A/N: A million apologies for the delay. School stuff and then midterms, but I'm home on break for the week, so the next chapter will certainly be up Friday as usual.
Enjoy!
Fitz and Jemma settled into the new normal of their relationship almost immediately. Really it wasn't too different from the relationship they'd had before: working together on a project, spending all their time together, talking almost exclusively to each other. But at the same time, things were definitely not the same.
The next morning when he had gone in search of Jemma, the pair having decided the night before, amid smiles and something close to giggling, to spend the next day in the library, he had been greeted by a hug and the widest smile he'd ever seen on Jemma's face. He had taken Jemma's hand as they walked down the corridor to the library and somehow that smile had grown even wider. Fitz found himself standing too close to Jemma as they searched through the library shelves, and when they eventually found some books that looked at least relatively promising, they ended up reading through them together in an oversized armchair that fit them both very cozily. And later that afternoon, after a break for food, when the pair had settled back into their chair, Fitz had found himself growing rather drowsy and had curled up next to Jemma, his head leaning against hers, and had let himself take a quick nap, or at least close his eyes, Jemma, still reading, smiling contently beside him.
Eventually he actually did fall asleep, and Jemma did too apparently because the next thing Fitz knew, he was looking up at very smug looking Bobbi who whispered to him that the queen and Lady Simmons were looking for them and that it was time for dinner. Bobbi quickly left the library, grinning widely, leaving Fitz to gently nudge Jemma awake. She was momentarily embarrassed at having fallen asleep on Fitz's shoulder, but as Fitz moved a strand of hair out of her face, she smiled shyly at him. Fitz walked Jemma back to her room first, not wanting to let go of her hand.
The queen looked at Fitz appraisingly as he joined her in the dining room, but Fitz just asked her about her day with a dazed smile on his face, his thoughts with Jemma after really the happiest afternoon he could remember having in a long time, even with the specter of Maveth looming over his shoulder. Fitz knew that every day couldn't be like this; they could be as blissfully in love as they wanted to be, but it was unsustainable as long as Maveth was around. But for today, it was enough.
Fitz and Jemma met up later that night, sneaking off to Daisy's alcove since it was too cold to go outside. The pair curled up together and made murmured plans to speak with Dame Isobel the next day and try to put the pieces together. The king hadn't known about the monolith, so maybe that would make the difference.
Dame Isobel greeted the pair of them with a knowing smile as they knocked on her door the following day, hand-in-hand, matching smiles on their faces as they sat even closer together than usual on their ottoman.
Dame Isobel told them everything she had ever heard about Maveth, about curses, about true love (the last topic with eliciting lots of stolen glances between Fitz and Jemma with small smiles and flushed cheeks). There wasn't much more to it than what she had already told Fitz, but the one additional piece of information they discovered was that these stories about sorcerers, Maveth particularly, were more common than anywhere in a town where Dame Isobel had grown up, three day's ride into the kingdom.
"That's near the old monastery isn't it?" Jemma asked, examining a map that Fitz had brought from the library.
Dame Isobel nodded. "It is. All the town records were kept there. It's one of the largest libraries in the kingdom."
Jemma turned to Fitz, her eyebrows raised in silent question.
Fitz nodded. "We have to go there. Do you think my mother will let us? My father told me not to even venture far into the grounds, let alone go out into the kingdom."
Jemma shrugged. "She might approve if we bring Bobbi with us. Any information we find will help the king, so what do we have to lose?"
Fitz sighed. "You know what."
Jemma wrapped her arms around him instantly. "Oh, Fitz," she said softy, "we're not worrying about that, okay?"
Fitz leaned into Jemma's embrace before he finally turned back to her. "Okay."
And so they said their goodbyes to Dame Isobel and went off in search of Bobbi and the queen.
"Bobbi," Jemma began when they finally found their friend, "we need to go to the old monastery out in the kingdom-"
"-and there's no way my mother will let us go alone-" Fitz jumped in.
"-so would you be willing to come with us?" Jemma finished.
Bobbi stifled a laugh, presumably at Fitz and Jemma finishing each other's sentences, just like old times, but then she smiled. "Of course, if the queen allows it. Have you spoken with her?"
Fitz shook his head. "I haven't seen her since last night."
