Foreign Affairs ─ 𝐚. 𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐰𝐨𝐨𝐝²

two.

Leon furrowed his brows and his jaw dropped in disbelief as Aldertree sauntered past them during his 'revelation' about Jace.

"Jace is not a traitor," Alec argued with him.

"Point of fact," Aldertree stated, getting closer to Alec as he spoke. Leon was made at Alec, sure, but Aldertree getting close to him make Leon's fingers curl into fists. "Clary said Jace called to warn you about Valentine's trap, which got me thinking...Jace had multiple chances to kill Valentine, but chose to let him leave. Now, Valentine, Jace, and the Cup are missing. Do the math."

"There is no way we're gonna help you hunt Jace," Clary told him sternly.

Aldertree smirked at her, "And I'd never ask you to. You and your friends are prohibited from any further involvement for the hunt for Jace Wayland."

"What?" Isabelle asked him incredulously.

"The rest of you, back to work. I'm lifting the lockdown on the Institute, except for Clary and Jocelyn." Clary crossed her arms over her chest and glared at him, "Given your relationship to Valentine and Jace, I want to keep a close eye on you."

Aldertree started to walk away and Clary started after him. "This is ridiculous!"

"Clary — "

"No!" she snapped at her mother, turning to her. "We cannot just sit around. Okay, they're going to kill Jace. He's your son."

"I know you think you understand this world, but you don't."

"Dismissed!" Aldertree yelled at them.

Leon turned to Kai while the Lightwood siblings followed Aldertree.

"Let's spar."

Kai was already in loose clothes to train so they made their way to the training center. Leon grabbed his weapon from his belt and snapped it open.

Kai grabbed a wooden staff while Leon twirled his staff in his hands. He could tell that Leon was on edge and that was why he agreed to spar so early in the morning — when neither of them had gotten any sleep since Jace disappeared into the portal with Valentine.

Hopefully, sparring will get Leon to open up.

Kai swung his staff down at Leon and the latter deflected it with his own staff. Leon used his bow-staff to shove Kai backwards before he swung it across toward Kai's head.

Kai ducked and he shoved the flat end of his staff into Leon's stomach with a quick jab. Leon grunted, coughing as he stumbled back.

When he regained himself, he spun around the bow-staff and held it in both hands. They threw the staffs back and forth, the wood and the steel staffs clinging together with each hit.

"Wanna tell me what's on your mind?"

Leon narrowed his eyes and gritted his teeth. He swiped the staff at Kai's legs and succeeded in knocking Kai to the ground. He pointed the end of his staff at Kai's face and glared down at him.

"Nothing's on my mind. I'm fine."

Kai rolled his eyes and grabbed his staff. He shoved it between Leon's feet and knocked him to the ground. When Leon was on the ground, Kai grabbed his bow-staff from his hands and tossed it to the ground.

"Yes, there is. You only want to train like this when you're bothered by something. So, talk."

Leon kicked his legs up and he caught Kai's arm between his legs. His hand grabbed Kai's wrist as the latter dropped his staff. Then, Leon twisted his body weight to fling Kai back to the ground, this time to his stomach.