Maybe he was a little on the tall side but no one would really be able to tell the difference, it has been a very long time after all. Kids grow and one can never really tell these things. Other than that, he was perfect. Right hair color, right eyes, even his face was passable and he seemed to be of the right age. After a two weeks for searching, he finally found the perfect person. He found his Alexander Gideon Lightwood. Now all he had to do was convince the guy that he was a missing Tsarevich.
It shouldnât be that hard. All Jace had to do was point out some unrelated dots and let the guy connect them. This guy seemed to be searching for his family, one that he knew almost nothing about. For all the guy knows, he wouldnât be so far off. Jace knew better but hey, he would be giving this guy a family and the other royal family a son back. If he gets a little something from it, itâs only fair. Everyone gets what they want. They get a family and he finally can get himself an actual life. If all else fails, thereâs always a cut of the reward money. Although he hopes it wouldnât come to any of that.
âSo hereâs the thing, Alec. Itâs Alec right? I do have some papers and an extra ticket for Paris. And while Iâm very sympathetic to your situation, I can only use them for one person. Him.â Jace pointed to the boy in the portrait behind Alec. It was a portrait of the royal family before the siege, back when they were happy and alive. Now only two of them remain, both living in Paris.
Jace walked up to the portrait, his eyes on the older boy in it. âItâs sad actually. He went missing 10 years ago. No one knows what happened to him, got lost during the revolt.â He turned to look at Alec. âAlthough, I have to admit you do kind of look like him. More so than anyone Iâve seen so far. The same bright eyes, dark hair. I can even see the resemblance between you and the Grand Duchess,â he commented pointing towards the little girl in the portrait. âWouldnât that be something huh?â
He frowned a little, pretending to think. âYou said you were looking for your family and something about not really remembering much about them. How old were you? If you donât mind me asking. Maybe I can help. I know a lot of people here and across the border.â
     It was true Alec had little to none recollection of his past, save for the scar on his eyebrow and his one valuable possession ( a golden pocket watch ) his childhood was a blur he had long given up on recalling, but to think that meant he could have been a lost Lightwood all this time was just crazy. Wasnât it? It felt like it should be, still, Alecâs gaze was lifted to the grandiose painting at Jaceâs prompting. He didnât see himself in the dark-haired child that stood stiffly in the portrait, the whole setting of the abandoned palace not bringing a single spark of a memory along with it.Â
     Shouldnât he remember something? If that was really him shouldnât he at least recognize his sister? Jace seemed to think they looked alike... âDo you really think so?â he inquired, unable to stop wonder from coloring his voice at the very idea of a family and a sister. It was too wild of a thought for Alec to even consider it on his own, but Jaceâs words got him to think about it thinking about it brought along with it the many dangers of hope.
     For as long as he could remember himself Alec had yearned for his family, clinging to the certainty that he had one as holding on to that thought as he grew up in an orphanage. Other kids would pick on him for it, but he was resolute in his belief, his family was somewhere out there and they were waiting for him; the one clue he had it: Paris. Together in Paris, those were the words engraved inside his watch. Alec had no idea how e had gotten the piece but he knew it to be his, and thatâs how he knew he had to get to France.Â
     Thatâs what had brought him to Jace Wayland, an agent ( of some sort ) Alec was told could get him to Paris â something the blonde had just confirmed to him. Nevermind the painting, Alecâs eyes sparkled at the mere mention of a ticket to Paris, his head nodding without him even realizing so as Jace made clear the ticket was meant for the lost monarch and no one else. If there was even a chance that it could be him... If there was as much as a tenth of a chance then Alec owed it to himself to try. Poor as he was, honesty was really all he could offer, and so he led with that.
âI donât know how old I was, probably eight or nine... They said I was eighteen now so thatâs what the orphanage I grew up in assumed, butâ No one could ever be sure.â He started, doing his best not to be too coy about the story itself, not if Jace could help him. âI donât remember anything before that, certainly donât remember ever being in a place like this. All I know is that my family is in Paris and I have to get there if Iâll have any chance of finding them. Please.â Â