Arthur/Gwen (Merlin side character if you want) | What if Arthur got to Gwen first when Hengist took her as his prisoner (Lancelot was never there)
S2, AU Arthur and Guinevere
Guinevere stared at Prince Arthur's mailed back as he jogged ahead to scout for Hengist's men. She'd spent three lonely and hopeless days in Hengist's hold certain of her death. Uther wouldn't pay for her ransom and she had no family that could come after her. She was no great lady, just an ordinary woman with ordinary uncles and aunts who would cry over her and perhaps beg the king to do something for her.
He wouldn't -oh he might have given them some trifle. Perhaps fifty gold coins, which would be a fortune to her family, but a pittance when one considered the size of the king's treasury. What he would not have done was pay the ransom Hengist demanded or risk knights, and valuable horses on a quest to save the life of one servant. He surely would not have sent his only son and heir to save that servant.
When they stopped for a rest Guinevere walked to Prince Arthur's side uncertain of what she would say to him, but feeling that she had to say something, to thank him somehow.
She ducked her head trying to find the words, fingers toying with her sleeves.
"Your highness I-" she lifted her head then. What she saw in his eyes struck her dumb. She had never seen what she saw in his eyes now, and Guinevere felt her heart swell in response to it. "Arthur-"
She didn't expect him to pull her into his arms, to lift her from her feet. She didn't expect him to press her body against his with almost bruising force.
"Each day, each second, each moment you were gone drove me mad Guinevere."
She trembled at this.
"I thought I'd lost you. I thought I'd lost you without you knowing just how much I love you."