Uther's funeral was exactly what he would have wanted. Big and slightly over the top. Royalty, knights and peasants came from all over the place to attend the affair. Even if they hadn't like him, as a king or as a man. All that truly mattered too many of them was that they would be able to say that they were present at Uther's funeral. Not to mention being there the day that Arthur was crowned king of Camelot. That day, however, would not come until a week after Uther's funeral.
During the funeral Arthur stood quietly with no one with him, not even the faithful Merlin stood with him. Arthur appeared unmoved but his eyes told a different story. Arthur's eyes were clouded over with grief and pain, and although Merlin didn't stand beside him, he was close enough so that he would be able to get to him should anything happen. Arthur had hardly said a word to anyone since Uther had passed.
Standing with Merlin was Gaius and Gwen. Gaius allowed his tears to freely fall down his face, while Gwen didn't shed a single tear. She wasn't the only one either. Many of the guests had dry eyes, including Lancelot who stood in the background, with a smile on his face. Lancelot's eyes were focused entirely on Arthur and the smile was reserved for him touched with a vindictive edge. It was Lancelot's belief that Arthur would be concentrating so much on running his new kingdom that he would have no time to convince Gwen to marry him. This meant that he would have all the time in the world to do just the same thing.
After the funeral the congregation moved back to the castle were a feast was held in Uther's honour. Arthur sat in his father's throne with Merlin by his side, unmoving and unspeaking. The rest of the guests were talking and laughing, sharing their personal experiences of Uther, and speaking of things that had nothing to do with the dead king.
Half way through the meal, Arthur stood suddenly, followed by everyone else, and excused himself. Arthur waved Merlin off and went to his father's chambers on his own. Technically, the quarters were now his but Arthur still hadn't wrapped that particular idea around his head. Arthur stood in the middle of the room and allowed his tears to finally flow uninterrupted. Arthur fell to his knees in despair and screamed in sheer frustration. Thankfully, he was too far from the throne room for anyone to be able to hear him. But Gwen, who had followed him all the way from the feast, heard and ran to the room. When she got there, Gwen stopped dead in her tracks and stared down at the man she loved. Without saying a word Gwen rushed over to him and crouched down next to Arthur and wrapped her arms around his strong frame. Arthur leant against her and Gwen held him tighter.
When Arthur had let out all his grief he sat back and quickly rubbed his face. Gwen remained sitting on the floor as Arthur stood and turned his back on her. Arthur kept a hand over his face and breathed deeply and slowly. He finally turned back to Gwen, who hadn't gotten up.
"Thank you, Gwen." Arthur attempted a smile but couldn't quite pull it off. Gwen stood and walked over to him.
"Arthur, it's okay," Gwen gently placed a hand on his arm. She smiled when Arthur didn't pull away as she had expected. "You needn't be ashamed of crying over your father. There's nothing wrong with it." Arthur nodded and pulled Gwen into his arms and held her tightly. When Merlin found them he didn't say anything, he simply walked away.
"I don't know what to do, Gwen." Arthur finally let Gwen go but didn't look away from her eyes. "My father's gone and I'm king. I have a kingdom to run but I don't know how. I don't know what to do."
"Arthur, I told you that you would be a great king one day. That day is now. You may not know what to do but I do. You'll do what you always do. What's right. You have only ever done what was right and I know that that is what you're going to keep doing." Gwen placed a gentle hand on Arthur's cheek and smiled softly at him. Arthur was so over-whelmed that his smile was very goofy and yet extraordinarily adorable. Gwen laughed quietly before her hand and smile fell. "I have to go. I'm sorry." Gwen turned before Arthur could see her tears and left, leaving Arthur to sit down heavily on the ground and lean his head against the stone, cold wall behind him. Arthur could honestly say that he had never felt so alone.
