Chapter 6: Parents and Children

Camelot

The messenger Uther had sent to Essetir returned quickly enough. He brought the message that the princess of Essetir would accept Uther's proposal. He had expected as much, though it was good to have an official answer. At least, Uther was trying to act like it was a good thing. Deep down, he was still less than happy with the idea of getting married again at all.

When he announced the news to the council, their reception of it was lukewarm at best. They had wanted Uther to marry, but many of them still disapproved of his choice of bride, though none voiced as much aloud. He had already made it clear that he would not be receptive to attempts to change his mind, and besides it was rather too late for that now.

Now that the betrothal was official, Uther knew he ought to tell Arthur the news. He had no idea how his son would react, but it would be better for Arthur to find out from him than from castle gossip.

Of course, he wouldn't tell Arthur the reason for the decision. His son didn't need to know that the council wanted Uther to prepare for the possibility of Arthur dying. The last thing Uther would ever want was for Arthur to get it into his head that Uther was trying to replace him.

That night at dinner, Arthur was excited, because Gaius had finally decided it was safe to remove the bandages on his arm.

He was much more talkative than he usually was, chattering like a magpie about all the things he would do now that he could use his arm again. Even Uther's stern reminder that Gaius had said Arthur still needed to take it easy with that arm did nothing to dampen his enthusiasm.

Uther found himself thankful for his son's good mood, hopefully it would make Arthur's reaction to his news a bit easier.

For much of dinner, he allowed Arthur to chatter on without much interruption, just as glad of the excuse to put off his own news. However, as the plates from their last course were cleared away, Uther knew he could delay no longer.

"Arthur," he spoke up, and Arthur paused in the midst of a spirited imagining of how he would fight off "enemies" with his wooden sword, "Yes, Father?"

"There is something I need to tell you," Uther began.

Arthur looked at him curiously, "What is it, Father?"

Uther hesitated, not sure how to begin, "What do you know about… marriage?"

Arthur's face crinkled in confusion, "Marriage?" he repeated, and Uther nodded.

Arthur shrugged, "Lord Idris got married a few months ago, and you said we needed to attend the wedding because he and his new wife were both very important nobles. It was kind of boring. Sorry, Father," he added quickly as if worried Uther would take offense at him calling the wedding boring.

Uther waved the apology off, "Yes, we did attend Lord Idris' wedding but…. do you know anything about what marriage…. entails?"

Arthur thought about it, "People get married and then they live together and sometimes they have babies. Did you know that Lord Idris' wife is going to have one? She was with Gaius one time when I went for him to check my arm, and I heard him telling her she had a baby inside her. Neither of them would answer me when I asked how it got there though, and Lady Rhiannon's face got all red and she left really fast."

Uther nearly choked on a sip of wine.

"No, I… hadn't heard that," he managed to get out once he had recovered, "I will have to congratulate them the next time I see them."

"How come you're asking me about marriage?" Arthur asked, "Are we going to go to another wedding?'

Uther hesitated, "No… Well that is to say, I suppose we will be… eventually."

Arthur frowned, looking confused, "Are you all right, Father? You're acting kind of… strange."

Uther cleared his throat, "I'm fine. What I'm trying to tell you is, well… I am… getting married."

Arthur stared at him, his mouth hanging open a little. The silence stretched out for a long moment.

Uther was just trying to think of what he could say to break it when Arthur at last found his voice again, "Huh?"

"I amm getting married," Uther repeated.

"I heard you," Arthur said slowly, "But… I don't understand. Why are you getting married? To who?"

Uther pressed his lips together. Why was the last question he wanted to answer. "The… council thinks it would benefit Camelot to… have a queen again," he said carefully, "And additionally, by marrying, I can form an alliance with another kingdom. They convinced me that their plan had merit." There, that was a perfectly sufficient answer without bringing up that the council wanted him to have another child who could replace Arthur as heir if anything were to happen to him.

"Who are you getting married to?" Arthur repeated, his tone rising slightly at the end of the question, as if in agitation.

"The Princess of Essetir," Uther answered, "Her name is Hunith."

Arthur frowned, "I don't know her. Do you know her?"

"I haven't met her personally," Uther replied.

"Then how can you marry her?" Now Arthur sounded perplexed.

"It is simply a political arrangement," Uther answered, "Knowing each other beforehand isn't necessary. This match will benefit both of our kingdoms.."

Arthur's frown deepened. "Are you going to have a baby with her?" There was an edge to his voice and Uther didn't quite know what to make of it. The question also struck a little closer to the council's main reason for encouraging the match than Uther was comfortable with.

