So I moved this story over from my other account that I had. I'll be doing a bit of editing before I post it all here, though, so it might be just a tad bit different from when I first posted it, in the other account.

Explanation of World

So, before we get into the story itself, I want to explain the dynamics of the world that I've set up for this fic, then I'll go into the first chapter, which isn't all that long. It's very different from the show, in a lot of ways. I took quite a few liberties. So I know that not everyone will like the changes that I made, and that's okay. It really won't hurt my feelings if you don't like it. But if you don't like it, then please don't be rude. Just stop reading. Normally, I like for people to tell me when I'm getting too far off track, but with this story, it starts so far off track that I really don't want to have anybody telling me it's nothing like the show. I know that the characters are OOC. I know that some of the stuff that I changed is weird. I don't need to be told that, if that makes any sense. And I hope I don't sound rude about it, but seriously. I already know these things. It's a weird idea that I had. I changed some pretty major things, so that will have an impact on the behavior of many of the characters. Hopefully, you will think it was done well, but I can't make any guarantees.

The Purge never happened. For the sake of this particular story, Morgana and Arthur are full-blooded siblings (both children of Uther and Ygraine), though Morgana is the younger of the two. I believe she was the older one, in the show. But I can't remember for sure. Uther and Ygraine were able to conceive naturally both times, so Ygraine is still alive. Arthur's birth was not a magical one. Arthur is only about a year or so older than Morgana, though. So, magic is still legal in Camelot. It may not always be trusted, but it is legal. Uther prefers to ignore it as much as possible and pretend it doesn't exist. Morgana has the same abilities as a Seer, but she has not yet manifested any other magical skills. Uther knows about it, but he would rather pretend that she doesn't have the magic. So he refuses to speak to her about it or give her any sort of training. When she was younger and first manifesting her visions, he consulted a foreign sorcerer who was also a healer and scholar, Gaius, who explained the ability, and taught Morgana not to fear the dreams, like she did in the show. But Gaius only visits occasionally-he lives in the kingdom of Avalon (I'll get there in a minute). Even if he was available, Uther wouldn't allow him to visit more often. He also forbids Gaius from helping Morgana enhance her skills. Gaius is only allowed to do/say what he needs to in order to keep Morgana from accidentally using her magic to harm others, as that can happen when one begins manifesting their magic. Oh, and magic is something that you are either born with or not in this story. It can't be learned. Not really. One can learn to sharpen his or her own ability, but they cannot perform spells if they do not have magic within themselves already. Also, Uther inherited Camelot from his own father. He didn't conquer it, like they've alluded to in the show.

Balinor and Hunith are both alive and are married and are the king and queen of Avalon. In this story, Avalon is not the afterlife or whatever it was in the show. It's a kingdom, smaller than Camelot, but nearby. I'm saying a three day journey between the two, though I can't remember what it was in the show. The center of the kingdom is located on an isle at the center of the lake. Even though I think that island was different than the Isle of the Blessed in the show, I'm sort of combining the two for this fic. They call the isle there at the center of the lake the Isle of the Blessed. Instead of the single tower thing the isle had, it has a decent-sized castle (bigger than the run-down one the Isle of the Blessed that the show had, but smaller than Camelot's castle). The castle is well maintained, and it doesn't have wyverns living in it. Although there are dragons that fly around occasionally, and the roofs are set up to be able to hold the weight of a dragon. The kingdom also includes the lake itself, and the forest on the banks around the lake. I imagine that three-fourths of the land around the lake is covered in forest. And that the last portion of that land leads to a very large valley, which is also part of Avalon. Dragons are not extinct, or even close to being extinct. They live in the valley in Avalon, called the Valley of Wings (I know, not very creative). Gaius is the court physician to Balinor (as well as Hunith's uncle). The house of Emrys (which is the ruling family of Avalon, much like the Pendragons are the ruling family of Camelot) also tend to be dragonlords, though they aren't the only ones who can be. Unlike in the show, it's not only the sons who can inherit the ability. And it's an ability that they're born with, not that they inherit with the death of the parent. And, in this story, each dragonlord tends to bond with one specific dragon. They can call forth as many as they want/need to from the eggs, but there's usually just one (the first one) that they tend to bond with, almost like dragons and riders in the Eragon series (almost, but not to the same extent).

Biggest change: Merlin is a girl! So of course she is going to be the most OOC of them all. Plus, Mordred is her younger brother. Because, hey, why not? It seemed like a fun idea, so I rolled with it.

