The Infernal Devices Rewritten

Chapter 16 - The Clockwork Princess

Chapter 16

The Clockwork Princess

Evan woke up with a pounding headache and her usual yearn for waffles and whipped cream. There was a dull ache in her right arm but when she looked down at herself, she couldn't see anything. It was dark out, she realized. She wondered what time it was - was it too early to get ready for school? Was it Saturday on a particular rainy day? Why would her mother let her sleep in so late -?

"Evan?" The accent was undeniably American. Undeniably recognizable. Tessa Gray. "Evan, are you awake? Oh, please say something -"

"What is going on?" Her voice was papery thin. Evan looked around in the darkness, catching the glinting of her companion who seemed to be trapped behind a glass wall.

"What's the last thing you remember?" Tessa stood at the glass wall, her hands splayed out against it. Her necklace, although no longer a clockwork prison, glinting on her neck along with the jade pendant.

Evan thought back, she remembered the Silent Brother's pulling up the Institute - she remembered the Brother's death but then the rest was a blur. The pain in her right arm increased and Evan sat up, scrambling against the stone cold ground. "Tessa? Seriously, what's going on?"

"Mortmain has us." Tessa said after a moment, and Evan caught her eyes sparkling with tears and catching the light of a flame behind her. She was being careful, Evan knew, careful not to upset her.

Evan took a deep breath. "I remember something grabbing my arm... I think someone stuffed something in my mouth but I don't know...."

"You've been unconscious for four days, Evan." Tessa's voice was carried through the room.

"Where are we?"

"A cave... under a mountain. You said it was Cadair Idris? I believe you were right, Evan." Tessa said.

Evan walked up to the wall, looking up at Tessa. "So we are officially trapped here," Evan said, hoping she didn't sound dumb.

"Yes," Tessa's voice was soft. "But the Shadowhunters will come for us, Evan, I know they will."

Evan nodded distractedly in agreement. "You should have gone in the Institute when I said," Evan said after many minutes of silence.

"I had gone," Tessa admitted. "But I saw you being attacked - I rushed to help you but Mrs. Black grabbed me." Evan gasped at the pain in her arm again, more noticeable now. "They broke your arm, Evan."

"You can't say yes to Mortmain no matter what he does, Tessa." Evan said forcefully. "No matter what."

There was no answer.

"Tessa?" Evan repeated. "Tessa, you cannot do what he wants!"

"He injected you with... with something -" Tessa cried. "I don't know what - and he said he wouldn't heal you until I did what he asked -"

"So you're going to marry him?" Evan argued. "You're going to give him what he wants? Tessa - I won't let you."

"You'll die." Tessa's voice was hard to hear.

Evan swallowed the dryness in her mouth, but she refused to cry. "One death is hardly a price to pay for the world's continuation."

Tessa choked on a sob, her nails scraping against the invisible barrier. "What about Will? He'll go mad, Evan. He'd die with grief. It would kill Jem - and I... I'd hardly be able to live with myself if I let you die."

Evan couldn't say anything to it. "Do not do what Mortmain you." Evan instead begged. "Promise me, Tessa."

"I would not, Miss Gray." A cold voice rung out in the cave - with it, lighting the fire on Tessa's side of the prison. "It would become very painful for Miss DeLuca."