James dove over the wall and rolled down the hill, landing on his back beside Will and swearing all the while.

"Are you okay?" Will asked, nearly shouting to be heard over the commotion.

James had one hand pressed firmly to his side, blood staining his tunics and hand. "If one more person shoots a crossbow at me," he yelled back, forcing himself into a standing position, "I'm going to have them beheaded. Damned uncivilized weapon."

Will rolled his eyes and offered a hand, pulling him into the thicket of trees on the edge of the castle grounds.

"Why exactly are they shooting at you? What did you do?"

Jem leaned over, bracing his hands on his knees and catching his breath. "I haven't a clue, honestly. I cannot seem to recall any major decisions recently that would lead to a revolt."

"Come on, we must get you to safety before they find us," Will said quietly, looking around hurriedly. "Surely there must be somewhere..."

"This way," Jem gasped, forcing himself upright and keeping one hand firmly against his side. "Before I bleed out on the ground."

They crept through the wooded thicket, listening to the increasingly distant sounds of chaos and bloodshed and following the small stream with silent footsteps. After perhaps ten minutes had passed, Jem bit back a groan of pain and leaned against a tree. "Will... a moment, if you please..."

Concerned, Will went to his side. "We have to get you to a doctor, James, quickly."

Jem waved him off. "No, no need for that. There is a safe house on the other side of this hill, built for emergency situations and known only to the royal family." His lips quirked in a strange, sad smile. "At the moment, only me. It's well hidden and no one else knows of its existence. Whoever was after me will think I either escaped or died in the attempt. Meanwhile, we can rest and figure out what exactly is going on."

"I still think you need a doctor. James, you've been shot!"

"'Tis but a flesh wound," Jem said with an airy wave of his hand. "I have tremendous faith in your abilities, love. I think I am alright to continue now, the safe house is just up ahead."

They climbed the next hill, one of Will's arms carefully around Jem to help keep him upright, and Will found himself looking down into an empty valley.

Perhaps the blood loss had tampered with Jem's sense of direction?

"James... there doesn't seem to be anything here," he said gently, resting his hand on Jem's hip and fighting a smile when he felt the warm press of a body against his.

"Because you don't know where to look," Jem replied, considerably less flippant than he had been last time he'd spoken, brow furrowed in pain. "Come, this way."

They carefully descended the hill. Once in the valley, hidden by trees and hills on all sides, Jem moved towards one of the larger hills and laid a hand flat against the side, as if searching for something.

"Jem, what..."

Will's question was cut off by a quiet "Aha!" and the parting of a curtain of moss to reveal a thick, wooden door.

"Inside, quickly," Jem said, gesturing for Will to precede him with a small motion. Once Will had shouldered the door open and stepped across the threshold, Jem let the curtain fall back into place and shut the door behind them, barring it and sighing in relief.

The inside of the hill appeared to have been hollowed out and reinforced with stone walls, forming a large enclosed dome with a few walls sectioning off rooms.

"This was originally designed in the dark times of our kingdom," Jem said softly. "The times of war. The queen and the children were often spirited away to the safe space while the king stayed behind to rule as best he could if under siege or expecting an attack. It is designed for simple comfort for perhaps a month. It is a well-kept secret, and it serves its purpose. Keeping the bloodline intact even when catastrophe strikes. Rather a shame I'll be mucking up that plan anyway," Jem said with a grin, running a hand through his hair tiredly, "But you see the point."

Will had been looking around while Jem was explaining, noting the large, low bed that looked more comfortable than one would expect from living in a hill. There was a place for a cooking fire, and baskets in which to store food. A well sat in the back corner, and one of the small rooms appeared to have wash basins and cloths.

"How does it stay stocked with supplies?"

"The duty of the monarch. Upkeep on the hideout every once in a while to ensure it is ready in case of an emergency. There's the well, medical supplies, linens on the bed, and enough non-perishable food for perhaps a day or two. That's the bit you'd need to bring with you, but I don't foresee us staying very long." Jem gave a wry smile. "I have a kingdom to take back, after all."

