They had walked to the southwestern edge of the field, weapons drawn. Even Ash had a knife wielded skillfully in each hand. They were of faerie design and beautiful, hilts wrapped in vines.
"Stay here, you three." Julian had said, taking a crossbow and shielding himself behind trees, hoping to be hidden from the knights' view. Jace and Emma were sneaking through the trees on opposite sides of him, spotting nothing and no one but pixies and nymphs. Emma thought for a moment that Ash's intel was wrong, or that he was lying. A spark of distrust started forming until a rustle in the distance alerted her of another presence. Immediately her senses honed in and she slipped into the shadows of the forest. Three Unseelie Knights emerged from the thick brush, the sigil of the broken crown clear on their leather armor. They were silent, surveying the area as something whizzed through the air past Emma's head and buried itself in one of the Knight's necks. Go. She thought, Julian's crossbow bolt signaling her and Jace to attack. She pushed off the tree, Cortana slicing through the area and connecting with the Knight in front of her. He screeched and pulled his own weapon out, swiping at her. She jumped back, seeing Jace taking out the Knight on his side, a quick swipe of the sword slicing the faerie's neck. The distraction was enough to get her knocked off her feet. She held Cortana out above her to block the blow of the Knight above; blood bloomed on the front of his chest as Julian pushed a knife into his back, trickling out of his mouth. Julian shoved him aside and she blew out a breath. He held out a hand to Emma and she took it gratefully, letting him pull her up.
"Are you alright? You got distracted." He asked, worry lacing his tone.
She nodded, "Yeah. It's just – that was too easy."
"And with the fae, it never is." Jace said, wiping his blade on the grass. "I have a bad feeling, we need to get back to the clearing."
The three of them emerged back into the clearing, Julian's heart dropping at the sight. The three boys were nowhere to be found. His voice was panicked. "Where did they go? Where are they?!"
"Jules, look." Emma whispered, a small pool of blood staining the grass.
No other words were needed; Jace, Emma, and Julian were sprinting up the hill and over the outcropping, following infrequent splashes of crimson. When they finally crested the hill, they saw six figures, but all Julian could focus on was her.
"Annabel?" Julian was pale, paler than Emma had ever seen him. He was watching the girl standing with a knife to Ty's throat. He was otherwise unharmed, but Ash was bleeding, a gruesome gash across his collarbone. The Seelie Queen was holding Ash by the throat, one of his 'trusted' Seelie scouts gripping an unconscious Kit.
"I see you two have met. It must be delightful reconnecting with old family, hmm?" The Queen was smirking, blood smeared from the corner of her eye to her chin. She tightened her grip on her son, a choking sound escaping him. "Unfortunately it seems my own family has turned against me, no? And yet you trusted my court to deceive me as you have." She looked now to the Seelie Scout whom Ash had trusted. A pang of pity went through Emma at Ash's expression, betrayal apparent in his features. So he was telling the truth. But just as all Shadowhunters are at one point, he was deceived by the Seelie Queen.
"Annabel, please. Please don't hurt him." Julian was pleading with her, tears welling in his eyes at the sight of a knife to Ty's throat. The world seemed to slow around Emma, feeling the panic in Julian's chest coil in her own. Without a second thought, she gripped one of her throwing knives, launching it at the woman holding Ty. It narrowly grazed Ty's skin and embedded itself in Annabel's shoulder. She recoiled and Ty dropped to his knees, gasping in relief as he scrambled for his own weapon. Annabel was panicking, looking to the Queen.
"The King. Protect me. He said he'd let me go – he'd let me be free." Her eyes were terrified as Julian approached her, sword gripped tight in his hand. Revenge was burning in his eyes as he took in the girl cowering.
The Queen snapped at her, "Shut your mouth, foolish girl!"
Emma was kneeling by Ty, helping him up as she looked to the Queen now, "You. You have been working with the King this entire time! You never intended to help."
"I intended to help, of course. Until the King offered to merge our courts. Rule together as King and Queen of the Faerie realm. Together we could put an end to righteous Shadowhunters all together." There was a glint of power in her eyes.
"He will kill you as soon as you've served your purpose. Don't be such a fool, mother." Ash choked out, his words coming in punctuated breaths.
Annabel was frantically looking between the Queen and Julian, "What about my freedom? You promised me you would set me free!"
"I did, dear child. The only way you will be free is in death once more. You were never meant to be brought back, and so there will be no peace for you but in death." Her words were almost empathetic. Annabel was staring at the Queen now, her mouth dropped open. She had stopped backing away from Julian, too afraid to watch him approach with his weapon raised.
"Wait, Julian don't – if she dies, the book is bound to no one. The King can use it, this is what he wants. He wants you to kill her." Emma realized, moving in front of her parabatai. His eyes did not look at her, they were trained on the cowering girl behind her.
"This is what I want. You killed my sister. You killed my Livvy!" He screamed, the energy of the curse pulsing through his veins. In an instant, Jace had moved to attack the Seelie Scout while his attention was on Annabel, sword going through his chest. He caught Kit against him, holding him up on his shoulder. The Seelie Queen's ferocious gaze went to Jace now.
"You DARE kill one of my Court?! What would the Accords say?"
