"I am perfectly willing to go through first," Magnus said, with the long-suffering air of a schoolmaster in a room full of ill-behaved schoolboys. "There are a few things I need. We are hoping Tessa will be there; Will may be also; I should like some extra gear and weapons to bring through. I plan, of course, to wait for you on the other side, but should there be any--unexpected developments, it is always good to prepare."
Charlotte nodded. "Yes--of course." She glanced down for a moment. "I cannot believe no one has come to assist us. I thought, after my letter, at least a few--" She broke off, swallowing, and raised her chin. "Let me get Sophie. She can put together the things you need, Magnus. And she and Cyril and Bridget are meant to join us shortly." She vanished up the steps, Henry looking after her with worried fondness.
Gabriel could not blame him. It was obviously a severe blow to Charlotte that no one had answered her call and come to aid them, though he could have told her they would not. People were intrinsically selfish, and many hated the idea of a woman in charge of the Institute. They would not put themselves at risk for her. Only a few weeks ago he would have said the same thing about himself. Now, knowing Charlotte, he realized to his surprise, the idea of risking himself for her seemed an honor, as it would be to most Englishmen to risk themselves for the queen.
"How does one make the Portal work?" Cecily asked, glancing at the glowing archway as if it were a painting in a gallery, her dark head cocked to the side.
"It will transport you instantly from one place to another," said Henry. "But the trick is--well, that part is magic." He said the word a little nervously.
"You need to be picturing the place you're going to," said Magnus. "It won't work to take you to a place you have never been and cannot imagine. In this case, to get to Cadair Idris, we are going to need Cecily. Cecily, how close to Cadair Idris do you believe you can bring us?"
"To the very top," Cecily said confidently. "There are several paths that will bring you up the mountain, and I have walked two of them with my father. I can remember the crest of the mountain."
"Excellent," Henry said. "Cecily, you will stand before the Portal and visualize our destination--"
"But she's not going first, is she?" Gabriel demanded. The moment the words were out of his mouth, he was startled. He hadn't meant to say them. Ah, well, in for a penny, in for a pound, though, he thought. "I meant: She is the least trained of us all; it wouldn't be safe."
"I can go through first," Cecily said, looking as if she were not in the least grateful for Gabriel's support. "I see no reason why--"
"Henry!" It was Charlotte, reappearing at the foot of the steps. Behind her were the servants of the Institute, all in training gear--Bridget, looking as if she were out for a morning stroll; Cyril, set and determined; and Sophie, carrying a large leather bag.
Behind them were three more men. Tall men, in parchment robes, moving with peculiar gliding motions.
Silent Brothers.
Unlike any other Silent Brothers that Gabriel had seen before, though, these were armed. Weapons belts were cinched around their waists, over their robes, and from their belts hung long, curved blades, their hilts made of shimmering adamas, the same material used to make steles and seraph blades.
Henry looked up, puzzled--then guiltily, from the Portal, to the Brothers. His lightly freckled face paled. "Brother Enoch," he said. "I--"
Calm yourself. The Silent Brother's voice rang out in all their minds. We have not come to warn you of any possible breach of the Law, Henry Branwell. We have come to fight with you.
"To fight with us?" Gideon looked amazed. "But Silent Brothers don't-- I mean, they aren't warriors--"
That is incorrect. Shadowhunters we were and Shadowhunters we remain, even when changed to become Brothers. We were founded by Jonathan Shadowhunter himself, and though we live by the book, we may yet die by the sword if we so choose.
Charlotte was beaming. "They learned of my message," she said. "They came. Brother Enoch, Brother Micah, and Brother Zachariah."
The two Brothers behind Enoch inclined their heads silently. Gabriel fought off a shiver. He had always found the Silent Brothers eerie, though he knew they were an integral part of Shadowhunter life.
"Brother Enoch also told me why no one else came," Charlotte said, the smile vanishing from her face. "Consul Wayland convened a Council meeting this morning, though he told us nothing of it. Attendance for all Shadowhunters was mandatory by Law."
Henry's breath hissed out through his teeth. "That ba--bad man," he finished, with a quick glance at Cecily, who rolled her eyes. "What's the Council meeting about?"
"Replacing us as heads of the Institute," Charlotte said. "He still believes Mortmain's attack will come against London, and that a strong leader here is needed to stand against the clockwork army."
"Mrs. Branwell!" Sophie, in the act of handing to Magnus the bag she had been carrying, nearly dropped it. "They can't do that!"
