Fitz knew he'd messed up. Jemma had stopped speaking to him, and he was starting to feel as though the torture of not having his best friend could be as bad as whatever punishment he was supposed to get from this stupid curse.
The day after Fitz had snapped at Jemma, they'd had a history lesson with one of their tutors, but Jemma had not so much as looked at him, answering their tutor's questions quickly and accurately, but nothing more than that. Fitz had tried to catch her eye, but to no avail. Afterward they had met for lunch with Lance and Bobbi before training, but while Jemma talked fairly normally to their friends, not a word was spoken by her in Fitz's direction. Fitz, for his part, commented to her occasionally, but she only ever responded with a nod or a forced smile that was more of a grimace than anything else. As they separated to go with their respective trainers, Lance had quietly asked Fitz if something was going on with him and Jemma. Fitz had only shrugged, not wanting to talk about it. Consequently, Fitz had been thrashed by Lance sparring and had been instructed to work on focusing and trying not to let emotions affect his fighting. Fitz thought that was rich coming from the man who had, allegedly, as a squire, collided with a horse during a sparring match with Jemma's father because he had been so upset about Bobbi refusing him for about the fiftieth time.
After training when Jemma and Fitz would normally have retreated to the solitude of their lab, Jemma shot Fitz a look that was a very clear message for him not to follow her, so Jemma headed down to the basement, leaving Fitz to wander about the castle by himself.
He ended up outside at the swordsmith's forge, digging through a pile of scrap metal as the ancient man glared at him from the other side of the furnace, a far cry from Jemma's supportive smiles and comfortable conversation.
Footsteps approached the forge, but Fitz didn't look up, assuming it was someone come to speak with the swordmaker.
"Thought you might be out here."
Fitz finally turned, recognizing the voice. "Oh. Hey Lincoln."
"Come on," Lincoln gestured for Fitz to abandon the pile of broken swords and useless metal that he was sifting through.
Fitz sighed and dropped the bent hilt he was holding, moving to follow his friend. Out of the corner of his eye, Fitz saw the swordsmith smile at his retreating back.
"So I was talking with Lance and Bobbi," Lincoln began lightly, "and they told me that something's up with you and Jemma."
"It's nothing," Fitz replied instantly.
Lincoln looked at him skeptically. "Jemma's down in the lab right now, and you're hanging around with the swordmaker who, from the look on his face, would rather stab himself with one of his swords than entertain the prince. Now I know you and Jemma are working on something for the cavalry, but I also know that there's a huge pile of broken swords and daggers down in the lab already so 'I need them for a project' isn't an excuse."
"How do you-"
"I was just down looking for you in the lab, and I saw your empty work station piled high with weapons right next to a stony-faced Jemma who insisted that everything was fine. Of course she didn't realize that the walls of that dungeon you guys call a lab echo so I could hear her sniffling as I left." Lincoln turned to him, his eyes almost disappointed as he stared at Fitz.
Fitz looked down at his feet. He hadn't realized how hurt Jemma had been by what he'd said. He knew it made sense – Jemma had to deal with people all over the palace being rude about her studying and working in the lab and the infirmary even though she, by most people's standards, should have been off at finishing school or even searching for a nobleman to marry. The one person she could always count on was Fitz, and he had shut her out. They had never kept secrets from each other. Fitz knew he should go to her, explain himself, but he wasn't quite sure how. He'd never really had to apologize to Jemma before. They could usually forgive each other with just a glance or a smile or a hug. This was the first time they had ever not been on the same page about something.
Lincoln stopped on the palace steps. "Fitz, what happened?"
Fitz shook his head. "I can't talk about it."
Lincoln narrowed his eyes. "Not even with Jemma?"
Fitz looked up at his friend pleadingly. "Not even with Jemma."
Lincoln sighed. "Well tell her something at least. Lance and Bobbi are worried, and so am I."
