphael and Alec got him to Catarina's house that Ragnor woke up, automatically wishing he hadn't, the pain almost unbearable. When they placed him on Catarina's couch, Ragnor was surprised when Raphael held onto him, concern filling his eyes. "There was poison on his arrow," Ragnor heard Alec tell Catarina, but he couldn't seem to process it. Not with the pain coursing through his body.
Ragnor barely registered the fact that, to heal him, Catarina stripped him down to his boxers. He didn't register anything until Catarina had eased the pain, but the first thing that Ragnor did register was the fact that Raphael's hand was still in his. "Ragnor," Raphael said, his voice so unusually soft that Ragnor quickly turned to look at him in surprise. The next thing Ragnor realized was that everyone had stopped to look at him, and he had no idea why.
Raphael was shaking his head in a way that told Ragnor he was just as equally surprised. "Ragnor," he repeated once more, his voice barely above a whisper. "There's no way. No. It's not possible." Ragnor looked to Catarina, hoping that she would have an answer, but she simply shrugged, showing that she was as equally confused as he was. Ragnor felt his stomach twist when Raphael finally clarified, almost guilty about momentarily forgetting Magnus and his trial. "Your tattoo," he said, looking down at Ragnor's leg as though this couldn't possibly be happening. "It's mine, too."
As always, come talk to me about this story! I'm really happy to finally get to my babies, and I know you're all wanting to find out about both Malec and Clace, but be patient with me while I get the story to where I want it to be!