Kingdom of Lies

Chapter 15

HOLA MUCHACHOS!

I am really excited to write this chapter! Hope you guys are excited to read it xD

Jace is gonna be making an appearance in this chapter, so stay tuned!

Y'all ready?

LEGGO.

I nervously clutch the thin brown material further over my head, praying to the Angel no more of my hair shows.
Though I had gotten a set of clothes from Helen that do an excellent job of letting me morph into the crowd, part of me knows I have one the most recognisable faces in the kingdom.

I keep my head as low as I can without crashing into somebody, disoriented by the strong of civilians that pass by.
Valentine had kept me sheltered away from reality, and now I was paying the price for my solitude.

Yet as I look around the cobblestone streets filled with dozens of people who call to one another, part of me can't help but being mesmerised, astonished at how each individual seemed to share a beating heart in between each other.
How everybody knew everybody and wasted no time in meeting the ones they didn't.
It's astonishingly beautiful to me.

I let my pace slow for a minute, taking my time to study the faces of each and every person that brushes past me, caught up in realising how all are in their own universes, filled with their own problems and worries and woes.
And how I had my own, yet everybody seemed to have a bigger hand it in than even I had.

The kingdom is much larger than I expected it to be.
The stores and boutiques, street markets and stalls are all crowded and bright, displaying fruits, foods, clothing and weaponry that glow in the hot sun, calling to me and the large pouch of gold I carry.
It takes a considerable amount of self control to not purchase the spider silk scarf in the loveliest shade of blue, or the seraph blade I could have engraved.

This money is for the seer do not buy a dress. I chide myself, keeping my eyes focused on what I pray is still the right path.
Simon had drilled the pathway into my head before I left this morning, though I know he was massively anxious about me even considering this.

I can barely focus on anything else than the turns ahead, terrified of accidentally ending up in some shady alley- then again wasn't that where I was going anyways?

I murmur my short apologies when I crash into dozens of people on my reckless path, yet I refuse to let my hands release the hood.
I can't risk being seen and followed- the news that the Herondale Queen is sneaking off to see a seer would not sit well with shadowhunters of all kingdoms. So I keep my head down as I round a corner that seems to lead away from the busiest parts of the kingdom.
Fewer people roam the streets now and they all seem to be glancing around in suspicion, as if afraid of being spotted.
I know I'm in the right place.

At the end of a cold and quiet alleyway is a tiny, ramshackle shed.
Velvet purple paint peels off in dirty curls that remind me of tears, covering warped and musty wood long since splintered. The entire tiny building looks like the place where parents would clutch the hands of their children tighter as they walk by.
And I'm going into it- wonderful plan, Clarissa.

My breath stutters slightly as I step close to the wood, wrinkling my nose at the pungent smell that seems to emanate from the wood.
Knuckles white as I clutch the hood, I cringe at the creak as I rap my knuckles lightly against of the side, afraid of the entire thing collapsing. No answer.

A beat passes,and I decide breaking and entering isn't something you can get in trouble for when you're queen- right? I ignore the feeling of the frayed curtain as I pull it aside, peering into the dimly lit inside.
But the second I step into the deep black, candles flair all around with a shocking hiss.