Balinor and Ygraine brother/sister

Gaius and Hunith Uncle/ Niece

Arthur and Merlin cousins

….

At Camelot Balinor was uneasy, he knew what Nimueh had done would lead to trouble, he had done his best to talk Uther out of it, but his friend was to desperate to have a son. Balinor had even suggested Uther take a mistress to provide a son, but had got nowhere. Then Ygraine had died in childbirth and Uther was beside himself with grief. He knew no good would come of it. Nimueh had disappeared long ago, she knew what was good for her. Even though three years had passed Uther's grief was showing no signs of calming. Uther was no longer the man he had once been and Balinor was getting more and more concerned for the future, and for his family. His Brother in law was becoming more fanatical. Balinor could sense things were coming to a head, terrible things but even he had no idea how bad things would be or he would have left long ago.

Just that very morning Hunith had told him she was expecting their first child so Balinor decided he could risk it no longer, he was going to leave Camelot with his family. He might return alone later, but he wanted his pregnant wife somewhere safe. He had alerted Kilgarrah and told him they were leaving that very night. Telling Hunith to pack all she could get into one large sack Balinor made his own preparations. As he always did every night before retiring he went to see the baby Prince Arthur, he felt sorry for his nephew, the poor mite, losing his mother before he knew her and his father to grief. Uther hadn't been a father to the boy he had let the loss of his wife cloud all his judgement.

Looking down at the sleeping child, just three years old, Balinor made a silent vow that he would return and ensure he had someone who loved him for himself and not purely as an heir. It was the only thing left he could do for his sister the late Queen. But first he had to get his family safe.

As Balinor took his pregnant wife down to the cave where Kilgarrah was waiting he didn't notice the man in the alcove until too late. The knife went into his chest and he fell to the floor. Balinor could hear his wife screaming as he fell to the ground, he knew he was dying and tried to get his wife to run "Go Hunith run for our child's sake" as he struggled to take his last breaths he saw who had killed him "Uther why!"

"Why? You dog, you try to run away in the night, did you think I wouldn't know? A traitor that's what you are. Like all your kind, your wife will stay here until I decide her fate. As for your dragon he is already suffering his. By the time you draw your last breath he will be chained forever a prisoner. Tonight starts the Great Purge where I will remove all magic from the face of the land."

Balinor never heard most of what his brother in law had said he had already passed on to the next life, leaving his wife and unborn child unprotected. As Hunith was dragged away from her dead husband she heard the great Dragon roar out his frustration, as he too was made a prisoner. He had felt his Dragonlord die and the next was not yet born.

Hunith was thrown in a dungeon and left there, as soon as her uncle, the Court Physician, heard he carried her down some food and blankets, he would wait until the morning before trying to talk to the King. Using his slight magic he crept down to the cave and collected Balinor's body and allowed Kilgarrah to send Balinor to the gods in a burst of flaming breathe, before hurrying back to his rooms. He knew he had to get Hunith out of the dungeons or her unborn child would suffer, yet if he told the King Uther would know that Hunith carried the next Dragonlord and Gaius had no idea what that would mean for the child.

Hunith sat in her cell broken with grief for her husband and scared what would happen to her and her unborn infant. She knew it would be a son, a dragonlord first child was always male. During the night she even contemplated killing herself so he son would not be born into such a world, but she would not betray her husband's memory so, he had been overjoyed to know he was to be a father. She would regret many times over the following years not taking her own life and that of her unborn child's life that night.