Whilst Merlin and Freya sat in their home euphorically, Gwen was making her way to Arthur's chambers. When he had asked to see her earlier, she had been surprised. Usually they would meet somewhere more secret, not obvious like Arthur's chambers. She had immediately taken it as a bad sign, but had felt obliged to do as he wished, so she prepared herself and, by the hour of eight, she was stood outside his door. Knocking gently, she entered the room.

Arthur was stood in the centre of his chambers, evidently in the middle of pacing. When he saw Gwen, he immediately ceased moving and smiled at her.

"Thank you for meeting me here." He said. She nodded unsurely.

"I was a little surprised that you wanted to meet somewhere so exposed." She replied, mentally examining Arthur.

He stood awkwardly in the middle of his room, clearly uncomfortable about something. His unshaven face and tired looking eyes gave Gwen the impression that he was worried or nervous.

"Are you alright Arthur?" Gwen asked moving closer to him, throwing her shawl over the back of the chair as she went.

"Fine." Arthur said, stepping back slightly as she approached. Noticing that Gwen was hurt by his rejection, Arthur moved to rest his hands on her shoulders, "I wanted to talk to you about something, something important." Gwen frowned in confusion.

"What is it?" she asked, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Well, I was thinking about Merlin…" he started. Gwen hastily withdrew her arms. Arthur shook his head and stepped backwards, "Not like that! It's just… now he's married he seems so happy. And I want that for us." Gwen looked at him, still unsure as to where he was going with the conversation.

"What do you mean?" she asked. Taking a deep breath, Arthur looked into Gwen's eyes and spoke.

"Will you marry me?"

Gwen stared at Arthur blankly. What? He couldn't be serious! They hadn't been courting that long. And besides, the king marrying a serving girl would cause outrage! After a few seconds Gwen stepped backwards. Arthur watched her, his eyes wide in anticipation. This was a joke; it had to be. Arthur was always playing pranks and this must be one of them. Convincing herself that Arthur was trying to be funny, Gwen began to laugh.

But Arthur just stared at her, a confused frown spreading across his face.

"What?" he asked. Gwen continued to laugh, "What's so funny?"

"You can't be serious!" she replied, moving to rest her hands on his shoulders, but he moved backwards.

"You think I'm joking?" he asked in disbelief. Gwen's face fell as she noticed Arthur's hurt expression. Whoops.

"Arthur, we've only been courting a month; marriage would be moving way too fast!" she said in shock.

"Why? What does that matter if we're in love?" he asked.

"It matters because you can't just jump into something like getting married! And besides, what will people think if their king suddenly marries?" she said, stepping backwards slightly.

"I don't know and I don't care!" Arthur said childishly, his volume escalating rapidly.

"Well you should!" Gwen shouted. Arthur didn't reply so Gwen continued, "A true king respects his people and doesn't use his power abusively. Just because they have no say in the matter doesn't mean that you shouldn't take them into consideration. If you suddenly announce this to the people they're not going to trust as much in future. Don't ruin what you have because of me." Arthur looked down at his feet.

"I'm sorry." He mumbled.

"You're a kind man, Arthur, and I love you but maybe we should take a break for a while." She suggested, hating herself almost as soon as the words left her mouth. Arthur's head jerked up, but after a few seconds examining Gwen's face he nodded in defeat.

"Ok." He said.

Unable to bear the disappointed expression on Arthur's face, Gwen turned on her heels and almost ran straight out of the door. She continued running until she reached the courtyard where her knees collapsed beneath her and she burst into tears, hugging her knees to her chest as she sat on the steps.

XXX

As he wandered leisurely into Arthur's chambers, Merlin could sense something wasn't right. Arthur was sat at his desk, elbows on the table, hands hiding his face. Arthur's body shook with silent sobs, occasionally whimpering, as if in pain.

"Arthur?" Merlin asked cautiously. Arthur looked up dejectedly, too miserable to even bother being surprised properly, tear tracks visible on his cheeks, "Are you crying?" Merlin moved forward to stand opposite him.

"No." Arthur replied, standing up and wiping his eyes frantically in a failed attempt to hide his tears.

"What's wrong?" Merlin asked.

"Guinevere and I are… taking a break." Arthur replied sadly, "She thinks I'm moving too quickly." Merlin frowned.

