Alec spent the rest of his day with his head down, walking through the markets, trying to buy food without being noticed by Jonathon and his friends, or Maureen, or by any other person wanting to ruin Alec's day even more. He bought other things for Luke, knowing that there would always be something that he would forget. Just the odd things, Luke always liked making clockwork things so Alec made sure to buy little cogs and screws. And since Luke had promised to get Alec a rose, he decided to buy Luke a whole new set of tools. He knew that his old ones were getting disgusting and rusty so he thought that new ones would make Luke feel better since Jocelyn still hadn't returned yet.
He actually managed to get into his house with no disturbances and started unpacking his purchases, storing the food away, trying his best to wrap up Luke's present nicely. Just as he had finished and he grabbed his book, someone from outside shouted Alec's name.
He groaned and opened the window.
"Alec Lightwood is not available right now!" He yelled.
"It's Alaric! He's come back by himself!" Someone shouted back.
Alec stiffened. By himself? Where was Luke, what had happened? Alec gathered his thoughts and ran outside towards the voice.
Ragnor was standing next to Alaric, trying to get it to stop bucking and whinnying. Alec stroked Alaric's back and shushed him softly until he stopped. Ragnor looked at Alec in awe. He'd been trying to calm Alaric for ten minutes before Alec got out.
"Where is he? Where's Luke?" Alec asked frantically.
"I'm sorry, I don't know." Ragnor said helplessly. "He just stormed in by himself."
Alec's throat tightened and he tried to steady his breathing.
"I'll be right back." He said holding a finger up to Ragnor.
He stormed inside and grabbed his warmest coat. He began to pack a bag but he thought it was just extra weight that he wouldn't need. He looked around a final time before locking the door behind him and going back to Ragnor and Alaric. As he started to climb on top Ragnor yelled,
"What on earth do you think you're doing?!"
"I'm saving Luke." Alec said firmly. "Don't worry Ragnor, I'll be back soon."
Alec whipped the reigns and stared off, but not before being stopped by Maureen, riding Elliot.
"And where do you think you're going sweetie?" She asked in a sickly sweet tone.
"To save Luke, now get out of my way."
He set Alaric off on a canter and rode away ignoring Maureen and the rest of the towns protests.
He spurred on through the woods, letting Alaric take the lead as he went down paths that he obviously recognised from his journeys with Luke. Alec didn't even notice when snow started to fall. He was too concentrated on getting to wherever Luke was, trusting Alaric completely.
They eventually arrived at a castle and there Alec felt tears on his cheeks that he didn't even notice had been shed. He furiously wiped at his cheeks and jumped off Alaric. He looked around at his surrounds and for a second wondered if Alaric had just gone crazy and led him to a place he'd never been to before.
Then he saw a light from one of the windows of the castle. It wasn't uninhabited. Someone lived there, and it was unlikely that Alaric had taken him there on a random urge.
"Go back to town Alaric." He whispered, hitting the horse on his side. Alaric left at lightning speed and before Alec knew it, he was gone.
Alec finally noticed that there was snow and he looked up at the sky and saw the flakes called strongly. He pulled the hood over his head and surged through the blizzard towards the castle entrance. He half expected the large wooden doors to be locked, but when he pushed on them, they swung open. He nervously took a step in and looked around.
The main entrance hall was rather grand. The ceilings were tall and almost every wall had some kind of intricate gold patterns. It was lowly lit by candles and almost every piece of furniture looked outstandingly delicate and beautiful. Alec was rather taken aback by the gorgeousness of it all.
He walked further into the castle and felt it suddenly appropriate to take off his coat. He put it on a coat rack beside him. He could've sworn he heard a huff of breath but when he looked around he saw no one.
Alec shrugged it off, classing it as his imagination. But as he walked further through, he thought he heard more and more voices, just faint whispers in the dark, yet still, no people were present.
"I'm going crazy." Alec muttered to himself.
"Well I wouldn't say that!"
***
"I can't believe it. I actually can't believe it!"
Isabelle paced back and forth on the chest of draws. She paced so much that every minute or so her candles would blow out. She was constantly having to relight them.
"Of all the people that could come here and Magnus could capture, it's Luke!" Isabelle shouted throwing her arms in the air. She groaned as her candle blew out again.
