AN:
I'm late, I know, but I'll be submitting the next chapter for The Dream of Albion very soon as well.

King Nothing

The journey south had worn him out. Although in the presence of two of his soldiers, he felt alone. Having lost Camelot he was forced to think about his actions. He had been the ruler of a great kingdom where his people loved him until his anger got the best of him. He lost the faith and love of the people and, more importantly, that of his beloved Gwen. There was an urge to look for her but it wouldn't do her much good. He couldn't take care of her. There was nothing he could offer. He was going to fight for the throne and there was no point involving her into a bloody struggle.

He rode through the gates with a man on either side of him and soon he was hailed by a knight.

Queen Elena had half-expected Arthur's arrival. With the conquest of Camelot, he was bound to either come to her or to have died in the battle. She did not receive him in the throne room but had him escorted to the guest chambers immediately. Politics could wait, the man needed a rest first.

Arthur Pendragon was examined by Elena's court physician the next morning. The former King of Camelot had few injuries and Elena decided to check up on her guest.
"It's good to see you in one piece."
"Yet I feel like I've been torn apart." Was Arthur's wry reply.
There was an uncomfortable silence at which point Elena decided to be a bit more straightforward than usual.
"What is it you expect of me?" She tried asking it as neutral as possible.
"Isn't it obvious?" The manner in which he said it annoyed her greatly.
How dare he speak to me in such a way? We barely know each other and he is King no more.
"Gawant cannot launch an attack on Camelot simply because you lost it." She snapped.
"Excuse me?" Replied a flabbergasted Arthur.
"I'm sorry, Arthur, but right now you are king of nothing. Give me compelling arguments and I will reconsider."
"Merlin, your father's MURDERER-"
"Enough!" She interrupted him, "I know what he is but I'm also wary of him."
"What's that supposed to mean?" He asked.
"You want me to give you an army and chase after him."
"No, it's not." Answered Arthur although her answer was rhetorical.
"So you have a plan?" Elena concluded.
"Well... not exactly." He admitted.

The Queen of Gawant took a deep breath. This was no way to behave towards her ally, least of all because they had a common enemy.
"Who will stand with you?" She asked.
"Alined and Olaf I am sure of. The peace treaty between Camelot and Mercia is still in effect. This means I'm not sure where Bayard's allegiance lies."
"Camelot will have support from Nemeth and, should they play their cards right, Odin." Replied Elena.
"What of Annis?" Arthur wondered what she considered Caerleon to be.
"She's indifferent, she won't aid Morgana unless provoked."
"She allowed her to enlist the Saxons." He reasoned that she had already taken a side but Elena didn't see it as such.
"She wanted them off her lands and Morgana gave her exactly that."
"I want Annis dead."
Elena shook her head. Although Arthur might think of her as an enemy, Elena would not risk making it a reality.
"You will leave her be or you'll be on your own. I will not tolerate insubordination."
A low grunt came from Arthur but he didn't argue.
Elena continued, "Before we wage war with Camelot, there are other matters that must be dealt with first."

Merlin felt something move across his face ever so gently. He opened his eyes to see the pale, beautiful face of the woman with whom he shared the bed.
"Sorry." Morgana smiled apologetically for waking him up. She had been running her fingers across his cheek and into his hair.
He couldn't help but notice how calm she looked. Without her makeup on she didn't look like the vengeful high priestess, nor did she look like the tyran queen from years past.
"Did you sleep well?" He asked.
"We didn't do much of that, did we?" She replied with a sultry smile.
Merlin smiled as well but his silence betrayed his worries.
"Is something wrong?" She asked.
"Your vows as a High Priestess, the odds of pregnancy, what the people will do if they find out-"
"Give me time to answer, alright? I wanted to become Queen and conceiving an heir is part of that. I thought it would be a while before I would break my vows but I knew it would happen eventually. Some women have trouble conceiving a child. If last night made me pregnant, I should count myself lucky."
It was uncanny how little breaking her vows and the possibility of pregnancy bothered her.
"As for the people," Morgana continued, "I'm not ashamed of the man I love."
Merlin was speechless but so was she. She had yearned for him for a while but to call it love, even after all the pain and hate, was extraordinary. Had she said it too soon? He had forsaken his destiny of being Emrys and replaced it with her. Not only had he changed for her, he had changed her as well. There had always been other ways and now she saw them as well.
The hatred to your love, Kilgharrah's words now seemed so insignificant to him. How could they fight each other, be each other's opposites, when they were joined in this?
"I think I love you too."
Morgana smiled and moved into his arms which made Merlin very aware of their nakedness. She could sense the awkwardness and whispered.
"Don't be shy. If you're uncomfortable with this, perhaps we should do it more often."
He looked down at her in wonder and she captured his lips once more. Merlin could kiss her for days on end but it became clear Morgana had something else in mind when one of her legs wrapped itself around his waist.

