Chapter 34 - Soldiers Follow Orders
Chapter 34 – Soldiers Follow Orders
The Inquisitor's office hasn't changed a bit since my last visit. However, her broad desk made of solid wood seemed to have gotten even bigger. On the walls, which must have been made of a quartz-like rock, hung woven images of battles fought centuries ago. On the long wall of the rectangular room, opposite the wooden door, a glass passage led out onto a small balcony. The red roofs of Alicante sparkled in the glow of the setting sun like the rubies Isabelle loved to adorn herself with. Wasteland stretched out behind the city, buried under a layer of white snow. Everything beyond the city walls was a single, reflective white.
Behind the spacious desk that must have taken up almost a quarter of the office, the Inquisitor gave me a long, skeptical look. As if she expected me to jump up and throw myself off the balcony at any moment. Not that I thought about it, but I hated being here. I hated everything about it; the atmosphere, the smell, the topics of conversation. If the Inquisitor invited me to a meeting, I could be sure in advance that it would be uncomfortable. Most of all, I hated the Inquisitor herself, who always made me feel like I had to shoulder the guilt of my father's absence.
Rather than meet her blue-gray eyes, I tried to read Jace's mood from his stance. He had already been there when a guard escorted me in. Unlike our last visit, this time he sat next to me in the chair that looked as uncomfortable as mine felt. He gave me a sideways glance when entering the office, but hasn't paid any attention to me since. Of course not. Hardly a week had passed since our conversation and yet it felt like an eternity.
Jace had his legs spread and his arms hung languidly to the side of the thin chair arms. His posture and the impassive expression on his face suggested he'd rather be sitting on a sofa than in his grandmother's office right now. Everything about his appearance was rude and disrespectful to Imogen Herondale. He probably knew that, too, but seemed to care little if anything. What surprised me was that the Inquisitor didn't care either. Her eyes were mostly fixed on me, but when she looked at him, there was never even a hint of indignation in it. The arrogance of this family was outrageous. My father would never have let me get away with such behavior. I would never have dreamed of treating him like that.
The Inquisitor's deep sigh brought me back to the present, and I wondered why she sounded like she was having a hard time opening her mouth. Then she finally got the words out and her behavior suddenly made sense. "On behalf of the Clave, I must apologize to you, Clarissa. Kadir's behavior was unforgivable. No trained Nephilim should ever act so negligently and contrary to the decisions of the Clave."
I didn't dare reveal the grin that made my facial muscles almost twitch in amusement. Instead, I pressed my lips together to prevent my expression from deceiving me and nodded gravely. It was obvious just looking at Imogen how much willpower it took her to make the apology sound genuine. Anyone who had even a spark of knowledge of human nature could see that she actually didn't give a damn whether I had been injured in Kadir's ambush or what else could have happened. Her ice blue eyes were hard as stone. Only her face seemed torn between a friendly, distanced expression and the year-old anger that was seething deep inside her.
What would she do to me if the Clave just let her? I narrowed my eyes ever so slightly and leaned back in my chair, crossing my arms over my chest. For a moment I allowed myself to think about it. She would kill me, there was no doubt about that. The only question was how brutal my death would be. I didn't think she was the kind of person who would choose a slow and protracted death. She seemed too wild beneath the surface for that, too bent on revenge.
I didn't elaborate on the Inquisitor's apology. It didn't take more than a nod of acknowledgment, very likely she preferred it that way. "I'm looking for an alternative coach for him, but that's proving more difficult than I thought. It has been found that many Nephilim are either unsuitable to tutor or simply refuse the job," the Inquisitor explained, giving me a meaningful look that said as much as You are the reason for it.
Of course the reason was obvious. As a stranger, I would think twice about teaching Valentine Morgenstern's daughter. As with her words before, I didn't let my true feelings show. All I could do was press my lips together even harder. I had practiced the neutral expression of my features for hours in front of the mirror on my dressing table. I had learned to guard my tongue in the presence of the Inquisitor, speaking only when necessary.
"Now to the real reason why I asked you here, Clarissa," she continued, leaning back in the huge chair that made even the Inquisitor look small and fragile. It reminded me of a throne. "There has been no trace of your father for days. Even the Clave's spies can't locate him. It has become so quiet around him that we expect a new hit every day. The Clave wants to be one step ahead of Valentine, but to do that we need to know what he intends to do next."
