Chain of Iron

Chapter Six

The carriage ride from Kensington Gardens to Anna Lightwood's flat on Percy Street seemed longer than Cordelia had remembered. The last time she had been here was when Anna, Matthew, James and herself had all planned to attend the Hell Ruelle in order to get the Pyxis box. Cordelia had a hard time believing everything that had happened since then; she was now engaged to James Herondale. Speaking of James, she had not seen him since last night when she had left the party although he had hugged her tightly.

They had an odd dynamic, she thought. Her and James had certainly become closer due to their fake engagement and Cordelia enjoyed his friendship more than she had thought she would. Of course, she still wished that he loved her and that their marriage would be for real, but Cordelia found herself simply being grateful for being able to spend one year of her life with him. Finally, the carriage rolled to a stop and Cordelia stepped out of it and walked up to the building.

Anna was already standing in the doorway of the building, smoking from a pipe. There was a bouquet of roses at her front door which she seemed to be actively ignoring and Cordelia suppressed an amused smile; the flowers must have been from a heartbroken girl. Anna looked as stylish as ever and by this point Cordelia figured that looking beautiful was just encoded in her genes.

"Nice to see you again, Cordelia." Anna smiled as she moved the pipe away from her mouth.

"You as well." Cordelia glanced down at the flowers and then back up at Anna. "Would you like me to pick these up for you?"

Anna shook her head. "Just leave them there. I am afraid if I take these inside, she may come back and receive the wrong signal."

Cordelia thought this to be true as she followed Anna inside and into her flat. It looked just as it had all of the other times Cordelia had visited and she took her seat on her usual armchair. She leaned Cortana against the wall just as Anna disappeared. She returned a moment later with two teacups in her hands and gave one to Cordelia.

"So, Miss Daisy." Anna started as she took a seat herself. "How is your engagement to my darling cousin treating you?"

Cordelia took a sip of her tea; it was sweet but not too sweet which was just how she preferred it. She found that she did not wish to lie to Anna about her arrangement but Cordelia knew that no one must know that it was a sham. Although, it was not as if Anna would tell anyone...

"It is very well." Cordelia spoke after she swallowed. "I am very excited to be marrying James."

"Is that so?" Anna drawled, her blue eyes regarding Cordelia thoughtfully over the teacup.

There was something in the way that Anna was looking at her which gave it away that Anna had figured out her and James' secret. Cordelia immediately blushed.

"How did you know?" She asked curiously.

Anna placed her teacup down. "Well, at first I thought it was quite strange that your engagement was so sudden as you and Jamie did not seem romantic when we all attended the Hell Ruelle."

Cordelia recalled the way her James had shared a passionate moment in The Whispering Room and how his body had felt on top of hers and how he seemed to light her on fire. She shivered slightly and shook herself out of it.

"And besides that, I just have a knack for knowing things." Anna grinned. "Although I do wish that the engagement was real; I quite like you, Miss Carstairs, you are perfect for James."

Cordelia blushed. "Thank you, Anna, but you must not tell anyone - not even your parents. Mine and James' do not know that our marriage is not real."

"But you feel for James, do you not?" Anna asked as she leaned back in her chair.

Shock washed through Cordelia at the other girl's words. How had she known? Was it really written all over Cordelia's face? No one knew about her feelings for James - not even Lucie who was to be her Parabatai.