"I don't see the point of this meeting." Lord Edward tossed his gloves onto the round table and slumped into a chair. "Arthur is not here and I have no intention of dealing with that snake."

Lady Joan, in the midst of removing her coat, stilled. "It takes one to know one."

"We are all here with the same goal in mind," said Gwen firmly. "Please, take your seats."

With some grumbling, the two rulers sat down, both determined not to look the other in the eye. Gwen couldn't help but be reminded of the young children she used to help look after.

"Now, it is true that your men have walked into the border towns of Lord Edward's lands and taken control of them, right, Lady Joan?" Gwen reached over and pointed at a map that laid spread across the table. Her finger on the town that Lady Joan had annexed, Gwen looked up at the young noblewoman.

A red flush coloured her face and she frowned. "Only because he has been robbing my lands."

Edward slammed his fist on the table. "What proof do you have?"

"I don't need proof to know that you've been sending bandits into my land," snapped Joan, finally turning her head to stare at Edward. "It's exactly the kind of games you play. I may have just ascended the throne but I am not a fool."

"Lies! I did nothing, ordered nothing. If your borders are so useless that mere bandits can –"

"You have always eyed the mines in my land –"

Gwen stood, one hand on her stomach. But before she could open her mouth, the doors to the room swung open and King Lester marched in. Without a word, he walked in, barely giving anyone at the table a glance, and sat at the round table, every inch the arrogant ass that Gwen thought he was. Behind him, Arthur entered the room, his eyes immediately meeting hers, calming her.

"I believe you forgot to invite me. Thankfully, your husband was a little more competent."

Gwen forced herself to smile. "The lack of an invitation was not an oversight, Lester. And this is a discussion between Joan and Edward. You are not welcomed."

Arthur cleared his throat. "Guinevere, King Lester is a valued ally. If he wishes to be part of these negotiations, then there is no reason to deny him."

"Seeing that my lands border these two kingdoms, I have every right to be here."

Gwen darted a look at Arthur, who nodded slightly. "Since you're here, you might like to clear up a few matters for us."

Joan leaned forward. "Yes. Tell them who was the one sending bandits into my lands. Tell them how I am the victim in all this. You were the one who sent me evidence of Edward's duplicity."

"What is Lady Joan talking about, King Lester?" Edward was standing now, his hand at his sword, his jaw clenched. "You told me that –"

"I –" Lester frowned, then cleared his throat. "I sent the bandits to attack Lady Joan."

There was a gasp then utter silence.

"I mean I sent the bandits." Lester's face reddened. "I sent the bandits."

"We heard you the first time," said Gwen, silently saying a quick thank you to Merlin's potion brewing skills. "The question is why?"

A cold laugh echoed through the room. "You wanted to get your filthy hands on my land, you bastard. And you, Edward, were a pawn in his manipulations."

"That is exactly it," said Lester. "I mean, that is what I wanted to achieve." Sweat beaded on his forehead as his eyes flashed with anger and his hand went to the sword that hung at his hip. "What did you do to me? What has your wife done?"

Arthur took a step forward, towards Gwen.

"You did this to yourself," said Gwen. "All these lies and schemes, just to expand your lands. And you drag innocent kingdoms into it, setting yourself up as some sort of saviour. You are lower than a

"You set me up!" Lester turned his head to stare at Arthur. "This meeting is a trap!" His eyes landed on Gwen. "You conniving –"

A few more steps took Arthur next to Gwen. "My wife is queen and I don't want you talking to her like that. What were you playing at, Lester? Did you think that –"

"It's magic. You used magic on me! Your court sorcerer –" Lester stood and drew his sword. Everyone at the table jumped up. Before Gwen could move, Arthur grabbed her arm and drew her behind him. His own sword was drawn and he aimed it at Lester.

"Think before you make your next move, Lester. No one here is on your side. And any duel between the two of us will end in my victory."