Bobbi flashed him a knowing smile and a wink, reminding him that she had seen he and Jemma sleeping in the same armchair together in the library the previous afternoon. "Shall we go now then?"
Fitz debated for a moment about whether or not to take Jemma's hand as they walked toward the king's study with Bobbi, but he quickly decided that he really didn't care, so he threaded his fingers through Jemma's, receiving a wide smile in return.
Bobbi sighed as they turned down a corridor.
Fitz and Jemma looked over at her curiously.
"Lance is gonna be so mad that he's missing the opportunity to tease you guys," Bobbi explained, grinning.
Fitz smiled shyly over at Jemma who beamed back at him, squeezing his hand lightly.
The queen, as expected, was very hesitant about the idea, knowing that the king had visited the monastery many times himself and that he really wanted Fitz to stay at the castle. But at the same time, Fitz and Jemma had new information that could change everything. It could be the only way to defeat Maveth.
"Fine," she said finally, "you may go. But only if you take additional guards with you." This she directed at Bobbi who nodded seriously.
"Of course, Your Majesty."
"And the king and I have decided to write to King Grant," she added, turning back to Fitz.
Fitz sighed and nodded. "That's probably for the best."
Jemma looked between Fitz and the queen. "Does that mean Daisy's coming then?"
The queen offered Jemma a smile. "I'll write in the letter that Daisy is cordially invited to stay with us and would be most welcome to remain as long as she wishes."
Fitz and Jemma smiled widely at each other. The prospect of seeing their friend for the first time in months was wonderful, even in spite of the circumstances.
And so, the following day, a letter was sent to the neighboring kingdom and hurried preparations were made for Fitz and Jemma's departure. The pair said their farewells to Lady Mackenzie, to whom Fitz quietly apologized for Maveth, at which point Lady Mackenzie pulled him into a tight hug, told him there was nothing to forgive and that he must stay safe and take care of himself and Jemma.
"You figure out how to destroy him, Fitz," Lady Mackenzie whispered to him. "You and Jemma deserve to be happy."
Fitz nodded seriously, grateful for her understanding and encouragement, and barely surprised at all that she knew about he and Jemma, and then he left Lady Mackenzie to say goodbye to her niece.
Then he turned to Dame Isobel who was smiling down at him, her eyes not worried like Lady Mackenzie's were, but content, happy.
"Remember true love, Fitz," she said softly as she embraced him. "Never forget it."
Fitz smiled as she released him. "I won't."
And soon they were off. They were all on horseback, having decided that a carriage would be too bulky for the poor roads that lay out in the kingdom. It was cold, but not bitterly so, their coats and mittens and hats serving to effectively block out the winter weather, at least for the present. Along with Fitz, Jemma, and Bobbi, were four guards, helmeted, silent, and significantly shorter than some of the knights out with the cavalry, at least two of them, Jemma observed quietly to Fitz, being shorter than Lance, which was a definite accomplishment; even Bobbi was taller than Lance.
The journey took less than the three days advertised, but not much less. They spent nights at side inns, Fitz always staying as out of sight as possible so no one knew the prince himself had left the palace and was out in the kingdom. The news could easily travel to Maveth and no one particularly wanted to find out what would happen then. And of course having the prince around would quickly attract robbers, not that they had brought anything of value with them except the map from the library. But finally they arrived.
The monastery was old and sparsely populated, just a small contingent of monks keeping up with the library and, during the summer months, the garden.
They were extremely welcoming of the small band, quickly providing them with a hot meal and quarters for as long as they were needed, Fitz by himself, Bobbi with Jemma, and the guards together, with one posted outside Fitz and Jemma's rooms during the night, just as a precaution, not because they believed any harm would actually befall them at the monastery.
Almost immediately the following morning, Fitz, Jemma, and Bobbi began scouring the library. Despite the relatively small monk population, the sheer amount of books and papers in the room – records, letters, translations of classical authors, anything – was enormous.
A kind, older monk showed them how the library was organized, or how it was supposed to be organized, some of the shelves having become mixed up over the years, and then they got to work.
The made no progress as the days went on, but Fitz loved the work. He and Jemma read side by side in front of the fire that kept the entire room warm, from the monks at their desks on one side of the room to Bobbi and two of the still-helmeted guards who roamed the shelves to the final pair of guards that stood at the doorway at the far end. Fitz was content. Occasionally, he would start thinking about Maveth and grow worried, but a small smile or a hand on his arm from Jemma instantly drained away his desperation and worry. Jemma was with him and everything would be okay.
