At the beginning of the scandal was when everyone left their separate ways, the Lightwoods never turned to meet neither Jace nor Clary's perplexed stares; they just went away, leaving an awful lot of desperate questions in the air there, to crush those looking for answers under the density of the whole situation. As well as it could turn out, the King rushed to his office , being rather ridiculously followed by all of his family, except for his own mother who locked herself inside her chambers, cursing left and right and being only heard by the ones behind him. The palace was a complete mess on the insides and outsides that was why the best option was leaving it all there to be discussed until they could think straight and be prudent enough to reply to such happening.
"The only thing missing, seems that everyone here has gone mad and forgotten I am the King! Starting with you three!" So this was one of the days when Stephen rarely yelled enraged.
"And how come is this, our fault? It's your brother who has lost all of his decadent common sense! You think any of us had a clue of what was he trying to do?" Jace stood more for him and Clary that for his mother, as Celine just frowned and looked away from them both.
"You must've! As you adore your two precious cousins! I bet you were the brilliant mind behind the plan; always going off on tangents, typical of you, Jonathan!" and it was also one of those times when parents are so angry that they just don't seem to think before they speak.
"I also should've guessed you'd say something like this! As every single stupid tragedy happening here is my fault! Haven't you thought of blaming yourself even a bit, majesty? Hail the great king who cannot even know his own family as they truly are! Like father like son, uh?" and well, why would he have to keep his gaze down and nod if his father was becoming a grenade? Clary wasn't sure if any of them was solving anything or just making the problem grow. Still her mouth wasn't able to let out nothing close to a word.
"Don't you dare compare yourself to me! At least you could make your childish actions a bit useful and tell me the Lightwoods were traitors! Now it's too late! And if one of us falls the rest comes down too! And you're the center of it! I damn the day when you were proclaimed Crown Prince, I damn it!" the next thing they saw was that he threw everything away from his desk , finally kissing goodbye all of his sanity.
"Damn yourself also, then! For being such a great ruler and relative! How could I have known?! Being aware of all the bullshit going on around here is your one and only motherfucking job! Don't try to throw stones at me, I'm just a puppet for you as Isabelle, Maryse and Alec are for Robert! Why do I have to be the one who faces the consequences of your own irresponsibility? "
"Oh, so now you're innocent? Let's bring Raziel to make you all saints in that case! Talking to me about responsibility! Who's the one who has to cover up all of your missteps, your mother?! And talking about so, we should begin polishing the crown for Isabelle as you have absolutely no chance of being chosen as king!"
"That's one more reason to stand up tall against them…" was the first thing Celine had said in the whole morning.
"This is simply foolish, mother! This is not a bloody battlefield, for heaven's sake! I'm telling you, Isabelle's just the pretty face hiding the devil behind! She has nothing to deal with it, this whole made up competition is a distraction for us to weaken our attention in important matters so Robert can take the crown away from your hands!" Jace stood firm for them, how could they try to make him believe that the only two people he had ever had were trying to draw him to hell?
"To that, I agree, Jonathan… Alexander and Isabelle have always had clear that you'd be the King, ever since you grandfather stated it, and they never showed signs of wanting the opposite, none of them… and looking at it closely, it should've been Alexander who was chosen as candidate to heir, as he's the oldest and the only male Prince besides you, with Isabelle it'll be much harder to get to make her Queen… it's too much of a process to follow, and none of the kids would've ever imagined on going through it, specially recognizing that being children of the diseased king's bastard son they should have no right of claiming anything; still that's not how things work nowadays, and Robert took advantage of that… he was just waiting, we cannot know why… But what we do know, is that distraction or not, they're taking it seriously and if he had enough courage to suggest something like this, he surely have enough courage to carry it out..." Shocked as they were, Celine was right, it was the only logic to find in that whole commotion.
"You have no idea of all that he can do, majesty…" agreed Clary, tightening her grip on her husband's arm. Revealing that Robert also used to cheat on his wife was pointless.
