AN: I don't own Merlin. I am definitely grateful that the writers managed to make such a great and popular series, which I just fell in love with!
Warning: English is not my mother tongue, so it is entirely possible there are spelling or grammar mistakes in my story. Do not hesitate to point them out to me.
Spoilers: 5.12-5.13, also 4.11
For this story, I assumed that Mithian has married a noble from Nemeth, one of her knights. They have been married for about five years. They married a few months before Mithian became Queen. I got the idea from Larasmith in a review. So if you're reading this, thank you!
Adelia is derived from Adela, having the meaning of 'Noble'. Adrian is a form of the name Hadrian, going back to Hadrianus: 'A famous bearer of the name was Publius Aelius Hadrianus, better known as Hadrian, a 2nd-century Roman emperor who built a wall across northern Britain.'
Also, I don't know much about British etiquette, so I just used some phrases I thought would be fitting.
AN2: I don't own Merlin. I am definitely grateful that the writers managed to make such a great and popular series, which I just fell in love with!
Warning: English is not my mother tongue, so it is entirely possible there are spelling or grammar mistakes in my story. Do not hesitate to point them out to me. Enjoy!
Update (05-15-2013): Thank you to everyone who has favorited this story and/or who has reviewed. I appreciate it!
It all started when six-year-old William was summoned to the throne room. Somehow, he knew he wouldn't like what was going to be said. His uncle Merlin was walking with him, having been the one to inform him of his mother's wishes. Entering the throne room, he saw Queen Guinevere sitting in her chair, the King's chair having been empty for almost seven years now. He straightened up proudly before walking down the aisle, smiling at some of the people gathered, mostly knights.
Next to him, uncle Merlin bowed slightly, a sign of respect for the Queen. "My Lady." Gwen smiled. "Merlin, you don't have to do that." He looked up with a smirk. "We have company, my Lady, so yes I do." The Queen rose from her throne, rolling her eyes. "Oh, come here, Merlin. They're our friends. Besides, some of them have seen you call Arthur a prat, a dollop-head and all of your other imaginary words." When she reached Merlin, she hugged him and kissed his cheek. Then she turned to William. "Hi, love. Did you have fun this morning?" The prince threw his arms around her. "No! Gaius made me learn maths, and I hate maths! Mommy, you're the Queen, can't you forbid maths? Then I won't have to learn it anymore." A few sniggers sounded from behind him. It sounded like his uncles Merlin, Percival and Leon. He turned his head and narrowed his eyes at them, at the same time noticing that quite a few people were trying to hide their smiles.
Ignoring them, his mother crouched down to be able to look into his eyes. "Now why would I do that? We need to be able to count, sweetie. What if we have to ration our food? Or imagine you're being attacked, and you only have a crossbow, how will you know when you are out of arrows?" William pouted and admitted defeat. It hadn't been the first time he asked his mother, and every time, she had given him another reason for learning how to count. "Fine. Why did I have to come, mommy?"
Gwen smiled at him. "Well, I have good news, and I assumed you'd want to know." The blonde prince looked at his mother with wide eyes. "Good news? I want to hear! What is it, mommy? Do I get a dragon?" More sniggers from behind him. And even his mother laughed. "No, love. But remember Queen Mithian? The nice lady who visited last year?" William nodded fervently. He had liked her, despite his efforts not to. "Well, we've received word from her and she's coming for a visit again." The young prince started dancing around. "Yeey! When's she coming? I need to get ready, I need to take a bath!"
He started for the doors that lead to the hall, but his uncle Leon stepped in his path. "Relax, William! She's not arriving for a few more days. And maybe you should listen to your mother for a little longer. There's more." Leon turned him to face his mother again. Gwen nodded her thanks at the First Knight of Camelot.
