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"Are you sure they can't find us here?" The Queen asked, nervously glancing at the stairs that led to her chambers. It was the first time Jiliel ever saw her composure cracking but he could understand her anxiety: there was a war upstairs and the Shadowhunters were out for blood, not capture. He gritted his teeth thinking that it was his sister's fault: had she not betrayed them, their plan would have been executed and in a short time they would forever be free of the Nephilim. But she suddenly had to give in to her everlasting crush on Jace Herondale and side with them. He knew she was the wrong person for the job, he always knew that. He just wished the Queen listened to him when he warned her. And the way Kaelie spat at him when he brought her at the Court after capturing her? The little bitch told him she never agreed with their plans for Clary and her family, that he was a heartless bastard for what he did to her. She disowned him with a curse when he finally stabbed her with his knife. She disowned him! Oh, but she paid for that. She paid for her betrayal with every broken bone in her body, with every lash of his whip. He just wished he had more time to torture her before having to set up some defence for the Shadowhunters who were surely coming soon to get her and the brat. They would never be able to save Kaelie though, he personally saw to it when he stabbed her. As for William… Jiliel looked at him, sitting on the ground with a shiny ball in his hands to keep him busy. No, they would never rescue him either: if the Queen didn't manage to escape with him, he would snap his little neck with his own hands.
"Faster my Queen," he dared to whisper, "we need to go."
The Seelie Queen didn't bother to reply even though usually she would have had his head for his words. She was busy weaving a complicate spell to release her daughter from her crystal prison, since there was no way they could move her while she was sleeping in it. It was a magic she only attempted once in her life and it required her full attention; her heart clenched at the thought that maybe William's blood still hadn't fully replaced her daughter's one but there was no time for doubts now. If her child wasn't cured, she would make her sleep again once they were safe in the depth of the Fairy Kingdom. The Shadowhunters wouldn't kill her like they killed her father, she would never allow it.
The magic was draining her, taking more energy than she recalled but she couldn't stop now: she could feel the crystal weakening, becoming thinner, almost disappearing. But then she raised her head when she heard hurried steps running down the stairs that led to the secret chamber. Suddenly paling she interrupted her spell and took William in her arms while Jiliel placed himself in front of her, his sword drawn.
Jace and Clary burst into the room, ready to fight and the Seelie Queen stepped back at the murderous look in their eyes.
"William!" Clary screamed when she saw her son in the Queen's arms. Will was quiet, his gaze fixed on the sleeping Princess but when he heard his name, he suddenly turned. Still in the firm grasp of the Seelie Queen, he extended his little arms toward his mother, trying to get down but not making a sound.
"Release my son, now!" Jace growled, moving toward her just as Jiliel prepared to fight the both of them. "Release him!"
"You want him, Herondale? Is it too cliche to say you'll get him over my dead body?" The fairy taunted him not even bothering to ask how had they found that place. Kaelie had clearly been shrewder than he thought, managing to discover that the Princess was still alive. It irritated him that she hadn't told him anything when he tortured her, though, it showed an iron will he didn't think she had.
"Actually it's the perfect thing to say." Clary's cold voice was the only advantage she gave him before launching herself to him.
It was hard to keep the necessary concentration when all she wanted was ditch her weapon and simply gauge his eyes out with her bare hands; but Jiliel was an experienced soldier, a General, and she couldn't afford any distraction.
"You know, I think I won't kill you Clary." Jiliel smiled, exchanging some blows with their swords to gauge her strength. "I'll let the vampires drink your blood and then I'll keep you with me, naked and chained so you can be my pet whenever I feel like having you."
"You're disgusting." She ground her teeth, feinting on the right to hit him on the left. She was rewarded with the first blood, right on his arm. "You'll never touch me again, I swear."
"Oh, I'll touch you, I will." Jiliel gave the blow back, hitting her on her thigh. "I'll touch you and I'll whip you and I'll brand you. I'll break you Clary and you'll beg me to kill you, but I won't. You'll live chained on my bed, a slave for my pleasure and for the pleasure of all the people I'll sell you to. How would you like to be a whore?"