"We'll have to start figuring out then…" Stephen said as final verdict, until…
"And what makes you think I want to?" those words, as absurd it may sound, were the most rebellious that Clary had ever heard coming out of Jace's mouth… all of the rest, all of the fighting and complaining, were nothing in comparison to what he had said.
"Jonathan…" his mother whispered.
"As you said, it's just typical of me to run away, fine! Now I'm choosing to give up, to be the selfish, idiot and troublesome punk that a very ill and mindless king thought of making Crown Prince, if you're going to protest about me trying to be myself here you have enough argumentation to hate me as much as you please! Tell Izzy I wish her the best, she'll be the greatest monarch Idris will ever have!" Jace held Clary by the waist and took both of them out of the office, almost against her will. "I'm not turning my back on them, I'll find a way of freeing them from the monster they unfortunately must call father and neither will I let you pull the strings on me, ever again! It's time for you "mature adults" to understand we're no chess pieces, this is our life! And only we will choose what to do about it or not!"
"Mr. Lewis, this is the last warning. You cannot come in here without the permission of their highnesses…" it hadn't been the best opportunity for Simon to try and talk with Isabelle, but after what her father announced, there was a lot to be said and couldn't wait.
"Tell Princess Isabelle it's important, if they have so much nerve to put everyone in shame then they should be brave enough to face it too" of course Isabelle was at the other side of the gate, breathing heavily as she tried to disguise her tears, since the assembly had ended, she hadn't been able to move, to see anyone, to speak a word; Still Simon was rightly demanding something that any person of the public would've asked if they had had the chance to.
"Let him in…" Izzy said as loud as she could; ready to definitely lose the fight, giving up all of she trusted she was for the sake of doing right for once.
"Your father won't like it, majesty…" the guard reminded her, as if she didn't know.
"He owes me much… everything actually" was her last comment before she saw him entering, only a shade of the silly boy who had loved her once, in that precise moment Simon wasn't himself anymore, he was the physical representation of the only feeling caught in the whole atmosphere of Alicante: betrayal.
"You know what? All of my life, I tried to convince myself that I wasn't a fool, blinded by trusting and loving people far too quickly and easily, I must add… I told myself that there was always a chance of something amazing and real would happen, that if I just waited patiently and showed myself as I truly am would be enough; that someday all the struggle and pending would have a meaning, that I wasn't losing my time! Lucky me, look how good it turned out, first my best friend… I admit it was a mistake, fine I'll live with it… What about you? I cherished you, Isabelle; I wanted to be the one who could peel off those layers of fake smiles and get to see that beautiful girl's wounded heart, willing to heal it, ready to let her know she not only had a lover but a friend, someone she could really on as she had to be who she wasn't her entire life. And then you come up with this! Tell me how I cannot feel exhausted, or confused! But most of all, tell me how can I not feel that you're nothing more than a liar? After all of your chit chat of wishing you could stop pretending, to let go of that silly mask you wear for once without being afraid of who'd turn out mad or disappointed. Where did all that go? Where did MY Isabelle go?" at least she tried, she tried with all of her strength, but she had been stabbed already and Simon's words were just the final blow, decisively piercing from her skin to muscle, past her bones and right into her bleeding heart, he finished breaking it, ripping it, turning it into remains of whom she had been, or desired she could be.
"I tried to tell you… that's how this place works…" there goes another piece of Isabelle Lightwood, as they had been taught, Alec, Jace or her never cried in front of strangers, of those who had never seen their tears before, they were supposed to be models of stronghold and bravery; now they were nothing.
"Well, I'm not part of this show, Isabelle! If it would end like this why did you ever look for me in the first place? Why would you want to play with me? You could have any other man in the world, you know?" he chuckled sarcastically, clearly hurt "How stupid from me, of course you know! It just had to be me who'd fulfill her highnesses' whims! You couldn't resist the chance of getting to eat such a loving and foolish heart, you're right… why am I blaming you? You're nothing but a heartbreaker, I should've known…"
"I… it is not how you think it is… but there are worse things that could happen, Simon" how much more powerless, faint would she turn into?
