So here's the thing.

This story is 100% self-indulgence and nothing else.

I'd like to think that I've got an interesting and unique story to tell, but at its heart, this fic exists to allow me to write about an OC that I really like, to play with some worldbuilding, and to fix everything I thought went wrong in the show Merlin. As a result, I'm not treating this as a serious writing project. I only have enough energy for one "serious fic" at a time, and right now all of that energy is going toward Ataraxia. So Come To Light is unbeta'd, and unlike every other fic I've written, I'm not looking for constructive criticism. There's sections of this fic that were written literally years ago, and I'm not editing them like I probably need to. I'm sharing it because I can, and because I think people could enjoy it. But if no one does...well, that's okay, because this isn't my best work and I know it. If you're still reading, though, I hope you enjoy!

Prologue

They struck in the early morning.

The town was awakened by a ball of fire smashing into a large barn. It engulfed the structure, sending timbers crashing down inside the building. That, and the animal shrieks of cattle trapped inside brought the town out into the streets. As they all stood, gazing in a numb, paralyzed shock at the sight, men began to stream out of the woods and into the small town. They yelled as they ran, brandishing spears, swords, maces, axes; an overall mismatched set of weapons. Reactions from the villagers were varied; some of the men scrambled for weapons, preparing to turn and face the invaders . Others gathered up children and wives and ran. They stopped, however, slamming into an invisible wall surrounding the village. Cries of fear rang out across the village as the band of thieves swept into the town, decimating all in their path.

A few miles away, a young girl sat on the band of a creek, the cool waters flowing over her bare feet. A small bouquet of picked wildflowers lay next to her, forgotten for the moment as she sat still, watching a rabbit on the other side of the bank. As it hopped about and stuck its quivering little nose into a flower, a small giggle escaped the girl; the rabbit looked up, startled, and then sprang away.

The girl sighed. She knew she should get back; everyone would be waking up soon, and she would be in huge trouble if Mother caught her sneaking out of the house again. She'd been whipped hard enough last time she'd snuck out that she wasn't eager to repeat the experience. She dried off her feet and put her shoes back on, and then turned and began the long walk back home.

The sight that awaited when she arrived was devastating.

Bodies lay strewn across blood-drenched streets. Several of the houses were nothing but burnt shells, and the girl could see blackened bodies lying inside them. She could hear, in the distance, the triumphant yells and calls of strange men, though they were already far past the town. When she'd seen the first signs of ruin, she broke into a run. Her family would be fine, she knew. They were waiting for her, ready to scold her for being late to breakfast-

Her family's small house was standing, but barely. Scorch marks blackened the walls, and several patches of the roof appeared to have fallen in. She ran inside, unaware of any possible danger, and unaware of the tears streaming down her face. The house was dark-the sun hadn't fully risen yet, and the wreckage blocked out light-and she stumbled on something as she entered. The little girl screamed as she realized that it was the bodies of her parents, crushed by fallen pieces of timber. Not registering where her feet were taking her, she ran to the back of the house, to the room she and her brother shared. She didn't notice, but she tread in the sooty black footprints left by those who had searched her house as well as the houses of the others in the village. She saw her brother lying peacefully in his crib, and she cried out in relief, running over to him and pulling him into her arms.

He was cold and limp to the touch.

The only mark on him was a strange, curling x shape on his forehead; his death had been caused by magic. Weeping, she fell to her knees, cradling her brothers body.

The ones who had done this would pay. Magic-the horrible, sickening evil that had killed her brother and everyone she loved-would pay.

She could do nothing now, as a little girl. Someday, she would be a grown-up.

Someday, she would bring magic itself to its knees for what it had done to her. She swore it over the spirits of her family.

Ten Years Later

It was Merlin's second day in Camelot. He fervently hoped it wouldn't be his last.

He knew he had to be more careful. He knew that practicing magic would get him killed. But when he'd seen the bucket of water falling off the table, he'd reacted instinctively and stopped it. A second later, realizing what he'd done, he'd let it clatter to the floor, but he knew that if anyone but Gaius had been in the room, the slip could have cost him his life.

So it was fairly unnerving when a moment later, a blonde girl wearing a servant's dress strolled into the room, barely stopping to knock.

"Gaius? Gwen asked me to- oh" She said, stopping as she caught sight of Merlin, who gaped at her, shocked by her sudden appearance. "Who are you?"

