Okay hold on tight for this Author's note. It is going to be a long one.

And most of you thought that you were getting a 3,551 word story. This AN is nearly as long as the story.

On 24th December 2012, I started to write Consequence of Love. That dreadful night that Merlin ended, I couldn't sleep and I started to write on my iPod and when I woke up on Christmas morning, I had wrote 6 chapters (which aren't on there any more, I checked). I didn't know whether or not to upload it. Obviously I did because you guys are all reading this and I will admit now, it was terrible. On 5th January 2013, I uploaded the first chapter and got a rush as the views, followers, favourites and reviews came in.

If you asked me on that night how much my life would have moved on from that point, I doubt that I would have believed you. Consequence of Love reached 70 chapters with 282 reviews and I never imagined that my writing would have done that. I now have written and uploaded 23 fanfics, archiving 483,720 words. Not only that by my personal life has changed as well. I have left secondary school and am halfway through my second year at uni. A lot has changed since I released that first chapter of Consequence of Love. The big thing has been my writing. It has got a lot better and it is something that I am grateful for.

I know that I got into writing late but it seems to be what I do. I am just trying to give Consequence of Love, and the stories that followed that timeline, the closure that it needs because just over three years later and I finishing this. Part of me feels sad. This has been a very long time coming and I have adored the characters that I have made and the story I have told, as I hope you do as well. But then part of me feels relieved that I have finished this timeline. I didn't wish to drag it out this long.

Right so on to this story.

Just a note to say that this whole story is from Gorlois' point of view. It was always meant to be this way (expect this chapter was meant to be chapter 40 of To Kill a King. I like round numbers so this became story 10)

If anyone has been there since Consequence of Love, I am eternally grateful for your support. Even if you haven't reviewed, I am still grateful that you have read it.

So here is the last story of Changes.

Ages for this story:

Gorlois – 29
Clarine – 28
Gareth – 26
Lynette – 23
Amhar – 22
Maldue – 21
Isobel – 21

Well we won, I suppose that was the main thing.

Most of their soldiers mutinied. It was quite fun watching them run.

But the clear up was big.

Ealdor was hit hard and it took its toll on father. I had never seen him so heartbroken. He may have left the village a long time ago but it was still his home. I remember having to comfort him as he sat in the ruins of his old home, crying. It was hard.

Esstir itself was left in ruin. The people had very little to survive on. I am pretty sure most of them just wanted to bury the dead, bury their loved ones.

I supposed deep down I always knew it but war doesn't just affect the soldiers, it affects everyone. I always knew that my uncle and the knights carried around what they had to do. It was harder when you, yourself, are the one doing it.

The person who changed the most was Gilli. He wasn't the same man that I met in the forest when I was 14. He never smiled in private and always gave the bad news so easily. I tried to connect with him afterwards. The night terrors he had were bad and I tried to help him. He always pushed me away, saying he didn't want my help.

Maybe this is why Gaius was always so critical of father. He knew that every decision was hard. He knew of the scars that never healed.

We left Essetir kingless. The palace was looted once more and the kingdom was descending into anarchy.

Uncle Arthur had always said that even though he was the one to takeover Esstir, he wasn't going to be the king of two kingdoms. One drained him enough.

It was a few days spent in the library but we finally found a living heir to the Esstir throne.

Gwaine.

It was very distant but he is the 6th cousin, 3 times removed of Lot.

Father told us of the time when he hated nobility.

Uncle Arthur joked that he would take Gwaine to Esstir himself, even if he was kicking and screaming.

What Uncle didn't know was that Gwaine had the best teacher on being a king.

Gwaine now rules Esstir as if my uncle was there himself. He is fair and just and even goes to the tavern to drink with his loyal subjects.

The people love him as much as Camelot loves Uncle.

Obviously father helped him settle in. Gwaine jokes constantly that he needs to find father a kingdom of his own.

His injury did hold him back slightly. He has never taken a Queen and, to what I understand, he doesn't plan on. He jokes that he wouldn't want anyone to wake up to see his slightly deformed face. Father would always laugh it off but I knew that he wanted his friend to find what he did.

My siblings and cousins never fully understood and never will understand what he meant to me.

I regularly visit to Mordred's grave. Sometimes, if I am lucky, I meet mother there. I know that she feels guilty for his death but it needed to be done.

Mordred was my teacher and my friend. Even afterwards I still see him as that. I know what happened to him. I was there. I was the one to finally break him. I know that it wasn't him. Shows how destiny does finally catch up with you.

His grave was simple. I dug it myself and my parents found the rocks that we placed to mark it.

Over time it had been torn down and we just put it back up.

He did fight for Camelot. He did fight for magic.

Uncle Arthur and Aunty Gwen are still going strong. Still so in love. Ruling Camelot, both as fair and just as they should be.

Uncle still makes misjudgement that Aunty puts right. They were born to be together.