Now, onto the story. This first chapter is really short, and is more of a prologue than anything else, in all reality. Just like most of my fics, I'm not sure when or how often my updates will be. I might have several that I post back-to-back, and then have a lull. I tend to write in bursts. And then I have incredibly long lulls. Seriously. They're ridiculous, and I'm truly sorry about that. To be fair, I've been extremely busy lately. The school year has been a nightmare, and I'm getting married, and just all kinds of stuff. So yeah. I can't tell you how often the updates will be.

CHAPTER ONE: THE TREATY

Balinor Emrys stood near the edge of the meadow, watching the king opposite him warily. Balinor had only recently inherited the throne of Avalon, but Uther Pendragon had been ruling Camelot for nearly five years.

Balinor had also inherited the so-called war with Camelot, a war that he had never agreed with and a war that he wanted to finally bring to an end. It was some sort of silly feud between Uther's father and Balinor's father, the details of which no one seemed quite certain of. Since Uther had begun his own reign, the war had dwindled to nothing more than a few occasional squabbles, almost always instigated by Balinor's father. Balinor suspected that Uther wanted an end to this war as much as he did.

Balinor had called this meeting with Uther as one of his first decisions as the new king. They couldn't afford petty squabbles with each other.

The king of Avalon studied the group from Camelot. There stood King Uther, tall and proud, with dark hair and green eyes. Beside him was his wife, Queen Ygraine. She was pale in nearly every way. Pale skin, pale hair, pale dress. But her eyes were a sparkling blue. He didn't see either of the Pendragon children, though that was hardly surprising. Prince Arthur had only reached his second year two months prior, and Princess Morgana had yet to reach her first year. Balinor had left his own queen and new daughter at his castle. Merlin was only four days old. He wouldn't risk her safety at a tenuous meeting such as this, even though he was flanked by his most trusted and skilled sorcerer-guards.

"It is time to end the fighting that our fathers began, once and for all," Balinor called to the other king. "This feud has gone on long enough. It was theirs, not ours."

The king of Camelot didn't respond, but he looked interested in what was being said, so Balinor proceeded speaking. "I do not wish to continue it. I want my daughter to grow up in a peaceful world, Uther, as peaceful as possible. I know you want the same for your children. I want our kingdoms united as they've never been."

Uther nodded in agreement. "There is unrest amongst the other kingdoms. Alone, Camelot and Avalon are weak. Together, they are strong. I want to put this feud behind us as much as you do, Balinor."

"Then we will meet to discuss a treaty. We only have to decide where to -"

"We will travel to Avalon when the time comes, of course," Ygraine interrupted. At the moment, the two groups were just at the border of the two kingdoms, a halfway point for each of them. Uther sent his wife a slightly irritated look, but he didn't argue with her. "Your daughter is much too young for traveling, and I doubt Queen Hunith would want to be parted from her infant so soon. We wouldn't dream of holding these discussions without her. So we will come to the Isle of the Blessed, within the fortnight."

Balinor inclined his head, attempting to hide his grin. He had not known that the queen of Camelot was so bold. "Until then, Your Majesty."

After nearly a week of discussions held within the borders of Avalon - during which time Arthur and Morgana showed a great deal of interest toward the young Avalonian princess and her occasionally glowing eyes - a treaty was agreed upon between the two kingdoms.

As part of the alliance, it was decided that Prince Arthur and Princess Merlin would marry, shortly after Merlin's eighteenth birthday. They would be given a chance to court long before the wedding took place, of course.

It was hoped that, in time, they would grow to love each other, as Uther and Balinor had both grown to love their own spouses. Uniting the two kingdoms in such a way would make them both stronger. Neither kingdom was very large on its own, and there were rumors of several of the surrounding kingdoms trying to expand. An alliance was strongly needed if they wanted to survive.

According to Avalonian law, only males could inherit the throne. Avalon would remain its own kingdom, even after Merlin married Arthur. If Balinor and Hunith had a son, he would take the throne after Balinor. If not, the throne would go to a nephew of Balinor's, a toddler by the name of Galahad. Merlin would move to Camelot to become its queen, at Arthur's side. And if any of the nearby kingdoms decided to try their luck with conquering their neighbors, they would find Camelot and Avalon fiercely united.

I don't know what color Uther's hair was in his youth, but Anthony Head's hair was fairly dark in his youth, so I'm going with that. And that's where Morgana gets her dark hair.