"Oh, they very well can," said Charlotte. She looked around at all their faces, and raised her chin. In that moment, despite her small size, Gabriel thought, she seemed taller than the Consul. "We all knew this would come," she said. "It does not matter. We are Shadowhunters, and our duty is to each other and to what we think is right. We believe Will, and we believe in Will. Faith has brought us this far; it will bring us a little farther. The Angel watches over us, and we shall win out."
Everyone was silent. Gabriel looked around at their faces--determined, every one--and even Magnus seemed, if not moved or convinced, considering and respectful. "Mrs. Branwell," he said at last. "If Consul Wayland does not consider you a leader, he is a fool."
Charlotte inclined her head toward him. "Thank you," she said. "But we should waste no more time--we must go, and quickly, for this matter can wait on us no longer."
Henry looked for a long moment at his wife, and then toward Cecily. "Are you ready?"
Will's sister nodded, and moved forward to stand before the Portal. Its gleaming light cast the shadow of unfamiliar runes across her small, determined face.
"Visualize," said Magnus. "Imagine as hard as you can that you are looking at the top of Cadair Idris."
Cecily's hands clenched at her sides. As she stared, the Portal began to move, the runes to ripple and change. The darkness within the archway lightened. Suddenly Gabriel was no longer looking at shadow. He was gazing at a portrait of a landscape that could have been painted within the Portal--the green curve of the top of a mountain, a lake as blue and deep as the sky.
Cecily gave a little gasp--and then, unprompted, stepped forward, and vanished through the archway. It was like watching a sketch being erased. First her hands vanished into the Portal, and then her arms, outstretched, and then her body.
And she was gone.
Charlotte gave a little shriek. "Henry!"
There was a buzzing in Gabriel's ears. He could hear Henry reassuring Charlotte that this was the way the Portal was meant to function, that nothing untoward had happened, but it was like a song half-heard from another room, the words a rhythm without meaning. All he knew was that Cecily, braver than all of them, had stepped through the unknown doorway and was gone. And he could not let her go alone.
He moved forward. He heard his brother call his name, but he ignored him; pushing past Gideon, he reached the Portal, and stepped through it.
For a moment there was nothing but blackness. Then a great hand seemed to reach out of the darkness and snatch hold of him, and he was pulled into the whirling inky maelstrom.
The great Council room was full of people shouting.
On the raised platform at the center stood Consul Wayland, staring out at the shouting throng with a look of furious impatience on his face. His dark eyes raked the Shadowhunters congregated in front of him: George Penhallow was locked in a screaming match with Sora Kaidou of the Tokyo Institute; Vijay Malhotra was jabbing a thin finger into the chest of Japheth Pangborn, who rarely left his manor house in the Idris countryside these days, and who had turned as red as a tomato at the indignity of it all. Two of the Blackwells had cornered Amalia Morgenstern, who was snapping at them in German. Aloysius Starkweather, all in black, stood beside one of the wooden benches, his wiry limbs nearly bent up around his ears as he glared up at the podium with sharp old eyes.
The Inquisitor, standing beside Consul Wayland, slammed his wooden staff down against the floor hard enough to nearly shatter the floorboards. "That is ENOUGH!" he roared. "All of you will be silent, and you will be silent now. SIT DOWN."
A ripple of shock went through the room--and, to the Consul's evident surprise, they sat. Not quietly, but they sat--all who had room to sit. The chamber was filled to bursting; this many Shadowhunters rarely appeared at any one meeting. There were representatives here from all the Institutes--New York, Bangkok, Geneva, Bombay, Kyoto, Buenos Aires. Only the London Shadowhunters, Charlotte Branwell and her cohorts, were absent.
Only Aloysius Starkweather remained standing, his ragged dark cloak flapping about him like crow's wings. "Where is Charlotte Branwell?" he demanded. "It was understood from the message you sent out that she would be here to explain the contents of her message to the Council."
"I will explain the contents of her message," said the Consul through gritted teeth.
"It would be preferable to hear it from her," said Malhotra, his dark eyes keen as he looked from the Consul to the Inquisitor and back. Inquisitor Whitelaw looked drawn, as if he had been suffering recent sleepless nights; his mouth was tight at the corners.
"Charlotte Branwell is overreacting," said the Consul. "I take full responsibility for having put her in charge of the London Institute. It was something I should never have done. She has been relieved of her position."