My eyebrows shot up before I could contain the emotion. It was clear what Valentine and Jonathan were up to. She knew about it, they had told me after my interrogation that the Lightwoods had let them know. "My brother told us in New York what Valentine's up to," I replied, confused that the Inquisitor had apparently completely forgotten this important detail. "The murdered children of the Downworlders speak for themselves. We just need to know where he's going to strike next."
The narrowed eyes Imogen Herondale gave me were icy and silenced me. "The Ritual of the Infernal Conversion. Warlock Magnus Bane has explained to us exactly how it's done. The Mortal Sword must be seethed until red hot and then cooled in the blood of four Downworlders. This reverses the power of the sword and one is able to summon demons with it."
I opened my mouth, but then closed it again. What should I say to that? The Clave seemed to know everything there was to know. Still, something kept it from intervening. "Then you know how important it is to stop him as soon as possible."
To my surprise, a smile spread across the Inquisitor's face. It was an arrogant, dismissive grin, and it told me everything there was to know between us. It was a slap in the face when I realized again that my father's words were not far from the truth. The Clave was misguided, blinded by centuries of security in Alicante. They had broken the treaty with the Downworlders and ignored their true sacred task of protecting humans to prove their steadfastness. But who was I to criticize the Clave? I wasn't any better. I could hardly exchange a word with a Shadowworlders without having Valentine and his urgent warnings in my ears. Magnus Bane, or Lucian Graymark for that matter, struck me as earthly at first glance, and that's what secretly frightened me. What if they weren't as harmless as they pretended to be?
"The ritual is an ancient story that has either been forgotten over the centuries or is in fact nothing more than a myth. None of us knew what to do with it before Valentine's return, it seems to be more common in witchcraft spell books than we'd like. Our scholars are already studying our ancient writings to confirm their authenticity."
"You believe the ritual is a bluff from Valentine?" I asked angrily, my voice rising a few octaves. The Clave's delusion would cost us all our lives. "The danger from him is real. He's not the kind of person who would joke about his plans."
"Even if Valentine was able to converse Mellartach, do you actually think he would attack Alicante? He may be insane, but he would never sacrifice his entire race for his insane ideas," Imogen replied with a mixture of defiance and contempt, eyeing me confidently.
"You don't know him as well as I do." My reply was instantaneous, voice still raised. As the next few words slipped from my lips, I leaned forward to carefully analyze each of her emotions. "My father wouldn't even hesitate. In his eyes, the Clave has become alienated from its former goals and ideals. He considers it his sacred duty to restore its former glory, no matter the cost. He's kept the Mortal Cup hidden for years, he'll just use it to create new Shadowhunters." Not even my mother knew where he kept it.
I watched as the Inquisitor's expression slowly changed as she understood the meaning behind my words. "He will raze the city and simply build a new one on its ruins; with new Shadowhunters answerable only to him." Amazement, horror, and disbelief flickered across her face before she regained control of her face. Then an almost malicious smile spread across her lips, making the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.
"That's exactly why you're here, Clarissa," the Inquisitor explained, and I had a hard time hiding my astonishment. "I believe you can help us track Valentine, or at least gather information that will bring us one step closer to his whereabouts."
"I want to help," I said immediately. I wanted nothing more than that. It felt like my duty. It was my family and I felt responsible for the mess they made. With my mother's death, it had become a personal struggle. I wanted to be the one to hold them accountable. They should look me in the eye and see that I was the one who foiled their plans. If they died, it should be at my hands. Even though the thought still frightened me, I felt it was my right. Nobody else should be allowed to kill them. "What can I do?"
"Can you think of a place where they might be? It'll probably be a place where we'll have a hard time tracking them down."
I shook my head slightly, depressed that I couldn't even answer that question. "I don't know, when Valentine left the estate, he was always alone. He–" The estate.
The Inquisitor noticed my hesitation and for a moment the look we exchanged was free of negative emotion and prejudice. "Valentine lived right under our noses for eighteen years. The property must be very well hidden. Strong wards. It could be anywhere in Idris." She paused for a moment, as if thinking about something. Then she turned back to me. "I want you to take us there. If they're not there, then we need to examine the entire manor, turning every corner upside down. Anything could be a clue."
My eyes widened in shock. I had never dreamed of ever going back there. Not because I would have been denied it, but because I thought I'd lost the estate after we fled. Now that I knew all the dark family secrets, I associated so many uncomfortable memories with this place. Everything good that I had experienced and that had happened to me there had a stale aftertaste. The images that had previously shone in bright colors now shimmered in muted tones. Life in paradise had turned into hell on earth in such a short time. Others might have wondered how things had gotten so out of whack all of a sudden, but deep down I knew the answer, which I mostly tried vehemently to ignore: My family's circumstances hadn't changed. My parents were still the same people they had been before. Only Jonathan and I had changed. Jonathan had fallen into a hole he would probably never get out of and I ... I had awoken.
