Disclaimer: I do not own Merlin or anything else attached to it, save season 1 and 2 on DVD.

Prologue:

Uther cast a jaundiced eye over the backwater village of Ealdor as he dismounted his horse. Most of the villagers had disappeared into their huts when they'd seen him and the knights approaching. He was encroaching on Cenred's property. It was a dangerous gamble, following Balinor here. The boy king had been testing his borders since his coronation a few months ago. Ealdor seemed small, poor, but that did not mean that Cenred would not have a patrol so close to Camelot.

Best to find Balinor and get this finished.

"Search every hut, I want him found now!"

His knights, donned in the red and gold of Camelot seemed too bright and unnatural against the autumn gray haze in the village. He only hoped that Balinor would listen.

"Sire, is this really necessary?" Gaius asked, suddenly next to him.

"I must give him the chance to renounce his gifts. Allow him to stay by my side, as you have."

Gaius said nothing. His habit of late if he did not agree with his king's decisions. Uther understood the sacrifices that Gaius had made to support him in bringing order to Camelot after the chaos of magic. But he missed their talks, missed the camaraderie they'd had when Uther had taken Camelot as his own.

It was one more sacrifice. As King he couldn't afford his friend now. He had to have his trusted servant. Gaius' knowledge of magic alone would help combat those who would not adhere to Camelot's rule.

He waited impatiently, stroking the long nose of his steed, as the knights moved from hut to hut. It was Kieran that eventually returned to him, something clutched tightly in his hands.

"What have you found?"

Kieran held out his hand and released his coiled fingers, revealing a carved wooden dragon. Uther nearly smiled at it. Balinor would carve the things whenever he was deep in thought or troubled. He plucked the tiny dragon from Kieran's hand.

"Where is he?" he asked, tracing a finger over a delicate wing.

"The woman says that he is dead, sire," Kieran answered. "And there is more, m'lord. There is a child, a babe."

Uther's gaze tore from the wooden carving to Kieran, not noticing Gaius do the same. "Balinor's?"

"The woman denies it, but I believe so, sire. The dragon was found hanging over his crib and there is something of the dragonlord in the babe."

"Take me to him," Uther commanded.

"Sire!" Gaius protested, hurrying alongside his liege. "He is but a boy."

"I would see his child."

Uther stepped into the hut and cringed at the smallness of it. Having grown-up within castle walls, staying inside the two room block of mortal and straw would cause him to asphyxiate before too long. The woman was only a few feet from the door, her face young, pretty, frightened, but in control. She now held the screaming child in her arms, bouncing him up and down in a vein effort to silence his squalls.

She gave an awkward bow.

Showing more care than he'd normally like, Uther approached her. "What is your name?"

"Hunith, m'lord."

Her speech was fine, educated, which surprised him. He wondered briefly if she had been the daughter of some exiled lord. "Do you know the punishment of harboring an enemy of Camelot?"

Her eyes turned to steel. "I'm not a citizen of Camelot."

"How did Balinor die?" he asked softly. This woman had protected his friend, and if Kieran was right about the boy in her arms, she'd also loved him.

"Fire head," she answered. "It took the village last winter. He tried to hea…to help, but eventually took ill himself. I didn't even know I was pregnant."

This drew Uther's attention back to the child. His tears had exhausted into soft whimpers. A dragonlord already, if the ancient myths were true. There was about his innate gifts much that Balinor had felt was too sacred to share with Uther.

He hadn't been able to save Balinor, but perhaps he could aid the son.

"May I see him?" It was posed as a question, but the tone in his voice broke no argument.

Hunith's face drained of color, her eyes flicking over to Gaius and Kieran. No doubt, she wondered hat would become of her if she refused. After a moment, she sighed and handed the babe, Merlin, into his arms.