"What could be worse than this?! Tell me! Speak once for all, Isabelle! There will be no chance after this, what's going on that's so horrible for you to be so heartless?" he gripped her shoulders all of the pressure he applied equal to the pain he felt on the inside.
"You can't imagine… how awful it is to be me… not only for the reasons you believe; you think I'm proud of this? I've never been more disgusted of myself! But I have to… and that's something I hope you never comprehend…" she caressed his cheek, expecting he'd get even just a clue from touch, all of the things she didn't dare to say out loud.
"You're talking in riddles, for Raziel's sake! Stop it! I can help you, Izzy, we can get through this; there's nothing in this world that can't be solved, but you have to tell me, I promise on my mother and sister's names, I swear, I'll take it to the grave; but I cannot handle it anymore… the truth, as simple as that, it's all that I ask for…" another stroke, she couldn't bear looking into his eyes, if he couldn't handle it… she had already given in.
"That would condemn you, you say you don't want to be dragged by my idiocy, well then don't… Just trust me, I have to go through this; I'll explain when I can, but meanwhile I… need you to keep the faith…" her last plea, one step towards the cliff or away from it.
"No…" and she fell, a spasm building up on her chest blurred her view, tuning the air into a toxic gas and her cries into acid. Sadness flowing along with the fluid trough her bloodstream, it was too much. "I'm not the wildcard, Isabelle; it's all or nothing… You chose nothing, now leave me alone…" his hands retreated from her skin, taking all of the warmth and leaving ice cold instead, freezing her. And he walked to the door, wiping the last liquid fragments of mercy from his face, and turning one last time to look at someone already dead. "I never want to see you again, that if this "you" we intended to defend so much exists…"
She couldn't do more than falling to her knees, staring at the ground, and counting each one of the teardrops that feel to the bright tile. Repeating again and again what Simon had said and whished with all of her heart would come true, it had to… 'Someday all the struggle and pending will have a meaning'
"She's not answering the phone…" Jocelyn wasn't exactly worried about her daughter's safety, in those kind of occasions was when the secret service worked better, she was rather stunned about what they had witnessed on TV; Clary wouldn't be ok for sure, and she would comfort her while trying to get some information. Anything that told them if they were about to lose the fight or not.
"I told you she wouldn't, it must be like World War III in the palace…" answered her son with his head between his hands.
"And outside of it as well, turn off that freaking television, Jonathan…" added his stepfather, the environment inside the house of the Fairchild's was uncomfortably dense as well. Since their lives had been attached to the Royal Family's it had been like that, a misstep of the royals meant an equal disgrace for them, not for the reasons they should have been affected though.
"This has your father's name written all over it… It won't be long before we get caught…" she spoke out loud what everyone was thinking.
"But we had nothing to deal with it! Valentine's delirious and reckless doing were never something we stuck our hands in; you had no idea and we both were children! It'll be only stupid and illogical from them to blame us!" that was something that all of the family had constantly repeated to themselves, trying to create a fake state of peace inside their broken yet hopeful home, hiding all of the reasons and why's to the person being the center of it and was just starting to open her eyes; of course, being the youngest one you never get to know anything until it's too late.
"You know why we're all getting punished, Jonathan; what your father planned was so unheard that the king decided to track down anyone who might have had contact with him, and they never forget… I don't want to imagine how much worse it will get once they find out we lied…" but now she actually was forced to think about her daughter; those innocent bright green eyes, her careless smile and understanding expression, all of the times she'd told her that everything was fine, that they didn't need Valentine, that when he left all of their problems walked through the door with him. If only she'd told her, if only she'd been brave enough of speaking before she rushed into a marriage that would only bring trouble, if there had been another way…
"What do you think will happen to her?" Jonathan's voice projected more rage than anguish.
"I don't know… we can only hope we have time to explain before someone else discovers it and puts her in evidence…" Luke, on the other hand, sounded as calm as always, saving all the positivism possible; cracking his head in search of all of the prospects, looking like a mere drizzle on the inside, but a storm on the innards.
