A Queen's Path
Gwen would never know if what pulled her heart down was the weight of the crown or the absence of Arthur at her side. She could see the pain and pride in the faces that filled the courtroom yelling for her long life and reign.
She had trusted that Merlin would bring Arthur back home, safe, as he had done many times before. It ached that he had failed, even if she knew that if he did, anyone else would fail as well. He had sent her his seal but not his love or any words of affection; Arthur too must have been expecting to return gloriously. She didn't believe he'd knowingly leave Gwen behind without proper last words to recall. Gwen didn't resent Merlin for failing, but she did envy him for having his last moments with the man they both had served for a decade.
Gwen could have hated them both for it, in another time and another place, but there was little time for it now: she had a country to run. The blacksmith's daughter could cry herself to sleep every night, but the Queen should rise every morning ready to build the Camelot they had dreamed of. This was the way of the world; men had their dreams of glory and honor, and they'd die for them and leave their wives behind to build what they left unfinished.
She would go on and make him proud.