Might I See You Again?

Author's Note: The purpose of this is to explain Sophie's life and analyze the quote "Whatever happens with the lessons -- might I see you again?" from the Clockwork Prince

     One day, as you stroll down the streets of London, you notice a woman sitting in a corner, with a bloody rag clutched to her face. What do you do? Do you stare? Maybe help her? Walk by and ignore her? This is the way that Sophie from the Clockwork Prince started out. After many years of recovery and servant work at the London Institute, avoiding the training she is almost required to have, she cannot avoid any longer. Charlotte, her employer, has hired two not-so-family-friends to help and train herself as well as her friend Tessa, who has never had any sort of training either.

     When Charlotte first found Sophie, she was crouched in a corner in the city, bloody and filthy. Having the kind heart that Charlotte does, she decided to give Sophie a hand even though she was a mundane, and not part of the Nephilim along with herself and the rest living in the Institute at the time. Sophie told Charlotte what happened to her face, and why she could never trust a man again.

     At this time in Shadowhunter history, people only hired their maids for their beauty. Not for their service. While Sophie was working for her previous employer, the son of the household had wanted her. Yes, in 'that way'. He had attempted several times asking her to be his, but every time, she refused. One day, he could not take the rejection any longer. He took a knife and threw it at her face, saying, "If I can't have you, then I will make you ugly, so that nobody will ever love you again!" Then, trying to tell the employer about this event, the son stepped in and had lied, telling them that Sophie had come onto him, and cut her face for self defense. Sophie was instantly fired, and put on the streets.

     When Tessa and Sophie started their training, they were assigned their teachers. Tessa with Gabriel Lightwood, and Sophie with Gideon Lightwood. After a few weeks, Tessa had noticed the way Gideon had been looking at Sophie.. Could this be something? During the same practice, though, Tessa's friend Will had gotten into a rather large argument with Gabriel, therefore putting the training offer in jeopardy. They had all left the room, except for Sophie and Gideon, who had stayed. Sophie sat down in exhaustion, Gideon right after her. As they talked about the recent events, Gideon had spilled his feelings for her, then asking, "Whatever happens with the lessons -- might I see you again?"

     This quote displays a fair amount of interest in Sophie; and it is obvious why something like this would surprise her. After what she's been through, she doesn't know what to say. She doesn't know whether to trust him or to just leave him hanging. If that were me, I'm not so sure I would trust him either. It's a pretty hard thing to recover from, even after several years. Trust, you see, is like a mirror. Once it's cracked, you can put it back together, but you can still see the cracks that were made.

     From Gideon's point of view, though, he probably would've have worked harder for Sophie's trust before asking this if he had known what really happened to her. Yet, I still admire the fact that he had the guts to ask such a thing to a girl he barely even knows. I would never do such a thing. This puts a large place in the book because he always acted like he hated coming to lessons, only that day, he confessed that because of Sophie, he actually looked forward to coming. He had called her talented. Sophie liked to hear these things, but was still hesitant.

     After all the events in Sophie's life, and all the events leading up to this day, the sweet talk that Gideon had said that sounded like music to her heart, Sophie didn't know what to do. Could she trust him? Should she fall into the either deadly trap or comforting embrace that Gideon has offered her? Is it even possible for a girl to ever love a man again if that had happened to her?