Arthur was snoring, wrapped comfortably in some blankets. As feelings of tenderness swept over her, she pressed a kiss to his bare shoulder before slipping off the bed. She looked loved, she thought staring at herself in the mirror, as she straightened her clothes. With the announcement of Arthur's return pending, they had decided there was no need for separate bedrooms anymore.

Satisfied that she looked presentable enough, she left Arthur sleeping in bed. Spending time with Arthur definitely made her more relaxed before council meetings, she thought with amusement as she made her way to the council chambers, Sir Brom at her side.

"Your majesty," he said. "That man - he looks awfully like -"

Gwen arched an eyebrow at him. Immediately he faltered, apologising profusely. The fear and distress on his face made Gwen soften. "I am sure you won't repeat the same mistake. I have put a lot of faith in you after your father's death."

"I understand, my lady."

"Good," said Gwen.

Most of the council had gathered by the time she entered the chambers and a quick look at exactly who they were, and Gwen had a suspicion that they had met earlier. More politics but still, she flashed as warm a smile as she could muster to them.

"Good afternoon," she said as she sat. "Leon, would you like to begin?"

The meeting started out well with discussions on various minor issues that had cropped up in the rebuilding of some towns, a motion by Percival to allow female knights and some speculation over the latest broken engagement of King Reginald. In fact, Gwen almost let her guard down as she laughed at a comment Leon made.

Then Hector spoke.

"Do we have any updates from the men sent to Lady Joan's lands?"

Percival nodded, clearing his throat. "The messenger arrived just this morning. When our men arrived, there had just been a small battle between two small groups of knights. You were right, my lady. Our banners were enough to get Lady Joan and Lord Edward to call a temporary ceasefire. They have been persuaded that it is in their best interests to make a trip to Camelot."

"How long before they arrive?" asked Gwen, although Percival had already given her the information before the meeting.

"About two days."

"Then, they will be arriving with King Lester," said Hector.

"Which is what we want, is it not?" Gwen reached for her mug. "I hope that Lady Joan is amendable to stopping the skirmishes."

"She would be more amendable if you announced your alliance with King Lester."

Gwen raised her eyes to Hector. "And that is your educated opinion? That on my own, we will not bring enough pressure on Lady Joan?"

"Surely you remember the Lady Joan's lands lie on a gold mine. A very productive mine. The amount of gold we can mine from it would make Camelot, and Acerith, so powerful, we can easily dominate the whole of Albion."

And that was all Gwen needed as confirmation of Hector's duplicity. She raised an eyebrow. "Dominate the whole Albion? That sounds … interesting."

Seemingly buoyed by Gwen's hesitant interest, Hector continued. "Alone, we are not in a position to invade –"

"Invade?" Gwen raised an eyebrow, keenly away that the council's eyes were all on her. "There is a peace treaty in place and unlike some other countries, we will not breech it."

"Of course not, my lady. I meant that since Lady Joan has invaded Lord Edward's land, then it is only right that we stop her, but our army is still rebuilding after Camlann so an alliance with King Lester is desirable."

Taking a long sip from her goblet, Gwen nodded. "It is worrying that Lady Joan attached Lord Edward without provocation."

"Gwen?" said Leon tentatively as he walked Gwen back to her chambers. "Surely –"

"Are you concerned that we might get involved in a war? Or that I might marry King Lester's son?"

As they stepped into her chambers, he hesitated. "I am sure that you will make whatever decision is best for Camelot and for you." At those words, Leon's eyes drifted to the still snoring Arthur on her bed. "What's going to happen with him?"

"He's going to return to all of us."

"But you're sure he's Arthur?"

"I am. I've no doubts at all," Gwen said firmly.

Leon hesitated, looking away. "King Lester will not be happy with this turn of events."

"Good. Because I am not happy with whatever games he and Hector have been playing. And frankly, I don't think Lord Edward or Lady Joan will be either."

A smile briefly crossed Leon's face. "I see."

Gwen smiled wryly when Arthur successfully recited the whole family tree, complete with dry commentary, of King Lester.

"You have to admit that I'm pretty good at this," he said smugly. "Soon I'll have the whole of Albion's royal families memorised."

"Never too soon. King Lester is due to arrive tomorrow, Lady Joan and Lord Edward not far behind, and Merlin is still not back."

Arthur flopped onto the bed. "What do you plan to do? From what I understand, King Lester is not going to be pleased that he's made the trip all the way here only to find out you have no intention of marrying his son. When I am king again, I am going to have that Hector banished from Camelot."

"Not if I do it first," said Gwen. She sat on the bed next to Arthur, grateful when he immediately enveloped her in a hug. "But not until we've cleared up this mess with all the kingdoms."

"So we agree that King Lester and Hector are working together, hoping to claim Lady Joan's lands."

