The Wicked Ones is the sixth short story in Ghosts of the Shadow Market: An Anthology of Tales, co-written by Cassandra Clare and Robin Wasserman.
Description
Celine Montclaire goes to the Shadow Market to escape. She would go anywhere in Paris, or the entire world, to escape the suffering she experiences at the hands of her family. She did not expect to meet Valentine Morgenstern there, or to have him promise her freedom and the heart of the man she secretly loves.
On one condition, of course. At the Shadow Market, nothing is for free.[1][2][3]
Plot
|
the clarity of them.” This article contains content that was recently expanded and has not yet been reviewed by site staff. It may contain some errors and may not yet conform with the wiki's quality standards. |
It is 1989, in Paris. Céline is with Robert and Stephen, on a mission to the Paris Shadow Markets to track down a warlock, Dominique du Froid, whom Valentine accused of 'shady business dealings with two rogue Shadowhunters'. She is familiar with the Markets, as she'd sought refuge there as a child abused by her parents.
At the Markets, Céline watches Brother Zachariah purchase a heron necklace. To Brother Zachariah she confesses her love for Stephen Herondale; he hurriedly leaves in the middle of their conversation.
Dominique sprays Stephen with a potion, causing him to be enthralled with Céline; he kisses her. Together, they fight a flock of Halphas demons.
Back at their home base, Robert and Stephen torture Dominique for answers. The love spell on Stephen had worn off, and Céline overhears them laughing about her and calling her a pathetic child. She runs away.
On the streets, she discovers a Shax demon. She tracks it to the bridge where she finds Rosemary and Jack in an embrace, and kills it before it could attack. She witnesses Jack swallow a potion that transforms his face from young and handsome, to older and hideous. An Achaieral demon attacks Rosemary as soon as Jack leaves, and Céline saves her life. In exchange for her help, Rosemary offers her a warning: ‘Stay away from Valentine Morgenstern.’
Brother Zachariah gives back to Rosemary her heron necklace, now enchanted with a spell with which she could summon him.
Céline sneaks into Valentine’s apartment. Through eavesdropping on his conversation with the beaten-up Dominique, she discovers the warlock had been in business with him rather than two rogue Shadowhunters; she witnesses the warlock’s murder. Valentine tells her she’d used the warlock to plant evidence with which he could use to incriminate the Shadowhunters who were against the Circle. He intends for them to be killed on their way to the Silent City before they can be tried by the Sword. He offers Stephen Herondale in exchange for her silence.
Céline discovers at the sentencing that the accused Shadowhunters were her parents. Valentine tells her he never feared she would turn against him, as he understood the truth of her and knew he was doing her a favour. Céline chooses to let her parents pay for what they’d done to her, remain loyal to Valentine, and accepts the promised gift of Stephen.
Characters
- Céline Herondale
- Brother Zachariah / Jem Carstairs
- Stephen Herondale
- Robert Lightwood
- Dominique du Froid
- Unnamed werewolf
- Jack Crow
- Rosemary
- Valentine Morgenstern
- Tessa Gray
- Jules Montclaire
- Lisette Montclaire
Mentioned only:
Information
- This story is set in 1989 and features an encounter between Céline Montclaire's and Valentine Morgenstern.
Snippets
"But do you know why you prefer it? Why you chase the pain?"
She had never understood this about herself. Only knew it, in the deep, wordless way you knew your most essential truth.
There was something about pain that made her feel more solid, more real. More in control. Sometimes the pain felt like the only thing she could control.
"You covet pain, because you know it makes you strong," Valentine said. It felt like he had given name to her nameless soul. "You know why I understand you better than the rest of them? Because we're the same. We learned early, didn't we? Cruelty, harshness, pain: No one shielded us from the realities of life, and that made us strong. Most people, they're ruled by fear. They flee the specter of pain, and that makes them weak. You and I, Céline, we know the only way through is to face pain. To invite the cruelty of the world —and master it."
Céline had never thought of herself this way, hard and strong. She'd certainly never dared think of herself as anything like Valentine. "That's why I wanted you in the Circle. Robert, Stephen, the others? They're still just boys. Children playing at adult games. They haven't yet been tested—they will be, but not yet. You and I, though? We're special. We haven't been children for a long time."
No one had ever called her strong. No one had called her special.
Stephen clapped a hand to his heart. “Bien sûr, mademoiselle.” Unless you counted the starring role he played in her daydreams, Céline hadn’t seen Stephen since he’d graduated the Academy four years before. Back then, he’d barely noticed her. He was too busy with his training, his girlfriend, his friends in the Circle to give much thought to the slip of a girl whose eyes tracked his every move. But now, Céline thought, her cheeks burning again, they were practically equals. Yes, she was 17, still a student, while he was 22, not just a full-fledged adult but Valentine Morgenstern’s most trusted lieutenant in the Circle—the elite group of young Shadowhunters sworn to reform the Clave and return it to its pure and ancient glory. But Céline was finally a member of the Circle too, handpicked by Valentine himself.....