Disclaimer: I don't own anything

Prologue

Loyalty, honor, and justice. That's how Leon would have summarized knighthood ten years ago. He had spent his childhood dreaming about the day he would finally wear that shiny armor, defending the widow and the orphan, taking part in noble quests and glorious battles against dragons and wicked enemies. The idealistic painting hadn't paled through his years as a page and then as a squire, and so the fall had been hard once he had been dubbed knight almost six years ago.

At first, he had blindly trusted King Uther's judgment. The king was a good man and only sought to protect his people from the evils of magic. But when the years passed and the king became more and more obsessed with raids on druid camps, a sparkle of doubt lit in the young man's mind. The druids had always been a peaceful folk, even renowned for their healing skills surely they represented no danger? The final stroke had been three years ago when two young children had been caught. The little girl had been barely eight summers old and taking care of her two-year-old brother since their parents had died in the harsh winter. A villager had seen the girl conjure bread from a nearby market stand and had wasted no time in running to the castle. Leon would never forget their young, terrified faces as he arrested them by order of King Uther of Camelot, and neither would the screams as they burned at the stake leave his nightmares. And if he was honest with himself, he didn't want to forget, he didn't want the nightmares to end because he deserved it. The murder of these children was his fault. And that, coupled with the fact that he couldn't stop imagining his own two-year-old son at their place, finally tipped the balance.

Gone was the glory, now all he felt was ashamed.

In the following months, it was as if his eyes had been opened. He began to notice the darker, corrupted sides of the court. It was a game of power, and at its head was a cold-hearted tyrant who earned respect only by terrorizing his subjects. The noble lords of the council were not better themselves, trying by every means possible to gain favors and riches.

If he could have, Leon would have given his knighthood back in an instant. Alas, it would have been treason and resulted in his execution or a life on the run. And he couldn't condemn his wife and his child to this.

Leon was brought out of his musings as the heavy clouds above him started to empty their water pockets. Though it was hard to tell because of the cloudy sky, he estimated that it was early afternoon, so he wouldn't have to worry about a shelter for the night just yet. It had been six months since he had last been home and he felt no small amount of trepidation to finally see his beautiful Lena and their little Milo again. It saddened him greatly that he missed so much of his son's childhood, but there was no choice. To ensure their protection during the long months he spends answering to the king's beck and call, he leaves his lands and his family in the hands of his old friend Thomas, who had sworn his loyalty to Leon's family after his father had died saving Thomas from a fatal blow in battle years ago.

The light rain slowly became a shower, soaking the knight despite his heavy cloak and armor. He shivered slightly as he followed the road through a well-known forest. His destination wasn't that far away anymore. He was wistfully thinking about the hot bath and dry bedsheets -with his wife between said sheets- that awaited him when an unusual sound made him still his horse and take out his sword before he even registered the nature of the sound. After a few seconds, he realized that moaning was coming from behind a large pine tree and dismounted from his horse.

'Show yourself!' he ordered in his strongest voice, not wanting to fall into a trap.

When the moans didn't stop after a few minutes, and no bandits sprang out of the bushes, Leon cautiously walked around the tree, his sword ready. What he saw, however, made him throw caution to the wind and drop his sword. There, lying on the muddy ground, lay an obviously sick child. It was a boy, around the same age than his Milo, with raven black hair and torn clothes, apparently a peasant. His body was violently shivering and his eyes were staring blankly ahead, not noticing the knight. Slowly, Leon kneeled next to the boy and talked with what he hoped was a reassuring tone

'Child, what is your name? What are you doing all by yourself? Are you lost?' but there was no answer. He gently turned the boy onto his back, and only now did he notice the state of the child's body. What he thought were stains of mud turned out to be a frightening number of bruises and bleeding wounds battering the small body. What concerned him even more, though, was the still blank look on the child's face.

A quick look told him that no one was around, and so he carefully took the child in his arms and returned to his horse. With a quick command, the horse kneeled down, allowing him to mount without jolting the child too much.

The questions would come later, right now there was no way he would leave an injured child all by himself in the middle of the forest. If he was swift, he would reach his small manor in little over an hour and would then have a healer look at the boy.

A/N: So this is the beginning, I hope you like it so far! Please forgive me for any spelling mistakes :) Though I already have everything planned, the next chapter might still take a while as I don't have much free time…