It had been long ago that Clary felt literally trapped inside the palace; but with all the pressure of being the heir of the throne constantly running trough her mind as if it was a silly insect flying around a very small bedroom, it was impossible for her not to wish she could just go home; but then there was Jace, whenever she thought of his bright golden beautiful eyes, that begged her to stay like he could never explain with words, she was about to go crazy; she had wondered many times what would've happened if they weren't royalty, just two normal and foolishly in love kids, things would've been a lot easier for them, but what's worth having doesn't come easily. She really appreciated the times when she could be on her own and draw a bit, under her mother in law's orders Jace and Clary weren't allowed to see each other if it wasn't strictly necessary, what a stupid thing! They were going to be together for the rest of their lives (or so she hoped) and they were banned from spending time as a real couple when they had the chance to. What also hurt her was that she felt terribly lonely, when Queen Celine didn't pay so much attention to the way she walked, talked, dressed, sit or even blink! She could go wherever she wanted and talk to whomever she wanted too; but now she didn't even have her cell phone! 'Well, there's always someone you can talk with' her mind encouraged her. She went out of her room silently, checking so nobody would see her, it was an awful long trip she had to reach Alec and Izzy's rooms, but it was worth it, until…
"They're not there, remember?" it looked like Jace had had the same idea and now he was having the same feeling of pitiful deception she had. She smiled sadly and sat on the floor with him. With each day that went by, the pain grew bigger, they had never felt so lost in the place they used to call home; you'd say, but they lived without them for a while when Alec was in England and Izzy in Switzerland, right? Well, you're right, but now they both were there, so close and yet so far from them, the only two people who had ever made them feel like, more than royals, they were still humans, teenagers, people with hearts that sometimes needed to be listened to rather than constantly scolded.
"I hate this…" she confessed, she needed to tell it to someone before she'd disappear in a sea of frustration and tears, and to be honest he was the only one she could trust in that moment. Her friends had no way to contact her, and if they shared the same pain… it could be somehow not so horrible if they knew it.
"Welcome to my world…" Jace started playing with her fingers lovingly as he looked to the floor, Clary knew what that meant, on the outside he had built a wall of strength convincing himself that nobody would notice how destroyed he felt, but she knew him far too well. Clary made him look at her and smiled.
"It doesn't have to be this way, your world should be what you want it to be… besides, aren't they preparing us to do that? Jace, when we become kings… Idris will be what we think it's best, and if we see something that's not right we'll have to change it… just like now, this is the kind of small tests that life puts in our way to proof ourselves… some rules are meant to be broken, dear, and that's because not all rules are correct…" so if you had wondered why they were such troublemakers sometimes, that was the reason.
"Right, screw this! I'm going to be the king, nobody can take away my right of seeing my family!" he took his hand looking decided and they both started walking through the hall. And Clary was sure as hell of following him, until Celine's raged eyes appeared inside her mind.
"Hun, wait… What if they find out?" a bit of their courage went to hell when she said that.
"We'll handle it; didn't you say this was a test? If we really want something we must fight for it!" but Jace Herondale hadn't been, wasn't and would never be a coward.
"And how are you so sure that it will work this time? Like parents like son, love, if you're stubborn they are as stubborn as you times a million!" she reminded him but on the inside hoping he'd go on with whatever he was thinking.
"Because… that's how I got you to confess how much you love me…" as he answered, she could hear the smile forming on his lips. Damn, he was right, what could stop them now?
They say destiny works in mysterious ways, and that day it did; when they got to the enormous gate, they had forgotten that it wouldn't open so easily.
"Ok, this was going pretty well but this is definitely not very encouraging…" she said, then Jace started analyzing the lock, he smiled. "So what are you doing right now?" she asked.