It is nice to see a love so old still seem so fresh still. Clarine finds it weird when they sometimes act like teenagers, telling them that they should act their age. I tell her to allow them. That is why they got back together after my Mother tried to break them up. That is why their relationship lasted as long as it had.

Mother and Father are still as strong as they could be. They still have their arguments. They still run off together like love sick puppies. That night is definitely put behind us all.

Father's leg never properly healed, even with magic. He now has a constant limp and has to use a walking stick. Mother had one hand made for him.

The top has a dragon, sitting on a rock, with its wings spread. Its tail spirals down the stick. The detail of it makes it one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen. There is even a thin blade in it for father to use if he ever has to.

Father didn't want it but Mother is too protective over him to allow him to take it out. He just accepts it. Sometimes he knows when not to argue. I think sometimes he gets sick of it and other times, he remembers what they could have been.

The rest of the family?

Well Maldue finally spoke. It was weird after him not speaking. We also found out that Maldue and Isobel cannot do magic without casting the spell at the same time. The twins have only just married twins. Married on the same day, next to each other. I had never seen them so happy. It was a great day and I was glad to witness it.

Amhar is currently unmarried but has fallen head over heels for a druid girl. I have helped him out a couple of times to impress her. He has asked her father if he can court her but he doesn't partially like Amhar. I just told him to keep trying. If it is meant to be then it will happen.

Lynette managed to get over her crush on Gwaine. But she ended up marrying some that looked very similar and also happened to be 15 years her senior. A farmer of all people. She lives with him in Ealdor. She was quite happy to give up the life of privilege. It didn't suit her anyway. She gave birth to a son in the winter just gone. James. I hear he is strong and doing well. I haven't found the time to go and see him myself.

Gareth is married to a princess. One that is very demanding but I know that they do love each other very much. It is almost like watching Uncle Arthur and Aunty Gwen. She has given him two daughters. Carla, who is 4, and Helen, who is 1. Gareth turned out to be like his father as he spoils his little girls rotten, always giving into them. It is great to see. Uncle is slowly preparing him for the role that he will takeover. Gareth isn't too bothered at the moment. He is quite happy just living.

Clarine … what do I say about Clarine?

Clarine fell in love with a man that doesn't love her as much as she does him. It breaks my heart every time I see her. She has given him a son, Thomas (after her Grandfather of course), and a daughter, Matilde (every bit her mother's daughter). They are wonderful children and I love them as if they were my own. I look after them when I can. Sometimes they remind me of what Clarine and I was like as children.

But back to the husband (sorry I don't really like saying his name. I don't think he deserves it.) still he finds the time to go out and sleep with … really any woman he comes across.

It hurts to see her pour all her love into him and he not even acknowledge she is there sometimes. He has said he will try and stop cheating on her but that was only when Uncle had a say. There is very little that he could actually do. I don't like the terms of this age but Clarine is his property now.

So I try and help her out when I can. I have even asked on numerous occasions that she moves into my home but she says she could never leave him.

I admire her for that at least.

Me?

Well I managed to get the girl.

I could always forgive her for what she done. I would have done the same if I was in her position. My parents mean the world to me.

She is as beautiful as ever. And I have been blessed with 2 beautiful daughters and a son.

Elouise is the oldest. The split of her mother with my eyes. She is 7 and enjoys every story I tell her. Her magic is like mine, very good at attacking spells.

Alecia was my second child. She happens to look like my mother, all pale skinned and black haired. She just turned 6 and is still experimenting with her magic but I believe she will be a healer, just like her mother and grandmother.

My son was the last to be born. Anne refused to have any more. We named him Lance, after Lancelot, my father's friend and one of the most loyal knights I had heard about. He is only 3 but can still be as troublesome as the other two.

June 467

I sighed as I looked in the mirror.

"Don't look at it." Anne said from the bed.

She knows exactly what I am looking at. Even though it is nearly 8 years ago, I still cannot get over it. I look at the reflection, my eyes tracing down the scar that runs from the top of my chest to just above my belly button.

"I know I shouldn't." I replied, throwing the shirt over my head. "But I cannot help it. I shouldn't be alive."

I watched in the mirror as Anne walked up and wrapped her arms round me. "You shouldn't but the goddess had more in store for you. You should be grateful for that."

I chuckled. I had no idea what the goddess had in store for me but I was glad I was still alive. I mean I am turning 30 tomorrow. My mother would have probably gone mad with grief if I did die on that day.

I placed my hands on her joined ones. "Suppose we should get the children ready. My parents will be here soon."

"You always say that and they are always late."

I broke away from her embrace and gave her a quick kiss. "That is because they always argue which turning they should take."

Anne shook her head at me as I went to leave the room.

I didn't bother trying to get them all out to meet my parents. They hated a big show. They always told me that they could see them inside.

