Disclaimer: No, not mine :P

Midwinter was approaching, and Camelot was quiet, sound muffled by the blanket of snow that covered the ground. Most people were indoors; glad to be in the relative warmth, all except the young prince Arthur and his manservant.

"Come on Merlin!" Arthur called behind him to where the boy was struggling through the snow. "Hurry up!"

Merlin sighed, pulling his coat tighter around him in attempt to preserve what little warmth he had left. "Where are we going anyway?" He asked, not that it really mattered. The one place he wanted to be was back in his room, next to the fire, and that certainly wasn't where they were headed.

"We are going skating." Arthur announced. "It's finally cold enough for one of the larger ponds to have frozen over." He had wanted to try this ever since the previous winter, when a group of entertainers had come to Camelot. The ease with which they had moved across the ice was enviable.

"Right." Merlin began to resign himself to being rather cold for the foreseeable future. His mind drifted back to the castle, and to warm fires, hot drinks, thick blankets…

"We're here," Arthur's voice cut into Merlin's rather pleasant daydream. "Well, get your skates on then," He said, pulling off his own boots.

"What?"

"Your skates." Arthur repeated. "Put them on."

Merlin gaped at him.

"You know you look even more idiotic than usual." Arthur returned to lacing his skates.

"Great." Merlin thought, "He doesn't want to look stupid, so he'll let me make an even bigger fool of myself so he doesn't have to feel embarrassed." Reluctantly he started to pry his cold feet from his boots and put on the skates.

Soon, they were both stood by the side of the pond, wobbling slightly on their feet. "Well," Arthur gestured to the ice, "After you."

"No," Merlin replied, "I insist, after you sire."

"Merlin." It was a tone that brooked no argument.

Throwing a dark glance back at the prince, Merlin stepped gingerly onto the ice. He was pleasantly surprised when he realised he was still upright, and so decided to attempt to move forwards. He pushed one foot in front of him, and nearly toppled over when his other foot began to slide backwards. Just about managing to stop himself from falling, he called back to Arthur.

"Well come on then, this was your idea!"

Arthur stepped forwards; after all, Merlin hadn't fallen over, so it couldn't be that difficult. He walked confidently onto the ice, and promptly fell flat on his back. "Oof!" Apparently it wasn't that easy after all. He groaned and pulled himself to his feet.

Merlin, meanwhile, was doggedly continuing to move in a vague forwards direction. He had found that if he pushed one foot backwards at an angle, the rest of him would move forwards. He allowed himself a small grin-this wasn't as bad as he thought it would be. After ten or so minutes, he felt he was really getting the hang of it; he was even beginning to build up a bit of speed. It was a nice feeling to glide across the frozen water, plus the exercise was keeping him warm.

Arthur on the other hand, had so far managed to fall over at least fifteen times, and was cursing quietly under his breath. How was Merlin managing it? The boy was gawky, and clumsy, and quite often gave one the impression of a baby deer taking its first steps. On the other hand, he, prince Arthur, had excellent balance, was never clumsy, and surely should be much better at this than his manservant. How could someone be so clumsy on land yet manage to balance perfectly well when on ice? It made no sense. He huffed and pulled himself to his feet, determined that he should not be beaten at this.

Merlin reached the other side of the pond, and turned round (he was quite proud of not falling over then) to skate back to where Arthur was. The prince was obviously struggling, and it took all of Merlin's willpower to overcome the urge to laugh. Instead, he offered his arm and said, "Would you like a hand?"

The indecision on Arthur's face was apparent, clearly he didn't want to accept help from a servant, but on the other hand, he was getting nowhere on his own, and there was no one around to see. "Fine," He replied, grudgingly, "but you're not to tell anyone I needed your help-understand?"

"Perfectly sire." Merlin allowed Arthur to take hold of his arm, and if he noticed that Arthur's knuckles were white and his grip very tight, he didn't mention it. Instead, he guided Arthur slowly forwards; passing on what small knowledge he had gleaned up to this point. Eventually, he felt confident that Arthur would be able to continue alone without falling.

Arthur brushed his hair out of his eyes, other hand still firmly attached to Merlin's arm. He was slowly starting to get the hang of moving so that the entirety of his body was travelling in one direction, unlike the rather undignified attempts of earlier. He could probably let go of Merlin now. He didn't. Merlin didn't seem to mind.