A/N: I know this was supposed to be posted 2 days ago. I'm sorry! I was too busy moping because I got back exam scores… Here's my apology: the final chapter of An Accidental Affair!

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Chapter 4: Destiny

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Arthur paced in his chambers, thinking. How could he persuade his wife to come back to him? How do you make somebody fall back in love? He could have sworn that Guinevere had grown to love him back during these past few weeks—he wasn't mistaking those looks she sometimes shot him. But then why was she denying it? What reason could she possibly have?

"I don't understand women." He mumbled, sighing loudly. Well, there was no use just bemoaning the fact in his room. If Arthur knew anything, it was that women had to be dealt with aggressively. He couldn't just sit around in his room, allowing her to get away. No, he had to go out and grab her for himself.

He nodded determinedly to himself and heaved open the door to his chambers. On the way down to the main floor, he snagged a passing servant—a young kitchen maid.

"Do you know where the queen is?" He asked the girl.

She kept her head bowed low as she replied. "No, sire. But I did see her with Sir Lancelot before."

"Thank you," Arthur said, already headed towards Lancelot's chambers. He should have thought of that first! He knew Gwen and Lancelot were good friends, so undoubtedly she was keeping Lancelot company in her free time. He briefly wondered if Gwen knew about Lancelot's love interest—the one that he had been spending his spare days wooing with flowers and poetry. Arthur wouldn't put it past Gwen to be the one helping him with his seduction.

As Arthur turned the corner into the Knight's wing of the castle, he spotted Merlin leaning up against the wall next to the door to Lancelot's room.

Arthur looked at him suspiciously. "What are you doing here? Don't you have some work you need to be doing?"

Merlin jumped, looking oddly guilty. "Arthur!" He exclaimed nervously. "What are you doing here?"

"I heard Guinevere was here," Arthur said slowly, "and I wanted to talk to her."

"Why?" Merlin asked, his voice cracking a little. Arthur raised an eyebrow, wondering what was going on. Merlin smiled back.

"It's really none of your business, now is it?" Arthur asked. "Now excuse me." He moved to knock on Lancelot's door, but Merlin intercepted him.

"I don't think Gwen is in there." Merlin said quickly. "Maybe you should check her rooms?"

"She's never in her rooms," Arthur scoffed. "She says they're too gaudy. And you're a horrible liar, Merlin. Now I know she's in there. "

Merlin swallowed visibly, but pulled on a tense smile anyways. "I'm not lying," He protested. "I'm just… exhausted from using so much magic to fix the blacksmith's gutters, which is why I'm stuttering a little. It's been a tiring day so far, and I'm just resting here…"

"Uh huh," Arthur said unbelievingly. "Because you regularly trek across the castle to lean against a wall."

"No, I really do," Merlin said, nodding vigorously. "The walls here are nicer than the walls I have around my chambers. They're cooler… and stuff."

"You are extraordinarily bad at this lying business." Arthur declared, pushing him aside. "And I don't know what you're hiding, but I know that it's something you shouldn't be keeping from me."

"I'm not hiding anything!" Merlin said as he ducked underneath Arthur's arm and pressed his body up against Lancelot's door. Merlin pushed back, preventing Arthur from opening it.

"Get out of the way, Merlin." Arthur said, gritting his teeth. "You're making me suspicious of what Guinevere could be doing in there with Lancelot, and you know I don't like to doubt my wife."

"She's not doing anything in there with Lancelot." Merlin said unconvincingly.

Arthur clenched his teeth, a feeling of dread settling into the pit of his stomach. He looked Merlin straight into the eye, looking for something that would relieve his doubt. But Merlin was a horrible at concealing his expressions—Arthur could clearly see the guilt in his eyes.

"No… Guinevere's having an affair with Lancelot?" He asked hoarsely, stepping away from the door. He felt oddly numb, though not as angry as he expected to be. A part of him expected that this would happen eventually. After all, Gwen was a very pretty girl and a devoted romantic—he should have expected her to go out searching for love after he stopped providing it for her.

