Camelot

To get the answers he needed about the marriage, Arthur dispatched messengers to all the small villages across the Mercian border. Though his stepmother insisted he was still a bachelor, he wasn't sure whom to believe.

At certain moments, erratic images flashed like shadows through his mind, of Merlin in his embrace. Arthur didn't know if they were true or not. Behind his insurmountable wall of hatred lay a man whom Arthur had cared about once. But he still couldn't believe he'd married Merlin.

The library door opened, and Arthur's father, Lord Uther Pendragon stood at the doorway. His father studied Arthur without speaking a word. Uther wore black, as he always did, a streak of grey marring the temples of his hair.

"Would you care to explain your actions?" Uther began without a prelude.

Arthur did not rise to the bait. "It is good to see you again also, father."

There was no welcome, no show of affection. Often, Arthur wondered whether his father had any feelings towards his children. They never talked. Since the death of Arthur's younger sister Morgana many years ago, his father had behaved as if nothing were amiss. He had never spoken of the tragedy.

"Helena tells me you got married," The unspoken words were, Without my permission.

"The choice of a wife or husband is mine, I believe. I do not require your consent."

"You are wrong in that." Uther straightened into the posture of a military general. "Your responsibilities as my heir include choosing a suitable wife or husband."

"There is nothing unsuitable about Merlin Emrys. He's a baron's son," Arthur reminded his father.

"And his family is ridden with scandal. No one in society will receive him."

And, of course, society's dictates were of the utmost importance. Arthur suddenly grasped a very real reason why he might have wed Merlin. Marrying him was the perfect way to defy his father's wishes. Uther Pendragon could not control Arthur's choice of a wife or husband.

"Is that all?" Arthur asked. He stared at his father, eye to eye.

"Not quite. You will see to it that no one learns of your...indiscretion, until I have investigated the means of dissolving the marriage. I hope, for your sake, that it can still be done."

Having voiced his decree, Lord Uther Pendragon saw no reason to remain. He departed without another word.

Arthur opened a cabinet and poured himself a whiskey. As he warmed the glass in his hand, his fingers tightened around the remain. His father seemed unaware that he could no longer dictate his son's choices. He took a sip of the whiskey, revelling in silent defiance. His life was his own, and he didn't care what his father's preferences were.

Arthur set the whiskey glass down, his mind settling back to Merlin Emrys. Beneath his thin, fragile exterior was a man with an iron will, a dangerous man who resented him. Merlin was using him to provide for his niece and nephew. Just as Arthur was using Merlin to rebel against his father. The thought sobered Arthur.

Had Merlin believed he'd loved him? Why would he lie to Merlin in that way? Arthur didn't like to think of behaving in such a dishonorable manner. And yet the answers lay just beyond his reach, strange pieces of a puzzle that would not fit together.

Until he had the answers, he could not force Merlin out of his life.