Chapter 1

Blinking his eyes open, Arthur had a moment of confused panic. To all appearances, it seemed he was lying in his own bed, within his own chambers, with Gwen still slumbering peacefully beside him. But the king could have sworn mere moments ago that he and his men were fighting a sorcerer within a system of caves in the forest outside the city.

"Mm, Arthur?" Turning, his gaze met Guinevere's half-lidded eyes, and bit back his unease.

"Good morning." He murmured back. Gwen grinned, before pushing back the covers in order to stretch out her limbs. Over the next few minutes, as his wife went about her usual morning routine, Arthur's panic slowly melted away, until he could hardly remember what was wrong in the first place.

"You know you can't stay in bed all day," Gwen told him sternly as she pulled on a purple gown with gold embroidery. "We're expected to have breakfast with the King and Queen soon."

And just like that, Arthur bolted upright.

"The who and who?!" He blurted, blood racing.

"Your parents, Arthur. Honestly, did my brother and the other knights ply you with too much drink last evening?" Stunned into silence, Arthur didn't resist in the slightest as Gwen hauled him upright and began tugging proper clothing on for the day. It wasn't until the two of them were walking arm in arm down the hall that his mind returned to some form of coherency.

"Guinevere," he said slowly. "Humor me. Who all is going to be at this breakfast?"

The woman rolled her eyes at him, but answered nonetheless. "Uther and Ygraine, of course, and Morgana, Ulvaine and Elizabeth. Elyan and our father were invited, but they had to decline, what with all the orders coming into the shop lately. Now, don't misinterpret me, tournaments are wonderful for business, but sometimes I wish Dad didn't have to deal with the rush as everyone wants their weapons and armor in top shape..." She continued to chatter on, not noticing that Arthur had drifted off after hearing his mother's name.

Something was wrong here. Very wrong. But try as he might, Arthur couldn't fight the impulse to just go along with it for the meantime.

At the next corridor intersection, three more people dressed in simple finery joined the pair. Arthur recognized Morgana, and had to fight the impulse to draw a sword on her then and there. Fortunately, the other two were enough to distract him.

One was a boy in his late teens, with an identical build and blue eyes to Arthur, but had hair the same dark brown color as Uther, before it turned grey. Then there was a slim girl, younger than the other stranger, with long blonde hair the same golden shade as Arthur's, and warm hazel eyes.

It was the girl who smiled at him, and said, "Morning, brother."

He would have tripped were it not for Gwen's steady presence beside him.

"Oh dear, not suffering another hangover are you?" Morgana shot him a teasing smirk, one which made her look so much like the almost-sister he'd grown up with that Arthur's heart ached.

"Honestly, 'Gana, can you blame him?" The boy joked, nudging her playfully with his shoulder. "The way those dignitaries were carrying on at dinner last night? I'd have drowned myself in alcohol to try and escape them too!"

"Ah, except the Queen doesn't allow you more than two glasses of wine at a meal, does she Ulvaine?" He sent a swiping punch at her arm, which Morgana easily evaded with a laugh. Huffing, the younger girl stepped between them with a pointed glare.

"We're going to be late you lot keep that up." She turned her nose up in the air and continued on down the hallway.

"Uh-oh, looks like we made Elizabeth mad," the boy, Ulvaine, muttered, before leaning in Arthur's direction. "You'll help me make it up to her later, right? Everyone knows you two are the closest out of the lot of us."

"Uh, of course." Arthur was still trying to wrap his head around the idea that Morgana was still her old self, let alone that he had more siblings. Gwen was starting to look at him with concern, which he tried to dispel with a reassuring grin and squeeze to her arm.

"Maybe I should have left you in bed after all." The former maid said.

"Oh, ha ha. You're funnier than Merlin-"

"Who?"

Again, Arthur nearly tripped over his own feet. "What do you mean, who?"

"Well, I haven't heard you mention that name before. Is he one of the knights?"

Arthur didn't even have time to laugh over that particular notion when they arrived in the small dining hall reserved for the royal family. And then his attention was totally consumed by the middle-aged woman busy greeting his supposed siblings with warm hugs and kisses to their brows. Releasing Gwen and stepping forward on an impulse, Arthur carefully returned the woman's embrace and ducked his head so she could more easily administer her kiss.

"Good morning, Mother." It came out barely louder than a whisper, but Queen Ygraine still smiled widely at him for it.