"There's more?" The Queen nodded and beckoned her son to come closer again. When he was standing in front of her, she continued. "So, Queen Mithian is coming for another visit, and this time, she's bringing a playmate for you." Now William was confused. "A playmate? I don't need a playmate. The Queen can tell me stories." "William, sweetie, Mithian can't spend all of her time with you, you know. So when she's handling matters of state, you can play with her daughter, princess Adelia." The young prince frowned. "Queen Mithian has a daughter?" Gwen nodded. "Yes, she has a daughter. Adelia is four. And she has a son too, Adrian, who is two." "If she has a son, then why is she bringing her daughter?! I don't like girls!" This time, everyone in the throne room started laughing.
The news about Mithian bringing her daughter had only been the beginning. Things only got worse after that.
A week after, William could be found in the courtyard, bathed and wearing his best clothes, waiting for the Nemethian Queen and following to arrive. He was standing next to his mother, in front of his uncles Merlin, Leon and Percival. When the group of travellers arrived, William stood on his toes, trying to see the Queen he had started adoring the year before. Percival, seeing his struggle, picked him up from behind and put him on his shoulders. From this point of view, the prince could see Mithian and he started waving enthusiastically, getting rewarded when she waved back at him.
When the knights surrounding the Queen broke their protective formation, Leon and Merlin stepped forward. Leon helped Mithian from her horse, while the warlock walked up to the carriage where Adelia was sitting to help her down. Being a child-loving person, Merlin swirled his hands before presenting the princess with a beautiful flower. The girl giggled and accepted the flower, thanking Merlin with a kiss while he helped her down. William had been observing the proceedings, just like the rest of the people in the courtyard, and rolled his eyes. His uncle was supposed to side with him, he wasn't supposed to charm the little girl!
After the greetings had passed, William having tugged Percival's ears as a signal to put him down so he could go hug Mithian, the two Queens took their children by the hand and started in the direction of the throne room. A meal had been set out for the four of them there. While walking, the prince chanced a glance at the princess and found her looking back at him curiously. He narrowed his eyes and stuck out his tongue at her.
Once they arrived in the throne room, Gwen and Mithian decided to introduce the two children formally. "William, this is Adelia Aurora, princess of Nemeth, Mithian's daughter. I expect you to be nice to her." Gwen's words were said in a warning tone. "And Adelia, this is William Arthur, prince of Camelot, and son of King Arthur and Queen Guinevere. He's the boy I told you about last year, when I came back. Remember?" Adelia nodded her head dutifully, her eyes never leaving William. "Hi! I'm Adelia. Nice to meet you." The prince frowned, considering if it was wise to go against his mother this early on. Deciding to wait for a more opportune time, the boy grudgingly spoke, using the words etiquette required of him. "Hi. The pleasure is all mine, princess Adelia." Seeing his mother was momentarily satisfied, he stepped closer to the table and announced he was hungry.
Dinner was over quickly. Adelia had tried talking to him a few times, but he only gave short answers, so after her first few tries, she had given up. Neither his mother or Mithian had noticed his behaviour, so he supposed he was lucky for the time being. That was, until Gwen turned to him and ordered him to show the princess his playroom. "Mommy, do I have to? I have nothing for her to play with! She's a girl, and all of my toys are for boys." His mother's eyes narrowed. "William Arthur Pendragon, you will take Adelia to your playroom, and you better make sure you don't 'accidentally' lose her somewhere in the castle! She's younger than you, so you will take care of her. Better yet, you take her hand and lead her there. Sara will be waiting for you."
So that was how he found himself hand in hand with a girl of all things. She was chattering away about something, but he hadn't been listening. When it was suddenly silent and he felt her hand tugging his, he realised he must have missed something. "What?" The girl was staring at him with a slightly hurt look on her face. "I only asked if you thinked my little brother was going to be okay without me and mommy," she said sadly. He sighed. "Yes, yes, he'll be okay. Now come on!" He tugged her forward again, and she thankfully remained quiet for the rest of the way.
Sara had been waiting for them, and as soon as he saw her, he released the girl's hand and wiped his on his pants. Looking at his nanny, he said: "You can tell my mommy I've been a good boy and I've held her hand the whole way here!" Then he ran past her, jumped on his bed and closed the curtains around it, so no one could see him anymore. Outside his 'safe haven', he heard Sara greet the girl gently and in no time, the two were laughing and playing. Great! Now even his nanny was betraying him!