Lincoln walked back into the castle, leaving Fitz alone.
Fitz took a deep breath. Lincoln was right. He should try to explain things to Jemma.
But that was much easier said than done. Fitz tried to get his friend alone, started so many sentences with "Jemma wait-" only to have his best friend brush past him, heading back to her room or to the lab or anywhere where he wasn't.
Even Mack and Lady Mackenzie were concerned. Lady Mackenzie cornered Fitz after lunch one day, asking him what he had done because she had never seen Jemma and Fitz be separated for such a long period of time.
"Remember when you got really sick three years ago, and you were quarantined in the infirmary?" Jemma's aunt said, her eyes almost sad, "Jemma ignored the other doctors and stayed with you the entire time. If that didn't stop her, then why's she avoiding you now?"
Fitz had thrown his head in his hands, mumbled something about not being able to talk about it and then slipped away as quickly as he could.
Fitz was certain he would have been subjected to more scrutiny from his friends if it hadn't been for the arrival of Grant and Daisy Ward of the neighboring kingdom. The palace had to be cleaned from top to bottom, the cavalry assembled to greet them, and Fitz pulled aside by his parents to brush up on his etiquette.
Fitz usually hated hosting foreign dignitaries and all the pomp and circumstance that came with it, but now Fitz welcomed the distraction. It gave him a real excuse for why he wasn't with Jemma rather than the truth of "she probably hates me and I might have lost my best friend for good".
But the day finally arrived. Right on schedule, a small fleet of carriages pulled up to the palace steps, and Fitz, just behind his parents, waited to meet the new king and the princess.
A footman opened the carriage and out stepped a scowling dark-haired man whose features quickly morphed themselves into a charming smile once he looked up to see the king and his family. Fitz suddenly understood the perturbation his father had with this man being king. His emotions were evidently easily masked, leaving Fitz with the feeling that he would never have any idea what this man was thinking.
But Fitz's attention was quickly captured by the figure that followed Grant Ward out of the carriage. She was taller than he was, but only just (he was still growing, after all, he reassured himself). Her hair was brown, lighter than that of her brother, but the greatest difference between the pair of them was the genuine smile on her face. She seemed relieved to get out of the carriage, grateful to be here, and, when she looked up and saw the king, her smile grew even wider and she passed her brother and ran up the steps.
"KC!" she cried, stopping only to curtsey slightly in front of the king before throwing her arms around him in a tight hug. "It's been way too long."
Fitz saw his mother's eyebrows rise in both confusion and amusement.
His father laughed. "It's lovely to see you too, Daisy." He removed himself from the girl's embrace and turned to his wife. "May I introduce Daisy Ward, who, for a reason I'm still not completely sure of, calls me 'KC' rather than King Coulson or Phillip."
The queen laughed, a bright smile lighting up her face. "Well, it's a pleasure to meet you, Daisy. Phillip has told me so much about you. I'm Audrey."
Daisy grinned and took her hand with another small curtsey. "It's lovely to meet you, Audrey. Coulson spent his entire visit to our castle last autumn talking nothing of you and your son…?" She peered over Audrey's shoulder at Fitz curiously.
Fitz stepped forward, slightly awkward.
"Yes," his father cut in, "this is Leopold."
"It's Fitz," Fitz mumbled.
"Pardon?" Daisy asked politely.
"My friends call me Fitz," he repeated looking up at the girl in front of him.
"Fitz," she grinned, offering him a curtsey. "I'll bet there's a story with that."
Fitz bowed in response, offering her a half-smile. Already he found that he liked Daisy very much.
"Phillip." Another voice entered their conversation.
"Grant," the king bowed in greeting to his fellow ruler. "How good to see you." He turned back to address Daisy as well. "I offer you both my deepest sympathies on the death of your father. He was a good man."
Daisy's smile faltered as she accepted the king's remarks with a nod, but Grant's expression did not change.
