A Father's Love
Characters: Uther and Arthur
Summary: I am setting this round the time of Excalibur. I thought it an interesting time with Arthur wanting to prove himself to his father, while at the same time Uther wanting to protect his son.
Arthur had never been so angry with his father. Here he was desperate to prove himself to his father and country, and yet he had the chance to prove himself taken away from him in the most cowardly way possible. He couldn't believe that his own father would ask Gaius to drug him! Arthur was determined that he would make his opinion clear to his father. He had been made to look foolish in the extreme, how would he face his fellow Knights he wondered despondingly.
He had marched into the throne room where Gaius was looking over the sword his father had used in the fight. Arthur swore he had never seen Gaius leave a room so quickly as he did when Arthur entered it.
"You had Gaius drug me. I was meant to fight him?" Arthur cried before the door was even shut behind Gaius.
"No you weren't." Uther replied quietly facing his son.
"But the Knight's code is very cle-" Arthur argued.
"The Knight's code be damned. I believed you would die, and that was a risk I could never take. You mean more to me than anything I know, more than this entire Kingdom, and certainly more than my own life." Uther got up approaching his amazed son.
"I always thought that I was a disappointment to you." Arthur stammered suddenly realising all his anger had abated.
"Well that is my fault and not yours." Uther said tenderness in his voice. "You are my only son and I could never wish for another."
All at once Arthur felt almost light headed with joy at actually hearing his father say
such words to him. All his life he had felt that somehow he was a burden, someone who had not lived up to his father's expectations. Every day had been spent trying to please him, trying to impress him and somehow he had always felt he had come up short. Yet suddenly in this room he felt as if he had come full circle, as though he and his father were seeing each other for the very first time.
For a second the two of them stared at each other, as though neither wanted to end the moment. Yet all too soon Arthur felt the compulsion to make a joke of it.
"I heard you fought well." Arthur said fun in his eyes. "You should join us in training sort out your footwork."
Uther laughed, pretending to run after his son. "I'll show you footwork."
For a second Uther had stood there watching his son run off, and had remembered the day Arthur had been born. It was true he had not shown the boy enough love and support. Well from now on that would change, he may not have been a fantastic father, but this incident had suddenly taught him that he should make the most of his time with his son. From now he would not be so slow to show his son his love. This time they had escaped, but Uther knew next time they might not be so lucky.