A Mix of Darkness and Light: An Interview with Tessa Gray

By: Aplentyofsenseinnonsence (edited by: Crystal J. F.)

General Information:

Name: Tessa Gray

When: shortly after Forever Fallen

Where: Berlin Institute, Sanctuary

Hi guys, my name is Tamara C. Dragonway, I work for the Shadowhunters Monthly Magazine and today I will meet and interview a very special person, Tessa Gray. Let's Go!

Hi Tessa

Tessa: Hello Tamara!

Are you ready for the Interview?

Tessa: Sure. Let's start!

First of all, can you please tell our readers what is so special about your blood and your very interesting special ability?

Tessa: Sure. As you may know I am defined as a warlock. Like all warlocks, my father is a demon. But unlike most other warlocks, my father is a Prince of Hell. Now my mother was born as a Shadowhunter named Adele Starkweather. But, as a baby, she was switched with a mundane child named Elizabeth Moore. So she was raised as Elizabeth in the mundane world. Later she married a man named Richard Gray. Short after I was born, they died and my not-really-brother Nathaniel and I were raised by my Aunt Harriet.

I am a bit confused. Why did you called Nathaniel your ‘not-really-brother’?

Tessa: I was raised to believe that he was my brother. However when I was 16, my aunt died and Nate sent me a ticket to come stay with him in London. There I eventually learned that my Aunt Harriet was actually his mother. Thus making him my adopted cousin. It was a well kept secret.

By the angel, that must have been hard for you. I am sorry but now could we go back to my first question: What are your special abilities caused by your blood?

Tessa: In London, I also discovered that I have the special ability to shapeshift into another person and be able to access their memories. The only thing I need to do so is a thing that belongs, or had belonged to that person. And yes I can turn into someone even if this person is dead for years.

Very impressive! Had you ever noticed in your childhood, that you were different?

Tessa: That is a kind of funny question. I never really thought about it so I guess no. I always thought I was just a regular American girl.

Now back to your time in London: Who was the first person you saw that later became an important part of your life?

Tessa: The first people that "welcomed" me were the Dark Sisters. But they don’t really count. The first good person I saw was Will; William Herondale.

Why was Will so important to you and the sisters not?

Tessa: Mrs. Dark & Mrs. Black did awful things to me that I really don't want to think about.

Ok. I can understand that. Back to Will: What was your relationship to him?

Tessa: Well eventually we ended up getting married. Then we were able to have 2 children together and a wonderful lifetime of love.

Wow, Tessa, you already took me to my next topic: Your children, James, Lucie and Wilhelmina. How did you come up with their names?

Tessa: From my first marriage, I have 2 children: James and Lucie. Will and I called our boy James after Will’s parabatai that we both loved who became a Silent Brother. Lucie was named after the female protagonist of a book we both loved, A Tale of Two Cities. Long after Will passed, I married his parabatai that had recently become mortal again, James Carstairs. Our daughter’s name, Wilhelmina, is the female version of the German translation for the name William. And her middle name was chosen based on a friend of ours whom we had recently lost.

And would you like to be mortal Tessa?

Tessa: I don’t know. Sometimes I feel like it would have made the 1930s (after Will died) much easier as I would soon follow him. But on the other hand, I could have never married Jem; Mina would have never been born; and we would have never adopted Kit. Kit is a Herondale from another Herondale bloodline that we searched for for a very long time.

Impressive that you searched for so long and were able to find him. Now one final question: what do you like to do in your free time?

Tessa: I love to read! Books are very important to me because books always made me feel like I was not completely alone. My favorite author is Jane Austen.

I like her books too! Well thank you for taking the time to sit down with me and do this interview.

Tessa: And thank you for having me!