Merlin - Collide

sgmajorshipper

kepp0xy

Duty. Honor. Loyalty to his crown and family.

“However long this takes, I’ll wait for you,” he said, and the way her gaze dropped under the weight of the impossible made his heart ache.

The collective breath of everyone in the room is held, except for maybe the woman standing across from him. She holds her head high and looks him in the eye.

“Arthur, listen to me. They need that well. You can’t sacrifice it for more protection!” He rubbed his forehead and turned, pacing again.

“I know. I know. But I don’t know how I’m going to tell my father that.” Her hand rested on his arm, and she smiled.

“I have faith in you.”

She’s somewhere behind him, in the room full of people. No doubt forcing herself to watch him. That thought alone makes his heart feel like it’s being torn in two.

He doesn’t want to choose.

Because one woman has captured his heart and held it in his grasp for so long. She’s the perfect partner in everything; she knows what makes him happy and what kills him. Only one thing stands in their way.

And the other swept into Camelot with no thoughts of a proposal, or even a relationship. She expected nothing but somehow he found himself liking her more and more. She reminded him in ways of Morgana, but in others of Gwen.

He owes everything to one, and loves the other nearly as much.

“You can’t wait forever, Arthur. We can’t wait forever.”

He takes her hand, and kisses it gently. His heart is racing and he still doesn’t know what he’s doing.

“Lady Elaine,” he begins, and her dress rustles lightly from the wind blowing through the open pavilion.

Her pretty pink dress trailing behind her, she ran, laughing and teasing him without a care in the world. Flowers filled the meadow, and by the time they returned to the castle, there were many a crushed patch of daisies.

His eyes slide shut, and he knows he’s about to do something that will hurt, so very badly.

But he knows the difference between love and attraction. Loyalty and infatuation.

“I am extremely glad that you enjoyed your visit here, and I hope that you may return to visit Camelot soon.”

She nods gracefully, and for a moment he wonders if she knew what he would choose all along.

The room lets out their breath, and he turns.

All he sees is the girl in the pink dress, tears in her eyes.

--------

“Why?” she asks when he sees her that night. He doesn’t have an answer that can be put into words. There’s nothing he can say to explain what he did.

Maybe she can read the answer in his eyes, because she doesn’t ask again, merely nods and lets her head fall to his chest.

One day, they won’t have to hide like this.

One day love and duty will be the same.