The rise of a King.

Guinevere had retreated from life in her apartment, she was shattered at the loss of her husband and partner in life. She had read the letter with tears streaming down her face, it was something she had never considered, never even dreamt about in her worst nightmares. She had always been committed to her career and art, the Academy was where she thought she would stay, it was a protected environment that allowed her to concentrate on her studies and experiments. Being a Mage was a lot more than using the ether to conjure and cajole, it was about understanding and learning how the universe worked and made all they did possible.

Then she had been ordered to assist this young man that was said to be the True Born King. She had railed against the order, but, when Master Merlin ordered something, there was little to nothing that anyone could do to change his mind. She had gone to the first meeting thinking she would be stuck advising some silly boy that had the fortune, or misfortune, to be born of high blood. But the moment she laid eyes on the young man, she was lost. He was tall, but not too tall, fit, elegant in his movements, dressed well, but not ridiculously, in fact he was without a doubt, the most beautiful man she had ever seen. For a moment, she was sure that she would tut and stammer like a fool, he had smiled at her and she had almost literally swooned. If it hadn't been for her own iron hard will, she would have embarrassed herself, but she had leant back on that will and was able to make it through that initial meeting.

As time went along, she had discovered that this man was more a King than anyone she had ever met. His ability to put others at ease and encourage others to feats they never thought capable of, had made them love him. Made her love him. He was so shy when they were alone that she fell more and more, and before long she didn't think she would be able to go on without him by her side. There was a time where she thought that she was alone in how she felt, but the trip to France had caught her completely off guard, then he asked for her hand and that was that.

Now she was alone in the apartment they had shared for so long, and he was not there anymore, even his smell was starting to fade. She had been sleeping with his shirt under her pillow, just so that she had something of his close to her. But as the days passed she had become more and more maudlin and rarely spoke to anyone, her face was drawn and her skin jaundiced and sickly. Arthur had become the food for her soul, and without him there, she had begun to waste away. Her heart was shattered into pieces and her mind could no longer focus on anything, except the cloying, suffocating loneliness she felt with the love of her life gone. She didn't feel anger at him, he had been pushed and pushed until he had nothing left to give. He had been so good at hiding the stress and pain he was feeling, that she hadn't suspected a thing.

The sound of the door opening had caused her to flash straight into white hot anger, no one was allowed to enter the apartment without her direct permission and supervision. She flew off the bed with the intent of tearing into the intruder and her anger would ensure the fool would never forget their error She threw a robe over her night gown, she had not changed out of it in days, and stormed into the living area. She took a massive breath as she prepared to rip into the intruder, but as she turned to face the new comer the breath expelled from her lungs in a heartbeat.

Standing there in the living area was a figure she was sure she would never see again, the man that had torn her asunder in such a complete manner.

"Hello, my Beautiful." Arthur said calmly.

"Arthur." she said in a whisper, she was unable to say anything more. Her mind began to flash through everything that happened, and in a moment, her eyesight began to constrict as the grey moved across her sight.

Her mind became alert slowly, she knew that her eyes were closed, so she cast out with her hearing, trying to get a hint of where she was. She realised that she was on a bed, she could feel the soft cotton sheets and her head was laid on a pillow. Slowly she opened her eyes, squinting at the sudden brightness of the room she was in. There was a shadow to her left, she tried to focus more clearly on the form, bringing it slowly into focus. He was there, beside her, his smiling beautiful face there, her heart leapt in her chest.

"Welcome back, you passed out."

"You left me, why did you leave me." She rasped. Arthur looked down as he let the words wash over him.

"I was lost, I couldn't see any other way of escaping the cage that I was locked in. I didn't want them to take you and force me to make decisions that I wanted to avoid." He explained.

"I would have done anything to make sure you were happy, I have never wanted anything more than to spend my life next to you, no matter where or how that was." She responded.

"If I had spoken to you before I made my decision, Percival and the rest would have found out and done everything they could to change my mind." He went on. "I know I hurt you, but I would never have been able to live on if I allowed them to use you to influence me. I love you more than I believed I was ever capable of, I just needed to be able to decide where, when and in what way I led my life." Tears streamed down his face.

"I would never have gone against your wishes." She replied hotly.

"It wouldn't have been that easy, Gwen. There are entire countries at stake, millions of people. I was being forced to be something I wasn't trained or prepared to be, or do. You were caught in the middle of a process that doesn't care who is trampled, no matter the person, it is all about the ultimate goal. Ridding the Empire of Harold."

