As the years past Guinevere began to accept the fact that her friendship with Arthur was over. She became closer to Morgana, but it still hurt whenever her mistress would claim they were best friends – knowing that in her heart Arthur would always be her best friend. She saw him often around the castle, from a distance, and each time she did her heart broke a little more. She would see him becoming more arrogant, more disagreeable, and she could see, on the few occasions when she met his eyes, that it was killing him to act this way. Yet still he persevered, and often she would see him glance up at his father, begging for approval. Uther rarely granted this, so Arthur became worse, until almost everyone in the castle was scared of him, then she would see Uther look at his son with pride, and it made her feel sick.
She understood why her prince had to act like this, and when she forgot she would reread his letter and she would cry for him all over again. Although she understood why he had to torment himself like this, it didn't make his actions right. It was as he had said the wrong actions for the right reasons. She knew he was hurting, and sometimes she just wanted to pull him into a hug as she had when they were children, he still had the handkerchief, and she hoped it would be of some small comfort to him, though she doubted it.
She kept her faith in Arthur though, she could not lose hope that he would be a great king, and one day they could be best friends again, once he had earned the respect of the nobles. But try as she might, seeing him behave like a bully every day, seeing him look down on people of her status took its toll, and she began to wonder if all traces of her friend had gone. Then when she was 18, she could take it no longer, she'd lost him and she couldn't bear to think of that everyday, so she resolved to forget him. Of course, one could never forget the Prince of Camelot, but she could forget Arthur; the boy she had befriended; the boy who was lost to her, she now feared forever.
Now after 3 years of trying to forget Arthur, the majority of the time she could just see him as the arrogant prince, who liked nothing better than to bully servants. She became immune to the hurt he caused her, and she would not dwell on his hurt, knowing she could not help him without pushing his father away. She would not come between Arthur and his only family. But now and then, he would do little things which reminded her of who he used to be, and broke down the barriers she had built around herself.
Such as a few weeks ago, when Merlin had arrived. Gwen liked Merlin, as much as she tried to ignore it, he reminded her of Arthur when they were younger – kind and sweet, innocent. Earlier that morning Gregory, one of the boys from her street who had picked on her when she was younger, had pushed her on the steps. It was nothing, Gwen was used to it, and he had failed to knock anything out of her hands. No harm done. But Arthur had seen, his eyes pierced into hers, and for a moment she thought he would ask if she was okay, but he just turned on heel and walked away. Then a few hours later when she had been beating the dust from one of Morgana's dresses, she looked down to see Arthur ordering Gregory to move the target. She smiled slightly – Arthur did not have a permanent manservant, rather he just chose one at random, and if someone had done something wrong he would hire them for a week or so, working them as hard as possible for punishment. She wondered if his choosing Gregory had anything to do with what he had witnessed this morning, maybe he still cared about her well being after all. Her suspicions were confirmed when he glanced up and met her eye, giving her the first smile he had in years, and despite her resolution to forget him, Gwen couldn't help but grin back. Then the smile left her face instantly as she saw what Arthur did next. She felt sick, as she watched her friend throw knives at a defenceless boy – for her.
Then Merlin had arrived, and stood up to Arthur, she was surprised – and in a way she wished she was still brave enough to do that. So the next day when she saw him in the stocks, she decided to introduce herself. She shared a pleasant conversation with the boy, even if inside she was still hurting from Arthur's actions. Once she had left Merlin though, she had only gone a few paces when she was pulled into an alcove by two strong arms. She went to scream, when she saw a pair of familiar blue eyes gazing down into hers. For a moment she was reminded of the small, vulnerable, yet angry little boy who had accosted her outside Morgana's chambers, scared she did not want to be his friend anymore.
"Arthur!?"
"Hello Guinevere," oh he was angry.
"Um… how are you?" She was angry with herself; could she not say something more constructive?
"What not going to yell at me, tell me off for being arrogant, for being a bully?"
She gasped; he had overheard every word she had said to Merlin.
"You were listening?"
"Obviously." His arrogant tone, in addition to his spying deeply angered her.
