Magnus's heart hit the floor, or at least, he thought it did. But he wasn't entirely sure it was beating anymore, so he wasn't entirely sure of where it actually was. He was entirely sure, however, that he had heard Alec wrong. There was no way that he had ended up with the one soulmate who would be the first ever to actually say yes. Magnus looked to where Ragnor and Raphael were, hoping that they would be able to show him absolutely anything that would prove he was going crazy. But he had to look away when he saw Max wrapped around Ragnor like Ragnor was his only lifeline.
As soon as he heard Alec laughing, Magnus was forced to turn his attention back to the situation at hand. "You don't know what to say to that, do you?" he asked, his voice full of so many emotions that Magnus couldn't hope to pin down any of them. "There's no precedent for this, so now you're all wondering what you should actually do. Well, the way I see it, you have three options, and it gives me immense joy that no matter what you do, it will not come out in your favor."
Alec had obviously been planning what he wanted to say, and Magnus couldn't help but smile at the thought. "Your first option is to kill me despite what the Law says. But since the Law doesn't actually say anything, since this isn't written down anywhere, killing me for standing up for myself would only martyr me in the eye of Downworld and any Shadowhunters who agree with me." Alec looked at Max then, and it was easy to tell that Max was terribly afraid they would, in fact, kill Alec. Magnus had to admit that he was as well, knowing how little mercy Shadowhunters had for anyone who spoke out.
"Your second option is to do what this unspoken Law specifies and simply beat me," Alec continued, and Magnus winced at the very thought; he'd been sentenced to be whipped to death, and the Law said that Alec should simply be whipped. "But that will likely cause much more of a war than you want as well. Your third option is to do nothing; to simply let us both go. But that creates a precedent that you don't want. Let us go without a fight and you'll suddenly have everyone with a Downworlder soulmate coming forward and saying yes." Alec finally turned to look at Magnus once more, and Magnus was happy to see the mischief in his eyes.
"In a nutshell: you're screwed. And I couldn't be happier," Alec continued, and Magnus had to look down at his feet to keep from showing his smile. "You people rule with fear. You think that you can control anyone and everyone by simply making them fear you and the consequences for not staying in line with what you want." Looking around the room, Magnus could tell just how angry the Clave was becoming, but he suddenly wasn't scared anymore. "Your problem today is that your opponent isn't someone who's ruled by fear. I may be young, and this relationship may be new, but Magnus Bane is my soulmate, and my fear over what you will do to me is far outweighed by my devotion to my soulmate."
Even if Magnus had wanted to, he couldn't move his hands to wipe the tears away from his eyes, the fact that he was tied up being his greatest problem. The entire room was sitting in stunned silence, but all Magnus could think of was how much he wanted to wrap his arms around Alec. When the Clave decided they wanted to speak amongst themselves, the entire room broke out into just the commotion Magnus had expected. Alec immediately turned to him, and Magnus was surprised to see that there still wasn't a trace of the exhaustion or fear he had expected to be on Alec's face. "You didn't think that would be my answer, did you?" Alec asked, his smile widening.
Magnus could only move so much, but he was able to nod, unable to keep a smile off of his face as well. "I must admit that I was fully prepared for death, Alexander," he replied, watching the way Alec's smile slowly slipped from his face. "But once again, you've exceeded all expectations," he amended, trying, and failing, to put the smile back on Alec's face. Alec glanced over at Max once again, showing his nervousness for the first time all night. "He's strong, Alec; he'll be fine. He's just worried like the rest of us."
Alec turned his eyes back to Magnus, and for the first time he seemed to notice that Magnus had been crying. He reached up to gently wipe the tears from Magnus's face, looking as though he wished he could keep Magnus out of pain. But Magnus knew that if the Clave did anything other than simply let the two of him go that there would be no keeping him out of pain in any way. Magnus couldn't think of anything else to say, and Alec couldn't seem to think of anything else either, so the they both sat in silence. Magnus tried to drown out the various voices he heard around them, some of them in favor of Alec, but a lot of them against Alec.
Magnus could hear his heartbeat in his ears when the Clave came back in session. The last thing he wanted was for Alec to get hurt, but his life would be complete hell if they decided to simply kill Alec. Magnus was also highly aware of the fact that the Clave could do anything at all, including overriding what Alec had said and killing Magnus anyways. Even so, Magnus's heart still dropped once more when the man who had interrogated both of them stood up to say, "The Clave has decided to punish Alexander Lightwood in the way that was planned. He will be sentenced to thirty lashes with a whip made of electrum."
