Once a King Always a King (Merlin Fanfic)

Our History

I wasn't sure where to begin. So much had happened since he left. Democracy, scientific philosophies, and my personally favorite, in-door plumbing. But I decided to start with the beginning, hoping it would spark up the memory he already had.
"Alright then.. So you were a king.. The King of-"
"Camelot.." He finished my sentence.
"Yes! And I was your servant in the castle.. You were my friend above anything else."
"You were a terrible servant.. You never cleaned my armor right, you wouldn't spar with me properly. You kept dropping things. You always found your way into trouble-"
"Ok you remember me," I stopped him, getting annoyed that he only remembered the bad things.
"I can see blurred images of everything.. You.. The battle.. The lake.." He looked as though he was reliving a horrifying dream that had just past. He flinched as he brought himself back to reality. "I can see it all now.." He repeated. "Morgana my father.. Gwen.. Gweniver!" He repeated her name joyfully, but his face quickly dropped as he realized she was long gone now. Remembering Gwen was a bit painful for me too. She was a dear friend, and after Arthur was gone her and I were practically brother and sister. I still missed her.
"What became of my wife.."?" Arthur demanded, sounding a little frightened by a possibly grim truth.
"After you died she became your successor. She had some trouble at first but she started to find her way. She was very emotional in the beginning because of your death. The war had ended but the kingdom was still grieving. We lost many soldiers and knights in the war.. Including most of the knights of the round table.." Arthur hung his head at this news, but I continued.
"We were short on defenses and nearby kingdoms tried to take advantage of us. They thought that we were broken without our king.. And to an extent we were but we kept fighting."
"Where did you get new soldiers to fight?" He asked.
"Anywhere we could find them.. Many blacksmiths who worked with swords came to our aid. We were still very small in numbers. Gwen herself stepped on to the battle field once.. I was by her side."
He chuckled slightly, "sorry.. It's just hard to imagine you with a sword Merlin."
"Well I didn't use a sword."
"Oh... You used... Magic then.."
"It's not a taboo you know.."
Arthur changed the subject, "so how long did these battles go on?" clearly not wanting to talk about magic.
"About two months.. Longest two months of my life. But afterwards everyone saw the clear strength of Camelot and left us alone. Gwen kept the people strong and she had a strong branch of people to help her along. She also made me her most trusted advisor. Seeing her tender yet strong nature, few young kings tried to join Camelot with their kingdoms through marraige.. But Gwen turned them all down."
Arthur looked at me as if he were talking to Gwen. "I would've wanted her to move on.."
"I know.. That's what I had told her.. But she didn't like the idea of marrying someone else while she was about to have your child."
"What!?"
I guess I could've said that less casually. Arthur became very interested in the child he never knew.
"Tell me about them," A glimmer of hope danced through him.
"Well.. After all the battles, she decided to have a few days rest. That's when she thought she might be pregnant. It had only been two months so Gwen wasn't showing yet, she had me take her to a midwife to confirm it. The midwife later moved into the castle to help raise the child.. Only it wasn't just one."
"Twins!" He exclaimed.
"Yes my lord twins. Identical, beautiful baby girls. Alissa and Marietta. The midwife, Anna, often had me help with the babies.
"Gwen did marry again, to a Duke named Lyon. He was a loyal and respectable man.. He truly loved Gwen."
"That's good.. Im glad she was happy.... What became of the twins?" Asked Arthur. "Did one become queen?"
I honestly wasn't sure how he would take the turn out of his daughters but he had a right to know.
"Well, Alissa was born first so was first in line. But she wanted to marry before she took her thrown. Which wouldn't have been a problem.. If she wasn't so picky. No man was good enough for her. She sent away knights, dukes, princes, servants, farmers. It didn't matter what your status was, if she saw you as unfit you were unfit."
I was hoping to just leave it at that but them Arthur asked me if she ever married. I honestly didn't want to tell him the truth, afraid of what he'd say.
"Well.. She married my apprentice.. A boy I named Silver."
"You named him? Was he your son?"
"In a way yes.. I found him in a basket by the road..there was no sign of a mother of farther, just a necklace with a sliver coin on his neck. Which is why I called him sliver. Anna and I raised him together.. She and I were very close.."
Remembering Anna always made me happy. If there was one woman I wish I had married it would've been her, but I never did. For the same reason I had never gotten married years after.
"She wasn't your wife?" Arthur said, a bit confused.
"No.. She wasn't my wife and silver wasn't out son. But we were as much of a family as any."
Hearing this made Arthur smile. "So did you teach him how to be a physician?"
"Yes.. Amongst other things.. I taught him magic"
Arthur didn't say anything for a while. "What did Gwen have to say about this? Or did you lie to her too?"
Clearly he was still upset about me keeping it from him.
"Actually she made magic legal.. Dark magic was still banned. Although we hadn't had much trouble with dark magic."
"So.. My daughter married a sorcerer.." It took him a second to grasp the idea. "Ok.. Was she happy with him?"
"They were very happy.. In Alissa's eyes he was the only one who was fit."
"What became of Marietta?"
"She also learned a bit of magic from me," I ignored the strain in Arthur's face. "She didn't become a true sorceress. She was much more interested in the battle field, trained everyday. While Alissa was picking flowers in the garden Marietta was knocking over practice dummies." I chuckled at the memory. "She became Camelot's first official female knight. She married a man who at first didn't approve of women fighting. But she quickly changed his mind when she had him on the ground in a duel. After they had their first child she retired as a knight and became a trainer for the young men and women hoping to become the defenders of Camelot."
Arthur took a few minutes to process that that I had told him. I was afraid he would be outraged at the fact that magic had entered the kingdom, and his family... But he wasn't. Suddenly there were tears in his eyes.
"My family turned out ok... They were all ok.. I wish I could've seen them."
"I.. I'm sorry Arthur-"
"No don't be.. Even if I won't ever know them.. Knowing how much they thrived is enough for me."
He and I exchanged pleasant smiles, clearly proud of how far the other had come.
"So what of Zena...? She has magic as well no doubt."
"She does, very powerful too.. You wouldn't have come back if it wasn't for her... Hey, Don't mention any of that to Zena.." I told him. "She still thinks I'm only 18."
"Well you were much stupider at 18."
"So were you.. You royal ass."