Title: The dream prince

Pairings: Merlin/Arthur

Rating: T

Warnings: slash, some violence (I'll warn you again in the chapters where it appears), angst, character deaths (not Arthur or Merlin), some innocent underage kisses (nothing serious until they are adults) and fluffy moments (after all it's kind of a fairytale). And this is unbeta'd, so any mistake is completely mine.

Summary: FairytaleAU. Merlin is a peasant warlock and Arthur is an oppressed prince. Both of them try to escape their destiny but it brings them together in the form of a lake and a lady who would make everything in her hand so that their dreams can become true. Merlin/Arthur slash.

Disclamer: All credits go to the creators of BBC Merlin and the Italian film 'Sorellina e il principe del sogno'.

Word count for this chapter: around 2,900

AN: I finally decided to start publishing this! It's based on an Italian film called 'Sorellina e il principe del sogno' directed by Lamberto Bava. I used to watch it when I was a child and I loved it. I really feel like transforming it into a multichaptered story with Merlin as Alisea/Sorellina and Arthur as prince Demian and here you have the first chapter. I have this all planed and I intend to follow more or less the plot of the film but I will make quite some changes to adapt it to the Arthurian legend (and more precisely to BBC Merlin). Also, this is going to be a long fic. I have some more chapters already written but I don't know exactly how frequently I will be able to update. Anyway, I promise I will finish it. As usual, I own nothing. All credits go to the creators of Merlin and the film. Don't doubt to share your thoughts with me! Enjoy!

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Chapter One

Once upon a time, many many years ago, there was a young boy, little less than a fourteen years old child, but it had been a long time that the games had ended for him. His big blue eyes had seen a good deal of suffering and his lanky skinny pale form was used to the hard work even at that young age. In fact, the boy could only think of working in order to help his large family to survive. And, as you can imagine, being a woodcutter isn't an easy job.

As he hauled a small cart through the forest, the boy's thoughts were full of worries. Winter was nearer each day and he had to get enough wood to sell it in the nearest town, a small farming village called Ealdor. He didn't like cutting down trees. He had always felt a connection with nature due to the magic that throbbed inside him, but the little tricks he was barely capable of wouldn't provide him and his family with food to eat that winter and the money for the wood would. That's why he used his ability as a help so that his axe would bring down the trees quicklier.

It was his father who had been the woodcutter of that forest. And it was from Balinor too that he had inherited his gift. As magic was forbidden in most of the realms, his father had preferred to live in the forest as a poor peasant instead of exposing his ability to get riches. It had also been his father who had taught him the little he knew about magic so that he could control his powers. He used to told him stories of how one day he would be able to help the magical people restore magic to its right place. He used to call him 'Emrys', although that wasn't his real name. Nevertheless, the name seemed to have stuck with him because his siblings still called him that.

Anyway, Balinor died some years ago and then it was Hunith's, that is, his mother's turn to go to the forest and retrieve enough wood to give her six children a good start in life while Merlin (that was the boy's real name) stayed at home and took care of his little siblings. Despite having six children, Merlin was the only one who had inherited his father's gift, possibly because he was the first born, and he used it to help at home and sometimes he showed his siblings some tricks to keep them calm. They loved him for that but the whole family was well aware that they had to keep it secret due to those unfair laws against magic users.

However, that changed some months ago when Merlin noticed his little sister had started to show signs of possessing some kind of magical ability too. His mother and he were quite worried when they realised that her dreams proved to happen and they were at lost of what to do without Balinor's guidance. On top of that, his mother had been feeling very sick lately and she was currently bedridden. That's why Merlin was there cutting down some trees with an axe that would weigh too much for him were not for his magic.

"Emrys! Emrys!" that would be the shouts of his siblings that were running boisterously towards him. Merlin stopped the blows and looked at them. There they were: a ten-years-old responsible Will, an eight-years-old serious Lance, a seven-years-old determined Morgana, a five-years-old funny Gwaine and a four-years-old cute Daegal. Looking at them together, no one could have denied they were family since all of them had dark hair, rather pale skin and blue (like his mother's) or brown eyes (like his late father's).

His siblings quickly surrounded him when he knelt and tried to calm them down enough to understand something among all the gibberish they were babbling.

"I was right! I told you! It's the king's army!" an excited Morgana said. And Merlin did remember she told them about a dream where the king would come back from war and visit them followed by an army, but could it be true?

"Yeah, king Uther's army has come back," Gwaine confirmed jumping a bit to capture his older brother attention.

"They have come back from war!" Will and Lance added at the same time.

"And they'll pass through our forest," little Daegal supplied while he wriggled among his siblings to get to Merlin.