Still, it didn't stop him from feeling the slightest bit hurt that she couldn't even tell him about it. Arthur glared at Merlin; the bastard probably knew the entire time and didn't tell him about it.

"Gwen's having an affair with Lancelot." Arthur stated again, more angrily this time.

"No, Arthur, she's really not." Merlin said, stepping away from the door to comfort him. "She wouldn't do that to you."

"Oh yeah?" Arthur growled. How could Merlin still defend her even after he'd found out? So, his relationship with Gwen was so much more important than his relationship with Arthur? "Then you won't mind if I do this." He yanked open Lancelot's door, smiling mirthlessly when he saw Gwen sitting on Lancelot's lap, kissing him passionately.

He heard Merlin gulp behind him. Arthur stared dispassionately at the scene of his wife with another man, his voice caught in his throat. Gwen and Lancelot had frozen, and were staring back like two deer caught with a crossbow pointed straight at their heads.

"So this is why you couldn't love me back," Arthur said roughly, turning away from the scene. "And to think I fell in love with you again."

"No, Arthur…" Merlin said softly.

"Arthur, I'm sorry." Gwen said, tears welling up in her eyes. "I should have told you a long time ago."

"So this has been going on for a while, huh?" Arthur said, his eyes directed towards the ground. "And what, were you laughing when I told you about my intentions to revive our marriage? Was this one big joke to you?"

"What?" Gwen asked, confused. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"You don't know what I'm talking about?" Arthur parroted, exploding. "What, you don't remember the past weeks we've spent together, or the times that I've said that I love you again. You don't remember the gifts, or the talks, or the goddamn kisses? You led me on, Guinevere. You had plenty of time to tell me about your little lover here, but you didn't!"

"Arthur, I really don't know what you're talking about." Gwen said, standing up. "We haven't spent any time together over the last few weeks—or at least, none other than the times we spend acting as the king and queen. If I had been spending all that time with you, I would have give up my secret a long time ago. I wouldn't have let you fall in love with me!"

"Then what was last night?" Arthur asked angrily. "What was that? You just ran away when I said I loved you. You could have told me about Lancelot then, but you didn't, Guinevere."

"I didn't see you last night!" Gwen cried out. "Arthur, I told you I don't know what you're talking about. I was with Lancelot last night. I've been with Lancelot for so many nights, I don't even remember the number anymore."

"Now you lie to me," Arthur spat out bitterly. "I don't even know you anymore, Guinevere. I can't believe I even loved you once, let alone twice."

"Arthur…" Merlin interrupted weakly. "Gwen's telling the truth."

Everyone's attention snapped to him. Gwen breathed in sharply as she caught on to what was going on. "Merlin, you didn't…" She whispered sadly.

"I'm sorry," Merlin said, his eyes clenched shut. "But I didn't want to make either of you sad. Gwen, you were so happy with Lancelot, and Arthur… Arthur, I didn't want to break the news to you. I know it was stupid, and cowardly, and idiotic, but I… guess I wasn't thinking then."

"Merlin…" Arthur said, his eyes narrowed. "What did you do?"

"It was just a little bit of harmless magic," Merlin said, trying to reason it out. "And I didn't mean to do any harm. I just saw how happy Gwen was with Lancelot, and I knew how upset you would be, Arthur, and I didn't want you to get hurt. So I just thought if I made you give up on the idea of repairing your relationship…"

"And how did that work out for you, Merlin?" Arthur asked, no trace of anger left in his voice. Instead, he almost sounded… defeated.

Merlin bit his lip. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean for you to fall in love with me. I never would have thought… I planned it to be just once—I would pretend to be Gwen, act all cold and nasty to you, and it would be over. But then I just couldn't be mean to you, not when I knew you would be hurt by it. I know I should have ended it a long time ago, but I just couldn't."