The sword in Lester's hand trembled. "Using magic on people is prohibited."

"We can't help it if your conscience is forcing you to be truthful," said Gwen. "There is no –"

There was movement, then Edward lunged forward, pushing past Gwen, his sword drawn. Her first thought was to stop Edward so she reached out. A sharp pain sliced through her and she screamed. Chaos exploded around her, swords clanked against swords, screams and yells mingled but all Gwen could think of was her baby. There was blood on her hands and the room shifted. Blindly, she reached for a chair, lowering herself into it.

"Merlin!"

There was light and smoke and when Gwen could see again, Edward, Lester and Joan sat against the walls, tied up. Arthur was kneeling by her side, worry creasing his forehead as he touched the blood on her arm.

"I'm fine. It's just my arm," said Gwen, trying smile despite the pain shooting through her.

"Get Percy and Leon and take them all to the dungeons! No, I don't care that they are rulers of a kingdom. They all need to calm down." Arthur looked back at her. "Come, let's get you to Gaius. Merlin, clean up in here."

Gwen smiled as she stood, leaning heavily against Arthur. "It's been a while since I've seen you act like that."

"Like a tyrant, you mean?" Curious guards littered the corridors, but neither Gwen nor Arthur paid them any attention. "How did you think the meeting went?"

"Not too bad, considering the all-out brawl that ended it. But we got Lester to admit the truth –"

"Through magic," said Arthur, slight doubt in his voice.

Gwen dropped her head into his shoulder. "I don't like it either, but he'd managed to sow enough distrust and bad feelings between Joan and Edward that only a confession from Lester would have broken through their defensive bubbles. It's good that you managed to get him to think that you were on his side. He never knew what was coming."

They reached their chambers and Arthur gently guided her in, tucking her gently into the bed. "Ah, your wound isn't deep. Let me get some bandages."

"They are in the bottom drawer of the night stand," murmured Gwen as she closed her eyes and sank into the comfort of her bed.

She kept her eyes closed while Arthur washed her wound, smiling as he whispered words of comfort. In between, he pressed kisses against her cheek and forehead. She felt him wind the bandaged around her arm, completing the tending to her wound with another kiss to her forehead. Then, he slipped into the bed with her, pulled her into his embrace and in silence, they lay there. After the excitement of the meeting, Gwen was glad to listen to Arthur's steady heartbeat.

"All the parties are in the dungeons. Lester is cursing up a storm, Joan is shaking and muttering to herself and Edward is certain that since he hurt Gwen, you're about to declare war on his kingdom."

Under her, she felt Arthur sigh. "Merlin, thanks for knocking."

Amusement laced Merlin's voice. "You're welcome, seeing that I had to bear the brunt of the mess you left in the council room. Now what?"

Gwen opened her eyes. "We can't keep them there forever, much as I want to."

"No," agreed Arthur. Then, he sighed again. "I'll go pay them a visit."

"I'm coming with you," said Gwen as she pushed herself up. "I want to see this through."

"I'm just coming to watch the fireworks," said Merlin. "And in case another mini-battle breaks out."

As they strode down to the dungeons, Arthur had to admit being king was growing on him, although a lot of it had to do with the woman holding his hand. He hadn't been to the dungeons before so he allowed Merlin to lead the way.

"Curse you, Arthur. Treating me this way is asking for war!"

Arthur turned the corner to the cells. Lester shook the bars and continued to rant at Arthur.

Letting go of his hand, Gwen stepped towards the cell. "You're lucky that your shenanigans didn't drag the whole of Albion into a war. I'm pretty sure that you have no allies anymore, Lester. Not once they hear about what you did."

"You are nothing but a –"

"You will want to think twice before you finish that sentence," said Arthur, his hand drifting to his sword. He had enough of people implying that Gwen was a less than capable leader, especially from the man who had done nothing but attempt to undermine her at every turn.

Lester scowled. "What do you want?"