"I don't even know where it is," I said, realizing too late that I had begun to whisper.
The Inquisitor's smile only seemed to widen and an uncomfortable shiver ran down my spine. A cold feeling crept over me; the premonition of something dangerous. I couldn't help it as my body took a deep breath. "So I want you to pay another visit to the Silent Brothers. They may find clues in your head."
My body immediately stiffened beneath me. I felt my hands clench into fists, but I had to fight to regain control of my muscles. A breathless "No" was all I could muster, and for once I didn't care how scared I sounded. It was such a small word and yet my voice cracked as I said it.
My last visit to the Silent Brothers had been associated with an excruciating pain that I sometimes still felt in my bones to this day. Not as strong as it was then, more like a faint echo spreading across the surfaces in my limbs in a vibration-like fashion, but noticeable, nonetheless. My mother had been alive the last time I had entered the Silent City. She had lived and been by my side. And within hours my father had trampled on the sacred gates of the city and slaughtered most of the brotherhood. They would hardly welcome me with open arms.
The Inquisitor, who seemed even colder and more tyrannical than usual at that moment, continued as if I hadn't spoken at all. I didn't find the strength to interrupt her like I might otherwise have. It felt like all energy had left my body. A small part of me feared that if I moved I would collapse like a sack. So I pressed my lips together and held my breath as I continued to stare at Imogen Herondale. "If I remember correctly, when you first came to the Silent City, you had an invisible rune removed that was blocking part of your mind. It could be that the Brothers can now extract more from your memories. Last time their focus was on pictures from your childhood, but this time they would have to focus on something completely different. On memories showing the property from the outside. A view from the window, the forest around the house; there is nothing that is not a clue."
"No," I said again, jumping up from the chair. I towered over the Inquisitor, who was still seated behind the broad mahogany table. My shadow fell across her face and our eyes met. I felt my fingers begin to tremble. Every fiber of my body resisted her proposal. Proposal. Even Jace knew the Inquisitor wasn't making proposals, she was just giving orders. Images of the interrogation flashed before my eyes as I had been forced to speak, exposed and helpless, in front of all the Clave's Shadowhunters. She had given me to them and I had been unable to choose which part of myself they got to see.
"You have no choice," Imogen now whispered in an accusatory, rather final tone. "If you don't want to help the Clave track Valentine, it will look like a betrayal to everyone. Like you're still protecting your father after everything he's done. You don't want that, do you?"
Without realizing it, I had moved away from the table and was now standing in the middle of the room. My feet backed away to get some distance between us both. "If after all you still think that I work for my father, then do what you must. But I will not set foot in the Silent City. It's already been rummaged around in my head twice and since nothing useful was revealed then, then you should look for other solutions."
At that moment, Jace suddenly turned to me. He had so far completely opted out of the discussion. Whether out of lack of interest or agreement with his grandmother was a mystery to me. His golden eyes met mine and he looked almost thoughtful as we gazed at each other for a few seconds. Then he cleared his throat. "Clary is right. If the Clave didn't find anything the last two times, it's not very likely that they'll have any more success this time. The public questioning was humiliation enough."
My lips parted in surprise and the Inquisitor raised her eyebrows in astonishment. A moment later, her speechlessness turned to anger. "I didn't mention Valentine's estate once in the survey. The focus was on Clarissa's general past. The Brothers have confirmed the same to me. Your memories are our best shot at finding Morgenstern manor. Even if the key clue is nothing more than a damned plant that only grows in a specific region of Idris."
"Then Clary can just describe it to you, her father must have taught her botany," Jace argued in an indifferent voice, but did not avoid the urgent gaze of the Inquisitor. "She's seen Alicante from afar before, so she can tell us which direction they rode towards the city from. If we ride the path again, she might remember more details."
"Jonathan, my boy, I see that you want to help," Imogen began again and the expression in her eyes lessened a bit of the hardness. It didn't do anything to keep the insane sparkle at bay. It didn't bode well. "Your suggestion may be helpful as well, but I insist that Clarissa visits the Silent City one more time. And since you are so keen to be involved, you and your Parabatai will accompany her there."
"Alec?" Jace seemed thrown. "Is that really necessary?"
"I trust the Lightwood boy," the Inquisitor justified. Jace was one of the few she allowed to question her decisions. "More than his parents. He is an example of our ideals and loyal to the Clave." Then she shot me a quick, disparaging look across the room. "Also, I want you to outnumber her. Just in case Clarissa decides to cause trouble."