"Thank you for your condolences and your hospitality," Grant replied evenly, his odd smile still in place. He turned to Audrey. "What an honor it is to meet Phillip's wife." He kissed her hand.
Audrey's smile in response was dim in comparison to the one she had given Daisy.
"And you're Leo then?" Grant asked.
Fitz nodded, not bothering to correct the other man.
Grant flashed him a smile.
Fitz wondered for a moment if he and Grant could be friends, but then he recalled the odd way the other man's scowl had been replaced by that too-pleasant smile, and Fitz resolved not to trust him.
"You both must go get settled in and then join us for luncheon," Audrey said with a smile directed more at Daisy than at Grant. "There will be a banquet in your honor tonight, but for now you'll have to be content with just our company."
"Oh thank you so much, Audrey," Daisy said, sounding genuinely delighted. "I'm eager to spend more time with KC's family." She flashed the king a wink, and then she and Grant followed several servants to their rooms.
The king turned to Fitz with a wide grin on his face. "Told you you'd like her."
As the family walked back inside, Fitz turned to his father, puzzled slightly. "How did you and Daisy end up becoming so close?"
His father smiled sadly. "She's been through a lot, Daisy. Her mother had died a few months before we arrived, her father was sick, and Grant was so busy ruling in his father's stead that he'd been neglecting his younger sister, so when I ran into her in the hall one day, she was just grateful for someone to talk to. She's a very bright girl; she'd make an excellent ruler someday. We got on well, and eventually she opened up to me about how hard things have been for her alone at the palace without any real friends, especially since her mother died. She just needed someone to talk to, and I was there. That's a big part of why I invited her here with her brother; Daisy needs some friends. Could you and Jemma show her around and introduce her to the rest of your crowd? I think she'd fit right in there."
The small smile that had appeared on Fitz's face as his father told them about how he had befriended Daisy disappeared at the mention of Jemma. Yeah he'd love to show Daisy around the castle with his best friend who was currently doing everything possible to ignore him.
His father had already turned away, smiling to himself, but Fitz could see his mother staring at him curiously. Fitz opted to ignore her.
Lunch was an interesting affair in which Fitz discovered that Daisy was nearly as inquisitive as he and Jemma, but that her interests had been balanced with the accomplishments that Jemma had always ignored (with Fitz's complete support, of course). Daisy, it seemed, was fairly proficient in playing and singing and embroidery, with impeccable manners, but she also was much better-read than any girl of her age Fitz had ever met (Jemma excluded, obviously). Daisy seemed particularly well-versed in politics, throwing in her own opinions when her brother changed the subject to the running of their kingdoms.
She had her own views on the issue of the smugglers and on the currently-suspended war that her father had been waging on another kingdom to the north and west. Fitz suddenly understood why his father had so enjoyed the company of the young princess: they agreed on practically everything, things Fitz had barely even heard of, let alone formed his own opinions on. Daisy excitedly asked Fitz for his thoughts on the most recent joint-kingdom smuggler raid, and Fitz had shrugged hopelessly, the only information he knew about the raid being that Mack and Lincoln had been there and that one of the villagers from the border had remembered Mack as being friends with Lance and had laughed for a solid minute at the memory of Lance falling off his horse two years before.
Fitz had never really cared for politics or for ruling, though on those rare occasions that he had encountered his father, the older man had tried to get him interested, but to no avail. Daisy, in contrast, was the political child Fitz's father had never had – interested in everything the king was interested in, with what were clearly the makings of a shrewd and effective ruler. Fitz could already see that his father was right; Daisy would make a very good queen someday.
Fitz wondered for a moment if he should feel jealous of the attention the girl was receiving from his father, but Fitz didn't. Just the week before he had discovered that his father loved him more than he could have ever possibly imagined, so even if his father appreciated Daisy's company, Fitz couldn't begrudge him that. Plus Fitz already knew that harboring negative feelings for Daisy would be next to impossible; she was just so genuine and likable. To think otherwise would be impossible.