Merlin wasn't very old, two or three months old, a whole year and half younger than Arthur. Wisps of fine black hair mushroomed from a head still soft from birthing. He was pale and bore the signs of Balinor's long lanky form. There was no question that he was holding Balinor's son, a dragonlord, and was bound by his own law to extinguish the child's life. Yet, he had come here to try and make peace with Balinor. In the father's absence, could he save the son?

"You know what he is? That he is a dragonlord?"

Hunith didn't answer, but Gaius twitched under the question. "Sire, Merlin will never know a dragon. Please spare him this?"

It was the most impassioned speech Gaius had made in the 18 months since his declaration against magic. He had begun to fear he'd frightened Gaius into too strict a subservience.

"I will," he assured them. "Under two conditions."

For a moment, Hunith appeared as though she would swoon with relief. "Anything, m'lord."

"One, Gaius you must bind his powers."

He heard the physician's disapproval in his silence. Binding a child's ability to use magic could be dangerous and could likely lead Merlin to be damaged. "And second, Sire?"
"He will come and live under my watchful eye, a prince and son of Camelot."

"No," Hunith cried. "M'lord, please. He is all I have left. Please do not take him from me."

Uther was resolute. He had not saved the father, but he would save Merlin and raise him as his own. "I will need a nursing woman; you may stay with him until you are no longer needed."

"And then, m'lord?"

"You will be well cared for; there will be nothing you shall desire that it will not be given. And Merlin will be raised in the knight's code, a prince among men, as his father should have been. But he must never know who you truly are. I cannot have his loyalties divided."

"May I have a moment to consider, m'lord?" Hunith asked. Tears carved patterns down her smooth face.

"Of course," Uther said. "Kieran, come with me. We'll prepare to depart as soon as the lady has made her decision."

Gaius stepped forward, holding out his arms. "I'd like to make sure the child is healthy."

Passing the babe to him, Uther said, "Be quick about it."

"Yes, Sire."

Gaius breathed a sigh of relief as Uther exited his sister's house. He turned his attention to Merlin, now fast asleep in his arms. He examined him quickly. The child was indeed quite healthy, but an odd thing happened when he tested the boy's reflexes. A flash of gold was just visible beneath the shallow eyelids and the cups in the cupboards all gave a violent shiver.

Hunith regarded the magical disturbance with an air of defeat. Yet, there was no surprise.

"He was born like this, Gaius." She brought a hand to her mouth, biting a finger until he was afraid she'd pierce the skin.

"That isn't possible," he murmured, staring at his nephew with a new sense of wonderment. "Is Balinor truly dead?"

She shook her head, pulling her hand away with an effort. "A scouting party from Camelot came too close during the fire head outbreak. He didn't want to put me in danger, so he left."

He withheld the urge to scold her, however ill-advised her relationship with Balinor. It was partly his fault, sending the dragonlord to his sister. She had already lost the man she loved and was now faced with a choice between life and death for her son.

"I will have to give him up, won't I?" she asked quietly. "It is the only way to keep them both safe."

"I'm afraid so. I will have to dampen his powers; I do not believe I could bind them. Eventually, he will know he has magic"

"You will look after him, won't you, Gaius? Protect him. Teach him, when he's old enough. Please?"

He bounced the boy gently as Merlin stirred. "Of course. But Hunith, he will grow up in a kingdom that despises magic. When he learns what he is…well, I do not know what affect it will have on him."

Two days later, Uther carried his newest son into the castle and headed straight toward Arthur's nursery. The nearly two-year-old was stood before a dummy, a practice sword clutched tightly in his child-chubby hands. The knight who was guiding Arthur through his lessons, bowed when he saw his liege enter.

"Leave us," Uther dismissed.

The knight vanished, as Arthur smiled brightly and hurried to his father, wrapping his arms around the tall man's legs.

Kneeling down to his eldest son's height, he unwrapped enough of the swaddling cloth around the baby's face and showed Arthur the child. "Arthur, this is your new brother. His name is Merlin."