His hand was warm and solid in hers.

The last time Gwen had ventured down here had been when Arthur was still alive and Uther barely dead. Then, she'd stood next to Arthur, offering her strength as he stared at Uther's tomb. They had been there for what seemed like hours until Arthur suddenly turned to her and said he was done.

And although she never visited Uther's tomb after that, she knew that Arthur went regularly alone. She never asked about his visits and he never spoke about them.

"So this is my father." The slightly curious tone that lacked any emotion coming out of Arthur's mouth unnerved Gwen at first. He squinted at the sculpture of Uther that lay on his tomb. "I suppose I see the resemblance."

"You loved him very much."

Arthur laughed at that. "I put aside a whole room and made a statue of him. I would think so." Then he paused and looked around the mausoleum. "Where's my mother?"

"She died when you were born."

"In childbirth?"

Gwen nodded, her hand tightening around his.

"But you knew my father," he continued, staring down at Uther's marble likeness.

Again, she nodded, surprised when Arthur suddenly turned away, tugging her with him as he walked out of the room. He said nothing as he walked down the now empty corridors of the castle until he came to his room. With a tilt of his head, he silently invited her in.

She hadn't been inside since that night.

"Tell me about my father," he said quietly and she was unable to turn him down.

His room was small, sparsely furnished but after four days, already looked lived in by him. She couldn't help her smile when she noticed the pile of worn clothes on the floor that he tried to hide by shoving it beside the bed with his foot.

Sitting on his bed seemed far too intimate so she settled into an uncomfortable chair. "What do you want to know?"

He shrugged. "What he was like. Was he a good king? He must have been."

Her Arthur had loved and looked up to Uther so much, even when faced with Uther's weakness and failings, had craved Uther's approval and love even after Uther's death. What did she tell him?

"He," she said slowly, "had his strengths."

"You didn't like him."

"He did what he had to do as King," Gwen continued, ignoring the stare Arthur was giving her. "And for most of his life, Camelot did well."

"Did he like you?"

Startled by the question, Gwen shook her head. "He thought I wasn't good enough for you."

Arthur's eyes hardened and his lips pressed together in a straight line, disapproval clear in his stance. But his tone was pleasant when he finally spoke. "How was your day today? Merlin mentioned a council meeting you were dreading?"

The change in topic took her by surprise. "I dread all council meetings these days," she sighed. "Conflict among the Albion kingdoms, especially the smaller ones, is rising and I fear this will only beget more conflict." She looked at him. "The other kingdoms think we are weakened by your death."

"But we're not," he said.

She smiled slightly. "We?"

"We have you as a Queen and from what I hear, you love Camelot with all your heart. And you're smart and strong, I am sure you will lead Camelot and Albion through this."

Tears pricked the back of her eyes at his words. "I wish I had as much faith in myself as you do in me. Sometimes, I ask myself the same thing they ask me - who am I to be Queen? Just 5 years ago, I was a mere servant."

Arthur's hand cupped her face, his thumb rubbing her cheek, the same way he always did to comfort her. "I may not remember my life before, but if I were king and I chose you, out of all the nobles and royalty Albion has to offer, then you must have been more than a mere servant." He grinned then. "After all, I was a brilliant king, wasn't I? And I wouldn't have made a bad choice."

His bravado amused her, bringing her back to the days of Arthur being puffed up with confidence, a mask he wore often and well. Without thinking, she turned her face and pressed a kiss in his palm. He stiffened at her touch and she quickly pulled back. Both of them had, by silent agreement, never spoke of that warm night they spent together.

"Do you want to hear more about your father?" She asked. When had Uther become a neutral subject, she wondered.

"No."

"But -"

"He hated you. I know all I need to know about him as a father from that. And," he said quietly, leaning forward towards her, his fingers threading into her hair, loosening the bun she had, "you are trying to avoid this."

She swallowed. "What?"

"Us," he said. "I want to kiss you again."