"And we'll drown while that son of a bitch enjoys his freedom after cursing us…" Jonathan provided a strong punch to the coffee table and stood up from the chair looking through the window; Clary had taught him to do that when he was very angry, glaring at the sky somehow brought peace to him, even more if he thought of his sister.
"Don't say such things…" and he was surprised that his mother would think about manners in a moment like that.
"Don't start with me, mother! You may have loved him and everything but he never did the same with you… he just used all of us to get what he wanted and ran away when he didn't need us anymore, making us guilty of his foolishness… He ruined our lives and you still expect me to respect him? And you still call him our father…as if he ever cared about us, about anything! He lied to you, betrayed Luke, sold Clary and almost killed my grandfather! That man deserves nothing but hatred!" Jocelyn saw as his son's eyes became weary, but she knew he wouldn't cry… something he unfortunately inherited from Valentine himself.
"I'm suggesting nothing, Jonathan, but mourning over spilled milk won't get us anywhere now…" she talked to herself too, what was done was done; and they couldn't do anything about it, they could have before, before all of that sudden change; but it had happened, and the consequences would happen as well, now they had to look for a way to modify those, so they weren't so terrible.
"We won't get anywhere at any rate… once the Herondales have us in their claws we won't escape…And only Raziel know what they could do, even when they are to blame too" he was right, yes, but those at the top of the pyramid had all in their power to crush those at the bottom, and there was no way of going up, only to keep falling. Moreover, Clary would fall hardest…
"Everyone, bow to her future majesty, Queen Isabelle Sophia Lightwood! "it had been a long time since Izzy had seen her father so joyful, and it made her sick, it disgusted her; what a way of being happy, trashing all of their sanity and pride for the sake of that awful and hypocrite smile he was so satisfied of displaying.
"Are you…?" her mother was about to ask, desperate as now two of her children were crying, Max might've been a baby but he knew when something wasn't right; but seeing her so broken, it was all the reply she needed from her. Alec discretely ran to hold her in his arms.
"It'll be ok, Iz… you'll see, we'll get through this…" he whispered, plucking more tears from her sore eyes, crying so much must've hurt in some kind of way, but all that Isabelle felt was emptiness.
"The hardest part is done, my precious doll; now we only need to make sure that all of Idris sees you as the most accurate heir for the throne, we'll have to perform little changes, actually you've just taken care of one I was about to point out. Nice job, and as your family… we must face some modifications… Any suggestions, Alexander? Your sister has given us a very good example of what has to be done" he was so nastily pleased about something Alec couldn't understand at that precise second.
"I believe it's you who has the last word, father…" all of their lives resumed into one simple sentence.
"Well said… guards, enter please…" Robert moved to the couch, as if he were a viewer of the delicious drama that was about to take part. The sound of the gates opening went through their ears and sent chills down their spines, Alec's heart almost stopped when he recognized a voice in between the complains of those entering their little piece of living hell. It was his sister who bravely dared to look behind.
"By Raziel, no…" she confirmed his fears.
"Mister Bane… would it be of some use for you to try and explain yourself? Or should we go straight into what we know it's going to happen?" so shameless, so unhuman; was that his way of showing care towards them?
"It's not like you think, highness…" the thing was, there was no excuse.
"Father, Magnus has nothing to deal with this, he serves the Herondales, you have no power over him…" Alec exploited their only resource far too soon, only to learn his attempt would end up fruitless.
"I have power over anyone who tries to corrupt my son! What was this exactly, Alexander? An experiment? A child's play? A rebellious act? Because you must admit it was too childish and ridiculous from you…" he chuckled, starting a fire on his kid's chest.
"It was not…" he answered firmly "And that isn't your concern… if you wish, I won't see him again; torture me all that you want, punish me for whatever you think I did wrong, call me crazy or sick, send me to an asylum so I can be fixed… whatever you want! I don't care! As long as you don't touch him…"
"Alec, don't…" Magnus, who in other situation would have been touched by those words, now feared for his boyfriend more than he had ever done.
"Oh, son… I'll make sure you don't see him again, and do not worry, my child, a slap from reality will be enough medicine for you to cure that monstrosity that makes you believe this… relationship… can be considered love…" he said sickened.
