How Will It Be?
Summary: How I think the BBC will approach (if they get to approach it) Gwen's 'Betrayal' with Lancelot. Sorry if some of the vocabulary is a little modern or anyone is out of character, I tried to do it the best I could.
She knew that she had lead him on the night before, the fight with Arthur and the wine had been too much for her and the kiss was unintentional but she had done it and now she had to deal with it.
When Lancelot had come back to Camelot, Arthur had already been king for over half a year and Gwen had been his Queen for over five months; Arthur had been hesitant to allow Lancelot to be a knight of Camelot, knowing that the man and his own wife had history but, he was fair and let the man enter.
Gwen and Lance had talked and made sure they both knew where the other stood and, since then, they had been a sort of friends.
Now, twelve years later, when Gwen was a loved Queen and an even more loved wife and mother of four beautiful children, a mistake had lead to this meeting with the knight.
"It was a mistake, Lancelot; I was angry at Arthur and I kissed you out of anger, you don't deserve that," Gwen apologized in her own way.
"The way you kissed me..." Lancelot spoke with a longing voice, taking a step forward.
Gwen stood with her back against the stone wall and Lancelot in front of her.
"Lance, you know I care deeply for you," she spoke, trying to be considerate.
Lancelot took it the wrong way. "We can't stay here, if King Arthur found out he'd have us both burnt; we can run away, Gwen, we can run far away and never look back."
That, made Gwen smile, the fact that as he said her name she had felt nothing. The way Arthur said her name, even after all these years, even if he only called her 'Guinevere' on special and intimate occasions, even when he directed himself to her as 'Gwen' or any other nickname, it always made her feel special, wanted and needed because of how she was, not who she was. She remembered she had once felt like this when Lancelot called her 'lady'...however, that felt irrelevant now.
He leaned forward to kiss her but she pushed her head away so that his lips collided with her cheek.
"You have not understood."
Arthur stood from the tower. He couldn't bear to continue looking at them but he felt forced to.
This didn't feel right. Gwen, his Guinevere, who had fought so hard to make their marriage possible, who had suffered all kind of insults just to live and reign beside him. Lancelot leaned into her and he could barely see them but he could see the two figures doing what could only be described as kissing.
He looked away unable to see anything more.
"Arthur?" he heard Merlin's voice shout. Arthur cleaned his wet eyes and put on a strong act for his friend.
Merlin arrived at the tower with a letter in his hand. "The king from Bethlon has suggested an arranged engagement between his ten-year-old daughter and Marcus...I already said..." Merlin started babbling.
"When?" Arthur simply asked.
Merlin looked up, stunned. "You mean, you might accept?
Arthur looked at the horizon; he could already see Gwen making her way back to the castle. "I've always said love is bigger than war, have I not, Merlin?"
"Yes, Sire," Merlin answered. He hadn't called Arthur that in a very long time, definitely not since he had been assigned the role of Court Warlock but he felt it was the right word for the moment.
"I think I might have been wrong..."
Gwen entered the royal chambers quietly, closing the door behind her as she entered.
"For about ten minutes I have been wondering what I would say...sitting in this chair and imagining what I would do when you came in through that door," Arthur's voice resounded in the big room.
Gwen took a hand to her heart, with a startled expression on her face. "You scared me, Arthur. What are you doing here?"
"Why would I not be in here? They're my chambers too, Guinevere."
There it was again, even if they were angry at each other, her name on his lips made tingles go up her spine.
Gwen turned around, sat on a stall, picked up her brush and run it thought her curly hair.
"Well, I thought you were avoiding me. We had a stupid fight about our daughter, you go away to kill some magical monster for three weeks without telling me and, when you back, you don't even look at me and..."
"Is that why you left with Lancelot?"
Gwen's brush fell to the floor as she turned to look at her husband in shock.
"I might have been avoiding you but I was not ignoring you," he informed her. "It is quite hard to ignore when your wife and your best knight and friend leave together. I was planning to talk to you and solve everything last night, after the welcoming feast, but you were busy so I thought I'd sleep in the guest chambers so I would not be awoken by you late night arrival."
"It wasn't a late night, I was back a few minutes after the feast...I didn't know you had seen me..." she told him sincerely.
Arthur got up angrily.
"It would seem so or you would not have met up with him again today!" the king spoke with a shout at his wife.
Gwen looked surprised and a little hurt and angry. She replied with the same tone but even higher. "I would think a king had more important things to do that spy on his queen!"
There was a polite knock on the door and both thirty-year-olds turned around to see their twelve-year-old son enter the room.
"I'm sorry to interrupt father but I heard shouts and..." the young boy started speaking.
Gwen walked towards him and put her arm around him. "Your father and I are just discussing something, Marcus, go back and play with Elizabeth, okay?"