Not long after dawn, Sefa entered the Queen's chambers to wake her and bring her breakfast. She was surprised to find Morgana both awake and dressed already. She didn't know Morgana very long but from what she had heard, one answer came to mind.
"Did you have trouble sleeping, milady?" Asked Sefa.
"On the contrary, I've not slept this well in ages." Or maybe she hadn't slept enough to actually have a vision, Morgana wasn't sure which.
"I might have some bad news. We can't find Merlin. The servant that was supposed to wake him can't find him. His bed hasn't been slept in and we've spent the last hour looking for him." Sefa said it in a pleading manner, as if she feared for her life.
"He was here." Morgana simply replied.
"Here, milady? Before you even had breakfast?"
"In all fairness, it was me that woke him." Replied Morgana, as if that actually answered her question.
"Would you mind if I call back the search party first?"
"You do that and I'll enjoy my breakfast."
Sefa curtsied and left in a hurry while Morgana smiled at herself. It was childish to hide her romance with Merlin but, as Queen, she knew not of all the consequences they might have to endure. Merlin understood the need for secrecy but she could tell he wasn't very pleased with it. She would have Geoffrey look into the laws and treaties but Morgana doubted Uther was clever or paranoid enough to take into account an heir with magic.

In the hour in which he had gone missing, Merlin was going through his belongings in the physician's chambers. At one point he was staring at the leech tank. His heart held regret concerning his behaviour towards Gaius, his mentor. When his mind wandered to happy memories, he quickly reminded himself of what he had done to Morgana. It was midday when he finally met up with Morgana and Ruadan to discuss Camelot's current state of affairs.
"The debt seems to be stable but lowering it will require a source of additional income. Most probably taxes and, or, cutbacks." Said Ruadan.
"What about the iron mine?" Asked Merlin.
"Are you talking about cutting back on their wages or increasing the trade tax of it?"
"With the iron comes lead. Would it help if we could sell the lead?"
"All countries of Albion have stocked up on metals when war was looming over Camelot and Nemeth. We can't sell it."
"But suppose we can, what then?" Merlin persisted.
"Depending on the price, it would significantly lower the debt. It is, however, impossible."
Merlin turned his attention to Morgana and, with a smile, said "It's time to catalogue what's in our vaults."

She smiled at him. He was about to be brilliant again and Ruadan had no idea what was about to happen.
They, Merlin, Morgana and Ruadan, opened the infamous vault in which a world of magic had been waiting for decades, just waiting to be brought back to life. Gold and silver of jewels, crystals, weapons and talismans gleamed, brightening the vault itself with the light it reflected.
Merlin led as they walked down memory lane. There were the Blood Crystal, the shards of the Rowan Staff and then there was the Tauren's Enchanted Stone.
The warlock picked up the Sorcerer Stone and handed it over to Morgana who accepted it with glee.
"I don't understand." Said Ruadan.
"Years ago, a sorcerer named 'Tauren' used this stone to turn lead, into gold." Explained Morgana.
It was then that Morgana noticed Merlin's attention had gone to the next artefact, a gold, metallic spiral. Judging by the look on his face, he was either disturbed or intrigued by it. His fascination with the object was matched by Morgana's when he took an identical golden spiral from his pocket.
Although in his hands, magic pulled the two pieces together and they joined into one.
"Like pieces of a puzzle. What is it?" Asked Morgana.
"You don't know?" Ruadan interrupted them.
Annoyed by the druid talking down at them, Morgana replied "Enlighten us."
"It is an ancient relic made by Dragonlord Ashkanar over four hundred years ago. He had the gift of foresight and saw the purge and the deaths of many dragons. He built a tomb for the last dragon egg and broke the key into three pieces. You've only got two."
"The first part I found in Nemeth, the second one here, where would we find the third?" Asked Merlin.
Morgana frowned at Merlin's forwardness, "How can you be so sure that the dragon will help us?"
"Given the opportunity, Arthur would destroy magic. How could it not help us?" Merlin said rhetorically.
Ruadan continued, "One of the druid clans had one but it might be the one you found in Nemeth. They distanced themselves from us a while ago. I will see if Se- Someone's been in touch with them recently."

The leader of the Saxons was about to leave but turned around to say one last thing.
"All this talk of economics was fun for a day, my queen, but I'm a military man and I will speak no more of it."