Hiding

Chapter 23

Nothing was expected of Arthur the next day. The council all believed him to be processing his father's death and grieving, and in a way, he was. Just not exactly in the way they thought. Yes, he was sad that his father was going to die. Yes, he was absolutely terrified for what that meant. And yes, he was so deep in his emotions, he feared he might drown in them.

But, truth be told, sobbing in your lover's arms does wonders for pent-up emotions, and he'd gotten out most of his grief and fear the night before. Now, Arthur was buzzing with anticipation, knowing what he had dreamed about since he was 15 was about to become reality.

However, for the next few days, he needed to be the perfect son, the perfect prince, and make a show of grieving his not-yet dead father. It was surprisingly easy. As Merlin had said, Uther was his father, and Arthur did love him, in the only way a son can love a father who would resent all his life choices and had never shown him love or pride could.

In his show of grieving his father, he went to Gaius' chambers to see the man. He was unconscious, and would likely remain so until he succumbed to the poison's effects. Arthur found that visiting his father provided the sort of closure Arthur needed to truly accept that this was reality. Whether or not this was a good thing, Arthur wasn't entirely sure.

It was sitting there, alone in Gaius' chambers, that Arthur realized what he really wanted was to talk to his father one more time, tell the man who he really was, and have his father see the man his son had become, in full, just once.

Arthur knew that this was a terrible idea. Arthur knew that this would probably end in disaster. Arthur knew that the likelihood of something good coming of this was miniscule. Arthur knew that this was probably the most destructive way to get closure.

Arthur knew all this.

And yet, he did it anyway.

X

"Morgana? Have you seen Arthur?" Merlin's voice pierced the silence in Arthur's chambers, in which Morgana and Gwen had set up camp, making sure that Arthur had everything he would need to grieve. They weren't really doing anything, but they needed to keep up appearances while Uther was still alive.

"Oh, he went to visit his father a bit ago, I think," Morgana frowned. "I thought he'd be back by now. I didn't think he'd actually go there to get closure or something of the sort."

"Well, I'd better go check on him anyway," Merlin smiled slightly. "You never know what kind of trouble he could have gotten into by now."

Morgana's chuckles followed Merlin into the corridor as he slipped into the shadows, falling easily into the routine of glamours, cloaks, and obscurity. It took him some minutes to reach Gaius's chambers, having to take a longer route to avoid the crowds of servants, lords, ladies, and other such inhabitants of the castle.

When he finally arrived, however, he stopped in his tracks, the sight before him making his jaw drop.

Uther Pendragon was awake.

Uther Pendragon was awake, and was talking to Arthur.

Merlin wasn't entirely sure what had happened. It wasn't possible that he had awakened on his own, was it? No, Gaius said that he would remain unconscious until he died. So that meant...Arthur had to have done something to wake his father up. With magic.

What was Arthur thinking?

Merlin was dumbfounded that Arthur could do something so monumentally stupid. However, it was his job to protect him whenever he got into these situations. So, setting aside his disappointment, he snuck into the room. Arthur seemed too absorbed in his conversation to notice Merlin, and Uther wouldn't have noticed him anyway. Despite himself, Merlin listened to what was being said.