We Are All Drawn to What's Broken & Beautiful

Revelations

To say he was horrified when he was led to Magnus' chambers would be an understatement.

Magnus' half-eaten dinner was still set on his bed, the wineglass tipped over, sickly sweet-smelling liquid soaking into the velvet coverlet. The man himself was sprawled out across the mattress. His robes were half opened, exposing golden tanned skin and his mirror sat in his slack grip, reflecting golden cat eyes.

"Magnus!" Alec stumbled to the bed, his heart in his mouth.

The candlelight danced off Magnus' sleeping face as he knelt, casting shadows over golden skin. Alec brushed a hand over Magnus' cheekbone, pressing his face into the crook of his neck with a low moan of despair.

He had hoped with Camille distracted, he would be able to get to Magnus early enough that he would still be awake. The sun had only been down for a few hours and he was already too late.

Magnus smelled like roses, like the roses he loved so dearly back in his castle and wine.

Alec glanced at the spilt wine, righting the wineglass. He swallowed hard, rising to his feet to clear away the tray of food.

It did not seem right, that Magnus would fall asleep in the middle of his meal. Unless a spell had been cast over him or—.

Alec stirred the soup, leaning over to sniff it.

He recoiled at the smell.

Valerian.

Just by stirring it, he could see chunks of the root mixed in with the soup.

Magnus had been drugged.

Rage boiled under Alec's skin as he put aside the tray, tugging Magnus' robes to cover his body fully. A chill was coming in from the window, blowing aside the drapes and under him, Magnus shivered.

He drew the dry part of the covers over Magnus, trying not to disturb him. Not that he could. Magnus would sleep soundly through the night if the amount of sedative in his soup were any indication.

Alec gritted his teeth. Of course, Camille would pull something like this. She knew something that he did not, that Magnus was likely to recognize him in close quarters.

With a growl, Alec yanked the drapes shut before returning to Magnus' side.

He pulled out his paintbrush, settling onto the stool beside the bed. With a deft hand, he painted two white flowers onto the side of Magnus' arm. A trillium and a daisy.

The latter was a message and the other, he was hoping would be a trigger.

Magnus had once caused daisies to bloom across the bank of a pond in his distress of discovering Alec watching him swim. The mere memory was enough to make Alec smile as he tucked the daisy behind Magnus' ear.

The trillium he left in Magnus' hands, bending to kiss his knuckles. Magnus stirred as he did so, a soft smile tugging on his lips and Alec wondered what he was dreaming of. He hoped it was a good thing.

Smoothing Magnus' hair away from his face, he kissed his forehead, laying his head down next to him. He could have spent the entire night watching Magnus sleep, creepy as it sounded. There was a softness, a peacefulness in his face that was absent when he was awake now. Alec cupped his cheek, tracing a thumb over Magnus' lips.

He would get him back if it was the last thing he did.

-

Magnus stirred awake groggily, sleep clinging to his eyelids as he pushed aside the covers that he definitely did not put over himself. The mattress smelled like red wine and he briefly remembered the glass that he had tipped over the night before.