Jace was fuming, "Don't mention the Accords to me. You have threatened the lives of countless Shadowhunters and threaten to wage war against us! The Accords do not apply to you, you have allied yourself against the Clave."
"Julian – Julian, please. Don't do this." Emma was pleading with him, begging him to look at her. There was so much chaos in this field, it sent her heart racing. She didn't dare look to Jace and Kit now. She placed her hands on Julian's face, pressing her forehead to his chest as she murmured, "Please."
He stopped, looking down at Emma in disbelief. As he finally tore his gaze from Annabel she let out a relieved sob. She was on the ground now, the Seelie Queen looking at her in disgust as she dropped her son. Ash fell to the ground, coughing until his lungs ached. She moved closer to Annabel, a pointed staff forming from the vines beneath her. "If the son of thorns will not kill you, I will do it myself. The King needs that book and he is growing tired of coddling you for it."
Before anyone had any time to react, the weapon in the Queen's hand descended on Annabel. It plunged into her stomach, anchoring her to the earth as blood pooled around her and her eyes once again faded. Emma let out a scream she didn't intend, Julian watching with a stony expression. Annabel's mouth was open, blood running from the corner of it. The Queen was looking at her, pride evident on her face. Annabel was dead, the Black Volume was no doubt in the King's hands. And now he had the power to use it. To Julian's surprise and horror, Ty had taken up his sword and was running towards the Queen. Take advantage of distraction in battle. Julian had told him in training, and he was doing just that. The sword lodged itself in the Queen's back, a screech sounding throughout the field. There was a cry in the forest – a cry from the forest. She whirled around to him, plunging a dagger into Ty's side. He fell to the ground with a gasp as his hands gripped his side, blood already staining his fingers.
"You think you can kill me, Shadowhunter? That is the last mistake you will have made." Emma had always feared the Seelie Queen, her easy deception setting her on edge. Her heartless beauty unsettling. But this, Emma had never seen her like this. Her expression was twisted in pain and anger. An anger that seemed to burn through her as she lifted her hand, knife poised. Before she could bring the weapon down, something shot through the air and struck her shoulder. The knife fell from her hand and clattered to the grass, burning green eyes looking at the culprit – her son. She pulled the short knife from her chest calmly, "You ought to have better aim. I thought I taught you better than that?"
Ash's face was hard, like it was carved out of stone as he watched her stumble and look down at the blood oozing out of the wound. It was green. "You did mother, you always told me a sharp blade should never be the weapon of choice," Realization dawned on her as she fell to her knees, "Poison will bring even the worst of nightmares to its knees."
She fell like a tree. The air around them seemed to chill; death tainting it. It seemed as if every living thing had hidden, no pixies or small creatures in sight. Even the flower buds closed in on themselves as the Queen of the Seelie Court's life drained away.
They were all in silence. Watching the red and green blood mix together and become one. The stillness was interrupted by Kit's stirring as he woke up. Jace knelt down to the ground, helping him sit. Julian, broken from his stupor, went immediately to his little brother.
"Ty! Ty, Tiberius look at me." He was pleading with him, gently cupping the back of Ty's head. Ty's breath was coming in heavy pants as he held his side, blood staining his clothes and skin. Julian immediately pulled out his stele, etching the iratze rune on his little brother's pale skin. It faded before the rune was even finished.
"Jules – You know, you kn – that won't work here." His breathing was shallow. Julian's hands were shaking but he tried again. The rune faded just as quickly as it was drawn.
Kit was sitting up now, watching Ty with worried blue eyes. "Ty?"
Jace had come over to Julian and Ty, inspecting the wound. He spoke to Julian in a calm voice, "Julian. Julian Blackthorn, look at me." He finally looked up, "We need to get him out of the Seelie Court. He needs an iratze."
"How. We can't portal out, Clary said so herself." Kit had crawled over now, taking Ty's bloody hand in his own and squeezing hard.
Jace considered the situation for a moment, the time dragging on for what seemed like forever, "I can take him to the road under the hill. Clary and I used it to escape last time, it can't be far from here." Julian looked stricken with fear, looking back to Ty as he brushed his hair back from his face.
"I'm coming with you." Kit said.
Jace opened his mouth to protest, but it was Ty that spoke, "No. No, Kit you stay here." He pulled Kit closer, whispering low for only him to hear, "Please, stay with Julian. Please bring my brother home with you. Can I trust you to do that?"
Kit hesitated, but nodded, "Okay. I promise." He pressed a kiss to Ty's forehead, it was beading with sweat. A sign that he was already losing a lot of blood.
Kit and Julian stepped back, Jace stooped down, "I'm going to pick you up now, is that okay?"
Ty nodded, squeezing his eyes shut against the pain as Jace lifted him up in his arms. His head lay on Jace's shoulder, the contact of a near-stranger not bothering him for once. His body was too cold to care, too exhausted. Jace looked back to the rest of them; Ash, Emma, Julian, and Kit staring after him.
"Go end this. I know you can." And with that, Jace was off, running as fast as he could without hurting the boy in his arms.
After he disappeared in the woods at the edge of the clearing, the sun was already peeking over the horizon. Julian took a deep breath; swallowing any tears that threatened him. This was not the time for tears. This was the time to find the King. To seek retribution for his family, for his friends, and for Shadowhunters and mundanes and the Downworld alike. The time of reckoning had come.