"Perhaps," he responded, "it is hard to say what the future will bring." He paused, "Actually Princess Hunith already has a child, a son, he is a few years younger than you, I think."

He had hoped that information might cheer Arthur up, but if anything, the boy's frown seemed to deepen.

"Are they coming here? To live in the castle?" he asked.

"The princess will be," Uther responded, "As for the boy… I'm not certain, but I would guess so."

Arthur was silent for a moment. Uther wished he knew what his son was thinking.

"What happened to his father?" Arthur blurted out, catching Uther off guard.

"Whose father?" he asked.

"The princess' son's," Arthur answered, 'if you're going to marry her, that means she's not married to anybody else, right? But she has a son. So what happened to his father? Did he die? Like…" his voice dropped, "Like my mother?"

Uther's heart clenched at the mention of Arthur's mother. "I don't know what happened to his father," he answered, "But no, the princess isn't married." He hardly wished to explain to his eight-year-old son how the princess had had a tryst with some peasant. Arthur was too young for such things. And truthfully, Uther had no idea what had happened to the man afterwards. For all he knew, he might be dead.

"I still don't understand why you're marrying her," Arthur said.

"As I said- the council-"

"But why does the council think Camelot needs a queen?" Arthur interrupted, "What does a queen even do?"

"It isn't polite to interrupt," Uther told him sternly, and Arthur ducked his head in shame, "Sorry, Father."

Uther nodded curtly, "As to your question… a queen does many things," Even if there was really only one thing the council was concerned with,"She will rule alongside me and act as a support."

"But you never needed help before," Arthur was frowning again, "You told me a king shouldn't have to rely on anyone but himself."

"That is correct," Uther was frowning himself now, "of course I don't need anyone's help to rule the kingdom, but, as I also mentioned, the marriage will secure an alliance with Essetir, and that will strengthen our borders and our kingdom as a whole."

"But can't you just make an alliance with them?" there was a whine in Arthur's voice now, "I don't see why you need to get married to do that."

"Arthur, that is enough," Uther said impatiently, "I am getting married. The decision has already been made. And it is unbecoming for a prince to whine."

Arthur shrank down in his chair, "I'm sorry, Father." He was staring down at the table, as if unable to meet Uther's gaze, and the back of his neck seemed to have turned pink.

Uther felt a faint prickle of guilt for snapping at his son. He wasn't happy about this marriage himself, so how could he expect Arthur to be happy about it? Still, the boy did need to learn he couldn't whine when things didn't go his way.

Uther didn't apologize, but he did soften his voice when he spoke again, "The marriage won't happen right away. There is still a lot of planning to do and as each step has to be communicated between our two kingdoms, I expect it will take several months at least. That will give you time to… adjust to the idea."

Arthur didn't look up, but he gave a small nod, "Yes, Father."

Uther remembered his conversation with Gorlois about Morgana's lack of a mother, and his own thoughts about how perhaps a maternal figure might benefit Arthur, "It could be good for you to have a-" he couldn't bring himself to say mother. Ygraine was Arthur's mother, "-woman around. And another boy, if she brings her son."

"Maybe," Arthur's tone sounded less than convinced, as if he was just saying so to please Uther.

After a moment of awkward silence, Uther said gruffly, "You better get along to your room and get ready for bed, it's getting late."

Arthur nodded and quietly rose to leave.

At the door, he turned his head to look at Uther again, his expression guarded, "Father, if… I mean when you get married, will that make the princess' son my brother?"

"Your stepbrother, I suppose" Uther replied. He couldn't tell from Arthur's expression how he felt about the idea of having a brother. How would he react if, and when, Uther and Hunith did have a child of their own?

Whatever Arthur was feeling, he didn't give voice to it. He simply nodded, "Good night, Father."

"Good night, Arthur," Uther replied, and Arthur slipped from the room, leaving Uther alone with his thoughts behind him.

Essetir

The royal family had just finished lunch. Merlin hopped up from his seat, "May I go play outside, Mama?"

Hunith exchanged a look with her parents, "Not right now, Merlin, I actually need you to stay here. There's something your grandparents and I need to talk to you about."

Her brother rose to his feet, "Come, Cenred, let's go."

Cenred, Hunith's nephew frowned, looking between his father and his grandparents, "But what do they need to talk to Merlin about and not me?"

"Well that isn't really your business, is it?" his father responded.

"Is he in trouble?" Cenred turned to his cousin with a smirk, "What did you do now, pipsqueak?"

"I didn't do anything!" Merlin protested indignantly.

Cenred opened his mouth, but before he could say anything else, his father spoke up sternly, "That's enough, Cenred, let's go." He nudged his son ahead of him out of the room.

