Requested by @harmonizerfan101

Thanks to @XtraVan3lla4U for the votes!

Summary: You're a princess and you're being forced to marry Arthur Pendragon.

QOTP: Would you rather marry Arthur or Merlin?

Word Count: 4198

"Y/N, you can't ignore me forever," your father says, slightly miffed and riding on a horse beside you. You turn away, also on a horse, and refuse to look at him.

You're being forced to marry someone you don't even know.

Arthur Pendragon, prince of Camelot.

////

"I've never even met her!" Arthur argues.

"Well, she and her father are on their way, so you will," Uther replies, irritated. Arthur won't stop arguing even though it's too late to change anything.

"I want to marry for love-"

"Well, you're not! You're marrying for the good of Camelot, and that's that! Get out of my sight." Uther waves his hand toward the door.

Arthur hesitates for a second, then storms out. He barely registers Merlin, who was eavesdropping outside the door. His servant follows him down the hall. "I'm sure we could do something-"

Arthur stops and turns on Merlin. "There isn't! I'm being to forced to marry... I can't even remember her name!" He continues down the hall, heading for his room.

He slams the door in Merlin's face, but the servant takes no offense to it; he'd be mad, too if he was being forced to marry someone he didn't know.

////

"Y/D/N, I haven't seen you in years," Uther greets your father. Your father greets him back, but you tune it out. You still haven't talked to him since he told you you're marrying Arthur.

You look at him - Arthur. You have to admit, he's attractive. That doesn't mean you want to marry him, though.

He looks back at you, thinking the same thing about you. He steps forward and holds his hand out. Just by his body language, you can tell he doesn't want to be here either. "Arthur... Pleasure to meet you."

He doesn't mean it.

You take his hand and he kisses yours - a formality, probably to appease his father, who's watching out of the corner of his eye, making sure Arthur doesn't cause a scene. You flash him a close-lipped smile. "Y/N... The pleasure's all mine."

Suddenly, Uther turns to a servant standing next to Arthur. "Get their bags, will you?"

"On it, sire," he says. He grabs your dad's bag, then goes to grab yours even though he can barely carry what he already has.

"I'll get mine," you say, grabbing your bag. "Don't worry about it."

"Really, I can-"

"I'll carry them. Just show me where my room is."

Unbeknownst to you, Arthur's opinion of you starts to change. He'd assumed you were a stuck-up spoiled brat; all the princesses he'd ever met were.

But that doesn't seem to be the case with you.

////

You'd give anything to be anywhere else.

After the servant - whose name you learned is Merlin - showed you to your room, you stayed there until he came back and told you to come have dinner with Uther, Arthur, and your father.

Your father and Uther are engaged in a nice conversation, but you and Arthur are silent. You're picking at your food, not looking at him.

Suddenly, you set your fork down. "May I be excused?"

Everyone looks at you as you look at your father. He looks down at your plate. "But you haven't eaten anything."

"I'm not hungry."

He's not stupid; he knows why you want to leave. He glances at Arthur, then looks back at you. "At least eat something first."

With your hands, you pick up your chicken - a large portion of meat cut out of a cooked chicken sitting in the middle of the table - and shove the whole thing in your mouth.

You stand and shoot a fake smile at your father, chicken still in your mouth.

Arthur snorts and tries to keep himself from laughing and you hesitate for a moment in your exit.

Unbeknownst to Arthur, your opinion of him starts to change. You'd assumed he'd be horrified - that he was a pretentious spoiled brat; all the princes you'd ever met were.

But that doesn't seem to be the case with him.

////

Later that night, there's a knock on your door. Your first thought is Merlin coming to tell you your father wants to speak to you, or your father coming to speak to you directly. But it's not.

It's Arthur.

"Did my father send you? Or your father? Or both?" you ask immediately.

Arthur smiles a little. "Neither, actually." You cock an eyebrow as he asks, "May I come in?"

"Alright," you say suspiciously, "but if anyone sees you they're going to think ill of the both of us."

