Entry: DC05En03

Title: Untitled

Word count: 980

Theme and/or Prompt/s: AU

Rating: PG

Characters/Pairings: Arthur/Gwen, Leon, Merlin, mentions Morgana and Uther

Spoilers: Spoilers for 2x05 and 2x06

Disclaimer: Merlin belongs to Shine and the BBC.

Summary: In a world where Arthur is the servant and Gwen is the King’s Ward, the world really isn’t all that different…

Author’s notes: Apart from when I move everybody around with them… Leon is the Prince. Gwen is Uther’s Ward. Arthur is Leon’s servant. Morgana is Gwen’s handmaiden and Merlin is well umm… Leon?

The world expected Guinevere Leodegrance to marry the Prince. As the King’s ward it wasn’t unusual. As much as he was a brilliant match, Prince Leon wasn’t who she wanted to marry. She saw him more as a brother than a possible husband, and his views were the same. His eyes were trained elsewhere; a few steps behind Guinevere wherever she walked. If she didn’t marry Leon, the world expected her to marry one of Camelot’s finest knights.

She was good friends with many of them; Gawain, Kay and Pellinore to name a few, but she was closer to one of them than any other, and that was Merlin. A charming but slightly bumbling, awkward and gawky twenty-something. She found him endearing, but again, she didn’t want to marry him either.

Guinevere wasn’t quite a Princess, but the King treated her as such. She had fine dresses, good food and a life that everybody else would wish for. Only that was the one factor that made her life more complicated.

Like Leon, Guinevere’s gaze had been trained behind somebody for the last few years. Whenever she dined with the Prince, he was there. Whenever Morgana was busy he would be there to assist her if Leon didn’t need him. That’s where the problems started.

“Arthur!” Guinevere jumped as Leon’s voice echoed down the cloisters.

“It was nice to see you, my lady,” he offered a slight bow of his head, his eyes still on her.

“Likewise, Arthur,” she smiled kindly at him. She passed him to walk up the gangway and smiled to Leon as he walked by. The Prince looked over his shoulder after the King’s ward and to his servant.

“You should be careful,” he said once he was out of ear shot.

“About what?” Arthur asked as they began to walk in the opposite direction to Guinevere.

“Gwen,” he had a choice, he could either leave the boy with some hope o he could be realistic about the situation, “she’s out of your league,” he hadn’t meant to sound so harsh. But he knew the two worlds could never meet. Not under his father.

“She’s out of <i>your</i> league,” he snapped back with a cheeky grin on his face that quickly disappeared, “Guinevere’s,” he paused for thought, there were so many words he could use to describe her, but none of them could do he justice alone, “Different.”

“But the world she lives in is not.”

“You should know.”

“We’re both doomed. If we could exchange places the world would be an easier place.”

“I wouldn’t want to be you.”

“No?”

“No. There’s so much pressure. Makes you snappy,” Leon had learned years ago that his manservant was far from being like all the others. He wouldn’t just disappear into the background, he was a good fighter and he was an honourable man. Everything about him would make him the perfect match for Guinevere. In everything but his blood’s status.

Leon thought it harmless to let Arthur train with the other knights on days when they were running simple drills and doing endurance training. Merlin could often do with a sparring partner when the numbers were odd and the kind-hearted sap didn’t mind locking blades with a servant.

On a day with an even number of knights in training Arthur stood watching with a bundle of swords on his shoulder ready to polish them. His attention was drawn away from the fighting pairs to a flash of light purple walking down the path towards the flower garden. He followed her figure towards the gate, but she didn’t see him.

“Leave those for later, Arthur. Didn’t Gaius say he needed you to collect him some herbs before midday?” Leon asked him with a glint in his eye, “Go on. The swords can wait.”

“Certainly, sire,” he bowed his head. Abandoning the swords resting against an unoccupied bench he followed the same path that Guinevere had to the castle gardens.

He shut the gate behind him and silently made his way over to the herb patch. As much of a ploy as Leon’s timing may have been, Gaius really had asked him to do the chore.

“Arthur?” he cast a look over his shoulder to the young ward, a small smile on his face.

“My lady,” he greeted as he stood, his fingers clasped around a handful of greenery, “Chores for Gaius,” Guinevere smiled in recognition of the old man. Her own hands were occupied with lilacs and wildflowers. The sort Arthur knew she favoured to the royal bouquets of the court.

“I always believed Morgana to be the one to get your flowers.”

“On occasion, but I find it relaxing. It’s a place to escape from the world. To think. To be on my own.”

“I can leave if you wish, my lady,” he offered dejectedly looking to the floor.

“I didn’t mean-“

“It’s okay. I’ll leave you be.”

“Arthur,” he stopped in his steps towards the gate and turned back to her, “I rather like escapism,” she said looking to the bouquet of wildflowers in her hands, “Taking a step out of the world you are bound to into the world you want to be in,” she looked up at him and smiled, “A world where you are free to be happy, to be with who you please.”

A small grin spread across Arthur’s face, “Then I think I’d rather like escapism too.”

“Maybe, one day, it will not have to be escapism. One day, it could be reality?” she said tentatively fiddling with the stems in her hands.

“One can always hope.”

“Then two can, as well,” she offered with a smile on her face. She reached into her bouquet, and broke the top off one of the lilacs. She reached the distance between them and hooked it into the front of his tunic, “Until then.”