"Well, as you should know by now, I've lived in this palace since I was nothing but a cell, I know how this locks work, when we were children, our grandfather had a huge closet where he kept important stuff for him, not to mention his great collection of foreign sweets which we dreamed about…" he took out a chain from his shirt, one that had been hidden because of the recent locket they had gotten, his family ring was there, down the main lock was a little hole and he placed the carved "H" in there, the door opened immediately. "Lucky me that got the family ring as soon as I was proclaimed Crown Prince, the only other "key" to say so, was this fancy kind of pen that my grandpa called stele, it's made from a rare metal called adamas… I'm sure you've heard about it" actually she had, that was the material that the first people of Idris used to make their weapons, and sometimes jewelry, but actually she had read that steles were elements of certain rituals that the ancient warriors practiced in which they burnt the top of it and marked themselves with runes, that were believed to make them stronger, faster, almost invincible.
"Yes, I have… and that stele wasn't a pen, love… My grandpa had one too, but he never used it to write anything" she giggled, Jace turned to see her with a playful grin.
"You've passed the basic knowledge test just made by your incredibly handsome husband, he happens to love you a hundred times more, if possible, now…" she laughed with him and after a while they entered slowly to the other hall of the palace. For what it looked like, everything was being rebuilt, or rather destroy any remains of what could have something to deal with the Herondales inside it, as they walked through the hall, they noticed a pretty big painting on one of the walls; Isabelle and Alec were there, both with suits that Amatis had told Clary were only worn for coronations and of course their crowns.
"Looking good but a bit pretentious for my taste…" said Clary, Jace laughed.
"This screams my uncle's name, don't you think?" Clary nodded to his comment, focusing her attention on the border of the mark, it looked like flames. "I should've known it… heavenly fire…" but still there were much things about the palace he knew and she didn't.
"What does that mean?" and when you're completely clueless, your curiosity just grows, especially if we're talking about Clary.
"It symbolizes the calling of the angel's spirit, meaning that their blood will be cleaned… and all sort of evilness inside them will disappear…" how ironic, it was Robert who desired to "clean his blood".
"Yeah, that's going to happen…"she chuckled sarcastically and then they heard a door opening, the panic rushed over them for a while until the unmistakable sound of Isabelle's heels went through their ears.
"Jace? Clary?" she looked tired and sad, but as soon as she saw them, her face seemed to brighten, heaven knows why!
"Izzy!" Clary tried hard not to squeal like a pig as soon as she saw her, but after they had dismissed them for what looked like weeks ago, she hadn't been able to erase the look in her eyes and the sound of her so felt tears. She also ran to hug them both.
"By the angel, what are you doing here?" she said, for a moment Clary thought she'd start crying again, but then she got apart, and hit them both on their arms "And most important, how the hell did you get in here?!" she scowled.
"Everybody has secrets, Iz" Jace winked at her showing the chain with his family ring.
"You're absolutely insane, foolish and reckless you know that?" she was still angry for some reason.
"I think we were born knowing that, and that's maybe why we love each other so much! … Hey, we just happened to miss you both, it's living hell back there, we needed to see you…" Clary confessed looking down.
"Ok, you both may consider your asses lucky that my father isn't here, or you'd truly know how hell looks like…" she had a point; Queen Celine was not much compared to what Prince Robert could do.
"Take it easy, we're the princes, there's not much he can do to us" Jace embraced Clary gently.
"Yeah, that's not really an obstacle for him…" Isabelle whispered, but Clary heard her clearly, there was something suspicious about that, then she just giggled uncomfortable and hugged them again, stronger than the first time. "I never thought that… I'd feel so empty without you both, and grandma… even aunt Celine, I … it's like a nightmare you know?" and yes, Clary's thoughts came sort of true, she started to cry.
"If we don't know then who does? I'm sorry we couldn't do anything…" Jace said as she tried to compose herself again.
"It's not your fault, none of this is… but hey! Now that the mischief is done we should take advantage of it, shouldn't we?" she said smiling sweetly, and that was the Isabelle that Clary remembered and kept close to her heart.
"Sure thing, what's the point of being naughty if you can't enjoy it?" answered Jace, for a moment Izzy's eyes stopped at the lockets they were wearing.
"Looks like my father isn't the only one who suddenly is so interested on family symbols…" she said.
