Clockwork Prince is the second novel in The Infernal Devices series by Cassandra Clare. Chronologically, it is the second story in The Shadowhunter Chronicles.
Synopsis
In the magical underworld of Victorian London, Tessa Gray, has at last found safety with the Shadowhunters. But that safety proves fleeting when rogue forces in the Clave plot to see her protector, Charlotte, replaced as head of the Institute. If Charlotte loses her position, Tessa will be out on the street, and easy prey for the mysterious Magister, who wants to use Tessa's powers for his own dark ends.
With the help of the handsome, self-destructive Will and the fiercely devoted Jem, Tessa discovers that the Magister’s war on the Shadowhunters is deeply personal. He blames them for a long-ago tragedy that shattered his life.
To unravel the secrets of the past, the trio journeys from mist-shrouded Yorkshire to a manor house that holds untold horrors, from the slums of London to an enchanted ballroom where Tessa discovers that the truth of her parentage is more sinister than she had imagined. When they encounter a clockwork demon bearing a warning for Will, they realize that the Magister himself knows their every move, and that one of their own has betrayed them.
Tessa finds her heart drawn more and more to Jem, but her longing for Will, despite his dark moods, continues to unsettle her. But something is changing in Will; the wall he has built around himself is crumbling. Could finding the Magister free Will from his secrets, and give Tessa the answers about who she is and what she was born to do?
As their dangerous search for the Magister and the truth leads the friends into peril, Tessa learns that when love and lies are mixed, they can corrupt even the purest heart.
Plot
The Book starts off with William in Cross Bones Graveyard, meeting with the ghost, Molly, for Foraii demon powders. The ghost gives Will the powders, but Will asked if there is a potion that could put an end to being in love. The ghost laughs, and tells him that there are a lot of ways to make a girl hate him. However when she diappears, William says, 'No not for her. For me.'
Tessa and Jem are making their way to The Council Chamber, but Jem stops and shows her Poet's Corner in Westminster Abbey. They meet Will there, and they all make their way to the Chamber. There, Tessa and Charlotte are to testify the events of the night that the Magister invaded the Institute. The Consul listens and then gives them their sentence. But before he can finish, Benedict Lightwood stands up and challenges Charlotte's command of The Institute. The Consul then proposes a bargain: Charlotte has to find the Magister, or at least, have strong evidence to indicate where he is, in a fortnight. If she fails, then Benedict's challenge may go forward. Also, Gabriel and Gideon, Benedict's two sons have to train Tessa and Sophie and Jessamine.
The Institute inhabitants get to work by looking for any information on Mortmain. Then, Jem has an idea to look in the Reparations - a petition downworlders and mundanes may use to gain compensation for injust actions by the Clave - to find out if Mortmain has tried to go through the system, and it failed him. Tessa goes with him, not wanting to be in an environment with Will. She and Will then have a hostile talk, before Will leaves.
Magnus and Will are in Magnus' apartment, and Magnus summons the demon, Thammuz. Magnus asks if Thammuz has ever encountered Will before, but Thammuz says no. William then confirms that the demon was the wrong one, and Magnus then sends the demon away.
Sophie walks toward Jessamine's room, but hears Tessa and Jem coming, wanting to avoid seeing those two together, as Sophie has a crush on Jem; she ducks into a random unused guest room, leaving the door ever so slightly ajar. Tessa and Jem passes - discussing Jessamine's taste in men and about the Lightwood brothers whom are to arrive tomorrow to train Sophie and Tessa. After Tessa and Jem passes, Sophie notices Jessamine, dressed as a man, exiting her room acting suspiciously.
The next day, Jem, accompanying Tessa and Sophie both dressed in Shadowhunter battlegear, meet the Lightwood brothers - Jessamine claims to have a headache and thus will not participate in training. Gideon and Gabriel Lightwood introduces Jem, Tessa and Sophie to their new servants - Cyril Tanner and Bridget Daly. Gabriel in an attempt to goad Jem, Tessa and Sophie, asks to fight with Cyril to show the girls what a trained servant is able, this upsets Sophie (who claims that Thomas was well trained). Cyril and Gabriel fight, Cyril loses, but Bridget jumps surprising Gabriel, and pins him down. Jem leaves and the girls spend the day training with Gabriel and Gideon. Gabriel trains Tessa and Gideon trains Sophie.