"Okay, okay," Merlin said louder than all his siblings' shrill voices. "I told you not to walk away from home. You have left mother alone." Merlin's tone was harder than he intended and his siblings looked a bit down, what made him feel bad since he adored them as much as they admired him. So, Merlin stood up and picked up the axe while he said more playfully this time. "Come on, let's get back home. What about a race?"

With Will and Lance's help, Merlin could drag faster the cart with the little wood he had got that day as Morgana and their younger brothers, Gwaine and Daegal, run ahead of them as if it were a game. Merlin preferred them to think that, but the truth was he didn't want to risk being out while the army of a magic hater king went through their forest. It could prove to be risky and he didn't like to leave his mother alone either, despite how much she insisted it was fine.

It wasn't really long before they reached the small but comfortable hut where they lived. After all, that forest had always been their home and they knew it like the back of their hands. Merlin sent all of his siblings inside with his mother and started to take the wood from the cart more calmed now that they were home, which provided some kind of protection.

Moreover, the Escetir forest was big enough so that the king didn't have to find them. The fact that Morgana had dreamt about it didn't mean that it had to become true. That reassuring thought proved to be wrong as soon as the sounds of hoofs could be heard from where Merlin was standing in front of the hut. He was getting more nervous by the moment. What if the king's men discovered he had magic? And if they wanted food or shelter? They hardly had enough for them.

The piece of wood in Merlin's arms slipped down when the form of a small group of riders approaching the hut was visible through the trunks of the trees that surrounded their home. He had no time to warn his mother and siblings before the riders were there. He prayed they would stay inside and let him handle this. He didn't want his mother or siblings to expose themselves. He felt he was the one he had to protect them since he was the most similar to the man of the house now.

Then, the riders stopped in front of him. There were around six or seven armed burly knights, all clapped in shiny chainmail and armour and looking rather imposing. The ugliest and scariest of them all was the one to address him. He had short black hair, hard brown eyes, a strong chest, thick arms and a menacing air.

"You, boy, where's you father?" he asked with a demanding tone while he approached him still riding his high war horse. "We have no time to lose."

"My father is gone."

The knight laughed loudly. "What a pathetic excuse! So he's afraid and sends us this little boy!" The rest of the knights accompanied him with more cruel laughs. But they died down rather quickly when the knight spoke again. "Tell him to come out quickly or he would end badly," he ordered leaning down towards Merlin's face in a threatening way.

"He already ended badly," Merlin answered with sadness in his voice. "He was struck by a bolt of lightning while working in the woods for his family. That's his grave." And Merlin nodded towards the rudimentary tomb his family made for him a few meters away from the hut. It was only a big stone with his name on it and a bouquet of wild purple flowers beside it, but that's the better they could do for him apart from remembering him.

"And who's the woodcutter of this forest now?" the knight asked impatiently.

"Me."

Merlin's declaration was received with more contemptuous laughs by the knights. After all, for them he was simply a scrawny little boy. However, the ugly knight seemed to be getting angrier by the moment. "To other with that lie!" he exclaimed and at his orders they started to register the little possessions they had outside the hut and in the small open granary attached to it. Thankfully, they didn't try to enter the house itself where his mother and siblings were. "Where do you have the animals? And your food provisions?" the knight shouted above Merlin's desperate pleading as he tried to calm them down.

"Please. No, please," Merlin said in an attempt to prevent a knight from taking a big sack of flour he bought two weeks ago in Ealdor. The sack had to last them for all winter. They needed it to make bread. "Please, it's all we have for the winter."

However, he couldn't stand a chance against six trained knights. He understood it quickly enough when the man he was trying to stop simply shoved him and he ended on the floor, unable to do anything. Tears of fury and helplessness started to appear in his eyes but he didn't let them spill down. He could use his magic. With some simple tricks he could overturn them. And then he would have to pay for it with his life and, God forbid it, with his family's.

No, he didn't give them the satisfaction of seeing him crying and he didn't use his magic either. Instead, he calmed himself enough to stand up and say, "Please, my mother is very ill and my siblings are little. Just... just take whatever you want and leave." It was a surrender, but it was also the smartest thing to do given his chances.

"Are you ordering me?" the ugly knight asked furiously. "I'm the king's second in command! How dare you?!" And he unsheathed his sword with a horrifying hiss that made Merlin's blood turn cold. His eyes opened widely when the knight rose his sword and readied himself to bring it down in a mighty stroke that would most likely cut Merlin down. He had to do something or he would die. Perhaps, he could use an easy trick to distract them or just run, but he was petrified. His last coherent thought was that Morgana didn't say she had seen him dying in her dream.