He was trying to make her lose control and she knew it. How many times during her training Jace had done the same thing? And how many times she had paid for her rage? This was greater than her though: she had to stay calm for William and for Jace, she had to defeat Jiliel so the Queen would be left defenceless.
She stopped listening. She focused on his moves rather than his voice, trying to read his body the way Jace taught her to, anticipating his movements, slicing him over and over until he was bleeding from his arms and chest so much that the floor was slick. Jiliel was a good swordsman though, he wasn't the General of the fairy army by name only: he hit back, punched her, threw her on the ground trying to use his superior strength to keep her pinned. But Clary was fast, lighter than a feather and as soon as she was down she scissored his legs to drag him down with her. She was bloody, wounded on her arm and bleeding from her legs but she didn't waste time: ditching her sword and grabbing a knife, she rolled over him, straddling the fairy and elbowing him right in the face. Jiliel screamed, blinded by the blood and it was all it took. With a vicious, violent blow she stuck her knife in his chest watching as his eyes widened in shock and pain.
"This is for me," she spit in his face, "and for Jace."
Taking the knife out, she buried it again on his stomach, right where he had hit his sister. "And this is for Kaelie. Die, you bastard."
As Clary and Jiliel fought, the Seelie Queen built a magic shield around her so that Jace couldn't touch her and slowly stepped back.
"You know I'll never let him get away." She warned, clearing away from the fight. She could see that Jace wanted to help his wife but at the same time he wouldn't let William out of his sight: he was afraid she would escape while they fought.
"Either you release him or I'll kill you." He replied, raising his sword. "We know the poison was a lie. You have no claim over him. Kaelie told us about your daughter and I won't let you experiment on my son to awaken her so she can destroy the world."
"Destroy the world?" She laughed in disbelief. "You think that's what I was after? My only goal was taking my revenge on you and her and healing my daughter. I would have certainly liked to kill all the Nephilim in the process, but the world can stay where it is."
"How noble of you." Jace gritted his teeth. "Now put William down. You know you're not leaving the Court alive."
"Maybe you should go and make sure your wife is the one who leaves here alive." She laughed and Jace turned just in time to see Clary on the ground, scissoring Jiliel's legs to throw him down as well. She was covered in blood, her arm wounded and bleeding from her thigh but Jiliel wasn't better, slightly limping and heavily bleeding from a chest wound.
It was a few seconds matter and before Jace could run to help Clary, she was already on top of the fairy, her dagger deeply buried in his stomach. As the Queen saw the light leaving her General's eyes, she stepped back in shock, tightly hugging William to her chest.
Clary rose up, her red hair plastered on her face, blood covering her. "My son." She hissed. "Give me back my son or, by the Angel, I'll kill you where you're standing."
Before the Queen could shake her head again, William started wiggling in her arms, trying to break free of her grip on him, to get to the floor. His golden eyes raised to the Queen's face with a serious expression and with a sudden move he bit her arm, sinking his teeth deep until she let go of him, screaming.
And then William ran on his short legs, he run with a smile on his face right in the arms of his mother who was kneeling on the ground, her arms open for him. He jumped on her, his little arms closing on her neck, his face buried on her shoulder.
"Mommy." He whispered and Clary closed her eyes embracing her son with a strangled sigh, her tears freely falling on her cheeks. Oh, this was heaven, having her little child back in her arms, knowing he never forgot her, knowing she would never leave him again.
"Don't move," Jace hissed, pointing his sword right at the Queen's throat. Her eyes were filled with pain but she never allowed a single tear to show up.
"Clary," he called again, wishing he could look at them, but not daring to take his eyes off the Queen. "Are you alright? Is he?"
"We're fine." Clary stood up with William in her arms, his hands still firmly locked on her neck. "William is unharmed and I'll heal."
"Leave." He ordered her. "Get Will out of here."
As much as she wanted to argue, she didn't. She bit her lower lip remembering her promise to him and grabbed her stele, shifting Will on her left arm. As soon as she drew the Portal rune, she sensed something wrong, like a barrier; she couldn't cross it and as she looked at the smirk in the Queen's face, she knew why.
"You." She growled, "You're blocking William. Release him!"
