Scars of her Blood • Shadowhunters

Chapter 48: Downworld Cabinet

When Celia walked towards the room that Alec had chosen as the place for the first Cabinet meeting, Meliorn and Raphael were already there. Izzy and Alec stood in the doorway, ready to greet any newcomers that would arrive. Celia approached them. It felt a little weird to wear her full SRU uniform around her friends here. Izzy looked her up and down:

"All ready for official business I see."

Celia grinned:

"This better not be as boring as the Council meetings I attend in the palace."

Alec's expression got even more nervous. Celia knew he was hiding it really well, but she saw through the facade:

"Don't worry, I'm kidding.", she added, "this is going to be good!"

Celia walked in and approached Raphael. Him and Meliorn kept their distance to each other, neither of them looking too happy to see the other. Raphael raised an eyebrow when Celia walked past him instead of stopping.

"Valentine doesn't know anything about Simon...", she mumbled when she passed him and went over to the round table that had been set up, leaning on one of the chairs.

Celia watched as Magnus walked into the room. She realized that she should maybe tell him that she still wanted to keep the whole topic of her having magic a secret.

But then another thought shot through Celia's head. Does Alec know about the meeting the Downworld leaders had about killing Clary? Celia slipped through the room to Alec's side again:

"Hey... Just a piece of information that you might need: Before Valentine's attack, when there was the debate about killing Clary, all the Downworld leaders met up. So things might still be a little tense between all of us."

Alec nodded:

"Thanks.", he whispered and then turned to greet Luke, who came walking down the hallway. He was the last person they needed to get this meeting started.

"So what is this Downworld Cabinet even supposed to mean?", Raphael asked once they had all taken a seat at the table.

"It means total transparency about all Shadowhunter decisions that involve the Downworld.", Alec explained, "the goal is to have weekly meetings here, to discuss any updates, questions, concerns..."

Magnus nodded approvingly:

"Well, I applaud Mr. Lightwood for his forward thinking."

"Yeah, because you're totally unbiased.", Raphael mumbled under his breath. Magnus gave him a side eye, but Celia just smiled:

"I think we can all agree, even though it took way longer than it should have, it's not a bad idea to start now."

Meliorn frowned and turned to Alec:

"You are not the first one to have an idea like that. It just always failed, because the Clave was not willing to compromise."

Alec nodded:

"That is true. But I am. In time, we will also be able to reason with the Clave. I am sure of it."

Celia was not too sure of that. But she would voice that concern later with Alec in private.

"What about Valentine?", Luke asked, "can this cabinet appeal for his execution?"

Interesting question... Alec took a deep breath:

"If this is going to work, then we can not start with the impossible."

"Well, that's kind of hard to believe, considering that the man who massacred our people is sitting in a cell beneath our feet!", Luke started to sound angry, "Celia. I am expecting you to back me up on this."