People had heard. He didn't know how many. But it was true that he, the great King Arthur, had been made a fool of in front of all of his people.
Arthur supposed he should have been used to it by now. Being betrayed, that was. Not being made a fool of. He would never get used to that. It had happened once, maybe twice in his life. And not tiny little mistakes he made in front of the court, no, he had to really mess up to be considered a fool.
But perhaps, this time, it wasn't his fault?
But it must be. What else would cause Guinevere to stray? And not only that, but… it was Lancelot she had chosen.
Arthur usually never doubted himself. He was a fair and just king, after all. He wasn't anything like his father. But there had to be something. Something Gwen didn't like anymore. Something she'd never liked…
Maybe, Arthur thought, Merlin had told him what it was. Maybe the king had waved it off, and thrown an insult back at the sorcerer.
Merlin. He certainly was more emotionally invested than Arthur, but it was situations such as these that the raven-haired man was useless. Sure, Merlin's only love was at the bottom of a lake, but she hadn't been unfaithful. (Although, Arthur considered, there was quite a small window of opportunity for that one.) But Merlin could never understand what it was like for Arthur.
Merlin had spent most of his life at the bottom of, well, everything. But Arthur had always been on top. And it was one painful revelation that had sent him spiraling to rock bottom. A place where no king should ever be.
Merlin could never know what that was like for Arthur. And the warlock had tried his best to make Arthur feel better… but nothing seemed to work. He'd even considered drugging the king, just so everyone could take a breath and calm down.
But no, these fruitless efforts made it clear that Arthur was in a dark place, a place that it was going to take a while to come out of.
And until then, the kingdom would wait. They would wait for their Once and Future King to rise again to the top.
But for now, he was alone, waiting at the bottom.