Complicated | Jace Herondale

prologue

Prologue

❦

Josie

Josephine, 5; Jace, 6

I swung my dangling legs back and forth under the small bench I was sitting on, as mom and dad walked away to talk to the tall man with dark blond hair and blue eyes, standing a few feet away.

When they first told us that they'd be visiting Idris, Alec asked to come along, but they insisted that I go with them instead. I'm still not sure why. Alec was the oldest, and I wanted to stay at the Institute with Izzy. Mainly because Hodge let us eat ice cream for dinner and try whatever weapons we wanted.

Mom and dad frequently looked back at me to make sure I'd stayed put, while engaged in conversation with the man. I tried to listen in on what they were talking about, but soon gave up after failing to make out anything they were saying.

I let out a sigh, and stared down at my feet, clicking them together. This was so boring. Alec and Izzy were probably having much more fun testing out all the different weapons in the weapons room right now.

"Josie," I finally looked up when I heard mom call out my name. "Stay here, okay?"

I nodded at her and she gave me a small smile, before following dad and the man into another room.

When the door closed behind them, I quietly slipped off the bench, and began roaming around, touching everything I possibly could. The room was very spacious and looked much older than the Institute. The walls were painted a dusty blue, most of the furniture was trimmed with wood and made of leather, and dark red curtains were draped over the windows.

I began walking to the huge piano in the corner of the room, when I suddenly heard a door close. I cautiously approached the entryway—where the sound came from—instead and stopped immediately upon seeing a little blond boy come down the stairs with what looked like a bird in his hands.

He walked towards the front door and opened it to head out, while I glanced back at the room my parents were in. After coming to the conclusion that they most likely weren't coming out anytime soon, I followed after the boy and headed outside.

I scanned the front yard of the big stone house, until my eyes landed on the boy sitting at the fountain, looking down at his hands.

I slowly made my way around the fountain, and stopped in front of him.

I pointed at his bird. "What kind of bird is that?"

The boy sniffled and wiped his nose, before looking up at me. His eyes were red and puffy, and two different colors: blue and brown. I'd never seen anyone with eyes like that before.

"A falcon," he said.

I glanced down at it, and tilted my head at him. "Why isn't it moving?"

"Because it's dead."

"Oh," I frowned. "How did it die?"

"My dad killed it," he said.

"Why?" I asked.

"Because I taught it to love me," he replied, looking back down at his dead bird.

I moved to sit beside him. "What's wrong with that?"

"Dad says falcons aren't meant to be loving pets," he explained. "They're suppose to be savage and cruel, and instead of taming it, like he wanted me to, I broke it."

"Your dad sounds mean," I told him.

"Not at all," he finally looked at me again. "He gives me anything I want. Horses, weapons, books... even this hunting falcon."

"But he killed it," I pointed out.

"Only because he wanted to teach me something," he said. "And he did."

"Then why do you look so sad?"

"I'm not," he shook his head, and wiped at his eyes.

"But your eyes are red and puffy," I pointed out. "My eyes only get like that when I cry."

"Well, those are your eyes, not mine," he argued.

I shrugged, and glanced down at my feet, clicking them together. "If you say so."

"You're really annoying," he said.

I snapped my head towards him, a scowl on my face. "I am not! You're annoying!"

I could tell he wanted to say something else—probably to defend himself—but he was quickly cut off by mom, dad, and the man joining us outside.

"Josie, there you are!" mom exclaimed, running up to us with dad.

He shook his head at me amusingly, as mom took my hand in hers, and helped me down from where I was sitting.

The boy hopped down from the fountain as well and looked at me. "Your name's Josie?"

"Yeah," I nodded, while the tall man came up beside him, and placed a hand on his shoulder. "What's yours?"

"Jace."