"I know! Ridiculous, right? I feel like I'm carrying all of your ancestors with this thing on my neck" Clary replied, the three of them chuckled.
"Follow me, Alec and I have been watching over mother, her pregnancy is getting a bit complicated as if she only has one month to go, and with all that has been happening…" she said and they tried to walk as calmly as noiseless as they could. They got to a pretty big room; it looked like Imogen's, but a bit darker. "Mama, we have visits" Maryse seemed to get even more pale when she saw them walking in, but Alec did smile.
"In the name of Raziel, children! You shouldn't be here!" Alec stopped his troubled mother from getting up from bed, he looked really bad.
"We know, aunt Maryse… We're sorry but we really needed some company…" said Jace uncomfortably. She showed a kind smile to them.
"You're not the only ones, darling, you can be sure of that…" she caressed her son's cheek. Sometimes, Clary thought that Maryse was much better as a mother than Celine was.
"We'll be really punished for this…" Alec got up and hugged them also. "So let's make sure nobody finds out…" he closed the door as they walked to meet his mother.
"How are you feeling, highness?" Clary asked worried about her state, she knew that pregnancy was though and with all the problems they had had, she didn't even want to imagine how hard it was for her.
"Not very well, princess… I really hate seeing my children this sad, and… well we haven't gotten used to being so alone yet…" she felt like that was the first time that Maryse could be honest with her, fearless, opposite from what happened on "their side of the palace".
"I don't meant to be rude or anything, but to lock you inside her like he did… it seems a bit cruel to me…" and she replied with the same honesty.
"Life can be really harsh on us when we're vulnerable, highness, but it's up to us to stay strong…" after saying this, her expression turned into pure pain, Alec rushed to hold her hand.
"Another contraction, she's been having them for three days, the doctor says it sometimes happens and that is nothing serious… but it got worse today…"Izzy commented looking awfully worried. Then Maryse froze in panic.
"And I think I know why…"she looked up to everyone in the room, frightened.
"The water just broke…"
"Ok, I think I speak for everybody when I say that… You're driving us crazy, Simon Lewis!" Helen screamed and took her friend's phone, willing to crash it into tiny pieces.
"Fine, just don't reflect that craziness with that poor device!" Eric took it from his hands, but not even in dreams he'd give it back to his owner, whose eyes were still lost on the coffee shop's table in which they were all sitting on.
"I don't get it! They don't call, or text…" it was a bit weird that he was talking about both his girlfriend and best friend with that sentence.
"After what happened, do you really think they can speak to anybody? I mean, if they that are somehow relatives aren't allowed to speak with each other, you think that they'll let them talk to someone out of the cage? I mean, "palace"…" replied Maia drawing the quotes with her fingers, for them the palace hadn't been such a bad thing as long as Clary was happy with it, but that didn't seem to be the case anymore.
"I still can't believe this! Or get this… weren't them already different families?" typical from Kirk, spending ages knowing about a problem but not understanding what was the fuss about.
"Yes, but this time is much more serious, they're like completely separated, alright? It's like the wall of Berlin, but inside the palace…" Helen tried to explain.
"But that shouldn't mean that they've also built a wall in between us! I have nothing to deal with their family problems!" Simon was about to lose it, Maia and Helen looked at each other worried.
"Take it easy, buddy; I'm sure they'll call you as soon as they can, we just have to wait…" Helen replied taking his hand.
"Do you really think that it's really because of what happened?" and suddenly he was having the same doubts they had had.
"Of course! I mean … if hypothetically her royal highness, perfect and beautiful Isabelle Lightwood was having a problem with you, I repeat hypothetically! it'd be understandable that she didn't answer her cell phone, but Clary! Clary doesn't do that unless it's something serious!" assured him Maia, shaking on the insides.
"Right, you know that pumpkin would never waste a chance to yell at you, especially if she's angry…" complimented Eric.
"True, true… I'm sorry, guys, I know I've been pretty annoying these days, but I'm seriously worried about them…" the question was, did he have a reason not to worry? Two important parts of his life where in there, and they weren't supporting each other as they used to! If something got to hurt them, what could he do?
