Book Two: KOTLC One-shots and More

The Breakup (Fitz POV)

A/N: @InkstheticBookworm requested this scene from "Legacy".

Fitz was not happy.

How much time had he spent trying to find Alvar? And then Sophie and Keefe—his girlfriend and his best friend—had stumbled upon him.

And they'd let him go.

Didn't they understand how badly Fitz, Biana and their parents needed closure? Fitz had been sure that once Alvar was captured, that would be the end of it. But then the Council had decided to send Alvar back to Everglen and put him on house arrest, and of course it had all been a trick and he'd escaped.

Fitz just needed it done. And not just for his sake. His parents made an effort to pretend they weren't as broken over it as they were, but Fitz wasn't fooled. He didn't miss the tears, the sad whispers, the careful editing of all anecdotes to try to keep Alvar out of them. And Biana had been crushed both times Alvar had betrayed them. She was strong--too strong and stubborn for her own good, sometimes--and she was excellent at keeping her head up high.

Much better than Fitz was, if he were being honest. But she shouldn't have to be. Biana's eldest brother had shown himself to be thoroughly untrustworthy. The least Fitz could do for his little sister was be the big brother Alvar wasn't.

And his two favorite people had let Alvar get away again.

He'd already snapped at Keefe when Keefe had told him. He wasn't proud of the way he'd reacted, but Keefe had promised him he'd been prepared for anger and even told Fitz he'd be angry too if he were in Fitz's position.

He'd even told Fitz--very reluctantly--that it had been Sophie's idea to take the deal.

"But I'm only telling you this because she insisted that I not take the blame for it," Keefe had said, "and only because Alvar had information for us. So don't be mad at Foster. It's not her fault."

Fitz wasn't mad at Sophie. He wasn't mad at Keefe, either.

Okay, maybe he was a little.

But mostly he was still so angry at Alvar that any mention of his stupid big brother made him lash out irrationally.

It was with all of that in mind that he leaped to Havenfield. Grady and Edaline were in the pastures and told him that Sophie had gone to speak with Councillor Oralie, but that he was welcome to wait for her.

So he did. He stayed outside so she'd see him as soon as she appeared on the grounds, and he paced.

And paced.

And paced some more.

Grizel had disappeared, though Fitz was sure she was somewhere nearby. She probably didn't want to be near Fitz and all of his obsessive pacing. But he couldn't help it. He was so angry and physical activity helped burn off some of that energy--and hopefully would help keep his anger in check. It was just so hard to keep a rational head when it came to Alvar.

The one person Fitz had looked up to more than anyone else in the world--even more than his dad.

And he'd turned out to be a total creep.

Fitz needed to hear Sophie's side of the story. He knew her well enough to know that she would not have let Alvar go if she'd thought there was another choice, but it rankled that she hadn't consulted Fitz on it.

Finally, Sophie leaped onto the grounds. She looked...

Weird didn't even begin to describe it.

Very upset, and dejected, like all the good had gone out of the world.