Epilogue: Once and Future

I know my father now.

I know him as a great king, and also as the man who always has time for me no matter how busy he is. I also have the Knights of the Original Round Table, all of whom are uncles to me in their various ways. I have Mother, who loves me and keeps me close to her; we have never stopped our weekly trips to the lower town, although we do take Father along more often than not now. And I still have Uncle Merlin, who will always be something of a father to me.

Then there is Aunt Freya, who has taken me under her wing in her own quiet way as well. She and Uncle Merlin got married just after we got back from our trip away from Camelot. Though they could have had a big marriage in the Great Hall, they chose to have it out in a beautiful field in the woods instead; we were surrounded by wildflowers, some of which Freya had picked and Mother had braided through her hair. It was a quiet, simple ceremony, with only the people Merlin and Freya loved and trusted there, including Gaius and Hunith, who couldn't have looked happier or more proud if they had tried. Afterwards the married couples danced half the night away in the moonlit silvan dell; Father and Mother clasped each other close, looking young and in love, and I had never seen Uncle Merlin and Aunt Freya happier. Uncle Merlin and Aunt Freya fit together so well that there have been days since their wedding when I've wondered how I ever thought Merlin could be complete without Freya.

Eleven months after Father's return to Camelot, I was woken unnaturally early in the morning by Uncle Merlin. "Come on, Amhar," he whispered, shaking my shoulder. "You need to wake up."

"Mmph, let me shleep," I slurred, rolling over.

"You're nearly as hard to wake as Arthur," Uncle Merlin pointed out, chuckling. The next moment I was sopping wet and the bucket containing water for me to freshen up with in the morning was floating innocently back to its corner.

"Uncle Merlin!" I protested indignantly, jumping upright.

He laughed and dried me off with a flash of his eyes; he looked both exhausted and very happy as he motioned to the door. "Come on," he told me impatiently. "Your mother's time has come."

That made me spring out of bed with no hesitation. "Why didn't you call me sooner?" I demanded eagerly, despite the fact that he had probably come as soon as he could. "Do I have a little brother or a sister?" I went on without waiting for a response.

Uncle Merlin laughed as he followed my hasty rush from the room. "I've no idea," he told me. "Arthur's been keeping that a secret from all of us until you see your little sibling."

Laughing, I took off at a run, making him hurry to keep up with me. I had known Mother was pregnant for a good while now, and lately the whole castle had been abuzz with expectations for the child's birth. Having always thought I'd be an only child, I was more than ready to meet my new sibling.

When we reached the hallway outside my parent's room, which had been my father's deserted room once upon a time, there was a jam of people in the hallway; all the knights had shown up. "Amhar!" Uncle Gwaine shouted cheerfully. "Just the man we want! Now after you go in, Arthur can finally tell us whether he has a daughter or another son, and we can all finally go back to bed. Hurry up!"

I grinned at him as Uncle Merlin shepherded me up to the door. He knocked on it, calling softly, "Arthur! Amhar's here!"

Father opened the door a moment later, a wide, goofy grin on his face. "Come on, Amhar," he said, drawing me into the room; Uncle Merlin dropped back to wrap an arm around Aunt Freya, who was waiting there too. I watched the way his other hand rested on her stomach for a moment; they had said nothing yet, but I had overheard Mother commenting to Father the other day that she wondered if Freya was newly pregnant too.

Then Father shut the door and led me up to the bed. Mother was resting on it, pale but watching the bundle in her arms with a beautiful smile. All at once I felt terribly shy, but Father's hand on my shoulder propelled me forward.

Mother looked up at me and gave me a smile. "Come meet your sister, Amhar," she told me.

I crept up to her side and looked down at the bundle she held in her arms. A downy head and eyes closed in peaceful sleep were all I could see around the blankets. Tentatively I reached out and touched the soft skin of her forehead. "My sister," I whispered, feeling awed.

"Cerelia," Father told me softly. "That's her name." He squeezed my shoulder and looked down at his daughter with a smile. "She's beautiful, isn't she, Amhar?" he asked.