"Right now, you have a wound to tend to," Will said, looking around until he spied the medical supplies Jem had mentioned. "Lie back, let me see how bad it is."

Jem complied, stretching out on the thin pallet serving as a makeshift sitting area. He winced a bit as the tunic was pulled away, the fabric already beginning to stick to the wound.

Will sucked in a breath and tried not to let his worry show on his face. There was a motley assortment of cuts and bruises across his torso, but the worst of it was centered on his left side, alarmingly close to his heart. A bolt from a crossbow had grazed his shoulder, leaving a deep cut that was still slowly oozing blood, but that was not the injury that had Will worried. There was another wound, below his ribs on the plane of his stomach just under where the bone stopped, where the bolt had clearly not made a clean exit. It remained lodged in the wound with the shaft snapped in two, stemming the worst of the bleeding but likely causing tremendous amounts of pain and leaving him at risk of infection.

"That bad, huh?" Jem asked quietly, one hand finding Will's and squeezing gently.

"I have to remove the bolt before the wound gets infected," he said after a long pause. "It'll need to be bandaged and then properly looked at by a doctor when you return to the castle. Okay?"

"Yes, alright," Jem said, gasping when Will's hand brushed his shoulder.

"I am sorry, my love, but this is going to hurt," Will said, stroking the hair off his face and noticing with dismay that his hairline was already beaded with sweat, a threatening sign of an infection setting in. "We don't have anything to dull the pain..."

"It's fine. Just do it quickly. And hand me my sword belt, I don't care to test the soundproofing of these walls," Jem's voice was faint but determined, and Will handed him the thick leather belt, turning his attention back to the kit he had.

There was water in the well to clean the wound, and enough to stitch both wounds. Bandages for when it was over. A small, thin knife lay unassumingly beside the roll of bandages, and Will realized with some horror that he was likely going to have to use that on his beloved and hope the poor thing didn't pass out from pain and blood loss. Dampening several cloths and setting them aside on the other pallet, he took a deep breath to steady himself.

He turned back to Jem, who had the leather clamped between his teeth and his jaw set.

"Ready?" Will asked, easing Jem's head into his lap to angle his shoulder higher.

Jem rolled his eyes and arched an elegant brow, before his expression softened and he gave a short nod, closing his eyes and hissing as Will began to clean both wounds.

Time seemed to slow to a tortoise's crawl as Will painstakingly removed the dirt and blood from the wounds, flinching a little at every muffled swear or hiss that passed Jem's lips.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, just breathe," he murmured, beginning to slowly stitch the gash along Jem's shoulder. "Tap my knee if you need to take a breath."

Jem shook his head resolutely and swallowed a scream when Will's fingers brushed over the deepest part of the wound.

"Shhh, shhh, almost over with this one," Will soothed, looping the last few stitches through as quickly as he safely could, tying it off and brushing the hair out of Jem's eyes. "There. One down, one to go. You doing alright?"

Jem raised a trembling hand to his mouth and pulled the leather strap free. "I'm alright," he managed weakly. "Just give me a moment and then you can go on."

Will privately thought that Jem might pass out from blood loss, or worse, grow feverish and start coughing if they waited too much longer, but he could see the pain written in the lines of his face, and kept his comment quiet, instead bending to kiss his forehead gently. Jem smiled, looking up at him wordlessly, then slowly nodded, refitting the leather between his teeth.

Will lowered him to the ground, sitting by his side and picking up a cloth and the thin knife. "Ready?"

Jem rested a hand on Will's knee and gave another nod before closing his eyes and drawing a slow breath.

If time had seemed slow before, the moments spent trying to remove the bolt were absolutely glacial. Jem's breath seemed to catch in his throat as he struggled to keep the rise and fall of his chest as minimal as possible. The bolt was too deep to simply remove, requiring Will to actually deepen the wound before he could ease the bolt out. The small room was quiet except for the sound of Jem's labored breathing and the occasional low groan of pain that seemed to roll involuntarily from low in his chest.