"Oh, so you were a self-sacrificing martyr in all of this." Arthur said nastily. "It was all my fault that I wanted someone to love again, isn't it? And isn't it funny now that I've gone and fallen in love with an imposter."

Merlin looked at the ground silently. He swallowed, and choked out, "I'm sorry, Arthur. Really. I didn't mean to play with your feelings like that. It felt… good to be loved like that, you know?"

Arthur shook his head, too hurt for words. He turned away, and softly asked, "Was it all just an act?" He cursed himself inwardly for showing such weakness. But the words were already out and he couldn't take them back, so he asked louder, "You were just protecting Gwen, and that's it? So whenever I kissed you, you were just taking it for your friend?"

"What?" Merlin's head snapped up. "No! Arthur, I love you. I would never do anything like that!"

Arthur's breath caught in his throat. "You… what?" He asked weakly.

Merlin repeated himself, more anxiously this time. "I love you. I think I always have, Arthur, but recently it's turned from a friendship type of love into something deeper. I never lied when I said how much I cared for you, and I never kissed you because I had to." He smiled wryly to himself. "You weren't the only person who fell in love over the last few weeks."

A thought suddenly hit Arthur. "So… I love you, not Guinevere. I didn't fall in love with her, I fell in love with you."

Merlin smiled timidly. "I guess so. So does that mean that all is forgiven?"

Arthur laughed, relieved, running his hand over his face. He was in love with Merlin! The happiness he had found over the last few weeks, it was all because of Merlin! And to think Merlin actually loved him back…

Arthur straightened up his posture haughtily, his mood lightened. He sneered at Merlin, a hint of a smile now playing on the corner of his mouth. "I don't think so. This doesn't change the fact that you pretended to be my wife and used your magic for nefarious reasons."

"Nefarious…?" Merlin sputtered. "I didn't want you to get hurt!"

"You tricked me," Arthur corrected him. "And for that, I think a punishment is in order."

Gwen cleared her throat from where she was standing next to Lancelot, a small smile playing on her lips. Arthur and Merlin jumped, having forgotten they were in the room.

"So does that mean I'm forgiven as well?" Gwen asked, wringing her hands.

Arthur sighed. "I know I should be angrier at you, but I fully understand why you did it. So yes, you're forgiven."

"Great!" Merlin said, grinning. "So that means everyone's happy. I knew my plan would work!"

"Your plan didn't work, Merlin," Arthur said, rolling his eyes. "You were just fortunate that I'm such a loving and caring ruler that I forgave you of your idiocy."

"Yes, oh great mighty one." Merlin said sarcastically.

"Anyways, I was talking about a punishment, wasn't I?" Arthur recalled.

"Let me guess: the stocks for a week? A month? Mucking out the stables? You know they're not really punishments if I can get around them with magic." Merlin said facetiously with a confident grin on his face.

"Then I'll have to make one where you can't magic your way out." Arthur said with a wicked grin.

"Like what?" Merlin said warily, no longer so self-assured.

Arthur brushed back his cape nobly, striding into the middle of the room. "Merlin, Lancelot, kneel before your king."

Lancelot hurried to obey, while Merlin muttered something rude as he slowly followed. Arthur waiting impatiently as Merlin sunk to his knee, and then shifted around as he tried to get comfortable.

Finally, when everyone was settled, Arthur gestured for Gwen to stand next to him. "Queen Guinevere, you will be the witness." Arthur said formally. He placed each of his hands on one shoulder of the men kneeling before him. "This is a formal decree that will take place henceforth and will be in effect until I revise or withdraw it. No record of this meeting shall be recorded or spoken to anyone not in this room."

Lancelot and Merlin glanced at each other, unsettled by the sudden formality of their king. Arthur continued, "From this day forward, Sir Lancelot," he gestured for Lancelot to stand, "will be known as the Queen's unofficial consort, taking the place of her husband in all manners of her life except in court. And Court Sorcerer Merlin," Merlin stood without even being asked, "will be my own consort, to do with as I please. Let this arrangement be known and locked in memory, never to be spoken again. This is my royal decree."