Fitz also considered his father's clear desire for Fitz and Daisy to get along to an extent beyond friendship. Yes, she was pretty and smart and interesting, but Fitz didn't think he felt anything resembling love. He had always imagined true love, especially in the past week when he had occasionally considered the matter as a reprieve from worrying about Jemma, as something that someone could just feel right away, as though everything in the world suddenly made sense. When Fitz looked at Daisy, watched her with his parents, answered her questions (slightly flustered and smiling), he felt as though he was going to make a friend, but there was no revelation, nothing that screamed out to him. It wasn't "meant to be."
But that didn't stop him from laughing with her as his father sent Daisy off with Fitz for a tour of the castle.
"KC can get so formal so quickly!" Daisy said, grinning. "I expect you know all about that."
Fitz half smiled thinking of all the years where he had barely seen his father but for formal occasions. "Yeah, I do."
"Okay, so what do you do then?" Daisy turned to him expectantly.
Fitz looked at her, confused. "What do you mean?"
"I mean that we spent all of luncheon talking smugglers and politics, and you clearly couldn't have cared less," Daisy said with a sly smile. "So what is it you do like to do?"
Fitz had to grin at the keen observation of his companion. "Science, mostly. Well studying anything actually, but science is what we really love."
"We?" Daisy asked, curiously.
Fitz smiled to himself naturally. "Me and Jemma, my best friend. We've been taught everything together since we were little."
Daisy nodded at him, smiling, but Fitz could see her eyes were sad. "It's great that you have someone like that."
Fitz's face fell as he thought of how said best friend hadn't spoken to him for a week. "Yeah."
Daisy looked over at him, her eyebrows raised, but she seemed to sense Fitz's unwillingness to elaborate, so she dropped the subject and instead asked him about science.
With that topic, Fitz still had no escape from Jemma. Every project, every experiment, every day he had spent with his best friend. His discoveries were her discoveries. His work was her work. But he couldn't help but smile as he listed them out to Daisy.
Eventually their discussion turned to their childhoods, and Fitz recounted he and Jemma's days escaping from Lady Hand and running off to visit their friends. However, it came out in the course of conversation that Daisy was perhaps even more adept at escaping from chaperones and governesses than Fitz and Jemma had been. While Fitz and Jemma had been given fairly free reign of the castle since at least age 11, Daisy was still to be accompanied most places by some palace lady or another suitable chaperone. Daisy's encounter with Fitz's father had actually been on an occasion that she had escaped from one of her ladies-in-waiting who had been meant to stay with her.
"I think that's why Coulson liked me so much from the beginning," Daisy said with another smile, "me running away from my chaperone reminded him of you."
Fitz smiled at the implication that his father had missed him when he was off with the cavalry, but that didn't stop Fitz from feeling sorry for his new friend. She had grown up with no best friend and no particularly sympathetic faces in their palace. No Dame Isobel to dote on her, no Mack and Lady Mackenzie to serve as second parents. No Hunter and Bobbi to entertain her and protect her as the almost older siblings the pair had become to Fitz and Jemma.
Fitz's stomach growled, and he discovered that it was time for tea. He and Daisy had been wandering for hours. He'd shown her most of the grounds – including the stables, the gardens, and the observatory – as well as most of the interior of the castle. He wanted to show her the lab, but Fitz couldn't guarantee that Jemma wasn't there, and he didn't want to run into her without warning. Instead, he opted to bring Daisy to Mack and Lady Mackenzie's quarters for tea. Their entire group had a standing invitation to take tea with them on Fridays, and Fitz figured that Daisy would like to make some new friends.
Fitz knocked on the door, which was opened by Lady Mackenzie whose face flashed from pleased to curious to concerned and back to pleased in a matter of seconds.
