Chain of Iron

Chapter Five

"I cannot believe mother and father made us come here." Lucie grumbled from Cordelia's right.

She was standing in the ballroom of the Consul's house at the engagement party she had thrown for Charles and Grace. Cordelia had to admit that Charlotte had outdone herself with the decorations, although, she secretly thought Tessa had done a better job with hers and James'. Speaking of James, he was standing to Cordelia's left as silent as a mouse. He had not said one word since they had stepped foot into the ballroom and Cordelia felt for him. It could not be easy attending the engagement of the girl you were in love with.

"Oh, it is not so bad, Luce." Cordelia replied. "It is nice to see everyone again at least, don't you think so, James?"

Her attempt to cheer up James did not work as he only nodded his head and surveyed the crowd while looking distracted. Cordelia sighed to herself and her eyes landed on the silver bracelet that laid upon his wrist and a sharp stab went through her heart; no matter how many she saw that piece of jewelry, it still felt like a slap in the face. Couples began to dance in front of where the trio was standing and Cordelia patiently waited for James to ask her. Not so much for her own feelings sake, but for their marriage. It would look especially odd if her fiancé did not ask her to dance. She sneaked a glance at James but he looked completely lost in his own world and Cordelia did not think he was going to ask her.

"James," She started. "Do you think that maybe we should--"

Cordelia was abruptly cut off by Christopher running up to the three of them, looking wild eyed. He had burn stains all over his shirt and his brown hair was ruffled and all over the place.

"Jamie," Christopher sounded desperate. "You must come help me in my laboratory downstairs. I have seemed to start a fire that I cannot put out and Thomas and Matthew are nowhere to be found and I--"

"By the Angel, Kit, yes yes I'll help." James said at once, looking alarmed.

James shot Cordelia an apologetic look and then raced after Christopher who was already halfway across the ballroom. Cordelia only chuckled to herself; she did feel a bit sad that James had not danced with her but she knew how important his friends were to him. It was one thing that she had always admired about James.

"Have you seen Matthew at all tonight?" Lucie inquired. "He has been quite absent as of late."

"I have not seen him." Cordelia replied. "I do hope he is alright, though."

Lucie was about to reply when Thomas was suddenly in front them, asking Lucie if she wished to dance. She attempted to say no as she did not wish to leave Cordelia alone, but Cordelia forced her to go enjoy herself with Thomas and then she went. The height difference between Lucie and Thomas was quite large and Cordelia smiled to herself at the way Thomas had to bend down quite a bit to dance with Lucie. Although Lucie was small, Cordelia knew that she was braver than almost anyone. Cordelia stood a bit awkwardly by herself and watched as Lucie and Thomas danced together, laughing.

"You look quite lonely." A voice spoke from behind her.

She turned to see Anna Lightwood standing behind her, smiling. Whereas Christopher had inherited much of the Lightwood genes, Anna had received all of the Herondale beauty from her mother. Her dark black hair was styled as a man's and her electric blue eyes were regarding Cordelia thoughtfully; it was clear why Anna broke so many hearts.

"I am actually quite content." Cordelia smiled. "It is nice to see you again, Anna."

"You as well, Daisy." Anna moved closer to her. "James has left you, I see."

"Your brother needed urgent help in his laboratory, I am afraid." Cordelia chuckled fondly.

Anna sighed but she could see warmth in her blue eyes at the mention of her younger brother. "Chris can never seem to keep his inventions in check, alas, that is one of the things I love about him, I suppose."

"Brothers can be quite the handful." Cordelia replied, thinking of Alastair.

"That is true." Anna looked up at her. "I wanted to invite you over tomorrow afternoon for tea, Miss Daisy. It has been so long since we have enjoyed each other's company."

"I will most definitely be there." Cordelia smiled brightly. "Is it really going to be just tea this time? Or should I wear my finest dress over?"

Anna laughed and gave her a grin that reminded her very much of James' father. "One can never be sure if tea is really going to be just tea."

Cordelia was about to reply when Matthew suddenly walked up to them. He was dressed in his finest clothing and he looked the most put together that Cordelia had seen in awhile; she had to admit that he looked very handsome although he always did.

"I have not seen you in awhile, Matthew." Anna commented. "Where have you been for the whole evening?"

"Greeting guests with my mother, father and Charles." Matthew yawned. "What a boring affair, I barely escaped."

"You are quite the charmer, I am sure you caused many girls to fall hopelessly in love with you." Anna teased while chuckling.

"You flatter me so, Anna." He grinned at her.

Matthew then turned his dark green eyes on Cordelia, acknowledging her for the first time. "Would you like to dance, Miss Cordelia?"

Cordelia did not miss the way Anna's eyes widened slightly in surprise and how amusement and something else flooded them at his words. She felt surprised at Matthew's request but accepted it and he took her hand and lead her out onto the dance floor. They stopped in the middle of it and Matthew held her close to himself to which Cordelia could not help but blush and she did the same.

"Where has James gone off to?" Matthew asked as they began to dance.

"To help Christopher. He seemed to have set off a fire downstairs." Cordelia explained as she looked around the room. Lucie was still dancing and laughing with Thomas.

Matthew looked amused. "Well, at least you were able to dance with him before he had to run off."

Cordelia shook her head. "I have not danced with James tonight."

He looked surprised. "But he must dance with you -- that will look quite odd if he does not dance with his fiancée."

Cordelia bit her lip and looked away from Matthew in worry. He must have noticed this because at once he said:

"But I am sure no one has noticed. Charles is too busy trying to get the attention of every person in the room for them to pay attention to much else."

Cordelia smiled in amusement and looked up at Matthew who was already looking down at her. "Why is it that you despise your brother?"

"I do not despise him, he is just too concerned with becoming Consul. I wholeheartedly believe that he would sacrifice our father just so he could become Consul." Matthew spoke simply. "But I do not know if he will succeed in becoming Consul after my mother."

"We often want things which we cannot have." Cordelia replied, thinking of James.

"It seems that we do." Matthew said softly, looking away from her.

Cordelia then recalled the way Matthew had saved her from embarrassment when James had left her in the middle of the ballroom by herself, and how he had smelled so much of alcohol. She found now that the scent was much less.

"It seems as if you are always saving me from embarrassment." Cordelia looked back up at him. "I do not believe anyone else would have asked me to dance if you had not."

"I find that hard to believe, you are a very beautiful girl, Cordelia." Matthew commented.

She blushed and was suddenly very aware of how close Matthew's body was to her. It made her feel a bit lightheaded which was something she had only ever experienced with James. Matthew was looking down at her thoughtfully and with something she had never seen before and right as she was going to ask him why he was looking at her like that, someone was standing in front of them.

It was Sona. "You must come at once, Cordelia, I want you to meet the Inquisitor."

Matthew pulled away from her then, putting on his signature smile. "You must go then, Miss Carstairs. I hope to see you soon."

Before Cordelia could reply, Matthew disappeared and she was being lead through the crowd by her mother. Yet as she followed her mother, Cordelia was unable to shake the look Matthew had had in his eyes.