"No, shh."
"But we could just-"
"Hush, Merlin."
Arthur grabbed Merlin's arm and steered him out of the hallway and into an alcove nearby. "Someone's coming."
"What-" Merlin was about to object at being crushed into the small space until he glanced at Arthur's face. His eyes held an uncharacteristic look of child-like joy as he peered down the hallway that made Merlin stop cold for the wonder of it. "Right." He whispered instead, and closed the hanging over the alcove. Arthur seemed excited tonight, and Merlin was hit with the sudden desire to foster that in the prince.
"Off my foot."
"Sorry."
After a moment's awkward shuffling and silent contemplation, as they had listened carefully for any indication of approaching footsteps, Merlin let out a huff of nervous laughter. "I don't see why we have to sneak down to the Banquet Hall, though. We are disguised, after all." He pulled back the hanging over the alcove's opening carefully, however, and took a look out. He was just in time to see the back end of a pair of sentries as they disappeared behind a corner.
"It's just that." Arthur tapped the filigreed brow of his mask and gave Merlin a patronizing smile. "If anyone sees us in the residence halls, it won't be hard to figure out who we are." He paused to listen again to the hallway outside the alcove before continuing. "I have been attending masquerade banquets for quite a while, Merlin. How many have you been invited to?"
Merlin shrugged in the small space. "You have me there." He swept back the hanging and tripped out before straightening up and gesturing for Arthur to follow him. "But how many times have you snuck around the castle without getting caught?"
Arthur narrowed his eyes. "Why would you ever have the need to sneak around the castle?" He asked doubtfully.
"Ah, well. Never mind that." Merlin looked away from Arthur's face and down the hallway, feeling uncomfortable. Some things were easier left unexplained. "I think someone's coming… we had better keep moving, sire." He turned away from Arthur and started down the hallway with purpose, his borrowed black boots making an unfamiliar squeak on the stone beneath his feet. After a couple of paces, he glanced over his shoulder to make sure that the prince was actually following him. He was, though not without reluctance. Merlin smiled at that.
After turning around a corner, passing through another hallway, and jumping twice behind a pillar at the faintest sound of approaching footsteps, Merlin stopped in front of a large, ornamental tapestry. He paused, taking a moment to enjoy the look of confusion on Arthur's face, before he stepped forward and pulled back the left corner carefully to reveal a plain wooden door. "Servant's staircase." He said simply.
"Yes. Obviously." Arthur took a step toward the door. "I grew up in this castle, you realize." He pulled at the door firmly, but it didn't budge. He pulled at it again; this time with considerable force. "Of course." He smirked humorlessly at Merlin. "You lead us to a passageway that doesn't open. Good work."
Merlin's grin grew wider. "Hmm." He pushed the door open gently and then motioned for Arthur to enter with a sweep of his arm. They stared at each other for a moment, Arthur glaring out from behind his mask and Merlin smiling and beckoning, before the prince stepped forward and bumped Merlin hard on his way through the door.
They stepped down the dark, spiraling staircase tentatively, and after Merlin tripped over his own foot and nearly sent them down the steps, he was made to make his way down first. After a few minutes of steady slogging, Arthur sighed. "How much longer, then?" He asked, petulance creeping into his voice in the dark.
"Just a little farther-" Merlin stopped.
Arthur bumped into the back of him and they stumbled a few steps before regaining footing. "By the heavens, Merlin, what is it now?"
Merlin breathed deeply and put his hand over his heart, dazed; it was fluttering in his chest like a trapped bird. What is this? He took another breath. "I, uhm." He paused. "I don't know."
"Keep along, then." Arthur commanded impatiently. When Merlin failed to answer, the prince nudged him. "Merlin."
"Yeah." Merlin's voice cracked.
Arthur was silent for a moment, and then Merlin felt a hand bump blindly against his cheek before coming to rest on his shoulder. "Alright?" Arthur asked sternly.
"Sure… just a bit winded." Merlin worked a reassuring tone into his voice, and continued his decent. But he had sensed something on the periphery, something barely tangible. A presence –because it was most surely a presence, though Merlin didn't know of whom or what- had skittered across his consciousness in a way that was distinctly dissimilar to being out of breath.
What was that? He pondered to himself. It was familiar, somehow. As they continued down the staircase, Merlin wracked his brain for the source of the lingering familiarity. Could it be…Oh. His eyes widened in the dark as he recalled where he had experienced something similar before: the feeling was akin to the wave of foreign and intrusive connectedness that he felt when the Great Dragon had been wont to call to him; and again, during that brief time when he had become entangled with the fate of the druid child.
It was magic calling to magic.
Hello, fellow Merlin fans. I apologize for the hiatus. I thought for a while that this story would not get itself another chapter; mostly through a lack of motivation on my part. But your reviews helped pull me out of my standstill, and for that… oh holy hell, thank you. I'll see you next week!