"We all are, but the best we can do now is wait… until things settle a bit, we don't know what could be happening inside there…" Helen did try to make it better saying that, but when she said the last part, Simon's eyes almost came off his head, and they all tried to calm him "It doesn't have to be something exactly bad! Maybe they're just busy or whatever…"
"Nobody can be this busy, like 24 hours a day! I think I need a drink…" he hid his face on his hands, trying to process all the barbarities that went through his mind about what was happening inside the palace.
"Ok, that would only make this situation more stupid than it already is! She isn't breaking up with you, Simon! She's going through a hard time and needs to clear her mind, that's it! Don't hyperventilate over nothing!" sometimes, Maia's scolding worked much better than useless and also unused advices.
"Dr. Heart has spoken! Now, can we please come back to what we came here for?" Eric begged them. They all nodded silently, a little ashamed of their attitudes.
"I think we could use some more duets… maybe we could even find a song for Simon to dedicate to his sweetheart!" Helen nudged him playfully.
"God, you're a genius, Helen!" he suddenly smiled to all of them and squealed happily.
"Thanks you, I already knew it… but it'd be good to know the reason of your sudden realization…" she asked, 'Danger zone' her mind detected.
"Music is always a way of communication! How come didn't I think about it before? If I can't talk to her, I'll sing!" now they had no doubt that he had already lost it.
"You cannot be serious, Simon, this band is not a joke! There's no way we're going to...!" the "genius" began but he cut her speech.
"Nothing more to say, Blackthorn. I am absolutely determined about this! And she'll go nuts when we do it!" he was far too excited about the idea for taking a step back.
"Please, tell me that I hit my head really hard, this can't be happening!" Maia's facepalm clearly showed what she thought about it.
"Oh, I think it'll be romantic!" said Kirk, their friends turned to see him accusingly.
"Thanks, dear friend! That's the smartest thing you've said in years!" Simon said, as his friends kept complaining. "Its official, more gentleman than ladies! We'll arrange a serenade for her highness!"
* I recommend listening to "Your Song" by Ellie Goulding as you read this scene; Even though the scene is a little awkward, I just thought it was perfect! XD*
"What?!" the four unexperienced and not so grown up kids shared a scream, for various reasons. Obviously they look from one to the other trying to think of what to do.
"Oh, by the angel, stop playing charades and call the doctor!" Maryse yelled at them trying to handle the strength with which her insides contracted.
"Sure, Izzy go get him!" Alec knelt next to her bed and caressed her hair, trying to calm her as his sister ran to the door shakily.
"Wait! If they see us here we'll be in trouble!" Clary reminded them, making greater the fear that everyone had.
"I don't think that's the biggest problem we have…" Isabelle struggled with the door's lock as she spoke, Jace went to help her but it seemed that… they were so scared that they had even forgotten how to open a door or it wasn't really opening at all.
"No way, it's stuck!" announced Jace running a hand trough his sweaty hair, it was official that they were a bit screwed.
"Call somebody! The maids, an ambulance, the Pope anyone! We… and the baby have to get out of here!" yeah, Clary wasn't much of a helper when she was troubled.
"The telephone lines aren't working correctly yet; I remind you that this part of the palace has been abandoned for years!"Answered Izzy, her voice reflecting both anger and frustration.
"What do we do then? I'm too young to have a baby!" shouted Jace, as if that had made it any better.
"It's not yours, and you shouldn't even be here!" Alec replied. It seems that they were more worried about what was happening than Maryse herself.
"Well, sorry that I'm such an intruder, Alexander, if I could get out of here I would already have done it!" said his cousin indignant.
"Alright, here's the deal, children! No one's entering or coming out of here, but this child actually is! You'll have to help me; we don't have much time left!" said Maryse with her eyes tightly shut.
"So, we're running out of time? You should've said before that you were having the baby today, mama! After two kids you should know about this better than we do!" said her daughter crossing her arms; they were young, frightened and clueless… it wasn't a surprise that they begin to act foolishly.
