Arthur barged into the hallway where he was sure he could find his father. Gaius and Merlin were following close behind him, ready to help Arthur if need be.

"Father," Arthur said loudly across the room.

"I assume this is about the servant," Uther said, sounding bored.

"Yes," said Arthur, "it is about Guinevere." He put special emphasis on her name to show that Gwen was more than a servant to him.

"What about her?"

"You cannot banish her."

"Why? Because you 'love her'? We've already been through his, Arthur. That doesn't change anything."

"Let me ask you this, father: do you or do you not want me to have an heir?" Arthur asked.

"Don't be silly Arthur. Of course I do. But not with a servant."

"Well, it's a bit late for that."

"What do you mean?" Uther asked, hoping Arthur wasn't about to say what he thought he was about to say. He took a sip out of the goblet in front of him.

"Guinevere is carrying my child." At those words, Uther sprayed the liquid all over the table. He looked at his son in disbelief.

"You? Her? I refuse to accept it," he said. "Clean this up," he commanded a nearby servant.

"Accept it, father. It is true."

"It cannot be yours. You can't have created this baby without doing certain actions. I will not believe that you have done these actions with a servant."

"Believe it, father," Arthur said.

"You… fertilized her? This is a disgrace on Camelot!"

"It would be an even bigger disgrace to banish my heir. Banish Gwen, and that's exactly what you're doing. Besides, Gwen will need medical care if she wants to birth a healthy child."

"It's true, my lord," Gaius butted in. "Gwen has shown all the symptoms of pregnancy very early on. This indicates a possible future problem with the baby. If Arthur's child is to be healthy, Gwen will need to have extensive care given to her these next nine months."

Uther's head went into his hands. He remembered what he had overheard Arthur saying about how much he loved the girl. He knew that Arthur was a very physical man. He should have known what Arthur's engagement entailed. He should have suspected something like this would happen. He didn't want to banish Arthur's child and bring shame upon Camelot.

Then again, he could pretend like the child wasn't Arthur's, and call Arthur's next child the heir. But he knew he couldn't. It was too similar to what he had done with Arthur and Morgana: he'd had an illegitimate daughter and then called Arthur his only child. He couldn't make his son do that to his children, too.

"Very well," Uther said slowly. "The servant will stay, only until she has given birth. Then she will leave Camelot and never return." Though Uther spoke those words, he knew that would never happen. Arthur would marry the servant while she was pregnant, then guilt Uther into letting the princess stay. He knew that chain of events was imminent, but he would push against it as long as he could.

Arthur smiled and turned to leave, Gaius and Merlin following him.

Arthur and Merlin barged into the dungeons.

"The prisoner is to be released, King's orders," Arthur said as he walked to Gwen's cell and started unlocking the door. Guinevere stood up and walked over to Arthur.

"What is going on?" she asked her fiancé.

"I talked to my father. He agreed to let you stay in Camelot," Arthur explained as he opened the door for Gwen. He leaned down to kiss her, but she turned away.

"You may not want to do that. I threw up earlier today." Arthur settled for kissing her cheek instead.

"On what grounds am I staying?" Gwen asked. Arthur turned to Merlin.

"Does she know?" he asked his servant. Merlin shook his head. Arthur took a deep breath.

"Remember that first night, right after the picnic?" Gwen smiled.

"How could I forget, my love?" Gwen cupped Arthur's face in her hand, momentarily forgetting that Merlin and the guards were all watching her.

"It seems I… Gaius suspects that you are…" Arthur didn't know how to say it. "Guinevere, our child is growing inside you."

Gwen gasped as one hand flew to her mouth and the other to her stomach. "Our child?" she asked in disbelief.

"Well, if it's mine." Arthur said slowly.

"Oh, shut up, Arthur," Gwen said quickly. "Of course it's yours. Don't be ridiculous."

"How could I know?"

"Because you know I love you, and no one else." Gwen suddenly beamed at Arthur. "Our child," she said again. "Our child. He will be beautiful."

"He will have your hair," Arthur said as he stroked Gwen's hair.

"He will have your eyes." Gwen felt the sudden urge to cry. She rested her forehead on Arthur's chest and hugged him. Arthur put his arms around Gwen and looked at her with concern.

"What's wrong?" he asked her gently. But it was Merlin who answered.

"It's the baby. I've heard that pregnancy causes frequent mood changes in women. We must get her to Gaius," he added to Arthur, who nodded. He looked at his crying love and swiftly picked her up. The surprise caused her to momentarily stop crying and stare at Arthur.

She was hit with a bolt of desire for him. She felt his strong muscular arms carrying her and looked at his perfect face. She wanted him more than anything in that moment. Gwen attempted to reach up and kiss him, but he pulled his face away before she had the chance.

"We have no time. We need to make sure you and the baby are healthy," Arthur said. The baby. Gwen was taken over by a warm and fuzzy feeling. Her baby. Her beautiful baby, who would someday sit on the throne Arthur sat on now. She imagined all the possible traits her child might have. She pictured a miniature Arthur, but with curly blonde hair instead of straight. She thought of a blue-eyed, dark-skinned baby with light brown hair. Or perhaps a child with light skin and brown eyes. Her heart swelled at just the thought.

Before she knew it, she was laying down on a bed in Gaius's house. She sat up when Merlin handed her a small cup of water to wash her mouth out with. She laid back down and waited as Gaius checked her heartbeat, her breathing, her stomach.

After a while, Gaius told Arthur that Gwen looked fine. "But make sure you bring her to me if she starts showing any strange symptoms besides what she has now." Arthur thanked the physician and gave Gwen another cup of water. She drank it quickly and looked up to Arthur again. He helped her onto her feet. Once she was standing, he bent down and kissed her gently. She kissed back, summoning all the passion she had earlier. She grabbed a lock of his hair and pulled him closer to her. Gaius awkwardly cleared his throat, and the embarrassed couple broke apart. Arthur thanked Gaius once more and the two headed back for the castle.

Once they were back in Arthur's chambers, he asked her, "Now that you're pregnant, can you still…?" He let the question trail off, assuming Gwen knew what he was asking.

She looked at him. "Thankfully, yes." He smiled and led her to his bed.