A/N: Hello, hello, hello! I hope everyone enjoyed the first chapter. I wanted to use the Author's Notes to do some splaining. Most of this story will feature in what would be Series Five of Merlin, and magic is no longer outlawed - I wanted to make this clear so no-one is confused. Also, Arthur and Gwen have two children.

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER: I do not own these characters, although I do love them very much. These characters belong to the BBC and the relevant production companies. Any characters that are of my own creation will be listed below.

OCs: Alara, Wynne, Gaheris, and Meilyr


CHAPTER ONE

Every night bought the same vision – Arthur falling down dead, with Mordred standing over his corpse, bloody sword in hand.

These visions have become so commonplace that Merlin no longer wakes in a cold sweat, eyes darting here and there as he grounds himself in the real world.

He glanced out of his window to see the early pink and gold of the dawn. Alara will be making her way here soon, He thought. It had been a number of years since he saw his family; last time he saw Alara, she was a scrap of a girl with fawn-coloured curls and big green eyes, holding onto a hunting bow that had seen better days.

Making his morning visits around the castle, Merlin caught sight of Leon. "You coming off of night duty?"

"About to make my way to Arthur now." Leon stifled a yawn.

"I think it's better if you two go to the barracks and get some rest," Merlin said. "I'll report to Arthur."

"You sure?"

Merlin shrugged, "Don't worry about it. You said it yourself, nothing new to report."

"Okay then." Leon nodded before making a brief goodbye.


"Good morning Your Majesties,"

"Ah Merlin," Arthur took a bite of sausage. "I didn't think you would be joining us for breakfast this morning."

Taking a large serving of bacon and some sausage, Merlin regarded his king with curiosity, "And why wouldn't I be joining you for breakfast?"

"Isn't your sister making her journey to Camelot? I hear the forest paths are dogged by bandits and Druids."

"Alara is a very capable hunter, Arthur. Besides after this, I'm travelling to join her at a halfway point."

Before anyone was able to respond, two young boys entered the room, both smiling and laughing. An older woman followed, looking like she was at her wits' end. "I cannot apologise enough, my Queen, Gaheris was adamant to be with you both for your breakfast this morning."

Taking the smaller of the two children, Gwen smiled, placing the toddler on her lap. "It's of no matter, Wynne. That will be all." She handed the child some bread and butter, letting him eat whilst she turned her attention back to her husband and advisor. "Will your sister be safe up until then, Merlin? I don't want Alara to be in any danger during her journey to Camelot."

"I can take a small party with me, as insurance of her safety."

"Good," Gwen replied.

"Who's Alara?" The older of her two boys, Gaheris, asked.

Finishing his mouthful, Arthur bought the child onto his lap. "Alara is Merlin's sister. She's coming to Camelot to work here."

"Oh," Gaheris said. "Will she be helping Mumma?"

"Yes, in a way," Arthur nodded. "She will be helping Mumma and Wynne to look after you and your brother."

"Can she do magic, like Uncle Merlin?"

Merlin shook his head, "No. Her Papa is different from my Papa. Alara is my half-sister."

"Oh." The wonderous gleam faded a little from Gaheris' eyes, the young boy dejected by the news.

Gwen stood up, hoisting her youngest child onto her hip. "Come along now, Gaheris," She said. "Papa and Uncle Merlin have some important things to talk about."

"Okay." He sighed; Gaheris dragged his feet a little as he exited the room.

As the door closed, Arthur's postures changed; it became one of the King, of the warrior and the peacemaker. "There have been reports of scouts from Morgana's troops."

"Where?"

"Mainly on the borders, but some have been spotted in the town, hiding like rats in a pantry." Arthur took a sip from his weak wine. "A few have been questioned, but they've all given little if no information."

Merlin sighed. "What shall we do?"

"I'm not sure," Arthur replied. "We've increased men on the borders, but it's not enough. We need more men."

A knock at the door interrupted the conversation; a young guardsman entered. "I do apologise for the intrusion, my lords, but the advisors from Mithian's kingdom have arrived. They're waiting for you in the throne room."

"Duty calls," Merlin said.


Leading her horse to the stream, Alara's exhaustion caught up with her. She'd been riding since the middle of the night, only stopping to relieve herself or give the horse a rest. She stretched her body out as she walked along the bank, taking in the smell of the greenery around her. Ealdor wasn't big, but the surrounding forest was; growing up, she would wander around for hours, picking at berries and watching little creatures go about their days. Sometimes she would join Merlin and Will when they would go hunting, and be in as much trouble when she would come home with mud on her cheeks and grass stains on her dress.

Alara reached into her pack, pulling out the food that her mother had supplied her: smoked pidgeon with some homemade bread and cheese. She noticed that her mother had wrapped the food up in an intricate manner, the muslin tied up with some red ribbon. Her favourite colour - something that Mother never forgot. Merlin was blue, and Alara was red. Always.