At Dinner, Charlotte is not present, as she has gone to Bone City to check on the Reparation log book, per the suggestion of Jem. The group make small talk, till Charlotte dashes in holding a parchment, claiming to have found something about Axel Mortmain. It is revealed that Axel was adopted by two warlocks - John Thaddeus Shade and Anne Evelyn Shade. However, the Clave killed both the Shades for possessing the Book of the White, and for working on binding souls. Mortmain filled a Reparation at the York Institute, headed by Aloysius Starkweather. Charlotte dislikes Aloysius because he and her father had a falling out. However, she does write to him asking for information regarding Mortmain. After Dinner, whilst Charlotte writes the letter, Tessa goes to the library in search of books to read, while looking, Will approaches her, and they have a conversation; he discusses how in A Tale of Two Cities, Sydney Carton's sacrifice is one of despair, because he is lost without his love (Lucie), but knows that if she were with him it would only degrade her. (This is obviously self referential, Sydney is himself, and Tessa is Lucie).
The next day, Aloysius Starkweather has denied Charlotte access to the information she wants; Tessa, Will and Jem try to find a way to get it. They decide that Tessa, Will and Jem should go to York, and retrieve something of Aloysius, so that Tessa may Change into him, and gain his knowledge. At the mean time, Sophie has an issue with Bridget, who sings depressing songs of death and beheadment and the like. Later that evening, Tessa receives a gift at her door, a book - Vathek by William Beckford, in the cover, Will has written a funny poem.
The next morning, Tess, Jem and Will depart to York from Kings Cross station. Whilst on the train, they discuss what to tell Aloysius regarding the reason for their visitation. They settle on a confabulation with Tessa being engaged to Jem, and being ascended, and visiting the York Institute to gain a greater insight into the life of a Shadowhunter. At arriving in York, Aloysius's driver meets the gang, and they go to the York Institute.
At the York Institute, Jem, Tessa and Will are having an awful time (the food is bad and everyone is old). Surprisingly Aloysius decides to give them the information that they wanted, including an address of an old house, previously inhabitited by Mortmain. Aloysius then goes on to show them the Spoils Room - a room full of mummified bodies and skulls and faerie wings, eyeballs and the like; later that night Tessa has a nightmare, and Will runs in to comfort her, however Tessa has not forgiven Will for the cruel words he uttered whilst on the roof on the day of Agatha and Thomas' funeral, and asks Will to leave. The next morning Jem et al. decide to go check out the house previously occuppied by Mortmain. When they arrive at the house, they notice a girl walking into the building, Will is astonished to realize that the girl is his young sister - Cecily.
Will, seeing Cecily, makes a mad dash to the house in an attempt to see her (and presumably the rest of his family), Jem stops him, and points out that an automaton has been following them. Will then rolls down a hill, and runs toward the automaton, Jem runs after Will, and Tessa runs after Jem, however, wearing a long dress, she ends up losing sight of the boys and is suddenly acosted by the automaton. Tessa quickly picks up a tree branch as uses the parrying lessons she learnt from Gabriel to avoid death, and Will comes in and cuts the automaton down. The automaton gives them a warning from the magister to "...cease your investigation. The past is the past. Leave Mortman's buried, or [the Herondales] will pay the price. Do not approach or warn them. If you do, they will be destroyed." Will et al. take the carriage back to York station, and then the train back to London. On the train ride, Tessa tries to thank will for the kindess that he had shown her on the previous night (when she had a nightmare and he tried to comfort her), however Will simply replied " There was no last night" . Tessa then tells Jem and Will that she snatched one of Aloysius' buttons whilst they stayed at the York Institute so that she may Change into him at her leisure. When the train arrives at Kings Cross station, Will dashes off the train and runs to Lady Belcourt's home (now the home to Magnus Bane).
