This chapter ended up having a little more Gwen than I intended, but that's ok cause Gwen's awesome.
Hope you enjoy!
Camelot, tenth year of King Arthur's reign
"Time to get up, lazy daisy!" Merlin sang. "People to see, things to hit with swords."
"Ughh." Arthur groaned, pulling the covers over his head and shifting so his back was to Merlin. "Too early."
Merlin rolled his eyes in what he liked to think was a loving way. "You have a council meeting at noon, and you said you would help me with guard training."
"I regret that. You and your sorcerers will beat me to a pulp."
"Not if you defend yourself like I showed you."
Arthur grumbled, still not out of bed. "Shut up, Merlin."
"Shut up yourself." The court sorcerer retorted. "Now get up, or I'll pull the duvet off you myself."
Arthur sat up abruptly. "You wouldn't!"
Merlin's fingers wiggled teasingly, and he let his eyes light up with just the tiniest bit of golden.
"Alright I'm up." Arthur staggered off his bed and behind his screen to get dressed while Merlin chucked clothes at him. "Shouldn't you be off in your tower doing sorcerer things?" he asked. "And shouldn't my actual manservant be here?"
Merlin shrugged. "I have nothing to do this morning and I miss helping you so I told Morris he could have the morning off."
"You don't have the authority to do that."
"I do now. Clotpole. Besides, I find people generally respect and listen to me."
"Merlin…"
"Shut up?"
"Yep."
It was inevitable really. Once Arthur had sat through a morning of meetings and council members being frustrating, it figured that he would want to get out of the castle. Merlin had immediately suggested that they train instead, given that it would allow him to release energy while still remaining within the safety of Camelot's walls.
"Don't be silly, Merlin. I'm going on a hunt, and you need to spend time with your parents. Gwaine! Leon! Come on!" he shouted. The two looked up and rushed over, already gathering bows and hunting equipment.
"Arthur." Merlin pleaded. "Come on."
"Merlin."
Merlin growled, his eyes lighting up. "I'm coming."
The king stared at him blankly, not quite registering what he was saying. Merlin's eyes flashed again.
"Arthur."
Arthur smiled. "of course! I wouldn't go without you."
Merlin should have known something would go wrong. It always did. whether it was bandits, Saxons, morgana (back in the days when morgana was a threat) or something else entirely, something always came to attack them, and someone always got hurt.
This time, it was the usual bandits, looking for some coin and some fun. Merlin knew they wouldn't last long.
They had been hunting for all of twenty minutes when the men appeared from behind a tree trunk. There were at least ten of them; they had their rusty swords raised and overwhelmed the four men in seconds.
Watching Leon and Gwaine try to hold off four men, Merlin sighed. He glanced over to Arthur and, with a ripple of dread, saw him engaging one of the bandits. No. Arthur couldn't get hurt. He wouldn't let that happen.
Merlin hurtled over, not even bothering to notice if his feet were touching the ground, and shoved Arthur away as far as he could. He heard a thump and an undignified grunt from across the clearing they were in, but it didn't matter. Arthur was safe and that was what was important.
With his king safely out of the way, Merlin let his power rampage, knocking the men to their knees and tearing up trees and plants as he went. Leon and Gwaine had been knocked over by the blast, and Merlin sent them a quick glance of apology before rising to meet the bandits who were struggling to their feet. Merlin didn't let them get much further. He killed them where they stood.
Afterwards, he wouldn't speak as they journeyed home in silence. Merlin felt the two knights whispering behind him, but he couldn't bring himself to care. Arthur was safe. Arthur wasn't hurt. Arthur would never be hurt.
When they got back to Camelot, Merlin stormed straight to his tower, leaving Arthur standing helplessly at the stables.
camelot, first year of Queen Guinevere's reign
Gwen woke to the sun streaming through the window and she shielded her eyes in annoyance. She must have overslept.
No doubt the council would be looking for her errors, and she had just given them something with which to fuel the fire. Great.
She huffed, then got out of bed and began the arduous process of putting on her dress. She missed the days when it took mere minutes to get dressed.
Luckily for her, her maidservant popped her head round the door at that moment, and soon rushed to help her.
"Thank you." Said Gwen gratefully.
"No problem, your majesty." The girl bobbed her head in respect. "the council will be wanting you soon, and if your majesty doesn't mind, I need to be getting off to the kitchens. Cook will have my head if I'm not there soon."
"That will be fine." Gwen allowed, and the girl darted off. Gwen sighed. Alone.
Council went about as well as she expected, with everyone (including her) reeling from Arthur's death, and most of the younger members still recovering from the battle. She had just finished with getting lord so and so to listen to a single word she was saying, when there came a snore from the back of the room.
Gwen's voice was icy cold when she said, "Are you asleep, lord Baldor?"
The man in question raised his head wearily. Nno, my lady."
"If you feel this meeting is a waste of time, my lord," Gwen started, "Then feel free to leave. However, if you would care to stop wasting my time, that would be appreciated. Does anyone have anything to add, or Will that be all for today?"
"Your majesty." Said lord snivelling bootlicker. "The council has been discussing our position."
"Our position?" she inquired coldly.