*
Gwen sat at the table in her home, contemplating everything that had happened in the past few days. Arthur had collapsed, Morgana had died, Arthur had come back, Lancelot and Arthur had proposed to her, Uther had given Arthur and her permission to marry and then promptly died making Arthur king of all Camelot. Gwen loved Arthur more than she realised but she didn't know if she wanted to be queen of Camelot, or anywhere for that matter. She had only ever wanted to lead a quiet life with a husband who loved and a couple of children to care for. Gwen had never wanted anything else but now she wasn't sure if that was what she wanted. Now what Gwen wanted more than anything else was to be with the man she loved the most, which was, of course, Arthur. But a life as queen? Gwen simply didn't know.
Lancelot, Gwen knew, was the one she could have a quiet life with, even if he became a knight. But somewhere deep down Gwen knew that she would get a quiet life, yes, but a dull and pointless one. She would have no friends, as Merlin and Gaius would be too busy helping Arthur to see her, and she would be lonely even with children. Lancelot was a nice guy but in reality he wasn't the guy for Gwen but she didn't want to tell him that as she believed that it would break his heart. But at the same time she didn't want to break anybody's heart. Gwen wasn't that type of person.
*
Lancelot sat in his rented room with a goblet of cider and a plate of cold food in front of him. Lancelot hadn't been invited to the feast for Uther, but Arthur hadn't been able to keep him away from the funeral itself. After the funeral, Lancelot had returned to his rented room and had remained there ever since. Waiting… waiting… waiting for someone… someone who wasn't coming… not that night at least.
Lancelot waited up all night for Gwen to come running into his room and into his arms. But she never showed. Lancelot sat facing the door, waiting for his love who loved another. When dawn came and shined down on the unmoving figure of Lancelot it seemed that he had, at some point during the night died and gone to Heaven… but that wasn't the case. Lancelot was very skilled in the art of being stiller than a rock and had done so the entire night.
Lancelot loved Gwen but to the extent that he thought she was everything he needed, not what he wanted. Lancelot loved the idea that he would be taking something off Arthur when Gwen said 'yes' to him.
*
Merlin sat on his bed looking down at the book of spells that Gaius had given him. He wasn't looking for any spell in particular, he was just going over all the spells in the book for the future. Merlin knew that, despite everyone's beliefs, things were going to get a lot harder now that Arthur was finally the king of Camelot. There would be more people and sorcerers out for his blood. And Merlin wanted to be prepared for when those days came. Merlin looked up from his book and out the door. He could see Gaius sitting at his table staring off into the distance with filmy eyes.
Merlin tore his own eyes away from his mentor and lay back on his small bed. Merlin closed his eyes and dreamt. He dreamt of his mother and the easy life he had lived before his mother made him come to Camelot. It had been all so simple. Bringing in the harvest and tending to the cattle. There had never been anything else to do and although it had been boring and dull at times Merlin had loved living there because of the sheer simplicity of it all. When he had arrived in Camelot, Merlin had been so over-whelmed by everything there that he had considered running back home a few times. At least until he realised that he had to stay in Camelot to help Arthur reach his destiny, and to achieve his own. Merlin had somehow known from the very beginning of his life that he was destined for more than to be a farmer. He had always known, always believed, that he was meant to be something more, something great. And that's exactly what he was going to be. Something great. Someone who would be remembered as being King Arthur's right hand man, King Arthur's sorcerer. Merlin knew that was his destiny and he wasn't going to let anything stand in the way of that.
*
Arthur sat in his room staring out the small window. In the dawn had just begun and the beating rain made the whole kingdom seem to mystical and magical. Arthur smiled sadly at the sight.
"My destiny is to be the greatest king Camelot has ever seen and I will not disappoint my people. They have been kind to me and so I shall be kind to them. While I am king they will not suffer. While I am king they shall have free reign to practice magic as they will so long as no harm comes to any. While I am king Camelot shall prosper and be peaceful. While I am king my people will not know hardship, nor pain, nor suffering, nor grief. They will know only happiness, peace and prosperity. This is a new age for Camelot and I swear this oath so that if I fail I shall be held personally responsible and if I should fail for whatever reason I pray that someone salvages the kingdom."