But he was looking at me, not my sister, as he said it, and I can tell he was proud and happy to have us both; I grinned and nodded.

"Do you want to hold her?" Mother asked, glancing at the bed beside her in an invitation to sit down with her.

I felt rather shy of doing that too, as if I would break the fragile little girl if I touched her, but Mother's voice was inviting and Father nudged me toward the bed. "She won't break if you hold her," he told me, sounding highly amused, "or at least that's what Alice tells me."

With that encouragement I scrambled up to sit on the far side of Mother. Father, meanwhile, went to the door and poked his head around.

"We have a daughter," he announced to the waiting group proudly. "Her name is Cerelia."

A ruckus of cheering promptly emerged from the hallway. "Stop!" Father hissed indignantly. "She's asleep!"

Silence immediately fell, broken by sincere congratulations. Father thanked them warmly, then added, "You can see my daughter once she and her mother have had a chance to sleep for a while. Thank you very much!" Then he shut the door and came back to us.

Mother, who was laughing a bit at Father's rather overprotective ways, was shifting Cerelia into my arms. Father came and got onto the bed with us, wrapping an arm around me and putting a hand on Mother's shoulder, and we curled up together there, the four of us in our family. Mother began drifting off to sleep.

I cradled my little sister in my arms, feeling her warmth against me and watching her perfect little face, and I resolved to be the best big brother in the world to her, like Galahad is to Anna, or Uncle Elyan and Uncle Merlin are to Mother.

It occurred to me as I sat there in the circle of my father's arm that Cerelia will never know what it is like to grow up not knowing her father. She will never know Uncle Merlin's bitter half-smile as his habitual one, or know about the bad time of year when everyone she loves mourns the absent king. She will never catch Mother standing against the turrets with tears running down her face when she thinks she's alone.

On the other hand, my little sister will never know the warmth that enveloped me when I actually coaxed a rare real smile out of Uncle Merlin, never know him as a father like I did - still do - even if he will always be a part of our family. She will never know what it is like for Mother to wrap her in her arms and hold on tight, like she is the only thing in the world that matters, because she is the family Mother has left. She will never remember the day when Father came home as a powerful, returning king, see him sweep his wife into his arms, hug his best friend. She will never find out on that day that a father's hugs are the best things in the whole world.

And we will both know the future, Cerelia and I; we will both know Father's hugs that make one feel that nothing can go wrong in the world and Mother's tender love; we will share the embarrassment of watching them act like fools in love when they think they're alone and forget we are in the room with them. We will both know Uncle Merlin's wide, happy smiles as the expression his face wears more often than not, watch his sweet love for Aunt Freya that shows every time they're in the same room together. And we will both have all the knights we will call Uncle together; we will know Leon's loyalty, Percival's wisdom, Lancelot's nobility, Elyan's straightforwardness, Gwaine's humor and sensitivity.

All in all, I'm pleased and proud to be Amhar, son of the Once and Future King.

A/N: So we come to the conclusion of this story. It is not, however, the last thing I want to write in this world; as I wrote this, I kept coming up with one-shots I wanted to tell, mostly from Arthur's perspective, so a one-shot collection set in this world will be showing up. I go back to college in about a week, though, and for several reasons I doubt I'll post anything during this next semester. So watch for this collection to appear in December!

Thank you so, so much to everyone who took the time to read, favorite, follow, and most especially review this story – it means a lot to me! A special thank-you goes to Vanvdreamer, Gingeraffealene, CriesofCapricorn, and gaylelbf, whom I could always count on to review! Also to all the lovely guest reviewers, especially Random Person - I extended the wedding scene for you - and Alice. And if you're reading this in the future, thanks for reading and reviewing!

I've very much loved exploring Amhar's world and making up an ending that is now my headcanon for what happened after the Merlin show ended, where everyone can finally be happy. Thanks for coming on the journey with me and giving me the motivation to finish writing this story!

~ Maltheniel