He chuckles as he walks in, closing the door behind him. "Honestly, our fathers would probably be glad. That'd mean we'd actually want to get married."

"Is it that obvious?"

"A little," he says. "I don't want to marry you either, in case that wasn't clear."

"Well, it doesn't seem we have a choice."

"It doesn't, but I wanted to see if you had any ideas as to how to get out of this."

You shrug and sit down on the bed. "I already ignored my father for an entire three day journey from my kingdom to Camelot. He hasn't budged."

Arthur leans back against the wall. "So, we're screwed, then?"

"Royally screwed."

He laughs. "At the very least, I'd rather marry you than any of the others princesses I've ever met."

"Really?" you ask. "Why?"

"You're not stuck-up. Which reminds me, out of curiosity, did you actually eat that entire piece of chicken?"

You laugh. "Despite what I said, I was hungry. So, yes."

He laughs, too. "Did you see the look on their faces?"

"I only saw the horrified look on my father's."

"Mine actually went pale!"

You laugh, then stop with a gasp. "I know how to get them to call off the wedding." Arthur stands up straight, his laugh cut off as well. You continue. "We'll just act as awful as possible. I'll make Uther hate me, you make my father hate you."

"That just might work."

////

Over the next day, you try to make your clothes look as wrinkly and ugly as possible and do away with all the manners drilled into you from childhood.

Except for when talking to the servants, of course.

Your father is horrified and lectures you practically all day, and you've had enough of it. You decide to leave the castle and wander around, looking for a break.

You pass Arthur on the way out.

"Think my father hates you yet?" he asks.

"Not sure. I hope so."

He chuckles. "I think your father's had enough of me already." He's been an absolute slob around your father all day long. You laugh, and just then he realizes you were leaving the castle. "Where are you going?"

"Anywhere but here. My father 'isn't happy with my behavior' and I'm sick of hearing about it."

"I've got nothing to do. We could take a couple horses for a ride in the forest?"

"Alright. Sounds fun."

You get two horses and head for the woods, Arthur slightly ahead of you until he slows to ask you something. "So is there any particular reason you don't want to marry me besides the fact that we barely know each other?"

You laugh. "Like what?"

"Like, I don't know, another guy?" he suggests jokingly.

You snort. "No. I've never met a guy I've actually liked. Ever- Wait, I take that back. There was this one prince who was visiting with his father and he was cute."

"Oh, really?"

"Yeah, and then he started talking."

Arthur laughs. "I know exactly what you mean; I can't tell you how many princesses I've met that are exactly like that."

"You don't know the half of it; you're a boy, and you're an heir to a throne. They won't treat you the way they treat other princesses who are supposedly 'trying to steal their future husband from them'."

"Did you really?"

You're close enough to slap him on the arm and you do. "No. Her 'future husband' was unfortunately ugly on the inside and out. But he was rich, so what can you do?"

Arthur chuckles. "So that's it, then?"

"What?"

"If there's no guy, then the only reason you don't want to marry me is because we barely know each other."

You shrug. "Well, yeah. I mean, I wanna marry for love. And, no offense, Arthur, you're a great guy, but I'm not in love with you."

"Couldn't've said it better myself," he sighs. After a moment, he looks over at you. "Just in case our plan doesn't work, though, we should probably get to know each other."

And that's what you did until it got dark.

////

"Where were you yesterday?" Merlin asks Arthur the next morning at breakfast. "I had nothing to do all afternoon - not that I'm complaining."

"I was with Y/N," Arthur replies casually, sitting down to eat.

Merlin's brows furrow. "I thought you didn't like her?"

"No," Arthur says. "I never said that. I thought I wasn't going to like her, but she's actually nice."

Merlin smirks a little. "Oh. I just thought you didn't want to marry her, that's all."

Arthur stops. "... I don't."

"You were with her all afternoon."

"That doesn't mean I want to marry her."

"Sure, sire."

////

The next day, you both continue being absolutely awful, Arthur even flinging mud onto your (purposefully) wrinkly dress while you were watching him and the other knights train.

You thought it was a clever move, especially since Uther and your father were also watching. You reacted instinctively, which made it even better. "Arthur!"

