Here's Chapter Three! IF you couldn't already guess, this one is where Gwen and Arthur meet! It was a lot of fun to write :D Hope you guys enjoy!

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Albionian Nights

A Merlin Aladdin!AU

Chapter Three: Fate's Fickle Hand

Arthur Pendragon was deftly perched atop a fruit vendor's stand as another morning brought people bustling through the town's market. In his hands the young teen held a long stick which he used to quietly knock over the fruits on the back side of the vendor's stand. The man yelled in shock and hurried over to gather up his produce, while in the meantime, Arthur used the moment to grab a melon from the front without being seen.

"Hehe, breakfast!" he chuckled to himself as he split the melon open.

Below, in the market, the disguised Princess Guinevere looked around in wonder at all of the commotion of the street as she walked along. Different vendors called out to her, one of pots, another of foods, and yet another of jewelry. Slightly embarrassed by all of the fuss, she bumped into several people, immediately apologizing. Arthur glanced over to the fumbling Gwen and he found himself drawn to her. She pulled the hood of her cloak up over her head carefully and Arthur's gaze was fixed upon her.

"Wow," he breathed, forgetting entirely about the melon he was eating. The blond teen watched as she approached an apple stand that a young poor boy was eyeing hungrily.

"Are you hungry, little one?" she asked, and the child nodded glumly. Gwen smiled and took an apple to give to him. "Here you are." The boy's face lit up and he cantered away, giggling.

"You better be able to pay for that," a deep voice growled from behind Gwen. She quickly turned around to face the very large and scary owner of the stand. "No one steals from me!" Frightened, she began to back away. "Thief!" The large man grabbed her arm and pinned it to the table.

"Please, no!" she cried. "I can get money, from the King! Please!" Gwen's words didn't seem to faze the vendor as he pulled out a small sword.

"Do you know what the penalty is for stealing?!"

Gwen shut her eyes fearfully. All of a sudden, she felt the hand on her arm loosen as a metal cling echoed in the air.

"Thank you, kind sir!" she heard a voice cry out. "I've been looking for her everywhere, you have no idea!" Cautiously, Guinevere opened her eyes to see a young blond teen- Arthur, though she didn't know who he was- and he had bright blue eyes that sparkled in the midday sun. He had parried the sword with a long stick and was holding off the burly man. The vendor glanced at Gwen, then back at Arthur questioningly. Arthur winked at Gwen, which caught her a bit off guard.

"You know this girl?" The blond sighed melodramatically.

"Sadly, yes, she is my sister," he admitted falsely with an equally as dramatic doleful frown. "I'm afraid, she is a little nuts."

"She said she knew the King?"

"Well, she thinks every horse she sees is the King, sir," Arthur claimed in a hushed tone, nodding to Gwen. As if on cue, a rider on a white horse crossed the streets, and playing along, Gwen suddenly sprang up and tried to bow to the horse. While the vendor was distracted with the sight, Arthur grabbed two apples with his foot, and shoved them in his pants pockets. "Tragic, but no real harm is done, right?" Arthur sauntered over to Guinevere and placed his hands on her shoulders. "Now come along sis, time to get you home!"

The vendor eyed the two of them as they cautiously made their way out of the large man's line of sight. Arthur then picked up his pace and swiftly led Gwen to his shambles home.

Meanwhile, in Agravaine's secret lair, Morgause was pulling a rope that ran a strange machine that brewed a storm on the top of it. Her wings beat faster and faster as Agravaine approached.

"As much as I enjoy the workout, Agravaine, couldn't we just wait for a real storm?" she huffed, extremely tired.

"Save your precious breath, Morgause," Agravaine hissed, placing Elyan's ring into the contraption. "Now fly faster!" The scarlet bird groaned and beat her wings as fast as she could, and a lightning bolt struck the machine, which was sent down to the bottom- a stone hourglass that instead of sand, held small red gems. The sinister man bent down to look into the now-glowing gems. "Stones of Dragon's Fire," he breathed eagerly. "Show me- who is the one who can appease Kilgharrah's gate." The gems burned brightly as two of them fell into the bottom, creating a visage of Arthur helping the disguised Gwen up a ladder. "Yes- there he is, my diamond in the rough!" Agravaine cackled gleefully. Morgause became distracted, losing control and falling onto the ground. "Let's send him an invitation to the palace, my dear."

"Almost there."

Arthur led Gwen to the top of the ladder, before she tripped at the last rung and fell into his arms.

"Ah- sorry," she stood up and apologized quickly. Arthur shook his head.

"It's fine," he smiled at her. Gwen pulled her hair behind her ears shyly.

"I wanted to thank you, for saving me from that man," she confessed softly. "It was very brave of you." Arthur blushed slightly, but he shook his head.

"Nah, don't worry about it. Besides, you looked like you needed help," he added quickly. "Is this your first time in town?" Gwen chuckled.

"It's that obvious?" Arthur smiled lopsidedly, jumping over a small gap between roofs.

"Well, you do stand out," he murmured dazedly, locking eyes with Guinevere. He realized his actions and quickly stammered. "I mean- it didn't seem like you knew how dangerous Camelot could be," he corrected, lowering a plank of wood for her. Gwen smirked and instead followed suit the same as Arthur, grinning at him.

"Well, I'm a fast learner," she beamed. Arthur nodded, in surprise.

"Uh- c'mon, right this way," he transitioned, taking her hand to lead her into his dilapidated home. "Watch your step." She looked around, a pang of sadness filling her.

"This is…where you live?" she asked hesitantly. Arthur gave her a grin.

"It's not much, maybe, but it's my home."

"All by yourself?" This time- it was Arthur who was hit with a sadness he liked to keep buried inside of him.