Merlin raised his eyebrow when Arthur finished. "Did you really have to do a whole ceremony to tell us that?"

"Yes, Merlin," Arthur said, annoyed at his unimpressed face, "it makes it more official. Don't you think so, Lancelot?"

"Yes, sire," Lancelot said, still shaky on his stance with Arthur. They had previously been close friends—Lancelot was the second to best knight in Camelot, after all. Even so, Lancelot knew that sleeping with the Queen wouldn't be forgiven all that easily. Arthur couldn't just forget such an extreme breach of courtly conduct.

Well, the king obviously didn't understand that. Arthur slapped Lancelot on the back casually. "Now, stop with that whole 'sire' business. You're sleeping with my wife! You're basically family now."

Lancelot shifted uneasily on his feet. "I apologize for that as well. I really didn't mean to infringe on your marriage."

Arthur shrugged. "What's done is done. I no longer loved her like I should have, so you did it for me. Besides, did you not hear that whole ceremony we went through? I approve of your little affair—as long as I can have my own."

"That sounds fair," Gwen said, intertwining her hand with Lancelot's own. "Now if you'll excuse us, I would like to leave before you change your mind."

"I won't." Arthur said determinedly.

Gwen smiled, "I know, but you still need to talk with Merlin alone, don't you?"

Arthur didn't respond to that, allowing her to leave the room with Lancelot in tow. As the door closed, Merlin and Arthur looked at each other awkwardly, neither knowing what to say next.

"So I'm your to do with as you please." Merlin mocked, a smile on his face.

"Yes," Arthur said primly, "so you have to listen to me now. As my new consort, it is even more vital that you don't show me any subordination. After all, if a king cannot even control his consort, what hold does he have over his kingdom?"

"Mmhm, of course," Merlin agreed patronizingly. "We'll see how that goes for you."

"Well since you love me, it shouldn't be too hard." Arthur said, peering at Merlin from the corner of his eye.

"No, I believe you love me." Merlin bantered back, moving closer to Arthur. He wrapped his arms around his king, pulling him close. He inhaled, reveling in the feeling of embracing Arthur with his own body, rather than somebody else's.

"Merlin…" Arthur breathed out, feeling a heady rush as he felt Merlin's body against his own for the first time. Yes, this was bliss. Though he would never say it, Arthur was glad that Merlin decided to play the part of Gwen. It was still a stupid idea, but if it led to this…

"Arthur," Merlin called softly, grasping Arthur's chin with his two fingers. Arthur turned to look at him questioningly, and was unexpectedly pulled into a deep kiss.

Arthur melted into the kiss. He had never felt anything like this when he was kissing Gwen—not even when Merlin was in Gwen's body. Arthur opened his mouth wider, returning the kiss passionately. Merlin pulled him in by the waist, moaning in approval when Arthur deepened the kiss.

When the pulled back from the kiss, Arthur let his hand lazily run through Merlin's hair. "That was good," Arthur said contentedly, leaning into Merlin's chest.

"I love you," Merlin replied, kissing the side of Arthur's neck. "And I'll never let you go; not even if Gwen decides she wants you back."

"You're so sappy," Arthur teased.

"Doesn't make it any less true," Merlin said, pulling Arthur in for another kiss.

When they finally separated, Arthur sighed. "You know, when I said that I wanted to fall in love again, I never meant it to be with you."

"What can I say," Merlin replied, "it must be destiny."

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A/N: Phew, that's the end of it! That took a lot longer than I had planned… 8k words for what was supposed to be a one-shot? Gosh!

I hope you enjoyed it! Keep an eye out for my future Merlin fics—I have two planned! I don't know when they'll be written and posted, though. Hopefully I'll get a lot done during winter break, but that's not for a good 3 months…

Reviews will always be welcome, even if you're reading this fic way, way into the future!