He laughed, then saw the look on Uther's face and paled. "It was Gwaine!"

Gwaine was all the way across the field, but you momentarily forget that, thinking of that split second of pure joy and amusement on Arthur's face. His laugh...

Later, before bed, you casually asked your father what he thought of Arthur now that he's actually met him. He took a minute or so to answer. "He's... Your marriage will benefit our kingdoms."

"So you haven't noticed what an annoying, disgusting slob he is?" you said, hands on your hips, lying through your teeth and being well aware of it.

Your father scoffed. "Uther and I aren't stupid, Y/N. We know exactly what you two are doing."

"We're not doing anything," you insisted.

Your father only gave you a pointed look. You huffed, had no idea what to say, and ran off.

Now, you're knocking on Arthur's bedroom door. He opens it tiredly, expecting Merlin, but finds you instead and he perks up immediately. "Y/N?"

He's shirtless - probably having just been sleeping or about to - and it gives you pause. You start to say something, but can't, and he realizes quickly and pulls on a shirt. "Better?" He's amused now that he's fully awake.

You cross your arms. "Not in the slightest."

His brows furrow and he walks back over to you to close his bedroom door. "Care to explain?"

"The feast where you're supposed to propose to me is tomorrow night."

"I'm well aware," he says simply.

"My father and Uther know about our plan."

"And?"

You look at him incredulously. "And they won't call off the wedding!" You walk closer to him, leaving only an inch or so between you and grabbing his shoulders, shaking him slightly. "We're running out of time!"

There's a pause while you wait for him to respond, hands still on his shoulders. However, he's just looking at you dreamily, but you forget the notion and assure yourself that he's just thinking. You feel butterflies all the same.

Finally, he speaks, his voice a whisper, eyes searching yours. "Maybe it wouldn't be so bad if they didn't call off the wedding..."

"What?" you ask quietly, unsure as to what to think or what he even means. Surely he has a plan of some sort, maybe something to do during the proposal or just before the wedding. Maybe simply saying "I don't" would work...

"Maybe it wouldn't be so bad if they didn't call off the wedding," he repeats.

You know exactly what he means just by the look on his face but ask anyway, trying to process everything. "What do you mean?"

He sighs and runs a hand through his hair, the movement causing your hands to fall. "I've been thinking... There's no obvious way to get out of the marriage anyway, and it would benefit our kingdoms."

"What happened to marrying for love?" you ask, arms crossed again. He gives you a look that nearly makes you gasp. "Don't tell me you love me, Arthur; you've only known me for three days!" You're not one to believe in fairy tales; nobody can fall in love that fast.

"No!" Arthur says. "I don't... love you. Not yet, anyway... But I really think I could."

It goes silent for a minute or so as you think.

Now that he's said something, you realize you really could fall in love with him. Especially after that afternoon in the forest. He's sweet and funny. And cute. And so many other things you don't have the words to describe. He's genuine. And it really doesn't seem like you're getting out of this wedding.

Your uncross your arms. "I... I think I could love you, too."

"So... are we going through with this?" he asks after a moment's pause.

"I-I think we are."

He grins. "Well, goodnight then, future Mrs. Pendragon. Wouldn't want to be tired at the feast tomorrow."

You chuckle. "Oh, yeah, I completely forgot I get your last name. I might marry you just for that; Pendragon is a cool last name." He laughs and you start to leave as he heads back to bed. You turn at the door, going to say something else, then you see that he's shirtless again. Your breath hitches - you weren't expecting that - then you sigh. "You couldn't've waited?"

"Like what you see?" he asks jokingly, getting into bed.

You roll your eyes even though we all know the answer to that. "Careful, Arthur. You're starting to sound like a pretentious jerk."

"Yes, but I'm about to be your pretentious jerk."

"I could change my mind."

"Then take a last, long look and remember that these abs would've been all yours."

You laugh. "Goodnight, Arthur."

////

The next afternoon, you're feeling nervous, throwing dresses all over the room from your trunk, trying to figure out what to wear.