Will arrives and talks with Magnus, he tells him the story about why he's searching for a demon, about how as a child, he was looking through his dad's old things, he found a pyxis, and opened it. A demon came from the box and Ella (his older sister) burst in with a seraph blade, the Demon then cursed Will saying "All who love you will die. Their love will be their destruction. It may take moments, it may take years, but any who look upon you with love will die of it..." Later that night, Ella died. Will, horrified and filled with grief, fled his home and joined the Shadowhunters to prevent his family from the same fate that Ella had suffered. Since his arrival at the Institute of London, he's been pushing people away because of this curse; however, he's in love with Tessa now, and is tired of living a lie, pretending to be a man who drinks and involves himself with whores. Magnus then asks why he allows Jem's affections, to which Will replies that Jem is dying anyway, and since Ella's death was swift, perhaps Jem will get a good death from his affiliation with Will. Will subsequently requests the Magnus open a portal to the Demon world and send Will there, to which Magnus refuses and Will leaves the house, angry.
Back at the Institute, Charlotte et al. are all worried as to where Will has gone, Charlotte talks about the time when Will's parents came to beg for Will to return; when his parents finally left, Will asked Charlotte for one thing - to be notified if they should die. Since then, Charlotte has had Ragnor Fell keep tabs on the Herondales, she informs Jem and Tessa that Will's father had lost their house gambling four years after Will joined the Shadowhunters, and after that Ragnor could no longer find any trace of the Herondales. Charlotte et al. decide that the best solution regarding Mortmain is for Tessa to change into Aloysius and see if there's anything more; when Tessa changes into Aloysius, she realizes that he's no longer mentally competent. When she changes back to herself, she notices the face of Mrs. Dark in the courtyard, but when she checks again, the figure is gone.
The next morning, Tessa is at breakfast, and Will is still absent. During her training with the Lightwood brothers, Gabriel and Tessa have an argument and Gabriel storms out. When Tessa goes to lunch, she sees Ragnor Fell at the table, Charlotte, Tessa and Ragnor have an exchange, and Charlotte pays Ragnor to go to York and keep an eye on the Herondales. When she returns to her room, Tessa is informed by Sophie that a letter has arrived for her. Tessa reads the letter from Magnus Bane, informing her that Will is very troubled, and she should make certain that he is okay. Later that evening, Tessa goes to Jem's room, and shows him the letter. Jem and Tessa run to Will's room, where Tessa discovers that Will has taken the letters which she had written during her horrid stay at the Dark Sisters' home (this changes Tessa's opinion of Will, offended that he would invade her privacy and confused as to why he wanted to read them), and Jem finds a family dagger of Will's as well as a receipt for the Yin Fen - which Will buys for Jem - Jem is surprised to find that the drug costs alot more than the money he's given Will (this also changes Tessa's opinion of Will). Using the dagger, Jem tracks Will's location to the East end of London.
In the carriage, Jem and Tessa have a conversation, and Jem tells Tessa that she's beautiful, though not in English. They arrive at a downworlder's drug den, and find Will, laying on a bunk, obviously high on drugs. Jem is very upset with Will and hits Will across the face, then returns to pay Will's debt. When they arrive back at the Institute, Jem runs from the carriage, into the institute and disappears; later that evening, Tessa hears the screeching of Violin strings - like a person screaming in awful pain. She walks into Jem's room, and see him playing violently, Jem then breaks down. "What does any of it matter? I'm dying. I won't outlast the decade. What does it matter if the violin goes before I do?". Jem then reveals that he's angry that Will has taken pleasure in something that is killing him (taking drugs for fun, all the while, Jem's dying from drugs). Tessa tries to calm Jem down, but Jem states "I tell myself he's better than he makes himself out to be, but, Tessa, what if he isn't? I have always thought, if I had nothing else, I had Will. If I have done nothing else that made my life matter, I have always stood by him. But perhaps I shouldn't." Tessa then sees that Jem is running a fever, and puts her hand on his head to check, to which Jem flinches away. Jem then reveals that he feels that Tessa has never seen him as a man, but always as a patient; when she looks at him, its to see how much Yin Fen he's taken, when she takes his hand, its to check his pulse. In the fierce discussion, they draw closer to each other, and they kiss passionately, for a while, until Tessa accidently knocks off the box holding the Yin Fen, smashing the box and spreading the powder all over the ground. Jem then asks Tessa to go back to her room, while he cleans. As she slips back to her room, she notices through the crack of her door, that Jessamine is sneaking out of the building, dressed as a man.