A week went by with no luck, and Fitz was beginning to get discouraged. The monks were ever-accommodating, graciously sharing their food and rooms and library, but Fitz was becoming more and more anxious. His thoughts more and more frequently returned to his father who he, naturally, hadn't heard from since they left the palace. He imagined the king, fifteen years younger, no tiny streaks of grey in his hair, fewer wrinkles on his brow, more hope in his eyes, sitting where Fitz sat, pouring through book after book, trying to find something, anything, about Maveth. The curse might not have technically been enacted yet, but certainly almost the entirety of Fitz's life had already been a curse.
"Jemma, perhaps we should…" Fitz trailed off as he noticed that Jemma was no longer next to him. "Jemma?"
"Over here Fitz!" Jemma's voice carried from behind a shelf. "I've found it!"
"Found what?" Fitz followed Jemma's voice to where she was kneeling down in front of a stack of loose papers, letters, Fitz gathered.
"Look!" She excitedly shoved a scrap of parchment in his face.
Fitz blinked, still extremely confused, as Jemma pulled the paper back to herself and began to read it aloud.
"'My dear Brother,
"'I have wanted to write you for quite some time to ask after the harvest and your family, but things have become so busy here that I haven't had the time. Our harvest was poor, though we had plenty of sun and rain and the soil is quite fertile. Bless the Lord that we had much left over from last year, so neither we nor our tenants will go hungry this winter. Father and I went to examine the fields to determine what had happened, and that is when we found it. It was a rock as dark as night, so large it would have scarcely made it through the door of our house, had we occasion to pick it up. It was carved so the sides were all of equal length, and it sat in front of a tree with no sign of it having been dragged there. The tenant who worked the field said it was nothing he had ever seen before. But, my brother, all I can say to you is that there was something wrong about it. It was nothing short of evil."
"Oh my God," Fitz said softly.
Jemma nodded and continued.
"'Father did not feel as I did, deciding that the harvest must have been God's punishment for the sins of our tenants, but I was unsure. I searched for any record of such a stone and found nothing at first, until I finally discovered a scroll that explains its secrets.'"
"My father was searching for a scroll about Maveth!" Fitz interrupted. "It was one of the most important leads he ever had, but he said that he didn't believe it existed anymore. But maybe this is it."
"Maybe," Jemma replied seriously.
Fitz nodded at Jemma to continue.
"'However, by the time I returned to the stone with the scroll, it had disappeared. The tenant was as surprised as I was to find it gone, but there was, once again, no sign of it being dragged or taken away by cart. I grew afraid. The secrets on the scroll are too much for anyone to know. I hope that the stone is gone, and no one will have to know the truth of it. Even so, I have disposed of the scroll myself, in the hope that no one who wishes to use it maliciously will ever find it.
"Please give your family my love.
"Your most humble brother,
Simon Basset'"
"So he destroyed the only clue we have," Fitz said, sitting back against the wall.
Jemma continued to look at the letter for a moment, her eyes narrowed as she scrutinized the page. After a moment, a smile spread across her face. "Not necessarily," she said slowly.
"How do you mean?" Fitz asked, sitting up again.
"He only said he 'disposed of' it," Jemma began, "which could mean buried or hid just as easily as burned or torn up."
"That's not a lot of help though," Fitz replied. "We don't even know where he was from."
"Actually we do," Jemma replied, smiling widely as she flipped the paper over. "Right here: God Bless John Garrett, Long Live the King."
"John Garrett," Fitz repeated, knowing he had heard the name before. "He was the last king of his dynasty…" Fitz was recalling what he had learned in history lessons years and years before. "And after the Garretts were the… Wards! He's from Daisy's kingdom! Or he was," Fitz amended.
Jemma beamed at him. "Exactly! Looks like we have another trip to make then."
The pair instantly stood up, Jemma still clutching the letter, and they raced over to Bobbi who was conversing quietly with one of the guards who stopped speaking as Fitz and Jemma approached.
The pair quickly explained their findings to their friend.
"And that's why we need to go to Daisy's, as quickly as we can," Fitz finished. "King Grant will, hopefully, be mustering his troops already, and we must catch them before they leave."