Then, he heard a voice say, "Valiant! Stop this nonsense!"

Thankfully, the scary knight obeyed and sheathed his sword, although reluctantly. And Merlin breathed out in relieve until he saw his saviour. The owner of the voice was no other than the king of Camelot himself, Uther Pendragon. And if the golden crown on his grey-haired head was not prove enough, his manners and the authority he exuded were good signals too.

Merlin didn't have much time to look at the imposing figure of the king, before he forced himself to lower his head and sight as a sign of respect for the sovereign. He might be a peasant but he knew how to behave when in presence of a royal. He wasn't going to give the monarch any reason so that he could discover his and his little sister's magic abilities. If showing humility was the price, he was more than glad to pay it.

"Why are we losing our valuable time with this ragged plebs?" the king asked with a sneer.

"I'm sorry, my lord. You're right," the ugly knight replied respectfully. It seemed the only thing that could contain this monster's rage was the king and Merlin was grateful for that, although he could see that all the man's anger was nothing when compared to the king's cold blue eyes.

Merlin couldn't avoid taking advantage of their exchange to steal furtive glances to his majesty and the little retinue that accompanied him. Of course, they were all knights too, also with their good deal of armour, but this ones had banners with them: the golden dragon of Camelot embroided upon red fabrics. They really made an impressive sight, which didn't reassure Merlin in the least.

"The army has made camp. You, quickly, escort me back there. I don't want to lose more time. We have only three days more of travel and then we will be in Camelot."

"Two, my lord," Merlin provided.

"What was that?" the king asked a little annoyed. It was evident he didn't like when someone contradicted him.

The ugly knight's reaction was far worse. "How you dare speak back to the king himself, you little scum!" And his right hand went again to the pommel of his sword.

"Silence!" the king shouted. "And you, boy, tell me, what do you have to say?"

"My lord," Merlin replied with as much respect as he could muster, "this year there hasn't been any earlier snowfall so you can travel quicklier."

"Have you heard that, Valiant? I can't wait to get home. It's been a long time since I last saw my son, Arthur." Merlin kept throwing confused glances at the king. Was he really such a good father that he was that eager to get back to his son? But the king appeared to be quite excited about the prospect. "If there isn't any snow, we could make it in a day. C'mon! Let's go." And with that last order to his men he spurred his horse and left quickly, his red cloak flying regally behind him.

"You can keep your food," the scary knight said as a goodbye. "It must be your lucky day, little boy!" And he also disappeared through the trees in pursuit of his king.

The rest of the knights started to leave and to Merlin's pleasure they didn't take the little food they had. The knight who had shoved him to the ground went as far as throwing the heavy sack back at Merlin's feet, muttering a venomously "Next time, you should be more careful about what you say, boy" and spitting at the ground, but he left with the other knights too.

Merlin just smiled and watched them go. "I hope there's no next time," he said greatly relieved that it all had been a small fright and there wasn't any bad consequences.

When he turned around he saw that his sick mother and little siblings were looking at him from one of the windows. They sported worried glances, but Merlin kept up his goofy grin for them as he straightened up the scattered provisions the knights had discarded and then made his way back to his family.

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King Uther and his men were galloping hard through Escetir forest. The king wanted to arrive at Camelot as soon as possible. He had spent the last eight years with his army, fighting campaign after campaign against one of his most staunch enemies, king Caerleon. It had taken him many years and the lives of many of his men, but in the end Uther succeeded. Caerleon was dead and his queen, Annis, had surrendered the kingdom and accepted his terms.

Now, Camelot was bigger and richer. And he had a valuable ally in lady Annis who he had allowed to live in her castle and rule in his and Camelot's name. But the most important thing was that Uther had freed another kingdom from the cruel grip of magic. The fact that he now had another kingdom under his command was just a bonus.

However, among all the prices he had had to pay to win this battle, what most hurt him was that he hadn't been able to see his son and heir grow up and become a warrior. When he departed for war, Arthur was just a seven years old little boy who still had a lot to learn and couldn't barely hold a wood sword in his chubby hand. However, he would be older now. He would have grown taller and stronger. Now, he must be able to stand his ground against any of his knights. That made Uther feel proud, knowing that his lineage and legacy would continue in his son.

"My son, Arthur," he said out loud, "he is my true prize for my victory. I'm really looking forward to seeing him again."

"I'm sure he's as brave and strong as you, my lord," answered Valiant, who galloped by his side.

"I can't wait to see the great warrior I have fathered," Uther chuckled. "If he's anything like me, he would be tough and ruthless. A true leader!"

And so the sounds of thousand of hoofs echoed in the calm forest as the king continued his journey towards Camelot.

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Thanks for reading!