Daniel & The Lion

[Blackwater]

“I just want to go home.”


“And you think I don’t?”


“No, but you’re far more inclined to stay because of her.”


“She’s our friend, Lidia. She needs us.”


“I know.”


“And returning at this point would be a bad idea right now.”


“I know.”


“So why do you guilt me over this?”


“I’m sorry, ‘Mano. I hate this…”


“And you think I don’t?”


“At least you have her.”


“No, I don’t.”


“Sixty hours a week together and you mean to tell me you don’t?”


“She isn’t the sort of woman that anyone will ever have. I may be graced with her company but nobody will ever possess her, not in the way you mean.”


“She also isn’t Lucienne.”


“...I’m late for training. I’ll be back for lunch.”


“Daniel…”


“Let me know if you want anything before I come back.”


“Daniel!”


Slam.

[Blackwater]

A jarring of shoulders.


A scattering of books.


Flaxen waves left to curtain a bowed head as she stooped to retrieve them.


He wanted to stop but he knew she couldn’t see him.


Cerulean eyes lifted to meet him.


Or could she?


He faltered.


Paul was already a block and a half ahead of him.


A voice rang out.


Boyish, taunting, and getting louder by the syllable.


”Lucie! Lucienne? Où es-tu? Te voilà! Fille maladroite, vos livres sont partout.”


They wore matching school uniforms, differentiated only by her knee length skirt compared to his crisp trousers.


The boy squatted to help her pick up her books, his loosened tie swinging over the pile.


His hair was the same pale blonde as hers and his mirth crinkled eyes mirrored her blue.


“Ce garçon me heurta.”


So she had seen him.


Daniel froze.


“Qu'est-ce garçon?”


The girl looked up at Daniel again, her chin jutting out toward him.


“Ce garçon.”


He was only a few feet away but the boy, presumably her brother, looked up and right through him.


“N'êtes-vous pas une petite vieille pour les amis imaginaires, Lucie?”


Daniel exhaled the breath he had been holding.


It furthered the girl’s scrutiny upon him as he backed away.


The siblings picked up the last of the books and stood.


“Le garçon en noir, Etienne, il est juste là.”


She was insistent.


Her brother slung an arm around her delicate shoulders, a jovial laugh ringing through the springtime air.


“Parce que ce n'est pas une nouvelle. Est-il un autre ange, ma sœur?”


Behind him, Paul called his name, urging him to catch up.


The girl, Lucienne, frowned at Daniel, elbowed her brother, and stalked away from them both, continuing the way she had been going initially.


Once they were out of sight, Daniel turned and jogged after the older Shadowhunter who looked less than amused when he finally caught up.


“Everything all right?”


“Yes, just a minor hiccup.”


“Okay, well, keep up this time.”

[Blackwater]

“Try again.”


“Daniel…”


“Again, Nicanora.”


“I can’t.”


“You can and you will. Hit me this time.”


“I’m exhausted. I can’t think straight. I need a hot shower and half a dozen Thermis runes.”


“We’re staying here until we finish.”


“Are you ****ing deaf?! I. Can’t. Do. This.”


“Do it.”


“No.”


“Now!”


“I can’t!”


“You have to, Lucie, by the Angel, why don’t you understand this?!”


“...”


“...”


“Lucie?”


“Nevermind that. The longer you stall, the longer we’re stuck out here in the cold and the rain.”


“Who’s Lucie?”


“Drop it, Nicanora.”


“Tell me and I’ll do it.”


“Nica. Please.”


Rare were the moments he shortened her name but his tone was desperate.


“Fine.”

[Blackwater]

It took him a month to talk to her and when he finally did, it didn’t go anywhere close to well, Daniel thought.


The Marseilles skies were drab and grey, washing her already pale hair out even more.


She was alone.


He was too.


It took him four blocks to get the nerve to close the distance between them.


Even when he did, he still didn’t have it in him to make his presence known.


She turned a corner.


He did too.


With a surprising burst of agility, she dropped back at the last moment to slide behind him, pushing hard at his back to send him on a crash course with the weathered stone siding of a two story pâtisserie.


Daniel caught himself with ease but couldn’t masque the surprise in his expression when he nimbly turned to face her.


The dull glint of steel was the precursor to a shaking point of a petite stiletto blade.


“Pourquoi me suivez-vous?”


That was a very good question.


He put his hands up, palms out to show that he was harmless.


What a joke, right?


“Je suis Daniel. Nous ... nous avons couru dans un de l'autre une fois.”


“Votre accent. Êtes-vous anglais?”


Daniel shook his head.


He wasn’t English.


The English always thought he was French too.


There was no winning.


“Mais je parle anglais. Do you?”


“Yes. Now what do you want?”


“I … I wanted to apologize. I’m not used to …”


“People seeing you when you aren’t there?”


Daniel swallowed.


“I saw you dropped La Tulipe Noire. I wanted to give you this.”


There were better authors than Dumas, in Daniel’s opinion, but he wasn’t without his merits.


Slowly he tucked a hand into his jacket, the heavy leather gear creaking with the motion.


The withdrawal was just as slow, a necessity when you’re held at knifepoint.


The copy of Le Meneur de loups was pristine save for a minute bend in the spine from where it had been opened to read.


The pretty blonde looked down at the book then up at him, her pert nose scrunching with the scrutiny under which she had placed him.