Bobbi sighed. "I had told the queen I would have you home quickly, but if we must, we must. We depart in the morning. I'll inform our hosts."
The monks provided them with provisions for the ensuing journey, and the next morning they were off.
Fitz and Jemma were in high spirits, excited to have finally made some progress and looking forward to the prospect of seeing their friend who they had said goodbye to nearly eight months before.
"Daisy knew, you know," Jemma said casually to Fitz on the first night as they sat around the fire in Fitz's room at the inn, Bobbi and the guards having excused themselves earlier to discuss the route they were to take. Fitz had known it wasn't quite proper for Bobbi to leave him and Jemma alone, but with the curse keeping them in check, it wasn't as though they had much of a need for a chaperone.
"Knew what?" Fitz asked, staring at his friend curiously.
"About us," Jemma said, glancing up at him. "That I liked you, that you liked me."
"I'm fairly certain half the palace knew I liked you by the end, Jemma," Fitz replied, knowing that he was visibly blushing in the light of the fire.
"She would always ask about you letters," Jemma continued, a small smile on her face, "as though she wasn't being obvious."
Fitz laughed. "She did the same thing to me, every letter she sent me."
Jemma grinned. "She's persistent, I'll give her that."
"Did you ever tell her anything?" Fitz asked, now curious.
It was Jemma's turn to blush. "Perhaps."
Fitz grinned widely. "Now, I must here this."
Jemma ducked her head. "I just told her that yes, she was right, I did, maybe, feel something more than friendship for you, but that it was probably silly since you're the prince and you're meant to marry a princess, and Daisy told me that I was actually beyond silly because you obviously really liked me, but then everything with the monolith happened, so I wasn't ever able to write her back."
Fitz moved out of his own chair to lean against the arm of Jemma's. "And what would you say now if you were writing back?"
Jemma looked up at him. "I'd tell Daisy she was wrong."
Fitz blinked. "What?"
"I don't just like you; I'm completely in love with you," Jemma said with a mischievous grin.
Fitz rolled his eyes at Jemma, but he couldn't stop the smile that spread across his face. "You can add that I'm completely in love with you too."
And for what felt like the millionth time in the eight months since he had realized his feelings for his best friend, Fitz wanted nothing more than to kiss the woman he loved most in all the world, but they let the moment pass, as they had to.
The group arrived at Daisy's palace early the following day, and Fitz was relieved to see both that Grant and his cavalry hadn't left yet and that they were clearly preparing to leave in the very near future. Men were gathering all through the courtyard, with saddlebags packed in stacks near the stables.
A few guards approached them.
"Prince Leopold Fitz Coulson," Fitz introduced himself quickly, "I'm here to see-"
"FITZ!" A yell came from across the courtyard. "JEMMA!"
In an instant the pair of them were almost knocked over by a blue and brown blur that had hurled itself at them.
Fitz took a moment to recover from the shock before he started laughing, Jemma quickly joining in.
"It's good to see you too, Daisy," Fitz said, hugging his friend back.
"You didn't say you were coming!" Daisy said, finally releasing them, her blue dress swirling around her feet as she jumped up and down with excitement. "We were to leave tomorrow so I could come stay with you."
"Well, I'm glad we've caught you then," Jemma said, grinning.
Daisy then noticed Bobbi standing behind them and rushed to give her a hug too. "I have to give you all the tour!" Daisy said excitedly. "There's so much-"
"Leopold." Another figure joined them.
"Grant," Fitz inclined his head to Daisy's older brother who nodded in return.
"I was not aware that we were to have this… pleasure," Grant said, clearly not regarding the presence of Fitz, Jemma, Bobbi, and four guards unannounced at his palace as anything short of a nuisance, let alone a pleasure.
"This was a very last minute trip," Fitz replied evenly. "We don't mean to impose. We were just in the area."
Grant narrowed his eyes, clearly knowing that Fitz wasn't giving him all the details. "We're to leave tomorrow to join your father."
Fitz nodded. "Daisy said. And we, my parents and myself, thank you greatly for your assistance."
Grant nodded. "I must see to my men. I'll leave you with Daisy." He strode away.
Fitz let out a breath and turned back to Daisy who seemed slightly disconcerted.
"Oh!" she said after a moment. "The tour!"