"And the same to you, my dear boy," she replied, before turning to give the same treatment to Guinevere. Swept up in a happy daze to have been shown the maternal love he'd longed for all his life, it took a moment for Arthur to recover himself, and take his usual seat. His father, looking happier and healthier than than Arthur could ever recall seeing him before, sat to his left at the head of the table. Ygraine took the chair opposite Arthur, with Morgana and Ulvaine in the next two. Gwen gracefully sat to Arthur's right, with Elizabeth beyond her. Seconds later, servants appeared around them, serving the royals a variety of breakfast foods, from fresh fruit to sausage and ham to warm porridge and toast.

"Well!" Uther spoke once everyone was well into their food. "Now that we're all properly awake and aware, I want to make certain everyone remembers the plans for today. Arthur, Ulvaine, I expect you each to personally inspect the tournament grounds and ensure everything is being set up properly."

"Yes, Father." The two both chorused.

"Morgana, you will be helping Ygraine oversee the planning staff in regards to the banquets and celebrations we'll be holding over the following weeks."

"Of course, sir." Ygraine favored the younger woman with warm smile.

"And that leaves Guinevere and myself to entertain the visiting ladies, right Father?"

"Indeed, Elizabeth. I will be meeting with the various lords and barons as we discuss upcoming petitions for the Council." Uther shot pointed looks at both his sons. "And I hope that you two do not become used to my providing a convenient excuse for you to avoid such gatherings." Ulvaine let out a snort, and Arthur was hard pressed not to do the same.

Clearly, this variation of his father was much more lenient than the one he was used to - the one who'd died not all that long ago. The thought was enough to remind Arthur that none of this could be real.

Which, was a pity in its own way. He was quite enjoying this different take on his family, and wouldn't mind staying longer. Perhaps on the tour of the tournament grounds, he could get to know Ulvaine a bit better, find out what he could have had in a brother...

Suddenly, there was a resounding crack that shook the room, but Arthur was the only one to notice. He looked about in alarm, which changed to horror when Ulvaine and Elizabeth both vanished. Across the table from him, Ygraine cried out in pain, clutching at her belly as sweat began to pour down her features. She too disappeared into thin air, while Morgana grew pale and disheveled, an evil snarl marring her features. Uther's face hardened, laughter lines turning to those of stress, before he suddenly gasped and went limp.

All around Arthur, the castle walls were crumbling and collapsing, leaving only darkness beyond them. Morgana and Uther each faded into nothingness, until Gwen was the only one remaining beside him. Her hand briefly rested on his shoulder, giving it a reassuring squeeze, before the entire world was wiped away.

Gasping, Arthur returned to himself in an instant, kneeling on a cold cavern floor, Leon grasping him in the same spot that Guinevere had been just a second before. As he raised his head, Arthur noted that all his knights were surrounding him with expressions of sympathy.

"Wh- what happened?"

"The sorcerer had a trick up his sleeve." Leon said grimly. "Magical baubles that, when thrown, enveloped each of us in a sort of fantasy world, one where we were surrounded by love and happiness."

"Bloody awful coming back out to the real world and knowing it was all fake," Gwaine piped up, his usual good humor barely covering a voice like ice. "Just for that, I'm going to make sure this bastard suffers before we kill him."

"We're sorry for your loss, Sire." Percival gently added, as Arthur got to his feet.

"What do you mean by that?"

Elyan cleared his throat, suddenly anxious. "We could see. Those of us who first got out of our own bubbles, we could see what events were going on in the others."

The king closed his eyes with a wince - they'd all seen, then, his parents and his siblings.

"Don't feel bad, sire." Leon told him. "I think I can honestly say we all wanted back the families we've lost."

Nodding, Arthur straightened and began to take stock of their surroundings. Around the floor were the shattered pieces of the different 'bubbles' that had held them captive, along with scorch marks from the fireballs the sorcerer had been throwing about previously. It was then that the royal realized that there was someone else missing besides the enemy.

"Where's Merlin?"

A/N: Ahem. So.

I admit, I've never actually watched BBC's Merlin, but I have read a great deal of ff stories for it, as well as read episode descriptions of the entire series and watched whatever clips I could find on YouTube. Hopefully, those sources are enough for me to have written a decent story that you will enjoy.

This little story's already written, with two more chapters I promise to post over the coming weekend. I've also got a few more ideas in the works, but would like to see how well this piece is received before sharing them.

Thanks for reading!

-Triscribe