Chapter 9: The Coming of Arthur

Mother, Uncle Merlin, and I were in a council meeting a few days after the third month of our reprieve began; all the knights of the original Round Table were out on patrol, except for Uncle Leon, who attended all the meetings about the war with Mother. A messenger had come from Essetir with the final details of that alliance, and the previous day Uncle Merlin had been scouting the Saxon army building up along Caerleon's border. He had managed to receive permission from Queen Annis to fly over her kingdom on a dragon if it was for scouting purposes only, so he had flown over on Aithusa and, using his magic to enhance his vision, had taken a look at Landin's army, which was growing as steadily as our alliances were.

"I believe we will have enough men to defeat Landin, even with his sorcerers, once all the alliances are in place," he told the meeting. "Our problem will be that we have no one to lead our joined army into battle; we will be a mess of individual armies trying to fight one united enemy. My apologies," he said to Mother, "I know you have skill with a sword, but the armies of the other kingdoms will never follow a woman into battle. We need a leader they would all follow, a leader who could unite them. We need –"

He broke off abruptly and looked away. I knew what he was going to say – we needed Father back to lead this army. The recently returned knights spoke of Freya saying that she had needed to wait for a significant threat before she could send them or Father back, and they all believed that the Saxon threat would bring Father back, but the question hanging over our heads now was when. He would be of little use if he showed up right in the middle of the battle.

At that moment, there was the sound of pounding footsteps on the stairs, and the council room doors were flung open. Uncle Gwaine, who had been out on patrol, burst into the room, flushed and breathless.

"He's back," he said.

There was a long moment of silence before Uncle Leon managed to get out, "You mean Arthur is back?"

"That's exactly what I mean," Gwaine said, tossing his windswept hair out of his face. He looked immensely excited and also quite satisfied. "We found him on patrol. He's riding into the city with the rest of them now – I rode ahead to give you forewarning."

Mother didn't wait another moment. "The council is dismissed," she said breathlessly, and nearly ran to the door.

I was still standing, stunned, when Uncle Merlin's hand landed on my shoulder; he had gone very white, but his eyes held a wild, eager hope. "Come on," he said, and led me after Mother.

Uncle Gwaine came down to the front steps of the castle with us, chattering the whole way about how they had found Father out in the forest, and none of the patrol but him had believed it was Arthur (he was the only original knight in it), and how Father had demanded they give him a horse and let him get home as fast as possible. I think none of us were really listening to Gwaine, caught up in our own thoughts, but his inane chatter made me at least a little less nervous.

When we hurried out of the doors and came onto the steps of the castle, we could suddenly hear loud cheering coming from the lower town. For an instant, I wondered if I could make out the cry, "Long live the king!" and my heart skipped a beat.

"The citadel welcomes back its king," Gwaine said quietly, and slipped away from us.

The three of us stood there on the steps and awaited the king's return. Mother had hurried to the lowest step and stood there eagerly, straining her eyes for the first sight of Father. Uncle Merlin stood about halfway down the steps, watching the entryway with a strange mix of hope, fear, and longing in his face. I had drifted over to one side and stood near the edge of the steps, feeling wildly excited and terrified. It hit me that in a matter of minutes I would see the father I had never known for the first time in my life, and I was afraid again of how he would react.

The cheering came closer and closer. We didn't have long to wait.

I could hear the clattering of horses' hooves on the cobblestones moments before they appeared.

Then King Arthur rode into the courtyard at the head of a small cohort of his knights. In full chain mail, in a red cloak, tall and proud on a white horse, the bright sunlight turning his blond hair into a golden crown, the Once and Future King came back to Camelot.

I stared and stared at my father. He had the strong broad shoulders, the blond hair, the noble face that had been described to me, and he had my blue eyes.

But I didn't have long to stare, for the moment he had ridden into the courtyard, Mother had leapt off the staircase and flown to meet him, crying, "Arthur! Arthur!"

The first thing I ever heard my father say was in a bright, glad voice, "Guinevere!"

He fairly sprang off his horse and swept Mother into his arms. He swung her around in a circle, her dark red dress flying out and mixing with his Camelot red cloak, her hair streaming out behind her. They were both laughing and crying. Father put Mother down and kissed her soundly, there in the middle of the courtyard.

Galahad had told me once that the advantage of my not having a father was that I didn't have to watch my parents do embarrassing things like kissing in front of me, but somehow I wasn't embarrassed. I could only smile through my tears as I watched my parents kiss each other.

They stood for a long moment in each other's arms after they drew apart, speaking too low for me to hear, their faces glowing with love; then Father gave Mother one last tight hug, let go of her, and continued into the courtyard.

Uncle Merlin had walked down to stand just off the staircase. Father came up to him and quickly pulled him into a tight hug before either of them could say anything. "Merlin, old friend," he said fervently.

There were tears in Father's eyes; I couldn't see Uncle Merlin's face, but I could tell he was shaking with the sudden emotion of seeing Father again. They held each other for a bit before stepping away; Father reached out to clap his hand on Uncle Merlin's shoulder. "You haven't changed," he said after a moment.

"But –" Uncle Merlin began shakily.

"Not in the ways that matter," Father said firmly. He squeezed Uncle Merlin's shoulder and turned away, toward me.

For a half second I was terrified again, that Father wouldn't know who I was, that he would need someone to introduce his own son to him, that he would go into the castle without acknowledging me. But he looked straight in my eyes, and he was smiling at me.

"My son," he said eagerly; then he reached out and pulled me into a hug.

Chain mail is a rather hard surface to hug, but as my father pulled me close against his chest, standing on the step below me, his arms strong around me, I couldn't help wrapping my arms around him and pulling him as close as I possibly could. He tightened the hug in return.

"Amhar," he whispered to my dark curls. "I'm so proud of the young man you're becoming. I couldn't have asked for a more wonderful son."

My father had come back. He was real and tangible under my arms, against my chest.

"Father," I whispered softly in return.

Standing there, held close in my father's arms for the first time in my life, I felt safe as I never had before.

A/N: I'm so excited to finally share this chapter with you! Hopefully you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed anticipating and writing it.

Next chapter on Tuesday: "The King in Camelot."