"Why?" he asked in confusion.

"I asked her to marry me." Arthur stated.

"Oh, right. Yeah…" Merlin said, his mind shifting to his own problems. Sitting down on the other side of Arthur's desk, he continued, "How did that go?" Arthur looked at him angrily.

"How did it go? How do you think?" he shouted. Merlin didn't respond, "But you know what? I'm not going to give up. She must be waiting for me to do something first…" Arthur paced over to the window, passing the 'manic depression' stage and flowing neatly into 'hyperactive denial of defeat' stage.

"Ah-ha!" he exclaimed suddenly, turning to face Merlin, who had barely reacted to Arthur's surprise revelation, "She said that I shouldn't suddenly announce a wedding! Maybe… maybe she wants me to expose our relationship first!"

"Maybe." Merlin agreed absentmindedly.

"That's it! I'll tell the whole of Camelot I'm in love with her!" Arthur said victoriously, pacing over to where Merlin sat.

"Of course." Merlin confirmed.

"Tomorrow morning!" Arthur said, sitting down with a triumphant nod. Picking up a glass of wine, Arthur looked to Merlin.

"Well aren't you going to tell me that it's a bad idea?" he asked sarcastically. Merlin, who was vaguely aware that his response would have to be more detailed than his previous reactions, turned to look at Arthur.

"What?" he asked.

"What's wrong, Merlin?" Arthur asked in exasperation.

"What do you mean?" Merlin said, frowning slightly.

"Well you're not really present. You're more… past." Arthur replied, studying Merlin's expression with intensity. Absentmindedly, Arthur took a drink of wine.

"Freya's pregnant." Merlin stated. As Arthur spluttered, the wine he had been drinking promptly came out of his nose in a mist of red moisture.

"What?" Arthur exclaimed, wiping his mouth and sitting forwards, "Merlin, I'm so sorry." Merlin frowned.

"Why is everyone sorry? This is the happiest day of my life!" Merlin said, grinning triumphantly. Arthur faltered.

"Well, I… It's just…" Arthur mumbled, "…Congratulations!" Merlin grinned widely.

"Thanks." Merlin said euphorically, breezing over Arthur's uncertainty with unusual willingness. After a few seconds of silence, Arthur snapped.

"So…" he mumbled, "Who's the father?" Merlin raised his eyebrow as Arthur grinned. Clearly Merlin was going to have to get used to this joke.

XXX

As the sun rose in the east, casting its orange glow across the land, Arthur stood on the castle balcony, watching the town's people gather. As each of them in turn reached the back of the crowd, they halted, many looking around for an explanation as to why their king had gathered them so early on a cold January morn.

Arthur raised his hand and soon the crowd fell silent. Looking around, Arthur began.

"I know many of you are probably wondering why I have called you here." Arthur paused dramatically and, after receiving a few confirmative nods, he continued, "Well, I am making an announcement. I've noticed that all of you still live in fear, like you did when my father was king. I am not like him. You needn't fear me as you did him. Yes, I have kept the ban on magic and I will continue to do so until I see good enough reason to lift it.

"But this is not what I gathered you to talk about. I want to change the way we view our society. In particular, the way we love." At this, many of the people turned to each other, a confused murmur breaking out amongst the crowd. Arthur surveyed them until they fell silent again, "People of Camelot, I have come before you today to make a declaration of love.

"The woman I love stands among you. But she's neither rich nor important in the hierarchy of society. But that doesn't change the fact that I would willingly sacrifice my life a thousand, million times over for her! She means more to me than anyone ever has or ever will and I defy you to find one fault in her." Arthur traced a horizontal pattern through the crowd until he found her and, looking into her teary eyes, he continued, "She is kind and generous and she isn't afraid to tell me when I'm wrong. She tells me the truth with honestly and unreserved affection. Every day I wake up in awe of the blessing that was given me when I met her. I wouldn't change anything we experienced for the world."

Arthur smiled, a single tear falling from his cheek.

"So… Guinevere, daughter of Tom the blacksmith, for the love of Camelot, will you marry me?" The crowd gasped and as all eyes fell on her, Gwen nodded in shock.

"Yes." Arthur saw her mouth. And with that, the whole of Camelot erupted in screams and shouts of joy.