The next morning, Will announces publicly, that he was at "an opium den". Tessa jumps in to tell them that it wasn't really an opium den, but a den that trades in magic powders. Will then tells everyone that while at the opium den, he found Werewolves buying Yin Fen in high quantities. Will tells them that he overheard a werewolf say that the drug allowed them to work all night for the magister. This catches the attention of Charlotte and she immediately sends for Woolsey Scott - the leader of London's Wolves. While Charlotte goes to send a letter to Woolsey, Will insists on accompanying Tessa to her training - in an attempt to anger the Lightwood brothers. Gabriel is obviously angry, but Gideon seems to not care. Gabriel talks about how Charlotte is inept and when his father runs the institute, everything will be better; he then tells them that Charlotte's father report Gabriel's uncle for a small infraction, and the shame led to his uncle committing suicide - "The Fairchilds don't care for anyone but themselves and the law" ; when he brings up the idea that Henry doesn't love Charlotte because no one could love her, Sophie slaps him across the face. Gabriel is angry and storms out of the institute, Tessa goes to talk to him, but Gabriel has already left, taking his carriage. Will follows Tessa out of the training room, and they have a discussion about how inconsiderate Will has been to Jem. Will appears to be truly sorry for what he's done to Jem, and tells Tessa that even though people think he doens't care about the opinons of others, in reality, he cares deeply, so much so that it drives him mad. Their conversation is interuptted by Woolsey Scott and Charlotte, who enter the room.
Back in the training room, Sophie and Gideon are alone, they discuss what happens after the end of their training, and Gideon asks if he could see Sophie, even after the lessons.
Woolsey, Charlotte, Tessa and Will discuss Mortmain and Werewolves, Woolsey informs them that the werewolves assisting Mortmain are not part of his pack, and he has no control over them, Charlotte asks Woolsey to keep his eyes out for new info. Woolsey also points out that with Mortmain buying so much Yin Fen, there may be a shortage coming soon; with this, Will bolts from the room to buy more Yin Fen for Jem.
Ragnor Fell sends a letter to Charlotte informing her of the situation of the Herondales, in the letter he tells Charlotte that Cecily says that Will's desertion led to her father's drinking and gambling problem, and led them to become destitute. Ragnor also notes the cleverness of Mortmain, and equates power over the Herondales as power over Will. Charlotte burns the letter, and Jem asks her about the veracity of Gabriel's story regarding the Fairchilds, Charlotte denys Gabriel's account.
Will is hurrying back from purchasing more Yin Fen for Jem, along the way, he reminesces about his dreams when he was high - mainly about his future with Tessa, their love. Will hurries to Jem's room, but notices him pacing outside Tessa's bedroom. Jem invites will into his room, and Will apologizes for his inconsiderate actions, Jem forgives him. Tessa meanwhile cannot sleep, she fears that Jem thinks poorly of her because of how unrestrained she had acted that night when she and Jem kissed. Sophie then knocks on her door, and shows her an invitation to a masked ball addressed to Jessamine, accompanied with the invitation is a note from Nate. Sophie tells Tessa that when she was cleaning Jessamine's coat, she discovered the letter and having read it was horrified; when Jessamine came into the room and saw Sophie with the letter, Sophie reacted and knocked Jess out with a mirror, and then tied her to the bed. Tessa and Sophie agree that they must tell someone, and thus, Will was informed of the situation. Will and Tessa agree that they must attend the masked ball, thrown by Benedict Lightwood, in hope of discovering the full extent of Jessamine's relationship with Nate, as well as what information Nate may have. Will is also curious why Benedict Lightwood would host a party that involved individuals such as Nate. Tessa Changes into Jessamine, and Will escorts her to the ball.
