The Dragon King did not say a single word. He simply began to walk the final length to reach the Great Gate. Just as he stood before the portal he turned back to look towards his daughter with a cheeky little smile. "Well?" he called out. "Aren't you coming?"

This spurred Alianna into action. A large grin to match her father's took over her entire face as she sprinted forward to meet him. She panted softly as she skidded to a halt beside the man she had now decided she had forgiven with all her heart.

Merlin held out his hand to his daughter, who was quick to grab it with enthusiasm. He didn't hesitate to step through the portal, pulling her along behind him.

Alianna had passed through the Great Gate before, but she had been very young; far too young to remember just how it felt. It was slightly familiar, like the feeling had been shoved down deep into the recesses of her memories. However, it was still nothing like she had expected. It was slightly disorienting. She could feel it pass around her, like walking through water. It sent a cold chill through her and when she reached the other side she had to stand there for a moment as she had become rather dizzy.

"You'll get used to that eventually," her father's voice reached her ears.

She looked up to him in surprise. "Does that mean I'll be permitted to enter Camelot more often."

She could nearly see the gears turning behind Merlin's eyes as he offered up his one-word response. "Possibly".

Alianna was nearly shaking in excitement. She wanted to see everything, she could only vaguely remember a few stone rooms with tall pillars somewhere within the castle. She couldn't remember anything of the town. After nearly her whole life away from her uncle's city made her crave to comb every piece of it for sights and adventure. Then it hit her. A sinking feeling. She wanted to believe that her father was bringing her to Camelot to explore, to get the sense of freedom she'd been begging for, but she could feel in her bones that there was another reason they were here.

Merlin's grin melted away as he saw Alianna's shoulders shrink and her head fall forward. His brows furrowed. He went to reach towards her, but she subtly moved just out of his reach. "Ali... Ali what's wrong? Did you get hurt passing through the Gate somehow?"

The sadness in his daughters voice chilled Merlin to the bone. "We're not here to have fun, are we? We have to do some sort of business. That's the only reason we're here. Some kind of training in diplomacy or something."

Guilt filled Merlin's chest. His choices were the reason his ow daughter thought this way; and worst of all, she wasn't entirely wrong.

Merlin sighed. "You're right, we do have business, but--"

Suddenly Alianna growled. She swung her arms back in anger and stopped the ground once, hard. So hard that Merlin nearly thought the dirt ground would crack beneath her foot. "Gods damn the earth!" She spoke aggressively, quickly following with a rather loud exclamation. "I knew it! I knew this was all too good to be true!"

"Ali--" Merlin tried to interject, he hadn't finished. They weren't only there on business.

"Don't you 'Ali' me! Just.. gah! Rrr-- you told me all those stories just to butter me up didn't you? So I'd forgive you and I wouldn't think one damn thing about doing business in Camelot? Thought I'd feel damn thankful for getting to leave the castle and travel through the gate! Well, you've got another thing coming to you, mister!"

Merlin felt like a child being reprimanded, despite that not being his thought process at all. His own child was trying to tell him his flaws, ones he was well aware he had. That was probably what made him so frustrated. He didn't mind being reprimanded. He knew he did things wrong, but he was trying to fix it, for goodness sake! He just wished Alianna could respect and understand that the situation was not entirely in his control. He just kept forgetting that was a lot to ask of a 15-summers-old girl.

"Alianna... Respect... please..." he whispered. He was begging with her, pleading, but she couldn't see it.
"Respect," she scoffed. "All you ever care about is respect. You know what I care about? Freedom. Not that I'd know anything about it."

Merlin felt those words cut through him. He was stuck in place, the sentence rang in his ears repeatedly. He chest hurt worse than any battle wound he'd ever endured, including the fireball that Nimueh had thrown at his chest. He said nothing in response. He couldn't, what could possibly be said?

Alianna scoffed again. "Some Dragon King, you are. And to think I was proud to call you my father. Now you can't even reassure your own daughter that she has freedom."

Before Merlin could register what had happened Alianna had run off and disappeared in the crowd. As the world around him started to become solid again a sense of dread settled deep in his core.

"Alianna," he said to himself. His head jerked up, his voice reached a pained, fevered pitch. "ALIANNA!"

But it was too late. The princess was gone...

And the poor Dragon King had been the one to drive her away while attempting to protect her.