“Why do they not see you?”


She gestured with the knife to indicate passersby who were staring at her like she was insane for talking to the wall.


“That’s complicated. But … could I buy you chouquette and we can walk for a bit?”


She was still giving him a narrow eyed look down her nose despite the fact she was significantly shorter than him.


“If not, I understand. You can keep the book though, I have another copy.”


After a pregnant pause, Lucienne withdrew the narrow handled blade, folded it shut and tucked it into the cuff of a high sock.


“Only for a little while.”

[Blackwater]

“Are you sure you’re ready for this?”


“As ready as I can be…”


“Maybe we should stay a little bit longer…”


“Daniel.”


“Lidia.”


“We’re running out of time to do this and I really don’t want to have this baby here…”


“I know…”


“So we go back and we face the music.”


“As Blackwaters do.”


“As Blackwaters do.”


“You’re remarkably calm.”


“What else can I be? Whatever will be, will be. Whatever will come, will come.”


“And if they take you away?”


“I expect it.”


”Lidia.”


“Mano, we face the music. The Angel will see me through.”


“Like He saw us through Christopher’s death?”


Lidia was silent.


“And Silvano’s?”


Lidia winced.


“Who else will end up with Nephilim blood on their hands before this is through?”


”Daniel.”


“Am I wrong? What is the likelihood of getting a fair trial with so much stacked against us?”


“Us? You did nothing, Daniel. The werewolves can attest to our innocence. The only one in any sort of legitimate danger of being punished is Nica.”


Daniel’s eyes narrowed on his sister. The look she returned was level, cool, acceptance in the finest fashion.


“She did nothing wrong either.”


“Will the Clave see it that way?”


It was Daniel’s turn to stew in his silence.


“That’s what I thought. Come on, we’re going to be late meeting up with Nica and Will.”

[Blackwater]

”I always thought that I was crazy, you know? My father, he says I have an overactive imagination.”


Lucienne rolled her eyes but Daniel was watching her mouth.


She was lovely when she spoke.


“But I’m not crazy, right? You’re real?”


Lucie pushed a piece of sugar sprinkled choux past her lips.


She was lovely when she ate.


“No, you’re not crazy. Yes, I’m real. But.”


“There’s always a but, isn’t there?”


“Typically yes.”


“And the but this time?”


“But you can’t tell people what you see.”


Somehow she was even lovely when she pouted.


Their walk had taken them out of the heart of Marseilles and toward the coast.


Daniel had always loved the Mediterranean for the brilliants blues of the sea.


But with a backdrop of grey skies, the dull waters couldn’t compare to her eyes.


Even if she was scowling at him.


“But why not?”


“Because you’re not supposed to be able to see things like that and if the wrong people find out that you can, then it could cause trouble for you.”


“So, what, I’m just supposed to live my life seeing things and people that aren’t there and pretend everything is fine?”


“For now…”


“And then what?”


“I… we’ll have to see.”


The silence lingered between them, broken only by the padding of feet and the distant lapping of waves at the shoreline.


“Will I see you again, Daniel?”


“Do you wish to?”


“I think so, yes.”


“Then yes, you’ll see me again.”

[Blackwater]

“Under penalty of death, she has told you everything she knows. Why is that not enough?”


“Daniel, still your tongue.”


“Father. You don’t mean to tell me that you’re going to let them continue to hold her indefinitely, do you? She has a child to tend to. A baby, for the Angel’s sake.”


“Daniel.”


A look alone could still him though it failed to quench the fire of his anger.


“Thank you, David.”


“But of course, Inquisitor.”


“While I know that your family is anxious to expedite Miss Blackwater’s trial, it is necessary for us to investigate fully before determining her fate.”


“Then can I at least see her? Grant me that at the very least?”


“Daniel.”


“No, David, his request is reasonable. Were it my daughter or sister, I would wish for the same.”


Daniel snorted against his better judgement.


David delivered a withering look that had the younger man relenting.


“You tread a thin line, Daniel. Are you willing to place your future on the line for your anger?”


Daniel didn’t answer.


“That’s what I thought. Come along then, you can have ten minutes with your sister.”

[Blackwater]

”Danny, she’s a Mundie. Do you realize what you’re risking?”


“She’s a Mundane with the Sight, Paul. It’s not as though I revealed us to someone with absolutely no inkling of what’s going on.”


“Sight or no Sight, you’re not only putting yourself at risk but me, the Institute, your family, the entire Shadow World.”


“Now you’re just being overdramatic.”


“I’m not being overdramatic. I’m following the rules.”


“Historically speaking, we’ve got a long history of working with Sighted Mundanes. Precedent says--”


“For the Angel’s ****ing sake, I don’t care about precedent. I care about the law as it stands now.”


“They’re also making accommodations for Sighted Mundanes as we speak. They even reopened the Academy in Idris.”


“Daniel.”


“Trust my judgement, Paul. Just… trust me.”


“Daniel, I…”


“Please? She’s special. I know she is. If there’s anyone who might be a good candidate for ascension, it’s her.”


“How sure are you?”


“I know it with everything in my heart.”


“That’s what I was afraid of. You’re thinking with your heart instead of your brain.”


“Just wait. I’m going to put in my recommendation soon. You’ll see then. The Clave will agree with me.”