"Sorry, darling, but you'll have to learn, then! Alec, you took those first aid classes, remember? I think we could use those abilities…" she tried to tell to her son slowly, but what nobody understood inside that room was that she was the one having a kid and she should've been the only one in pain and scared!
"Mom, I don't think that an artificial respiration will be useful right now!" he said shaking.
"I mean that you know about injuries and disinfecting and that stuff, and I think you could use some of those movies you see all the time! You know the basis of how a birth works just apply it!" at that point, trying to stay serene was impossible.
"But this is not a movie, or a book or anything, this is real life! And this is so happening!"Another smart comment from Clary.
"Then we'll have to make it happen in a good way… ok, for what I know… Iz, bring some towels, a sponge and water from the bathroom, Clary, you'll have to keep her forehead wet and Jace, hold her hand, she'll need something strong to support herself…" it was pretty evident that Alec was still nervous, but some things just have to be done.
"My god, we're really doing this?" Clary knelt beside Maryse as her son had done, Jace did the same at the opposite side and they looked at each other.
"It looks like it…" her husband said and Maryse groaned loudly. "It's ok, aunt… try to breathe" was what he knew was usually said during labor.
"Honey, if I wasn't breathing I'd already be dead!" she told him tightening her grip around his hand, not to much. Izzy and Alec set everything ready to welcome the baby as the three remaining ones yelled and breathed heavily.
"So, mom … do you think you're ready to…?" Alec began trying to make her understand what he meant.
"Oh my god, yes, Alexander, yes! "Finally the pain won over her calmness and shouted with all of her strength, making everyone in the room feel sharp and deep panic.
"Fine, fine! Here we go…" he along with his sister helped their mother position herself for what surely would be an afflictive, difficult and uncomfortable happening, and yet somehow beautiful… or so some people say!
"Holy Raziel in heaven! These are some images of my own mother that I'll never be able to forget, you know?" said Izzy looking pale, as her face twisted trying to process what the hell they were doing and how they could even walk after having seen and done everything!
"Not time for your permanent traumas, Iz!" complained her brother, after all he was the one who'd have to play Doctor Alexander that day!
"It's always time for my traumas, I'm a pretty fucked up kid!" so, yeah, the nervousness was more present that their brains at that moment.
"Shut the hell up, you're making it worst!" and even though Clary had never heard her aunt curse like that, she couldn't really blame her.
"You focus on pushing, mom!" and Alec didn't have enough peace of mind or body to handle both of them protests.
"Ouch! Jesus, aunt Maryse! You trying to break my hand?" said Jace with breathless voice as Maryse used his "delicate" hand as a ball to eliminate stress!
"You break the rules, well then I break your fingers one by one!" and he knew that that comment was dedicated to both of them; Clary was also scowling because of the pressure she applied to their hands.
"Yeah, I don't think that the baby will be able to come out from there!" Isabelle pointed out.
"You too came out from there! And considering that both of you had such huge heads I wouldn't worry about this one very much!" another round of excessive and unnecessary information.
"She's right, this is becoming a size as huge as our heads!" confirmed Alec, sweating like a pig.
"Guys, can you quit it with the narration?" said Clary with the last breath she had left, Maryse was pretty strong.
"No way! If I have nightmares tonight I'll make sure you have them too!" answered the soon to be terrified older sister.
"Perfect! What's better than spending the night in a hospital bed with a crust around your wrist and insomnia?" said Jace.
"You kids are awfully bothersome when you're under pressure!" said Maryse, as if it was news for them.
"You say so because you don't have to see it!" replied her daughter.
"I believe… that's his head?" said Alec asking his sister to take a look.
"Only if you're giving birth to a grape, the poor child is all purple and swollen!" and they were also awfully descriptive.
"Just take him out!" yelled their mother with rage.
"That's your job, mom! We're only here to receive him!" said Alec trying to smile to her, but as soon as her mother's glare turned into a death one, he shut his mouth and went back to work.
"Uh, Jace?" said Clary to her husband.
"What is it?" he asked huskily, with a tortured and yet sweet stare.
