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"Can't he see that the dragon destroyed businesses?! We can't afford to pay his taxes, no matter how many people he puts in the dungeons, which will probably lead to him demanding more money too build new cells!..."

Arthur heard Merlin's rant as he entered his chambers. The King had introduced a higher tax, in order to pay for the damage the great dragon had inflicted upon Camelot. Merlin's speech was not the first Arthur had overheard, and he doubted it would be the last.

Camelot's people were poor, Arthur vividly remembered the last time he had argued this fact with his father, and had ended up disinherited. Still he had chosen to persuade Uther to keep the extra tax as low as possible. Arthur was wise enough to realise that the extra tax was needed, but also understood it would put the people under considerable strain.

He took comfort in the fact that the people would benefit in the long run from a rebuilt Camelot; and as leader of the reconstruction team, Arthur had made sure to use the cheapest, yet efficient, materials possible. No doubt that if Uther had been doing this particular job, the cost would have been much higher.

Merlin turned, arms full with Arthur's armour, and upon seeing the Prince began to ramble incoherently;

"Oh…um…sire…Arthur! How long have you been there? "

"Long enough" Answered the Prince, "I know you dislike the new tax, but it is necessary."

"Of course sire" replied Merlin, hurrying towards the door, obviously in disagreement with Arthur's statement, "I'll go and clean your armour shall I?"

"Merlin! The King cares about the Kingdom…" Arthur continued angrily.

"Of course he does" muttered Merlin sarcastically.

"Oh get out will you!" Arthur yelled, losing his temper.

Merlin left silently, but Arthur barely noticed.

He was sick and tired of defending the King against his subjects, the subjects who claimed he cared nothing for them, when in fact he cared for them, in his own way, more than he cared for his son. There was a twisted irony in it Arthur thought.

All his life, he had felt second place to Camelot. His father had refused to play with him in favour of attending a useless council meeting, in which nothing new was ever reported (Camelot had been quiet in those days, still in shock from the great purge); the young prince had never been told a bedtime story, because Uther was always tired after a days ruling; as soon as Arthur was old enough he had been taught to fight, forced to achieve perfection, because it would cause the people to lose hope if their prince was weak; every moment Arthur spent with his father always centred on, or somehow reverted back to, Camelot and it's people. As Arthur looked back on the few times he had been praised by his father, it had always been the same old "You will be a good King and make the people proud."

He moved towards the window, gazing down at the city he loved. For despite the pain it caused him, Arthur could never think of Camelot with any emotion other than love.

Looking down as the bustling market, the young prince once again repressed his anger, resolving to forget his pain. It was a King's duty to sacrifice his life for the people, but Arthur wished that, just sometimes, the people could see that sacrifice.

Unknown to Arthur it was this resolution which would in time make him a greater King than his father. Where as Uther sacrificed the happiness of others – Ygraine, Arthur, Morgana, and many more – for the sake of the kingdom; Arthur had sacrificed himself.