Jinxed - An Alec Lightwood LS

Chapter 6: Truth Coming Out Of Ma Mouth

Why would he kill you, if he wanted you to be part of his army? His words were ringing on her ears. Immediately, she though that one question could ruin everything. Ethel could die for this.

"Well, at first I thought he'd kill me because I killed two of his followers while trying to get out of the ship." She began, as the words just kept falling out of her mouth. "But then he forced me to drink from the Cup. I thought he would experiment on me, since he caged me right beside the Downworlders, but he claimed not to want to hurt me. Then, I bashed the head of that Shadowhunter into a wall, in order to allow Justine to escape. And I knew that when he woke up, Valentine would know what I did, and he'd want to kill me."

Aldertree nodded, considering all reasons to be plenty for that kind of motive. But then he noticed the Sword glowing over her hands, as she winced in pain. "What are you hiding?" But that only made her wince further. The sword glowed further. "Answer."

"I was worried that- I was worried that he'd find out about my father." Ethel panted out, not wanting the information to be released. 

However, it greatly intrigued the man, as well as the Silent Brothers. So, he continued to ask. "What about your father could upset Valentine?"

The sword's brightness intensified, forcing the truth out of her once more. "My mother claimed he was a fairy."

"What?" He turned to glance at the Silent Brothers, appalled by the information. Shaking his head, Aldertree tried to reason in his mind that she had to be wrong. "What do you mean?"

"Every time-" She gritted the answer through her teeth, still feeling the Soul Sword fighting against her. Or rather, Ethel was fighting against it, fearful of what would become of her once the truth was out. "I asked her about him, she'd say he was a fairy. A 'wild man' or 'forest fairy'. I always thought she was crazy, or far too obsessed with fantasy. I mean, she wrote fantasy novels about fairies, for heaven's sake. But then I saw things that couldn't be explained by anything but magic. And he said that fairies were real. That he wanted them, alongside other Downworlders dead. So, if what my mother said was true, and he found out, he'd want to kill me."

Victor straightened up from where he stood, having been caught off guard by her response. She was claiming to have been a halfling before her Ascension. To being half-Seelie, half-mundane. But that couldn't be right. "The Cup would have killed you, if you had demon blood. And so would the Soul Sword. Your mother must have been wrong."

Despite wanting to believe his words, Ethel couldn't help expressing her truth. "Well, it felt like it was going to kill me for a minute, and the sword is painful as hell."

And then, a Silent Brother spoke through their minds, suggesting the possibility of the situation. "The Mortal Cup was made to turn regular mundanes into Shadowhunters, and control Demons. But its never been used on Downworlders, whom themselves are part mundane. We don't know the prospect of any of them surviving after drinking from the Cup. However, if she was part-Seelie, whom themselves have both demon and angel blood, perhaps her tale is not as ridiculous as it sounds. There have also been children of Shadowhunters and Seelies in the Clave, such as in the Blackthorn family."

"Then, I suppose we'll have to investigate this matter further." Victor replied with authority in his tone, knowing best than to defy a Silent Brother's words. But now that he was considering the possibility in his mind, it made some sense. After all, she had stated to have killed two Shadowhunters before her Ascension. Normal mundanes shouldn't be capable of such feats. But someone with Seelie blood- maybe. So then, Victor turned back to Ethel with a raised eyebrows. "Why did you try to keep this from us?"