Guinevere thought about what Arthur was saying, and it was suddenly clear as to why he left, why he was so scared, and what might well have happened if she had been the meat in the sandwich. It was without doubt that Percival and the rest of the inner sanctum of the Loyalist movement were good and true men and women. But, when she considered how the Civil War had progressed, how it had run over everything like it wasn't there, it was clear that there was the possibility that all the most important intentions were vulnerable to bastardisation by those that felt they were only acting in the best interests of the Empire. It was a slippery slope that everyone was susceptible to.

"I understand, Arthur. I had never given any thought to the negative sides of the movement to oust Harold." She sat up in the bed and reached out to take Arthur's hand. The feel of his skin settling her like a magic pill, she felt a sudden peace as his warmth and calm of his presence slowly infused her soul. "You are the soul reason for my existence, I have been broken and without purpose since you left. I will never allow the outside to influence me or how I see you."

"I know that I should have confided in you, it was the hardest decision I have ever had to make. But I was shown how I make a difference in this world, and I will never stop working to make my people free and happy." He announced strongly. "You are the best part of my life and I promise never to hide my true feelings from you again."

The two young lovers embraced and held each other tightly for what seemed like hours, no words needed to be said, it was all they needed.

*****

Percival sat at his desk wondering how he was going to react to Arthur. It had been an enormous shock when he disappeared and left everyone in the dark as to what he was thinking. For a long moment he wondered if this was the end of it all, if Harold had found out about Arthur's disappearance, there would have been massive pushes to retake areas that had been safely secured. Harold was hidden away somewhere and no one was sure as to how the mad King was going to react to his ongoing and consistent losses to the Loyalist cause. Percival was about to order a mass attack on the final strongholds of Royal troops, the idea being that they were not expecting it and rush the capital before anyone knew what was happening.

The maps suggested that the Royalist Troops were firmly on the back foot and one final push would lead to finally breaking the back of Harold's troops. He had several of his most trusted generals working out the details of this push when he received a call from the main gatehouse. He had just about leapt through the phone when the guard captain had explained the reason for his direct call. Apparently Arthur had simply walked up to the gate and announced he had been for a walk and would be in his apartment if anyone wanted him.

Now he was storming through the castle towards Arthur's apartment, he was furious with his charge and would read him the riot act. There was no excuse for simply walking away from his responsibilities, he believed he had taught the young man better than that. When he arrived at the door, but he didn't stop to knock, he simply barged through and stormed into the living area. Arthur was sitting on one of the large couches talking quietly with Guinevere. The surprise was that Gwen was smiling and laughing.

"Where the hell were you?" He demanded.

"Hello Percival, where I was is none of your business, what I was doing is equally none of your concern." Arthur replied calmly, rising to his feet and facing his adopted Uncle. "I needed time to reassess my life and how I would live it."

"Reassess your life?" Percival responded incredulously.

"Yes, reassess, and if you wish to continue this discussion you will calm down and listen for five minutes." Arthur again was as calm as a lake, not a ripple showed. Percival started to turn red and took a deep breath to let fly. "I said calm, Percival, and I mean calm, you are here to serve the crown, and I will not be handled any longer. I am to be the King of this Empire, and I refuse to allow others to dictate the way that I go about that." Percival was pulled up short, he was suddenly faced with a King, not a boy who was thrust into the role. He suddenly found himself without words, he had always believed that Arthur was capable of being the man that his father was, in fact, he believed that he would be more.

"I apologise Arthur, I was very worried about you." Percival explained.

"I am sure you were, but from now on, I am the King in all ways, but without a crown. I will no longer be handled or cajoled, I will execute my role in the way I see most effective and efficient." Arthur walked over to the bar and poured two glasses of scotch, handing one to Percival and the other to Gwen, he sat back down and proceeded to explain what had led to his disappearance, the encounter with the Mayor of Birmingham and finally his experience with the Lady of the Lake. When Percival heard that Arthur had flung to sword in the River Stour, his face paled and he wanted to scream.

"Don't worry Percy, the Sword is over there on the dresser." Percival visibly settled at that.

By the time Arthur had recounted his tale, Gwen and Percival were in shock, not only had they been blissfully ignorant of Arthur's struggles, but the story of the Mayor of Birmingham and his thugs was shocking. If it had happened in one city, what was there to stop it occurring in others.

"We will have to dispatch investigators to most cities to ensure that this sort of travesty is not being repeated in other cities." Arthur announced. "Percy, I want you to put your other duties on hold and spearhead that action. A horrendous number of people were abused and killed to maintain the Mayor's life style, I will not tolerate that happening any longer." Percival raised his hand to protest. "Percy, you are the one man I trust above all else, Geraint can take your role on and do a very good job. I need to know that there will be no pay off's, or other sort of misbehaviour." This explanation defeated all of Percival's arguments before he could voice them.

"It shall be as you order, Arthur." Was all he could say.