The Infernal Devices Reimagined

The Law is Hard

Jessie could see a bit of Will in Edmund Herondale's broad-shouldered muscularity, but by far he and Cecily had both taken most from their mother, who had given them her dark blue eyes and ink-dark hair. Jessie had on a blue pleated bustle dress, and when she sat the structure of the undergarment folded. Linette Herondale was slender and graceful as she placed a cup of tea in front of Jessie. Her face had been weathered by time, but when she smiled at Jessie dimples formed in her cheeks and her eyes shone. Mr Herondale had been handsome in his youth, Jessie knew, but time had been less kind to him. His eyes fair blue eyes were watery and bloodshot, and his gut had enlarged. The mass of hair on his head was more grey than blonde, though he had kept most of it through the years. There was an unkempt stubble across his face and dark circles slashed below his eyes like a wound. On the whole, he looked tired. 

Mrs Herondale smoothed down her dress and took a seat next to Mr Herondale on the sofa. They were in a sitting room of mint wood panelling walls that were adorned by painting and light wood flooring. Mrs Herondale had set down a silver tea set on the glass table in the centre of the room, which sat on top of a blue Persian rug. The Herondale couple were sitting aside from Jessie on a stiff mauve sofa, and the one Jessie sat on was mostly wood. Cecily stood behind Jessie, halfway between the door and the meeting, uncertain of where to go. Her hands were clasped behind her back. 

For a while, no one spoke. Jessie did not want to be the one to begin the conversation. She put two sugars in her tea and took a sip. Eventually, Mrs Herondale spoke: "We assume that you are acquainted with our son."  Mrs Herondale cleared her throat, preparing herself to say the words, "Will Herondale." 

Jessie heard Cecily suck in a breath. Mr Herondale stiffened. Jessie swirled her tea and said, "Yes." 

Cecily rushed forward and grabbed ahold of Jessie's backrest. Mr Herondale leaned forward and opened his mouth as if about to speak, but Mrs Herondale took ahold of his forearm and squeezed. The man clenched his jaw and leaned back. Mrs Herondale said, "What is he like?" 

"He's..." Jessie pursed her lips. There were many things she wanted to say about William Herondale, but none of them were appropriate to say in front of his long-suffering family, "precocious," she settled on. "He reads extensively and has an encyclopedic memory of English literature. He'll have a quote for any situation, no matter for suitable. Some find him charming and humorous, some find him to be quite the opposite. I'm told that he's very good at throwing knives, too." 

Mrs Herondale's lip quivered, "Does he enjoy being a Shadowhunter?" Her voice wobbled. For a moment she sounded like she might cry. 

"How could he enjoy being a Shadowhunter?" Cecily demanded. "They're killers; you've said so yourself. And they've stolen our Will from us!" 

"Cecy..." Mr Herondale said. Cecily pushed away from the chair and burst out of the room. 

Mr Herondale leaned his head on his hands. Mrs Herondale chewed on her lip, "I apologise for what Cecy said. She's a young girl, you must understand." 

Jessie took another sip of her tea. Neither Herondale had even touched their cups. "She's not entirely wrong," Jessie said. Hadn't Jessie said things that weren't too dissimilar a little while ago? "I suppose you told the children all that to keep them away from the lifestyle?"

Mrs Herondale nodded. "The recruiters wouldn't stop knocking on our doors to try and bring our children to the Institute. Once they almost had Ella - she was a brave girl, you see. Almost fearless. She always wanted to help people. Sometimes when she was young she'd take Eddie's old seraph blades and play at being a Shadowhunter. We hated to stop her from doing things she enjoyed, but we were terrified that if we didn't scare them as much as possible, we'd lose them." Mrs Herondale scrunched the fabric of her skirt. Her husband reached across and took her hand. Jessie could tell from her use of the past tense in relation with Ella that it was a sensitive topic for the couple. She shifted in her seat. Though she hadn't known what she expected when she came into this living room, it wasn't this.