The Royal Scandal *Book One*

Thrown into the Pits of Hell S1 E12

As Gwen was one of my closest friends, I decided I would have to try and talk to my Father about this. If I wanted him to see things differently, I will have to remain calm and also try and say a few things that he will want to hear.

I went down to the great hall and found my Father pacing around in there. To get off to a good start, I actually knocked and waited for him to allow me to enter.

"Chelsea? What can I do for you?" Father asked.

"I think you already know why," I said.

"Right...the blacksmith," Father figured.

"You must see that he is innocent. And just hear me out. Is it not possible that Tauren was controlling or blackmailing Tom?" I asked.

"Either way he still betrayed his King. Nothing you say will change my mind, might as well accept that now," Father said. I went to try and say something but he interrupted me. "Don't bother, Chelsea. I will do things my way."

He then turned and left before I could say anything else. Dammit!

After my failed attempt at talking with my Father I went back down to Gaius'. When I got there Merlin was walking out.

"Merlin!" I called out.

"Chelsea, have you spoken to your Father? He must realise this is a mistake. Whatever Tom was doing, it wasn't plotting against the King," Merlin said.

"I know that. Of course I do. But Father--Father only sees enemies," I told him.

"But Tom is the most gentle soul I've ever met," Merlin argued.

"But he was seen with Tauren. To my Father, that makes him an enemy," I said sadly.

"Then there's little hope," Merlin muttered.

"At the moment, there's no hope," I replied honestly. "None at all."

"But there must be something we can do," Merlin continued.

"I honestly don't know. Speaking to my Father doesn't work. Trying to convince him otherwise is pointless. Until we find proof that he is innocent, there is absolutely zero hope," I said.

"Zero?" Merlin repeated.

"I'm afraid so," I whispered.

Merlin then looked at the clock.

"I need to go and see Arthur now. You coming?" Merlin asked.

"Yeah, sure," I replied.

Honestly, it felt good knowing that we wouldn't need to pretend in front of Arthur, but he had made us agree that we weren't to kiss in front of him which I thought was a reasonable request.

Arthur was stuck with collecting every single villager who had been caught helping Tauren, and I must say there was a lot of them. Surely that must tell Father that Tauren is an extremely manipulative man who can get what he wants easily. Or it just shows that no one likes Father. I wouldn't be surprised if it was the latter option.

When we found Arthur, he was standing there watching at least a dozen of the villagers being led through the town and up to the castle. I was curious as to what would happen to them, although I feared I already knew the answer to that thought. We approached Arthur, who rolled his eyes when he saw Merlin and I walking up to him.

"What have you two been up to? Actually--don't answer that, I really don't want to know," Arthur countered, before we had the chance to answer his original question.

"We've just been talking about all of this. What is Father demanding happens to them?" I asked.

"By the way you're looking at me, you already know," Arthur said, glancing at me.