A/N: Based off the movie, "A Princess for Christmas". I don't own Merlin. If I did, Arthur would kiss Gwen before he left for battle and say 'I love you'.

Chapter 1

Guinevere Leodegrance

Once upon a time, in a small little town in United Kingdom, there lived a beautiful girl named Guinevere Leodegrance. She had many dreams, waiting to be fulfilled. What she dreamed most about was to be able to get enough money and see new things and be independent in her own way.

Years went by and she blossomed in beauty, intelligence, and in attitude. She still had her dreams yet they were unfulfilled.

Unfortunately, her brother and sister-in-law died, leaving their two children, Aida and Rowan, in her care. She became their legal guardian and cared for them and loved them as much as any mother would. She still wished she could accomplish her dreams yet she knew that she may never get the chance. But sometimes, there are things that unexpectedly come your way.

"Gwen, we got a customer!" her boss, Morgause called. Gwen sighed exasperatedly, putting down the book she was reading just a few minutes ago. Gwen walked over to the front entrance to see a tall woman in her mid thirties. She had wavy brown hair and piercing green eyes. "Hello, I'm Guinevere. How may I help you today?" Gwen asked politely. The woman inspected her for a while before saying, "Ah yes. I was wondering if you could give me a music/jewelry box for my daughter. She's really into antiques."

Gwen smiled. "Then you've come to the right place." She ushered the customer off into a corner of the shop. It had different music/jewelry boxes of every color. Gwen looked them all over before selecting one of her favorites. It was a beautiful thing with a pink and gold tassel design and a grand piano shape. It had a gilded cover and when you opened it, you could hear the soft strains of a lullaby. The woman looked at it, inspecting everything with her scrutinizing eye. "It's perfect," she declared, with a smile. She immediately paid Gwen and left the shop.

Gwen immediately hurried over to Morgause to give her the money. "Gwen, could you come back here?" Morgause asked. Gwen immediately complied and seated herself down in front of her boss. Morgause gave her a small smile before launching into her confession. "Gwen, you and I have been working together for 5 years now. And you have done a good job," Morgause explained. Gwen glowed at this.

'Please let me get a promotion.'

"But unfortunately, you are being dismissed."

Gwen's smile dropped completely. She didn't understand this. 'Why would they drop me off?' she thought. She already had enough difficulties in life. She was still struggling to make ends meet. She had so many expenses and she barely got to buy anything for herself let alone the kids.

"Morgause, you can't do this to me. Please, I have to handle my nephew and niece. I'm still trying to make ends meet so that we can be able to afford what we need. I have to take care of the house bills, phone bills, school fees, not to mention the nanny who has to look after the two of them," she pleaded.

"I'm sorry, Gwen. But my decision is final," Morgause said firmly. Gwen nodded her head and immediately left the store. She threw the store one last longing glance before climbing into her car.

A man in a black trench coat stood on the sidewalk. He watched intently as Gwen left the shop and climb into her car. He then took out a Blackberry and began punching in a few numbers. "Hello, sir. Yes, I have seen her already. I'll deliver it to them as soon as I can." He hung up and immediately left.

"Bingo! I found the word Bingo!" Mrs. Pepper, the nanny in charge of the two Leodegrance kids, rejoiced. Elsewhere in the kitchen, the youngest kid, Aida Leodegrance attempted to make a jam sandwich. She was a child of 7 years old with black hair like her father's but she had her mother's porcelain skin. She had her father's brown eyes and her mother's nose. She was like most kids her age, believing in Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy.

She succeeded with preparing the bread and bringing out the jam, knife, and saucer. When she tried scooping the knife out of the jam jar, she tipped it over, causing the contents inside to spill onto the floor.

Mrs. Pepper heard the dull thunk! of the jar onto the countertop. "Aida, are you alright?" she asked from her position in the sitting room.

"Yes, Mrs. Pepper!" she replied. She then turned to the mess of jam that was starting to form onto the floor.

'What am I going to do?' she thought worriedly. At that thought, an idea struck. Aida immediately got the dishwashing liquid from the tool shed where they kept their things and rushed back to the kitchen. She then poured all the bottle's contents into a small tray in the washing machine. "There we go," she said contentedly. She then let the liquid mix with the water inside before opening the washing machine door to allow the contents to seep onto the floor and clean the mess.

Meanwhile, at the second floor of the house, Rowan Leodegrance attempted to escape out of his window using the old "blanket-rope" trick. He was a 15 year old boy with his father's dark skin and his mother's blue eyes. He had dark hair like his sister and he had his father's smile. He was rather rebellious like most fifteen-year-olds and always attempted to have it done, one way or another.

He was able to get away quietly and he made a run for it before anyone noticed he was gone. He breathed a sigh of relief as he reached the video store without being caught. As soon as he was inside, he started scouring the shelves until he found the new video game he wanted: RipRoaring Death III.

"Hey, Rowan!" a female voice greeted him. He glanced up to see a girl with ginger hair and blue-green eyes. "Oh, hey Tala," he replied. Her smile faltered slightly when she saw what he was holding.

"You're getting that? It's for ages 17 and above," she said, trying to dissuade him. He just smirked, as if he was talking to a 6 year old.

"Don't worry. I know what I'm doing," he said. He then stuffed the game in his jacket and proceeded to walk out of the store. Little did he know or even remember that the metal stands near the entrance/exit contained alarms to detect a stolen video game. And so with a false sense of security, he walked through the metal stands, setting off the alarms.

"Aida! Rowan! I'm home!" Gwen called as she entered the house. She really hoped that they weren't causing trouble again. Unfortunately, that hope was futile.

"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!" someone screamed in the direction of the kitchen. Gwen immediately started running and she flung open the kitchen door and found it covered in a thick layer of soap. In the middle of the floor, she found Mrs. Pepper's lifeless, husky body.

"Mrs. Pepper," Gwen called tentatively. She did not stir.

"Mrs. Pepper!" Gwen tried saying louder. Nothing.

"MRS. PEPPER!" Gwen shouted, mustering as much strength as she can. That caused the nanny to stir and get up.

"Where are the kids?" Gwen asked hurriedly.

"Upstairs," Mrs. Pepper said. Gwen immediately ran up the stairs. 'When I get up there, they are in so much trouble', she thought to herself.

She reached the landing of the stairs and started running towards Aida's room, calling her name as she went. "Aida. Aida!" Gwen called, getting worried.

"Help me, Rowan! Auntie Gwen is here. Please let me in!" Aida cried desperately.

"Gotcha!" Gwen squealed, pulling Aida into her chest. Aida squealed half-amused, half scared.

"Auntie Gwen, I'm sorry," Aida said, doing the puppy dog eyes that her mother taught her.

Gwen chuckled at her little niece. "Alright, I forgive you but you still have to clean up the mess," she said, giving Aida a stern look.

Aida hung her head and silently agreed. "That's my girl," Gwen said, tickling her niece.

"Now, where is your brother?" she asked after she finished her tickling her little niece.

"I don't know," her niece answered seriously. Gwen looked her niece in the eye to make sure that she wasn't lying. When she was finally convinced she wasn't, she pulled out her ring of spare keys to every room in the house.

She unlocked Rowan's door and found an empty room and a blanket rope tied to the window. Just at that moment, Gwen's phone started ringing. She immediately answered it.

"Uh huh. Uh huh. What? Alright, thank you sir," Gwen said.

"Come on, honey. We got to pick up your brother," she said to Aida before heading off to pick up her nephew before he got into anymore trouble.

A/N: Please tell me what you think.