"My lady, you must realise that you cannot hope to rule alone." The lord spat out. "The council think it would be advantageous for you to marry. Perhaps an alliance with another kingdom and a man on…"
Gwen glared daggers inside her head. Everything in her wanted nothing more than to scream at him, but she kept her composure as she replied, "It is none of the council's business whether I remarry or not. My late husband has been dead for a matter of weeks, and you already think I am not capable of ruling? My lord, you underestimate me." Her heart was pounding in her chest. That had been the first time she'd really admitted it. Arthur really was dead. She tried not to dwell on that for now.
"Your majesty, please,"
"Silence." She snapped. "You think that because I am woman that I cannot rule? You think that because I was born a commoner that I am not fit for the throne?
"I have been queen for years past and I will be for years to come. If you object to my rule, then I invite you to step down from this council." She looked around, daring any of the men around her to move. "If you doubt my abilities as a leader, then I am sorry, but you are not welcome here. That will be the end of this meeting. Thank you, my lords."
Gaius came up to her after the meeting, his walking cane tapping along the floor.
"You did well in council today, my lady."
She smiled sadly. "Thank you, Gaius."
"They are wrong to doubt you." He said. "You will do great things for this kingdom. Perhaps even greater than Arthur."
"Thank you, but I know that isn't true."
Gaius tilted his head. "Perhaps it is, perhaps it is not. But you won't know until you try."
"I'm glad you have faith in me. No one else seems to."
The old man's eyes seemed to twinkle. "Most of those lords are bigoted old men still living in Uther's time. Some will come around."
Gwen laughed slightly. "I hope so. Gaius, could I talk with you in private?"
His eyebrow raised. "Yes, my lady. We can go to my chambers if you would like."
"That would work."
"What did you want to talk about, my lady?" Gaius asked when they were both seated in his chambers. Gwen looked down, trying to ignore the rather disturbing rabbit head on the table.
"It's Gwen, please. And I wanted to talk about Merlin."
She could see the exact moment Gaius let his emotions slip, possibly for the first time since they had got back from Camalan.
He cleared his throat and wiped his eyes angrily. "Merlin sent word about Arthur a week ago, but I haven't heard anything else from him."
"Perhaps he's recovering?" she suggested. "The... the magic in the battle must have taken a lot out of him."
She could feel Gaius watching her carefully; he was probably still worried about how she would react to magic, and honestly, Gwen wasn't sure how to feel. However, she wasn't going to let her feelings on the matter affect this conversation. She just needed to hear the truth.
"I think it more likely that he doesn't know what to do with himself now that Arthur is gone. He… Merlin only ever stayed in Camelot for Arthur."
"But what about his friends here?" Gwen asked. "We love him. And Camelot is his home."
Gaius sighed. "It is hard to feel at home when you are constantly hiding." He said. "Merlin was never truly happy here. I don't think he has ever had a real home."
"But what about…"
"Ealdor? He had to hide his magic there too. They were too close to the border of Camelot, and Cenred was notorious for recruiting sorcerers for his army. Hunith taught him to hide from a young age, and it was necessary, but it was difficult."
"I'm sorry."
"Don't say that to me."
She nodded. "So, do you think he will return?"
"I expect not. Much as he loves you and me and all his friends here, now that Arthur is gone, there is nothing left for him here."
"We should still look for him, surely. We must make sure he's alright. For all we know, Morgana could have," she didn't finish that sentence. It was too painful.
Gwen couldn't think about Morgana right now. She'd been putting that off for years, so it could wait a bit longer.
"Merlin can hold his own against Morgana." Said Gaius with that twinkle in his eye.
Right. Magic.
It was difficult to connect the idea of Merlin with the idea of magic. For Gwen, magic was destruction. It was loss and pain and ruin. Her father had been murdered because he was suspected of sorcery. Her brother was killed by an enchanted sword. Her husband had been killed by an enchanted sword. Gwen had lived in fear for most of her life, as she saw neighbours turn on each other and people dragged away in the night. She had been two or three years old when the purge began, and she was old enough to remember the screams as people she knew and loved were plunged into despair. She still remembered the smell of the pyre that was there in the square for days on end as sorcerer after sorcerer was killed. She had been too little to understand what was going on when her mother tugged her away from the square and barred their door. She had been too little to understand when soldiers in red cloaks had bashed in the door and taken her mother.
Only when she was older did she learn that her mother had been a sorcerer. She hadn't had much power, but according to her father, she used to sell healing poultices and charms. It was ironic in a way. The time she had been arrested for magic was because of a healing charm. She hadn't done it. She had no idea how it got there, but… Merlin.
"Of course." She gasped. "It was Merlin all along. He cured my father, didn't he, Gaius."
Gaius, who had been watching her in contemplation for a while, nodded. "it was. He has done a lot for this kingdom, and even more for his friends."
"He will get the recognition he deserves." She decided. "Gaius, I'm still not sure about magic, but I think… I think that maybe we could start working towards repealing the ban. Or at least changing the laws. I don't like it but having magic shouldn't mean death. There have already been too many deaths."
"You are right of course. Far too many deaths."
"There won't be any more." Gwen said quietly. "I swear right now that no one else will die under my rule because of something they have no control over. No more."
In case you couldn't tell, I love Gwen. Also, since her mother was never really mentioned in the show, I tried to go into a bit more detail in this. Anyway, I'll stop before I start rambling. Oh, and in case it isn't clear, the bits with Merlin and Arthur are inside Merlin's alternate reality. Anything with queen Gwen and general angst is real world post show. Hope that makes sense.