A short story set after 502. Not beta'd sorry.
All he could hear was the sound of his own heart beat. Arthur was numb; his body he now recognized was in shock. He had lost his father twice. But this time it seemed to hurt so much more, if that was even possible. His father had been disappointed in him. Arthur closed his eyes as he felt the gaping hole in his heart bleed some more. All he had ever wanted as a child was for his father to approve of him. But to do that, to be that man, to be him...defied the very blood that ran through his beating heart. "Father" he whispered, his voice stained with despair and he found it hard to breathe.
"Arthur?" A warm delicate hand placed on Arthur's shoulder.
Guinevere had come, and with the thought of her being near, he felt his heart warm. His father had told him that Guinevere was not fit to be Queen, that the actions he had taken being King had disappointed him. But the truth was that he spent his life walking in the shadow of his father, not knowing what it was like to see his own sunlight. Until the first moment he opened his eyes and really saw Guinevere. That moment, he knew she had changed something inside of him, she had challenged him to stand in his own light. She saw him as a man he did not know he could be, but with her faith and encouragement he somehow found his way there. His father would never understand that Guinevere had saved him, saved him from a prison of destiny, from becoming a man that followed blindly into a world of hate and destruction! Instead she created a destiny of hope, a place of sunshine, after years of darkness. No he would never understand the love that runs through his veins and strengthens every action he makes.
"Arthur, my love...what can I do?" he could hear the pain in her voice. "I wish I could ease your pain."
Arthur placed his hand on top of Guinevere's delicate one, and turned to look at her...despite all that Uther had done to her and to them, she still showed compassion. "You are my love!" he leaned forward and kissed her lips, and he knew that no matter what his destiny had for him, with Guinevere by his side he could face it, he could breathe.