True Colors ¹ ✧ A. Lightwood

XIV • Just Breathe

All day Lydia was trying to figure out who helped Jace and Clary; besides the Downworlders. There was a Shadowhunter helping and no one knew who.

Of course, Alec had his suspicions of his little sister, and I couldn't deny them either. It was almost obvious but I knew that if I weren't trying to gain Alec's trust, I would've been helping her free Meliorn. It was the right thing to do, even if it was breaking the law.

I was walking out of the kitchen, finishing a juicy green Granny Smith apple when I watch as Izzy gets put into handcuffs. As I step closer, tossing my apple's core into the bin next to me, Isabelle speaks up.

"You know what, Lydia? You're no better than Valentine. But at least he had the guts to tell Downworlders to their faces he wanted them all dead. You, hide behind the law." Izzy kept her cool, remaining stoic. I stood there, next to Alec and he glanced at me to see who was standing beside him. I look into his eyes with sympathy before looking back over at Lydia.

"I don't hide behind it, Isabelle. I simply follow it. Because it guards against one very important thing. Shadowhunters fighting other Shadowhunters." I heard enough from Valentine's group of Circle members to know what that meant.

Alec turned to the blonde envoy with incredulity and spoke, "If she is convicted, she'll be stripped of her runes and banished." Izzy hands over her stele to the other Shadowhunter, whom I still haven't learned the name of. "I can't let that-"

Isabelle cut him off, "Don't. It's not your fight." The other Shadowhunter grabs her arm and takes her out of our line of sight. Alec glances at Lydia in disbelief once more before leaving too, but not with me following after.

He ends up walking to his room and shutting the door almost completely before I stop it with my hands and knock gently, "Hey, got a minute?" I ask him while moving in. He has his hands on the back of his neck, trying to think and relieve stress.

He nods at me, motioning for me to shut the door behind me. I step in and oblige before walking towards him slowly. 

"I know this is really bad, but you can't get mad at Lydia. She's following the law because even if she sided with Isabelle they could see her as apart of it, she could get de-runed too. It was probably very hard for her. Lydia stays on a fence of battling what's right and what is the law." I talk softly, helping him to calm down. I was standing about a foot away from him, my heart racing and my feelings were stirring but I had no idea what they really meant. 

He took a deep sigh and looked into my eyes, "I know. You're right, but she's my sister. What am I supposed to do? Wait and let it happen?" Alec turned away from me, head in his hands. I stepped closer, resting my hand on his shoulder tenderly. My voice was soft and almost in a hushed tone.

"Alec, everything will turn out okay. I know it's scary for you, truly. Isabelle was so nice to me when I arrived and she's such a great person. You have to have hope, okay? Look at me," He turned back around to face, our eyes meeting again. I could see the defeat and determination in his own blue ones, "You are so worried, with good reason, but you can't think clearly. She is your sister, she's the most important thing to you. Clear your mind and think of what you could do to help her. Is there anything the Clave would want more?" I try helping him fill his mind with ideas, but I have no idea if it is working. We both seem to notice how close we're standing to each other as he glances at my hand that had slid from his shoulder to his chest when he turned to face me, my face inches away from his.

There was this pull that seemed to be connecting itself between him and me, but the only question in my mind was if he felt it too.

"I have to speak with Lydia," He hadn't moved yet, "there's one thing I have that they would want more than Isabelle." For a split second, as he stared at my face, I thought he might trade me over. "The Cup." On the inside, I was completely relieved it wasn't me.