During the carriage ride to the ball, Will tells Tessa why the Lightwoods hate him - When Will was twelve, Tatiana Lightwood was madly in love with him, and Will sought to stop her from loving him, discovered her diary, and read aloud the contents. Tessa asks Will about whether it is possible to have a half Demon, half Shadowhunter child, Will states that it is impossible.
At the party, Nate dances with Tessa/Jessamine, and calls her his "wife". Tessa/Jessamine is alarmed by this news, and asks Nate to fetch her a lemonade, which she drinks. Before anything else happens, Nate is called away by an urgent letter sent from the Magister. Will then appears beside her, and informs her that it was he who sent the letter. They then leave the Ball room, and go out onto the balcony. On the balcony, they share passionate and tender kisses, and Tessa/Jessamine begins to Change back into Tessa. Finally, Magnus Bane arrives on the balcony and informs the two that the lemonades have warlock powder, a substance that lowers the inhibitions of the drinkers. The three of them then leave the greathouse and head toward the carriage. On the way to the carriage, Will notices a blue-skinned demon, and chases after him. Tessa and Magnus end up going back to London in the carriage without Will.
Tessa arrives back at the London Institute, and tells Sophie to alert Charlotte of Jessamine's betrayal. While Sophie goes to fetch Charlotte, Jessamine awakens and swears that Nate truly loves her, though Tessa reminds Jessamine that he is her brother, and she knows that Nate loves no one but himself. Charlotte, furious irate and full of wrath, and Brother Enoch - holding the Mortal Sword, enter Jessamine's bedroom. Jessamine is untied, and Enoch places the Mortal Sword in her hands - the Sword forces Nephilim to tell the truth. Charlotte questions Jessamine mercilessly, and Jessamine reveals that she met Nate only a few times, they'd married, Benedict Lightwood is helping Mortmain because he's being blackmailed, and that Nate spoke of Tessa as half Demon, half Shadowhunter. Brother Enoch reveals that Jessamine has a magical block put in place to prevent her from telling secrets, and Jessamine is then taken away with Enoch to the Silent City (AKA the City of Bones). After they'd left, Charlotte bursts into tears.
Whilst Jessamine was being questioned, Will had returned to London from the ball, and enters Magnus' house. He tells him that he was bitten by the blue-demon he chased, but the bite has given him a tooth. He then askes Magnus to use that tooth to summon this demon; subsequently, he passes out from the poison that he received per the bite. Magnus casts a painkilling spell and puts Will on the couch. A while later, Camille Belcourt enters the house, Magnus is delighted, but Camille reveals that she had an affair with a human whilst she was staying in St. Petersburg. Camille brushes off the daliance and does not apologize for cheating on Magnus. Magnus is hurt and in an effort to make Camille jealous, states that he and Will have begun a relationship. Magnus awakens Will, and kisses him on the mouth. Camille is disgusted that Magnus would consort amongst Nephilim, and casts him out of her home. After being thrown out, Magnus promises that he would try to summon the demon using the tooth, and Will departs for the Institute.