Stunned by the close call-if the girl had walked in just a few seconds earlier, she would have seen him do magic-it took him a few seconds longer to respond than it should have.

"I'm-I'm Merlin," he stuttered, realizing he was still staring at her.

"My nephew from Ealder," Gaius added. "He's staying with me for the time being." The girl nodded.

"Well, it's nice to meet you Merlin. I'm Alina," she said, smiling in a-was that a flirty way? Merlin wasn't really sure. She turned to Gaius, seemingly unaware of Merlin's confusion.

"Morgana has a terrible headache; Gwen asked me to come get something for it," she said.

"You know where it is," Gaius said, gesturing to a shelf. She crossed the room and grabbed a bottle, and then called out her thanks over her shoulder as she left the room. After they heard her footsteps receding from the door, Gaius turned to Merlin.

"That is exactly why you must be more careful! No one who saw you do magic would have the smallest reservation about reporting you, and then where would you be?"

"I'm sorry, but it just happens!"

"What do you mean it just happens? Don't you say a spell in your mind?"

"No, I-I don't know how I do it. It's instinct, I guess." Merlin was intently staring at his porridge, embarrassed by his magical slip, so he missed the brief look of shock that came over Gaius's face. It was gone in an instant, however. Desperate to change the subject, Merlin seized on the first topic that came to mind.

"Who was that girl?" He asked.

"She used to be my assistant; I took her in when she was a child after her family was killed by bandits. She works as a servant in the castle now, but she often stops by to help me out or to say hello. Never let her, especially, see you do magic."

"Why her in particular?" Merlin asked, curious. The expression on Gaius's face changed to one of sorrow.

"The bandits who killed her family were magic users, Merlin. She was found by a merchant on his way to Camelot and brought here. To see everyone she knew killed by magic, and then to grow up here...she's never seen magic being used for anything but evil, Merlin. She would turn you in in a second and would watch with satisfaction as you burned at the stake, thinking she'd done a good deed in removing another evil sorcerer from the world." Merlin's face turned pale at the mention of being burned at the stake while others watched with pleasure. He'd known that magic was forbidden in Camelot, and that sorcerers were burned at the stake, but he'd never quite been able to imagine the depth of hatred that someone would need to smile at an execution. After seeing the beheading of that poor woman's son, and hearing Gaius's descriptions, he could imagine it only too well. Merlin sighed. Between seeing a sorcerer beheaded on his first day in town, realizing his control over his magic was actually much worse than he thought it was, and realizing that he was going to have frequent dealings with a girl who hated magic about as much as Uther himself, his time at Camelot wasn't off to a great start.

Of course, his day only got worse when the bully he'd insulted had ended up being the crown prince of Camelot. Spending the night in jail and the next morning in the stocks really hadn't improved his opinion of Camelot either, though the one person who'd stopped to talk to him, the maid Gwen, had seemed nice. When he finally was released and he made his way back to Gaius's chambers, he was surprised to see Alina there, helping Gaius make some sort of herbal balm.

"...and with George ill, Celia has twice as many rooms to clean, so she can't help with the preparations for the feast- oh, hello," she said as Merlin entered. He could tell she was barely stopping herself from laughing at his appearance. Gaius too was clearly amused.

"There's water in your room if you want to wash," he said. Merlin muttered a half-hearted thanks as he walked up to the room. He was grateful that the door swung shut before he could hear the inevitable comments he was sure both of them had on his appearance.

Alina looked at Gaius after Merlin had closed the door.

"You should have your hands full keeping that one out of trouble," she said. Gaius sighed.

"You have no idea," he said.

The next day, Alina passed Merlin as he was standing looking bemused in one of Camelot's corridors.

"Lost?" She asked him, stopping in the hall. He looked up at her, startled.

"Do you know where Lady Helen is staying? I'm supposed to give her this tonic, " he waved a hand holding a small bottle.

"I'll walk you there. There's so many servants out and about for the feast that I won't be missed for a few minutes. It's this way" she said, grabbing his arm and dragging him down a corridor. They ducked past servants going the opposite direction until they came to a much less crowded hallway.

"Lady Helen told the king that too much noise before a performance gives her headaches, so the senechal put her in a little-used wing of the castle. Peace and quiet for her, but a long walk for us servants whenever she requests something." Alina explained. Merlin just nodded as he tried to note the passages and corridors they turned down so that he could make his way back through them later.