You haven't seen Arthur all morning, and that's making things even more nerve-wracking. You haven't seen Merlin, either, so you're assuming they've been together all day.

You find a dress and put it on, then second guess yourself. Before you can change, though, there's a knock on your door.

You open it and find Merlin standing there, smiling. "Good afternoon, Your Highness. I've come to get you for the feast."

"I told you to stop calling me that," you chide, about to burst with anxiety.

Merlin is smirking. "Arthur told me you're going through with it."

"Y-Yeah."

He frowns. "Have you changed your mind?"

You shake your head, rubbing your sweaty hands on your dress. "No. I'm just nervous. I-I mean, it'll be official by tonight. We'll be engaged."

"You've got nothing to worry about. Under all that ego is a pretty decent chap."

You laugh. "Thanks, Merlin."

He holds an arm out. "My pleasure. Shall we?"

////

You've been nervously bouncing your leg the entire feast, picking at your food, glancing at Arthur, then glancing at Merlin, who always gives you an encouraging smile. Arthur's joking around with the knights, but he keeps glancing at you, too. Every time your eyes meet you get even more nervous.

At one point, you see Uther nudge Arthur and your heart skips.

You're going to vomit. Not because you've changed your mind, but from nerves. Worry. Stress. Because after you get engaged, you can bet your wedding will take place in less than a month afterward. And then what?

Arthur's looking pretty worse for wear, too.

He stands and walks over to you (your father and Uther were separating you). "Y/N, I would like to ask you something..." You look up at him and he leans forward a little and whispers, "Try to act surprised."

You chuckle and it actually makes you feel a little better. "Ask away, Arthur."

He takes your hand and gently pulls you out of your chair, and he doesn't let go when you're standing. His other hand is in his pocket. "Y/N, there's really nothing to say besides just... what I want to ask you." He gets down on one knee and holds out a ring. "Will you marry me?"

You see the almost pleading look on his face and gasp, acting surprised, hand to chest - the whole nine yards. You choke out a "yes" and he puts the ring on your finger and hugs you, looking relieved.

"I was worried you'd changed your mind," he says quietly. "That would've been humiliating."

"No, it would've been funny."

He chuckles, still hugging you. Neither of you are in a hurry to let go. You could stay like that forever, if you're honest. He's warm and he smells nice...

Maybe it's the fact that you're going to marry him getting to you.

////

It's been two weeks. Those two weeks were spent entirely with Arthur, the two of you only parting to go to sleep.

You rode horses in the forest again. You walked around Camelot, holding hands. You "trained" with the knights. You even came close to kissing once, but agreed to wait for the wedding (in the forest, on a river bank; would've been romantic). That was one of the times Merlin wasn't there with you...

Two weeks of trying to find out absolutely everything about each other.

Excitement and nerves twisted in your gut as you wrung your hands, two female servants helping you get ready for the wedding.

If you go through with this and it goes south, at the very least, you won't die alone.

"Do you want help getting on your dress?" one of the servants asks. You turn to look at her and remember her name - Gwen.

You look at the dress she and the other servant - Emily - are holding. It's a ball gown; huge, with a ton of layers to get lost in. "Yes."

With the dress on and your hair pulled back in a complicated, beautiful braid, you're ready to get married.

Arthur isn't.

////

"What if she's changed her mind?" he asks nervously.

Merlin, who's trying to get him to change, chuckles. "She hasn't, I promise. She would've told you."

"Are you sure?"

"Do you want me to go ask her?"

"... No."

"Then get dressed!"

////

If you were nervous before, that was nothing compared to now.

You're actually walking down the aisle, an organized crowd of people standing on either side of you. The wedding itself is taking place in the throne room, and then there will be a feast in celebration.

But you have to do this part first.

You keep your eyes on Arthur, feeling everyone else's on you. Including his. He's smiling.

You finally reach him and step up to stand in front of him. He grabs your hands. The priest begins speaking and you're barely paying attention to what he's saying. You can hear your heart beat in your ears. On the bright side, Arthur looks just as nervous.

