Lady of the Kingdom

XIV

The Pendragon family sit at the dinner table. Morgana looks between the two quiet siblings. Gwen is serving the four food. Arthur looks at the servant before speaking up.

"I would like to discuss this marriage topic," the crown prince states.

"You want to talk of proposing?" Uther leaps to a conclusion. "It must be grand. That is what women like. Isn't that correct, Morgana?"

"Of course."

"I don't think that is what he meant," Ava points out.

"Thank you," her brother says. "I could not marry someone I do not love, Father."

"What do you mean? You will marry her."

"I will not marry someone I don't love. No one would want that."

"It is best for Camelot. Your sister will be doing the same thing."

Ava's eyes widen.

"Excuse me?" she asks.

"Yes. Bayard's son, Niklaus, has requested your hand in marriage."

She should have known this was going to bite her in the ass. 

"I am not ready to get marriage," she states. 

"Well Bayard and I agreed that we would wait a year. We already have to handle the wedding of your brother."

"That is what I am trying to avoid," Arthur argues. "It would not be fair to Elena and I if we got married."

"You are to get married and that is final," the king snaps. Arthur excuses himself and leaves. Ava sees Gwen divert her eyes as she pours more wine in Uther's glass. The king looks at his daughter. "You are not to fight me on this marriage. You will be marrying Prince Niklaus."

She excuses herself before she says something she would regret. She goes straight outside and to the practice area. She picks up a sword and start hacking at the manikin. She lets out a snarl in anger, hitting the defenseless mass over and over again. Why is this angering her more than she thought? Soon she slices the head off before she drops the metal weapon. She drops to the ground, sitting on the grass. She feels another body sit by her, but she refuses to look at who it is.

"Gwen told me what happened," Merlin states. "Are you okay?"

"I thought I was gaining a bit of freedom with the tournament a little while ago. Now I am expected to marry someone else. I knew it may happen, but it still made me so angry."

She throws the false head out of her head before laying flat on her back. Merlin lays next to her and they stare up at the stars.

"So Niklaus?"

"I guess it could be worse. I can stand him."

"He had to have done something to make you demote him from friend to 'can stand him'."

Though he tried to make her laugh, it just didn't.

"I realized he has feelings for me I can't return."

"Oh?"

"Oh."

The servant stands up and offers his hand to her. He pulls her up with ease, drawing her close. They are inches apart. She can easily feel his breath brush the tip of her nose. She feels her face heating up as she turns a bit red. Thankfully it is dark enough he wouldn't notice it. She pulls away from him.

"I should go," the princess states as she pulls away. Quickly, she heads inside the castle.

~~~

Merlin watch from his hidden spot in the catacombs. Turns out Elena is possessed by a Sidhe and her nurse is a pixie. So him and Gaius are trying to capture the older woman to help the princess. The issue is he keeps thinking about Ava's arrange marriage. 

He should have expected it, but he still is shocked. Maybe part of him had hoped that they would have ended up together. He had almost kissed her the last time they saw each other. It would have been perfect under the stars, but it would have been wrong to do so after she heard of her fate. 

Soon the pixie arrives and tries to put moves on Gaius. Merlin slips out of his spot and to the metal gate. Moment Gaius gets out, the dark hair boy locks the door and enchants it. The two run up to Elena's chambers. Gaius goes to deal with her while Merlin keeps watch. 

Not too long after, Grunhilda hurries up. Well the trap did not last too long. Merlin grips his staff and send her back. She quickly counters his attack. He lands on a seat, causing a loud crash. He sees Ava running into the hall.

"What is going on?" she demands. The pixie goes to attack again.

"Behind you."

The red headed princess dodges the attack before muttering a spell herself. The nurse goes flying back, hitting the wall. Well she has gotten more powerful. Merlin scrambles to his feet. The two with magic focus on the creature, casting a spell at the same time. All that remains of the pixie is small pile of dust. Merlin goes straight into Elena's chambers. He grabs the vial from her hands.

"You'll feel better, Princess," he promises, pinching her nose. He pours the contents out of the vial down her throat. The blonde falls over and a Sidhe pops out. It's a blue fairy that try to take Arthur's soul before. Ava lets out a yelp and tries to blast the creature. It just avoids her only to be killed by Merlin. 

"When did your magic kick in?" Gaius asks.

"Started acting up last night."

The blonde princess stirs and wakes up.

"Where's Grunhilda?" she asks. Merlin and Ava look at each other. The red head quickly puts on a smile.

"I heard she wasn't feeling good so I came to help you."

Merlin and Gaius take this as a chance to hurry off. Merlin stashes the staff in Ava's room quickly before going to where the wedding is to be held. Arthur and Uther is up front with an official. He sees Ava hurrying in just before Elena is walked down the aisle with her father. Now that he gets the chance to see the red head not fighting, she looks beautiful today. 

Elena and Godwyn walk up to where the Pendragon men are. The princess looks a lot better than how she was before hand. The ceremony starts and goes as planned. That is until Elena and Arthur decide to both object to their own wedding.

"You are not fit to rule if you can not put your duties first," Uther growls lowly.

"No, Father," Arthur states. "I will be a stronger king when I have the support of a queen I love."

"And I do not love Arthur," Elena states. Uther looks at Godwyn for support.

"We can't force them to love each other," the foreign king states. "It was nice while the fantasy lasted Uther. We can't force them to be together."

Uther givens in and the wedding is canceled. Of course Elena and Arthur agree to still be friends. There seems to be a sense of joy with the conclusion. Merlin sees Ava smiling as she looks over at him. He smiles back before turning away. Just because this worked out for Arthur does not mean Ava will get the same results. No matter how much he wants to be with her, the universe is trying to separate them.