"Oh, Alec… why didn't you say anything?" added his mother, as kind and protective as always.
"Because I knew he would stick his nose in it!" he replied enraged.
"That's how you call it? Me being so worried about my son's illness and trying to help, that's what you get when they grow up and think they know everything… ingratitude, it's a little unfair, don't you think?"
"What do you know about justice?! Fine, it happened! It won't ever again, it doesn't affect you, let go of it! Why do you have to recent everything so much?!" Alec's heart was being torn, turned and burnt into a pile of despair and agony.
"Because everything in here is wrong! And it has to be corrected, whether you like it or not! Your sister's now a highly important face in society! If anyone gets to find out her brother is a sick and sassy jerk we'll lose all we've worked so hard on getting! I'm about to make history in this rotten nation and none of your whines or worthless protest will stop me! None of you! And if you even think you can compete with me, you'll suffer much worse sentences that the ones I have planned for those nasty kids your call your family! Have I made myself clear?" he finished them, in less than a second, all of their being had been shattered to nothing more than dust ready to be blown away for the slightest presumption.
"Perfect, then… Mr. Bane, you're officially removed of your charge and banned from approaching the Prince or the palace or you'll be face charges of sexual assault against a younger member of the royal family; so you better keep your mouth shut, and your hands where they belong… Take him out now!" Robert turned and started walking away from them.
"We deserve this…" Isabelle said to her mother, as Alec rushed to the gates trying to stop the guards hopelessly.
"What are you saying?" she reacted frightened, holding her weak daughter.
"We're children of the devil itself…"
As a tragedy took place in one said of the palace, two fugitives ran away from one that had just ended on the other side of it.
"You were kidding, right? Tell me you were…"Clary let go of her husband's hand in the middle of the run to who knows where; Jace stood there, stunned, as if he didn't remembered what he was doing until that moment when she moved away from him.
"I… have absolutely no idea…" he ran a hand through his already straightened hair, staring; looking like he found hard to breath normally.
"So you'll let her carry that kind of weight, really? You're going to let him win and give up, is that it?" she perfectly knew it wasn't, saying something like that was pointless, but she needed to get something out of her system. The world she had begun to accept and acknowledge was cracking under her feet, and she needed an answer to stop it from breaking apart, if Jace decided it was time for them to take a step back... it would shatter entirely.
"No it's not! But what can I do? Throw Isabelle to the crocodiles; turn my back on them, ending what they selfishly started?! In my life I've only had one certainty… and that was that I didn't want to be like them! I didn't want to lie, or saw the floor of those who are my family form a meaningless crown! Let's face it, the monarchy is just an ornament of the country… it's worth nothing and yet they try to kill one another for it, but I promised myself I never would! What my grandfather chose… Heaven knows that man made a whole lot of mistakes…" he showed a painful smile, a bittersweet memory, balancing in between the man Jace had loved and the things he had done.
"But you said that she was only a toy for Robert, neither can we let him get what he wants…" she repeated the obvious Clary might have been crowned as Princess, but it that specific moment, for the first time in almost a year, she realized… she knew nothing, of the palace, of its people, of politics, of loyalty, of reality… and she had proclaimed to own the truth, when not even those in the center of it did…
"Welcome to my world… We have to get him, we have to tell everyone what he has been doing since he came back to the palace… but without enough evidence, I'll become the criminal… If only I could burst those motherfucking gates open!" and almost instantly, Jace's wish was granted; loud exclamations and a terrible noise were a clue for them to approach to the source of the commotion. Magnus was being taken, or almost dragged out of the palace by the Lightwoods' guards, and Alec followed them close and rapidly, demanding. Jace, without wondering why or how, stood in front of them immediately.
"Excuse me, gentlemen… Can I ask what's the cause of this hustle?" for him, who normally talked to the guards more calmly and sort of kindly, he seemed authoritarian this time; somehow ironic, if Jace had witnessed the scene Robert has created.
