Jem, Kit and I are so looking forward to your visit. In preparation, Kit has been attempting to teach Mina to say your name. Sheās almost got it, but you may have to content yourself with being called āAgnes,ā as she has trouble with the M ā very trying for her as she is so advanced in her speech, just as you say Max was. You should have heard them in the kitchen this morning. āWho is coming to visit, Mina?ā āAgnes!ā I feel that your alter ego, Agnes, would wear sequins and be absolutely deadly at whist.
Thank you for your thoughts about the wards. I will look for labradorite at the gem store in Exeter. I tried what you suggested with the chickensāI was able to borrow a Blue Orpington from a neighbor on the last quarter moon. Since then chickens seem to be avoiding Kit, so maybe it will work on demons too? (Though can you really tell when a chicken is avoiding someone as opposed to just being a chicken?)
Jem and I are endeavoring to walk a narrow line, keeping Kit safe and hidden while also providing him with the most normal life we can. We donāt want to lock him away in a tower like a fairytale princessāheād be miserable. And Mina would be miserable, she just adores him and rides everywhere on his back, clutching onto his shirt with her little hands. It reminds me of the way James and Lucie used to ride on Willās shoulders. I suppose times change, but children never do.
Weāre trying to allow Kit freedom wherever we can. Heās enrolled at the small school in the village, where a few of his friends know about the Shadow World and others donāt. Thereās a local pack of werewolves who weāve become friendly with, and some of their children go to school with him. Iāve begun to suspect that Kit has a girlfriend, but heās secretive about it. (I guess thatās another thing that never changes about childrenāhow secretive they are. I just hope he knows he can tell us anything. Especially related to demons, or in Kitās case, the fey. A hundred and ten years later and Iām still edgy.)
Heās a puzzle, our Christopher Jonathan Herondale. About some things heās opened up, and is willing to talk to Jem and me about them freely ā his father, and what it was like growing up being able to see all sorts of peculiar things but not really understanding why. About being taught to fear Shadowhunters. About his concerns about his heritage ā what it means, what kind of power he might have. I think it frustrates him, not knowing.
Other things he wonāt talk about. We have asked him about Ty, as you and I discussed, but heās like a brick wall about their friendship. Whatever happened he wonāt speak of it. I think Livvyās death hit him harder than we guessed, too. Iāve heard him call out her name in his sleep, always in this very despairing way. Sometimes heāll say Not if you do this. Not if you do this, Ty. I feel like whatever they fought about, it must have been awful. But people can be terrible when theyāre grieving; we both know that.
You can probably tell from everything Iāve said how much I ā how much we ā love Kit. I just love him, Magnus, like he was my own. He is my own. Iād kill anyone who wanted to hurt him, just as I would protect Mina or Jem with my life. I never thought Iād have this again, this perfect family I love so much it hurts. Strange after so many years to be so surprised by oneās own feelings ā but I imagine itās much the same for you, isnāt it? Speaking of which, I hope you and Alec and the kids are well. Please let Max know that we found his superhero capeāit was inside the piano.
I enclose a picture from your last visit here. How adorable they all are!