Magnus knew that the electrum would have killed him; electrum to warlocks being almost like silver to werewolves. But for Alec, it would only be terribly excruciating. Magnus's only hope was that Alec would quickly pass out from the pain, that he wouldn't have to endure it for too long. Magnus only slightly registered Max as he screamed for Alec; he was too focused on trying to break free of his restraints, even though he knew he was unlikely to be able to do so. The Clave had been smart enough to tie his hands together, and without the use of his magic, Magnus knew he wouldn't likely get out, not when his hands were tied together with metal chains.
For several lashes, Magnus actually found that he was able to watch, that he still had enough energy to try to break free and get to Alec. But when Alec continued screaming from pain, when Alec didn't pass out from the pain, Magnus had to look down at his feet. But looking down at his feet only reminded him of the fact that his own soulmate was in immense pain, so he closed his eyes, still struggling against his restraints.
The next thing Magnus knew, he was back at the Lightwood house, and Catarina was trying to keep him from getting up. Time had gone agonizingly slowly, and it felt like ages since he'd watched Alec take the last of his lashes, still fully conscious. "Magnus, stay still and let me heal you," Catarina was saying, forcing Magnus to sit back down. "You tore almost all of your skin off your wrists trying to break those chains. At least let me stop the bleeding." Magnus pushed her away once more, the knowledge that Alec was in much more pain keeping Magnus moving.
"Go heal Alec instead," Magnus said, trying to keep his voice as gentle as possible. "Ragnor can take care of me. Hell, I can take care of me. But you're the only one who has the skills to help Alexander." Magnus knew his voice cracked ever so slightly on Alec's name. Catarina looked at Magnus for several long moments until she finally nodded and moved toward the room the others had taken Alec to. Ragnor quickly too Catarina's spot, and Magnus no longer had the energy to move away from him.
After Ragnor had worked on his wrists for quite some time, Max suddenly appeared on the couch beside of Magnus. "Does it hurt?" he asked, and Magnus could easily tell that he had been crying. The only thing Magnus could find in himself to do was shake his head. He knew that the only reason it didn't hurt was because he was still running on adrenaline, but Max didn't need to know that. "How much pain is Alec in?" Max asked, causing even Ragnor to pause a bit.
"He's not in any pain anymore either, Max," Magnus replied, his voice tight and controlled. "Catarina will make sure of that, I promise." Max looked at him as though he was skeptical of Magnus's answer, and Magnus had to look away, knowing that he himself was becoming too emotional. When Ragnor was done with one of his wrists, Magnus reached over to take hold of Max's hand, hoping to comfort Max in any way possible.
"Alec is my hero," Max said several minutes later, causing Magnus to look over at him in surprise. "He's the bravest person I know," Max continued as though that would explain everything. "He's everything I want to be, Magnus." Magnus gave Max's hand another squeeze when he realized that Max was close to tears once more. The last thing Magnus wanted was for Max to cry again, but he wasn't entirely sure how to keep that from happening.
"You've picked the perfect person to want to be like, Max," Magnus replied, realizing that his voice betrayed the fact that he was close to tears again as well. Ragnor looked up at him, clearly analyzing his emotions, but he began to work on Magnus's wrist once more when Magnus gave him a look that told him to not bring it up in front of Max. When Ragnor was done, Magnus scooped Max up and headed for the room they had taken Alec to.
Max looked panicked when they realized that Alec was asleep, but Catarina seemed to pick up on that rather quickly. "I put him to sleep myself, Max," she said, turning back to her work with a quick smile. "I wanted him to be relaxed while I work on him. It's going to take quite a while." Magnus reached up to wipe Max's silent tears away, almost wishing that he hadn't brought Max in to see Alec. "Why don't you come and hold his hand while I work, Max? I think that would help if he knows you're here." Magnus smiled as he moved to where Max could reach Alec's hand and still stay in Magnus's lap.
When Jace and Isabelle came in the room, Magnus hardly noticed. He knew he should ask what the Clave had done after they had left, but he couldn't find it in himself to do so. He knew he should ask how Isabelle and Simon were, or even how Jace and Clary were, seeing as they had been arguing for weeks. But the only thing he could seem to do was focus on Alec's hand in Max's, hoping beyond hope that when Alec woke up, he would be pain free. Hoping that when Alec woke up, he wouldn't wake up to a war between Shadowhunters and Downworld. Magnus knew how easy it would be for Downworld to revolt now, and he had the sinking feeling that Alec had helped them do it.