"That was an intrusion of privacy, you should know better! Or are you above common courtesy now?" He winced, and she thought with triumph that there must still be some trace of her friend left in him. But she continued anyway "And what was that about with Gregory yesterday? It wasn't funny and it wasn't clever!"
"He pushed you! You were smiling when I looked at you; you wanted him punished as much as I did!"
"Punished, yes! Being your manservant was a just punishment – but you were throwing knives at him Arthur! And the worst part was, you looked like you were enjoying it! I thought acting like the other nobles was just that, an act! But you've changed Arthur, how could you enjoy terrifying the boy like that? You're as bad as him! " She made to move past him, but he seized her arm, and said quietly,
"Guinevere, I'm sorry. Yes, I was enjoying it." He sounded ashamed now, "But not just for the sake of scaring the boy. I wanted to punish him, for hurting you. But I just did the same thing didn't I?" His eyes pooled with tears, and suddenly he was the little boy she knew, arrogant because he didn't know how to act otherwise, just a lost child who wanted help. She hugged him as she had been wanting to for years now, and he held on fiercely, determined to keep her with him as long as possible.
"Arthur, oh Arthur. Don't cry. Yes you've hurt me, but you know why don't you? I understand that you need to win the respect of you knights, but surely now you can begin to win the respect of the people?" She pulled back gently to look at him.
"I scared Guinevere." He whispered, "What if he hates me?" She knew he was talking about his father, and looking at the vulnerable young man in her arms, she had never hated Uther more, he had ruined the boy Arthur had been, and she didn't know how to repair the damage. So she just pulled him close again.
"He could never hate you Arthur, you are his son." She heard his small noise of protest but continued anyway. "I understand, change will not be easy, and you are not ready to challenge your father yet, and that's fine. But perhaps, you could try and think more of your actions, how they affect people. And no throwing knives at people!"
He pulled back, smiling now, "Not even if they insult you?" He asked, teasing, and she grinned.
"Not even then."
"That's the Guinevere I know, not afraid to speak her mind." Arthur was grinning, but he said solemnly, "I'll try Guinevere, but I can't promise – I'm not the man you want me to be, not yet."
"But you will be Arthur, I know you will."
And with a final grin she left him standing alone in the alcove, reflecting on her words.
"Yes, one day Guinevere." But maybe not today. He would try, for her, but in his heart he knew he was not brave enough to make any big changes just yet.
So a few weeks later, when Merlin came to him claiming that Valiant was using magic, Arthur didn't immediately dismiss him. His father taught him that servants were not worth listening to, but Guinevere had shown him the precise opposite. So he listened to Merlin, and begged for an audience with the King based on Merlin's evidence. Then, when the meeting didn't go according to plan, he fired Merlin out of temper. He wasn't really angry at Merlin, rather that for the first time in his life he had done something to make Guinevere, and himself proud, and it had blown up in his face.
It made him wonder whether it was all worth it, whether it was worth standing up for the commoners, if it just resulted in everyone thinking he was a coward. But then, a plague fell upon Camelot and something happened which made him realise he could not stand by and obey his father forever.
He had not spoken to Gwen since the incident with Gregory, but Morgana had mentioned earlier that she had given Gwen the day off, because her father had the sickness. This greatly saddened Arthur, Tom was a nice man, and he knew Guinevere would be heartbroken to lose him. However Arthur knew the best thing he could do for her was to find the sorcerer behind the plague, and soon. He worked tirelessly, determined to put a stop to his peoples' suffering.
One morning, a few days into the plague however, he saw Tom outside his forge, healthy as ever. Arthur was immediately angered. Either people were making up lies about Guinevere and her father, or magic had been used on Tom. The possibility of magic being used near Guinevere, putting her in danger, made his blood run cold. So he unthinkingly asked Tom who had been with him at the time of his recovery. He only realised what he had done when Tom said Gwen's name, and with a horrible churning in his stomach, surrounded by his knights, he realised with horror that he would have to arrest his friend.
"Seize her." He saw the betrayal, and fear in her eyes; the confusion that rang in her voice as she cried out for him to help her. He could not look at her any longer, refused to let tears fall, knowing he could not help her.