"Gwen?" This had been her conflict to bear, so it was only right that she decided on the consequences.

"I want a public apology to both Edward and Joan and the commitment of your men to rebuilding the towns that were attacked during this mess."

Lester's knuckles turned white as he tightened his grip around the bars. "What if I refuse?"

Arthur stepped forward. "Then you will never see your kingdom again. I believe that you have competition for the throne. I believe they will be amendable to working with Camelot."

Gwen made an impressed noise and Arthur stifled a grin. All that studying wasn't for nothing.

"Fine. Now, let me out."

Glad that he wasn't about to be plunged into a war, Lord Edward apologised both to Arthur and Gwen, and Lady Joan. In return, Lady Joan made her own apologies. Pleased with the resolution, Arthur instructed Leon to let all of them out. As they trooped out of the dungeons, Lester cast him and Gwen a dirty look. Arthur responded with a grin and an arm around Gwen.

"Lady Joan."

"My lady." Joan stopped and turned around.

"I believe we have unfinished business," said Gwen.

There was a quality to Gwen's voice that Arthur hadn't heard before and he tightened his hold around her waist. What unfinished business could Gwen and Joan possibly have?

"Merlin, this would interest you as well."

Joan pressed her lips together and swallowed, nervousness written all across her face, making Arthur even more curious about what this all was about.

"Perhaps we should speak somewhere more private," said Joan.

Gwen turned to the two guards. "You two are dismissed. Percival will come get you when we're done."

"What is this about?" Arthur darted this gaze from Gwen to Joan. Tension shimmered between them and then Arthur remembered Joan's words when she first arrived in Camelot.

"Why don't you tell Arthur and Merlin what you did, Lady Joan."

Avoiding eye contact with any of them, Joan sucked in a breath. "It was I who brought you back from the dead."

"You?" Merlin gasped. "You have the power to manipulate life and death. No, you made a deal with someone to use dark magic to revive Arthur."

Joan's head tilted up, despite the uncertainty in her eyes, she looked directly at Gwen. "There were rumours that you were about to marry Prince Reynard, joining with Lester's kingdom. I might have been foolish enough to believe Lester when he said Edward was attacking my lands, but I knew that Lester wasn't telling me because of any sense of goodwill."

"And you didn't trust me," said Gwen. "You didn't trust that Camelot would never invade a friend."

"With Arthur gone, I couldn't be sure."

It disappeared in a blink of an eye but Arthur saw the hurt on Gwen's face. He moved so that he stood closer to her, wanting to give her comfort and assurance. There was some irony in the fact that at this point, without his memories, Arthur was certain that Gwen was a better ruler than he could be now and yet, she faced so many doubters.

"Dark magic always has a price," said Merlin coldly. "And it seems Camelot will have to bear that price. Even in your lands, dark magic is punishable and yet you –" Merlin shook his head, then turned sharply away. He took a deep breath then turned back. "I will let Arthur and Gwen deal with your transgressions against Camelot, but before that, you need to tell me exactly what you have done so I can fix this. The consequences of your recklessness with dark magic will not hang over Camelot."

Beside him, Arthur felt Gwen stiffen. He knew what she was thinking – did fix this mean Arthur would die again. Taking her hand, he squeezed it, trying to tell her that he wasn't going to leave her again. And if that meant taking on whatever dark magic threw at them, he would do it.

Lady Joan bowed her head. "I apologise and of course, I will tell you everything. I do hope you will consider the circumstances in which I resorted to this. Also, you cannot tell me that you are not pleased to have your King back."

"You should stop talking now," said Gwen. "I will leave this to you, Merlin. I have had a long day."

Arm in arm, they left the dungeons.

"I won't leave you again." At the door to their chambers, Arthur kissed her forehead.

Her hand fisted in his tunic. "Don't say that. You said that before, and you left anyway."

"I won't leave you without a fight." Gwen dropped her head into his shoulder and he hugged her tightly. "I won't."