Invisible string~ Matthew Fairchild {1}

Seven

When Amelia arrived at Anna's flat, she was greeted by Anna smoking by her door. "Amelia," she said. "What do I have to do to get you on time for tea?"

"My sincerest apologies, dearest cousin," Amelia said jokingly. "James was explaining something to us."

"I see. Well, come on in. Cordelia and I have been anxiously awaiting your arrival."

"Cordelia's here?"

Anna opened the door to her flat. Sure enough, there sat Cordelia Carstairs. "Miss Lightwood," she said. "It's great to see you again."

Amelia laughed. "Please, call me Amelia. All these formalities give me a headache. It's nice to see you, Cordelia."

"Now, tell us all of your secrets," said Anna, flinging herself onto the sofa.

"I don't have think I should. I don't know you particularly well," Cordelia said.

Anna laughed. "You are very straight forward.  But I must ask, why did you come to tea if you did not wish to gossip?"

"I never said I did not wish to gossip," said the red haired girl. "Just not about myself."

The kettle let out a shriek. Anna disappeared into the kitchen, only to reappear in an instant.  "Sugar? I haven't any milk."

"I would love some," said Amelia.

Cordelia shook her head. "No sugar for me."

Anna came back into the parlor, handing Cordelia her tea, then Amelia, then she sat down with her own. "Well then, if you wish to gossip but refuse to tell us about yourselves, tell us about your brother. Is he as awful as he used to be at school?"

"Did you go to school with him?" Asked Cordelia.

"Anna was lucky enough to not attend the academy with Alastair, but I did," said Amelia. "He was rather rude, but quite nice in comparison to everyone else."

"Alastair is rather awful," Cordelia admitted. "But I don't think he means to be."

"Perhaps he was in love? People can be awful when they're in love," said Anna.

Cordelia shook her head. "We haven't been here long enough to have fallen in love. Besides, the things that have happened would not put one in a falling-in-love mood."

Amelia chuckled dryly. "I envy the person who can maintain good spirits in our current situation."

"What did your father do, exactly?" Asked Anna, sending Amelia a worried look.

Cordelia nearly upset her teacup. "Excuse me?"

Amelia cleared her throat, grateful for the topic change."What she means is that he must have done something dreadful to be put on trial by the Clave, and it must have been truly awful if your family moved to London because of it."

"Amelia is correct," Anna said. "Everyone knows that your mother has come here to try to integrate your family back into society."

Cordelia seemed desperate to change the subject. "Why did you want to get to know me? I'm younger than both of you, and you must have more interesting people to invite to tea."

Amelia laughed. "Here in London, we have some of the most boring people you will ever meet. You're the new girl here, and we all needed a change. And you're to be Lucie's parabatai. A friend of Lucie's is a friend of ours."

"And I wanted to see if you were good enough for Jamie since Matthew is... he needs time to figure out exactly what he's after. On that note, I must change." Anna went into her bedroom and shut the door behind her.

"What exactly did she mean?" Asked Cordelia.

"Whether you were good enough to know his secrets," said Amelia, though she was just as confused as Cordelia. "Be a muse, of some sort. Though I'm not sure what she means by Matthew needing to figure out what he's after."

"I don't want to be a muse. I want to be a hero."

"Amelia!" A deep voice echoed through the hallways. The door burst open, and Matthew Fairchild came through it, breathing heavily. "Amelia, Anna, you won't believe—" he broke off, seeing Cordelia. "What are you doing here?"

"She's having tea with us," answered Amelia indignantly. "Must you be so rude?"

"My apologies. Where's Anna?"

"She's in her bedroom," said Cordelia.

"Alone?" Asked Matthew, sitting down next to Amelia. The couch they sat on was small, and there was hardly any space between the two shadowhunters. He draped his arm around her, and she grinned at him.

"Matthew, Don't be awful!" Anna exclaimed from her bedroom.

Matthew grinned, but it slowly turned into a frown as he spoke. "I have already had a maddening day. James has been slandered by Tatiana Blackthorn, and my rotten older brother is backing her up to the hilt. James has gone off to rendezvous with Grace. Also, Amelia and I have to be at Fleet Street by midnight."

Anna emerged from her room, dressed as posh as ever. "Quite a dreadful tale," she said. "Shall we be going?"

"Certainly," said Matthew, getting up from his seat. "Cordelia, it was lovely, if surprising, to see you."

"There is no need to say farewell," Anna said, pulling on a pair of gloves. "She will be coming with us. It is why I invited her here in the first place."

"I thought you wanted to have tea!" Cordelia objected.

Amelia grinned at the younger girl. "Tea is always an excuse for a clandestine agenda."

"Nobody ever wishes to just have tea," said Anna with a short nod.

Matthew sighed. "Anna. Cordelia is a proper young lady, and she—"

"Stop right there," said Amelia, rising from her spot on the sofa. "Cordelia, you wish to be a hero, correct?"

The girl nodded. "I do."

Amelia glared at Matthew. "One cannot become a hero staying at home and stitching samplers. Matthew, stop being hostile towards Cordelia. If you wish to help my sister and those in the same situation as her, shut your mouth and help. Insulting people does nothing."

Matthew's voice cracked as he spoke. "I thought Barbara was getting better. Thomas said—"

"Thomas does not wish to face the reality that our sister may never wake up." Her voice was sharper than she intended. "He refuses to even entertain the possibility that our family may never be whole again."

Matthew's face softened as he saw the tears beginning to form in Amelia's eyes. "Lia," he breathed. "I'm so—"

"Please, Math, don't. I can't do this right now."

"The Silent Brothers have put the wounded to sleep," said Cordelia. "They hope that they will wake up, but..."

"Hope is not a solution," said Anna. "I am not happy with the way the Clave has decided to handle the situation. They insist it was a random attack that did not take place in broad daylight, but under cloud cover."

"But no mundanes were attacked, only Shadowhunters," Cordelia objected.

"And when Piers fell, the sun was still visible," said Matthew.

"You begin to see the problem," said Anna. "Several Enclave members made those very points, among them my parents. But the majority prefer to think that this is not something new."

"They are afraid of the unknown," said Amelia.

"I am certain that this is something we have not faced before," Anna continued. "And the first people to know of new supernatural threats? Downworlders. We should be asking questions in the Downworld."

Amelia smiled, wiping at her eyes. "We're going to the Hell Ruelle."

Another filler chapter, but this was one that needed to be written. Let me know what you think of this chapter!