Title: Light in the Darkness
Theme and/ or Prompt/s: Lost Year
Genre: Romance/Hurt/Comfort
Author: prydwen_magic
Rating: PG
Characters/Pairings: Arthur/Guinevere, Uther, Gaius (briefly)
Spoilers: The Fires of Idirsholas, Speculation for Series 3
Disclaimer: Sadly, I own nothing
Summary: After Morgana's departure, Uther is losing his grip, and Arthur and Gwen try to cope with their sorrow.
Ranting and raving – that's how the King of Camelot now spends his days, driven mad by the loss of his ward. He torments his soul, and the hearts of those around him. One of these people is his son, the Prince; grave with the loss of his sister, scared by the lunacy of his father, hurting from the absence of his love.
She hurts too, she helps the physician care for the mad King, helps tend to the man who killed her father, who drove her friend away – all for the love of his son. She fears what will become of Arthur if his father dies; she fears he will never forgive Morgana. For they both know she wanted to leave, it became obvious after the many sightings of her on the borders of Camelot, making no effort to return.
So they sit, together in the King's chambers, on either side of the bed, listening to the monarch's breathing slowly becoming more regular, as he calms and goes to sleep. The rigid hard backs of the chairs dig into their flesh, they feel cold and lonely, but they cannot yet move towards each other; now, even in his unstable state of mind, Arthur's father is more paranoid than ever – they can not take any risks.
The room is dark, the fire died down hours ago with the sun, as though shrinking away from the King's lunacy - the two lovers wish they could do the same. Hearing the same rant about their lost friend and sister, day after day, breaks their hearts, but they continue, they survive – for Uther, for each other, for Camelot.
Eventually Gaius enters; he sees the bags under their eyes, stained with tears of grief and torment, a common sight nowadays. He tells them to leave, get some rest. He swears an oath to the Prince – the King shall not be left alone. They all know he is not safe.
Together they walk to his chambers, neither feels like being alone; they've already lost so much. They curl up by the fire, whispered words of comfort are shared, tears are brushed away by affectionate fingers, desperate to put an end to this hurt. Eventually they welcome sleep, holding each other gently but firmly, as if promising to never let go.
When the sun rises, light shines through the windows. It dances around their heads, crowning them in radiance, giving the illusion of hope. He opens his eyes and watches the sunlight reflecting off her dark curls, the world looks hopeful this morning, bright and beautiful. But darkness will fall again he knows, just as it always does. Arthur just prays he will always have Guinevere to hold and protect him through the night, because without her, he fears, it will drown him.
