So, this is my first fanfiction ever. Time travel is not exactly a new concept, I know, but the story presented itself to me and I had to write it down and I hope I've managed to give it an original twist. I hope you will enjoy and please review it. I really like to know what you think.

Of course, I don't own Merlin or any of its characters, I only own the character of Lynn/Alina.

,,Take me back to the places I've never been

Take me back to another time

Take me back to a world I have never seen.

Only in my mind.''

The Storyman, Chris de Burgh

Chapter 1.

Lynn

The exam was an absolute and complete disaster. She knew it the moment she laid eyes on it. That feeling hadn't changed one bit now that she had handed it in and left the room.

'Oh, that was horrible!' exclaimed Sarah, one of her closest friends, who was walking next to her. 'I didn't remember any of it!'

Neither had Lynn, but she was in no mood to talk today. She was otherwise occupied. She already knew from experience that she had problems concentrating on anything when she had had one of those dreams again and today was no exception. Last night had even been more disturbing than before. Something about travelling, the threat of bandits and a lot of heavily armed men. She didn't recall all of it, but the dream had consisted mostly of fear and some strange hopeful expectation she couldn't understand.

She tried to shake it off. These were only dreams and nothing more. They were a nice distraction from her own life and they gave her something to think of. Most of the time it was like having a story only she knew about. But others wrote their stories down, but she dreamed hers.

Lynn had been having the dreams for as long as she could remember. It wouldn't happen every night, not even every week, but from time to time they came and she enjoyed it. When she dreamed she found herself looking through the eyes of a medieval princess, named Alina, daughter of an Irish king, whom she had 'known' since she was a little girl, but was now grown into a beautiful young woman, on her way to get married to some prince to seal some kind of treaty. By looking through her eyes Lynn had learned a great deal about the princess. Apart from being extremely beautiful (a fact of which she was well aware) the princess was not a nice person at all: she was spoiled, rude and, above all, she was the most selfish person Lynn had ever encountered. Lynn didn't even like her.

Yet now she was a little worried for the girl who had appeared in her dreams so often. The road ahead was a dangerous one, known for its many robberies and killings. There was a reason her escort was so heavily armed. Without enough protection, it was likely that she would get killed.

Oh, stop it! she told herself. Alina isn't even real, so get a grip!

She wasn't entirely sure about that, though. The dreams were way too real, too vivid to be just called imagination. Besides, everything Lynn had sought out about the time that Alina should have lived, agreed with the things happening to and around the princess, even though she had no knowledge whatsoever of that time when she first started having the dreams. There was no logical explanation for that. It simply was.

'That last question was really difficult,' Sarah went on, not even noticing Lynn wasn't listening.

'Hmm,' said Lynn knowing that was all that was required of her in a conversation like this.

Her mind wandered off again, back to princess Alina, still a little worried about her. She really shouldn't be, she told herself again. On the off chance Alina was in some way a real person, she was more than capable of defending herself. She had been taking lessons in sword fighting since she was a child, but, what's more, she also possessed, something which made Lynn sometimes believe that it was nothing more than a fantasy after all, magic. And that was something that worried not only her, but the princess too. Because in the kingdom she was travelling to, magic was forbidden and she was afraid that if anyone found out, she would be executed immediately.

Lynn was still pondering that when the pain hit her by surprise. It felt like something hit her head with a lot of force from behind, even when there was nothing there.

'Ow!' she called out, fighting to keep her balance, a fight she was doomed to lose. The stairs before her moved up to meet her and she knew that she was falling, whilst at the same time, she didn't fall at all.

It was like seeing two different realities at the same time. In the first, she was falling down the stairs. In the second, however, she was sitting on a horse, in the middle of a bloody fight. Bandits, she realized. The bandits Alina feared so much, she understood only a second later. The moments she realized where she was, she began to fight her way back to the first reality, trying to shut the second one out, knowing that was a place she didn't want to be right now.

She concentrated on Sarah's panicking voice, but it all slipped away from her, no matter what she tried. It was like trying to hold water in your hands. No matter how hard you tried, eventually it would slip through your fingers.

