Valentine's Arrow

21: Dust to Dust, Ashes to Ashes

So you feel entitled to a sense of control

And you make decisions that you think are your own

You are a stranger here, why have you come?

Why have you come, lift me higher, let me look at the sun

~ Mikky Ekko, Who Are You Really?

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

REBECCA

Rebecca's first instinct was to run to the Gard - in fact, she was almost there when she turned abruptly, her feet carrying her down familiar roads to the Lightwood house. She hoped that at least Robert would be there, even if the others weren't. As Inquisitor, he would know what to do. And as her father, he would hear her out... wouldn't he?

She arrived only slightly out of breath, tugged at the gates and sprinted up to the front door. "Robert!" she screamed. "Dad!"

The door opened almost immediately, and Isabelle stood there, covered in a long silk dressing gown. "What in the world-" she started to say. Then her mouth fell open.

But Rebecca paid her no heed. She darted past her sister and into the house, still yelling for her father. He came, barely ten seconds later, also in a dressing gown, his dark hair sleep mussed. He looked astonished to see his daughter standing there in the entrance of Lightwood manor, dressed in scarlet gear, shouting something about Sebastian.

But Robert had not been made Inquisitor for nothing. In less than two minutes, he had gleaned the whole story from Rebecca, and had roused half a dozen guards to go to Amatis's house, and half a dozen more to meet them at Lightwood manor.

Rebecca waited alone in the drawing room for the guards to arrive, her fingers tapping a nervous rhythm on the polished wooden table. It had been only five minutes since Robert had informed them, but it felt like an eternity.

The door to the drawing room opened, and Robert walked in, flanked by six guards. He inclined his head in Rebecca's direction, and the guards immediately strode over to her. One of them, a tall, broad-shouldered man with a buzz cut, grabbed her by the elbow.

"Hey!" Rebecca tried to shake herself free, but the guard held on to her with a grip like iron. She turned desperately to Robert. "Dad, what's going on?"

But Robert paid no attention to her. "Take her to the Gard," he said to the soldier holding Rebecca. He nodded stoically.

Emotions raged around in Rebecca like a storm - confusion, anger, hurt. In one swift motion, she twisted away from the guard, snapped up his sword and held it at his throat. But the others closed in swiftly, grabbing her arms, her shoulders, and snapping cuffs on her wrists.

Rebecca struggled desperately. "Dad, why are you doing this? You need to get Sebastian-"

Her voice cut off as abruptly and quickly as if someone had stolen her vocal cords. Rebecca choked, trying to say something, anything, and then she spotted the rune that one of the soldiers had marked her with - a rune of Quietude.

Robert met her eyes briefly, and though his face was expressionless, his eyes were filled with a deep sorrow. He quickly looked away as the guards marched his daughter out of Lightwood manor and up to the guard.

JACE

"I must say," Jace said, leaning against the bars, "that it has been quite dull without you around."

Rebecca looked up with a smile, which was in stark contrast to her surroundings. The prison at the Gard wasn't exactly sunny and cheerful. He could barely make out her face in the gloom.