DICLAIMER: All Original Characters, Plots, Places, Creatures, Spells, Etc Are the porperty of the BBC. I do not in any way shape or form own them. I merely own My characters, plots, spells, creatures, places etc. =]

1

Snow, it fell as a powder upon the ground, bathing the imperfections in an innocent and virginal white sheet; the delicate flakes were stirred into a flurry by the gentle breeze which danced through the skeletal branches upon the naked birch trees, the many hundred of them which grew in the majestic forests created an ethereal beauty that was only emphasised by the quaint glow from the low afternoon sun. Amidst this sprawling mass of silver and white stood the city of Camelot, the castle looming over the thatched roofs of the common cottages in all its grandeur; the brilliant scarlet flags which fluttered from the turrets were emblazoned with the gold Pendragon royal crest, Uther Pendragon himself stood by his window watching his people go about their day to day chores. The king had the faintest of smiles upon his stern face as he observed the children watching in delight as their snowballs burst into powder upon contact with an unsuspecting victim and he chuckled to himself as he saw the court physician, Gaius, cursing the children whilst brushing the snow from the shoulder of his winter cloak; Uther mused to himself before seeing his own son become part of the picture, the young crown prince sat aloft his noble steed heading in the direction of the city gates to ride into the forest. Arthur Pendragon, Uther's sole heir to the throne and to his kingdom. Uther watched his son canter along the path before disappearing into the cover of the trees, the Pendragon red jacket the prince wore was the last thing his father saw before it too was lost amongst the trunks; Uther could not help but wonder when his son would be mature enough to take on the responsibility of being king, at present Arthur currently lived his life without a care in the world and spent his time hunting and pursuing maids to bed, and with Uther sensing his time on the throne coming to an end he thought of whether or not his son would cope with the duties he would soon have thrust upon his shoulders.

Arthur's hair shone a brilliant gold under the pale sunlight which filtered through the bare trees above him, he was devilishly handsome and he knew it; his fathomless blue eyes drifted lazily over his surroundings as he pushed his horse on through the deep snow, he had a strong jaw and a majestic air radiated from his being, he looked every inch the prince he was. The young crown prince was a skilled hunter, trained in recognising the smallest detectable change in his surroundings – be it sound or sight – which would lead him to his prey; today however he had taken to the forest to clear his head and escape from his princely duties, and it was because he was engrossed in his thoughts that he missed the ghostly figure lurking behind the trunks of the trees either side of the trail. The stranger's white cloak was drawn over their head to fend off the seasonal chill and the train slithered along the snow behind them, the stranger was as fleet as a dear and moved ever so quietly through the trees so that Arthur would have no knowledge of their presence as they watched him from the cover of the trunks. Arthur rode on, blissfully unaware he was under the gaze of this elusive creature, or so he led them to believe; the truth of the matter was that Arthur had known they had been there since the stranger had first begun stalking him for the prince was far too skilled a hunter to completely let his guard down and he had been biding his time until he had the advantage over his follower.

-

Meanwhile, within the sanctuary of the castle, in the darkest and bottom most dungeon something was stirring; chains scraped on the stone walls and an eerie glow radiated from a lone torch belonging to the young warlock Merlin, he stood on a ledge which protruded from the dungeon wall and faced out into an empty cavern, awaiting the prisoner he sought after. Before long there was a tremendous crash followed by a teeth clenching, high pitched screech of metal on rock as heavy iron chains slid down the side of the boulder the prisoner had landed upon and a series of metallic crashes as each link fell upon the cave floor; when Merlin lowered his arm he had used to shield himself from the dirt and pebbles which were kicked up in the process he was faced with a deep burgundy scaled dragon perched upon the very boulder which had been vacated just moments beforehand.

"What is it that you covet young wizard?" The dragon sounded amused as it spoke, as if he knew the answer Merlin was looking for.

Merlin, completely unfazed by the creature, began speaking. "You told Gaius of a girl, a girl who you saved and who you said would govern the fate of Camelot, tell me who she is."

The faintest of smiles played upon the dragon's mouth as he spoke. "Ahh, but I told Gaius that in confidence, tell me, how is it that you come to posses such knowledge of said maiden?"

"I heard Gaius talking…dreaming…and he kept saying the same phrases over and over again. 'The maiden', 'You saved her' and 'You know everything'."

A deep resounding chuckle resonated off the cold, damp walls. "Dear Gaius, he always did believe I knew everything even after I told him otherwise so many times."

"Don't get distracted. Tell me who she is." Merlin interrupted.

"And why should I young warlock? I told one and only one, Gaius. It does not bode well for too many wizards to know too many secrets." With the last comment the great dragon stretched his leathery wings and rose up from his perch, only to disappear into the darkness of his prison, leaving Merlin alone.

"You are insufferable!" Merlin shouted to the darkness, his voice echoing off the walls of the cavern.

