Last chapter! I didn't like the ending as much as I thought I would, but I'm too tired to change it. So... enjoy it. Whatever.

I just want to say sorry to the actors in the show. Because it must be incredibly, incredibly weird to have people write about you.

Uther didn't understand. Yes, yes, it was alright to mourn your friend's death, but none of the knights were dead, so why was Arthur so upset?

"Because," replied Arthur, in a rather sharp tone, "Despite what you may believe, Father, I do have friends who aren't knights." Or I had one, anyway.

Uther stared at him. "Why?" he asked, almost genuinely curious, "Who?"

"Merlin," said Arthur, and when his father still looked blank, he added, "My manservant." Then, in his head, he apologized to Merlin, because Merlin meant much to him than just his servant.

Uther thought for a moment, then clicked his fingers. "Oh, yes, Gaius's boy, the, um, impertinent one. Although I never got the impression you two were particularly close. He always seemed rather rude." He paused. "Is he dead?"

Arthur clenched his teeth, trying not to lose his temper. "Yes." he muttered. It galled him that his father was so nonchalant about a death. A life was a life, after all, and Merlin deserved respect more than anyone.

"Shame." said Uther. He didn't seem to really care one way or another. "If you don't start being more careful on these hunting trips, I won't let you go any more. But you're safe, that's what matters most. The kingdom must come first."

A little bit of Arthur's anger eluded him. "I'm only safe because of him!" he said heatedly, "Merlin saved my life, again, as he has been doing since he became my servant."

Uther sat forward. "He saved your life?"

"Er, yes." said Arthur. It had suddenly occurred to him that he couldn't tell his father what actually happened. Even though Arthur was safe, Uther never took kindly to the use of magic. "He, um, he pushed me out of the way of a man about to stab me."

"And got stabbed himself, did he?" said Uther, who probably would've snorted if he hadn't seen Arthur's expression. "Right, that's it, next manservant we get you is going to be trained in fighting."

Arthur lifted his chin. "I don't want another manservant."

Uther stared at him. "Arthur, don't be ridiculous."

"I'm not being ridiculous." said Arthur calmly. "I'm not going to have another manservant."

Uther sighed exasperatedly. "Arthur, I don't want you to come back here in two days, asking me to hire someone for you. You need a manservant, you can't do it all on your own."

Arthur raised his eyebrows. "Watch me." He turned on his heel, and started to march out. But he paused before the door, and gave his father a mocking half bow.

Uther couldn't help but feel that bow was meant to show his father exactly how little control he had over Arthur. And how little Arthur cared about that small bit of control. If Arthur got any worse, he'd be like Morgana.

"Gods save Camelot from moody children." muttered Uther, rather forgetting (as always) that both Arthur and Morgana were in their mid-twenties and perfectly capable of looking after themselves.

Gwaine found Arthur up in the tower. Arthur was sitting, with his back against the wall, letting the cold wind blow around him and looking at the white-gray sky.

"Hey," said Gwaine, pausing, and then, with a groan, eased himself down to sit beside him.

"Hey," said Arthur, without looking at him. Maybe a greeting, maybe an echo.

"What's on your mind?" asked Gwaine eventually.

Arthur's voice was gravelly. "What do you think?"

It was true, Gwaine's question was really more of a formality than actual curiosity. Arthur knew Gwaine knew what he was thinking about. Mainly because there was only one thing that was ever on Arthur's mind these days.

"I'm sorry." said Gwaine, which was so rare an occurrence, it could almost be classified in the category of miracle. "I'm sorry I was so. . . you know. . . after. . . you know. Merlin."

Arthur dipped his head, though he didn't look away from the sky. "It's okay." He pulled his legs closer to him. "I understand."

"Yeah." There was a lull in the conversation. A comfortable, companionable silence. There wasn't anything to be said.

Arthur finally spoke. "I just- I can't seem to wrap my head around the fact," He took a deep breath. "That he isn't coming back."

"I know." said Gwaine. "I keep expecting to see him walking down the hall with your breakfast, but. . ."

Arthur nodded. "Yeah."

There was another silence. The wind began to blow harder. Neither Arthur nor Gwaine made any move to get up or leave.

"He was right, you know." said Gwaine, without explanation.

"About what?"

"Well, no matter how much Merlin insulted you, he never stopped believing you would be a great king." Gwaine nudged Arthur's foot. "He was right."

Arthur sighed deeply, a sound that belonged to a much older man. "Merlin was right about a lot of things." said Arthur, "But not about that. He put far more faith in me than I deserved."

"He didn't, though." said Gwaine seriously. "Don't you think he saw something else in you? I don't think that was blind faith."

Arthur sighed again. "I don't know what he saw, but it's gone, if it were ever here."

"Arthur." For the first time since their conversation started, Gwaine's voice took on a sharper, more Gwaine-like edge. "He believed in you. He trusted you. He sacrificed himself for you because he knew you would be a great king. And because he was your friend, Arthur."

Though Arthur felt slightly sick at how easily the past-tenses rolled from Gwaine's tongue, he did hear the words. "I know, Gwaine, I just. . . I don't see how anyone could see me as a great king."

Gwaine exhaled loudly. "You idiot."

"What?"

"So you're not even going to try. You're going to step down and let Morgana be queen."

"No, of course not." said Arthur indignantly. "She'd be a terrible ruler."

"So you will do it. Just a terrible job." said Gwaine.

"I thought you said I would be good."

"I thought you said you would be terrible." countered Gwaine.

Arthur huffed. "I hate you."

"No, you don't." said Gwaine.

A second passed. "No, I don't." he agreed.

Gwaine sat forward. "Arthur, if you don't believe me, at least try. Try to be who Merlin saw in you. Because Merlin was right a lot more times than we gave him credit for."

Another silence, the longest one yet. The problem with not talking means you have to think. God only knows what was going on in Arthur's head, but his shoulders straightened and he set his jaw.

And then Arthur slowly nodded. "You're right." he said softly. "I'm going to be great." He turned, and for the first time, looked straight at Gwaine, eyes burning with the stubborn will of a king. "I'm going to be great. For Merlin."

The end! What did you think? Tell me what you liked, so I can use it again. Tell me what you didn't like, so I won't make that mistake again. REVIEW!