Arthur paced in his chambers. It had been five days. Five days since the knights and Merlin had gone off to find the Dolma. Five days, and there had been no sighting of them.

"Arthur, there you are," Guinevere moved towards him, concern written on her face. "You're going to be late for the council meeting."

"How do you do it?"

The question exploded from Arthur's mouth before he could stop it. Gwen turned back round to face him, a confused expression on her own.

"Do what?"

Arthur waved his hand in exasperation, trying to find the right words.

"Hide your worry, it's been five days Guinevere, has been no sign of them returning, and with the saxons and Morgana still out there… I just…"

Arthur sighed as he trailed off, rubbing his forehead with his hand.

Feeling Gwen's hand resting on his arm, he pulled his hand away from his face, to look at her.

She was gently smiling up at him, a loving look across her face. Sometimes it still surprised Arthur that she actually loved him. At the beginning of their relationship, it had seemed impossible that one day he would be able to stand, Guinevere at his side as both his queen and his wife. Pulling her into his arms, he let his head rest on hers, as both of them looked out the window of their shared chambers.

"I do worry, I worry all the time. About all of you."

The words were barely spoken above a whisper, but Arthur still heard them, could hear the pain in her voice.

"I worry when you and the knights go on quests, and I worry that one day, none of you will return to me. So, I take the time I have, in between all of the quests, and patrols and missions to hold you close, to hold everyone of you close, because I know that it could all change in a heartbeat."

Guinevere pulled away from Arthur, and cupped her hand on his face, her thumb lightly brushing over his lips.

"I don't want to ever lose you, Arthur, I don't want to lose any of you. All of you, you're my family. So I keep all of it, the worry, the pain, I keep all of it close to my heart, so that none of you have to worry about what happens to me if you never come back. So that you're not distracted thinking about me not wanting you to go, and then never coming back to me."

Looking into her eyes, Arthur could see the sincerity there, and once again he thanked all of his lucky stars that Guinever would always be here for him, his rock, his steady place.

Resting his head against hers, in a half-joking tone of voice, he replied, "Have I ever told you how much I love you?"

Laughing, Guinevere moved her hands around his neck, "Most definitely not."

Taking the cue, and the fact that this was one of the rare, quiet moments that he and Guinevere had been able to snag in the last few days, he moved forward to kiss her, her own body, moving up eagerly to meet his.

With the worst timing possible, that only the servants of Camelot could achieve, there was a knock on the door.

Huffing, Arthur pulled away from his wife, and called for whoever had decided this would be the most inopportune time to appear at his door.

"Come in," Arthur called, masking the disappointment and frustration in his voice.

A servant appeared as the door opened, their head bowed as they came into the view of the King and Queen.

"Your majesties, the knights of the round table have been spotted, and should be in Camelot within the hour."

Inclining his head in respect, Arthur thanked the man, and turned back to Guinevere with a smile of relief on his face as the servant left their chambers.

"See, they're perfectly all right, Arthur," Guinevere whispered, her hand moving up to remove a stray piece of hair off of his face. "Now come, we should go down and greet them, and our guest."

Arthur resisted the urge to pace as he and Guinevere waited on the steps of the citadel. Closer now, he could hear the steady cantering of hooves as the group made their way into the courtyard.

Arthur mentally did a headcount and a quick scan for any injuries as they all dismounted, but to his satisfaction saw nothing of any danger to note.

But there was someone missing.

Quelling his disappointment, Arthur let out a small sigh. It would seem that the Dolma had decided not to accept his invitation. Not that that was surprising in the least, since Camelot hadn't been exactly friendly towards sorcerers since, well, since before Arthur could remember.

Finally, the horses all handed off to the stable hands, belongings removed, the group made their way up the steps to where Arthur and Guinevere were standing. There were a lot of greetings, and Arthur watched as Guinevere first embraced her brother, and then Merlin. In fact, all of the group appeared to be in high spirits, not at all like the Dolma hadn't returned with them.

Suddenly, Arthur was faced with Merlin, and it shocked him to realise that he hadn't actually had a conversation with Merlin since that little interrogation, where Merlin had frozen. Merlin seemed a lot less stressed, and overall happier. In fact, Arthur couldn't remember a time in the past few years that he had seen Merlin like this, so free and happy. When was the last time he had seen Merlin like this? It was almost like Arthur had unwittingly walked into the past, before he became king, before Morgana. Shaking his head, Arthur tuned himself into what Merlin was telling him.

"-said that she would accept your invitation, except she didn't want an escort to Camelot, and would come on her own terms."

Shaking his head, Arthur nodded at Merlin. He felt a swell in his chest. She was coming! The Dolma probably had other things to sort out first before she came. This couple of days would mean that Arthur had a few more days to prepare for her arrival, and what he was going to say, or ask about magic.

Wrapping an arm around Guinevere, he nodded, dismissing Merlin and the knights, sighing with relief. He could finally let go of all of this tension that he hadn't realised had pent up inside of him.

But there was one more thing he had to do. Kissing the top of Guinevere's head, he smiled softly down at her, "I'll see you later, there are a few matters that I want to finish first."

Nodding, Guinevere cupped his face in her hand, and rested her forehead on his own, before turning around and following the knights into the castle.

Arthur turned in the direction of the physician's chambers. It was time he talked to Merlin.