Merlin looked up at Hunith and then from her to his grandparents, his expression turning worried, "Am I in trouble?"

Hunith gave her son a small smile, though her stomach was in knots. She knew she had to tell him about her engagement to King Uther, but she was dreading it. Well… it wasn't telling him about the marriage so much that she dreaded, it was telling him she would be leaving Essetir while he stayed here. "Of course not, darling," she replied, "There's just something we need to tell you."

Merlin looked up at her expectantly. Hunith took a deep breath, "You know how I went to talk to your grandparents a couple of times recently?"

Merlin nodded, "You wouldn't let me come. You said you had to talk about grown-up stuff," he brightened, "So you're going to tell me about the grown-up stuff now?"

Hunith nodded, "Yes, that's right." She glanced at her parents again. Her father gave her an encouraging nod. Her parents had offered to explain this to Merlin for her, but Hunith knew it needed to come from her.

She reached out and took her son's hand, "Merlin, there are going to be some big chances in our lives."

Merlin frowned, looking confused, "What kind of changes?"

Hunith hesitated, "Well… a few days ago, when your grandparents sent for me, it was because a messenger had come from Camelot; that's the kingdom closest to us."

Merlin's head was tilted to the side, as if wondering what a messenger from Camelot had to do with changes in their lives.

"The messenger was sent by King Uther to ask your grandparents something," Hunith continued, "But, well, the question was for me really."

Merlin's nose wrinkled up, "The king sent someone all the way from Camelot to ask you a question? Why didn't he come ask you himself?"

Hunith smiled a little, "Well, kings usually communicate with each other by sending messages, they don't have time to travel themselves whenever they want to talk."

"So what did King… what's-his name want to ask you?" Merlin asked.

"King Uther," Hunith supplied, "He wanted to ask if… I would marry him."

Merlin blinked, "You mean like Grandfather and Grandmother are married? Or Uncle Cassian and Aunt Aneira?"

Hunith nodded, "Yes, that's right."

Merlin looked confused, "But isn't there anybody in Camelot for him to marry? Why does he want to marry you?'

Hunith glanced toward her parents, but they didn't seem to have any better idea how to explain the political intricacies of an arranged marriage to a five-year-old than she did, "It's... a bit complicated, Merlin. But since Uther is the king of his kingdom, and your grandparents are the king and queen of ours, if he and I get married, it will be like… a promise that our kingdoms will become really good friends."

Merlin frowned, "So when Uncle Cassian married Aunt Aneira did our kingdom become really good friends with hers?"

"No, that situation was different," Hunith's father answered, "Your Aunt Aneira's family lives in our kingdom."

Merlin looked even more confused, but he didn't ask any more about kingdoms becoming friends. Instead he looked back at Hunith, "So are you going to marry him?"

Hunith nodded, "I am."

"Does that mean he'll come here to live with us?" Merlin asked, then frowned again, "Can he do that? If he's a king, doesn't he have to take care of his own kingdom?"

"Yes, he does," Hunith answered softly, "So, that's why, when we get married… I'll go to live with him in Camelot."

"We're going to go live in Camelot?" Merlin repeated, "Is it nice there? But what about our family? Is Camelot a long way away? Will we still be able to see Grandmother and Grandfather and everyone? Is King Uther nice? I don't want you to marry someone who isn't nice…. Do you think he'll like me?"

Hunith's heart squeezed painfully, "Merlin, sweetheart… there's more I have to tell you."

Merlin's stream of questions cut off and he looked up at her expectantly.

Hunith swallowed. Why did this have to be so hard? "You remember how I've always told you not to use your magic in front of anyone outside the family?"

Merlin nodded, "Because some people don't like magic."

Hunith nodded, "King Uther… he is one of those people."

Merlin's eyes widened, "He doesn't like magic? But… but then why are we going to live with him?"

Hunith closed her eyes, steeling herself to say what she had to say next, "That's what I'm trying to tell you… we aren't."

When she opened her eyes, Merlin was looking up at her with an expression of bewilderment, "But… you just said…"

"I'm going to Camelot," Hunith found she could barely get enough volume in her voice for the words to be audible, "Just me."

Merlin's mouth hung open, and he stared up at her, seemingly uncomprehending.

Hunith's mother reached out and put a hand on Merlin's shoulder, "You're going to stay here with us, Merlin. You can stay in your room that you've always had, or if you would like, you could move into a room closer to your grandfather and I. Or any room in the castle even!' She was trying hard to make her tone cheerful, probably hoping that if she acted excited, Merlin would take the news as exciting too.