Turning on his heel, Merlin threw the cave back into darkness once more before running straight to the chambers he resided in alongside Gaius.

As he burst through the door looking flustered and out of breath, he nearly tripped over the work bench as he sat down; Gaius looked up at him and sighed deeply.

"What have you done now?" The physician looked back to his work and continued grinding herbs using his pestle and mortar.

"I think you should tell me about the maiden whom the Great Dragon saved. The maiden you keep dreaming about." Merlin choked out as he caught his breath.

Gaius paused and looked a Merlin with a bemused expression; however he soon looked back down to his work once more. "That was merely a dream Merlin; it has nothing to it."

"You are a terrible liar. I want to know why the Great Dragon wouldn't tell me who she is, and why you won't tell me." Merlin demanded. "If she holds the fate of Camelot, then she holds Arthur's fate too; and it is my destiny to protect Arthur. I have a right to know."

"Merlin…" Gaius paused as if he were about to say something but decided against it. "…Alright."

Gaius took seat opposite Merlin before composing himself. "When Uther first took to the throne I knew there would be trouble for anyone who was in anyway magically inclined. Twenty-three years into his reign I was unfortunately proven right when Uther sought to imprison the Great Dragon, the carnage that ensued was horrific, man and beast fighting for the right to do as they pleased. Many villages were destroyed in the process and with so much scorched earth left behind it was a wonder that either could claim victory; one of the villages that were destroyed was the village, Gaelyfor, by the great lake east of the woods and it was here that the dragon did something he would never forgive himself for. Having the king as a common enemy united the magical beings and formed an alliance which provided them some protection; however in Gaelyfor there resided a family, the mother was a water nymph – a relative of the woodland elves – who was married to a simple farmer. The dragon had long known the nymph and that is why he could not bare the fact he killed her and her husband when he crashed down upon the pony and trap they were travelling in; as he felt indebted to them he took their daughter – the last survivor of Gaelyfor – and left her in the care of a woman who lived in the forest, she was a peasant who lived off the land, from there onwards the child who was but two years old at the time would be raised as a peasant. She would know nothing of her past and therefore she could not be tried for being a witch or being a magical creature in alliance with the witches and wizards –"

Merlin cut in briefly. "– Wait, is she like me?"

"I highly doubt it. Her mother was but a lake nymph and it would be highly unlikely that any magic whatsoever runs in her daughter's blood. But as I was saying; many years after the great dragon was imprisoned and long after Uther set to purge the magic from the kingdom, the dragon asked me to seek the old woman and young girl who lived in the forest, he asked me to make sure she was alive and well. I did as he asked, I checked upon her and discovered her to be as healthy – if not healthier – a young girl as she could be; however the woman who looked after her had fallen ill so I spent a day tending to her ailment before returning to the dragon and giving him the news he wanted to hear. Afterwards he told me of this girl's past and of her future as the most beautiful woman the kingdom had ever seen, but more importantly he told me of how Arthur would become entranced by her on the eve of his father's anniversary to celebrate forty years on the throne, thus linking to Arthur's fate and the fate of Camelot."

Merlin looked overcome by this information before he finally spoke. "Uther's anniversary is tomorrow."

"We shall have to wait and see if Arthur does indeed meet her today then." Gaius replied simply.

"Just one more thing…what is her name?" Merlin asked.

Gaius smiled as he pictured her face for a moment. "Adriana, the kind maiden of the forest."

-

Arthur reached a glade and dismounted his steed slowly and almost in an exaggerated manner; his sword rested on his hip and leaving his horse to stand he made his way through the snow towards the trees. The stranger who had been following him waited for Arthur to disappear into the denser trees and after a few moments had passed they broke from the cover of the foliage and slowly edged forwards to the lone horse, the animal looked up to see them and watched as they moved closer; the figure slowly reached our their hand with the palm facing upwards and gently crouched down till their knees where touching the snow.

"Shh…easy…" The voice was no louder than a whisper and soothing to the nervous steed.

From the trees the prince watched as his horse cautiously raised his front hoof out of the snow and place it forward as the animal was seduced by the person Arthur presumed to be a thief; still watching Arthur saw his horse gently press his muzzle into the thief's palm and familiarise himself with the new master, the thief – still crouched – rubbed the horses face gently unaware of the fact the prince was slowly making his way closer towards them from an angle that was out of the thief's line of vision. Arthur eventually got close enough and pulled his sword from its holster before pointing the tip in the centre of the thief's back.

"Halt. Stand or I'll run you through."

The thief froze, their hand falling from the horse's face as they felt the blade pressed between their shoulder blades; they slowly begun to stand up as told, al the time cautious of the blade.

"Turn around and lower your cloak." Arthur commanded in his regal tone.

The thief raised their hands to the hem of the cloak and turned around to face Arthur, they then lowered their hood with their head bowed to the ground; Arthur raised his sword from where it was pointed over their heart and used his blade to the thief's chin upwards to face him before he allowed it to rest over her throat.