Heat pooled in her. She had never wanted anything more. Yet she shook her head. "We shouldn't."

"Why?"

With his fingers gently massaging her scalp and his blue eyes, darkened with desire, boring into hers, Gwen could barely get her brains to work. "It's a bad idea."

A smile curved his lips. "And why is it a bad idea? I thought it was a very good idea the last time."

"I –"

He kissed her, swallowing whatever she had to say. Abandoning whatever misgivings she had, ignoring Merlin's warnings that all might not be as they seemed, she let herself sink into Arthur's kiss.

"Do you want me to stop," he asked as they broke for breath.

In answer, she cupped his face and pulled it to hers.

In amongst all the confusion that was his life, Gwen was the one constant. Her breath puffed against his chest and Arthur cuddled her closer, running his hand over her side as his heart expanded. As much as he wanted Gwen to spend the night with him, Arthur was well aware that she couldn't be caught leaving his room in the morning.

"Hey." Arthur nuzzled her cheek.

"Mmmm."Eyes still closed, Gwen turned and kissed him clumsily.

Arthur cupped her face and deepened the kiss. When the kiss ended, Arthur leaned his forehead against hers and smiled. "It's past midnight. You should return to your room."

"I know." But Gwen didn't move.

With a smile, Arthur kissed her again. "I don't want you to leave either."

"This is so hard."

The pain in Gwen's words tore at Arthur's heart, a pain he tried to ease with more kisses. "I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault." Sighing, Gwen sat up. Unable to help himself, Arthur slid a hand down her naked back. Gwen slapped his hand away, laughingly. "Stop that or I'll never leave your bed."

Arthur grinned then gave her bum a squeeze just as she got up from the bed, earning himself a mock frown from her. He let himself watch as Gwen pulled on her clothes, enjoying the way she moved. He had no idea how it happened but he was glad the person he was had managed to win her heart. Dressed, Gwen leaned over and gave him a kiss. Arthur slid his hand into her hair, holding her for that little bit more.

"Goodnight," he said against her lips. It was on the tip of his tongue to tell her he loved her, but he wasn't sure if it was the right time. Would she even believe him? Did he even believe it himself?

"Goodnight." He missed Gwen the moment she closed the door behind him.

Despite his efforts, Arthur found himself wide awake, staring up at the ceiling. A multitude of thoughts were jostling in his head – from how he came back from the dead to why his memories were taken from him. If he was here to finish something, fulfil some sort of destiny, then why take away his memories? Was he being punished for something? And if he was, why in this manner that was clearly punishing Gwen as well? But the thought that pushed itself to the forefront of his mind was the most basic one of all – who was he?

He looked at the four walls of his tiny room, hating how trapped it made him feel, how hopeless. It had been weeks since he'd awakened in the woods with nothing but his sword and rings and he was no closer to answering any of these questions fully. He'd thought that being back in Camelot, being with the woman who he clearly loved would jog his memory but there was nothing except questions. And every half answer he found only opened a door to more questions.

But that was the problem, wasn't it? He'd been sitting in this room, waiting for his memories to return, waiting for Merlin to do something, just waiting. Whoever he was, Arthur was pretty sure he wasn't the type to just lie back and let things happen to him. It was time he needed to stop doing that. And it was time that he stopped hiding in this room and be the King he was supposed to be.

Still in a good mood from the night before, Gwen shot Merlin a smile as she surreptitiously took the plate of pickled eggs he offered her. One moment she couldn't keep anything down and the next, she had craving for pickled eggs, something she never much liked before.

Lord Hector stood and Gwen sighed inwardly. The council meeting had been going well thus far with no new conflicts being reported, positive reports about the rebuilding of the villages near Camlann and predictions that the upcoming harvest may be a bountiful one but one look at Hector's face and she knew the meeting was about to go downhill.

"We've extended an invitation to King Lester to visit Camelot in two weeks. He will be bringing his son."