Anger ate up my veins in hot streams and I clenched my fingers tighter. I would only regret giving a comment of mine now. The Inquisitor possessed a worrying penchant for madness. And insane people with unlimited access to power were dangerous. Even if I wanted to say something back, I wouldn't have had time for it, because the moment the Inquisitor stopped speaking, she opened her mouth again.
"Now stop this nonsense and sit back down, girl, or are you disobeying my order?" A barely suppressed challenge ran through her words and I straightened my back automatically.
I felt my jaw clench impatiently. A smile spread across Imogen's face and I knew that she was waiting for my decision. The spark in her eyes was hoping I would continue to resist her control. Part of her speculated on it. Jace turned his head to me and his golden eyes voiced a silent warning. Don't act foolish now. But he needn't have worried because I wouldn't give her that satisfaction. I let the air out of my lungs and sat back in the chair in front of her desk without saying another word. My fingers were still shaking; I couldn't tell if it was panic or anger. I clenched them to fists again so it wouldn't be so obvious.
Then I snapped my head up and met the same icy stare the Inquisitor has been giving me for days. I could hardly hold back the triumphant, smug grin as she pursed her lips in dissatisfaction and focused on a stack of paper in front of her. Satisfied, I turned away from her and caught a glimpse of Jace, who had turned his head in my direction. His eyes were downcast and as I followed his gaze I realized he was staring at my clenched fingers. The feeling of satisfaction vanished as quickly as it came. His honey-colored pupils rested on my fingers for a moment, as if oblivious to my stare. Then he raised his eyes and our eyes met. There was an almost warm, calming expression in it, as if to reassure me that everything would be fine. I turned my head before I could imagine any more nonsense.
"There's one more problem why I asked you here, Clarissa," Imogen then began speaking again, looking up from her papers. A worry line had formed on her forehead. "The Shadowworlders are turning to the Clave more and more frequently. With the departure of the Nephilim, the cities of this world are left without protection. They feel at the mercy of Valentine. Our retreat has resulted in more and more clans and packs following us to Idris, to be within reach should your father and his demons return. A solution is needed."
"How exactly can I help you with that?" I asked in a mixture of annoyance and confusion. What was the Inquisitor driving at? I couldn't make sense of it because my connection to the Shadow World was equal to nonexistent.
"To complete the Ritual of Infernal Conversion, Valentine needs the blood of more children. The Downworlders are getting restless and individual clans are beginning to form alliances with each other. The Clave is concerned that they may band together against us because we are currently unable to honor the agreement. There is a Clave meeting next week on the subject and you are invited to attend. It will also be about your father."
Though I still didn't understand what all this had to do with me, it was the Inquisitor's first positive surprise towards me. Almost scandalous considering how some Nephilim still stared at me when I passed them in the streets of Alicante. A lot of people would be beyond unhappy about that.
"Thank you very much, I feel honored for the trust you have placed in me," I said after a moment's thought and meant it.
"But before that, we'd like you to do something for us," Imogen continued, which didn't really surprise me. I felt like there were always strings attached to positive news with her. "You're supposed to meet up with Lucian Graymark again. He has great influence on the werewolves. Discuss the problem with him and try to find a solution that doesn't end in a war between us and the Shadowworlders. You have until the Clave meeting to come up with a proposal. That's all we ask."
That's all? I could hardly hold back an indignant snort. A moment ago I was still the evil daughter of Valentine and now I was already ambassador of the Nephilim. Should I be honored? Probably not. They were just looking for someone to do their dirty work. A negotiation with a werewolf? That didn't exactly sound like fun to me. Why me? Surely they must know that the prejudices my father had talked into me for years would not simply disappear from my memory overnight. Perhaps the Inquisitor had misinterpreted my last meeting with Lucian – Luke. What kind of solution should be found at all? The Nephilim did not honor the agreement. Point. End of the story. In my eyes there was nothing to negotiate. They were just looking for a way to wriggle out of the whole thing without losing their treaty privileges as well. Luke didn't strike me as someone who would give up the needs of his people just to please the Shadowhunters.
"Sounds like fun," was all I replied. And it would indeed be fun.
-
"Yay, the Silent City again! Let's wake up another of Clary's traumas! :D " That's what Imogen must be thinking lol. At least Jace stood up for her - even though it changed nothing haha.
But what do you think about the chapter? Let me know!
See you next week,
Skyllen :)
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