Merlin should be feeling elated; his three best friends survived the attack on the castle 10 years ago, and he was about to go reclaim his kingdom from his aunt. However all he seemed to feel was anger toward his aunt. His own blood had betrayed him in the worst possible way. His aunt had killed his brother and father and hadn't even felt remorse. She had allied with an enemy kingdom to attack Altair. The e attack had killed knights and defenseless citizens alike. Although he shouldn't, Merlin felt like it was his fault too. He should have sensed the difference in his aunt, after all, he was closest to her. His aunt would always spend her free time with Merlin. She would teach him magic, play with him, tell him stories, and watch over him when his parents had to do things for the kingdom. He remembered when he was five and she told him stories of the great Emrys and the Once and future King. At that time neither of them knew it was he who the stories described. His aunt would teach him tricks and games with his magic so he would never be lonely. He should have foreseen this mess, this betrayal. The blood shed in his kingdom was on his hands. Merlin was brought back into reality by the arrival of his knights. The knights seemed to pick up on his mood and tried to get him to cheer up. The four of them were gathered around Gabriel's door talking.

"It wasn't your fault sire," Gabriel reasoned, "no one could have seen this coming." Merlin glared at him for the use of his title.

"Merls, you need to let it go," James murmured putting a hand on his shoulder, "there's nothing you could have done."

"Yes there is, I could have fought her, I could have warned someone, I…I …I…,"he broke off, "I could have done something" he ended sadly.

"Your magic was no match for hers, at the time, my lo—Merlin," Jacob said gently. "you couldn't ha—," He was interrupted by Gwaine and Mordred suddenly appearing from around the corner. James quickly dropped his arm from Merlin's shoulder. Merlin quickly changed his face to a look of casual indifference and glanced at the knights. Gwaine and Mordred looked at the pair suspiciously.

"The princess would like to get in some extra training time in before we leave tomorrow," Gwaine says using the nickname he had given Arthur." Merlin groaned, he hated being Arthur's target all the time and pretending to be bad with a sword.

"Why are you groaning, you're an excellent—," James shut up when he received a death glare from Merlin, "you know what? Never mind," he said looking anywhere but Merlin.

"You are welcome to join us, if you like," Gwaine offered, turning to the knights, his suspicions increasing.

"Sure," Gabriel replied, "we'd love to."

The five knights and Merlin walked to the training field together. Arthur was instructing some younger knights that were finishing their practice when they arrived. The knights of Altair pulled out their swords. Arthur immediately took an interest in them.

"Where did you get those swords?" Arthur asked, "They are like none I've ever seen."

Gabriel looked to Merlin to see if he could tell Arthur. Merlin nodded, keeping it secret would cause more harm than telling the truth.

"The were forged in the breath of a dragon," Gabriel answered, "They can kill even those already dead."

"I thought all dragons were dead."

"Not all, just most of them. There are very few left."

Arthur looked slightly reassured about his and put his attention back toward training.

He paired the knights of Altair with the knights of Camelot. James was paired with Percival, Gabriel stood ready to fight Leon, and Jacob was leaning casually on his sword looking at Gwaine, his opponent.

"You ready," said Jacob cockily.

"Please, I was born ready," Gwaine said with a smirk. The battle started and finished in less than a minute. Jacob was clearly the better fighter, he had his sword at Gwaine's throat in less than 45 seconds. Arthur's mouth fell open in shock. Gwaine was one of his best swordsmen. Hoping Jacob just happened to be an excellent swords man, he turned to the James and Percival expecting to see James defeated. James was using short quick blows over and over again giving Percival little time to defend or recover. He used his nimbleness and speed to get Percival on the ground in about the same time as Jacob beat Gwaine. From there he pointed twisted Percival blade with his own causing Percival blade to get puled from his grasp. James placed the tip of his sword lightly on the chainmail. He had one the fight. James immediately went to the bench for some water breathing hard. Fighting using the series of continuous blows had taken a lot out of him, but it was the only way to win. Merlin nodded at James and smiled letting him know he recognized, and was proud of his skills in the fight. Meanwhile Leon was standing dumbfounded. He had obviously lost the fight. Gabriel was in possession of both of their swords and had his own sword pointed directly at Leon's chest. If it was possible Arthur looked even more shocked. Merlin laughed outright. It was funny to see the best knights in Camelot beat by his own knights.

"Are all the knights of Altair this good?" Arthur questioned nervously.

"No, we are among the most skilled of the knights, but even we do not best the prince" Gabriel said with a glance at Merlin.

"Wow…this prince must be impressive," Arthur said, "I can't wait to meet him." Gabriel smiled and tried not to laugh at that comment. Merlin snickered from beside Arthur.

"Well we best get a good nights sleep, we have a long day of travel ahead of us tomorrow," Jacob stated. The knights, the king, and the unknown prince retired to their chambers. They had a long day ahead of them.