The story was horrifying, which was why Alec told it instead of letting Magnus explain warlocks. It was something that always hurt Alec's boyfriend, especially when others judged him his heritage. Better to get the shock over with than have Sebastian say something that would have Magnus wishing he had his magic back so he could turn curious mundanes into red pandas.

"He wanted a straight son he'd be proud of. Someone 'normal' that he wasn't embarrassed of. Completely ignoring that there's more to someone than whether they prefer men or women?" There was a hint of bitterness in Alec's voice despite his attempts at forgiving his family. It was a guess but it sounded familiar enough that Alec could have been talking about Robert. "My father used to ask what he did wrong to make me gay."

Then it turned out that it had nothing to do with Alec and everything to do with Robert and his parabatai.

"Magnus is about four hundred. Give or take. He's kind of lost track over the years."