"Who...who are you?"

Arthur may have asked the question but it was a subconscious action that he was unaware of as he was taken aback by her startling beauty. The girl was younger than him: her long raven air cascaded down her back is waves and a plait was twisted over her head, leaving a few tendrils to play delicately beside her oval face; her skin was an unusual colour to that of which Arthur was accustomed to seeing, a glowing golden brown that was by far lighter than Gwenevere's and contrasted delicately against the white cloak she wore; by far the most stunning aspect of her appearance were her vibrant apatite blue eyes which were complimented by the silver pendant she wore around her slender neck, from it hung a small blue topaz crescent moon.

"My name is Adriana." The girl replied as she looked up to him; she was a few inches shorter than him and her eyelevel was roughly where his nose was, she was tall and statuesque Arthur noted.

"Adriana of where?" Arthur asked as his eyes still wondered up and down.

Adriana raised an elegant brow and looked around her. "Adriana of the forest."

"Of the forest? Adriana of the forest?" Arthur looked sceptical. "Well 'Adriana of the forest', do you know whose horse you were about to steal?"

"I beg your pardon? I was not stealing your horse!" Adriana retorted. "All I know is your horse is lame."

"My horse is not lame." Arthur argued. "You will have to find a better excuse than that."

"Your horse is lame in its hind left leg; you would have to be a fool not to have seen that." Adriana replied adamantly. "And who are you to go around pointing your sword at innocent people and accusing them of stealing? The king?"

"As a matter of fact I am his son, and you owe me an apology for calling me a fool." Arthur drew himself up to his full height.

"That just makes you a royal fool, that horse is lame…" Adriana paused for a moment. "…Sire."

Arthur glanced over her shoulder to his horse to see his reliable steed was indeed lame, however not one to be proven wrong Arthur pretended he did not see. "I could have your throat slit for speaking to me in that manner."

Adriana smiled politely. "And yet we are still talking…sire."

Arthur was amazed by the young woman before him, she was intelligent with tremendous audacity when faced with the crown prince; but most of all he had never before seen someone so captivating in appearance. For all the reasons above and for the simple fact she had argued every last word out of him, Arthur lowered his sword and holstered it again;

"For someone so beautiful, you are extremely stubborn." Arthur commented.

"For someone who spends his life around horses, you don't appear to know much about them. And also for someone who spends his time with the Lady Morgana, I would hardly say you can call me beautiful."

"Arthur!" A third voice interrupted the scene; Merlin emerged from the trees and nearly fell over a hidden root in the process before stopping dead in his tracks and looking at the unfamiliar woman.

Arthur rued the day he allowed Merlin to become his manservant, true he got the work done – albeit at the very last minute – and yes he did serve as a good companion, but his lack of timing and tact was enough for Arthur to have him put in the stocks. The prince made a mental note to do just that when they returned to Camelot.

"Merlin! Can't you see I am talking?" Arthur growled.

"Sorry but the king ordered that you return to the palace immediately." Merlin spoke hurriedly. "You need to be fitted for your tunic for tomorrow's banquet."

"Yes. I know." Arthur said through gritted teeth as if he were a child that had just been reprimanded; he turned back to Adriana. "Goodbye Adriana…of the forest."

"Adriana?" Merlin exclaimed suddenly.

"Yes?" Adriana replied. "Have we met?"

Merlin blushed profusely and stammered for a moment – she really was as beautiful as the Great Dragon had foretold – before he found the words. "Umm no, but you know Gaius. And well, I know Gaius, and he mentioned you and yes sorry I just heard your name and thought out loud."

"Gaius?" Adriana broke into a spellbinding smile. "The physician?"

"You know the court physician?" Arthur interrupted suddenly.

"He tended to my aunt when she was gravely ill many years ago." Adrianna informed them. "I would very much like to meet him again."

"Then you shall come to the castle with us." Arthur said suddenly.

Still remembering what Gaius had told him about the fates of Arthur and Camelot, Merlin was hesitant about this woman; what would she bring upon them?

Merlin observed the girl, he took in her overall appearance and watched how she interacted with the prince; he did not seem besotted with her but maybe that was a good thing, for the last time Arthur had become infatuate with a woman was when he was under an enchantment, and Merlin did not really want to jump in any lakes at this time of year to save him.

"Merlin!" Arthur's voice suddenly flooded Merlin's ears and he came to again. "Could you try and stay focussed for one minute?"

Adriana watched Arthur reprimand his manservant and she felt sorry for Merlin that he had to be bullied by this arrogant prince, she could understand that he was royalty but that did not give him the right to act like a pompous child; she had not known him long but she did not think she was going to like Arthur, yes he was attractive in an obvious way but he did not seem to have much else to offer apart from brute strength and a handsome face.