How Merlin Should Have Ended

The Future

Finding her, however, soon proved to be more difficult than he'd thought. She wasn't in their chambers or in her study going over paperwork. Guinevere had taken over a few of the king's tasks in the last year, such as the inventory and organization of their food stockpiles and a few other things. Arthur had given her her own office well over ten months ago. He found he enjoyed sharing the burden of ruling with her and felt sure that if anything ever happened to him, Camelot would be safe in her very capable hands.

Next, Arthur tried searching for her in the lavatories in case she was throwing up again, but still no luck. It wasn't until he went for a walk in the garden that he found her. The weather was lovely, with the sun shining and the sky a pale blue. There was a light breeze in the air while the sun shone down. It was the perfect weather for a walk. He should have thought of this earlier.

As Arthur spotted her, he jogged up to walk beside her.

"Beautiful day," he said.

"It is, isn't it," Guinevere replied with a smile.

Gently, Arthur reached out and put a hand around her arm to indicate that he wanted her to stop walking. She did so, turning to face him with a questioning expression on her face.

"I've asked you so many times already," Arthur said, being as clear as he knew how. "You always say you are fine, but I know that you are not. Please tell me what's wrong before I go mad."

With a great sigh, Guinevere gave in.

"I was trying to keep it a surprise," she said. "I didn't want to get your hopes up, but it seems I've been more obvious than I thought."

Her words made little sense to him. How could her being ill possibly lead to him getting his hopes up? Despite her no longer shrugging him off, Arthur felt just as confused as he had this morning until she spoke again.

"I think I'm pregnant," Guinevere explained.

Arthur blinked. He'd seen pregnant women before in his kingdom. They had very round bellies, but he'd never seen them throwing up. Sleeping all day and throwing up felt more like illness to him. Then again, it wasn't like he knew anything about this sort of thing, and from the way Gaius and Merlin had acted when he'd asked them, it sounded like she'd consulted both of them already. And if they agreed with her, then it had to be true, right? Who would know better than a physician and a warlock?

"Well, say something," Guinevere spoke nervously and Arthur realized how long he'd remained silent.

Reaching forward, he pulled his wife into his arms, burying his face into her neck. He understood now what she meant by his getting his hopes up, because that's where they were, soaring high above the clouds.

Pulling out of the hug, he kissed her sweetly before gazing into her eyes and smiling with all his heart. He didn't really have any words that could express how he was feeling. Thankfully, Guinevere seemed to understand. Reaching forward, she took his hand in hers and they continued the walk together.

It wasn't until Guinevere began to show, her belly just a bit more stretched out than it had been before, that she allowed him to tell anyone apart from those who already knew. It was at this time that her nausea seemed to go away as well, and she became much more energetic. Arthur took it as a good sign.

The knowledge of the impending royal birth spread like wildfire, and soon the whole kingdom was abuzz with the news. At once, this made Arthur worry. Even if Camelot was strong, it had enemies, and a new heir was just the kind of target an enemy would pick. Between that and his growing worry that Guinevere would fall and hurt herself due to her new lack of balance, there was really only one thing he could do. He assigned a guard to stay with her at all times to make sure she didn't fall or hurt herself. The guard had even been instructed to stop her from climbing on ladders or using stools to reach top shelves. When one guard grew tired, he switched out with another so she was never without protection. Guinevere was more than a little annoyed with her new babysitter, but seemed willing to put up with it for the sake of the child.