Title: Son of the Phoenix
Category: Gen (Canon)
Characters/Pairings: Gwaine, Arthur, Merlin, Gwen/Leon
Rating/Warnings: T / mentions of character death
Summary: Gwaine's noble birth comes to light a few years after his death, when he is brought back with Arthur to help stop Camelot from being taken over.

AN: The Heart of Camelot: The Chronicles of Camelot Challenge. (Take a drabble and expand it...well, here's my entry, based on my Diabolical drabble.)

My Word Count Goal: 20,000, Total Word Count: 21587

This is set in the same story-verse as my Shadow of the Goddess series, but can be read as a stand-alone. The main plot takes place 2-3 years after the series finale. Although, the prologue is set around the beginning of season 5 as a set up to later events.

Beta'ed by Nance (gosh, I adore her! LOL) Cover art by Caldera32 (yep, adore her, too!) Matthew72 helped provide the kick in the butt I needed for most of this (He's just amazingly sweet!)

Please leave comments, and let me know what you think!

Prologue:

4 Years ago...

Soft voices greeted him as he entered the Hall of Records. He wasn't sure if he'd even been in this part of the castle before. He found Arthur sitting at a desk next to Geoffrey, pouring over what appeared to be a genealogical book of families and crests.

As he glanced over the page they were on, he felt his heart stop. On the parchment was a white phoenix on a black background. It had been decades since he even thought of that particular coat of arms.

Arthur didn't even bother looking up. "Sir Gwaine, I need you to take Percival and a contingent of knights and ride to Ismere. I received word that Morgana may be in the vicinity. Check it out and report back to me."

The king waited for a response. He glanced up at his knight. "Did you hear me, Gwaine?"

Startled, the knight nodded, "Yes, Sire." He couldn't help the curiosity that overcame him, as he looked at the crest again. "What're you doing?"

"We are trying to establish a true line of succession. Unfortunately, there is little to go on."

"Is that one of the lines?"

"Yes. This belonged to my mother's eldest brother, Tristan de Bois. He was a high ranking noble, and a knight of Caerleon. It appears that he had a son before his death, and we're trying to find out anything we can about him...not only for the succession...but also, I don't want to be blindsided by someone as diabolical as Agravaine."

Gwaine guffawed, "I don't think you should worry about that." He bowed and left before Arthur could question him. He knew for certain the child of de Bois wanted no part of the throne. Except for Arthur, Gwaine still wanted nothing to do with nobles.

Weeks later...

"You wanted to speak with me, Sire?" Gwaine ducked his head through the wooden door. The room inside was bathed in warm light, by a multitude of candles and a roaring fire in the hearth. A soft breeze of cool air came from an open window, directly behind the large desk. Tapestries hung from the walls, and red curtains surrounded the four poster bed in the Royal Chamber.

"Come in, Gwaine."

During his years in Camelot, Gwaine had only been in this chamber a handful of times. Typically, his meetings with the king took place in more formal settings, or on the training field. He couldn't recall a time when he had been summoned to speak with Arthur alone. The roguish knight felt a bit uneasy as he entered. He took a seat across the desk from Arthur and waited, twisting his hands nervously.

"Are you healing well from your capture?" Arthur asked, referring to Gwaine's recent enslavement by Morgana.

Gwaine had led a group of knights toward Ismere to check on reports of Morgana. Word had come that she was amassing an army of Saxons, as well as conscripting men from nearby villages as slave labor. After weeks of not hearing from his men, Arthur had set out with a large party to find them.

"I am." Dark brown eyes squinted in confusion. The king could have asked this question during training earlier, or at any time in the prior week since their return. It made little sense to the knight that he'd be called for a private meeting, simply to discuss his health.

"When we headed out to rescue you, I had no idea what I would end up discovering. Sir Leon informed you that we passed through Queen Annis' lands on our journey?"

He licked his lips and shifted in the chair. "He did."

Arthur was facing out the window, hands clasped behind his back. The transformation in Arthur during his three years as king was astonishing. He'd finally begun to feel as if he had truly broken out of his father's shadow. Many of the kingdoms were now at peace due to Arthur's diplomatic way with words. His rule was not accomplished by fear, and it showed in the prosperity Camelot was experiencing.

The silence stretched on, and soon Gwaine began to wonder if there was more. "Is that all, Sire?"

Taking a measured breath, Arthur finally turned and moved to his own chair. "No. It's not. You've been lying to me, Gwaine."

"Sire?"

"You know I've been researching the Royal Lineage. Why didn't you tell me? I found out from Annis, when we stopped in Caerleon. Your father was a knight."

Gwaine shifted again. He opened his mouth, but was interrupted when Arthur continued, "...more than that...he was a noble of Royal Blood, and my uncle. Why didn't you tell me? Were you plotting some sort of coup? Has this been all some joke to you?" The king's voice grew louder. "When were you going to tell me, Gwaine, that you are my cousin?"

The journey to Ismere had begun as a quest to save all his knights who had been captured. A private meeting with Queen Annis had changed that. Arthur had asked her for information about his uncle, on the off-chance she would remember him. The revelation that she not only remembered the knight, but also had the names of his children on record astounded Arthur. When Arthur spied the familiar name of one of his best knights, it had taken all of his self-control to not react.

After Caerleon, Arthur recalled being ambushed and separated from the rest of the party, except for Merlin. The king could still hear his manservant's voice, desperately attempting to dissuade him from going on alone. While he knew it was reckless, at that moment it wasn't solely about freeing his brothers-in-arms...it was to rescue his cousin. Having little family of his own, aside from his wife, he had become blinded to all but the idea of saving Gwaine..even if it was only to wring the knight's neck for not telling him sooner.

Visibly deflating, Gwaine leaned forward over his knees and raked a hand through his long hair. "Before I met you...and saw the king you were to become...I preferred being a commoner. My father served the kingdom of Caerleon loyally for years. When he died, we were left penniless and tossed out on the street like garbage." The knight surprised himself, by how it easy it felt to open up to Arthur about his past. "He'd gone against the king's orders to avenge his sister's death. So, Caerleon saw fit to seize his belongings, and offered them as compensation to Uther.

"King Uther didn't think it was enough, and that was when the war with Caerleon began. I was too young to remember, but my sister told me the story last year when I was visiting her. We were blamed for my father's recklessness and stripped of everything we owned. I didn't understand and I had convinced myself that all nobles were like that...until I met you."

Arthur calmed down and listened intently to Gwaine's tale.

"I had no idea we were related, until I reported to you in the archives and saw my father's crest. You said it was your uncle's. I figured, I'd just let it be. I didn't want to worry you about someone being after your crown. I have no ambition...other than to serve you, Arthur. Oh, and get a few tankards of ale in my belly."

The king nodded, and fiddled with a scroll on his desk. "When I set out for Ismere, it was to free all my men. Then, Annis gave me this, listing the names of Tristan's children." He held the rolled parchment out to Gwaine.

Gwaine unrolled it, and glanced at the crest on the top. His eyes scanned lower on the page. "My sister is in no position to be of any threat to you. My two younger brothers died when they were children...and I don't want the crown." He tossed the scroll back on the desk between them with a grin.

"I should at least acknowledge you as kin."

"Don't." Gwaine said, standing up. "If the others find out about this now, what would they think of me? They would fear that I might be as bad as Agravaine. I would lose their trust. I can't lead men who don't trust me."

"Then, what am I supposed to do with this, Gwaine?"

Gwaine was finished with the conversation. As he made his way toward the door, he glanced back over his shoulder. "Burn it, for all I care. I'm your knight, Arthur...that's all I want to be. I swear, I will never fail you in that."