Hello! This will be a Royal!Merlin fic :) I wasn't a big fan of this kind of stories at first but I'm in love with this theme now. English is not my first language and I was very sleepy when I was writing this chapter, so please forgive me any mistakes. I'm almost falling asleep right now so I think I'll let this prologue speak for itself :)

Hopefully you guys will like my idea, enjoy!

He made a point of looking towards the armed guards to remind himself of their presence. Sharpened swords should help him keep his nerves under control. He took a deep breath trying to calm himself down. With his eyes closed for a second, he tried to gather his thoughts before looking at the King.

"Why not? Are your people not important?" he asked, not able to get rid of the accusatory tone. "Would you abandon them?"

The King was silent for a moment. He didn't look ashamed or troubled though, just deeply in thought. Somehow, that was unnerving.

"There is nothing I can do for them now" he finally said. "Lord Rethel, I am sorry for your loss, but I will not endanger the lives of my people for revenge."

"They were murdered in cold blood!" the man suddenly snapped. Startled, guards present in the chamber looked up, deciding they need to pay more attention. "You cannot abandon them like that! We have to avenge them! We have to!"

The sad look in his King's eyes made him even more furious. How can he just sit there like that? As if nothing has happened, as if they weren't important enough to fight for.

They were worth sacrificing an entire army if it came to it. They were worth a war.

"Your wife and son weren't murdered" the King said firmly. "They broke Camelot's law and were given a fair trial. The news saddened me, yet I cannot-"

"A FAIR trial?!" the man screeched. "There is no such thing as a fair trial in Camelot!"

"You and I both know they were caught practising magic. It was within Camelot's rights to follow their law. Had I known sooner, I would have done everything to prevent the execution. Now, there is nothing I can do for you, Lord Rethel."

Waiting for an outburst that never came, the King frowned with worry. He wasn't too familiar with this man, having only seen him a few times before, since his lands were quite a distance from the citadel. Handling distraught people was never easy, but people in mourning needed a whole different approach. Lord Rethel was incredibly hard to predict, so full of hatred and despair.

"You and I both know of the prophecies" Lord Rethel suddenly said, a glint of madness in his eyes. "But Camelot is not there yet. You cannot let this crime go unnoticed, unless you are siding with our enemies, Sire."

"Watch your tongue, Lord Rethel."

"I beg of you, help me avenge my family" the words were whispered so softly they were barely audible. "Help me avenge my family, declare a war if that's what it takes, or you will be the one responsible for shattering the future of many."

The guards shifted a little, ready to hold the man down if necessary, but despite his words it seemed all fight has left him.

"Help me, or else this united Albion everyone dreams of will never come to pass."

"You heard me" the King said, rising from his throne. "I believe you should consider your words more carefully, Lord Rethel, threatening your king is treason. The audience is over."

Lord Rethel was still for a long moment. Two of the guards stepped forward to lead him out of the chamber, when his head suddenly snapped up.

"You will regret this" he said, his voice void of any emotion. "Since you do not wish to bring justice, you do not deserve it yourself. There will be no peaceful future and no unity. And when the time comes, remember it's all your doing."

The King only waved his hands at the guards.

"Show him to his guest chambers. Lord Rethel needs to rest."

The guards approached the poor man who, by the time he finished talking, has slumped to his knees and held his head down, seemingly forgetting where he even was. He was just a poor soul that lost his loved ones, desperate to find compassion and comfort.

But revenge was not the way.

Letting the guards lead him out of the chambers, Lord Rethel was shaking slightly but his face was emotionless. Slowly shuffling his legs, he seemed someplace far, far away. He was in no condition to travel home, the King mused. He looked like a shadow of a man.

"Father?"

The King turned to see his 10 year old son leaning out from behind a pillar.

"How long have you been standing there?" he asked sharply. The boy blushed a little and came forward to stand next to him.

"Since this man asked you to declare a war on someone. Sorry, I didn't mean to eavesdrop."

"Merlin, a prince should not be seen eavesdropping."

"...technically, I wasn't seen, was I?" the boy tried a smile, but the stern look on his father's face suggested that changing a subject was a good idea. "Why would he want a war?" he asked as he sat on the throne.