"I've never seen a building this large before," he said. "It's a lot to keep track of." She nodded sympathetically.

"I'm originally from a small village too - when I first got here, I was so overwhelmed I refused to leave Gaius's room for a week." She said, smiling distantly at the memory.

"How long did it take you to learn your way around?" Merlin asked, still desperately trying to track the turns they were taking.

"Oh, only about three years," she said seriously, and then laughed at Merlin's stricken expression. "But I was only ten, and I barely left Gaius's chambers for the first year I was there - I was pretty shy as a child. I'm sure you'll learn faster than I did."

"I sure hope so," Merlin muttered, and Alina laughed again.

"In any case, this is her room. Can you find your way back from here?" She asked. Merlin nodded. "I'm off then. I'll see you around then, Merlin," she said, winking at him as she turned to go. Merlin turned bright red but still managed to mutter a "see you" as she walked away. Steeling himself, he thrust Alina out of his thoughts as he knocked on the door. The last thing he needed right now was to make even more mistakes than he already had because he was distracted by a pretty face.

Alina knew that Gaius would probably scold her later for flirting with his new ward, but it was always funny to tease the new servants fresh in from the country. None of them ever knew what to do with the helpful but forward strawberry-blonde girl with the bright grin. Any of them who made the mistake of thinking she was serious found out soon enough that while Alina flirted with everyone outrageously, it was more of a joke than anything else.

Gaius had told her time and time again that it wasn't kind of her to flirt when she didn't mean it, but Alina thought that the favor she was doing of showing the new ones the ropes was enough kindness to merit a little teasing. They'd argued about again and again until Gaius had eventually given up, telling her that sooner or later she'd grow up enough to learn more wisdom. She'd laughed and said she was young, and had plenty of time to grow up later.

She did feel a bit bad about abandoning Merlin to find his own way back, but that couldn't be helped. She was already likely to catch hell from Pamela - the castle's chief housekeeper - about being late to her post cleaning the small dining hall where Lady Helen was to perform that night. If she was any later, she'd probably be punished for it. Besides, she didn't particularly want to run into Lady Helen again. There was just something...off about the Lady, Alina thought. It was strange; it wasn't anything she could put her finger on; something about the woman just seemed different. It was almost like the feeling she got around Gaius's nephew. There was something strange about Merlin, thought it was definitely a different type of strange. She stopped for a moment and shook her head, smiling at her own ridiculousness. Different types of strange feelings? What was she thinking? She didn't have time to imagine nonsense, she had work to do to get ready for the banquet that night. She walked off, still shaking her head as she went off to deliver a message to the cook.

Hours later, everything was ready. The floors had been scrubbed until they shone; the cook and kitchen maids had been working nonstop for the past two days to cook everything to perfection; the banquet hall had been decorated to perfection.

When the feast actually began, the back wall and entrance were crowded with servants trying to be unobtrusive, eager to hear the voice of the famed singer. Alina was one of the lucky ones; since she'd been picked to serve, she was in the front of the crowd and could actually see Lady Helen. She'd been looking forward to the performance for weeks. Oddly, however, Alina's stomach rolled when the singer opened her mouth. She shook herself; what was wrong with her? Lady's Helen's voice was the loveliest she'd ever heard. The melody she sang seemed to roll through the great hall in waves; the strange words she sung were oddly soothing. Suddenly, Alina could barely keep her eyes open. Her thoughts slowed to a crawl; as her knees buckled and she fell to the floor, she barely registered that those around her were also falling.

What happened? She thought hazily. Lady Helen had been singing, and then...why was she on the ground? And why was there someone on top of her? She wriggled out and regarded the scene before her; servants who had evidently fallen asleep where they'd stood had fallen down on top of each other. Some, like her, had gotten themselves free, but most were still trapped by the sheer amount of bodies in too small a space.

A shout from the other side of the room startled her; she turned in time to see Gaius's boy push the prince out of the path of a flying knife. She watched, stunned, as Uther "rewarded" the boy by making him Arthur's manservant, though clearly neither Arthur nor Merlin saw it as a reward. And then there was no more time for watching anything - while Gaius was called in to check the body and confirm it to be dead, Pamela was quietly distributing orders for servants to begin transferring the meal into one of the other dining halls. As Alina left to help quickly clean the new room in preparation, she heard Gaius pronounce the sorceress to be dead.

Good. She thought. There's a little less evil in the world now.