"y-Yeah, as long as I can remember," Arthur admitted quietly. Gwen felt herself choke up.

"Parents?"

Arthur shook his head. "None that I can recall. Either they died or they abandoned me. But I mean, it's not all that bad," he tried to pick up the mood, leading Gwen to the "window." "I do have the best view in the city after all." Gwen's jaw dropped as Arthur pulled back his ratty curtain to reveal the brilliant scene of the Camelot castle.

"It's beautiful," she agreed. Arthur sat along the broken wall, nodding.

"Isn't it? I wonder what it would be like to actually live there- to have servants and valets," he marveled.

"Oh sure, people telling you what to wear and where to go," Gwen replied half-mindedly, momentarily forgetting her disguise.

"It's better than here! Having to steal scraps for food and ducking the guards-"

"You're not free to make your own choices-"

"Sometimes you just feel so-"

"You're just-"

"-trapped!" they both finished, surprising themselves, and locking gazes with each other. In that moment they both felt the same. In that moment, they could feel their hearts beating as one. Arthur coughed suddenly, breaking the long tension between them.

"So, ah, where're you from?" he asked, pulling out one of the apples from his pocket and sliding it down his arm to her. She took it gratefully, but then looked away.

"It doesn't matter," she said in a low voice. "I ran away and I'm not going back." Arthur took a thoughtless bite into his own apple.

"Really?" he asked, moving closer to Guinevere in interest. "Why, if I can ask?" The princess nodded.

"My brother is forcing me to get married," she replied curtly. Arthur's eyes widened.

"That's…awful…" he agreed. A thought suddenly struck him. "Brother? Don't you…you know…have parents either?" Gwen looked up at him sadly and shook her head.

"My mother died when I was very young, and my father…passed away only a few years ago," she muttered, choking back on unshed tears. Arthur's instincts once again acted for him, and he reached out a hand to put on her shoulder.

"That's not fair," he whispered in reply. Gwen furrowed her eyebrows. "I wish there was something I could do." Guinevere gazed longingly at him, her deep brown eyes locked with his bright blue.

"That's very kind of you," she breathed, leaning in closer to Arthur, and he reciprocated. They could feel their heartbeats off of each other's chests before-

"HERE YOU ARE!" a large armored guard shouted, breaking down Arthur's shambles home. Immediately both teens sprang up.

"They're after me!" they both said, then turning to each other, "They're after you?!"

"My brother must have sent them," Gwen whispered, but she was interrupted by a sudden open hand in her face. Arthur looked down at her seriously.

"Do you trust me?"

Those words pierced into Guinevere's heart, the sheer honesty and pureness of his voice which asked. "What?"

"Do you trust me?" he repeated, with a bit more urgency. She took his hand and smiled.

"Yes!"

"Then jump!"

Hand in hand, the two of them leaped off of the roof, falling through awnings and they landed in a pile of hay, scrambling to get up and run. They were about to turn the corner but they were blocked by guards. The large one in front grabbed Arthur's arm and he squirmed in his grip.

"We just keep having this chase, don't we, street rat?" the guard hissed at Arthur. The other three guards around them grabbed the blond and restrained him forcefully. "It's the dungeons for you, boy!" Gwen's eyes burned with a newfound fury as she threw herself at the armored men.

"Let him GO!" she yelled, beating her fists against the men's chests.

"Well, look at what we have here!" the guard jeered, smacking Guinevere to the ground. "A street mouse!" Gwen glared with all her might, standing up as fire flowed through her veins.

"Unhand him," she threatened, pulling back her hood. "By order of the princess!" Gasps were heard from all around.

"Princess Guinevere!" the guards exclaimed.

"The princess!" Arthur breathed, immediately feeling a lump of self-loathing settle in his gut.

"What are you doing outside the palace? And with this filthy troublemaker no less!" Gwen narrowed her eyes sharply and tightened her jaw.

"That is not your concern!" she snapped. "Do as I order, release him!" The guards truly looked apologetic.

"I'm sorry, Princess, we would, but our orders come from Agravaine," the guard confessed. "You'd have to speak with him." They bowed as they left, dragging a dejected Arthur with them. Gwen was super pissed off, to say the least.

"Believe me, I will."

As Agravaine snuck out of his secret lair, he heard a dangerously loud voice calling his name, and he quickly shut the door before his faithful parrot could escape with him.

"Agravaine!" Gwen thundered, storming to meet with the royal advisor. He feigned surprise and gave his best winning smile.

"Ah, princess! What may I do for you?" he asked snidely. Gwen crossed her arms.

"A boy was taken from the market by the guards, on your orders!" she accused pointedly. Agravaine looked offended.

"Well, I am charged with keeping the peace in Camelot, Guinevere, and the boy was a criminal," he explained smoothly. Gwen huffed.

"What was his crime?" Agravaine began to breathe just a slight bit faster.

"w-Well, kidnapping the princess, of course." Gwen snorted indignantly.

"He didn't kidnap me, I ran away!" she protested, stomping her foot to make her point.

"Oh now Guinevere, what awful timing," Agravaine gasped melodramatically. "It's dreadful, really. The boy's sentence has already been carried out."

"What… sentence?"

"Execution," Agravaine said simply, almost smirking as Gwen fell to her knees, gasping.

"y-You monster!" she glared, holding back tears. "I'll never forgive this!"

Gwen ran to her room where she embraced her confidante, crying in her arms, as Morgana stroked her hair. "It's terrible, Morgana!" Gwen cried. "It's all my fault! I didn't even know his name!"

Le gasp! :D Next one- Chapter Four: Cave of Wonders!

-DMRA