"Yes, mother," the young boy said before leaving. Gwen turned to look at Arthur again, who now seemed to have calmness and even a loving expression written on his face.
"I once told you that you were more important to me than Camelot would ever be, that still stands," he confessed, still sitting in his chair.
"Even if you think of me as an adulterous?" Gwen couldn't help but ask angrily. It was horrible that she was even using these words but she felt the need to make Arthur suffer, how could he believe so easily that she had given herself to Lancelot like that? Did he not know her?
"Yes, even if you slept with a thousand men, you would still mean the world to me." Gwen didn't want to admit it but she felt touched by this. "However," Arthur said, standing up and looking at the ground. "I'm afraid I will have to challenge Lancelot to a duel to death."
Arthur started walking to the door, only to hear Gwen laughing behind him. He stopped abruptly.
"You are laughing?" Arthur asked incredulously as he turned around. Gwen laughed harder.
"I am laughing," Gwen repeated with a smirk.
"I just caught you acting in a way that should get you burnt, I love you enough to, with time, forgive you and let you live with me like before but, there is nothing remotely funny about this," he told her seriously.
"Yes, your right," Gwen spoke, now seriously, before doing something that most woman would have never even thought of doing; she smacked her husband.
Arthur took his hand to his cheek and looked at her with bewilderment. He had done what no king or man would ever do; watch as his wife betrayed him and then forgive her without even shouting at her, he had done the unthinkable...if you would have asked him before what he would have done with an adulterous wife, he would've answered that he would burn her immediately. But now, he hated to think that Lancelot had even touched her, let alone that she had let him, but he couldn't hate her, it was impossible.
"That," Gwen spoke, referring to the slap. "Is for thinking that I had actually slept with another man so easily."
Arthur looked at her for a second, realizing just what she was saying and a smile started to appear on his lips, but it was quickly whipped away by another smack.
"And, THAT, is for spying on me and not trusting me," Gwen spoke again but Arthur didn't mind, he was numb from happiness, happiness that she still loved him; happiness because part of him thought she would go away with Lancelot and never look back.
He tried to open his mouth but Gwen's palm connected with his cheek once again. "And, THAT is for leaving three weeks without speaking to me first."
Arthur didn't open his mouth, awaiting another slap but he was joyfully surprised when Gwen's lips where the ones that met his own.
It was sweet but he loved it as he would have a passionate kiss.
Arthur pulled away. "I take it, then, that you did not sleep with Lancelot..."
Gwen raised an eyebrow. "Do you wish me to hit you again, Arthur?" she asked him sarcastically.
He shook his head. "No, I...I just needed to make sure. I...I saw you kissing him this morning."
Gwen shook her head to. "You are confused Arthur, I did not kiss him today..."
Arthur's eyes shot up. "So, you did kiss him yesterday?" he asked, ready to start shouting.
"No...Well, yes," Gwen stated. "But it wasn't really intentional."
She went on her knees in front of Arthur, who had sat back down, and took both his hands.
"I was angry, Arthur, and Lance noticed..."
Arthur winced at the nick name.
"He was kind and I drank a little too much wine. We started speaking and went out without even noticing, he kissed me and I let him, unlike this morning when he misunderstood me and tried again, what you saw this morning was Lancelot leaning in to kiss me and me turning my face so he met my cheek. It was only something of the moment, Arthur. You should know that I am not capable of adultery, if I truly wanted someone else, I would run way with them and, in the worst situation possible, I'd leave you a note, at least. I love you, Arthur...how could you ever doubt that."
"I didn't doubt it; I just thought you made a mistake, a silly one-time mistake."
"Oh, Arthur..." she spoke tenderly, hugging her husband.
"I'm sorry, Gwen, I should have spoken to you first..."
"I'm surprised you spoke to me at all...I'd think you'd have me burnt me immediately if I ever betrayed you in such way," Gwen confessed.
Arthur stood up, looked Gwen right in the eye and kissed her. "That would be committing suicide, Gwen. I love you too much to ever do that; you should know that by now too."
They embraced each other tightly.
"I'm sorry," they both said at the same time.
The net day Arthur came down to the courtyard with his sword in hand and a smile plastered on his face.
"Lancelot!" he called out, standing beside a stone wall.
The knight made his way to the king and bowed when he reached him. He barely had time to react before Arthur swung his sword at him, leaving Lancelot with his back pressed to the wall and the king's sword pressed to his chest.
"I'm just going to say it once, Lancelot," Arthur spoke calmly. "You are one of best knights and even a friend but, do as much as look at my wife again, and I will make sure you're like is worst that hell."
Lancelot nodded solemnly and Arthur took his sword back, walking away.
"Arthur!" Lancelot called. The king turned around. "I was not messing around, I would never have betrayed you like that but, I love her."
Arthur sighed. "I know that...it is the only reason why you are still alive."
---The End---
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