Arthur paced his chambers as Merlin lounged on the chair, watching him with far too much amusement in his eyes.

"We could get her to be one of the maidservants for the Royal Ball, right?"

Merlin scoffed. "Gwen is a blacksmith, not a maidservant. And you know how full of strange, undecipherable traditions all your royal events are. What if she serves the food in the wrong order? And really, you want to marry her so you ask her to work at your ball?"

Arthur sat on his bed, rubbing his face. "You're right. That's an awful idea."

"Yeah. And not just because you suddenly announcing you're marrying one of the servants in the room isn't going to go down well with your father."

"I get the point, Merlin." Fingers at his temple, he massaged it gently. "What do you suggest?"

"Why don't you just give her an invitation card?"

"And then she walks up to the guards and they question her on her parentage? The land she owns or is heir to? What will she say?"

Merlin slouched even further into the chair, enjoying this more than Arthur liked, then said, "She'll say that she's the youngest daughter of Lord and Lady of Thisbet."

"Where on earth is Thisbet?" The realisation dawned on him. "You mean for her to lie."

"It's not like the guards will know." Merlin stretched then curled up again on the chair.

Arthur walked over and shoved him. "That's my chair, and the guards may be fooled but what about my father?"

"Then we'll pretend she's a distant relative of some Lord from some far off place then. There's enough truth there for your father to believe."

"What about when he wants to invite them for the wedding?"

Merlin finally stood, leaving a dent in the cushion of his chair. "Hey, you wanted a way to bring her to the ball. I wasn't thinking about your wedding. Also, don't you think you probably want to make sure she wants to marry you before announcing it at the ball?"

Arthur's head dropped into his hands.

Her father said nothing when Gwen pleaded tiredness as the reason she didn't want to watch the semi-finals of the tournament. Instead, he sat on a stool in the forge watching her with eyes that seemed to know too much.

"You've become a very good smithy," he said.

A smile turned up the corner of her lips. "I had a great teacher."

"I'm sorry, Gwen."

Gwen slowly placed the horseshoe she was working on down and turned to face her father. "For falling sick? You couldn't have -"

"No. For bringing Florence and Rosalind into our family."

"Ah." Gwen picked up the horseshoe again.

"They've been giving you a hard time."

"Florence is not so bad. She ignores me most of the time. And she might not care for me, but she loves you."

"Still, it was selfish of me."

Putting down the horseshoe again, Gwen walked over to her father, kneeling in front of him. "Dad. It's done already. As difficult as it is, they are family now." She took one of his hands and squeezed it. "I know you were feeling lonely after Mum's death. And as much as Rosalind is a pain, I know you still love Florence and in her way, she loves you. And sometimes, love is worth it."

Her father regarded her closely and Gwen knew she'd said too much. "Rosalind keeps talking about finding a husband. What about you?"

Gwen forced a laugh, then stood up. "I'm too busy with the forge to be concerned about love and husbands."

Her father chuckled behind her. "You're a big girl now. You should be looking to start a family of your own, not be tied to this one. There are many good young men in town. What about the prince's manservant. He visits you often."

"Merlin?" Gwen asked. "He's just a friend!"

"Of course," said her father and Gwen realised that he didn't believe her.

As Gwen worked, several customers came in and out of the forge and it was nice having her father around dealing with them, even if he wasn't up to the actual smithing. They laughed together at unreasonable customers, he dispensed tips and advice and Gwen just enjoyed a warm afternoon with her father.

Just as the sun dipped and Gwen was cleaning up to close the forge, someone pushed open the gate and stepped in.

"We're closed," she heard her father say. Then in a surprised tone, he continued. "Oh, my lord. I did not realise it was you."

Arthur.

Her heart stopped. Then started up at twice the speed. Her once steady hands started to tremble. She refused to turn to look at him, despite the burning need in her. All that hurt that she'd thought she'd managed to bury came bubbling up to the surface.

"Gwen, the prince is here to see you."

She knew she was being rude, refusing to turn around to face Arthur.

"Guinevere," her father repeated, as if he was unsure at her behaviour. "I'm sorry. She's a little busy right now. Would you like -"

"No, thank you. I'll wait for her here." Arthur's voice. How she'd missed it.

"Then, if you don't mind, my lord, I'll take my leave."

There was footsteps, the sound of a door closing and Gwen knew she was all alone in the forge with Arthur.

Still she didn't turn.

"Gwen." He'd moved closer. "Is something wrong?"

Blinking back tears that suddenly developed, Gwen finally turned around. She dipped into a curtsey. "My lord."

Arthur frowned. "You don't - what's wrong Gwen?" He was standing within touching distance but he wasn't touching her. His eyes were warm and concerned.

"I've been very busy."

A smile spread on his face. "I know. Your swords are very popular, as they should be." He took another step towards her, then gently cupped her cheek.

How could he touch her with so much love when he was about to marry someone else?

"I used your sword in the tournament," Arthur said, still smiling down affectionately at her.

Gwen took a step back, so his hand dropped. "I'm glad it served you well."

"There's something wrong," Arthur said. "Have I made you unhappy? I know I haven't been able to see you recently and I've missed -"

"Just tell me what you came to say," Gwen finally said, unable to stem the bitterness in her voice. Did Arthur think she was a fool? That some sweet words and smiles would make her forget his impending marriage and continue some sort of clandestine relationship with him?

"I, well, I did want to talk to you about something, about us." He rubbed his neck and looked oddly vulnerable in the moonlight.

Suddenly, Gwen didn't want to hear it. She didn't want to hear about how he was going to marry someone that was not her. She didn't want to hear about how she was a pleasant distraction. "There's no us."

Arthur blinked at her words. "What do you mean?"

"There's no us. There's me, a blacksmith and you, the crown prince."

"Yes," said Arthur slowly. "But there can be an -"

But Gwen wasn't listening anymore, the pain of seeing Arthur in her forge, so close yet so far, was too much. "Good luck with the tournament but it's best that we don't see each other anymore."

"- us. I just -" Arthur stopped, her words finally sinking in. "Don't see each other anymore?" He repeated.

Gwen nodded.

"I thought that -"

"It was just a moment of madness," she said. "I have to go back in now." Her voice cracked and Gwen knew just a few more seconds and she would be in tears.

He reached out to touch her. "But -"

Shrugging away his touch, Gwen took a step back. "Goodbye Arthur."

Then, coward as she was, she darted to the door to her house and went in. Her father looked curiously at her and she was hugely relieved that Florence and Rosalind were not home.

"Gwen?"

"I'm tired, Dad. I'm going to sleep."

But she didn't sleep, lying in bed instead, her face buried in her pillow as she cried over lost dreams she never knew she had.

Thanks for the comments and the lovely notes. My week is definitely much better! :)