A/N: A drabble about Arthur, which reflects my views on his character, and what I imagine him to be like. A little Gwen/Arthur, but only at the end. I thought it was too short to be called a one-shot.
Enjoy!
Arthur had never been very fond of change. When he was small, and training with the knights, he had been upset and annoyed whenever his teacher changed. Either they were dead, or left on a quest, but Arthur took it as a personal affront and had often thrown a fit for days.
He didn't know why he had an irrational fear of change. It had started from a young age, so young that he could not remember quite when it had begun. It felt like a permanent fixture, a small, but present, defect in his brain. It had been fine when he was younger- he was Prince Arthur, and all he had to do was complain before everything he wanted was brought to him. Now he was older he had less control (he was supposed to have left that strange abnormality behind as he grew up) and instead he kept it well hidden under bluster, arrogance and selfishness.
Unfortunately, everything just kept getting worse as he grew older.
First, Morgana came to stay. He understood that her father had been killed and his father had promised to look after her, but he was still resentful. She was a skinny, bony child who ran like a whippet and beat him in sword practice. Arthur grumbled and moaned, but eventually got used to her.
Then she grew up into a beautiful young woman, and he didn't know how to act with her anymore. This change upset him quite a bit.
Merlin came, with all his clumsiness and his lovable nature, his secretive eyes and his knack of saving Arthur's life. First Arthur had hated him (no one had ever stood up against him before, and it annoyed him), then he hated him even more (his father made him his manservant, and Merlin did things entirely differently to his old one, Morris- in fact, he hardly ever did them) and he had to put up with it and fake a smile and pretend he didn't care about the change.
Above all, Arthur wanted his father's approval. He knew that to get it he must be the best, and that Uther would praise him. His father was his rock, his guidance- he would never change.
Then the worst happened. His father began to twist away from him, become less of a parent and more of a boss, one who no longer cared. This was the ultimate betrayal. Uther had a dark past that Arthur had no knowledge of, and it had always been inside him, but this was a face Arthur had never seen before and it seemed to him as though his father had undergone a sudden transformation into a harsh stranger.
Arthur realised that Uther killed anyone he wanted, he was selfish, arrogant, blustering, and for the first time in his life Arthur no longer liked hearing the phrase, 'you're so like your father.' It used to make his proud, and his chest would blow up like a frog, imagining himself to be a great king, just like his father, but now it made something inside him wither and turn dark with disgust.
His fear of change grew worse - his blossoming friendship with Merlin took three steps back, and Morgana became once more an alien form, an unapproachable beauty. It consumed him and he spent most of his days in his chambers, trying not to think, and failing.
It was around about then, in the dark days, when he began to have feelings for Gwen. This new jump in his heart, the strange feeling that choked him up whenever he got close to her, showed that he, too, had changed.
But, Arthur was beginning to realise, you can get positive change.
Gwen made him feel better, made the world a better place. He had begun to think that he could be a good king, a kind king, a great king, the opposite of his father. And he often wanted to be as far away from his father as possible. There was still a cord tying him to Uther, the smallest skein of spider's silk, the mark of kin. Part of Arthur knew he would mourn when Uther passed, one of the very few who would. He was the only family he had left. Another part knew, however, that he could change the kingdom, for good, once Uther had passed on.
And he would do it, he decided, with Gwen at his side. Whatever it took.
Reviewing would be great!