"Fitz! How lovely to see you!" she greeted him graciously, not acknowledging that their last conversation had been an awkward one as she had cornered Fitz in a palace corridor to talk about Jemma.
"Lady Mackenzie, this is Princess Daisy Ward," Fitz introduced his new friend more formally than usual as he talked to the older woman. "And Daisy, this is Lady Mackenzie, wife of Sir Alphonso of my father's cavalry."
"Lovely to meet you, Princess," Lady Mackenzie curtsied to Daisy. "We'll be so glad to have you for tea."
"The pleasure is mine," Daisy replied, with a curtsey of her own. "Thank you so much for having me."
Daisy and Fitz followed Lady Mackenzie into her sitting room, which Fitz discovered was already filled with their friends.
Mack stood near the door, and he greeted Daisy with a bow as the young princess replied that she remembered seeing him at the palace the year before.
"Daisy, this is Dame Isobel."
Daisy had grinned widely at the older woman. "Oh, Fitz has told me so much about you."
"Oh has he now?" Dame Isobel replied, shooting Fitz a wink.
Fitz introduced Daisy to Lance and Bobbi together, and as Bobbi asked Daisy about herself, the rest of their friends gathering around, Fitz could see that they all already liked the young princess.
Fitz called over to Mack to inquire about Lincoln, but apparently the young squire was unavailable. Daisy looked up at Lincoln's name, but a moment later she was back giving her full attention to Lance who was recounting some story about Fitz.
"Jemma and Lady Simmons are in the other room with my wife though," Mack said almost casually.
Fitz paled. Of course Jemma would be here, and her mother too. This could be a disaster.
"Oh I simply must meet Jemma after hearing so much about her!" Daisy said to Fitz, turning away from Lance, excited.
Fitz gave her a tight-lipped smile. "Of course."
Fitz left the rest of his friends and led Jemma into the next room where he found two women and his hopefully-still-best-friend staring back at him, clearly having expected him to come in. Lady Simmons was older than her sister by several years, but both women had the same golden-brown hair that so matched Jemma's.
Lady Simmons was staring at him with a sad smile on her face. Fitz wondered if she knew what was going on, why he and Jemma had barely been seen together in the past week. It was Jemma, however, who truly captured Fitz's attention.
She was determinedly avoiding his gaze, which gave Fitz the opportunity to stare at her. Her smile was forced, her eyes downcast, and her nose and cheeks red as though she had a cold. Fitz had seen enough of Jemma in the past few days to at least know she wasn't ill, so the option left to him was that Jemma had been crying. The thought made Fitz feel rather like crying himself. In avoiding Fitz's gaze, Jemma's eyes had fallen on Daisy next to him. Jemma looked almost… jealous? Did she think that Fitz was trying to replace her as his best friend with the new princess? Fitz thought the idea laughable, but there in front of him was Jemma's slightly furrowed brow, narrowed eyes, and almost hurt expression.
"You must be Jemma!" Daisy bounded over to Fitz's best friend without introduction. "I've heard so much about you from Fitz this afternoon that I feel as if I know you already." She smiled widely.
Jemma was clearly taken aback by Daisy's excitement and apparent desire to be friends.
"This is Princess Daisy Ward," Fitz said quickly, following his friend over to Jemma. "Daisy, you've met Lady Mackenzie, but this is Lady Simmons and Jemma Simmons." There were curtsies all around before Daisy turned her attention back to Jemma.
"It's, er, nice to meet you, Daisy," Jemma said, unsure. Fitz could see that his best friend wanted to smile at the genuine excitement of Daisy, but his presence was making her uncomfortable.
Jemma glanced up at him, and, for the first time since he had entered the room, their eyes met. Fitz saw hurt and confusion and a wish for him to leave, but beneath all that, the small upward twinge of her lips told Fitz that she missed him just as much as he missed her.
"Excuse me," Fitz found himself saying. "I have to go speak to Mack." He made a slight bow, a formality he had never in his life used in Jemma's presence, and walked as quickly out of the room as he could manage without looking as though he was running away.
