Fool For You [2]

Chapter Ten

        No one gathered for breakfast the following morning, and Rosalie was glad of it. She could not rid the image of Jessamine's shaking form holding the Mortal Sword from her mind, could not make herself forget everything Jessamine had said. She had been spying on them the entire time. That was why they could never get anywhere near Mortmain, why those automatons were in York. Everything Jessamine had done was hurtful and foolish, but the part that seemed to bother Rosalie the most was that she had married Nate. She married him blindly, never having realized he was only using her for information. One thing Rosalie had come to realize was that her brother was incapable of love. He had murdered their aunt, had tried to kill Rosalie. And even worse, he continued to hunt their younger sister for whatever plan Mortmain needed her for. Rosalie's hands balled into fists, her fingernails digging into the smooth skin of her palm. Never in a million years would she have thought Jessamine, pretty little Jessamine, was capable of such treachery. While she had not been particularly fond of the fair-haired girl, she still held a higher opinion of her. A grave mistake, as it would turn out. Rosalie inhaled sharply, uncurling her fingers to find bleeding indents where her nails had been. Shaking out her hand, she made her way into the bathroom to rinse the blood from her hand. Small red smudges marked the white hand towel as she delicately dabbed at the puncture wounds.

        Later in the morning, everyone had gathered in the drawing room. Rosalie was trying her best to tune out the conversation. She could no longer bear to hear Henry repeat "Our Jessamine." over and over again, nor could she bear to witness the shift of Charlotte's expression every time he said it. Everyone was understandably rattled by the betrayal, no one ever thought Jessamine to be capable of such a thing. Henry, finally seeming to notice the look on his wife's face, apologized and blew out a long breath. "I just..." he paused, as if searching for the right words. "I just did not think she hated us."
At this, Rosalie looked up from where she was sitting. Never in all of her time here had she seen him look so sad. "I don't think she does." Jem said with a decisive shake of his head. "I think she truly is just blind to the fact that she is being used as a pawn. All Jessamine ever wanted was to find love and move away from here, and he promised her all of those things."
"Jem is right." Tessa agreed. "Nate has always been very good at playing roles such as the devoted husband. If Jessamine knew him the way I do, she would have known better to believe that he loved her... she would have seen it in his eyes." 
Charlotte's head fell to rest in the palms of her hands. It was the look of a woman who had been truly and thoroughly defeated. "This is my fault," she said. "I should have never tried to force being a Shadowhunter on her when I knew just how much she despised it."
All eyes moved to Charlotte, no one really knowing what to say. Except Henry. He seemed to know precisely what to say. "You were never anything but kind to the girl," he began gently. "There are just some mechanisms that are well and truly broken-"
Charlotte's head snapped up instantly, anger bubbling in her eyes. "She is not a watch Henry!" she snapped before allowing her head to drop down once again.
"I think what Henry is trying to say," Rosalie said, her voice steady and calm, "is that you did the best you could for her, you all did. But it is as Jem said... she has always been desperate for love and a life outside of the world she was born into." it wasn't much, but it was the best she could offer Charlotte right now. It was all she could do to dissuade her aggression toward Henry.
"Yes, but Jessamine is not our only problem. Mortmain also has Benedict Lightwood spying on us." Tessa said, looking directly to her elder sister.
"Which means he can have no access to the Institute." Charlotte said. It seemed she was slowly regaining her composure.
"His ball last night should be enough to bar him from becoming the Head of the Institute, should it not?" Tessa asked curiously.
Charlotte gave a half nod. "The problem will be proving it."
"But Will, Tessa, and I all saw it. I saw the demons, the automatons... does that mean nothing?" Rosalie frowned, her head tilting ever-so-slightly to the side.
"It means a great deal that we have witnesses. It's whether or not the Clave will believe the words of children." Charlotte loosed a heavy breath. "And speaking of Will, where is he? He should be here for this-"
As if on command, the doors to the drawing room open to reveal a tired looking Will. "Late to the meeting, am I?" he asked with a smirk as he strolled into the room, dropping into a chair near where Jem was standing.