There can be no place for our love in Camelot [MERTHUR]

A little help from an old friend

Uther looked at his son like he was a monster, his eyes revealing all the anger and betrayal he felt inside. The prince felt small under his father’s glare and for a split second he felt like a child being punished for breaking a vase but he refused to be ashamed about his feelings for Merlin. He loved Merlin, not because of his gender but who he was and there was no way his father was going to take that away.

“Arthur, you have betrayed me and the morals of this kingdom. I will not have you rule over Camelot when you have such a major downfall” The king replied surprisingly calm.

“LOVING MERLIN IS NOT A DOWNFALL!” Arthur yelled back angrily.

Still Uther stayed calm and collected, “No son of mine would ever have such disgusting feelings for another man.” Arthur wanted to complain and say how stupid that was because clearly his son did have feelings like that but he was smart enough to decide against it.

“I don’t love Merlin because he’s a man; I love him for so many other reasons father. What is wrong with that?!” Arthur pleaded his voice hitched and defensive now.

“I am not discussing this with you-“ The king started before being interrupted by his son.

“Discussing what? The fact that you want me to hide away my feelings and pretend they don’t exist because it’s not considered ‘normal’?” Arthur questioned judgementally with finger air quotes. Uther sighed and looked away; the truth was that he did have an answer to that question but it’s not what his son would want to hear.

When his father stayed quiet Arthur continued, “I love Merlin the way you loved my mother, why can’t you just accept me and let me be happy?”

“You will never be accepted here in Camelot, boy” Uther insulted his voice dark and hateful. Arthur felt like he was on an emotional rollercoaster and he just wanted to get off but his father was just so stubborn.

“If Merlin makes me happy, does that mean you’re okay with me being unhappy for the rest of my life?” The prince asked profoundly.

The king looked directly at Arthur before giving him a straight answer, “Yes.” The young Pendragon couldn’t explain how he felt at that moment, his father had hit another low and he couldn’t deal with it anymore.

“YOU ARE A SELFISH, JUDGEMENT BASTARD AND YOU’LL NEVER UNDERSTAND HOW-“ Arthur began yelling at his father.

“This conversation is over. You will go to your chambers and stay away from such ill influences until you come to your right mind” Uther ordered, gesturing to his guards again. Two guards approached the prince and one went to grab his arm but Arthur violently pulled it away.

“I can walk by myself.” He spat before turning around and walking towards the door. Of course Arthur wasn’t planning on silently going back to his chambers and staying there as Merlin left Camelot but he knew this would be his best chance to get away.

“Escort him, guards.” Uther demanded as his son opened the doors and walked out. Three guards quickly chased after Arthur and once they reached him, walked very closely behind the prince. All four of them walked silently up to Arthur’s chambers and as they reached their destination the prince stopped just inside the doorway.

 “Okay you can leave now. Your job was to escort me to my chambers and now I’m in my chambers” Arthur pouted like a small child that was being forced to eat his vegetables.

“We also have to make sure you stay in here, so one guard will wait inside the bedroom and the other two will wait outside the doors to ensure you-“ One of the guards started but before he could even finish his sentence he was head-butted from behind by a mysterious knight. The first guard was knocked out and fell to the ground as the knight knocked out a second guard. Arthur, not even knowing what was happening, sprang into action and punched the third guard in the face causing him to fall over as well. The prince admired his teamwork with the mysterious knight as he looked at the three guards at the ground. Arthur then looked up and looked at the knight properly for the first time.

“Gwaine?” Arthur asked, he would recognise that hair from anywhere. “Is that you under that helmet?”

“Yeah, it’s me” Gwaine laughed as he took his metal helmet off and smiled at the prince.

“How did you know about this?” The prince carefully questioned giving Gwaine a suspicious look.

 “Well there’s a chance that Kevin told me what was going on so I rushed down to the throne room and listened to what was going on inside from the side door. Then when I hear Uther ordering you to your chambers I decided that I would come up here and help you out!” Gwaine explained, smiling like a sly fox.

Arthur’s grinned at his friend’s cleverness but his mind quickly turned back to his boyfriend, “Merlin.”

“So you love him do you?” Gwaine asked, smirking cockily. The prince looked down as his cheeks started to burn red.

 “Yeah, I really do.” Arthur answered, finally looking back up at Gwaine. The knight laughed out loud and patted the prince on the back.

“Well go get him then sire!” Gwaine encouraged. “Wait! First get a satchel of stuff because you and Merlin both have to leave Camelot” He thought out loud.

“I figured that” The Pendragon replied sassily before running over to his night stand table and grabbing out two bags from the bottom drawer. Arthur handed one of the bags to Gwaine before walking over to his table and grabbing different fruits and vegetables which he messily shoved in the bag. Gwaine got the drift and walked over to the cupboard and started pulling out random clothes and filling the bag.

“Red shirt or blue?” Gwaine asked holding up two t-shirts. The prince quickly looked up from his bag before rolling his eyes and going back to packing. The knight just nodded, “Blue is it.” Arthur collected other things to put in his bag like gold, a few important pieces of paper, his mother’s jewellery and some other expensive things he planned on selling for money. Gwaine had already filled his bag to the brim of all different clothes and shoes for the prince and his boyfriend.

“Okay that should be it” Arthur observed as he swung one of the bags over his shoulder and slowly making his way closer to his chamber’s doors.

One of the guards moaned, making Arthur aware of the actual urgency of the situation. “Yes, now go.” Gwaine ordered as he shoved the bag at the prince. Arthur thanked his friend and told him he would return soon enough to tell him in secret where he had gone so his friends could visit them.

“Goodbye Gwaine!” Arthur called as he ran out of the room.