"I'm surprised you forgot the rule, Clarissa." Even with a sword at her throat, she wouldn't lose that superior look in her eyes. "William lived here for months, he ate and drank our food. He can't leave the Court."
"You can make him. Allow him to leave!"
And the Seelie Queen laughed. "Never! You can kill me, but even that won't release him. Only my will can, and I won't do it! You want your son? Then be prepared to live here with him, because I'll never allow William to leave!"
"Jace." A calm voice called from behind and when Clary turned, Alec was there, his bow ready and pointing at the Queen. He had a dried blood streak on his temple but looked otherwise unharmed. "The throne room is safe now and we're fine. Simon and Isabelle are looking for Clary's reports to destroy them."
He looked at Jiliel's dead body and at William in his mother's arms and smiled. "I see good news here as well."
"Alec," his parabatai replied, a steel glint in his eyes. "Keep your eyes on her and if she moves a muscle shoot her. Don't kill her though, I need her alive for a few more minutes."
With that, Jace lowered his sword and backed off a few steps, his eyes never leaving the Queen's. "Release my son. Allow him to leave."
When she didn't reply, he closed his fist and turned around, facing the altar where the Princess slept. A deep resolve showed in his face when he approached it and raised again his sword, grabbing the hilt with both hands and suspending the blade above the sleeping child.
"Release him." He ordered again. His voice was calm, his expression deadly. "Or I'll kill your daughter."
A second of silence followed those words. Clary clenched her jaw but didn't say anything, just holding William in her arms, caressing his blond hair.
The Seelie Queen paled and took a step toward Jace but an arrow in front of her feet stopped her.
"You'd never do it." She said, trying to keep the panic from her voice.
"Wouldn't I?" He taunted her, keeping his sword pointed over the crystal. "You kidnapped my son, tortured me and my wife, killed one of your subjects just because she tried to help us… and you used William to heal this monster. If you want her to live, you'll let William go now."
"A monster?" She cried in outrage. "My daughter is not a monster, she's just a sick baby. And if I let William leave, she'll die anyway. I won't!"
"She has Sebastian's blood in her. I won't allow her to wake up to destroy the world." Jace replied, lowering his sword to her. The point touched the crystal. "If you release William, I'll let her keep sleeping and at least she'll be alive."
"Alive? You call this being alive?" She opened her arms, looking at the secret chamber. "I know you'll kill me, Shadowhunter. Without her mother to care for her, my baby will be left here in the dark for all eternity. Or until someone shatters her crystal and kills her. No! Never!"
"Then watch her die now." And with those words Jace lowered his sword some more, piercing the weakened protection until the blade reached the throat of the helpless child.
"No!" The Queen sobbed, suddenly falling on the ground, her eyes full of tears. "Don't hurt my baby… don't hurt her…"
Jace stopped, raising his gaze. "Release Will. Now."
She covered her face with her hands but Clary immediately noticed when things changed. The barrier was gone.
"She did it." She whispered, her heart leaping in relief. "Will is free."
And then, the Seelie Queen raised her face again, looking at them with hatred. "You got what you wanted. You killed Sebastian, punished my people, destroyed my army, killed my General, condemned my daughter… but you won't have my life as well. I'm the Seelie Queen and you won't touch me!"
She started glowing so much that they were forced to cover their eyes but it was an inner glow which never expanded outside her person, like she was evoking everything she was and waving it into the light. It was a glorious moment as they saw the life force of the fairy burn brighter and brighter until it was a incandescent flame. And then, as suddenly as it started, it stopped. The light snuffed out, the glowing gone… and the Queen fell on the floor, dead.
The sound of something shattering echoed in the secret room as the Shadowhunters watched in disbelief the corpse of the Seelie Queen and then another sound filled the room.
The cry of a wailing baby.
William turned in his mother's arms and wiggled around to get down. Clary let him go, still shocked at what happened and William ran to the altar where Sebastian's daughter was crying, awake and free of her crystal prison, her little arms and legs flailing around.
He raised on his feet and pointed at her with his little fingers.
"Sister!" He cried, trying to reach her. "Sister!"