The next few days proceeded in much the same way, with William hiding on his bed, refusing to play with the princess. When Sara forced him to come out on the fifth day, claiming he just needed to spend time with Adelia so he would get to know her, he saw they had set out his set of wooden figures of knights and horses. It was something they could play together. Sara left them to get a snack. Deciding Adelia could take the figures with the green capes, and William would take those with the red capes, they suddenly came to the conclusion that the prince had a lot more toys. Adelia said she would take the toy king, and they would call it even. However, that was William's favourite figure and he refused to give it up. Of course this led to a rather loud argument between the two.
"But you already have a lot of knights! So I should get the king!" "No! It's my toys! And so it's my king!" "That's not fair! I can't help it that I have no toys here! All of mine are at home!" "Well, you're in my castle now, so I'm the boss here!" "Well, then I don't want to be in your stupid castle anymore! And I don't want to play with your stupid toys either!" They were both standing up by this time. William gasped. "My castle is NOT stupid! It's beautiful and nice and warm and… and… HOME! Take that back or I'll… I'll…" Adelia had balled her fists and was glaring. "You'll what?" "I'll pull your hair!" Now the princess was the one to gasp. "You wouldn't! I'll tell my mommy! And I won't take it back. Your castle is stupid!" William's face reddened. He jumped forward and pulled one of Adelia's two braids. "Aauuw!" The girl reacted and swung her arm at him, hitting him in the stomach.
Before the fight could continue, Sara entered the chambers at a run. She had heard the commotion from the end of the hallway. "What are you doing?! Stop this immediately! William! I expected better of you. I will have to tell both of your mothers that you were fighting." By now, the two children had separated and were standing two meters away from each other, both with arms crossed and throwing angry looks at the other. At the word mothers, the children's eyes widened. But however much they tried, they could not talk the nanny into staying quiet.
That evening, both received a talk from their mothers, who were very displeased. On top of that, they each received a punishment for after the visit. However, their relationship did not get better after that. In fact, it only got worse. Both blamed the other for what had happened and the consequences. Even years later, the two were found either ignoring each other or fighting.
A month after Williams eighteenth birthday, a feast was to be given to pronounce him as crown prince of Camelot and Albion. The days before the feast, the guests from the different kingdoms within Albion began arriving, all wanting to celebrate. William had been busy greeting the guests and showing them to their appointed rooms. Two days before the banquet, the arrival of the Nemethian party was announced, so the prince hurried to the courtyard. He hadn't seen Mithian since her visit last year, so he wanted to be there to greet her. When he arrived in the courtyard, he noticed the party that was arriving was slightly larger than usual. He hadn't asked his mother who would be coming, he had just assumed it would be Mithian and prince Adrian, like it had been a few times over the last few years. Even though the prince was a few years younger than him, they had played together.
He found out the reason for the larger group of knights only after he had helped the Queen from her horse, greeting her with an embrace. When they parted, she smiled at him and waved her hand to present the others who had been riding with her. He recognized the prince and threw a smile in his direction, which was answered with a grin from the fourteen-year-old. "William, may I present you to my husband, Henry. I don't believe you've met him, since he never joined me on my visits. And during your few visits at Nemeth, he was always away to protect the lands. Henry, this is prince William Pendragon." A man with a friendly face came to stand next to the Queen, bowing his head at William. The prince did the same. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Sire. I've heard a lot about you from your Queen." "It's a pleasure indeed. I, too, heard a lot about you, from Mithian, Adrian and Adelia." Henry smirked.
