Arthur wasn't sure what he expected but whatever that was, this kiss far surpassed it. When his lips first touched hers, she'd gasped and stiffened. Then, just as he was about to break the kiss, step back and offer her yet another apology, her hand fisted his shirt and she kissed him back. It was an uncertain, almost nervous kiss but her lips were moving over his and her other hand cradled his cheek.

The kiss probably lasted no more than a few seconds, and for a few moments after, Arthur rested his forehead against hers, letting his fingers tangle in her curls.

She cleared her throat but didn't pull away. Then her tongue darted out and she licked her lips, sending a sharp arrow of desire shooting through Arthur.

"Gwen," he rasped, ignoring the urge to kiss her again. At lunch, he was holding her hand like a lover and by dinner, he was kissing her. At this rate, by tomorrow he would be marrying her. Not that it seemed like a bad thing at this point in time.

"We shouldn't have done that."

Her breath tickled his chin and he smiled. Unthinkingly, Arthur rubbed her cheek with his thumb. Soft, like so much of her. Soft and smooth. He wondered if the rest of her felt the same.

"No," he replied. He made no move to let go of her and she made no move to leave his hold. "We shouldn't have."

"I'm supposed to find you a wife. I have folders of very suitable women." Her thumb ran across his chin. "I shouldn't be kissing you."

"Mmm." Emboldened by the fact that Gwen didn't seem to be struggling to leave his hold, Arthur rubbed his nose against her hair. "Definitely shouldn't be kissing."

"Maybe you're just lonely," said Gwen. "No recent female company."

Arthur leaned back and cocked an eyebrow. "And what's your excuse?"

"Never kissed a prince before." This time, she moved and he let go of her, even as his body protested in disappointment. "It was nice and you didn't turn into a frog."

Taking a step back so he wouldn't be tempted to yank her into his arms again, Arthur smiled. "Good to know I didn't disappoint. I guess we won't be doing this again."

"No. It was a -"

"Don't say it was a mistake."

The corners of her mouth tilted up. "It was a bad idea at any rate. We both know that."

Arthur was hard pressed to say why it was a bad idea but he didn't want to push Gwen, so he made noises of agreement.

"I'm going to do some work now. You can finish up the washing?"

"Yup." He turned back to the sink before she left the kitchen, but he knew the moment she stepped out. Letting out a sigh, he rubbed the back of his neck. Then, he closed his eyes and replayed the kiss.

"Eggs?"

This time, it was Gwen in the kitchen, a spatula in her hand, her curls pulled into a tight ponytail and dressed in an oversized t-shirt and bright purple pajama trousers. Arthur stifled a yawn and in a mirror of what happened the evening before, slid onto the stool at the breakfast bar.

"You look too perky for this time in the morning."

"I'm a morning person," she said as she turned back to the stove, giving Arthur a view of her pert backside. He grinned and enjoyed the view. "Eggs?"

"Yeah, sure." Noticing a pot of coffee, he helped himself to some. "I was thinking of working on the house a bit today."

"Have you put together a list of things you need to get done on the house?"

"Well, I thought I'd walk through it with you and you could make a list."

"Ah," said Gwen with amusement. "Putting me to work already."

Arthur took a sip of the coffee and winced. Too bitter. "Yeah," he said as he walked to the larder and took out the sugar. "I do want to get started on the house."

"Mmm. After that, can we take a tour of your land and then the village? I want to invite Mithian down in a couple of days and I need to plan your date."

Arthur couldn't help the scowl that formed but at least Gwen was still cooking at the stove. "There's nothing much to do in the village frankly. I don't suppose you think Mithian would be interested in fixing a thatched roof."

"No, but she does like fashion and I'm sure there must be some interesting events that get hosted in the village." She turned and passed him a plate of scrambled eggs. "Pepper?"

"Thanks. Come eat too." There was something oddly domestic about this whole scene and the burgeoning plan that he'd hatched in the wee hours of the night began to take more shape.

Gwen sat next to him. "I think Mithian and you will get along. For one thing, did you know that she's heir to a crumbling mansion?"

"I am not marrying someone for their mansion!"

Her laugh made him smile. "Of course not, but it is appealing, isn't it? She's also very involved in various animal charities and a great horse rider. I believe she even took part in some dressage competition."

"Ok."

"You have horses. You two could go horse riding together."

"I admit I enjoy horse riding but -"

Gwen lifted a hand. "It's a good start." She counted off her fingers. "Crumbling mansion. Rides horses. Kind heart."

Arthur sighed. "Fine. Maybe she and I will hit it off."

"Good. You should keep an open mind and open heart. She is gorgeous too, by the way." Gwen took a forkful of egg, then grinned at him.