The next morn, the rest of the institute learns of Jessamine's betrayal. They discuss as to what course of action they should take per the information regarding Benedict Lightwood. They conclude that it is best to keep quiet for now, and investigate more into the matter. Jem suggests that Tessa and he go visit Jessamine, and ask her to write to Nate requesting a meeting. The plan being that Tessa would go in place of Jessamine to said meeting, and the institute would capture Nate, and torture him until he spills Mortmain's plans. Whilst waiting for the Silent Brothers' carriage so that they may depart to the Silent City, Tessa corners Will and makes him promise not to speak of the events that occurred on the balcony on the previous night; Will promises. Tessa and Jem then enter the carriage, and discuss about the kisses they shared that night in Jem's room; they get carried away, and end up kissing intensely. Upon arrival, they convince Jessamine to write a note to Nate. Jem and Tessa then return to the institute
The rest of the members of the institute began planning for the evening meeting. Will and Jem are worried about leaving the institute unguarded, but just then, Gideon shows up to train Sophie; Charlotte asks Gideon to sit the institute whilst they go for the evening, he agrees. A letter then arrives from Nate, accepting Jessamine's request to meet at sundown in a tea storage room on Mincing Lane. Charlotte et al. agree to the following plan: Henry, Charlotte, Will & Jem will arrive before Nate does and hide in the storage room; Tessa will dress as a man, Change into Jessamine, and walk to the storage room. Just before Tessa is to leave, she remembers that she had left her Angel, and although knowing she cannot wear it, she wants to keep it in her pocket, thus she set out to retrieve it. However, as she proceeds to do so, she notices Sophie and Gideon in a tender moment, and chooses to simply go without the Angel. When Charlotte, Jem, Will & Henry arrive at the storage room, Jem and Will discover a dying Werewolf, one that was aiding Mortmain; before the Werewolf can say much, he dies from overdoes of the Yin Fen.
Tessa/Jessamine arrives at the storage room, and calls for Nate. Nate greets her and beckons for a kiss, but before they kiss, he informs her that he does in fact know that she is Tessa in disguise. He then tells her that he'd known since he had received that letter during the masquerade ball. He goes on to tell Tessa that he is not her brother, but her cousin; he is the son of Harriett Moore, Tessa's aunt. Nate then shows Tessa a gigantic automaton, and in its clutches, an unconscious Charlotte. Nate commands the automaton to set Charlotte down and crush her with its feet. Henry in an attempt to save Charlotte, attacks the automaton, and is knocked into a pillar, laying there unconscious. Just as the mechanical being is about to crush Charlotte, Jem and Will leap upon the automaton, and strike it with their weapons though to no effect. Jem is shaken off the automaton, and breaks his leg, but he pulls out a new invention of Henry's - a device designed to damage the gears of the mechanical beings and explode - just as Jem is about to throw it, Nate kicks it out of his hands. Tessa and Nate both dive for the device, whilst Will holds on to the Automaton in desperation. Tessa grabs the device, but is, herself, grabbed by Nate, Nate then pulls her towards him, in an effort to capture her. Tessa decidely chooses to transform herself into Nate. Freeing herself from his grasp, Tessa/Nate calls the automaton to grab hold of the real Nate. Whilst the real Nate is subdued, Will has leapt from the giant automaton and attached Henry's device to its back. Will then dives upon Tessa (who has transformed back to herself) and the Automaton explodes.
In the explosion, Nate is fatally wounded by a shrapnel, Tessa suffers minor injuries and Will is greviously wounded, having protected Tessa. Tessa, noticing neither her own, nor Will's injuries runs to Nate. Nate asks that Tessa always wear her Angel and Tessa says that she forgives him for everything he's done. In response to her forgiveness, and as his final words, he says " You don't know everything I've done, Tessie." After Nate's death, Tessa realizes that everyone has gathered around Will. She runs to him and realizes that he is bleeding profusely, she then passes out after realizing that she herself is wounded.
Chapters
- Prologue: The Outcast Dead
- The Council Chamber
- Reparations
- Unjustifiable Death
- A Journey
- Shades of the Past
- In Silence Sealed
- The Curse
- A Shadow on the Soul
- Fierce Midnight
- The Virtue of Angels
- Wild Unrest
- Masquerade
- The Mortal Sword
- The Silent City
- Thousands More
- Mortal Rage
- In Dreams
- Until I Die
- If Treason Doth Prosper
- The Bitter Root
- Coals of Fire
Special Content
Within the collector's edition of the Clockwork Prince, there is a copy of Will's letter to Tessa written in her copy of The Tale of Two Cities, as well as an unsent letter from Will to his parents written on his seventeenth birthday.
Gallery
Covers
Trivia
- The cover features Jem Carstairs holding his jade cane.
- The title refers to Axel Mortmain, whom his adoptive father John Thadeus Shade calls his "clockwork prince."