The horse whinnied and walked over to her, nudging her pack. "There aren't any apples in there." Alara smiled. She softly stroked the horse's nose, feeling the velvet-like hair. "Maybe we can find some." She led the horse down the path, giving both it and herself a rest from the rigour of riding.

The thundering of hooves signalled a hunting party. Alara had seen plenty of them on her journey; a few of the hunters wore the colours of Mercia, whilst a few bore the colours of what was Cendred's kingdom. She hadn't seen any of the red and gold of Camelot, but maybe she would when getting closer to the border. The hunting party drew nearer, but this time, there weren't any colours; in fact, all the men wore the drab browns and blacks of bandits.

"Lookie here, lads, we've got ourselves a maiden!" One of them jeered; he looked to be the leader. "Where you heading, pet?"

"Nowhere interesting," Alara replied. "Nowhere you haven't been before."

The leader jumped off his horse, dusting off his clothes. "Oh c'mon, you're not afraid of me, are you?"

"I wouldn't go near here, Hobb," Another man called out. "She could be part of a trap."

"Trap! No way a pretty little thing like her is part of a trap." Hobb pinched Alara's chin, drawing it up so he could get a better look at her face. "My oh my, she's got some pretty eyes on her." Alara made an attempt to bite at Hobb's hand, making him squeal. "I like them feisty." His eyes began to glint like that of a wolf, about to attack a lamb.

Alara pushed him back, trying to get enough space between herself and Hobb. In the foray, she began to fumble around the saddle for her hunting knife - but to no avail. Hobb scratched at Alara's back with a knife, making the young woman cry out and fall. "You're going to regret this." He raised the knife and was about to make a killing blow.

A shout caught his attention: two of his men had been struck by arrows, and the others were approached by three riders, their scarlet cloaks whipping behind them. Knights of Camelot. One, a young dark-haired man, made a swing at Hobb, shoving him down to the ground. The knight came back, stopping by Alara - "Get out of her. Head north, to Camelot. We'll hold them off."

Alara didn't question the knight, and made her escape, riding as if Death itself was chasing after her.


"My lords come quick, there's a young woman in the courtyard. She's been injured."

Merlin and Arthur made their apologies to Nemethian advisors and hastily made their exit, pulling some guards from their posts.

"Bandits? Do you think Morgana's decided to infiltrate?" Arthur asked.

"I wouldn't think so," Merlin said. "It's probably someone who got away from an attack."

Gwen was already with the young woman, offering comfort. Once the two men made their entrance, both women looked up. The young woman rushed at Merlin, tightly wrapping her arms around him, sobbing into his neck.

"Oh, Merlin! I was so frightened! I thought I could hold them off myself but I couldn't!"

Merlin made out to hug his sister before feeling something wet on her back. Blood. "Alara, who did this to you?"

She didn't reply, sobbing more into him.

"Take her to Gaius, he'll treat the wounds on her back," Gwen said.

Arthur readied himself, calling for servants to bring his armour. "I'll go out and see where these bandits are."

Merlin hushed Alara as he and Gwen bought her into the castle.


Gaius was a gentle hand, lightly washing at the wound on Alara's back. "You're lucky that the bandit had only scratched at you," He spoke. "Any deeper and you wouldn't have made it to Camelot alive."

"Did anyone ever tell you that your bedside manner is impeccable, Gaius?" Merlin asked.

Alara winced at the cooling sensation of the water. "Have you put some garlic flower in the water?"

Gaius paused in surprise. "How did you know?"

"I can smell it." Alara laughed. "Mother uses the bulbs in a paste. Remember, Merlin? When I fell into that thorn bu-OW!" She turned to face Gaius. "That hurt."

"My word, you're worse than your brother." He finished up cleaning the wounds and made a start on applying a bandage.

The door opened and Arthur entered. "How is she doing?"

"She almost bit Gaius' head off, so she's doing fine." Merlin grinned.

Arthur sat close by, watching Gaius methodically place each bandage on Alara's exposed back. "We caught the bandits."

"Thank you," Alara said. "I'm sorry for frightening you all."

"We've been hearing reports of those bandits for some time now, but it's lucky that you were the one who finally bought them down."

Alara winced once more before Gaius offered her back the torn shirt. "Oh... uh..."

"Here," Arthur removed his jacket and handed it to Alara. "It saves you wandering around the castle like that."

"Thank you, my King." Alara deeply curtsied.

"No need. You can call me Arthur, by the way."

Alara bowed this time, unsure of why she did that. "There were two knights, they were the ones that came to my rescue initially."

"I heard some rumblings amongst the knights that two of them saved a 'damsel in distress'," Merlin said.

"I'd like to thank them. They saved my life - the dark-haired one in particular."

"You mean Mordred?" Arthur asked. He ruminated on that thought. "Huh, he's the more 'get the job done' kind of knight, but I'm pleased to see he's come out of his shell more." He guided Alara to the door. "I can take you to the barracks tonight, after dinner. I'd like to think that Mordred would be pleased to know you're safe."