A wince flashed over the prince's face. Suddenly, Mithian smiled slyly, before waving her hand behind her. "Speaking of Adelia, I believe the two of you know each other, so I needn't introduce her, do I?" William froze. He looked behind the Queen, noticing a girl still sitting on her horse. "Well, go on, she'll need help getting down." A huff sounded from under the veil the girl was wearing. "I don't need help. You just insist I have to be a proper princess and wait until someone helps me down." Only after William had helped the girl down, did she lift the veil. The prince frowned. "That's not princess Adelia! She's much smaller and… and…"
He turned around to find quite a few people in the courtyard watching in amusement. "I think I would recognise my own daughter, William." Mithian spoke. "Yes, I think mother would notice if someone had taken my place. I am the girl that hit you during my first visit here, after you pulled my braid," the princess spoke regally. The prince turned to Adelia again and spoke with a cold tone. "I didn't expect to see you here, princess. You've… changed." She huffed again. "Well, I didn't exactly want to come, but my mother forced me. And what did you expect? That I hadn't changed in the past five years?" William cocked his head. Had it really been that long since he had seen her? Yes, well, he had refused to go with his mother when she went to visit Nemeth when he was fourteen, and every time after that. Likewise, Adelia had refused to come to Camelot since she was twelve. Both Queens had sighed, but they knew they would not manage to get the two stubborn children to like each other if the children didn't want it. Secretly, they had even been relieved they wouldn't have to deal with the fights anymore.
The prince almost rolled his eyes. "Let's just get inside." He turned around and started walking in the direction their parents were standing. From behind him, he heard a cough. Turning back, he saw Adelia looking at him with raised eyebrows. "You're supposed to escort me in, I believe." William sighed before mumbling "Great, just great…" "I hate to admit it, but I agree with you on that at least." William hid a smile and held out his arm, waiting until the girl had placed her hand in the crook of his elbow before starting the walk inside. They didn't speak to each other for the rest of the day.
Later that night, Merlin found William hiding in his room instead of sitting in one of the comfortable chambers with his mother, where he usually could be found. "Let me guess, you're avoiding princess Adelia, who is sitting with her parents and Gwen." The warlock was smiling slightly. He had always been amused when the two young royals were forced to spend time together. He imagined that had been the way Arthur and Morgana had once interacted, before Merlin had come to Camelot. William just glared at him. "She's really not that bad, you know. She's grown up since you last met. And so have you. Maybe you should give her a chance." "Don't start, uncle Merlin. It's their first night here, so I doubt Mithian and mom will want to deal with a fight between the two of us."
Merlin went to sit on the bed, where the prince was sitting against a pile of pillows with a book in his hands. "You'll have to speak with her at some point, William. You're both first in line for the throne. It wouldn't do for the two of you to keep fighting. You'll have to learn to get along, so why not start now?" William grumbled before answering. "Because… Because she's annoying! You heard her today! I didn't mean what I said about it not being her. I was just surprised. I knew she would have changed in the last few years, but I wasn't even expecting her here. And then she immediately pointed out that she hit me when I pulled her braid. That was 12 years ago, uncle Merlin! You'd think she would have gotten over it by now. I don't know if she's changed all that much mentally, even if the physical changes are noticeable. I mean, I expected her to have grown. I just didn't expect her to be this… grown up and fair-skinned and her lashes look longer and her lips so red and she has a very feminine figure, I noticed when I helped her down. I guess I didn't think she'd ever be this… this pretty."
At some point, he had started rambling. Merlin had been sitting there, listening to him. He nodded a few times, but at the same time, understanding was blooming in his mind. When the prince used the word 'pretty', he almost groaned. Of course. He should have expected something like this to happen. Even though the prince was oblivious to it, he had a crush on the girl, and that after only seeing her once. His annoyance was just a way to try to convince himself that he would never like the girl. What was it about Pendragons and their tendency to like a girl that seemed impossible to get for them?
AN: Another one, I know, I'm sorry.
Originally, this was going to be a one-shot, but the story is getting longer than expected. So there will be another chapter after this one. Don't know when that will be up though, probably not too long. But I have a few presentations next week, so I'd like to focus on that. If it's any consolation, most of the second chapter is already written.
But anyway, thank you for reading!
And for more about William (child and teenager), I suggest reading my other stories.