"Actually," Fitz interrupted, not wanting to be rude, but not wanting to intrude on Grant Ward's good favor, particularly since he was doing so much to help his father, "as much as I'd love to see your palace, Daisy, what we really need to see is old records from maybe a hundred years ago. Do you know where that would be?"
Daisy stared at him. "So you weren't just in the neighborhood?"
Fitz shook his head. "No."
Daisy sighed. "Well, there's a monastery not too far away. Your dad visited there several times when he was here."
"Perfect," Fitz replied. "Can we go right away?"
Daisy nodded, still confused, and left to get a horse and inform her brother that she was going out for the day.
Fitz, Jemma, and Daisy chatted happily as they trotted off to the monastery, all catching each other up about their lives, though Fitz and Jemma didn't mention the monolith, not because they didn't trust her, but more because it was nice for a while to just pretend that everything wasn't falling apart around them.
"Here we are!" Daisy said finally an hour or two later as they approached a stone building perhaps twice the size of the monastery back in their kingdom.
The group left the guards to take care of the horses, and then they made there way inside where they were greeted by similarly friendly monks who were only too happy to take the princess and her friends to the library.
Fitz let out a breath as he saw the enormous room. It was much larger than the library they had just been at for a week, which meant even more time spent searching. He turned to Jemma, wanting to despair, but she was already deep in conversation with one of the monks who was nodding, leading her over to a shelf and pulling out a book.
Jemma beamed and thanked the man, taking the book and coming back to Fitz. "Census records from the past two hundred years. Perhaps we can find our Simon Basset in here."
Fitz smiled widely, shaking his head slightly. "You never cease to amaze me, Jemma."
Jemma blushed slightly, taking his hand and squeezing it lightly. "I could say the same thing about you."
The pair smiled at each other, lost in the moment, until the very indignant voice of their friend interrupted them.
"So are you actually together? Finally?" Daisy stood between them, her arms folded.
Fitz and Jemma jumped back from each other slightly.
"Um," Fitz said, not exactly sure how to explain what he and Jemma were.
"It's complicated," Jemma interjected.
Fitz nodded his agreement as they sat down, Jemma flipping open the book as she and Fitz began to look through it.
Daisy was not amused. "Well, explain. We have time," she said after a few minutes.
"Actually, we don't," Fitz replied, keeping his eyes on the page that he and Jemma were skimming through.
"Fitz," Daisy said reproachfully.
Jemma sighed. "You explain; I'll look."
Fitz took a deep breath and walked over to sit beside Daisy. "You have to promise me you won't say a word about this to anyone, not to Grant, not to Lincoln, no one," Fitz whispered, deathly serious.
Daisy nodded, confusion behind her eyes.
"Well," Fitz said with a sigh, "the quick version is that there's an evil sorcerer named Maveth out terrorizing our kingdom, because I accidentally made him more powerful, which is why we need your kingdom's army, but the only way to stop him is to kill him." Fitz spoke quickly, his voice low. "Also Maveth cast a spell on me when I was a baby so that at true love's curse everyone will forget me, and my true love will hate me," he added as an afterthought. He shot a glance at Jemma, who looked up for a brief moment to offer him a reassuring smile.
"You were… cursed?" Daisy repeated, having clearly not grasped everything Fitz had just said.
Fitz nodded. "Yeah. So that's why it's complicated."
A grin spread across Daisy's face. "Wait, that means Jemma's your-"
"Found him!" Jemma interrupted triumphantly, turning the book around to Fitz and Daisy could see.
"Simon Basset," Fitz read, smiling slightly at how quickly Jemma had found the name, "died seventy-five years ago."
"Oh, he lived in the next village!" Daisy said excitedly, peering down at the text. "I'm fairly certain I know exactly which manor it is, too."
"Then what are we waiting for?" Fitz said, standing up, taking Jemma's hand back in his.
The trio thanked the monks and hurried out of the monastery, garnering them a confused look from Bobbi who had clearly expected them to take longer.
Daisy led the way to the next village, just a quick hour by horseback, as she tossed Fitz question after question about Maveth and the curse and why exactly they were going to a manor house previously held by someone named Simon Basset.
Before long, they were knocking at a door, Daisy at the front, Jemma and Fitz next to her, Bobbi and the guards behind them.
"Hel- Your Highness!" The servant answering the door instantly fell into a low bow at the sight of Daisy.