Finally, Will was able to twist the remaining shaft of the arrow-like weapon and ease it out of the wound, heaving a sigh of relief when it came out all in one piece. The bleeding had indeed started again, but after the nerve wracking experience of trying to pry metal from the bleeding wound of his conscious and very much in pain lover, the cleaning and stitching felt like simple tasks. When he was done, Jem's breathing slowed and steadied, jaw relaxing and body seeming to melt into the floor. He tossed aside his belt with a weary sigh and looked up at Will.

"Thank you, William."

"Of course," he said, trying to keep his voice even as he wrapped Jem's torso in bandages. "You would have done the same for me."

"Indeed, though I hope I never have to." Jem's voice was beginning to lose the crispness of his accent, rounding and blurring into something that sounded more musical than aristocratic.

"Can you stand? I don't imagine your shoulder would thank you for sleeping on the floor."

Jem seemed to consider this for a moment, before extending his good arm. "With some assistance, perhaps."

Will hoisted him to his feet, careful to avoid putting pressure on his injuries, and guided him to the small room with the bed. Jem sat heavily, winded even from the short walk, and braced his elbows on his knees. Slipping from the room quietly, Will placed a pitcher of water and two glasses beside the bed, skipping food altogether. Jem was likely in too much pain to eat, and Will had lost his appetite completely.

"There's water there. You should drink, you lost a lot of blood. I should go clean up a bit," Will said, running a hand down Jem's spine carefully. "Will you be alright for a few minutes?"

"You will be within earshot if something happens," came the wry response. "Go. You have as much of my blood on you as I do."

Will threw all the dirtied cloths in a heap in the corner of the room and returned the medical supplies to their proper places, saving out the knife and needle to be cleaned alongside his hands. When at last all traces of Jem's blood had been cleaned up, he returned to the bedroom, relieved to see Jem laying on his good side and seemingly asleep.

Slipping into the other side of the bed and drawing the old, thick duvet more snugly around them, Will looked at Jem's face in the low light. Hair prematurely silvering but retaining strands of its original darkness, frame thin and willowy with high cheekbones and something in the structure of his face that pointed to aristocracy. There was a certain softness to him, in this light, away from the castle and without the usual finery he loathed thrust upon him. He seemed less distant here, more like someone Will could hold and love and care for instead of trying to catch a moonbeam in his hands.

"You are thinking far too loudly," Jem whispered, shifting closer and leaning against Will. "Shut up your beautiful brain and sleep. We will be safe here."

Will smiled and pulled Jem into his arms as best he could. There was no use fretting about tomorrow when they'd barely survived today. They would be safe, the sun would rise, and Jem would be sitting back on his throne with the revolt well in hand before the week was out.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"So," Jem said the next morning, after having been thoroughly kissed awake and then checked over before he could so much as get a word in, "Any ideas as to who would want to kill me?"

"Dunno. Who stands to take the throne if you died?"

Jem thought for a moment. "A member of the court, I suppose. The logical answer is Magnus, but he wouldn't do this. It has to be someone who wouldn't be the obvious choice unless..." Jem's eyes snapped up and locked with Will's, struck by an idea. "Unless it was someone who could lie about the circumstances of my death and make themselves look like the hero or claim it had been my last orders."

"Who could stoop so low? Who is so desperate for power that they would pretend to be your hero when they tried to be your killer?"

"I can think of several," Jem muttered darkly. "But the first that comes to mind is Benedict Lightwood. He's the captain of the guard, but that's an appointment he's held longer than I've been alive. He was appointed under the end of my grandfather's time, I think, and he's in a high enough position that he could make an argument for his son taking the throne."

"You really think the people would believe him?"

"He's the captain of the guard," Jem said with a sigh. "They would all assume he was protecting me and trying to get me to safety. He would have been a logical person to have heard my last orders."

"James..." Will said slowly. "Are you sure?"

He closed his eyes, thinking. "The Lightwoods are a very old, proud family. Benedict has a daughter and two sons, Tatiana, Gideon, and Gabriel. I've never much cared for Gabriel or his sister, though Gideon seems a good man. He tried once, immediately after my return from the north, to arrange his daughter's marriage to me. I think he was hoping to get rid of me and puppet her on the throne."