XXX

As Guinevere entered her and Arthur's chambers, Arthur rushed over to her, taking off her cloak.

"Where were you?" he asked worriedly.

"I went for a walk." She replied, turning to face him. Studying his face, Gwen saw a look of relief pass over him.

"Oh." He said, moving to hang his wife's cloak over the wooden divider. Gwen laughed gently.

"Were you worried?" she asked teasingly moving to wrap her arms around his neck from behind.

"No." he retorted in embarrassment as he turned to face her, placing his hands on her hips and pulling her into an intimate embrace.

"Of course not." She said, grinning. He smiled back.

"How was your walk then?" he asked as he began to play with her curls.

"It was lovely, thank you. I went into the lower town to visit some friends." She replied. Pausing slightly, she continued, "The baby kicked today." Arthur started.

"What baby?" he said in a slight panic.

"Freya's baby." She said, laughing, "You needn't look so worried."

"I wasn't worried." Arthur retorted quickly, a bit too quickly. Pulling away from Gwen, he paced over to his desk and gazed out of the window.

His reaction concerned Gwen. He rarely reacted like this, so something was definitely wrong. She carefully studied his vacant expression as he sat down at the desk and rested his hand on his upper lip as he always did when he was thinking.

"Arthur. Tell me what's wrong." Gwen said as she walked over to the desk. He faced her.

"I'm fine." He said looking up. Seeing Gwen raise her eyebrow in doubt, he continued, "I was just thinking."

"About what?" she asked, moving around to sit on the desk facing him.

Immediately, Arthur blushed a deep red colour and his eyes darted about, trying to find somewhere to look other than at Gwen. His behaviour was starting to annoy Gwen by now and she sighed loudly.

"What ever it is Arthur, you can tell me." She said. He looked into her eyes and nodded.

"Of course I can." He said with renewed confidence. He stood up and took Gwen's hands.

"I was thinking about Merlin and Freya and how they're… having a baby." He started, pausing to observe Gwen's reaction. She waited for him to continue, "And, well, I think we're ready." His cheeks turned red as he finished speaking.

Gwen didn't reply. Either she was going crazy or Arthur really did just say that he wanted a family. What a bizarre thought. Arthur wanted a baby.

She hated to admit it, but she too had been considering the possibility for a while. She had seen the excitement in Merlin and Freya's faces. She wanted to have that with Arthur, but she had felt nervous that he wouldn't feel the same way. She needn't have worried.

"Yes." She said suddenly, surprising herself more than she had surprised Arthur. He grinned.

"Really?" he asked. Gwen nodded, smiling. Laughing slightly, Arthur kissed her passionately. After a few seconds he pulled away, "I think we should start trying now."

"And you're thinking with your brain are you?" Gwen asked teasingly. He shrugged.

"Sort of." He replied, sweeping the hair out of her eyes. She grinned and swiftly wrapped her legs around his waist. As she leant into him he kissed her neck and carried her over to the bed. Climbing on top of her, Arthur quickly removed his shirt.

Suddenly there was a dull thudding noise and Merlin entered the room.

"Merlin!" Arthur exclaimed, "We're kind of in the middle of something here." Merlin wandered over to the table and sat down heavily.

"Oh. Right." He said. Arthur jumped off the bed, pulling on his shirt as he went. Gwen sat up and swung her legs over the edge of the bed, studying Merlin's vacant expression.

"Are you stupid?" Arthur shouted, "Get out!" Merlin stood up, still in a trance, and turned to go out of the door.

"Merlin, wait!" Gwen said suddenly, jumping off the bed and moving to stand beside Arthur. She could tell from the lack of reaction that something wasn't right. Merlin's hunched shoulders and teary eyes were setting off alarm bells in her head. Clearly he was distraught by something, but what?

"What's wrong?" Gwen asked gently as he turned back to face her. She longed to hold him in her arms, but his stony expression scared her. Tears began cascading down his cheeks as he wept silently.

"Freya started bleeding." He replied slowly. Gwen's heart faltered. She knew what that meant, "We've lost the baby." Merlin had hardly got the words out of his mouth before his body began to shake uncontrollably with painful sobs.

And to the surprise off all three people in the room, Arthur pulled Merlin into his chest and gently rocked him as the young man wept in agony.