Before she really grasped what happened to her, the university and her friend had disappeared and she was back on the horse, with the fight going on all around her and her head hurting like someone was practicing his drumming on it. Someone might have done exactly that a few moments earlier.

Lynn had to struggle to remain conscious, a fight she didn't seem to be winning either. She felt dizzy and the fact that her surroundings seemed to move also was not a good sign. And when her horse reared up, frightened by all the fighting that was going on, she simply couldn't hold on.

'Princess Alina!' someone yelled at her.

She saw him the moment after he shouted: a tall young man with blond hair, who looked vaguely familiar. He looked at her with a shocked expression. Scared for her? There was no need for that, surely, she thought right before she hit the ground. A scream escaped her lips. It wasn't just her head hurting anymore, she simply ached all over now and her consciousness rapidly slipped away from her.

'Alina!' The young man called out.

Her vision was already turning vague and dark at the corners.

'My name's Lynn,' she muttered, even though no one heard.

The man kneeled down next to her. 'Alina, can you hear me?' His face hovered just inches above hers.

She then remembered what she knew him from and who he was. 'Arthur Pendragon,' she whispered and then the blackness took his face as well.

Merlin

'How badly is she hurt, Gaius?'

'I can't tell you, sire,' the old physician told the worried prince. 'We will have to wait for her to wake up. Her injuries are not too serious, but she suffered a blow to the head, which can have all kinds of consequences.'

The prince did not seem at all pleased with this answer. 'What consequences?' he demanded.

'Loss of memory, disorientation amongst others.'

This didn't do much to improve his mood. 'How long before she wakes?'

'I can't tell you, sire,' Gaius repeated. 'Though I expect her to come round soon.'

Merlin watched his boss eyeing the unconscious princess in a way that was almost suspecting, but not quite. 'I suppose I will have to wait then,' he said. To Merlin's great surprise Arthur sat himself down on a chair near the bed. He never believed Arthur would have the patience to wait at a sickbed.

'Of course, sire,' said Gaius. 'I'll have to inform your father about her condition, but if there's anything you need…?'

'I have Merlin,' Arthur said.

Merlin rolled his eyes.

Gaius bowed and left the room and Merlin, deciding there was, for a change, not much that he could do, also sat down. For some time they sat together in perfect silence. Arthur was still looking at the girl's face while Merlin tried to recall what Gaius had told him about her.

'What is she like, Gaius?' he had asked one evening when they had their supper, both of them tired after a hard day's work. 'The princess Arthur's to marry?'

Gaius swallowed his chicken before he answered: 'Princess Alina is probably one of the most beautiful women in the known lands: fair haired, green eyes, pale skin,' he described.

'Is she nice, like Morgana?'

'Nice?' repeated Gaius. 'I wouldn't say so. The last time I met her, she was rude and very ill-tempered.'

Merlin chuckled. 'They're well matched then.'

'Merlin!'

'It's true, you know it is.'

Gaius decided it was much wiser to drop the subject and after that they talked of the preparations and Gaius' medicines.

The girl didn't show any signs of rudeness now. Merlin could only pity her. She was not yet aware of the fact that she was the sole survivor of her party. Everyone else, her father, the guards, the servants, had been slaughtered by the bandits that had attacked them. The patrol from Camelot had come just a little too late to save them. They had only been able to get to the princess before someone could finish her off.

Merlin could only imagine how hard it would be on her to wake up and find out that all the people she had been travelling with for so many weeks, were gone. Surely even an apparently rude and ill-tempered girl like Alina could not possibly be unmoved by that.

Arthur still stared at the girl, his expression serious, an expression not often seen on him.

'You should get some rest,' Merlin said.

'I'll wait.'

'So,' Merlin began, a teasing smile forming on his face. 'You actually do like her?'

'Shut up, Merlin.'

'You don't like her, then?'

'What part of shut up did you not understand, Merlin?' The prince sounded a little annoyed now.

'You're worried for her!' Merlin understood.