"What happened?"

Jem smiled wryly, sitting up with some difficulty but waving off Will's offer of help. "She hates me. Starting screaming nonsense about 'dirty blood' because of my mother, and refused to even come close to the castle. Poor thing went mad, though she always was a bit peculiar."

"So this was the next step if he wanted his line on the throne," Will said, becoming very concerned with the amount of people who had made attempts on Jem's life.

"So it would seem. We must go back. I will deal with him myself." There was an unusual hardness to Jem's gaze, suddenly reminding Will of the steel core under his lover's soft smile.

"Are you well enough?"

"I will have to be," he replied simply. "Tessa should be here before the month is out, and it's rather impolite to drag her into a rebellion as a wedding gift."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

All in all, things had gone better than expected.

Will stood off to the side next to Magnus, watching with equal parts apprehension and pride as Jem stared coolly at the three Lightwoods kneeling on the stone floor.

"Benedict Lightwood," he began, voice silencing the rustling in the room. "You have remained in this castle by my grace, seen your family well-provided for, and been granted a position of power most would be content to wield."

"Yes," he responded, glaring venomously at Jem.

Unperturbed, he continued. "Yet you have attempted a rebellion and treason against the crown. You injured many of the men under your command gravely. Thomas was a good man, and he may never walk again because of your lust for power. Your sons have been accused of conspiring with you, and by our laws you are punishable by death." Jem's expression and voice softened considerably. "However, I am not one to put the sins of a parent onto their child. Gideon, Gabriel. Both of you are welcome to stay here, if you denounce your father's treason."

"Gideon, no," Gabriel hissed at his brother.

"Gabe, I never wanted to be king and neither did you. We've seen what it's like. Do you really want that much responsibility? That much power? No. I won't stand by this." Gideon rose, meeting Jem's eyes. "My allegiance to power will always stay with the one fit to wield it."

"I always did like you best," Jem murmured under his breath as Gideon stood beside the throne, giving his younger brother a pleading look. "And you, Gabriel?"

Gabriel slowly stood, hands shaking and looking away from his father.

Jem looked satisfied, leaning back and making a dismissive gesture. "Benedict, you will be escorted to a small cottage on the outskirts where you and your daughter can live in peace. Do not give me cause to regret my leniency."

"You will pay for this as your parents did, boy," he spat as he was hoisted to his feet, Magnus looking furious.

Jem rose, crossing the floor until they were face to face. "You tried to take control of my people and kill me when I was completely unprepared, yet here I stand before you. I can't imagine you'll have much success now that I know where the serpent in the court lies."

Benedict snapped his mouth shut, bodily hauled from the room, leaving four sets of eyes awkwardly avoiding looking at one another.

Jem ran a hand through his hair and broke the silence. "Your old rooms are where they always were, gentlemen."

"Thank you, Your Grace."

He inclined his head minutely. "Yes, well. Sins of the fathers and all that. You may go."

They scurried from the room, whispering back and forth, until the thick door swung shut behind them.

"You," Will said fondly, crossing the room and wrapping Jem up in his arms, "are amazing and a little scary, did you know that?"

"I do now," came the tired response. "Let's go to bed, I can hardly stand."

Will wrapped an arm around his king's waist, keeping him close and minding the tender wound on his side.

The walk back to their quarters was short, yet somehow felt like an eternity. Though they had only been gone a short while, it felt like returning to a simpler past when Will sank into the mattress.

"It feels a bit weird, doesn't it?"

"How did you know?"

Jem shrugged, curling up to Will's side and tangling their legs under the covers. "Always does."

"I love you."

"And I love you."

A sleepy silence crept in through the windowpane along with the moonlight, draping the room in thick and comfortable quiet.

"James?"

"Mmm?"

"Please try to avoid being shot tomorrow."

The answering laugh made Will smile, holding him a little closer and worrying a little less.

"I will try."

A/N: Choir concerts and finals messing up my update schedule. Rude.

Anyways, this was the much-requested sequel to "For King and Country" so I hope you all enjoyed!