One look at Merlin's face told Hunith it wasn't working. She wasn't sure he had even heard his grandmother's words. He had closed his mouth and was staring up at Hunith, "You… you're going to leave me behind?" The quaver in his voice, and the way his eyes glittered with tears about to fall, broke Hunith's heart.

"Oh my darling…" she murmured, "I can't take you to Camelot. It wouldn't be safe for you there. If the king were to find out about your magic, he… he would hurt you."

Merlin sniffled, "Then don't go! Don't get married! Why would you marry a mean, old, magic-hating king who wants to hurt me?"

"I-" Hunith wasn't sure she had ever felt so helpless. All the confidence she had had that she had made the right decision seemed to have slipped away. What had she been thinking? "I don't want to go, Merlin. But this will be good for our kingdom. It will help our people."

The tears had started to trickle out of his eyes now, "But you can't leave me!"

Hunith reached out to wipe the tears from his cheek, but he jerked away from her, and she felt her heart break even more.

"Camelot isn't so very far away," she said, trying to make herself believe the words as much as Merlin, "I'll come back and visit you, all the time. "

"No!" Merlin shook his head so hard that she was worried he would hurt himself, "You can't leave me! Take me with you!"

"Merlin," Hunith's own voice trembled, though she was struggling to hold back her emotions. If she cried now, it would only upset Merlin more, "I can't. You wouldn't be safe there. Here, in our kingdom, you're safe. Your grandparents will take care of you."

Merlin shook his head again, "You said the king would only hurt me if he found out about my magic. I won't let him see it, I promise. I'll be extra extra careful. I won't do magic in front of anyone except you. I… I won't do magic at all! King Uther won't ever find out I have it and then he won't have any reason to hurt me." He was talking quickly now, desperate to convince her.

Hunith started to shake her head, "It's too dangerous. One mistake, one slip and…"

"I won't make a mistake!" Merlin insisted, "I already know how to hide my magic! I hide it every time we go out."

But there had been slip-ups. Close calls, and a couple times when someone had outright seen and they had had to ask the person to keep it silent.

"People have noticed your magic before," Hunith reminded him quietly.

"But I was little then!" Merlin tried to sit up taller in his chair, "I'm bigger now and I know better!"

There was a war going on inside Hunith. The last thing she wanted was to leave her son, but she couldn't put her selfish desire to be with him above his safety, "I…. I don't know, Merlin. When you slipped up here and someone saw your magic, it wasn't so big a deal. But Camelot isn't like our home, magic isn't allowed there at all."

"What if I prove I can be extra, extra careful?" Merlin asked. His eyes were welling with tears again, "Please, mama, I'll be really, really good. Just don't leave me behind."

Hunith took a shaky breath, looking into his pleading eyes. Was she actually considering this? It was crazy. And yet, despite that, she still found herself looking at her parents and asking, "What do you think?"

They exchanged an uncertain look. "Well… there is still plenty of time before the wedding," her father said slowly, "We haven't even set a date or planned anything yet. Perhaps… in the intervening months, Merlin could…. learn to control his magic. The risk could be made…. minimal."

With the stakes so high, wasn't any amount of risk too much? That was the question Hunith asked herself, though Merlin spoke up again before she could voice it aloud.

"I can! I can learn to control it!" he promised, looking up at her with a mix of determination and desperation.

Hunith took a deep breath, "I… I can't promise anything, Merlin. The most important thing to me is to keep you safe. But… if you really can learn to control when you use your magic and not slip-up and use it accidentally, then…. maybe it would be safe for you to go to Camelot with me, after all."

Merlin flew at her, throwing his arms around her, "I will, I'll learn, Mama, I promise!'

Hunith put her hands on his shoulders and gently pushed him away just far enough that she could look into his face, "You'll have to work hard."

He nodded vigorously, "I will."

"And you need to understand that I might still decide it's not safe for you to go. You have to trust that all I want is to keep you safe."

Merlin nodded, but a little less enthusiastically than the first time, "But if I can prove I can keep my magic hidden, then it will be safe right?"

Hunith nodded slowly, still reluctant. "But that might be harder than you think," she warned.

"I can do it, Mama!" he insisted. Something in his fiercely determined expression reminded her of Balinor, and looking into those eyes, it was hard to doubt him.

She wrapped her arms around him, holding him to her tightly. She was still terrified that she was making the wrong decision, but she couldn't deny that even the possibility that she wouldn't have to say goodbye to her son lightened the burden on her shoulders considerably.

"I love you, Merlin, don't you ever forget that."

His little voice was muffled, his head buried somewhere in her midsection, but it filled her heart with love and hope to hear it, "I love you too, Mama."

Thank you for reading! Any reviews would be greatly appreciated.