You repeat what the priest tells you to repeat, Arthur repeats the same thing. Then, the question.

"Do you, Arthur Pendragon, take Y/N Y/L/N as your lawful wife, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and cherish until death do you part?"

He hesitates for only a moment. "I do."

Then, the priest looks at you. "Do you, Y/N Y/L/N, take Arthur Pendragon as your lawful husband, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and cherish until death do you part?"

You could say no. You could say "I don't". You could run out right here and right now.

You take a deep breath. "I do."

"You may now kiss the bride."

Arthur's lips are on yours before the priest even finishes speaking, taking your breath away. When he pulls away after a few seconds, you want to pull him back again, but refrain; you're in front of a bunch of people. He smiles at you as cheers erupt from the wedding guests.

You smile back.

////

"I'm scared," Arthur says.

You laugh, absentmindedly rubbing your thumb against the back of his hand, looking away from your previous home to look at your husband. "Don't be. She'll love you. And even if she doesn't, there's nothing she can do about it now."

"Well, I guess you're right." He sighs. "Unless, of course, she had me killed-"

You hit him lightly on the chest with the back of your hand - the one holding his. "Arthur! My sweet mother would never have anybody killed, much less her own son-in-law."

"What if I turn out to be horrible?"

"What, you mean to horrible me?"

"Yes — purely hypothetical, but yes."

"Well, in that case, I'd kill you myself," you reply bluntly.

He laughs. "It'd certainly be fun to watch you try."

"Don't underestimate Merlin and I."

"Merlin?" he half exclaims, still laughing even in his confusion.

"Oh, he'd help me plan your murder, of course. And no one would ever know..." You let go of his hand and walk towards the castle, looking back at him pointedly as he laughs, even though he's stuck with your bags.

You decided to go back and stay in your kingdom for a few days before heading back to Camelot to officially move in and be a princess there instead of here. It's been four days since your wedding; the first day you stayed in Camelot, then the three day journey.

Your mother is in the throne room when you walk in, and she gets up and runs over to you, hugging you tightly. "Oh, I haven't seen you in forever."

You chuckle. "I missed you, too, Mom."

She pulls away. "So, where's this husband of yours? Is he cute?"

You laugh. "Very cute."

"Are you talking about me?" the man in question asks from behind you. You turn and see him walking toward you, now luggage-free.

"No, we were talking about me," you reply, fighting to keep a smile off your face.

He chuckles as he reaches you and your mother. "Well, that makes much more sense."

He introduces himself to your mother and they start making small talk. She asks about your wedding and the proposal mostly. Then, they end up talking about completely unrelated topics, leaving you confused. Your father shows up at some point and manages to join in, too.

"While this is entertaining," you interrupt. "I'm hungry, and I wanna go freshen up before dinner."

"I should probably freshen up, too," your mother says. She and your father head for their room while you take Arthur's hand and pull him to yours.

Once the door's shut and he's made himself at home, stretching out on the bed, you sigh. "I told you she'd like you."

He shrugs as you get in your luggage to find a clean dress to change into. "I'm just that charming."

"Mhmm."

"Hey, I charmed you into marrying me."

"No, it was the other way around."

He chuckles. "Well, we're already playing the part of a married couple pretty well, aren't we?"

You stand, dress in hand, and walk over to him, then lean down to kiss him. "I'd say we are."

He smiles and pulls you back down, almost making you forget what you were doing. But your hunger soon brings you back to reality, and you pull away. He tries to pull you back yet again, but you laugh and put your hands on his chest. "While I could do that forever, we're gonna be late for dinner. And I meant it when I said I was hungry."

He sighs and lays back on the bed. "Oh, alright."

After you change, you head down to dinner, where Arthur laughs and jokes with your parents. You head back up to bed after and cuddle close to him as you fall asleep. (If you're gonna be married for the rest of your lives, you might as well get used to it now, right?)

The next few days, you walk through your kingdom, Arthur and your father spar with the knights, and you spend time with your mother.

With every day that passes, you become increasingly glad that you said "I do" instead of "I don't".