I watched as my mother gracefully got off her horse while my father struggled to get off his and accidentally landing on the wrong leg first. He only remained standing because he was holding onto the saddle still. My mother was at his side at an instant. I knew that she was telling him that he should be more careful and him telling her that he is careful. They always seem to be having the same argument nowadays. I don't mind them arguing about that.

"Gorlois." My mother said when they approached me.

I opened my arms up to her and she went straight into them. I will admit, I am my mother's boy. I would always want to be near her. I would enjoy it if they both took my invite to join us in our home. Yes, I would have the whole family in our house in the forest if we could fit them all. But then again they had theirs at Tintagel. They had rebuild mother's childhood home. I loved going there to visit them.

"How have you been?" She asked me.

"I have been good. Not looking forward to turning 30 though."

"You are worried about turning 30?" My father said. "Goddess when I was 30, you were only 9."

"He was 7 when I turned 30."

I laughed. I always forgot that Mother was two years older than Father. Maybe it was because Father had to grow up so fast that he just seemed the same age as them.

"Come on lets get you inside. You must be tired from travelling."

I watched as my mother walked through the door and heard her as she greeted Anne and the children.

Father placed his hand on my shoulder. "Everything will be fine." He said before walking through the door, his weight on his good leg.

"Lance, darling, be careful." Anne said as Lance tried on climb onto my Father's lap.

"He's fine." I said as I watched my father lean forward to pick him up.

"He might be but that leg is still giving your father grief and I don't want him to be in any more pain that he already is. Lance is at an age where he doesn't totally understand that his actions could have consequences."

"And my father had to deal with the twins. Do you really think that they knew that their actions had consequences. When they were 3, I was 11 at the time, I had to save my father because they had somehow managed to make him float upside down and he had no idea of how to reverse it. My father knows how to deal with children."

Anne tried to keep in her laughter but ended up snorting. "Now that is a sight I would have liked to see."

"It was actually quite funny." I turned to the room. "What have you brought with you? It looks like you are staying for a month, not a week."

"We have just been to see Gwaine. He had a problem and of course your father was the only one to help him with it." My mother replied.

I laughed. "Or was it just to relive old times?"

"That and he still things that we need a kingdom."

"Well strength and courage do, why not magic?" Anne injected into the conversation.

"Oh Anne, I do not need a kingdom. I run two as it is without trying to look after one of my own." My father said.

"Is he still a bachelor?" I asked.

"No, he told us to give you this." My father said, handing over the note to me. "He is getting married next month. He is a very lucky man. His bride ..." He paused. "His bride is beautiful but obviously not as beautiful as mine was … is."

"Merlin Wyllt, you have just dug yourself into a hole and I wouldn't try and dig yourself out of it."

My father scratched the back of his neck. "Oh and we picked up a few more dragon eggs. We thought it might be time for your little ones to see them hatch."

"Good." Anne said from the kitchen area. "Elouise has been begging us for ages to see the dragons."

Eloiuse turned to my father and smiled widely at him. "Thank you Grandpapa."

"You haven't seen anything yet."

I was glad that they had just brought three eggs. That they weren't allowed to chose or we could have been there all day.

One of the eggs was a dark redish colour, another was a purple colour while the last one was green, like Custos' was.

I placed them at an equal distance from each other and stood back as my Father stepped forward.

"How do you hatch them?" Alecia asked.

"Like this." My father said. "Nobilis.*" His voice dropped.

They all watched in amazement, even Anne, as the purple egg started to hatch.

My father moved on to the other eggs. "Hastam*. Salutem*."

The red egg started hatching just before the green one did. Soon there were three baby dragons sitting in front of us.

"Now always remember this. A dragon's birth is without meaning. The name chosen is special."

I watched as everyone gathered around the dragons. I stayed back for the moment. I thought about the future that my parents had made. I knew that I shouldn't be alive. I knew that I shouldn't have even been born. But something had changed that day my mother had decided to take Camelot not so long after her last failed attempt. If she had waited, then this all wouldn't have happened.

I knew that love was a powerful thing. I see it in my parent's eyes when they look at each other. I see it when we go to Camelot. I see it in my wife's smile.

But there must be a consequence of love. Well this was it. My father wasn't walking the earth on his own waiting for my uncle. They had the families that they never thought they were going to have.

The true consequence of their love wasn't just shown in us as their children but in the land they created.

The true consequence of their love wasn't just escaping destiny but also completing it.

Consequence of love. Well it was this story.

*Okay dragon names quick.

Nobilis means Noble and that is Alecia's dragon (that is what her name means).

Hastam means Spear and that is Lance's dragon (that is what his name means).

Salutem means Health and that is Eloiuse's dragon (that is what her name means).

And that is it folks.

As I said earlier (if you read it), I hope you have enjoyed this timeline. I have enjoyed writing this.

This has kinda just wrapped everything up because I have no idea why I call my first story Consequence of Love but I have found a purpose for it now.

*Rubs hands together* Right time for some Doctor Who stories now.