Hey Everyone! Another week, another chapter. Thanks for everyone who read, although please drop in reviews to tell me how I'm doing. Otherwise, enjoy :D
The man had traveled far to get to Camelot. His horse was weary from the riding, but he had no choice. He had managed to escape his captor, and after stealing one of the horses, he began his journey. Arriving to Camelot had been a challenge, but now that he was here-
The man stopped, as he saw that all the men and women were dressed in costumes and walking towards the castle. This was bad. With all the people around, someone would easily spot him. Unless…
The man hid behind some bushes. He hated resorting to this, but he needed to talk to Prince Arthur. He waited patiently, until finally, a man clueless enough passed by. With a swift move, he knocked the stranger unconscious.
The costume was a bit colorful, but it would do. He took the invitation, and changed into the stranger's clothes. He looked towards Camelot, and began to ride once again. He had to talk to the Prince.
Soon enough, the masquerade got underway. Guests from the noble houses had traveled from far to celebrate the news of Prince Arthur's engagement.
Inside the castle was a sea of colors. The ladies wore dresses of the finest silk, while the men wore costumes that matched their partner's. One could hardly tell who was who.
On the throne, Uther sat, laughing and drinking, with Lady Morgana at his side. She looked beautiful, and had caught the eye of more than one man in the room, yet she paid them no attention. She just laughed at his father's every word.
On Uther's right, was Arthur's seat, which was now empty. Next to that was the seat where Lady Evelyn sat. She seemed worried that Arthur was still not here, but Uther reassured her that he would arrive soon. Morgana smiled inwardly. She knew that Arthur would not be arriving to this party.
On the other side of the room, Gaius and Gwen sat watching intently.
"Where is Merlin? He should be here by now."
Gaius sighed. "I don't like the sound of this. Thank goodness Uther is much too preoccupied with his drink to notice."
"I don't like this. Arthur is not the kind of man to have left Camelot for good. From what Merlin said about the note, it sounded like he was only temporarily gone, and would have been back to confront Uther by now." The girl crossed her arms, and leaned on the wall behind her. She was worried, and Gaius saw that.
"Whatever happened, Arthur is a good fighter. No man can defeat him."
"Missed me?"
Gwen and Gaius jumped as they saw Merlin come in from behind.
"Where were you?" Gwen tried to keep her voice to a whisper, but her anger showed a bit too much.
"Around. I just had to make the final touches." Merlin had that goofy smile on him that meant he was up to no good. At that point, the doors opened, and a royal announcer walked in. A couple of men played the horns, and then, the man addressed the room.
"Ladies and Gentlemen! Presenting Prince Arthur!"
In came "the Prince", dressed in the costume that Gwen had made. It was perfect, in that it covered his head entirely. The man clearly did a good job impersonating Arthur, as Uther immediately got up and gave his "son" a hug. The impersonator then moved to see Lady Evelyn, and kissed her hand.
Gwen and Gaius chuckled slightly. Where had Merlin gotten this guy from?
"Looks like this guy is doing a better job than Arthur at playing prince charming," she laughed.
"It's Gwaine," he said softly, so only she could hear. "He is loyal enough to Arthur as to pretend to be him for the time being."
"How did you find him?"
"I know the bar he frequents. Also, he wasn't that far from Camelot, so it didn't take long to get him and bring him back."
Gwen couldn't believe it, and began to laugh after the party resumed. Merlin couldn't hold it in either. They had been lucky to find Gwaine in that short notice. Also, they had been lucky that this was a masquerade, and people would not be able to see his face.
Gwen smiled and looked at Merlin, "Looks like your problem is solved for tonight."
However, both of them failed to notice Morgana. Had they looked in her direction, they would have seen the anger and disbelief brewing inside her eyes.
A couple minutes had passed, and Merlin had left to go get a pint. Gaius followed soon after, needing to check on Uther's health before the king drank himself into trouble. Gwen was standing by herself, when she heard someone behind her. He grabbed her arm, and she turned around, ready to hit the man, but stopped when she saw her face.
"Lancelot?" the disbelief was evident in her voice. He nodded, and pulled his mask back up.
"I need to talk to Arthur. Can Merlin get him to come here?"
Gwen doubted whether she should tell him, but then remembered how loyal he had been in the past. Lancelot looked shocked by the answer.
"Come with me."
"Where are we going?"
"May a gentleman ask a lady for the next dance?"
Gwen blushed, confused. She didn't understand what was happening, but realized that she couldn't deny the request. Something about Lancelot still made her feel weak inside. She looked around for Merlin, but he was nowhere to be found. She looked back at Lancelot, who still held out his hand. She could only nod in response. Her heart was pounding against her chest as he took her to the dance floor.
Yet she could see from the determination in his eyes that he had asked her for a dance so they would have an excuse to move around the room without him looking suspicious while searching for Merlin. She sighed in disappointment.
Lancelot caught sight of this and smiled at her reassuringly. It was almost as if he could read her mind. "Don't worry m'lady. Dancing with you is a dream come true for me."
Merlin was about to make his way back to where he and Gwen had been, but saw her talking to someone. At first he couldn't tell who it was, but soon he realized that the man was none other than Lancelot himself. He decided to stay behind, see where this would lead, and soon enough, the couple walked to the dance floor.
He looked towards the couple and realized that they weren't the only ones dancing. Gwaine had taken Lady Evelyn out on Uther's request. Merlin suddenly felt that his heart was heavy. Gwen and Lancelot, Gwaine and Evelyn, everyone had a couple. And here he was, alone.
For some reason, his mind returned to Freya. He missed her. He wished she hadn't died. He wished that he could have saved her in some form. He remembered her, flowing outwards to towards the mountains. He had forced himself to stop thinking about her, to make the pain go away, but in times like this, there was nothing he could do to stop that.
At that moment, there was a soft tap on his shoulder.
"Excuse me," Merlin turned around and saw a girl standing behind him.
She didn't have an elaborate outfit, but she looked beautiful nonetheless.
"I don't have a dance partner, is it alright if I dance with you?"
So Arthur is still missing, and Lancelot has important news to tell him. As for Merlin, who is this strange girl who wants to dance with him all of the sudden? When am I going to give you some answers? Believe me (or rather, the people I wrote this story for originally) things are going to take an unexpected turn soon.
So when am I gonna update? Wish I could tell you. I have the story written in terms of plot, but it is not very long, so I'm going back and having to expand a lot of what I already have. I'll try to get a chapter up soon, but it may be hard with thanksgiving.
Thanks for reading
~Pendragon Alchemist~
