Their Souls Entwined

A Date With The Queen

"Love. It has a terrible way of making us vulnerable, wouldn't you agree, Jace Herondale?" The Seelie Queen glared down at him from her dais as he walked in. It had only taken minutes from when Jace had left the institute for him to end up in the middle of the Court. The new Seelie Queen had closed off many of the old passageways and scattered the remaining ones in new places. An attempt to prevent any sort of break-in thought Jace. "Your highness, thank you for inviting me into your lovely home," Jace spoke carefully. The Fair Folk were a proud people and they did not take kindly to disrespect. The court was similar to the last time he had been in it, vines and flowers that hung from the trees and it still had that bluey-green tinge that reminded him of Clary's painting from the exhibit. The memory gave him a little warmth in the hostile atmosphere of the Court, which seemed to have amplified with the arrival of the new Queen. She had an ageless appearance, her face was smooth of all wrinkles, but from the way she carried herself, Jace would have guessed she had chosen to appear around the age of 18 or 19. "My my, you do live up to the rumours, don't you? Are you sure there isn't any Faerie in your blood?" She was smiling at him now, her eyes studying him from head to toe. Was she flirting with him? Jace wore the same serious expression, "Your Majesty, I understand you wanted to speak with me." A flash of rage flickered behind the Queen's eyes before being quickly replaced by a deadly calmness. "I did. You see, my predecessor sought power and that was her downfall. I, on the other hand, want peace for my people and it was for that reason I have decided to be more cooperative with the Clave, I am hoping you will pass that message on to your Consul for me." Her expression was unreadable now. "You sent a messenger to the consul asking to meet me, so you could have me deliver a message to her for you? Why all the effort of bringing me here? Why not just speak directly with the consul yourself?" He treaded carefully now. The Queen had risen from her throne and was smirking, she had long red hair and her piercing green eyes were fixed on him, "Where's the fun in that?" she said. This was what Jace had been waiting for, the trick, there was always a trick with the Seelie Queen.

Clary had gone to the Ops centre after Jace had left and met Izzy and Simon there. Izzy was explaining how even though the sensors were picking up demon activity, they had not been able to capture any footage, but Clary's mind was elsewhere. "Hello? Earth to Clary," Izzy was waving her hand in front of Clary's eyes, "Try not to stress about Jace, he will be fine," she said, but Clary couldn't help it, she hated the fact that he had gone alone. "If we are all ready, let's go." The girls grabbed their weapons and Simon, and walked out into the night. There was a chill in the air and Izzy shivered slightly as they neared the location, an abandoned high school just off Brooklyn Heights. Clary had wrapped a scarf around her neck, which she had taken from Jace's wardrobe, its faint smell of cedarwood, Jace's aftershave, was comforting to her. They stopped a little way from the entrance and gathered together, Izzy was wearing her ruby bracelet which was pulsating, indicating the presence of demons in the area. "We don't know how many there are so I think we should look around first, try to get a better idea of what we're dealing with before we storm the place." Izzy looked up at Simon, "We don't want what happened last time to happen again, do we?" She chuckled to herself as he blushed. "What happened last time?" Clary questioned to which Izzy's response was "Don't ask, he gets embarrassed. Clary, I forgot you don't have runes!" Clary had also forgotten; she got out her stele and was about to set it to her skin when she caught a glimpse of something in the corner of her eye. She turned as it rose in front of her, a shadow that lashed out sending her backwards, her body hit the ground hard and she felt a hot burning on her side. Looking up, she saw Izzy, her whip swishing out at the shadow, then through the shadow, then hitting the ground. What kind of demon was this?

The Queen had made her way down and toward Jace who stood still. Up close, he noticed how similar her height was to Clary's, she also had a similar frame, dainty and small, but her eyes bore no resemblance to Clary's, for the Queen's eyes were dark and threatening, whereas Clary's were kind and loving. "I have heard of your fascination with a certain redheaded Nephilim," Jace went tense all over. "Tell me Jace Herondale, what would you do to keep her safe?" Jace knew better, but he couldn't stop the fear that was rising with every breath, "Anything. I would do anything," and as soon as the words left his mouth, he knew he had lost. The Queen was beaming now, she reached forward to touch his chest but he stepped back which only made her laugh. It was an odd sort of laugh, piercing in every way a laugh shouldn't be, and it filled the Court. "As proof of my willingness to cooperate with the Clave, I will let you in on a little secret and ask for nothing in return." She had paused and the silence was killing him, he needed to know why she had mentioned Clary. Was she in danger? "A darkness is on the horizon, one that will bring death and devastation to the shadow world and rip us away from everything we hold dear." She wandered around the room now as if in a daze, before turning to face Jace and smirking, "As you know, the birds and the bees are all in my service, and they have told me of your little redheaded Nephilim's whereabouts tonight. If you leave now, you might still be able to save her." His legs almost gave way and the fear that was rising before now blazed through every fibre of his being. He dashed from the Court, not stopping to retrieve his stele and seraph blade, and as he ran through the passage he had come in through, the Seelie Queen's voice echoed in his ears, "Love. It has a terrible way of making us vulnerable."

The fight was over as quickly as it had begun. When Izzy had slashed out, the shadow had vanished instantly, leaving the three of them alone. Both Simon and Izzy ran to Clary who had begun to stagger to her feet. "Clary!" they cried, Izzy, taking out her stele as they got closer. "I'm okay, just a few cuts but otherwise I'm alright." Clary felt a sharp pain just above her hip but chose not to say anything, she didn't want them to worry and stress over her. "I can draw an Iratze if you want?" Izzy said, with a concerned look. "Honestly Iz, I'm okay, but thanks," she replied and smiled. The way home felt much longer than the way there, the pain at her side had dulled slightly but Clary's head was pounding. They had just reached the steps of the institute when they heard someone shout Clary's name from behind them. Clary turned and her legs collapsed underneath her, the last thing she saw was Jace, his golden eyes fixed on her before the world was engulfed in darkness.