Puissance: Chapter Two
Title: Puissance: Chapter Two
Author: ArthurMerlin
Artist: blood_songs90
Pairings/characters: Arthur/Merlin (minor: OC/OC, Gwen/Lancelot)
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 30,798
Warnings: None
Summary:The turbulent times of Prime Minister Arthur Pendragon, in which war looms, betrayal waits in the wings, and unexpected love blossoms.
Disclaimer: Neither ArthurMerlin nor blood_songs90 owns any aspect of Merlin. No copyright infringement is intended.
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Chapter Two
The alarm beeped annoyingly on the bedside table. Arthur groaned and flung his arm out to switch the alarm off, missed, and sent the clock flying across the room. The sound of it crashing into the wall woke Gwen, who jumped.
“Sorry,” Arthur murmured with a long yawn. He groaned as he pulled himself into a sitting position and put his head in his hands to rub away the sleep.
Arthur was still half-asleep when the door to his bedroom opened and Merlin strolled in casually. Gwen shrieked somewhat and Arthur pulled the covers up over his bare torso.
“Merlin!” he shouted, “don’t you knock?”
“Prime Minister, when the good British people elected you as their leader you forfeited your rights to a private existence. Now, come on, you’re late for your morning’s briefing.”
Arthur glanced over at the clock, but it took a few seconds to register that it wasn’t there. “What time is it?”
“0530, sir,” Merlin said with a dramatic sigh.
“Half five?! That’s late?”
“For a world leader, yes. Hurry up, Arthur, we haven’t got all day!”
They stared at each other for a few moments before Arthur indicated the door, “well, leave so I can get dressed.”
“We don’t have time for that!” Merlin said with exasperation, “here, put this on and let’s go.” He threw Arthur the dressing gown that hung on the back of the bedroom door and walked out of the room. Arthur slipped on the garment and tied the cord, then padded out of the room behind Merlin, leaving Gwen alone in the bed.
They reached Arthur’s office and Merlin sat down, opened his folder, and produced a few pieces of paper for Arthur to read.
Yawning behind his hand, Arthur took the first sheet and tried to focus his tired eyes on it; “any chance of a cuppa?”
Merlin raised his eyebrows, “I’m your secretary, not your servant.”
“Oh, come on Merlin! Be a friend, please?” Arthur whined.
“What are you, twelve?” Merlin said, but stood up anyway and left the room to get the tea.
Arthur scanned the documents in front of him; lists of schedules, briefings, meetings, the parliamentary business for the day, and so on. He was used to seeing similar papers when he was Leader of the Opposition, but he’d been allowed to wait until a more reasonable hour before reading them.
Merlin returned a few moments later balancing a teapot and some teacups on a tray with one hand and carrying the morning papers in the other; “Arthur, take these papers will you? I can’t carry all of this!”
Despite himself Arthur shot out of his chair to rescue his flailing secretary. He glanced at the headline on the first paper he saw and sat back down with it. Aside from a story on the worsening drought in East Africa, and the announcement that Mordred Cerdan had won a landslide victory to take the Russian Presidency, was the announcement of his own election victory. The headlines drew parallels with his father’s victory in 1979, some even stating Arthur’s victory surpassed even that in significance.
The broadsheets, however, had moved Arthur’s victory to a secondary place. The main headline was occupied with the news that Fathi Al-Hazar - the dictator President of Iraq - had been issuing threats to use nuclear weapons against Israel. It was well-known in the political community that Al-Hazar was not mentally stable; it was by no means certain that he had the ability to carry out his threat. Israel, however, would no doubt view the situation as intolerable and it could even lead to limited Israeli airstrikes on Iraqi installations.
Arthur tore the story from the front page and handed it to Merlin; “make an appointment with Leon for this morning, I want to discuss this with him.”
Merlin nodded and jotted the request down in his diary.
The two of them settled into an easy and companionable silence as Arthur perused the papers.
…
Morgana Le Fay succeeded Alined as the temporary leader of the Labour Party until an official leader could be elected. She was a fiery woman with a razor-sharp tongue. During Alined’s premiership she had held the post of Home Secretary and had regularly decimated Gwaine when he shadowed her in the House. Indeed, Morgana was the most feared debater in Parliament, and the news that she was taking the reins of the Labour Party sent a shiver down Arthur’s spine.
So Arthur found himself at the dispatch box facing an immaculately dressed Morgana with a conspiratorial sneer on her seductive face. She rose to her feet and appeared to dominate the physical space of the House; in no small way due to the high-heeled shoes which raised her above the height of most MPs. When she spoke her voice was as if laden with poison and Arthur could not help but wince.
“Is my right honourable friend the Prime Minister aware of the recent change in government in the Russian Federation? Is my right honourable friend further aware of the accusations made against the victor - Mr. Cerdan - of electoral fraud? And if the Prime Minister is aware of these accusations, what response will the government be making?”
Arthur rose to his feet as Morgana slid back into her seat like a viper settling into its coils. This was an unexpected twist for Morgana; the news of minor protests in Moscow at the election of Mordred Cerdan was not major news. Arthur had been expecting questions on the new government’s policies and, perhaps more particularly, the developing situation in Iraq.
“Her Majesty’s government is not in the business of judging the internal electoral affairs of other nations.”
Arthur’s succinct response drew unruly jeering from the other side of the House resulting in the Speaker yelling for order. The coiled viper moved to strike and Morgana asked her first follow-up question; “I seem to remember my right honourable friend, when he occupied this chair, was quite happy to criticise the Labour government for not intervening in the disputed elections held in Sierra Leone two years ago; an unfounded accusation, I might add, as the Labour government was indeed intervening at the time.” Morgana paused as the Labour side of the chamber cheered and waved their order papers. “Will my right honourable friend, in this instance, put his money where his mouth is?”
The Labour MPs cheered even louder as Morgana sat and Arthur rose to stand at the dispatch box again.
“I fear my right honourable friend has not recalled the full facts of the case to which she refers. It was upon this party’s questioning of the Labour government’s lack of response, to clear breaches of international law in Sierra Leone, that the former Prime Minister became involved. And I also fear that the right honourable lady is comparing oranges with lemons! There were clear breaches of international law in Sierra Leone, such breaches are by no means in clear evidence in the Russian Federation. What I can promise, however, is that we will work with our partners in the European Union if and when these accusations develop. And may I remind the right honourable lady that she vocally supported the disputed 2001 election result in the United States of America, why the change in tune now?”
That response scored Arthur some points as the government side of the House exploded into raucous cheering. Those moments always electrified Arthur and reminded him why he had run for Parliament in the first place; there was nothing quite like this feeling!
Prime Minister’s questions continued until 12:30 and all things considered was a victory for the government. Morgana had given as good as she got but hadn’t been able to score any lasting blows against Arthur. When Arthur retired to his private office in the palace, he slumped into his chair and allowed himself a loud laugh.
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Chapter Three