You are beautiful, Arthur wanted to say. Instead he reached out and wiped a bit of egg from the corner of her mouth. Her eyes widened at his touch but she didn't pull back. The temptation to replace his thumb with his lips was strong but he resisted it. He had a plan and it meant taking things slowly. Withdrawing his hand, he smiled back at her.

"Thank you."

Arthur didn't miss the roughness of her voice and the way she immediately avoided eye-contact with him. "No problem."

Hi

I hope you're not regretting going to Ealdor House with the prince. The king would like an update on things. I think he's hoping that Arthur would have picked a bride by now.

Cheers, M

Hi Merlin

Things are going well here. Mithian has agreed to come down in two days. I'm feeling quite positive and I've planned a great day for her and Arthur.

Gwen

Merlin had no idea how much she was regretting coming to Ealdor House. She was supposed to get Arthur married, not fling herself at him. For one thing, she was pretty sure the king did not view her as appropriate wife material and for another thing, she was a professional. Prince Arthur might kiss like a dream and have a smile that made her want to jump him, but she had a job to do and the contract was very clear. Arthur had to go on dates with all the shortlisted women until he decided upon one of them for a wife, or until he had dated them all, whichever came first.

After a moment's hesitation, she clicked on the send button, then walked over to the window and stared at Ealdor House.

Yesterday, she and Arthur had come up with a list of things that needed to be done and prioritised them. Structural repairs would be done by an expert team who would be coming down in a few days, but they could get started on the leaking roofs now. Then, Arthur had let her take the car down to the village where she'd spent a good few hours coming up with things he and Mithian could do.

The people loved him, Gwen had quickly learnt. They seemed to see him as an unofficial leader of the place and were far too willing to sing his praises when she asked about him. According to the people of Ealdor, he was generous and kind. It was because of him that the local government continued to fund the village and while Gwen suspected that Arthur had his own agenda, it was still clearly a positive thing to do.

Freya in particular seemed to harbour a bit of a crush on the prince and his right hand man. "Merlin doesn't come here often but he never misses the May Day fete."

"Sounds like the fete is a highlight." They had been in the Olde Boar Head, sipping at decidedly unmedieval gourmet coffee. "When is it again?"

"Next weekend. You should come. It will be fun." Freya clasped Gwen's hands across the table. "We should get you fitted for a dress! Oh this is going to be so much fun."

Gwen laughed. "An actual medieval style dress?"

"Yes. Not one of these shift like things we wear normally. Something fancy. How often do you get to do that?"

"Not very often at all. It does sound fun." It sounded like something fun that Arthur could do with Mithian or any of his other dates. "Tell me more about the fete."

Gwen spent more time than she expected with Freya as their conversation meandered from the fete to Freya's ambitions for the small village and Gwen's career plans. By the time Gwen reached the cottage, Arthur had already started dinner and when she updated him about her plans for Mithian's visit, he'd somehow convinced her that she should do a trial run of the date with him.

But first, roof repairs.

The phone tucked between his ear and shoulder, Arthur tried to pull his shorts on, hopping madly around the room, before finally leaning against the armoire, panting.

"I hope you're not having sex while on the phone with me," said Merlin.

Images of being in bed with Gwen, her limbs entangled with his, her hair spread across his chest, sprung into his head and he scowled at the phone, hoping to convey to Merlin his utter annoyance with him. "Get your mind out of the gutter. Gwaine is a terrible influence on you. Why are you even calling me at this time of the morning?"

"Your father wants updates and he wants them now."

Finally Arthur managed to yank his shorts up. "Tell him that I have an actual, honest-to-God to-do list when it comes to Ealdor House."

A pause. "I think he's more interested in whether you have a to-do list for finding a wife."

Arthur grabbed a t-shirt from his bag. He had already woken up later than he wanted and he suspected Gwen was not the type who was late for things, which meant she was probably in the hall waiting for him right now while he was half-naked, and trying to think up something that would get Merlin off the phone.

"Surely Gwen is giving you updates. Hang on." Dropping the phone onto his bed, Arthur quickly pulled on his t-shirt then glanced at himself in the mirror.

"Arthur!" Merlin's tinny voice rang from his bed. "Hey, Prince of Albion!"

"Stop calling me that." Arthur snatched the phone up. "What?"

"What does Gwen think about Ealdor?"

"She loves it, because she has taste, unlike you."

Merlin's laugh poured into his ears. "Right. Anyway, I'm also calling to see how you are, if you've chased Gwen away already with your boring monologues on buildings."

