four years after her disapearence morganna has still not returned. sir leon did not survive the events of 2x13 un harmed and is now horribly disfigured, arhtur knows about merlin but has chosen to observe his friends actions before condeming him. things have already started to change, after the events of series three (cenrid carried out the schemes of 3x12&3x13 himself) uthur is a fractured man ruthless as ever, self doubt and uncertainty are creaping into his actions.

following on form the prolouge. now a hedge knight arives claiming that the king and prince are in danger, but can he be trusted, where has he come from and why is Sir tristain inhumanly skilfull at fighting.

Chapter one. A knight arrives.

Uthur stared at the young knight. He never had particularly liked hedge knights. Though noble and just they had no king. No loyalty. They went where they were needed.

So it is hardly surprising that he was weary of this latest one. He called himself the forest knight. And he had just taken out 8 of Uthurs best knights. With out drawing his sword. And he had the awful feeling that if this knight had wanted him dead he would have been dead minuets ago. His thoughts were fighting between dread, dislike and curiosity. Curiosity won.

"Sir Knight. Speak your piece and I will consider weather Camelot can aid you"

The forest knight named himself. Tristain of the forest lakes. Though of noble birth his father had accidentally loved a witch. His father had been disowned by Tristan's grand father he trained his son in many forms of combat so that he might one day claim his grandfathers title. Tristain had done the opposite he returned to his grand father who took him in.

Uthur did not like where this was headed. And neither did his son Arthur by looks of it. The young knight, the young man in front of them had magic in him.

Arthur looked to his side. his sometime advisor and servant was studying the young forest knight intently. Arthur observed Merlin's hand. It was ready to channel magic. Arthur hadn't told Merlin that he knew. At first it was shock that stopped him and then curiosity and now it was simple logic. 'Study your allies as closely as your enemy and the fight will always be yours to win.' That's what his father had said.

So here he was. Studying Merlin's actions, and so far. The only time he had noticed Merlin sneaking some magic past people was when he was protecting Arthur. Or Gwenn and sometimes Uthur. No Arthur had decided Merlin was a sign. That magic in the right hands was a force for good and wile Merlin may be rare Arthur truly hoped he was not alone. He made his decision

"Magic is outlawed in these lands. A crime punishable by death and yet you freely admit your mother was a witch. YOU have magic. Why are you here sir?" Arthur looked Tristain in the eye. "Sire my mother as you call her placed a curse on my sister and falsely seduced my father into marriage. I detest magic but I respect it. May I speak freely sire" he asked Uthur. Uthur nodded hesitantly "yes I have magic. But there are certain forms of magic certain creatures that can only be stopped or killed with the use of magic. You ask why I come? why I admit my heritage? Sire I hunt magic the bad kind and I tracked some of it headed this way. M'lord there is an army headed this way and as much as you may detest what I am. You may need me. And I wish to gain some respect and honour. Sire my parents stole my birthright from me I intend to win it back by faithfully serving Camelot as an ally if you will have me." Uthur stared at the young man. This was different, a person of magic offering him help. He noted to himself the fact the man had not tried to kill him, he could have but he hadn't. He was about to ask Arthurs advice when his son spoke.

"Tristain of the Forrest lakes, I shall take you on as one of my knights. But know this I have slain foes more powerful than you. So if this is a trap and a lie. I will cut you down myself." He hoped he hadn't been to blunt. Merlin leant on the back of Arthur's throne and whispered "nice one prat" Arthur tried to hide his grin and managed just.

Tristain bowed his head "M'lord I wish only to serve you." he was about to say something else when Merlin yelped. Arthur turned to his servant. "mer-lin. Now is not the time for you idiocy" Merlin gathered his thoughts and said one word "Morganna"

Uthur looked across at Merlin, with an air of disdain. "What. Did. you. say? You dare mention my wards name!" Merlin knew he should have kept quiet he could sense Arthur tense up slightly. Was it possible Arthur knew what was about to happen?

"Sire. My king. Your ward is no longer your ward. She has sided with her half sister" Merlin noticed Uthur sit up strait and rigid. Oh no, oh no. shut up Merlin he thought to himself but he couldn't stop "her sorceress half sister you knew the risk when you took her in sire. But you are a good man, a man of your word and you promised to look after her and" Uthur slammed his fist in the arm of his throne Merlin jumped back Arthur shifted uncomfortably. "KEEP your servant in line son. It is your responsibility to teach him his place. I have only allowed him to live on the condition he does not let his feud with mor." Tristain coughed to clear his throat and Uthur stopped.

He wasn't accustomed to being interrupted. "Sire I do not wish to interfere but. The prince's servant, advisor? is right. The magic I speak of bares their mark. I'm sorry to tell you but Morganna has abandoned Camelot and turned to magic. She is gathering the druids they intend to take Camelot." Tristain looked Uthur in the eye. He knew from experience that the only time to look a king in the eye was when you were sure of what you had to say and needed him to hear you out.

Arthur saw Gwenn out the corner of his eye she had herd everything and was clearly upset. He touched Merlin's hand and looked at where Gwenn had been. Merlin excused himself and went to find Gwen. Arthur turned to his father. "Father I apologise for Merlin's out burst. He will be punished. However we would be wise to listen to him. As Gaius' assistant he tended to Morganna's ills. He's tended to most of our ills. He knows our moods he probably knows our secrets. If he says Morganna has turned on us and is now trained in magic. He is most likely right. On top of witch his feud as you call it is what saved us, you can not deny that father. Weather intentionally or not Morgana was the vessel for that spell, had he not." Arthur saw his father tense up and realised he had already said too much, instead he looked at the hedge knight. "Tristain you say you agree with Merlin. If you are both right then we will likely need all the knights we can find. Go find the captain of the guards and train with them."

Tristain bowed his head and said as he left "I'll supply a list of trustworthy hedge knights to your captain see if any will help." And with that he was gone.

Uthur slumped back in his throne. This was going to be a long day.

Arthur stood up bowed his head to his father and walked out of the throne room. He needed to find Gwenn and Merlin, things were about to get rough and he decided now was the time to tell Merlin. To tell his manservant that he knew his secret and that it was quite possible Merlin would have to use his magic to save Camelot.

hope you enjoied reading. this is my first atempt at any substantial fanfiction. coments and reviews are most welcome. after all with out constructive critisisum i'll never improve. i have actually writtain twelve chapters of this already but the updateing may be sporadic. i apologuise in advance for that.

also, more forewarning. this is going to be slash. eventually but not merthur, as much as i agree that merlin/arthur would make a wonderful pair. what i really like about the show is the BROTHERly aspects of their relation ship. so i'll hopefully be playing aroudn with that aspect of their relationship in future chapters. also im pretty dyslexic so tis possible some spellign inconsistancys have slipped through the spell check. sorry. next chapter up soon!