Clockwork Prince (The Infernal Devices 2)

They were passing not far from the scul ery door; Sophie gestured for Tessa to fol ow her, and together they crept close and peered inside. The scul ery was quite large, with doors leading off to the kitchen and pantry. The sideboard was piled with food meant for dinner-fish and vegetables, lately cleaned and prepared. Bridget stood at the sink, her hair standing out around her head in wild red curls, made frizzy by the humidity of the water.

She was singing too; Sophie had been quite right about that. Her voice drifting over the sound of the water was high and sweet.

"Oh, her father led her down the stair, Her mother combed her yellow hair.

Her sister A nn led her to the cross, And her brother John set her on her horse.

Now you are high and I am low, Give me a kiss before ye go. She leaned down to give him a kiss, He gave her a deep wound and did not miss.

And with a knife as sharp as a dart, Her brother stabbed her to the heart. "

Nates face flashed in front of Tessas eyes, and she shuddered. Sophie, looking past her, didnt seem to notice. "Thats all she sings about," she whispered. "Murder and betrayal. Blood and pain. Its horrid. "

Merciful y Sophies voice covered the end of the song. Bridget had begun drying dishes and started up with a new bal ad, the tune even more melancholy than the first.

"Why does your sword so drip with blood,

Edward, Edward?

Why does your sword so drip with blood?

And why so sad are ye?"

"Enough of this. " Sophie turned and began hurrying down the hal ; Tessa fol owed. "You do see what I meant, though? Shes so dreadful y morbid, and its awful sharing a room with her. She never says a word in the morning or at night, just moans-"

"You share a room with her?" Tessa was astonished. "But the Institute has so many rooms-"

"For visiting Shadowhunters," Sophie said. "Not for servants. " She spoke matter-of-factly, as if it would never have occurred to her to question or complain about the fact that dozens of grand rooms stood empty while she shared a room with Bridget, singer of murderous bal ads.

"I could talk to Charlotte-," Tessa began.

"Oh, no. Please dont. " They had reached the door to the training room.

Sophie turned to her, all distress. "I wouldnt want her to think Id been complaining about the other servants. I really wouldnt, Miss Tessa. "

Tessa was about to assure the other girl that she would say nothing to Charlotte if that was what Sophie really wanted, when she heard raised voices from the other side of the training room door. Gesturing at Sophie to be quiet, she leaned in and listened.

The voices were quite clearly those of the Lightwood brothers. She recognized Gideons lower, rougher tones as he said, "There Will be a moment of reckoning, Gabriel. You can depend upon it. What Will matter is where we stand when it comes. "

Gabriel replied, his voice tense, "We Will stand with Father, of course.

Where else?"

There was a pause. Then, "You dont know everything about him, Gabriel.

You dont know all that he has done. "

"I know that we are Lightwoods and that he is our father. I know he full y expected to be named head of the Institute when Granvil e Fairchild died-"

"Maybe the Consul knows more about him than you do. And more about Charlotte Branwell. She isnt the fool you think she is. "

"Real y?" Gabriels voice was a sneer. "Letting us come here to train her precious girls, doesnt that make her a fool? Shouldnt she have assumed wed be spying for our father?"

Sophie and Tessa looked at each other with round eyes.

"She agreed to it because the Consul forced her hand. And besides, we are met at the door here, escorted to this room, and escorted out. And Miss Col ins and Miss Gray know nothing of import. What damage is our presence here really doing her, would you say?"

There was a silence through which Tessa could almost hear Gabriel sulking. At last he said, "If you despise Father so much, why did you ever come back from Spain?"

Gideon replied, sounding exasperated, "I came back for you-"

Sophie and Tessa had been leaning against the door, ears pressed to the wood. At that moment the door gave way and swung open. Both straightened hastily, Tessa hoping that no evidence of their eavesdropping appeared on their faces.

Gabriel and Gideon were standing in a patch of light at the center of the room, facing off against each other. Tessa noticed something she had not noticed before: Gabriel, despite being the younger brother, was lankily tal er than Gideon by some inches. Gideon was more muscular, broader through the shoulders. He swept a hand through his sandy hair, nodding curtly to the girls as they appeared in the doorway. "Good day. "

Gabriel Lightwood strode across the room to meet them. He really was quite tall, Tessa thought, craning her neck to look up at him. As a tal girl herself, she didnt often find herself bending her head back to look up at men, though both Will and Jem were tal er than she was.

"Miss Lovelace still regrettably absent?" he inquired without bothering to greet them. His face was calm, the only sign of his earlier agitation a pulse hammering just beneath a Courage in Combat rune inked upon his throat.

"She continues to have the headache," said Tessa, following him into the training room. "We dont know how long shel be indisposed. "

"Until these training sessions are over, I suspect," said Gideon, so dryly that Tessa was surprised when Sophie laughed. Sophie immediately composed her features again, but not before Gideon had given her a surprised, almost appreciative glance, as if he werent used to having his jokes laughed at.