'Don't be ridiculous, Merlin.' It was in fact quite funny to see how Arthur tried to dodge the questions, but Merlin could tell that Arthur cared. Gaius told him that Arthur knew Alina since they were both children and that they did get along well together, from time to time.

'She'll be fine, Arthur,' he said, wishing to comfort him.

Arthur snorted. 'And how come you're so certain?'

'I hit my head so many times,' he answered, not even lying.

'And just look how you've turned out,' Arthur commented dryly.

'Why are you worrying so much?' Merlin asked, serious again.

Arthur didn't answer immediately. Merlin already thought he wasn't going to say anything, when he spoke: 'I'm not sure,' the prince said, hesitating. 'There was a moment, just before she got hit, that she looked at me and she smiled. And when that man knocked the back of his sword to her head, I… I could swear I saw her eyes change colour.'

Merlin tensed, for he knew only one reason why such things happened and in Camelot that wasn't a good thing. 'Are you sure?' he asked. 'Maybe it was just the way the light fell on her face.'

'Unlike you, Merlin, there is nothing wrong with my sight,' Arthur snapped at him. 'I know what I saw. Her eyes used to be green, but now…? First her eyes turned gold and then all of a sudden they were blue.'

There was no doubt left in Merlin's mind. Arthur might not know what it all meant, but his servant most certainly did. Princess Alina had magical powers and Merlin couldn't think of one reason why her coming to Camelot should mean well for the kingdom.

'You definitely drank too much wine,' he said, to distract Arthur's mind from the dangerous subject.

It worked. 'I did not!' he protested in a loud voice.

His loud denial woke the girl in the bed. 'Aah,' she moaned, moving restlessly.

They forgot about their argument immediately.

'Princess Alina, can you hear me?' Arthur asked, bending over.

'Aah,' she moaned again.

Her eyes opened. They were of a blue so bright as Merlin had never seen before. Merlin then remembered Gaius saying that the princess' eyes had been green. A shiver went down his spine. Something wasn't right here, he just couldn't put his finger on it.

'Where am I?' she asked in a panicked voice.

'You're safe, my lady,' answered Arthur. 'You're in Camelot. Everything is going to be all right.'

Apart from the fact that your father and everyone else is dead, Merlin thought.

'Camelot?' she repeated.

'That's right.'

She thought about that for a moment and then said: 'I'm dreaming again, am I not?'

'You are not, my lady,' Arthur answered. 'We rescued you from the bandits that attacked you, don't you remember?'

She thought hard. 'I don't… remember… anything.' That realization filled her eyes with something more than just panic. She was truly terrified.

Merlin couldn't bring himself to be suspicious of the girl in that moment. All he saw was a frightened young woman and whatever her reason was for coming to Camelot, she clearly didn't remember it anymore. She was just like any other girl who would get knocked out and wake up in a place she didn't recognize.

'It's alright, my lady,' Arthur said. 'You are safe here. I'm sure that your memory will return once you've rested. You need to sleep some more,' he added, trying to sound like he knew what he was talking about, with trying being the operative word.

'Sleep,' she whispered.

'Everything is going to be fine,' Merlin said.

She looked at him for the first time. For a second Merlin thought he saw recognition in her eyes, but it might have been imagination, because the next moment her expression was one of confusion, what was only to be expected. Besides, there was no way she would recognize him. They never met before.

'This is my servant, Merlin,' Arthur introduced.

She nodded. 'Pleased to meet you,' she said, not sounding pleased, only confused.

'Everything is going to be fine,' he repeated. 'You can sleep here. No one will harm you.' He smiled reassuring at her and after some hesitation, she smiled back, which made her look very sweet, not at all like the spoiled princess Gaius had led him to believe she was.

'Thank you,' she whispered.

He smiled again. 'We will let you sleep.' He beckoned to Arthur to get up and leave the room. The prince stared back at him with an expression of surprise and anger at being told what to do by his servant, but he did not protest, for which Merlin was grateful.

They got up and left the room. The princess was asleep before the door had been closed behind them.

So, that's the first chapter. I hope you liked it. Please review!