"May we speak to the lord of the manor?" Daisy asked, formally. "We're interested in the records of the previous lords who have lived here."
"Of course, Your Highness," the servant said with another bow. "Do come in."
The group waited in the foyer, three of the guards remaining outside, as the servant dashed off to find his master.
Very quickly, a man who looked to be in his forties, his hair just beginning to grey, rushed into the room. "Your Highness." He bowed as low as his servant before straightening and catching sight of Fitz. "And Your Highness!" Another bow. "I'm honored by your visit."
"Thank you, sir," Daisy replied. "If I may, what is your name?"
"William Basset, Your Highness."
Daisy flashed Fitz and Jemma a smug look. "A pleasure to meet you. I'm Daisy, this is…" She paused at Fitz's name, clearly unsure whether to call him Leopold or Fitz. "Prince Leopold," she decided, "and Lady Simmons and Lady Hunter."
Jemma ducked her head, laughing at the unwarranted description of her as a Lady.
Daisy ignored her. "We're trying to find a scroll that an ancestor of yours had in his possession, Simon Basset."
Understanding flashed behind Lord Basset's eyes. "Simon Basset was my grandfather's grandfather. He added tremendously to our library during his lifetime."
Fitz grinned.
"May we see?" Jemma asked, clearly excited.
"Certainly. Right this way." He gestured for the group to follow him.
"My son is with the men leaving to go with King Grant to help your kingdom," Lord Basset said to Fitz as they walked down the hall. "He was only just knighted. This is his first real campaign."
"That's the reason we're here," Fitz said, wanting to reassure the man that his son would be safe, feeling slightly guilty that he wasn't out with his father fighting himself. "We believe that something in your great- great-grandfather's possession might be the key to their victory."
Lord Basset turned to him, clearly confused, but a look of relief in his eyes.
"Here we are!" Lord Basset led them into the library, not nearly as large as the one in the palace or the ones in the monasteries, but quite enormous for a lord in a modest manor. "Most of this was added by Simon."
"Are there any personal writings? Diary entries or journals?" Jemma asked, instantly jumping into action.
"Oh yes," Lord Basset led them to an entire case of loose or string bound parchments with a few leather-bound volumes at the end. "This is everything he left behind. I haven't gone through much of it myself, but perhaps this is what you are looking for."
"Thank you so much, Lord Basset," Daisy said with a wide smile.
"No trouble at all, Your Highness. Shall I have some tea brought up?
"That would be lovely, thank you," Daisy replied.
"Then I will take my leave." With a bow, Lord Basset left the library.
"Okay," Jemma turned to Fitz, Daisy, and Bobbi. "We're looking for anything about a scroll or an evil black rock."
They nodded in response and then got to work.
It was more difficult than Fitz had anticipated. Jemma had found the record of Simon Basset extremely quickly, but finding a record of the monolith was more difficult. Basset had evidently been changed by the experience of finding the monolith, since much of his writings were devoted to natural philosophy and magic, studying rocks, just as Fitz and Jemma had done, and cases of objects that had disappeared and reappeared by themselves. But, as they drank their tea and ate their way through a small pile of cakes, the closest they could find to the monolith was a mention of "the incident" which context deemed to be Basset's encounter with the monolith, but that was it.
"Here's a journal," Daisy said boredly, nearly an hour later. "But he's young here, 'my sixteenth birthday,'" she read out as she flipped through pages, "'Thomas has had another son,'" "'today I found something impossible.'"
"What was that?" Fitz looked up.
Daisy was staring down at the page. "'Today I found something impossible. With the poor harvest, Father and I visited the tenants. Nothing seemed amiss until we reached the fields tended by our tenant Holland. In the farthest field, there was a large black stone.' And he describes the dimensions," Daisy continued, skimming down. "'Its very presence chills me to the core. It is unnatural, dare I say evil.'" She flipped through pages. "He's doing research, traveling to libraries, here we go! 'Buried beneath the largest volumes, I found one small scroll. Upon it is a description of the stone and its secrets. It speaks of an evil that comes from the stone, some sort of dark magic, an unnamed being, perhaps a sorcerer."
