Arthur quietly slunk through the undergrowth of the deep forest, boots making almost no noise as they landed on the soft leaf covered ground. He was excited to say the least, since he has turned 9 recently his father had decided he was old enough to come with him on one of his political trips.

It wasn't the politics that excited the young prince but the fact that he got to travel farther into Camelot's forests on the way there. he hand never been in the deep woods before, the trees were so thick and tall that the light of the sun only reached the ground in small pools.

Arthur knew he shouldn't stray too far from his father's camp and the safety of the knights but he couldn't resist looking around the woods for animals that would be long gone from the young boy's sight before he could glimpse them were his father and the knights with him.

His ears pricked up when he heard the odd sound of laughter to his west. It sounded like children his own age, but there were no villages for miles so surely children couldn't be out here, so far from home.

Intrigued, Arthur followed the noise until he reached the top of a small embankment only a few feet high. Below was the clear water of a small lake. The lake looked strange sunken into the ground the way it was, what made it stranger were the rocks and boulders that littered the otherwise smooth surface. however it was neither of these things that truley had the young prince's interest, it was the the two young children standing on the boulder in the middle of the lake.

The boy looked around his age the girl maybe a year or two younger. They were both wearing clothes made of dark brown cloth covered in tunic's and cloves made from some kind of animal skin, the boy even had a cloak. Their faces were painted with blue stripes on one cheek and a white paw print over their left eye. Both children looked fairly dirty as well but not anymore so than poor peasant children.

The girl laughed and jumped to a new boulder, landing on all fours then standing and with a flick of her wrist the water flowed up out of the lake in a small stream.

Magic! Thought Arthur, had they seen him were they going to attack him?

Instead the girl continued to smile and shape the water into a star, then a sphere and a cube, the boy clapping as she did so. He then gave a mischievous grin and his eyes flashed gold as a huge dragon made of the lakes water rose up and splashed down again only a few inches from Arthur.

Arthur gave a yell and the boy's gaze turned from gold to blue as he saw Arthur. With a yell of his own he turned and began hoping across to the other side of the lake, the girl in hot pursuit until they disappeared into the trees a few seconds later.

"wait!" called Arthur "Come back!", unfortunately he forgot he was on an embankment and found himself falling into the water below...

Arthur woke with a start siting up in his bed. The curtains were still closed, which meant it was still fairly early. Or Merlin is late, as usual He though to himself. Instead of getting up to check he flopped back onto his mattress and stared up at the canopy. It had been years since he had eve given a thought to the strange children he saw in the deep forests a day's ride from Camelot. Sometimes he felt silly, he must of imagined it, he was only young of course. Other times he was sure of what he had seen. Two dark haired children, dressed in skins, doing magic on a lake.

He wondered if the children were evil. If magic was evil. In the last few years his thoughts on magic had been shaken. Was it evil, as he had been taught? Or was it neutral, like a sword? He couldn't bring himself to believe children less than a decade old could be evil, especially if what he had seen as a child had been true. The children were using magic for fun, entertainment.

Arthur was jolted from his thoughts when Merlin practically fell through the door, somehow managing to keep the tray of breakfast he was holding from falling.

"Rise and Shine!" He called with his trademark grin "Time to face the new day!"

Merlin immediately went about opening the curtains and arranging the princes clothes while he ate.

"You have a council meeting today remember" Merlin added "Your father said it was pretty important".

"I know Merlin" Arthur replied "Just ake sure not to dress me like an idiot"

"You don't need me to look like an idiot, sire".

Merlin skillfully ducked the goblet that came shooting in his direction from Arthur.

"Very funny Merlin" Arthur chided finishing up the ham on his plate and uickly dressing in the clothes Merlin laid out "Hurry up then, If i need to be bored, you need to be bored".

Merlin groaned as he followed Arthur out the door and towards the council chambers, expecting yet another council meeting filled with military tactics and very boring political affairs.

He was wrong.

So that's the first chapter I hope you like :) Please review :)