"Izzy, if you're annoyed they keep blowing out, then stop pacing!" Jace sighed.
"You are acting totally unfazed Jace, how?!" Izzy demanded, leaping over to where Jace was stood.
"I'm not unfazed Iz, I just know there's nothing I can do about it. Magnus has Luke, and we're not exactly able to break him out." Jace looked down at the floor. "How were you planning for us to get down from here? Do you want me to break a spring?"
Izzy ignored Jace's question and just sat down on the edge, swinging her legs as she tried to put her head in her hands.
"Damn candles!" She shouted after failing to do so multiple times. "Can't I just wallow dramatically with my head in my hands!?"
"You don't have any hands Iz." Jace stood next to her.
"Maybe this is just a dream!" Izzy exclaimed, ignoring Jace once more.
"I saw it too." Jace noted.
"There have been cases of people sharing dreams." Izzy looked up at Jace indignantly.
"I saw it as well. I think three people sharing the same dream is a bit far fetched Izzy." Clary said as she came in atop her tea trolley.
"What do you know, you're just a tea pot." Izzy retorted lamely.
"And you're just a candelabra." Clary huffed.
"Yes we get it girls, we're furniture." Jace sighed.
Izzy stood up and leapt down from the chest of drawers, landing deftly on the floor. Jace wobbled over to Clary's tea trolley and jumped off the chest of drawers, landing safely on a tea towel. Clary smiled sadly at Jace. She wanted nothing more than to be able to give him a sweet kiss on the cheek.
Izzy jumped up onto a chair and leaned back into it. Clary, on her trolley, wheeled over to her and looked down at her.
"I know it's hard Izzy. I miss him too. He's dating my mom, he's like my dad."
"He's like ours too." Izzy said, gesturing between herself and Jace. "After mom and dad left suddenly. He and your mom was so great for taking us in."
"Speaking of, Clary, where's Max?" Jace asked.
"He's in the kitchen. Taking a nap."
"Sweet Maxy." Izzy smiled to herself. "I've missed his hugs."
"We all have. Thanks for taking care of him so well Clary." Jace said softly.
"Of course. Us kitchen equipment got to stick together." She said sweetly.
"I miss Alec too." Izzy sniffed. Just thinking about Alec by himself almost brought her to tears.
"We'll see him soon Iz. Someone will break the spell." Jace consoled her.
"He's our big brother. And he doesn't even remember us." She started sobbing quietly.
All of a sudden, disturbing their sadness, a neigh sounded loudly. They all perked up and immediately rushed to their usual places. It would look rather strange if someone were to enter and they saw a candelabra crying on a chair with a teapot and a mantle clock surrounding it. Clary quickly rushed off the the kitchen and Jace and Izzy stood still again on the chest of drawers.
The door opened up slowly and a young man entered in. Izzy opened her eyes and looked at the boy closely. He had a large coat on so she couldn't make him out very well but the coat looked somewhat familiar to her.
"Pssst!" She hissed at Jace. "Doesn't that coat look familiar?"
"Shhh!"
Izzy rolled her eyes and went back to being still. She carried on watching the boy though. He was way too interesting to ignore.
The boy finally removed his coat, after looking around the entrance hall for a few minutes. He hung it on the coat hook and Izzy had to hold in a laugh aa Jem huffed in annoyance at the sudden weight added. Izzy finally had a chance to get a closer look at the boy.
Dark hair, blue eyes... pale skin... It was all too familiar to her. And Jace it seemed. The boy turned and Izzy got a full look at his face. She gasped, not being able to hold it in. She turned her head to Jace who wore the same expression.
"It's Alec!" She whispered. "Alec! Our brother! He's here in the castle!"
"I know! Shhh!"
Izzy thought for a second, then the candle atop her head suddenly lit up extremely bright.
"What if he is the one!" Izzy exclaimed in a hushed voice. "The one who can break the spell!"
Jace hummed in doubt, looked at her with a raised eyebrow.
"Come on Jace! Dark hair, blue eyes! The Prince loves that combination! And you know he likes boys as well as girls!"
Jace was about to reply when she jumped down from the chest of drawers and hurried towards Alec.
"Izzy wait!" Jace hissed in vain.
"I'm going crazy." Alec muttered to himself.
"Well I wouldn't say that!"