Balinor sighed.

"He is in a lot of pain, Merls. People tend to do the strangest things when their heart hurts."

"But why? What happened?"

"He lost his loved ones to another poor soul, tormented by his own conscience."

Little Merlin looked at him with a frown.

"Something bad happened to them? In this Camelot place?"

The King smiled sadly, although a distant trace of worry appeared in his eyes as he watched his only child making himself comfortable on the throne that was way too big for him. He couldn't even begin to imagine how miserable Lord Rethel was feeling now. If he ever lost his son...

"Yes, unfortunately. Don't worry though, Merls. Camelot is far away from here and you are perfectly safe as long as you never cross its border. You hear me? You are not allowed to ever set foot in Camelot."

Merlin pouted with his arms crossed and put on his best royal expression that he secretly practised in his chambers.

"You will not tell me what to do" he announced. "I will travel to Camelot if I feel like it."

Balinor was not impressed.

"No, you won't. And what is with that attitude?"

"You said I have to act more like a prince." Merlin said defensively. "And a prince doesn't take orders from anyone."

"From his father, he does" Balinor ruffled his hair earning a huff. "I mean it, my son. Camelot is a dangerous place for people like us."

Merlin deflated a little.

"Then how am I going to prove I am worth being called your son?" he mumbled under his nose, more to himself than anyone else.

"Oh Merlin" Balinor hugged his son to his chest as he laughed. "You have nothing to prove. You are my beloved child."

"But you said I-"

"You definitely lack the knowledge of manners and the court etiquette." Balinor's eyes twinkled with amusement at his son's scowl. "Sometimes it's good to play with the children in the town, yet sometimes it's right to greet an important guest that was travelling for a long time to see us."

"But it's so boring!" Merlin exclaimed theatrically, throwing his arms up in exasperation.

"But don't ever think you have to prove anything" Balinor continued, ignoring his little outburst. "I am so very proud of you for considering all our citizens your equals. I am amazed at your progress with your magic classes. I am not so thrilled by your swordsmanship-"

"The sword's too heavy" Merlin cut in defensively, but there were definitely hints of a smile on his face, no matter how hard he tried to conceal it.

"Of course it is" Balinor. "Promise me, Merls. Never cross the Camelot's border. Alright?"

Little Merlin nodded, still not entirely sure what was so bad about that place. Of course, he's just learned someone's family died there but it wasn't as if no one ever lost their lives in Athesia. What was so different about Camelot? Wouldn't he be fine if he just followed the law and avoided dark alleys?

Seeing the worry in his father's eyes, he shrugged off his questions and decided to let it go.

"I promise."

"How come you are still in bed? Merlin, get up this instant!"

A quiet groan came from under the blanket and silence once again filled the room. Not for long though, since Gaius felt obligated to prevent his ward from getting thrown into stocks. Again. He snatched the blanket away, revealing a young man who didn't even budge.

"He can go without one breakfast, Gaius" Merlin muttered sleepily. "Have you seen how many holes I had to put in his belt?"

The old man allowed himself a fond smile.

"He's gonna need all the strength he can get. The tournament starts today."

That seemed to finally wake Merlin up. He turned to lay on his back and scowled.

"Right."

Gaius seemed satisfied with his level of not-sleeping and exited the room, probably to start another round of delivering his draughts.

Merlin sighed deeply, gathering the strength to get up. He was feeling even more tired than when he went to bed last night. All kinds of memories flooded him again in his dreams, but he was used to that. What unsettled him though was the fact this time the memories were of his past. He would never turn his back on Athesia and decide to abandon it, yet at the same time it hurt to remember. He had no way of finding out how everyone was. No way of letting them know he was safe. He would never give up on his home, but at the same time he couldn't let the memories of his past mess up his present, or else he would have no future –Arthur would surely see to that if he was late to the tournament. He even made Merlin promise to do everything within his abilities to be a good servant just this once.

Groaning, Merlin got up.

Somehow he made a habit of not keeping his promises.

I almost named Merlin's kingdom MagicIsCool. Seriously, I had no idea making up kingdom names was this difficult. Athesia has a nice ring to it though, so MagicIsCool had to step down :)