He ended up in conversation with Mack, Lance, and Bobbi, but Fitz could not have recalled the subject if asked. He was listening to the conversation from the next room, Jemma's and Daisy's laughter drifting above the voices of the rest of his friends. He hadn't heard Jemma laugh in a week, but here was Daisy accomplishing the task straight away. Fitz thought he had found himself a new friend, but maybe he had just brought Jemma a replacement for himself.
"Fitz."
Fitz suddenly jerked out of his stupor to see Lady Mackenzie looking at him expectantly, holding out a tray of cookies. Judging by the raised eyebrows of his friends, Lady Mackenzie had evidently called his name several times already.
"Oh," Fitz said, taking a cookie automatically. "Thanks."
Lady Mackenzie nodded in response, but there was concern in her eyes.
"You okay, Fitz?" Mack asked skeptically.
"Yeah, 'm fine," Fitz replied, his mouth full of cookie, embarrassed by the attention he was getting. "I was just thinking."
Bobbi blinked at him, looking as though she was going to continue Mack's line of questioning, so Fitz quickly left the conversation and took a seat across the room by himself under the pretense of wanting to peruse one of Mack's books.
"Should we do anything?" he heard Lance's whisper carry over the voices of Dame Isobel, Lady Mackenzie, and Lady Simmons.
Bobbi shook her head. "They're kids. They can work this one out themselves."
Mack glanced over at Fitz, and Fitz pretended to be engrossed in his reading.
"They better." The older man's voice was a different tenor than Fitz had ever heard. It wasn't sad exactly, but there was some hint of melancholy. Mack sounded tired, as though he had been experiencing some sort of hardship for too long.
With a shout of laughter, Jemma and Daisy emerged from the other room, arms linked and matching smiles on their faces until Jemma's faltered at the sight of Fitz.
"Fitz!" Daisy called, still grinning widely. "Jemma's been telling me the most amusing stories, but I fear I should be returning to my rooms. My brother wanted to speak to me before the banquet, and I should imagine that Coulson would want to talk to you."
The eyebrows of the room collectively rose at Daisy calling the king by his last name rather than his first, let alone by his title. Dame Isobel grinned appreciatively, and Fitz could see that she already had a soft spot for the princess.
Fitz stood up, nodding, trying to make his formality seem respectful of Daisy rather than awkward in the face of the present circumstances. "We'll head back then. Thank you for having us Lady Mackenzie, Mack."
Both of his friends smiled at him as Daisy echoed Fitz's sentiments with a much wider smile than his.
"Will you all be at the banquet this evening?" Daisy asked curiously.
"I believe we all should be," Dame Isobel answered for the group. "And you'll be able to meet Mack's squire who's usually here for tea as well."
Daisy beamed at the older woman. "I'll be delighted. Until tonight then." She curtseyed and exited the room following Fitz.
As soon as the door had closed behind them, Daisy turned to Fitz, the same grin still on her face. "You're so lucky, Fitz, to have grown up in a place like this. They all adore you and Jemma; anyone could see it. It's lovely."
Fitz smiled to himself. "Yeah, they really are great. My father's often away, and my mother's pretty busy with the day-to-day of running the kingdom, so it's always been great to have all these guys to look out for us, save us from our governesses, keep us well-fed, that sort of thing."
Daisy shook her head slightly. "I must say I'm rather jealous of you. I would have loved a second family like this."
Fitz took her hand tentatively, and she looked up at him, her eyes sad.
"Well, stick around here a while, then. We'd be more than willing to have you."
Daisy's eyes lit up at Fitz's words, but before she could say anything, Fitz heard movement from behind them in the hall.
He turned to see Jemma frozen further down the corridor, her eyes locked on he and Daisy's linked fingers.
A/N: Thanks so much for reading! Reviews are lovely!