Daisy inhaled quickly and turned the page. "'I went to see the stone again, but found it gone. I am convinced this is dark magic, the blackest I have known, so I have resolved to dispose of the scroll. I know I cannot destroy it, for the time may come when someone need know how to destroy this monster, but I will bury it in the field beneath the oak tree where I first saw the stone, so it will not fall into the wrong hands. I can only hope the stone is gone for good, and no one ever need search for the scroll.'"
No one spoke.
"Anyone feel like digging?" Bobbi piped up after a moment.
"One step closer," Fitz said almost to himself as he stood.
Jemma's hand found his almost instantly, and she gave it a quick, reassuring squeeze.
Lord Basset had clearly been waiting for them, almost immediately appearing in their midst as they exited the library after restacking all the papers in exact same order as they had been placed when they arrived, as per Jemma's instruction. "Did you find what you needed?"
"Yes, Lord Basset," Daisy replied. "We are incredibly grateful to you for the library and for your hospitality."
Lord Basset laughed. "I am quite honored, Your Highness. It is not everyday that one is permitted to entertain Princess Daisy, Prince Leopold, and their friends." His eyes lingered on Fitz and Jemma's intertwined fingers as he said "friends."
Fitz blushed slightly, ducking his head, but he didn't remove his hand from Jemma's. If this scroll truly did hold the key to defeating Maveth, then perhaps in not too long he could proclaim to the world that he was wanted to marry Jemma Simmons, his beautiful, brilliant, perfect best friend in the world. Let Lord Basset gossip about Fitz and Jemma; it didn't bother Fitz in the least.
"Is there a family called Holland that works your land?" Daisy asked as they walked toward the door.
"Oh, yes," Lord Basset replied, stepping outside, "the Holland family have been tenants of the Bassets for centuries. Their plot is the furthest one down the lane." He pointed off into the distance.
"Again, thank you," Daisy said. "And now we must be off."
There were bows and curtseys all around, and soon they were headed down the lane. It was growing darker and colder, and Fitz found himself thinking of the men on campaign, hopefully staying warm enough.
The group rode to the Holland farm as quickly as possible, and they practically raced to the door.
"Who's ther- Your Highness! What are you-"
"Yes, yes, yes," Daisy brushed away the man's confusion quickly. "You are called Holland, correct?"
The man nodded, eyes wide.
Daisy smiled sweetly. "We have a bit of an odd request. May we borrow a couple shovels and dig under the oak tree on the back of your plot?"
The farmer stared at them. "Pardon me, Your Highness, but you wish to dig underneath the oak tree at the edge of the field?"
"Yes, sir," Daisy replied. "Something was buried there over a century ago, and we need to find it."
"Of course, Your Highness," the man said, clearly fighting the urge to dismiss the princess as insane, "but it's getting rather late and it's terribly cold. Won't you come indoors to keep from freezing?"
"Thank you kindly for the offer, but this is rather urgent."
"Of course," the man replied, still clearly concerned. He stepped outside and led them to the shed where he handed them two sturdy shovels. "The oak tree is the furthest one in that field." He pointed off into the distance where a lonely, leafless tree rose from the empty field.
"Thank you!" they called and hurried away, leaving Holland staring after them.
Two of the guards quickly took the shovels and began digging as they reached the tree, ignoring Fitz and Jemma's protests that they could dig perfectly well themselves.
The rest of the group milled around, jumping up and down and rubbing their arms trying to keep warm. Farmer Holland had been right; it was getting colder and colder as the sun started sinking behind the hills.
And then they heard a thump.
The entire group gathered around the hole one of the guards had been digging. He hopped down into the hole, scraped around, and soon had unearthed a crude wooden box, which he passed up to Bobbi who immediately handed it to Fitz.
Fitz took a deep breath and opened it.
The box was empty, save one small scroll. Fitz took out the scroll and handed the box to Jemma, who set it down on the ground, the entire group watching with bated breath as Fitz unfurled the parchment.
Fitz stared at it. And stared at it. And then looked up, shaking his head.
"I don't know what it says. It's not any language I know." He showed the scroll to Jemma, Daisy, and Bobbi, each one staring down in confusion at the faded ink, a large character at the top of the parchment with several smaller lines below it.
"Wait a minute," Bobbi said, a grin creeping onto her face, "one of our companions happens to be quite good at this sort of thing. May?"
The guard who had found the box, and who seemed to be in charge of the others, stepped forward.