"Mr. Bane has been accused of sexual assault by his highness Prince Robert, he orders for him to be dismissed as soon as possible…" explain one of the servants. The blond became puzzled, and searched for some logic on his cousin's eyes
"How did he…?" he vocalized. Alec raised his elbows, swallowing the tears he knew would be his sings of being defeated.
"I'm sorry, but Mr. Bane is my assistant and he cannot be removed unless I say so… I'll talk to their majesties if needed in his defense…" Clary stood in the way, political and monarchic issues were a thing, but this was just becoming personal.
"It was Prince Robert final position and he won't be opened to any sort of negotiation… remember, highness, that now you're not the only one who can move pieces on her favor…" Clary snorted, as if she had ever done so.
"How dare you speak to the Crown Princess like that? She's made an order and it's your duty to fulfill it" Jace pointed out, as if that could've changed something.
"I'm sorry, my lord, but the only rules we are to follow, since his announcement, is Prince Robert's" said the other guard.
"It's useless, highnesses, and trust me… it's better if you stay out of this, you have much more important things to take care of, I'll be fine… I can take care of myself, but there are so many others to be saved yet…" expressed Magnus.
"And what's exactly your part to take in this matter? No! You're my friend and I won't let them get you involved! Let go of him!" Clary had never attempted such empowerment, but she was getting tired of all the shamelessness and cruelty he thought he could apply.
"Would you rather be the one facing the problem with the Prince's father, princess? Listen to "your friend", its better if you focus your attention for once into what you must and let things go as they have to…"
"Alec?" Jace asked, as it was his cousin's the opinion that most counted. He walked to Magnus and stood in front of him, his boyfriend smiled.
"You've always been like this, Alexander, reckless, foolish, with absolutely no sense of prudence… I don't mean to say I told you so…"
"I don't care… It was worth it, I promise I'll get you back even if it's the last thing I ever do…" he kissed his forehead, forcing a tear to run down Clary's cheek. "I swear on the angel or whatever you chose to believe in…"
"I believe in you, love… Don't forget it, I know who you are, I know what you can do… take care of yourselves…" Alec couldn't do more but to sigh and go back to the place where he desired he never had to enter again.
"You don't have to do this, my grandmother… maybe she can help us…" Jace tried, he always tried, he couldn't keep up with the idea of giving up, even if he said so.
"No, I'll only become an obstacle for you, highness… You have much to think about and to do…" the guards pushed him into walking. "You know what to do, now do it! They are who they are, but you don't have to be like them; don't let them end you, I trust you!" those were the last words Clary would hear from her friend in a long time…
"He's right…" were hers.
"I have to be King, I must be…" was the verdict, not exactly because they wanted to but because there was no other choice…
"I know this may sound stupid, but we must get points in your favor; make you a profile, turn you into the best of both… we have to found a way of making you win without bringing Izzy to the table… We have to do something no one before you has ever achieved before" his wife said, going from thought to thought inside her aching and exhausted mind.
"What do you think could work?" and as he spoke the last word, an idea shone brightly, blinding.
"To expose the one and only bigger threat for the Herondales apart from Robert Lightwood… We have to unmask VM"
To be continued…
Dreamer.
Hello, everyone! So this was another bite of my fangirl poison, hehe, just kidding! I hope you enjoyed it, or maybe not so much! (I cried, people! Writing is hard as well, it's painful! XD) And talking about poison, how many of you have been watching Shadowhunters? I swear on the angel's sake, I tried! But the second episode was just a rotund NO! I don't know what the heck have they turned TMI into, but it's… I dunno, it doesn't work for me; Katherine's too much of a flirty girl to be Clary, Dom's Jace is not sarcastic or somehow narcissistic enough for a first instance Jace, Isabelle is a little too slutty and less classy, Albert's Simon is… yeah, nice try, Matthew is the only one who's almost a perfect Alec! And Luke… a policeman? The institute looks more like a naval base, and Valentine's just a crazy old bag, and why's Dorothea so important? And what about Maureen being friends with Simon and Clary? The Sizzy showed up to soon, the Clace isn't being taken care of, and not to mention the fact that Clary's Valentine's baby; but well that might only be my opinion! Thanks for all of your support, bye! :3