"Well, as you can tell, I haven't. In fact, I think hiring her is the best idea my father has ever had, but don't tell him that. Otherwise, I'm good. I'm always good far away from my meddling father."

"Good," said Merlin. "Some of us have to work, so I'll see you next weekend for the fete. By the way, Morgana wants to attend to."

"Mor - what? She hates anything outside the city. Why on earth -"

"Hey, you're not the only one excited about your impending nuptials."

Arthur scowled again. "There are no impending nuptials. And I thought this was all confidential."

"You try keeping secrets from Morgana. Your father is so pleased with his plan, he spilled the beans almost the moment you left for Ealdor."

"Brilliant. Guess my father is still twisted around Morgana's finger."

Merlin laughed once again, said a quick goodbye and then hung up, leaving Arthur still scowling at his phone.

Arthur took one last look at himself in the mirror, then made his way to the hall, where he found Gwen curled up on the sofa, her hair in a bun, frowning slightly and biting on her lip as she perused some papers. For a moment, Arthur stood at the entrance to the hall and took in the scene. She looked like she belonged in this home, and for the first time in years, Arthur found himself wanting a family to fill his home here.

"Hey. What are you reading?"

Gwen twisted around. "You're late. I've been reading Mithian's file. I thought that as we worked on the roof this morning, I could tell you more about her."

"Huh. Sounds fascinating."

"She is fascinating. She seems really suited for you." As Gwen talked, she unfolded herself from the sofa and stood, Arthur saw that she was dressed in a loose, strappy top and very snug shorts, revealing both her brown, slender legs and shoulders.

"Am I dressed ok?"

"Yeah, although I hope you have a hat. The sun is not going to be friendly."

From somewhere, she produced a large, completely impractical, floppy pink hat which she put on. "All ready. Let's do some roof fixing."

Gwen was not a fan of heights, something she revealed to Arthur when halfway up the ladder to the roof, she started shivering and then her legs simply refused to move.

"Are you alright?" Arthur called from below.

"Umm, I don't think I'm going to make it further up than this." She wasn't sure if she was going to make it down either, since at this moment, her hands were gripping the sides of the ladder so tightly, she was pretty sure blood had stopped flowing.

"Come on down then," said Arthur. "I'm holding the ladder."

She tried, but her legs were trembling, her heart was racing and images of herself lying flat on the ground, bleeding, kept going through her head. "I don't think I can," she said as a mix of cold fear and sharp humiliation coursed through her. Gwen could not imagine what Arthur thought of her now. Definitely not the professional, competent woman she wanted him to think.

"Ok, we'll do it together." Suddenly, Arthur was immediately behind her, his chest pressing against her back, his arms encasing her, his hand just above hers on the ladder. "I'm right behind you so if you fall, I'll fall and I'll cushion your fall."

Even though Arthur's closeness eased her pounding heart, Gwen still found herself unable to move. When Arthur realised that she was still not moving, he gently covered one of her hands with his, slowly easing her fingers from the ladder.

"It'll be fine," he murmured. "Just one step down. Come. You can do this."

Slowly, Gwen managed to lift one foot and set it on the rung below.

"Good. I'm still here. One more step." And with Arthur's encouragement, with his arms holding her, Gwen finally made it all the way down.

Once her feet touched solid ground, she sagged with relief and Arthur pulled her into a hug, those arms which had supported her coming down, tight around her. Her hat fell off, onto the muddy ground and she buried her face in his neck. When she finally calmed down enough, Gwen raised her head.

Arthur pushed her hair from her face, then kissed her forehead. "You know, this is the sort of thing you should mention before agreeing to fix roofs with me."

"I didn't think it would be that bad," Gwen confessed, embarrassment catching up with her now that her fear was fading. She wanted to step out of Arthur's embrace yet she didn't."I'm sorry. I did want to help."

"Well, we are just stripping the roof for the thatchers to work on it. I can do it alone."

"You can but history suggests that you'll get distracted, and then we'll have a half-stripped roof."

"Have you been asking about me?" Gwen could tell that Arthur's indignance was feigned and she smiled. He shook his head but grinned back at her. "But you're right. You can keep me on task here on firm ground. I'll toss the thatch down and you can gather them up for disposal."

"Sounds like a plan."

"I don't like it," said Arthur.

"Why? You -"

"It means I have to let go of you."

This time, Gwen's pounding heart had nothing to do with her fear of heights. "Arthur -"

He let go of her and took a step back, bending down to pick up her hat, which he placed back on her head. "I know."

Gwen wasn't sure what he knew, but she nodded anyway because getting herself entangled with Arthur was not in her job scope.

AN: Too much fluff probably but I'm really enjoying writing this. Thank you for all the comments!