Scars of her Blood • Shadowhunters

Chapter 18: Malec

A/N - sorry, this chapter is a little longer, I did not know where or how to cut it, but I figured since its the wedding, people would still read it...

Everyone in the Institute was preparing for the wedding that was happening the next morning. Celia had totally forgotten about it with everything else that had been happening the last few days. She also could not join in the excited commotion that was flooding through the Institute like an infectious disease. She was simply too much on edge after last night's events.

Celia was only glad that now that Jace and Clary had also seen Eileen, people believed Celia. She had already texted Álvaro about it, hoping that now César would have to give in and let Benicio stay with her in New York. But Álvaro had not answered her yet. Probably because César was still not reachable. Celia had tried to call him multiple times since she had gotten back last night, but he was still not picking up. Why is he ignoring me? Celia dialed his number again - and again she was greeted by the robotic voice telling her that the person she wished to speak to was not available at the moment. Celia growled and hurled the phone with full force in the direction of the door – and almost hit Izzy in the head, who had stepped into the room just in that moment. Fortunately, Izzy ducked in time and the phone hit the wall with a loud cracking sound.

Izzy first starred at the dent in the door frame, then at the broken phone on the ground, then at Celia:

"Are you okay?"

"Yes...", Celia groaned, "just tired and stressed."

"Well -", Izzy obviously decided to let the topic slide, "have you had time to decide what you will wear for the wedding tomorrow?"

Celia blinked at her. She was not prepared for this question:

"I don't play any important role, do I?"

"No, but still: It's Alec's wedding. I can lend you something of mine -"

"I'll just go in my uniform.", Celia felt a headache sneaking up on her. This is going to be a long day.

"You can't go in your uniform, Celia. I'm planning this wedding for my big brother and I want it to be perfect! So you will show up in something other than what you wear eighty percent of the time or I will stuff you into one of my dresses."

Celia sighed:

"Fine... I'll look through my closet.", then Celia remembered something, "how was your trial yesterday? I mean, you are obviously free, but how?"

"Lydia actually ended up dropping the charges. Magnus and I basically told her and Inquisitor Herondale that their behavior is ridiculous and more similar to Valentine's than they'd like it to be."

"Good girl!", Celia smiled proudly, "but what was Magnus doing there?"

"Oh, he was my attorney."

"That was... nice of him. Just don't shoot too much against the Clave, you are in a way too vulnerable position.", she added, just as a caution, "if I do that, it's not as dangerous."

"Yeah, but you are also literally shooting against the Clave", Izzy smirked. She was referring to an old story. Celia chuckled:

"I didn't shoot him, I punched him."

~Ten years ago, when Celia was fifteen, some higher ups from the Clave had visited the Institute in New York. It was during one of the periods that Celia had been living there. She had to meet these officials in her role as the crown princess. One of the Inquisitors had continuously insulted Hybrids in general and the royal family specifically, by letting a massive amount of passive aggressive comments slip. Each one of them had been a disguised insult, nothing direct, just empty polite phrasing concealing deep hatred. He had thought Celia would not understand what he was saying, but she was already used to this kind of behavior from the royal court. She had walked up to him and punched him in the face, leading to him being unconscious with a broken nose and Celia having a permanent reputation as being short-tempered.~