"Do you mind?" Bobbi asked the helmeted figure.
"They'd have to find out eventually," came the reply, distinctly less gruff than Fitz was anticipating, actually it sounded almost….
The guard pulled off his helmet releasing a length of black hair and a face and sly smile that did not belong to a man at all.
"Of my God," Jemma whispered from beside him. "It's the Cavalry."
The smile grew slightly. "Lady Melinda Garner of the Cavalry, at your service, Prince Leopold, Princess Daisy, Miss Simmons." She bowed, a curtsey clearly not being an option in her present armored state.
"You're the leader," Fitz said, awed, and slightly confused because he was certain he had seen this woman somewhere before. "You're the one who vanquished the invaders before I was born."
She raised her eyebrows. "I did have some help."
"Our kingdom is indebted to you, um, Lady Garner," Fitz said, not completely sure how to address the captain of the secret Cavalry.
"Call me May," the woman replied. "I was Melinda May until I married Doctor Andrew Garner, and the name stuck."
"Doctor Garner?" Jemma asked, entering the conversation. "He works in the infirmary."
The corner of May's mouth twitched upwards. "We live outside the palace grounds, and I do the odd errand for the King and help at the infirmary on occasion."
Fitz's mouth fell open, suddenly placing the woman in the background of scenes at the infirmary when Fitz had been distracted by his work.
"I also can read Hebrew, which is what is written on the scroll you have in your hand," May continued.
Fitz immediately passed the parchment to her.
May stared down at it, eyes full of concentration. "The top here says 'death by punishment.'"
"YES!" Fitz and Jemma yelled together, jumping up and down.
"What?" Daisy turned to them, concerned.
But May kept reading. "A column of rock, great in power, hides another world, opened by light, and from there he gets his power-"
"Got that part, didn't we?" Fitz muttered to Jemma, his voice both joking and bitter.
May ignored him. "But it will close for good if he returns-"
Fitz narrowed his eyes. That was interesting.
"He may be of Inhuman power, but he is still human."
"So we can kill him then?" Jemma interrupted. "We kill him and then put his body back through the monolith."
"But how are we supposed to kill him?" Fitz asked, thinking.
"Wait a minute, there's more." May interrupted. "'He cannot die-"
Fitz threw his head in his hands.
"'But he can still fall,'" May finished. "That's it."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Daisy asked. "How can someone fall but not die?"
Fitz thought for a moment and then realized something. He turned to Jemma, to see that she had discovered the same thing he had.
"The solution!"
"But it doesn't last very long," Fitz said, speaking only to Jemma.
"And it would be difficult to get it to him," Jemma replied, her mind clearly racing as fast as Fitz's.
"Sorry, but what are you talking about?" Daisy asked, looking back and forth between the two of them.
"Our solution for instant paralysis," Fitz replied. "All the soldiers out in the field should have some with them. If we're able to introduce the solution to his blood, assuming he has blood," he added as an aside, "then he will, as the scroll says, 'fall.'"
"So then we just need the monolith," May said, looking down at Fitz for instructions.
Fitz nodded. "Can we send word to the, um, other cavalry and the palace and let them know what we've found?"
May nodded to the other three soldiers who stepped forward and pulled off their helmets revealing them to be women too. They quickly introduced themselves to the prince: Lady Anne Weaver, who Fitz and Jemma knew was the wife of another knight, Lady Maria Hill who had been a governess to some of the girls when they were younger, and Lady Natasha Romanov who Fitz couldn't place but was certain he had seen somewhere in the palace at some point, a passing glance here or there, blending in with the crowd. After the introductions, they departed, Lady Weaver heading for the palace, and Lady Hill and Lady Romanov racing toward the village where the cavalry were stationed.
"So what do we do now?" Jemma asked, looking from Fitz to Bobbi to May who had remained behind.
Bobbi spoke. "We get back to Grant and move out tomorrow, straight to King Coulson, not stopping at the palace." She glanced at Fitz and Jemma. "We'll need you both to be there to help with the monolith and the solution, but Daisy," she turned to their friend, "you can stay behind if you'd like."
Daisy rolled her eyes. "Not a chance."
Bobbi flashed her a smile. "Good. Now, let's head back. It's almost nightfall, and I'd rather not freeze to death out here. We've got work to do."
A/N: New chapters posted (most) Fridays.