Shock rendered her speechless for a moment. "You invited King Lester here behind my back?" Gwen asked slowly, unable to believe the temerity of these men in front of her.

"He is a valuable ally -"

"Don't give me that," she snapped. "Don't think I don't know what you are trying to do Hector. You and your friends think that this is going to push me into a political marriage with his son."

Calmly, Hector stood. "I merely think it's a good idea that you meet personally with King Lester and Prince Reynard. Perhaps it will help you realise that marrying Prince Reynard is a good idea. I hear he is a good man."

"You have no right to interfere in my personal life." From the corner of her eye, she saw Leon move and she knew that all she had to do was to incline her head and Hector would be thrown out of the council room.

Hector scoffed. "As Queen, you're not entitled to a personal life. And frankly, you can do better than that mystery man you've been visiting."

Merlin stilled beside her. Her own heart stopped.

"Nothing to say my lady?" asked Hector, a smug smile on his face. "If it's a warm body you need, I'm sure Prince Reynard will be adequate."

"I know that your family has long been on the council and it is your family's contributions to Camelot that you have to thank for the fact that I am not kicking you off the council." Gwen glared at Hector before turning back to address the rest of the council coldly. "When something is up for discussion, I will bring it up during council. My personal life is not up for discussion. We will host King Lester because I don't want it to seem to others that we are not united. I don't need to give the other kingdoms more reason to believe we are weaker without Arthur."

The rest of the council looked at her in silence, most of their faces blank. Hector refused to look at her. Anger still churning in her, she stormed out of the room, Merlin and Percival just a step behind her.

"Sir Brom." Gwen stopped at her door to address the young knight who stood outside. He bowed. "I need to speak to you."

The colour drained from his face and Gwen knew her suspicions were right.

"Your highness," he started once she gestured him into her chambers and shut the door behind her, the guilt on his face clear.

"Do you know what I want to talk to you about?" Despite her ire, she tempered her voice.

Sir Brom nodded, his eyes darting to a very unhappy Percival.

Gwen slowly lowered herself onto her chair, never taking her eyes off Sir Brom. "Who did you tell? And what did you tell them?"

"I just said that you'd been visiting someone secretly over the past few days. It just came out of me, over drinks with some of the other knights. I didn't mean to." Sir Brom looked utterly miserable. "I understand if you feel that you need to remove me from -"

Gwen raised her hand, stopping him. "No. Percival will see that you make up for your slip but you will remain as my guard in the castle. You're young and I believe you will learn from this."

"Thank you," said Sir Brom bowing low. "Thank you."

She looked at Percival who nodded, then left with a visibly shaken Sir Brom. Her head fell into her hands and she groaned at the mess she created. She felt Merlin put an arm around her and rub her shoulder.

"It'll be fine," he murmured, except she knew he didn't mean it at all.

"Hector is going to make sure news of my mystery man leaks to the people, if only to undermine me and force me into a corner," she said into her hands. "I should have known he would pull something like this to force me into the marriage."

"You don't have to -"

She raised her head and looked up at Merlin. "Are you sure you can't brainwash them all?"

Merlin smiled reluctantly. "I could. Might take a while. I can't believe you didn't simply sentence Hector to the stocks for impertinence."

A tired smile crossed her face. "You know that rule has been changed. It's jail for impertinence now. And I haven't kicked Hector off the council because I like to keep my enemies close."

Merlin nodded in approval. "Be careful."

Rubbing the back of her neck, trying to ease the stiffness that had taken up residence, she sighed. "What do I do now?"

"You'll be the ever gracious host to King Lester and his son. Hold the usual tournament, present a lavish feast, then firmly but kindly say no. Unless, of course -" Merlin looked meaningfully at her. She shook her head. Even if Arthur hadn't returned, she had no intention of marrying again.

"You make it sound so simple."

Merlin walked to the window, looked out, then walked back to where Gwen sat, a sad smile on his face. "Being on the throne is never simple."

AN: Ok, so things will get moving next chapter on! :D