Gwen nodded. "Because of the mines that sit on her lands. And, I suspect, to demonstrate that, for all Merlin has shown, magic is evil since Lady Joan was one of the first to embrace magic."

Under her head resting on Arthur's chest, Gwen could feel his sigh, then his hand in her hair. "Politics. Why don't you run away with me to Helb? Leave all this. We'll build a house in the village. You could be the blacksmith and I could patrol the borders. It'll be perfect."

Even as Gwen smiled at the picture Arthur painted, a tiny bit of disappointment still pulled at her heart. Arthur may be willing to become King again, but comments like this made Gwen wonder if the Arthur she knew and loved was ever going to return.

"Are you alright?" He nuzzled her hair, pressing a kiss against the side of her head.

And yet, despite her misgivings, Arthur's ability to sense her feelings, the kindness and affection he extended to her, the moments of arrogance and the comfort and rightness she felt when she was with him made her determined to make his return work. Perhaps she will never get Arthur back unchanged, but that was a naïve wish. No one returned from the dead unscathed.

"Are you sure we shouldn't be honest about my memory loss?"

She shook her head. "I don't want to give them reason to be even more suspicious about your return. You know they will be – oh."

Arthur stilled beside her. "Gwen? Are you in pain? Do I need to get Gaius?

"I think I feel the baby," she said in awe. "I think I can feel her move."

"Him," said Arthur immediately. "Can I?"

Nodding, she took his hand and placed it on her stomach, willing the baby to move again. But the baby didn't cooperate. Disappointment filled Arthur's eyes when nothing happened. Slowly he removed his hand.

"Maybe another time?" she said.

"I'm sure," he said, smiling at her. Then his smile faded. "Are you sure about tomorrow?"

"We have to do it before King Lester's arrival, whether Merlin returns or not." She closed her eyes. She'd wanted this moment for so long, dreamt about the time when she would announce that Arthur was not dead and the look on Hector's and his cronies' faces. But now that the time was upon them, she was suddenly in the grip of uncertainty. Was Arthur ready? Would the council realise that Arthur didn't have his memories? Were Merlin's concerns valid?

Arthur's hand slid into hers and he squeezed gently. The kiss against her forehead was just a gentle brush. "It'll be fine."

Gwen's hands were clammy, her heart was pounding in her throat when she called for attention during dinner.

The chatter faded and everyone turned to her. Gwen had addressed the whole court many times before but today, there were butterflies in her stomach. She hoped no one noticed the way her hand shook. Taking a deep breath, she smiled as brightly as she could.

"If you noticed, today's dinner is a little more elaborate than usual." Cheers greeted her words and she nodded. "The reason is, I have wonderful news." She could hear herself choke up. It had been over a month since she had known Arthur was alive but announcing it made all her emotions bubble to the surface. She paused, trying to get a hold of herself. "Just over five months ago, we laid King Arthur to rest. He died for us, for our peace. Perhaps the heavens understood how important King Arthur was to Camelot, perhaps they realised he died far too young, but –" She stopped and swiped at the tears that spilled over onto her cheeks. "But some weeks ago, we realised that Arthur has been returned to us."

Immediately the court reacted. Gasps rang through the hall as confused voices got louder. Eyes scanned the hall, looking for their returned King.

"Returned to us?" demanded someone. "What does that mean?"

"Is he a spirit?" asked another.

"Was Merlin wrong?"

"Are you sure it's Arthur and not some magic forces at work?"

"Where is he?"

Percival called for order and while the murmurings continued, the hall quietened down.

"I understand you have many questions and I'll answer as many as I can, one by one. As for where Arthur is - Sir Leon?"

With a quick nod, Leon stepped towards the heavy doors and pushed them open. And even though Gwen had known Arthur would be behind it, seeing him decked in full King regalia, candlelight glinting off his crown, still made her heart constrict.

For the first time, it truly struck her, Arthur was back.

His appearance led to more chaos, from people bowing hastily as he swept past them, cape billowing behind him to questions hurled both at him and Gwen. Taking the seat next to her at the high table, Arthur closed his hand around hers and she realised that he was nowhere as confident as he looked. His hand was cold and his grip hard.

Gwen was very aware of the slight shiver in Arthur's hands as he ate dinner, although he masked his nervousness well as he chatted easily with the various nobles who came up to welcome him. In front of their King, no one dared to suggest anything negative about his return and the atmosphere suddenly took on a celebratory mood. Stories were told, toasts were made and laughter filled the hall. Gwen could tell when Arthur's confidence returned - there was a sparkle in his eyes, his hand no longer gripped hers and he joked and laughed comfortably with his people.

As he threw his head back, laughing generously at a comment Sir Rowan made, Gwen smiled as she let herself believe that everything would work out.

AN: Firstly, thank you for the comments and for reading. And I hope that you all continue to enjoy this. :)