"Remember when we talked about having our own family and that kind of things?" she reminded him, watching as her cousins tried to get a clue of how it was going.
"Sure" Jace bit his lip as he replied; it looked like Maryse was holding his hand a lot stronger than hers.
"Yeah, I don't think I'll want that anymore for some time…" she made herself pretty clear
"Ok, ok… seems like we're doing well, go on mom!" Izzy encouraged her mother, finally being able to smile.
"Deep breathes, in and out, c'mon…" Jace whispered to her ear, suddenly, they didn't seem so inexperienced. Clary thought they were like chameleons, they way the acted depended on the situation and hell, they did it great. Maybe that's how everyone was expecting for her to be, to know how she should react to everything that got into her way, making her ready to take a turn when things changed. She smiled, looking at the troubled and yet serious team, even such a great thing like Robert had done couldn't really get them apart, they were friends, family, the people they didn't get to chose and yet they loved; because sometimes what comes unannounced and with no possibilities of exchanging, is the best thing you'll ever have.
"Almost there, mom, one more time!" and when Alec said that, she felt like it had been a century since she had met them, like she knew them since she was a little girl, she wasn't completely out of what had been happening for those months; well maybe it was because a part of their story was ending there, and a new one started. The part when, those three royal knuckleheads (and the baby) would attach terribly to her heart, and she knew… she'd never let go of them, even if she wanted to.
"God, he is coming out!" Isabelle realized; she took a towel in her hands.
"Here we go…" with the help of his sister, Alec took the baby out, and he didn't let out a deafening scream like most babies do, he cried almost quietly, and stopped at the moment that Izzy held him; carefully as if he was made of crystal, she looked at him as if she had seen light for the first time, so tiny and so beautiful, so delicate, unprotected… and even though he didn't know her yet, he smiled with his little eyes trying to discover his sister's face, it was as if he felt safe there, on her arms.
"Hey, baby brother…" she told him with teary eyes. The rest of them also smiled seeing her with the baby. "Welcome to the real world…" 'That I hope won't be horrible for you as it has been for us…' her thoughts said, but she didn't mind at all.
"Maxwell Joseph Lightwood Trueblood…" Alec said, remembering their picks for the name, the three of them had liked it. Iz gave they baby to her mother, and they all gathered there to see him giggle quietly.
"Max, it is then…" Jace said caressing his head softly, as if he could break from just seeing him. All of them had a nickname; he ought to have one too!
"Welcome, little cousin…" Clary reached out to take his little hand; Max took it without hesitating, like greeting her back. 'What were again the reasons to do what you must do…?' her mind recalled, after all the terrible stress she had felt since the Lightwoods left. Her eyes stared at everybody in the room, seeing the most wonderful and pure part of them, smiling as they played with the new little prince, she knew it before her thoughts told her.
'Oh right! Because you love them, all of them…' she smiled.
To be continued…
Dreamer.
Hello, everyone! So, here's another chapter and let me say that this is one of the most awaited ones for me! because, I love Max with all my heart, he's such a cutie! And the special relationship he shares with his siblings in the books was just wonderful for me (you can say how much I cried when he died) but here I got the opportunity to make him be born! XD so what did you think? And also, I don't mean any spoilers or anything, I intend to make you enjoy the Clace and Sizzy in the next, like 2 or maybe 3 chapters, but things will get a bit sad after that, don't hate me! XD I'll just ask you something, don't you think that there's still too many things undone, and mistakes and secrets to give our characters the beautiful life they deserve? Try not to suffer much, what am I saying even I'll cry! but still I'll make you like it, I promise! ;) So, tell me! How was it? There was a moment as I wrote the part when Izzy holds Max for the first time that I did sob a bit! So, I'll like you to tell me, which have been the parts of this fanfic that have gotten to your heart the most up until now! I'd love to know it because I really write with my heart in one hand (not sure if that's possible) but I try to give specific details about they way the guys feel or what are they thoughts so, I'd like to know if I'm good at it! XD Anyways, thank you for all your support and I'll be waiting for your comments! Bye!