His father sentenced her to death and he knew he could not let that happen. He argued with his father, telling him he was sure there was no evil in Guinevere's heart, in all honesty Arthur did not believe that Gwen had magic, but with no other suspects, he decided to go along with it and not question his father too much. Also the poultice found it her house was unexplainable, he was certain it did not belong to Guinevere.
His pleading did no good, so that evening he went to visit her in the dungeons.
"Guinevere?" She was curled up on floor, facing away from the bars, and he could hear her quiet sobs echoing around the dungeon. It broke his heart.
"Guinevere." He said louder, placing his key in the lock. He had told the guards he would be interviewing the prisoner, and did not wish to be disturbed. She turned to face him as he entered the cells and pulled her into a tight hug.
"Arthur – it wasn't me, I swear, I know nothing of magic, or this poultice! You do believe me don't you?"
"Of course I do Guinevere, of course I do." He could feel her tears burning through his tunic, and his own splattered into her hair.
"I won't let him do this to you."
"You sound like Merlin."
"I hope not!" She laughed, but it seemed forced.
"Morgana said you'd already tried to speak to him, and he'd ignored you." She sounded as though she'd given up hope.
"Yes, but it doesn't matter, I'll keep trying, and failing that I'll break you out."
She looked up at him astounded, as though she couldn't believe what he had just said.
"I will Guinevere; I'd do it now if I didn't know you'd have to spend the rest of your life in hiding. If it's our last resort I will do it with no regrets, but it will not come to that. You are not going to die, I promise."
"Thank you, Arthur. But I want to know… who did heal my father – the poultice, I've never seen it, I can't think who would have put it there."
"The thought of some sorcerer creeping around your house, leaving strange items, scares me to death." He admitted.
"Me too."
"I have something for you." He pushed his hand into his pocket and pulled out their handkerchief. She gasped,
"You still have it?"
He smiled sadly, "Of course." He took her hand, pressing the good luck token into it. "Here you go, for luck in …" his words caught in his throat.
She continued for him "…coping with the boredom of these stinking cells, until you can come and be my knight in shining armour?" She grinned, trying to tell him she was okay. He wasn't fooled, but decided to play along if it made her smile.
"Exactly. I won't leave you here." They just looked at each other for a moment, before he sighed and said "I have to go, but I'll be back, I promise."
"Thank you Arthur, for everything."
"You're welcome Guinevere." He said as he retreated towards the door.
"Promise me one thing, don't forget me."
He rushed towards her, pulling her into another hug, "I could never forget you, my best friend." He released her and went to the door, locking it and feeling terrible for doing so. "I'll see you soon." With that he left her.
Gwen looked down at the handkerchief, and smiled slightly, maybe, just maybe, she would live through this. Maybe Arthur would save her.
Uther had demanded that Gwen's execution be brought forward, and seeing no other option left, Arthur was preparing to break her out of the dungeons when Morgana came rushing into his chambers, claiming that she and Merlin had a way to free Gwen. He was sceptical at first, she though he was being awkward, but he didn't want to waste time going on a fools errand when he could be freeing Guinevere. The three of them went down into the water supply and killed the afanc. Then he made his way to the dungeons.
"Guinevere!" she looked up to see him grinning.
"What's happened?"
"You're free to go!" He said laughing, "See I told you I'd save you! And Guinevere…" She had approached the bars, which he had not unlocked yet, wanting to tell her something before she the chance to escape. "In the future I won't be as quick to listen to my father, I promise. Nothing like this will happen again. I will make you proud to be my friend."
"I am already proud to be your best friend Arthur."
"Proud to be friends with me, but not with the nobility right?"
Her smile matched his "Exactly. Thank you for saving me."
"You're welcome." He went to put the key in the lock, when he heard Morgana and Merlin chattering excitedly on their way down to the cells. He laughed "Here comes the cavalry! I'll let them do the honours." He withdrew the key. "Goodbye Guinevere."
"Goodbye, Thank You Arthur!"
And with a wink he left her, handkerchief clutched in her hand, and her faith in Arthur restored.